Body

If you remember when I first laid eyes on Horse it was obvious he had spent most of his life in the southwest. The only rust he wore was truthfully the result of sitting outside for so many years where moisture had found all the rock chips and thin places in the paint to form what is popularly referred to as "patina". I enjoy a genuinely earned patina finish that has been preserved and reflects the character and age of a vehicle. I like it, but in this case it was important to me to give this Bronco a new life with a good coat of paint to protect him for years to come. He was just so good it seemed a shame to waste the opportunity. 

I'll pull back the curtain on my process with these projects, just for a moment, and don't be surprised if some of it seems odd. Sometimes when you put words to the way you do something the response is mostly quizzical looks and uncomfortable silences, and that's from your friends. Pay no attention. You do you. Where was I... so, when I first unload a car at my shop I don't really know what I am going to do with it. It's like looking at a picture out of focus. I allow some time to pass in order to get to know the car and it's story and after a while they start "talking" to me. I talk back, which looks a lot like talking to myself, but slowly the picture resolves itself into focus and I begin to know what the car wants. Talking cars. Ridiculous.

With this big, faded Bronco, the picture that I saw was a bright yellow truck sitting high on fat tires with chromed bumpers winking in the sun on a summer day. It's cool, comfortable saddle brown interior capped by a white, Raptor-lined top. A mix of old and new. Not quite a faithful recreation, but not really a full resto-mod. Something that reminds you of the 70's, but can be enjoyed today. Maybe even going as far as installing the air conditioning that he never had to go along with the new carpet and upholstery. Comfortable, yet familiar. And very, very noticeable.

I was beginning the research for a body shop I would trust to do the work, considering I would be doing all the disassembly and would take it to the painter piecemeal. My difficulty was in moving the body independent of the frame, which I would be restoring myself. Body carts are expensive, and it was going to be kind of a pain. I was talking the problem over with one of my oldest and best friends who now lives in Texas when he suggested coming up to my shop himself to help with the project for a week. He has many years of experience with paint and body and had some time available to help. I loved the idea of doing a project with him, since we hadn't done one since we were in our 20's a very long time ago. A month and a half later I was picking him up at the airport and we got to work!

We spent the week hard at work smoothing the body and prepping for paint. A 44 year old vehicle, no matter how straight it looks to the eye, has a lifetime of parking lot dings and assorted whoopsies all up and down its body panels. We found our share and spend most of the time making them right. What else we found was very interesting. First of all, the paint was clearly the original layer sprayed on at the ford plant. Secondly, the quality control at the time of manufacture was quite loose. We found numerous droops in the paint as well as blemishes which definitely dated back to 1978. Reading between the historical lines of the research I had done, we surmised that such was the great demand for these trucks when they were introduced that Ford cranked them out as fast as possible, sacrificing quality for quantity. I have read no complaints about quality in the relevant publications of the time, but when you are hungry everything tastes good. I can say with confidence that this next coat of paint will be far better than the first ever was - even if still not perfect. 

10/18/22

Fast forward a few months. Don't you love that phrase? It's inevitably followed by a description of an unexpected difficulty or change in plan, and this case is no different. After inspecting the new paint in daylight, I noticed some dry places in the clearcoat, and some very prominent orange peel in other areas. Also, because of low light conditions during painting, the basecoat was thin in two or three noticeable places. I was discouraged, to say the least, and just let things sit while I busied myself with other aspects of the build, as well as completing other projects that came through the shop.

Spring and summer passed, then one day in early fall I became willing to face the facts. I wasn't happy with how the paint looked, and it was time to fish or cut bait. I decided the only way to do Golden Boy justice was to wet-sand everything down smooth and paint everything again. It was really only going to cost me in time spent, since I had pretty much all the supplies I needed to do the job. I kicked and screamed inside at the thought of retracing my steps and going backwards on the project, but the part of me that knew it had to be done just stood there impassively until the tantrum was over and then got to work.

I've been working on other projects during the sanding process, so it may be a couple months before I'm ready to paint. I'll make sure to get plenty of light before I tackle it again. The juice is worth the squeeze.

11/30/2022

I've finished painting AGAIN, and it turned out very well. Of course, pictures won't ever show what the eye sees in truth, so any pictures I took of the second time look exactly like the pictures the first time I painted. You might be wondering why I didn't take the body off the frame when I painted the first time. The arrival of my long-awaited two post lift was the difference. I knew it was coming, but didn't want to wait on the body work for it to show up. The way things have been back-ordered this year, you just have to keep pressing forward. 

7/23/2023

I couldn't resist a comparison shot. You might notice that the top windows are now all glass instead of the slider windows. Because of supply issues, the rubber weatherstrip for the slider frames are not available right now. I rebuilt the original sliders, so if the weatherstrip becomes available they can be installed. Otherwise, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit. Or something.