Waiting with anticipation

It's fitting that it's Christmas time, or I suppose by this point it WAS Christmas time. You remember when you were a kid and you lay awake in bed  Christmas eve?

"The children were nestled all snug in their beds;

While visions of Fillmore danced in their heads"
Well OK I may be paraphrasing and slanting a little to my own feelings but, the visceral feeling of anticipatory excitement is the same.

The wrapping of Fillmore was a little more "specific" shall we say. Not too many ribbons or bows.

And now for the big 'BUT'...
but unlike Christmas morning Fillmore did not show up under the tree, nor was he ready to be unwrapped.
I am told he is ready to be rolled into the paint booth for his base coat. That should happen tomorrow. Cross your fingers.





In the mean time, there were some other presents that showed up for my birthday. So Jeff and I spent an afternoon putting the new detachable plow onto the quad!

Although the weather outside was not frightful, the construction heater and the astro-turf was so delightful, and since we'd no place to go....we worked away, worked away worked away!

When we were done I don't know who was more excited, me or Jeff...

I think it's safe to say Jeff. We hadn't had any new snow for a long time but he HAD to try it out!

Later that day I got my second birthday gift from my loving family........yep a custom Flxible t-shirt....who-rah!

Spray on Tan

I was watching Dr. Phil the other day, yes I know I just admitted I was watching Dr. Phil. Now in my defence it wasn't like I sat down with a fresh coffee and a bowl of popcorn to enjoy the latest airing of the show. No, rather it was on the operatory TV I was working in. Mid procedure the patient made urgent gestures while I was working away. I of course assumed the worst and thought the gentleman's freezing was wearing off, but no. To my relief the patient wasn't referring to the procedure being done but was indicating he wanted us to stop and look at Dr. Phil's guest. A poor(not in the monetary sense) middle aged woman who had become addicted to plastic surgery. It opened the discussion about how so many cultures are fixated on a perceived beauty, and what lengths people will go to to achieve their desired beauty. The real interesting thing to me is the differences of what is considered beautiful to different geographic, racial,cultural, societal, or social groups. Just because the expressionless botox forehead and collagen rich duckbill platypus lips are popular in Beverly Hills doesn't mean its what tickles my fancy too!

I just received some update photos from Dale at PET Autobody, Fillmore is getting primed! He is sitting in the spray booth with the important parts covered, and getting some color sprayed on...not unlike the spray on tanning booths of today. It made me think of autobody not being that far off human cosmetic procedures. When we talk about a restoration  some would shutter at the thought of putting non traditional paint colours or scheme on a classic car. Some would want the restoration to be all original, some want to modify and redesign what the original manufacturer produced. Some would argue that a vintage car should be like a rat rod, displaying it's scars and blemishes of the ravishing years like a badge of honour. With the human body it's not far off colouring our hair, facelifts, or growing old gracefully.

Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. Although we are all influenced by our culture,our society, as long as there is a comfort about the inner beauty then the outer beauty is less important. At least that is what I hope for everyone(particularly the youth of today) to believe in. You don't have to be perfect to be beautiful, frankly it's our ability to embrace imperfection which gives someone that 'je ne sais quoi'

Thus, it may not be perfect, but it looks perfect to me.

And I'm good with that.

Waiting for paint to dry...

Or be applied really! Heck at this point I'm stoked about the primer coat! But as we all know paint is the last step. The icing on the cake if you will. All the work goes into the prep work.It's a slow process...I doubt I will see Fillmore home before Christmas, but I am content. I know he is warm and dry, and in good hands. These pics are from late last week. I am awaiting to see pics after he makes a trip into the spray booth for primer. But for now this will have to appease my curious mind.

Normally, as I don't work fridays I try to go for a visit and see what progress has been made.

Last week I decided instead of spending time on Fillmore, I would spend time on my marriage. I thought that might mean a romantic walk in the woods....what it really meant was two person house cleaning....I got vacuuming, sinks and toilets. Who says after two decades of marriage the spark is gone!

The good news this week is I'm not on toilet duty again! The bad news is I have to travel to Edmonton for dental association meetings, so I will miss my opportunity for a Fillmore visit again this week.

Make up....we need make up!!

We keep rolling along, body work is progressing. There are more little 'blemishes' than I expected. Some bigger than others. The biggest surprise was actually on the passenger side roof  at the transition curve from vertical to horizontal. It looks like something fell on the bus....a tree....a heavy post?...unsure, but that too will be fixed up. So the body men work their magic on Fillmore, hammer and dollie then make it pretty with some foundation!

Blasted off

Five years ago, I had a local heavy duty mechanic-John come over to take a look at Fillmore to help give me some direction on how to proceed. The conversation started with the usual...

