Barry?

[paul67]

Any news?

 

[BarryK]

yep, lots of news, just do a google search under current events and i'm sure you will get all the current news you can handle.

 

[BarryK]

sorry Paul, I could resist the above

actually, I was just at the shop checking on Baby 2 hours ago. Progress is slow as always but it's coming along.
He's still working on the final wetsanding and that's what he was doing when I walked in there today. I think this must be the third time he's gone over the car for final wetsanding. At this rate I don't know when the FINAL final wetsanding is!
After that the windshield and rear window go back in and final buffing then reassembly.
Oh, in the middle of all that he still needs to paint the hood. All of the car got painted a few weeks back except the hood. Painting the hood should only take a few hours he said and I believe he planned on doing that today or tomorrow but we got unexpected rain today that is suppose to last at least another day or two and he doesn't want to paint the hood with the weather this damp and wet so we have to wait for the next sunny day. I had thought she would be done at the end of this week but it looks like I'll be waiting some more.........
SIGH!

 

[67HEAVEN]

Oh, in the middle of all that he still needs to paint the hood.

Barry my friend,
You want that me and some o' the boyz should drop by the shop and explain to the gent what a friggen paint gun looks like?

 

[stepinwolf]

I'm in

Barry my friend,
You want that me and some o' the boyz should drop by the shop and explain to the gent what a friggen paint gun looks like?


Bob, you can count me in if it's held at 12 O'clock High




Stepinwolf

 

[BarryK]

Barry my friend,
You want that me and some o' the boyz should drop by the shop and explain to the gent what a friggen paint gun looks like?

thank Bob & Bob but no need to go thru that effort, although if you are so willing to drive down here again I'd love to see Heaven in person and also that beautiful red 'vert you posted up a little while ago Step. By the way, is that a '65? I love the headrest seats in it

The only reason he didn't paint the hood along with the rest of the car a few weeks ago was because he simply ran out of room in the paint booth. He had the car in there and a long table holding all the little parts - headlight buckets and associated parts, rear valence panel, the windshield wiper grills, and a bunch of other little parts that all needed painting. He didn't have enough room for another table to hold the hood while everything else was in there getting done. Between rolling the car in, sealing it, sanding it, priming it, wetsanding it, finding a few more areas to nitpick and repair, priming it again, wetsanding it again, and than painting it he tied up the paint booth for over a week and finally had to get the car out of the booth. The paint booth isn't his, it belongs to a commercial painter across from him but he uses it whenever he needs after he does all prep work in his own shop, but after tying up the booth for over a week he needed to get my car out of there so the hood got held off a little bit. Not too big of a deal as he said it will only take 3 hours or so to do the hood but it's just another item on the list of "to-do's" that still needs to get done.

This being the first time I've ever had a car painted (except for accident repairs when I was younger) and looking at the paint now after being wetsanded, i'm truely amazed that simply buffing it out will bring all the shine and gloss back to it. It went from looking spectacular and shiney out of the booth with fresh paint to looking like it sat out in the elements for 20 years and needs a complete new paint job after wetsanding. No shine whatsoever, looks dull and unexciting, but it's smooth as a baby's (no pun intended) butt. But I have confidence that if he said the buffing brings everything back than i'll believe him.........but it's hard to imaging buffing can do that.

 

[firstgear]

given everything he is doing to this paint job, you are either paying an arm and a leg for the job or this guy is loosing his butt on it.....but I hate to say it....someone is not going to be happy when all is said and done.....there is no doubt in my mind that it will be 101% first class.....but like I said, when it comes to price or profit someone is not going to be happy......

 

[firstgear]

This being the first time I've ever had a car painted (except for accident repairs when I was younger) and looking at the paint now after being wetsanded, i'm truely amazed that simply buffing it out will bring all the shine and gloss back to it. It went from looking spectacular and shiney out of the booth with fresh paint to looking like it sat out in the elements for 20 years and needs a complete new paint job after wetsanding. No shine whatsoever, looks dull and unexciting, but it's smooth as a baby's (no pun intended) butt. But I have confidence that if he said the buffing brings everything back than i'll believe him.........but it's hard to imaging buffing can do that.

the wet sanding between all the coats and the end will give you a glass like finish....from what I understand, if you were getting it judged they actually will dock you for having too good a paint job (lack of orange peel), but if this is not for judging, just to look good for you....then this will be the absolute best you could hope for.....no orange peel at all and the gloss after the rubbing out will be out of this world.....you will be quite happy.....but those kind of paint jobs are usually BIG $$$$$.

