Steve drove cross country from San Diego to bring his coach
to us for an exterior refinish, thanks man. There are some that wonder why
Steve passed up thousands of paint booths suitable to paint his coach to
actually hang out over on the east coast of Florida adding to our states tax
base while we give his coach a face lift.
Hey
where else can you go and abuse your coach under the supervision of
professionals anyway!
No, Steve & I had talked about repainting his coach for a while now when we
would get together at Western States rallies. I think maybe he was testing
me a bit to see if we had what he was looking for. At our last get
together, Steve told me the first trip after retirement from the San Diego
force, he was coming for paint and, by golly he did.
Now, don't get me wrong, Steve is not the first California coach we've dealt with, actually we have many customers on the "left coast" but I am very pleased and honored to have Steves coach with us.
But why did he come and what is he looking for. Steve's background is stuck right in the middle of the hot rod craze in California. Steve, as a pretty serious hobby, build competition engines for drag racers and show cars. He has a passion for things on wheels and is interested in having nice equipement kept in tip top shape. This is why I'm very happy he is here.
"All paint jobs are not created equal", you've heard that but it's hard to walk up to someone and say, you want to spend more for something, but in paint its less a matter of "how much" as it is "What are you going to do?". I had a 70 Mustang painted by Earl Schibe once, but I went out back and slipped the painter $20 and told him I'd give him 20 more if the car looked better than others they painted. Hey, the paint was on there thick, and as long as I kept wax on it and kept everyone @ 20 feet away- the car looked great. But was that really saving money and adding value to that classic convertible? Do I need to answer that?
No, Steve has learned that lesson, probably the way I did, and is looking for more out of his paint job. That is the sort of work we do. You will probably find someone to paint a coach "cheaper", but what are you getting for that money and will it add value to the coach?
Another aspect of an exterior finish involves more than
just the paint. There is more to the outside of any vehicle than the paint
itself. You really aren't looking to reinstall that body side molding are
you? What about the grill and headlight bezels, tail lights, window frames
& rubbers, clearance and side marker lights, bumpers..., these are the things
that make the job, new body molding will make the job. Steve understands
this and we covered many of these things going into the job. You betcha he
gets to pick the colors but he also gets to pick the body molding too!
Have you ever seen a paint job that "just isn't done". I mean there are a
few runs, some overspray on the windshield and falling out window rubbers.
You know the guy that painted right over the silicone on the roof. By the
way, you can't paint over silicone----- it flakes off, besides, it looks pretty
silly. A paint job (exterior refinish) isn't done until all of these
things are as new as they can be as well. Be sure to get a real "apples to
apples" picture of what your "paint job" costs--- completed. I think if
you do that, you will find our prices very fair but more than that you will find
the value in our work when you look at it that way.
So why did Steve make it to us in Florida? He wants a quality job at a price that is fair for the quality and quantity of work put into the job. There is no magic want or "miracle liquid" that will give you twice the quality for half the price, sand paper, paint and good masking tape have a value and if its used on the job, there is a cost there. Please do not believe someone will charge you 50 cents for something that costs him a dollar-- well if he does he will not be able to do it for long.
Enough of the commercial message, lets talk about Steves paint--- OK?
It all comes apart, we do not tape off things that can be taken off-- the short
cut is to tape off stuff like light fixtures, bumpers, trim, etc.--- Survey
Says------ beeeeeeepppp, nope-- not gonna do that!
Yes, Steve had decal stripes-- we took them off. Not like this
using sand paper that has gouged this body which, in the end, creates huge
amounts of repair and a questionable finish at best. No, we use a case of
eraser wheels to pull off the decal without damaging the paint underneath--- no
short cut taken.
The drip rails are removed, the dried out old "goopenpucky" is dug out and the
coach is painted with these rails off. Then the rails are painted, sealant
reinstalled and rails put back on. Why? Oh, you did want to try and
stop those pesky water leaks didn't you? Of course you could drill holes
in the floor and let the water flow out! This takes some time but aren't
you glad that this detail was taken?
This coach is NOT ready for paint, some would say why not-- you know the answer.
The body repair and prep happened so fast (we have little
elves work out grave yard shift) that I didn't get any pics. Here is
Steves coach in its block sand primer
ready to smooth out the surface with block sanding. The dusted black
primer are "depression indicators" showing the high and low points as you sand
it using a rigid block with sand paper. This is an extra step that could
be bypassed but the final finish would suffer.
Accessories to the finish such as Steves new visor, and
the front hood doors a based and cleared inside and out
,
here the visor top as well as the under side of the doors are based and cleared
before the main body is shot. The doors will be installed for the shoot
for an even flow of the color and clear. Have you ever seen a door that
was the right color but the finish was different--- I rest my case!
OK, here is Steve getting the first of the "3 process
pearl" top color
3 coats of the base white then 3-4 coats of pearl and only then the clear will
go on. A little work but this is a special color and there can be no short
cuts taken, the pearl will be so vivid that it has to be layed on seperatly.
The Pearl is on the white base,
and
we're bagging it off for the second color. OK, you caught me, we did cut a
corner--- we bagged off the satellite dish, we didn't pull it off--- shoot me!
