Adding a pinch of this and a splash of that

Who would ever think that colors could be scarey! There is nothing more alive that the vibrant youthful greens of spring, the calm of a turquoise Caribbean sea, the earthy red and burnt orange in the turned leaves of fall, or the crisp bright white of winter. Yet as we teeter on the edge of color, my pulse quickens...

And doubt creeps in....

Both feet, ready? Set?......JUMP!

Feels like prom night....

Oh the anticipation, so much preparation into getting things just right for the big event....

(Thank God Fillmore was born in '49, I shudder to think what he's look like 

if I had to draw from the 70's for color inspiration....)

.....elaborately attired or otherwise fully prepared for an anticipated situation or activity which, nevertheless, fails to occur

In case you are wondering....yes the big roll up door in front of Fillmore is the spray booth.

All Dressed up and no place to go!

Parts and Pieces

Corvus corax, The Thompson Turkey, the common Raven. A bird that was definitely prevalent where I grew up, and sometimes I feel we have a lot of things in common. "Common ravens are omnivorous and highly opportunistic: their diet may vary widely with location, season and serendipity". Back home that was a nice way to call it a scavenger....and sometimes late at night as I stand in front of the open door to the fridge and scan the contents again, I suppose I would have to agree with the common trait.
As I walked into the paint shop the other day I had to chuckle about the raven yet again. Folklore says that if you can find a ravens nest you will be rewarded with a multitude of shiny objects from near and far. I never had the fortune to even spot a Ravens nest, let alone look inside, but I have witnessed a raven steal bright shiny objects, particularly brand new shiny white golf balls. So when I saw the parts and pieces of Fillmore set about the shop it made me say "Ooooooooo! "and be drawn to the bright and shiny splendor.

Don't get me wrong I could revel at the magic that is happening for hours.....but I'm getting a little impatient about getting some variety in my visual stimuli.....I'm looking for a little color in my day.

The Three R's

Reduce -Reuse-Recycle!
After taking closer stock of the bezel seal retention clips, I thought there was no reason why I couldn't refurbish them with a little elbow grease and rust paint. Plus the fact that I had no idea where I could find clips like that.

So in they went into the ultra-vibe parts cleaner. They came out cleaned up all right, a little more time with some fine steel wool, and they looked even better than the above.

Then, while my daughter watched me and shook her head in disbelief i made a little paint stand. A coat or two of primer and then some tremclad flat black and I was ready to roll.

When I got everything back together, things looked pretty good. I'll have to wait for install time to make sure the ring seal isn't too big or too small.

Of course, as I sat in front of the computer with a lovely glass of single malt, somewhere from the deep recesses of my cob webbed mind I remembered a restoration catalogue that I have. They have just about every little widget you could think that you need. Sure enough, after browsing through a few hundred pages....guess what I found.
Oh well, I like what I have!

Loose ends

Ever had that dream where a friend says "Hey man you got a thread hangin' down!" then everything goes into slow motion. Your friend reaches over , grabs the thread and starts to pull. All the while you seem to be frozen in fear as you watch it all unravel.In the end your just standing there in your underwear and a shirt collar still around your neck......No? just me? huh!

Uhhhhgh!

In a project this big there are loose ends all over the place. Some are left untied because you have to wait to complete another step before it can be cleaned up and cleared off. Others just sort of drift off to the sidelines because " Oh that won't take but a minute, I can do that later!" mentality takes over.

 The last window from the drivers side was like that, until I busted the glass trying to not so gently 'tap' a seal into place. Now it's done, all tied up!

 The headlight bezels are a bit of scenario one and two. I had to get the bezels themselves re-chromed, which I might as well wait for all the bumpers etc before doing that.
 Recently it was time, I took them all apart and sent the bezels and assorted pieces to Alberta Plating for the magic to happen.

 What I didn't do is pay attention to the rest of the components. I simply thought....well "I'll have to replace all that!" forgetting this is Fillmore, a 1949 Flxible Clipper......"A what?"

The original bezel seal is a round rubber bead with a tail or flange....WITH a metal core!
I searched high and low and so far I have found nothing that resembles it.

I did however find some 5/16"full round at Norwesco .
The guys there were really great. It's not perfect but I will continue the search. The second part of the challenge is locating the headlamp gasket retention spring. The ones I have are in pretty good structural shape but it would be nice to get some new ones if possible.....

I looked and looked, went to the usual suspects, but nothing.So last night, after a glass of rejuvenation, I decided that structually these clips are in good enough shape to use, they just need to be cleaned up.
It was time to pull  the old "ultra-vibe"
(sounds risque)  back into service. It hasn't seen much action over the last few years.

Stay tuned...

Do these lines make my butt look fat?

A loaded question when coming from a loved one, but safe from Fillmore....
 I want to have more to report, I am eager...no I am hungry for more to tell...but alas there is no meat on these bones. A meagre bowl of rock soup today I am afraid.

On the positive side of the equation...less time working on Fillmore means more time having intellectual stimulating conversations with my kids!!

 Before

Here are some pics of some changes we made to the rear lines on Fillmore. The top edge comes in higher and accentuates the curves of the hind end.
Although you can't see it in these shots it also helps to balance the front and back in profile.
The autobody shop is big but also busy. There are vehicles everywhere so getting a good profile shot is tough.
As for the front (Robert) we are re configuring the transition from horizontal to vertical,using a curve with a bigger radius. More pics on Friday(hopefully)

 After

Change

Man, sometimes I think way too much. I have a thought and the next thing I know it's spinning out of control. The thought turns to a statement that turns into a rant and then a political/religious/humanitarian stand on the state of affairs in the world. Who do I think I am Ric Mercer?

My point is that things really change when we draw lines, and when people have the courage to not just talk about it but do it. I am sparing you the geo political rant, suffice to  say that for this blog...
Keep it lite, keep it bright

I was thrilled at how spectacular Fillmore looks with a plain white base coat, now with the graphic layout help of my dear sister in law, Adele, it was time to create change again and draw lines.

Dale for PET Auto body was super patient with me. For a self proclaimed articulate guy, I felt like I was a bumbling idiot when it came to expressing what I wanted. But with the help of the graphic layout from Adele, and my grunts and groans about where I wanted things to be, we made real progress.

Earlier this week they sent paint spray cards over to my office, and am I ever glad they did. What I thought was the color I wanted , when sprayed out on a larger surface was not what I have in my minds eye. So back the paint chips....

White Knight

Wow! That seems to sum up how I felt when I walked into the paint shop last Friday to check in on Fillmore. There has been a tonne of work done, hours upon hours of  welding,body work with hammer and dolly and then bondo. But the difference is dramatic!

It looks fantastic, everything is clean and sharp. A few touch ups to be done but happy with how it looks!

Glassy smooth finish!

Next step is to lay out the blue...

Happy New Year!

 I think it's safe to say there are some years you can't forget, the year I turned 16, the year I met my wife, the year(s) my kids were born...and then there are some years you would like to forget, you know you could just check off the box of been there done that and don't go back there again. 2014 was one of those years.
Thankfully we are on to bigger and better things now, two great ways to start the new year. First I went skiing! Yes you heard me. I was skiing in Golden with the family and it was great. The snow conditions were no hell but I was just happy to be out there and working the old muscles.Second bit of good news was word that Fillmore had the base paint applied!

Here he was rolling into the paint booth.

It's amazing how a little paint can change your whole perception.

I will go down to the paint shop this friday to finalize the blue and accent strip color.

Things are coming together!