Paint Update

I would like to thank all of the concerned blog watchers for their interest in this project. I have received emails wanting to know the reason why there have been no new updates to the blog. This is the latest status of the repaint for all of you concerned blog watchers.

Yesterday I spoke with Mike R. at his Maaco shop in Albany, NY. Mike wanted to install a new windshield before final painting to make sure the body work on the A-pillars did not change the windshield opening.

The windshield that was delivered by Harmon AutoGlass was mislabeled and a replacement took two weeks to be delivered. When they attempted to install the correct windshield it was discovered that the bodywork done to the left A-pillar caused the new windshield to be a bit too tight. The windshield went in with difficulty and the rubber gasket in the lower left corner was distorted.

The windshield was removed and taken back to the Harmon shop where the lower left corner was ground down a bit to make it less tight. It did not get back to the Maaco shop until the week of December 8.

The windshield was installed with no problem and removed. The truck was then given a second coat of base color, a coat of tinted clear and the final coat of clearcoat.

Last week upstate NY and New England endured a pretty serious ice storm that caused power outages throughout the region and Mike's three shops were without power for five days. Even though we live sixty miles north of Albany in a colder area, we were OK. We have a Guardian standby generator that runs on LP gas just in case we have a power failure. We didn't need it....this time!

The work that remains is to paint the small pieces such as the glove box door, instrument bezel, door access panels, ashtray and grill. The body has to be wet-sanded and buffed. The set of wheels that Fred C. of Rhode Island supplied for the project have to be sandblasted and painted with black epoxy paint.

This is the beginning of the busy season for body shops in the region because of snow and ice-related accidents. My truck has always been a fill-in project for the shop and has never been a priority for neither Mike nor myself. With that in mind, I don't expect to see the truck again until January or possibly later.

Now you know.

In the meantime, I invite you to check out some photos of my cute grandsons.

Email me: Ron B.