Update on BABY's painting schedule

[BarryK]

Hi all

as you know I dropped BABY off last Tuesday at the body shop to have some things repaired and touched up. On Thursday I checked back with the shop to see if he had any "pricing quotes" ready for me.
Well, instead of going for just touch-ups we went for the whole redo instead. The shop is going to make fiberglass repairs on the whole body (see my other thread about what body repairs there are doing). The body repairs are not major for the most part but there are a lot of them overall and than he will do a complete brand new paint job instead of trying to touch up the bad areas. When he is done working on her BABY will be looking SWEET and PERFECT!!


The painter called me yesterday and said it will take about 6-8 weeks to finish BABY. I was hoping for it to be sooner than that as i really wanted to go to a few scheduled shows but such is life and it will be well worth it to have it done right and not try to rush the job. I DON'T want to sacrifice quality just to make a show deadline since we are pretty much going all out on these body repairs and paint job. Oh, and she will be staying her proper Milano Maroon color.

As a side note: as anyone here ever heard of someone by the name of Bobby Gold? He has passed away now but lived local to me and it's my understanding that he was pretty much world reknown as a very large Corvette collector and authority. I had never heard of him but everyone in this area seems to know who this gentleman was.
Well, it turns out that my painter who has a great reputation in this area was this man Bobby Gold's right hand man for years when it came to buying cars. My painter, Joe, would fly all over the country with Bobby to look at cars and buy them - almost all top level or special rare type cars - and any type of body work or paint work Joe would do. When people around here found out who's shop I took BABY into to get the work done they all said "wow, that's Bobby's man, you are going to the very best". Since I had never heard of Bobby Gold (but I'm new to this hobby since March) I thought some of you might know who this Bobby Gold was.

** Terry, if you see this thread, don't tell me "I told you so". :L
I knew as well as you that I wouldn't have BABY for those two shows in Oct that we discussed at Hagley on Sun. but i was HOPING anyway. You had to allow me my moment of fantasy! LOL And you and I know that if Joe is telling me 6-8 weeks I'll be lucky to see BABY before 2005. Hey, I'm just hoping to get my car out of his shop before Garth's. Of course his has only been there 7 or 8 years being worked on!

 

[Sams '66]

You will never want to drive it again.......rock chips, bugs, etc.

http://homepage.mac.com/sambean/vette/corvette.html

 

[BarryK]

Hi Sam

I know, I know, I thought about that factor when deciding if i REALLY wanted to go with a complete new paint job. But I wanted BABY too look her best and she will now but overall she is only a driver car - not a trailer queen.
PLUS, I'm now going with base/clear instead of her current lacquer paint and I'm told that any chips, scratches, etc are MUCH easier to repair and blend in with base/clear than with lacquer so overall it should give me less worries and concerns than I have now.

 

[IH2LOSE]

You know the old

"while your at it"

Really start to kick in now Barry.You mine as well see what emblems or chrome and weather strips need to be replaced and get them ordered

 

[ThomC]

Can't wait to see the pictures when she's done. I'm sure she'll be drop-dead-gorgeous. It'll be worth the wait for sure.

 

[warren s]

Barry


I would rather have the car in the body shop than on the road during the winter, hope you get it back before the salt hits the highways, or AFTER the salt has cleared, And please post some new pictures!! That old grainy one has to go!!

 

[BarryK]

You know the old

"while your at it"

Really start to kick in now Barry.You mine as well see what emblems or chrome and weather strips need to be replaced and get them ordered

LOL
already been there Larry!
The only trim pieces I may replace is the chrome (or is it stainless) trim around the windshield as it really doesn't fit as well as it should and while it looks ok, the fit could be better. When it was R & R'd last time I think the person reinstalling it tried to force it into place and flattened a few sections of it and a few other sections don't sit as fluch as they should.
all other emblems and chrome on the car already look great.
The only 2 other things are the rear window has always leaked a lot and he will fix that. You can visibly see the existing seal or gasket is all screwed up and you can see light comming through it from the from the outside if you are in the car.
does anyone know is this a gasket i have to order or it it just a silicone seal they put on when they reinstall the rear window?
Also, while the seats are out i'm going to have them taken apart and redone. The leather is in very good shape but they weren't pulled tight enough last time they were recovered. The upholshery guy said he prefers to start from scratch, although reusing the existing leather shouldn't be a problem. he will completely take the seat apart, if the frame or anything is rusty he will sandblast it, check the existing foam to see if we can reuse it or we need to reorder new foam, than recover it again making sure the leather is pulled nice and tight as proper. He think that when it's repulled a lot of the wrinkles that have developed in the leather will work themselves out. I suspect at least some are there permantly now but in either case the seats will look a lot better.

Everything else is in great shape including all the rest of the chrome and trim pieces, weatherstripping, etc. Remember, when I got the car in March it had just completed a full body-off resoration (except for the paint) so was in pretty good condition to start with for the most part.

 

[BarryK]

Can't wait to see the pictures when she's done. I'm sure she'll be drop-dead-gorgeous. It'll be worth the wait for sure.