"Wow this is really cool!"

Which was quickly followed by a look at me sideways...

"Have you ever done anything like this before?...This is a BIG project!"

But ignorance was bliss, and I nervously laughed it off and replied

"No but I'm up for the challenge!"

Ever since that day, I have thought back to that conversation, and thought 'little did I know!' It seems with each new chapter a whole new plot line is introduced, many mini plots which,hopefully, are all resolved together at the finale. For now the newest twist is that Fillmore has been stripped down and is standing naked in a public space (recurring nightmare of mine). The good news is that things went exceptionally well, and aside from some areas that had some minor damage and covered with Bondo, things were in really god shape. You can see on the entrance door where someone had run some lead...I guess that would make Fillmore a lead sled...and then a few areas with bondo from different decades.

The only negative was some oil drumming( I think that is the proper term for it) that happened during the blasting....too much heat generated and the metal popped in on itself. It can be fixed but requires some time with a hammer and dolly. The rear passenger side at the very back has some bigger damage where it had  backed up into something. Some hammer and dollie work will be needed, then some stud welds and pulling as well.

After the blast, the face and tail will get extra attention, and we can see here where the guys at PET have been working away. Still a long ways to go....but we are making progress and things are moving forward!

Ground Control to Major Tom....

Some of the best songs seem so simple, A tune that is simple in concept, but they are often complex in composition. The average listener is easily taken away on a musical journey and upon return often says....I could sing that!!
Professionals are like that, they become adept at their trade so, to the layman, it looks easy and straight forward. I am sure to them it is, but in reality to the majority of the population it would be a world of hurt to attempt the job, with very poor results. Thus our fascination with Karaoke. Where the average Joe fueled by a  cup or two of courage is encouraged by his/her friends to get up and sing to lyric-less canned music while they sit back and take bets on the likelihood  of a train wreck.
I am always one to say "dare to live" and "YOLO" but there are times to jump and there are times to pass on taking the microphone and calmly stay in your seat.
Painting Fillmore is not a time for me to jump up on the stage, I have chosen to let the pros do their work, and so far it looks great.

The driver's bay, only called such because I got some flack for using the term 'cockpit', has been prepped and painted and I must say it's looking pretty slick.

The rest of the exterior is now up for prepping. Chrome removed,side windows removed, front glass removed.














The side panels are getting a really cool material treatment to protect them from the blaster. The material is a 1/16" rubber compound with the backside has a self adhesive surface on it. They will blast the front cap, sides and rear cap, but the roof will have to be hand prepped as it is aluminum.

Truth be told, if I could turn back time (another song from the 80's) I would have skinned Fillmore to the bones then blasted it all, then re assembled with the new panels. But like building a house, until you've done it you can't say how you'd do it differently until after the first time.

There is no turning back now, as he rolls into the tent ready for blast off...

Ground Control to Major Tom

Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

Ground Control to Major Tom (Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six)

Commencing countdown, engines on (Five, Four, Three)

Check ignition and may God's love be with you (Two, One, Liftoff)

No one to blame but me.

My Dad said it to me, I've said it to my kids,

 "Careful! Its the last run of the day, and that's when people get hurt!"

 Now before we go any further, relax, I didn't hurt myself again. I'm just referring to the fact that when you are skiing, a statistically significant percentage of injuries happen at the end of the day. You know your tired, both physically and mentally so your body isn't responding as fast as your brain and your brain sees the end of the run and begins to shut down and you make stupid choices.....and often pay the price.


Michelle's Mom and Dad are out for a visit, and I love having them around. It gives me a live in cohort when it comes to projects in the workshop. Today was finally putting together the very last sliding window for Fillmore. You know how it is, the window panes are put together, the frame is cleaned up, the rubber is cut and the fuzzy channel(schlegal) is  there. How hard can it be to put it together?

So Ron and I set out to accomplish the task at hand. All was going so well, the fuzzy channel was installed, the foam and felt seal was placed, the frame was all put together......the last step was to put in what I call the stopper seal. The great big rubber seal that sits against the fixed pane and acts as a hard stop for the sliding pane. We pushed it into place, and then I could see the finish line. My mind started to look two more steps ahead, and like the wide receiver in football who looks where he will go next instead of  concentrating on the catch in that last split second, I dropped the ball. I picked up a soft rubber mallet and started tapping the seal to fully seat it....the taps became more aggressive....and then I just needed one more spot to seat....

Ehhhh crap!.....fumble......wipe out.....full on faceplant.

