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| My car has made it to the front of the work queue. It has been taped for the initial work. This begins with a coating of �Metal Prep�. This substance seals the body from rust, and acts as a binding layer for the skim coat necessary to fill low areas in the skin. Here, the body man has applied the Metal Prep, in the booth, and then shot a quick sealer layer. This took 2 days for the Metal Prep, and another 2 days for the foundation layer to dry. |
| Next the body will get its minor imperfections addressed. This will take about 10 days, depending upon drying time and his schedule. Getting it done in time to drive it to Vegas is looking risky. |
| It�s amazing that one can fit a whole car of parts on one storage rack. From top to bottom, some items are the air cleaner, door panels, door parts, seatbelts, floor mats, and other �flat� things, the next shelf down holds carb, manifold and turkey-pan gasket, the yellow box holds lots of small parts like emblems, more engine stuff in plastic bags in the Xerox box, tail lights, a rear grill, several more boxes of miscellaneous parts, and there is even room on the bottom shelf for my collection of �Documentation�. Almost every issue of PI (1973 to present), every issue of POCA Profiles, the POCA monthlies, and even the PCNC monthly newsletters dating back more than 20 years. I readily admit I like to have �documentation�, like numerous photo albums of my car project, Pantera events and detailed technical images�.You get the idea. |
| Now that I am racing to make it to Vegas, trying to catch up to Cal, and the rest of you, my neighbor is getting involved. |
| The high school kid next door is restoring a VW bus in his garage. He is a bit ahead of me, as his car was painted last month, but he is still assembling it. I figure since he is getting help from his (high school) friends, it will take him longer (hee hee), than working alone. We are racing for pink slips; winner must drive their car around the block, complete, including valid registration, first. |
| This guy is amusing. He has been working in his garage all hours of the night; even the police came by to check on the suspicious behavior. (Welding in Safari windows at 3 am.) I'm impressed by his effort. This bus replaces his previous bus, which he finished restoring just a couple of months ago. Like a typical kid, he ignored me when I commented on the fuel smell emanating from the engine or filler area. Fresh engine (installed the night before) was causing the smell he said. That day, taking his buddies for a drive, the fuel leak caught fire, burning his 1-day-old, restored, classic bus to the ground. Luckily no one was hurt, they all bailed out while it was still rolling towards its smoking death. |