This pearl is gonna be "very pearl"
,
look at the shine and this is before clear. We had a discussion on the
break line for the body lines
,
coming off the side molding, the body line ends up an inch or so above the color
line. Hey, you have to have straight lines & I think doing it this way, we
will continue the "low" look". The coach WILL be in clear this afternoon.
The weather is holding but the wet stuff is on the horizon-- the clear must go
on now. Tonights pics should be spectacular.
The weather held, the clear mixed just
right and we have some fantastic colors.
And with the humid weather called for today (it's actually
misting as we speak) the wet sand and buff stage will be perfect! These
are not just white and brown colors-- oh no, this is a 3 stage
(base--pearl--clear) top and a metallic flip-flop bottom. Will it look
different when parked next to anything else--- need I ask? The acc. pieces
(drip caps, visor, T skirts, hoods, etc. were painted so today we will be in wet
sand and buff mode. Next we will reassemble the rails, etc. and get the
body sealed up before its pulled outside.
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy-- its out of the booth and in the light
Next the coach will come back over to trim for final assembly. I'll get pics today of the wet sand for you. The west coast has a new "good looker" in Steve's coach, thanks for giving us the chance to show our stuff.
Details, details is where its at on a REAL paint job. The original
headlight bezels were refinished and a new grill added for a clean, look.
The frame will be blacked out and with the painted bumpers the look will be
complete. This is the stuff you pay for, spraying the paint is the easy
part!
The frames must be finished,
pealing paint on the frames is no good. We're in the middle of buffing out
the paint, the new generator door is on, the small cracks in the original one
compromised its integrity-- looked good but we knew the difference. Hate
to keep harping on this but you guys following Steve's job must understand that
"we ain't troulin out tooth paste here", the final finish is the key-- as "Unky
George W." says, "Results matter"! There are no short cuts
that work so shut up and get back to work!
Do I sound a bit pointed here, you betcha-- I'm tired of being compared to production painters and their work-- there is no way they can take the time needed to detail an exterior refinish like this. It's a basic truth, can McDonalds cook up a marinated T bone steak? Their squirrel burgers fill up the same hole in your stomach though, so do we compare those 2 types of restaurants? NO and thats my point. Boy, I'd better jump off this soap box before I say something wrong but really guys, its all down to what you want. We can do some body work, foof out some primer, tape off the mirrors and let the paint fly--- that's easy. Please know that if you bring the coach to me, it WILL be a nice job. Like I said, I need to shut up now but I just feel so strongly about this, anything worth doing is worth doing right-- I'm not calling others cheaters, they know what I mean, shops have standards of their work. They make money based on the volume and quality of their work and how much time they spend on a project-- that makes the difference in the work produced. We are a one off, skilled, cottage business, we cater to and solicit quality work, its what we do and its what our customers expect. We cost more than a production shop but we spend more time doing the work, its just a simple math equation.
One of the jobs I enjoy the most many
people pay to have done--- I love to was a freshly painted vehicle
At one point in my past, I owned a window tint/detail shop and loved when we got
in really well finished cars. I did them myself thinking of them as my
own, that way I could have the luxury of fussing over a nice ride without having
to pay for owning it. When the cars were in my hands, they were MINE.
And when they were done, I would always take 15 minutes, sit down and admire MY
car.
Here is Steve's coach after its first wash partially assembled. There is
still much to do-- body side molding, bumpers, window trim, taking the tape off
of the radio antenna-- you know stuff like that but here is the finish.
First impressions are the ones you remember so I have the coach crossway and
this will be the first look Steve and Nancy will see as they pull in to the
shop--- I think it's important.
Buffing out the white yesterday was difficult, the sun reflecting off of the pearl half blinded Kevin as he ran the buffer-- maybe should have left the coach inside for that but I wanted to get it out in the sun for a look see.
I'm proud of the finish and proud that Steve entrusted us with his coach for this work. Can't wait for you guys in the left coast to see our detail.
OK, Steve is hanging out doing his thing
helping us put his coach back together and also doing some "special things" he's
always wanted to do.
Steve had us blast off the chrome on his bumpers, paint color kry them to the
lower section of his coach (thats not that unusual) but then he wanted the
bumpers to live closer to the body taking up some of that huge gap between the
bumper and body. Under his instruction (would not do this unless the
customer instructed me to), we drained the silicone from the bumper shocks then
plasma cut the back off of them to relieve the spring tension.
Doing this, Steve could retract the mount and locate the bumper closer to the
body.
Nelson swung by and got into helping Steve bolt up the bumper with the new solid
Stainless steel bolts
which yielded an interesting clean front end look
Hey, its a nice clean finish for sure. Today, he'll be doing the rear
bumper. With no spare and a spiffy new logo we found, betcha the back will
look "bitchen"! Thats a west coast term -- isn't it? Well anyway, I
think it looks great.
The coach is coming together
Pictures speak much louder than words and results matter
I'd like to thank Steve for bringing his coach to us and having the commitment to see a project such as this through. Yes, this psint job will cost more than Macco, sure the cost is important but the finish is the reason it came here. After all-- do you want to have a cheap paint job --- or a good one. Add value to your coach, accent the stylish GMC with a quality paint job, you'll thank yourself.
Project complete and as usual a great looking coach. Details are the key.
Come back tomorrow, if we keep going like this, you'll miss the job!