Looking for Direction

No matter how strong we are, no matter how independent we are we all need someone. The concept of the lone wolf, although a marketable identity for Hollywood and Harlequin romance novel, is a myth in reality. What we need may differ but we all need someone for companionship(emotional), for company(physical), for guidance(spiritual/cerebral)

Sometimes you actively go looking for someone to fill the spot and sometimes fate brings you together. My wife?....I actively perused her. My son? fate (and a bottle of red wine) put us on the course to meeting.

Well Robert,from the great state of Montana, and I got brought together by 35ft and 14000 lbs of fate, and he has helped me keep on course.......literally!

Being a former owner of Fillmore, Robert has an interest in him. So, having read my blog, Robert knew that I only had one original glass front turn signal indicator. Although I had spent many hours in the early years(yes this has been going on long enough for me to actually use that phrase) looking for a replacement, lack of success and attention to other matters allowed the hunt to cease......for me.
So you can appreciate the excitement when I got an email from Robert letting me know that he found one on ebay. After a bit of ebay shenanigans ( I think I was in a bidding war against the seller as a ghost) I ended up winning the right to buy the indicator!!!!

The icing on the cake was when Robert asked if I had decent light bezels, he siad that he had a pair that he was willing to donate to the cause, and they were in "pretty good shape"
Hell they are damn near mint!

And now, with the help of my friends, I will go in the right direction.

Primed for Progress

I love what I do. I am grateful and so happy that I am one of the seemingly few who enjoys what he does for a living. Don't get me wrong if I won lotto 6/49 I'm sure I would be singing a different tune, but for now if I need to work then I am thankful that I enjoy my work.
Now, having said all of that I am finding it tremendously difficult not to feel pangs of  self pity that I cannot be actively working on Fillmore during perhaps one of the most visibly transformational stages. As I alluded to earlier, Fillmore has been sanded,masked and now sits ready for primer.

Instead of playing at the body shop, I trudge on to the salt mines and eagerly await an email from Dale at PET Autobody.

The cockpit, the helm, the bridge, whatever moniker tickles your fancy was cleaned up and a coat of grey epoxy primer was applied.

I so wish I could be there, if not to help, then just to watch!!

Loss of a son

I have been having trouble finding the appropriate words today. I started this blog with feelings of happiness and excitement. I received some pictures from Dale at PET Autobody where Fillmore is getting his face lift. They have masked out some of the interior getting ready for painting the dash and sash and I was thinking along the lines of a lone ranger theme, a "Who was that masked man?".
Given the events of the last 36 hours, it seemed inappropriate to celebrate the appearance of a masked avenger.
My heart goes out to the family of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo who lost his life while guarding Canada's war memorial.  A tragic and senseless loss at the hands of one of our own...

(Bruce MacKinnon/Halifax Chronicle Herald)

Naked!

Ever had that recurring dream where you show up at work/school/ the mall and set about to going through the usual motions of the start of your day. But as you move along everyone seems to be staring at you, you then discover that you are wearing no pants....standing there in your "transformers" underwear?..........anyone?.....anyone?......no?....just me then I guess....(uuhhhgh!)

Well Fillmore is in the process of bearing his privates in public. Chrome is off- light bezels, bumpers, mirrors, windows. And now he's just standing there naked!

I went down to PET auto body for some Fillmore time. Knowing that not a lot had been accomplished yet, but we are slowly moving forward. I know full well that my project get shuffled to the back of the line when big clients come in needing something done ASAP. I knew that going in and I am OK with that as long as he's not sitting outside. I figure as long as he is eating up real estate in the shop there will be motivation to keep moving forward on him.

So Dale and I took the opportunity to play with some lines for the paint graphic. These are NOT permanent lines but rather basic ideas of where I want things to go.

So we played for a while placing the lines where we thought they should go......subject to change of course.

There is a long way to go before we are ready to start laying down paint, but it's nice to play in the shop, where is big and open and clean and warm!

Slim pickin's...but for good reason.

Usually when I get this feeling I am anxious because I know I'm forgetting something. You know what I mean....you're walking around the house randomly looking around, hoping that some visual cue will jog your memory about what you are supposed to do. I have been walking around now with the gist of that feeling in my chest for just over a week. Fillmore has flown the coop. A week ago friday I drove Fillmore into PET autobody to start the body prep and primer process. A process it will be, sandblasting, hand stripping, body work, glass removal, you name it it's going to happen. Now at what rate is the question but the process has started.

Adds and sods. I prepared surfaces that would not have seen paint otherwise, roof vents and perf body panels for the rad.

The dash needed to be stripped and prepared for paint. To try and save me from getting the blasted paint dust everywhere I attempted to wall off the rest of the coach with drop cloths....notice I used the term attempted.

As for myself, I was a little more successful protecting my eyes,ears and lungs from the dust.....

I can't wait to be astonished...............