 

[BarryK]

First,
I know what you mean. If I told you how much i'm paying for this job you would s**t your pants in surprise. I'm sure it's MUCH less than you expect considering all the time he has spent on my car and the amount of work he ended up having to do to it - most of which was unexpected until we saw what we had to work with after the paint was stripped. It is still a lot of money for me considering i've been laid off work for 14 months now though.
He really is a total artist when it comes to these cars and although he takes a long time (10 months on this job is actually VERY FAST for him typically) his pricing is surprisingly reasonable. I do sometimes wonder how he manages to stay in business because he refuses to hire anyone to work with him as he isn't satisfied with anyone elses work so it takes him typically a very long time to get cars back out his doors and with his pricing I really do wonder how he makes any money with his shop. But with the quality of his work and his experience being absolutely second to none I wouldn't hesitate to have him work on any other Vette I may get in the future. I wouldn't consider taking a Vette to anyone else at all. Anyone who knows him knows that if you give him your car he will have it quite a while, but everyone, without exception, also raves about the quality of his work and to me that was the most important.

To be honest, if I had it in the budget where I could afford it, I would actually give him about $1,000 over when the set price was given to me just because I think he really deserves it. I feel bad that I can't do that because money is so tight for us lately but with all the extra work he put into the car he deserves it and more

 

[firstgear]

sounds like everyone will be happy.....still amazes me though......

 

[BarryK]

Yes First, this paint job would kill me in NCRS but I don't have the car judged. If I did it would have been repainted in lacquer again but we choose BC/CC because it made more sense as a driver car.
In NCRS, besides the BC/CC dedustion, as you said, the paint is going to look WAY too nice to ever think it would come from the General like that.
along those same lines, the extra time spent on the body would kill me in NCRS also as the panels are now way too straight and the gaps around the doors and hood are way too perfect. I realize that the car would now be considered "over-restored" for NCRS but guess what.....the title is in MY name so I can make it look anyway I choose and I chose to make it look as nice as I could.
IF I ever sell it (which I'm not planning on doing), and the next owner wanted to take it thru NCRS (it is an original #'s matching car) than THEY can spend the money to revert it back to less than perfect body condition.

 

[BarryK]

sounds like everyone will be happy.....still amazes me though......

Believe me, it amazes me too!

but hey, who am I to complain?

 

[paul67]

Thanks Barry. I appreciate the various comments you have provided today. But with respect, you are too laid back. It's just one week after another since last September. Damn, you should be driving! I will leave it at that. You know my thoughts expressed to you in a recent personal e-mail. I really don't know what to say at this point. And I mean that sincerely.

And I apologize for starting this thread. I thought the car would be finished last Friday as per your earlier messages.

 

[BarryK]

Paul
don't worry about it or about starting the thread. I was wondering who was going to ask what the status was by now. My money was on you or on Doug.

yeah, I'm a bit laid back, but while i DO want my car back already (i had planned on a completion date of March 1st originally) there is no rushing my guy and looking at the work he has done I don't want to rush him either. He has simply done way too good of a job to complain about how long it's taken and while a few weeks or months longer than expected now may be taking away from this season's use of enjoying the car, there is still planty of time left of the summer and in the long run it will be well worth it. 10-15 years down the road when the car still looks great because of all the work he is putting into it now, these few extra weeks aren't going to mean anything.

 

[Tripleblack51]

After that the windshield and rear window go back in and final buffing then reassembly.
Oh, in the middle of all that he still needs to paint the hood. All of the car got painted a few weeks back except the hood. Painting the hood should only take a few hours he said and I believe he planned on doing that today or tomorrow but we got unexpected rain today that is suppose to last at least another day or two and he doesn't want to paint the hood with the weather this damp and wet so we have to wait for the next sunny day. I had thought she would be done at the end of this week but it looks like I'll be waiting some more.........
SIGH!

Barry,

My friend, I don't know you but I think if I ever meet you, you'll probably be the one with a halo around your head.
You are a saint!

Man, I'm getting upset just reading at how long this guy is taking to paint your car!

I'm an easy going guy, but I have my limits too!

I know that I surely would not be taking it as well as you are.

My hat's off to you.

I, like the rest of the guys here are very much looking forward to seeing your car completed.

BTW, how's the wing?
At this rate, by the time you get baby back you'll have had enough time to grow a new one!

Regards,
Pedro

 

[IH2LOSE]

Barry


You know I would have plenty to say,We had a conversation on this when you first dropped of the car.

