Thread: Roadster pickup getting closer

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Back in my body shop days, another painter and I sprayed 5 gallons of John Deere green Imron on a huge bush hog for the local forestry service. We sprayed non-stop almost all day. Couldn't hardly run the stuff if you tried; very forgiving paint and easy to mix & spray... My only other experience with the stuff was a dark blue metallic van that had previously been painted with it. It got a ding in one front corner and I had to repair it and spot in the paint. Yeah, right! Imron does not spot & blend well and as for buffing.., I think concrete would probably buff easier. It IS some durable stuff, though. Our local DuPont dealer doesn't carry the stuff any more and I thought it had been discontinued.

I also sprayed some Ditzler Durethane several years ago; it was great stuff for hotrod frames, boats, boat trailers, and stock cars. By the time you were finished spraying the average frame or trailer, it was difficult to walk around in the booth because your shoes would stick to the floor. It was some really tough, chip resistant stuff. You could paint a panel with it, let it dry overnight, and then beat the panel to a pulp and the paint would not chip! We painted a stock car with it once and tire marks would just wipe off with mineral spirits! Unfortunately, the stuff was expensive and deadly hazardous to your health. I don't think it's available any more, at least not here in Florida...

Unfortunately, the stuff was expensive and deadly hazardous to your health. I don't think it's available any more, at least not here in Florida...[/QUOTE]
the durethane is hard to get but still can be found. i would wet the floor and paint air plane parts. by the end of painting i was a 1/2 taller. it would lay on the water leave a flim and stick down on the bottom of my shoes . i would get home feel very sticky .i would have to scrape it off eye lashes with my finger nails or they would stick together .that was the only paint that could flex with the skin of the plane. there was a time when evey one had something like imron that was a hop up enamel acme had acme 1000 and ppg had star thane . i like to shoot that stuff .but durethane was the real deal abit tricky to spray if every thing was rigth it lay dead flat

I painted the chassis and a lot of the small parts with black Imron on a car I built about 1988 using a good carbon filter but still ended up breathing some fumes. I then had to take an international business trip the next day and could hardly breathe after the plane reached altitude - they try to maintain pressure based on 6-8000 feet and I almost had to ask for an oxygen mask. The paint job - absolutely beautiful with no dirt and not a run. Me - well it never helped my appearance, but it sure was a lesson in painting with nasties

I thought it was strange on that one episode of Drag Race High where they showed them painting the Chevelle in the booth. The pros who were painting the car had on respirators and the kids who were in the booth standing around watching had on those little paper dust masks. I guess they figure kids are young and tough.

Boy am I gonna have some pictures when we get home tonight! We pulled another all nighter, and the engine/transmission are bolted into the frame! Today we are going to continue putting stuff on it and plan to roll it into the sunshine for some shots. This is the furthest along the car has been in four years and it is feeling pretty good.

Don

Go Don Go-----------

Got the car pushed outside today and took these shots. We were hoping to fire it up this weekend, but have decided to slow down and take things easy so we don't miss anything and cause any problems. During this next week we are going to keep doing things toward getting it ready to start though.

Dan can't work on it tomorrow, it's Mothers Day and he and Don are going to be with their Mom all day. We tried to get Mothers Day rescheduled so it wouldn't interfere with us working on the car, but they wouldn't go for it.....................I'M KIDDING !!

Anyway, here are some pictures of the car back in the sunshine. Sorry they are so big, my camera got reset and I don't know how to edit the pictures down in my new computer. And that red distributor cap is now black.

Don

A couple more, Dan took these and they are a lot sharper and smaller.

Don

Missed one..........

Knocks me out Don......extraordinary......

That looks fabulous, Don! Exceptional work, for sure.

Is he actually gonna drive that? He might get it dirty!! Seriously, what can we say but WOW!

WOW!! That looks really, really nice! Congrats Don & Dan. You guys do great work, and LOVE those headers!

Really lookin' great Don!!! You and the boys are sure doing an excellent job on the roadster! Congrats on some very, very high quality craftsmanship!!!! As always, quality work is it's own reward....

Thanks guys. Since it isn't my car and my work, I guess it's ok to say I like it a lot too. I'm just so happy to see the car getting to this stage, it's been four long, hard years for Dan, and every spare dollar he had has gone toward it. We all know how frustrating it can be to keep working and the end of the tunnel seems to never be near. Maybe all those 6:30 AM breakfasts at McDonalds are finally coming to an end!

There is a little car show locally a couple of Sundays from now, and I mentioned to Dan that I think this would be a perfect first outing for his car. We can rent a U Haul car trailer and take it. I did that many years ago with my 27 when it was just a finished chassis with the body in white gelcoat. People loved seeing it that way, lots of them got down on their hands and knees to peek under it. I think Dan's would be interesting for them too because it has so many little details to look at. Plus, it would really be good for him to get that little psychological boost from the nice comments he might get. Not many spectators at a show ever get to see a car at this stage of the build.

I'm going to call the show promoters and ask if this is ok to do.

Don

Don,
What everyone else said, I agree very nice. Happy MUTHA'S day
Ken