[NeighborsComplaint]

Originally Posted by NeighborsComplaint

A local body shop said "Don't even start messing with it, we'll block, prime, basecoat and clearcoat, wet sand and buff the whole car for $1200 if we can tape off the jambs. That's sounding really good right about now.

Took the shop up on the $1200 deal. The shop was a local Maaco who did some specialty work out of the back. The shop owner showed me a couple cars they were doing "mini-restorations" on and the work looked really good. They metal patched my hood pin holes, straightened the kinks in the hood, block sanded and primed the whole car. It looked great in primer. Then they painted the car with a base/clear and it was not so good. Lots of orange peel and some obvious prep flaws. They left chips in the paint on the edges of the hood and did a sloppy cut-in with masking tape along the lower window bright moldings and left the surface very rough pn the doors from the body lines up where they couldn't machine sand. They drop filled the chips and shot some kind of "speed-clear" over the rough paint and buffed it out.

I felt that I got my money's worth and the car looked good for a cruise night driver. The first hot day, the paint blistered in multiple spots. The paint was not adhering and of course the shop claimed claimed no responsibility for "prior body work". Shortly thereafter, the paint begain blistering over the filled in hood pins. I went back to the shop and they were out of business. To make a long story short, I threw away $1200.

I wound up having the car stripped to bare metal and completely redone by a highly recommended independant shop. The paint literally came off in sheets because there was no adhesion between the new paint and the old.

[gtomike72]

Originally Posted by NeighborsComplaint

Took the shop up on the $1200 deal. The shop was a local Maaco who did some specialty work out of the back. The shop owner showed me a couple cars they were doing "mini-restorations" on and the work looked really good. They metal patched my hood pin holes, straightened the kinks in the hood, block sanded and primed the whole car. It looked great in primer. Then they painted the car with a base/clear and it was not so good. Lots of orange peel and some obvious prep flaws. They left chips in the paint on the edges of the hood and did a sloppy cut-in with masking tape along the lower window bright moldings and left the surface very rough pn the doors from the body lines up where they couldn't machine sand. They drop filled the chips and shot some kind of "speed-clear" over the rough paint and buffed it out.

I felt that I got my money's worth and the car looked good for a cruise night driver. The first hot day, the paint blistered in multiple spots. The paint was not adhering and of course the shop claimed claimed no responsibility for "prior body work". Shortly thereafter, the paint begain blistering over the filled in hood pins. I went back to the shop and they were out of business. To make a long story short, I threw away $1200.

I wound up having the car stripped to bare metal and completely redone by a highly recommended independant shop. The paint literally came off in sheets because there was no adhesion between the new paint and the old.

Sounds like the Maaco I used to work at, was it the McHenry one by any chance? Those scumbags still owe me my last months check from 3 years ago!! They would rush us to get the cars in the paint booth when the car still needed more work and could have been done right if an extra couple minutes where allowed. Half the cars we rushed ended up coming back. I guess the owner was ok with that as long as he got the money and if it came back, it came back. No wonder why they went out of business.

[onewheelpeel]

I had a chev 454 in a Chevelle that spun a rod bearing, so I rebuilt it and it ran fine. One a trip to look at a Suzuki Katana 1000 my credit union had for sale, the engine started knocking again and I knew immediately what it was.

So I towed it 3 hours home and that was the end of the crotch rocket dream. I had had enough of this 454, so I bought a new crate LS-6 for $2800 as this was 1988. I then installed the new LS-6 and believe it or not, it had the same exact rod knocking sound. Somehow the old 454 had infected the new 454 and I still had the same problem.

Took the car to an old auto guy I used to work with. It was the alternator knocking, according to his stethoscope. So I had a $2,800 alternator plus sales tax, a long tow bill for a running car, and a long trip back to buy an engine I didn't need.

Ran the snot out of the 454 since then, and it now has a vortech supercharger on top of it and swoll to 496 - best was 10.40's during my drag racing career in full street trim, except for tires, cam, exhaust, and rollbar. Ran 15.2's totally stock and routine Colorado air density usually around 9000 ft.

It was probably best I didn't get the crotch rocket and maybe someone was trying to tell me something. I was not a crappy hamper.

[JUDGE3]

In my excitement to finally be getting the assembled subframe back under the car I plopped the subframe bushings in place.

Even took the picture, still didn't notice. Installed the unit.

Look close, you can see the difference. I plopped the core support bushings in the rear subframe holes.

and.....I didn't know it until much later mounting the core support. what the?????