Hi Thom

I'll be sure to get pics when she is done. I can't wait to see here in person when she is done!

yes, it WILL be worth the wait but it's sad to go out in the garage everyday and see her empty spot. I miss the old girl already and it's only been a week.

 

[BarryK]

Barry


I would rather have the car in the body shop than on the road during the winter, hope you get it back before the salt hits the highways, or AFTER the salt has cleared, And please post some new pictures!! That old grainy one has to go!!

I agree with you Warren

As soon as that very first grain of salt hits the road she is parked in the garage with the cover on her until spring!
Hopefully I'll get her back before than because it would be great to get at least one or two nice drives in before she has to go into storage for the winter. If not, well, she will be safe at the body shop also. Come Dec, if he isn't finished with her he can just keep working on her until the Spring!
LOL

No problem on the pics. I know the old grainy one has to go. Once I get her back i'll have a lot of motivation to take lots of new pics showing her off and how beautiful she is going to look.

 

[Z28Canuck]

Barry
You really lucked out picking your painter by the sounds of it! Sounds like you found someone who has pride in his work, has an excellent reputation, appreciates the cars he works on and is fair priced all in one package. Excellent. . Now the hardest part for you is the wait . Kinda like waiting for Christmas? The wait will be worth it when he's done though so remember those pics! Will he let you take pictures periodically when you pop in to see him so you have a history as he progresses for your own keepsake? Thanks for the updates and please keep them coming. Take care.
Cheers

 

[BarryK]

Barry
You really lucked out picking your painter by the sounds of it! Sounds like you found someone who has pride in his work, has an excellent reputation, appreciates the cars he works on and is fair priced all in one package. Excellent. . Now the hardest part for you is the wait . Kinda like waiting for Christmas? The wait will be worth it when he's done though so remember those pics! Will he let you take pictures periodically when you pop in to see him so you have a history as he progresses for your own keepsake? Thanks for the updates and please keep them coming. Take care.
Cheers

yep, i think i really did luck out with my painter. Thanks to a good friend of mine who knew about him and recommended him. It's about time i had some good luck for a change!
the wait IS the hardest part but at least I'll get to go visit BABY once or twice a week to check on progress.
good idea on taking the progress pics. I'm embarassed to say I didn't even think of that but I'll be sure to do that now.
It will also be interesting to see just how much "history" the car has had once all the pld paint is stripped off. i believe at least 2 if not 3 of the fenders have been replaced at some point but there were done with Chevy replacements, not repro's according to someone who supposably could tell by the way the fiberglass looked when viewes underneath the car. Now I suppose we get to see more of what this car has endured in her 39 1/2 years.

 

[Sting Ray]

Barry,

Bob Gold was one of Chip Millers best friends that died about 4 or 5 years ago, he used to run the Auction at Carlilse.


Good Luck on the Paint.

Tom

 

[BarryK]

Barry,

Bob Gold was one of Chip Millers best friends that died about 4 or 5 years ago, he used to run the Auction at Carlilse.


Good Luck on the Paint.

Tom

awesome, thanks for the info on Bob Gold. all that I had was what i listed above. Knowing my painter worked a lot with this man and the quality of cars he must have been dealing with really makes me feel good knowing BABY is in great hands!

 

[JL66REDCPE]

Barry,

Bob Gold was one of Chip Millers best friends that died about 4 or 5 years ago, he used to run the Auction at Carlilse.


Good Luck on the Paint.

Tom

The above is true. Additionally he was one of the nicest persons you would ever want to meet.

 

[BarryK]

The above is true. Additionally he was one of the nicest persons you would ever want to meet.

it's a shame I wasn't "in the hobby" when he was still alive. I hear he lived here in DE and was only about 15 minutes or less from me. He was in the same section that my parents are in.
He sounds like he would have been a great guy to talk to.

Another irony is that he used to run the auction at Carlisle. My family is in the auctioneering business (although rarely cars unless part of an estate or such) and has been for 3 generations. Who knows, perhaps they knew him, as people in the same industry tend to know each other, especially if they are local to each other, even if their 'specialties" are different.

 

[Mikey1]

Barry....go save your money and get yourself a Digicam !!!


I want to see pix....

 

[BarryK]

Barry....go save your money and get yourself a Digicam !!!


I want to see pix....

We have 2 of them already!
LOL

 

[Sams '66]

You know the old

"while your at it"

Really start to kick in now Barry.You mine as well see what emblems or chrome and weather strips need to be replaced and get them ordered

Yep, might as well go for it now......

 

[Vette66AirCoupe]

Barry,

No "I told you so" here. I'm delighted to hear the of the choice you made. That's a fine Vette you have and it deserves the best. I was afraid that the cost might prevent you from going the whole nine yards. Great, great news! Total repaint, I can't wait to see it!

 

[BarryK]

Yep, might as well go for it now......

Luckily Sam, I don't have to worry about any of those other items with the exception of the chrome trim around the windshield