But after seeing what he did to your body lines,I would say who cares how long it takes when its done it will be perfect.My biggest fear (because I have seen it so many times and have heard horro stories) is about that car that sits in a shop untouched for months on end,that does not seam to be your case. Be paicent the quaility of the work he did on the Glass is well worth the time.

Remember this all comes from a person who wants everything yesterday.

 

[BarryK]

Hi Pedro
believe me, I am NO saint!
I used to get a bit upset on how long it was taking but not anymore. with the work i've seen him put into my car and knowing I plan on holding onto the car for a long time i just put it into perpective and realized the long wait will be well worth it in the end. Besides, there is no rushing this guy and what's the point of trying? I'd rather he take his time and do as good of a job finishing her as he has done throughout the whole project up to this point.

The arm is getting better. getting the cast off helped a lot. still sore and stiff but getting a bit better everyday. thanks for asking.

 

[BarryK]

Hi Larry
yep, we did have a few talks about this at the beginning
many times as this paint job dragged on I remembered those talks too and a few times I had doubts and figured maybe you were right afterall......but as you just mentioned, when I realized the level of work he was putting into my car I realized that although slow going, I couldn't have put my car (that I've dreamed about my entire life) in better hands. the work he has done has really transformed the car into one that I barely recognize because of the amount of the changes he made to it. I had thought I had a nice body on the car to start with but once he got his hands on it the difference he made was so great I still can't believe it's the same car.
I truely feel that there probably isn't another shop in this country that would have put so much work into the car for the price he gave me - especially since he gave me a set price upfront BEFORE we stripped the paint off and realized how much additional work was going to be required. That extra work took MONTHS to do and all without once complaining to me about it or telling me he was going to have to increase his price to cover it.
the biggest issue on time is simply that he is all by himself and although some other cars have come and gone while mine has been there, he usually has an average of 10-15 cars in the shop at any given time and he has to spread himself around to get at least a little work on all of them all the time. so it's a few hours on mine, than a few hours on another, etc. so, while the car doesn't sit around untouched for a long time, he also can't just concentrate only on mine alone and ignore all the others or those owners would be upset.

BTW, I see you didn't put that quote from last week in your signature.

 

[Z28Canuck]

You knew I couldn't sit in the background and continue biting my tongue right! :L . I was almost afraid to ask last week but Paul but me to it. In a way your continued patience is bearable only because you had the accident with your arm and weren't able to drive anyway. I think you and all of us know if you hadn't that trouble you would have been climbing the walls by now. I think, and with all due respect to your excellent painter, there comes a time when you have to say enough as there will always be another imperfection or dimple etc that can be worked on and the car will never get finished. There's no argument your bodywork and paint job will be second to none, immaculate and perfected to the enth degree but it is a driver and ask Bob, an unavoidable casualty of being a driver is stone chips etc and it will annoy you to no end when you get your first one! Bob gets annoyed when I start looking real close at the paint or at a part and he has warned me "Do it again and the end of my boot will be so far up your backside your breath will smell like shoe polish!" Just joking, I know that's what he means between the lines when he actually says is "STOP it, don't do that cause you're driving me crazy, it's a driver!". You are getting show room quality work by the sounds of it and you will have a wonderful vette when it's done but it's time to enjoy it soon before the summer is done. You know not many of us could display the continued patience you have now it is time you reap your reward and get cruising real soon. There must be quite a backlog in the bodyshop by now, he'll be glad to see it go too!

Bottom line Barry, and we hope it happens for you very soon, it's time to start enjoying BABY! Good luck and enjoy!
Doug

 

[BarryK]

Hi Doug
Was wondering when you were going to chime in, I was getting worried!

I know, i know, I agree with what you say. I fully realize the car is a driver only and things WILL happen to the paint anyway. That very first chip is going to make me go ballistic i'm sure but after that it will be ok as i already know to expect them but that first one will be the hardest. It will probably happen on my first drive as i'm taking her home from the shop

Yep, it's well past time for me to get to drive and enjoy Baby again but until he is done I can't and I've learned that I ain't getting her back until HE decided she is done. oh well, such is life. it could be worst though. Look how long Bob waited to drive 67Heaven again, or Collin with his SWC, or Gary with his car, etc. 10 months may be long for a paint job, but at least I'm not having to wait 3, 4,........20 years until I can drive her again even though it feels like it at times. I got the car last March and between the time it went back into the restoration shop right after I got it because an idiot backed into her and than this paint job i've actually only had her to use about 3 months out of the 15 months i've owned her.
don't worry, I plan on making up for lost time as soon as she comes home again