Paint
"Paint" What an easy work to say, short-- simple and there is no doubting what it is talking about. Paint though is a very difficult and important part of a together vehicle. It's the first thing you see when you approach the vehicle, it sets the stage, it's the first word of the statement the vehicle stands for-- it's the wrapper, the wrapping -- it's what first gets your attention and it needs to say the right thing. Raymond wanted to keep the flow of the original GMC body style, we were not going to "disguise" the body like many machines of this size do-- why? That's simple, they have very little style other than maybe if you call "square" a style! The GMC, on the other hand, has style, it has a sleek body. In 1971, the GMC had a lower drag coefficient measured in a wind tunnel than a Corvette. Up to 58 MPH, the GMC body can be considered "slick" and this is the difference, this is what makes the GMC the classic, engineered pace setter that is was--- and still is! Follow as we put the wrapper on this big chunk of vcandy:
Walter has our baby now and he's getting
the body ready for it's new colors. Here are the final drawings for the
exterior finish
As far a Walter is concerned, step one is to prep up the flare kit, blend them to the body and smooth everything out
And the beat goes on, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet and boy is this not a big Omelet!
Latest entry
The "omelet" is starting to take shape and
the foldover is about to happen. The body mating is done, the shaping of
the flare/ground effects kit to the original body is in the bag and man it looks
great!
,
now this phase of the project is where it all stats mating together, the dream
starts taking shape.
The transition from the original body to the wheel flares and reshaped lower
body has to be seemless. It needs to look like it was supposed to be ther
and gentlemen, this is a hard job.
.
I hate those bolt on look flares you see on cars. It's obvious it was put
on after the fact, thats not the look we are going for here
Walter is creating a "real" machine, not something rigged up
Boxing in the rear skirt adds strength and the finished look we are going for.
Stay tuned for
more.
From here he is looking to have the coach in primer by this Friday where the
guys will ascend on the machine like locust for the block and shape sanding and
thien we will see the shape of things to come. Oh yes, we are making
progress-- stay tuned and hold on to your keyboard!
Here is the paint design worked up in
California by Raymonds design team
Watch for the real thing very soon. The spray guns are hot, it's going to
happen. Stay tuned
Hot off the press-- a big day, "we're in base" At long last all the body work is done, all the prep work is behind us-- the 26' hot rod truly is closer to the road-- the color is on so without any further introductions-- "Cruz'n " has it's colors:
(cut-n-paste)
Sitting all alone in that huge paint bay
normally reserved for 45' Provost million dollar monsters, Walter has this baby
front row center. "In Base" means you see the color with no shine, the
base coat has the color. The black you see is not black
Oh in the dark it may look black but let the sun hit it and you see the maroon
metallic "black cherry" flop. It's not flash, it's classic hot rod lines,
understated, strong, it says "get off my part of the planet"! There is no
mistaking, this is a GMC
,
the community can be proud that Raymond chooses to let the world know what it
is-- and from a distance it still has the lines but as you get closer you may
get worried this beast will tear off your arm and beat you with it! Not
close to done, I got word today that the first 3 layers of clear is on the
paint, next we will float Raymonds production logo. Walter has the
equipement to make that logo come to life
with is full sized computer graphics plotter complete with top notch programmer
so this with the materials selection, the prep work and unbelievable ground
effects and flare work I think I am safe saying this is truly over the top!
This is really a dream come true for me, thanks to all who have brought this
dream to life and gentlemen-- wait till you see this thing in clear!
The first layers of clear are on, they were
wet sanded now Raymonds production company Logo goes on next, we dropped by to
see how things were going on with this step and logged these pics:
Doesn't look much different from the day before but there has been piles of work
since then, here is Walters next mission, put this on the side of the coach
and follow the original design pics
and by golly thats what he was doing
,
with his computer generated layout as a guide
he is heavy into it
.
Mark came with me so he's the first person to see the coach
Oh yea, it's coming out nice
so remember this pic-- it's taped to the coach and Walter is following every
line one at a time
.
Tomorrow we hope to see the coach in the sun, clear on and then we'll see what
we really have!
Well here ya go, the first pics of the future for the GMC! The intent was not to "dude" up the coach making some other brand (SOB) but to keep the style, lines and look of the original coach. It's been a struggle to get to this point and I guess I have to say anything worth doing takes effort so with the effort that has been put into this project I see great things-- take a look and see what I mean:
The finish is superior, Walter has done it! My dream is sitting there in front of me, Raymond Cruz dream has become a reality or should I say this part of the dream has come true. Now we have more to do, we have a bar, a standard to reach and we have now got our goal in sight. This will be a culmination of so many ideas it simply boggles my mind!
1. Look at the wheels, you really don't notice that the front wheels are 19.5" and the rears are 16"! Wait til we have a like Alcoa rim on the front!
2. The extensive ground effects makes a "new" statement but does not detract from the original lines of the coach!
3. The paint scheme flows with the body lines but looks "fresh", this truly is a 26' Hot Rod!
4. The finish is superior, you get lost looking into the black cherry paint! The colors are balanced, impressive but not flashy!
5. This truly is a "New GMC", hey it says so on the side and I feel this is a fitting next step for this classic.
The big day is finally here!
Another phase comes to a close as another one
begins, "Elvis has interred the building", "the wild rabbit has checked his
watch" and "Hal has begun to dream"! The next generation of road warriors
has come home for it's interior--- take a look at the glorious arrival
With
one phone call to the tow company an hour later it arrived. I was taking
no chances of driving Raymond's coach not yet road ready. It came in on
the most protective manner we could arrange
On a huge commercial "landoll" flat bed tractor our baby came to us
With no more than 1 inch clearance on the sides, :Cruz'n" proved it was a
substancial object occupying space and time. It looked awesome up there on
that rig but it had to come down and I was the one who rode it back down to
terra firma. Taking it slow and easy we drove it back to the shop where
this monster was made, back for more, back to make it everything it could be-- I
guess you could say really back to the future we go with a classic giant on
steroids
Back into it's bay where the saga of the exterior finish began, we are soooo
happy to get Cruz'n back for it's interior at long last.
All the coaches were staring at the monster machine and the flat bed went on
duty to protect the bay door
It too is a special machine built from classic components that too one day will
shine but for now his job is to protect. And with that "Tranquility base
here, the eagle has landed" and now our work begins to build into Cruz'n an
interior that matches the impeccable quality and style of the exterior
finish Walter mated onto our dream machine-- thanks man, now it's our turn to
shine!
So the dash is next and boy do we have a standard to keep! Stay tuned for more.