restoman

I've made so many mistakes over the years that none of them stand out as the biggest. They've just gotten lumped together in that "Yeah, I won't do THAT again!" file...

We lost Lola, my near constant companion for 12 years and 4 months, on Aug 4th. Kidney Disease took her. Her leaving left a massive hole in the household, even though we have another Springer, a Dane, and three cats. So... we brought home this little mugwump a few weeks later. Dottie, another English Springer Spaniel, born May 31. Very smart, very busy, and very cute!

Way back when we just dating, the future Mrs, resto commented, after one of my tool-truck purchases, "My Dad has a hammer, and he didn't spend $75 on it!". I said "Good for him. I use mine to earn the money so we can go out. Is this a good time to mention that I have a couple dozen hammers?" She never mentioned it again, though I never let her forget the comment. Yeah... I'm that kind of A** hole.

I'm a bit jealous of those folks that can spend long periods of time at their bench. My actual "build bench" is a piece of 3/4" plywood that I lay across my legs (I'm a chair-user most times) and any more than a couple of hours has my back, neck and eyes ready to walk due to the abhorent labour conditions. Rare days, I can squeeze in two sessions in a day. My big bench is in the basement, where the kits, parts, etc are kept. My build bench is in a corner of our living area, so keeping it small and contained is a must. A small three-legged corner table, a swing-arm lamp, most of my small build tools, and a kit or three (always put back in the box or a safe space when I'm done for the day) is all that's near the build bench at any given time. Mrs. resto rarely ventures into my basement workshop, so leaving my build bench area tidy keeps the peace. Typically, when starting something, I spend more time planning and mocking things up than actual building. I've found things go much easier (I don't care about faster) when I know how it all fits together, and seeing as how the big tools and parts are in the basement, getting the build organized can take some time before the glue and paint comes out. Through the summer months, I'm lucky if I'm at the bench at all for weeks on end, but in the winter, a few times a week is normal. Most of my painting is done in my un-heated garage (I'm too cheap to crank the heat on for a model paint-job), so the fall months are when most of the spraying gets done. Some builds sit all summer before their spray time rolls around. I can spend a good bit of time on any given build. It may not show it, but it's pretty commonplace to have well over 50-75 hours on each one. Some are into the 100s... good thing I don't do this for a living. I would have fired me long ago!

Yesterday was just about perfect for painting in my garage. I used Vibrant Orange nail polish over grey primer, top-coated with some over-thinned 2K clear. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Way back around '85 or '86 I did a fair bit of customizing on a buddy's '71 Chevelle. He and another friend sprayed it themselves, doing some flame and mural work on it. They shot it in R_M Diamont base. After they wet-sanded the peel and flame edges, they mixed up the clear and shot it. Oh. My. God. Fisheyes from end end to the other. So, they loaded the 2nd coat mix with a full bottle of Smoothie. The poor car looked like it had been sandblasted and cleared. They brought it to me to try and do something with, but the craters were too deep and plentiful. I ended up stripping it and painting it over. Seems my warning to NOT wet sand parrafin-based base wasn't heeded. That was an expensive lesson. Sorry to high-jack, but the "Smoothie" reference brought back some memories.

Now THAT is innovation! I'll have to try that.

Ditto. Lately, I find that I actually prefer the ones that need more work.

That's pretty cool!

Very nice! I'm doing my own version of a Lincoln Surf Wagon, and yes: those decals are a bear!

Managed to squeeze in a couple of hours last week...

Yup... that pretty much covers it.

Slow going this time of year. Life... What are you gonna do? Just about ready for final assembly. Those decals are fun... I robbed a lid from one of our food storage containers, makes a right nice roof glass and windows.

I tink I bot sum of yer old gluboms...

I've gotten to the point where I actually prefer the lesser-quality kits. That and gluebombs, or scratch-building. But that's just me...

I'd be interested in hearing more about it, too.

In all my years of inhaling polyester filler dust, paint fumes, and the spring-like pure air of Sarnia's Chemical Valley, there are two universal truths that I've arrived at: No one will ever solve the mystery of how they get the soft-flowing caramel inside the Caramilk Bar, and the only Absolute is that nothing is Absolute. So, let's have a Fresca.

I'm not sure when, exactly, I first heard this album, but it played a huge part in my musical tastes. This was released 11 months after I was born, and while Dad was/is a big John R. fan and played his records constantly back then, I'm pretty sure the music didn't get me then and there. But... my Mom used to tell a story of her being 8 months pregnant with my brother in 1966, and having to chase after me as I escaped the yard and ran up Edgewater Dr., belting out "I hear the train a'coming..." all the way. So... Johnny's music was settling in in '66. While Folsom Prison BLues isn't on the above pictured album, it's title track is one I never get tired of hearing, like almost every Johhny Cash song.

I've looking at that Heb for some time... just never seem to have the $$ when I look at it.

Back at it... A custom-mix base coat and a shot of over-thinned automotive clear, with some Testor's blue metallic airbrushed onto the interior.

Very cool!

I love everything about this. Nice job!

A guy I worked for around '85/'86 told me quite often that he had a 350 horse 327 in the late sixties. He dealt it on a new '70 W-30 4-4-2. As much as he loved the Olds power, he said he thought the L-79 would destroy it off the line. No small feat... the 455 ran through an awfulmatic and 4.10s. He still had the Olds when I worked for him, but it was something he never let me drive. I can't blame him...

Well, I'd like to think that Cliff still has the Nova, and still runs it on nice weekends, accompanied by his grandson Billy.

Clifford was a gearhead, born and raised. He wanted a big-block Corvette, but the paycheque just wouldn't allow it. When a buddy on the loading dock said his older brother just got a sweet deal on a screaming small-block Nova for under $3000, Cliff listened. First thing Saturday morning, with his pay stubs in hand, he dropped into the local Chevy dealer. He had to take the salesman with him, but the test drive was all Cliff needed. The salesman, however, needed a change of undergarments when they arrived back at the sales office. Hazards of the job, I guess...? Right off the lot, this beauty was Cliff's. L-79, four speed, 4.11 posi., SS option... in a sleeper-look light metallic paint. A couple weekends later, with the addition of some headers, a thorough going-through of the ignition and carburation, an in-depth reworking of the Muncie shift linkage, a set of traction bars and some narrow slicks, Cliffie was regularly knocking off mid 13 second run at the local strip. It wasn't the Corvette that he wanted. It was even better. ... And Roscoe the Springer loved the nightly blasts around the cruise circuit.