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LarrBeard
12-10-2019, 05:45 PM
Well, the saga of the truck continues.

The almost 2-year restoration of Ham’s ’48 came a quitting point in the early summer of 2016. As we all know, that doesn’t mean it’s done – it just means that it’s out of the shop and into my hands.

It looked nice (very nice if I do say so) and ran well. But, after a few weeks, a few issues began to show up. If you got the truck in the right light – it was two colors. Some of the parts and panels were a darker shade of red than others. The paint was also, for lack of a better term, brittle. It rock chipped a lot easier than it should have and I was doing a lot of touch up right away. Even so, it wasn’t anything that I couldn’t live with.

Now, as with most sagas, there is a twist to the story. Mr. Ted Murray, the owner of Custom Classic Restorations, the gentleman who had done the restoration - got out of bed one day and had a really sore back. He wrote it off to twisting it or lifting something wrong and just went about things. Well, a couple of days later – Mr. Murray couldn’t get out of bed – his legs didn’t work. The sore back turned out to be a bacterial infection in his spine that ended up destroying the nerves to his lower body – leaving him a paraplegic.

Mr. Murray worked his way through a lot of physical therapy and was able, on a few occasions, to go back to his shop to piddle around or watch someone who had leased space in the shop do some work. In the hope that he might someday be able to go back to the shop, he kept up his shop casualty and liability insurance.

In November 2018, I decided to replace the windshield in the ’48. It leaked, and it leaked at the worst possible place – on my wife’s foot in the passenger side. I took it to one of the local glass shops (most would not touch the job) and after about 6 pieces of glass, the windshield was about ready to come out of the shop.

Then, I got a phone call. When the glass shop peeled off the masking tape around the gasket – the paint came off with it. It was just everyday masking tape – there was no reason that the paint should have come off. I brought the truck home and gave Mr. Murray a call to see if he had a paint guy who could fix things. He was very distressed, but said he had a guy that could fix it. SO, the truck goes back to the shop for a paint fix.

The paint is single stage metacrylic paint, so it wasn’t just fixing the clear coat – it was a go deeper task. The paint guy did his thing, and when he pulled off his masking tape – more paint came off again. By now we recognized that we had a real paint problem. To compound the problem, Mr. Murray had several very serious health issues arise including at least one heart surgery and several other incidents that could have had very serious consequences.

Even so, Mr. Murray started calling his paint and primer suppliers trying to get someone to come look at things and to try to see just what had gone wrong. Why was the paint not sticking to the primer? After visits from the paint Tech rep and a primer rep, we heard nothing. We were getting the old run around. I really believe they thought they could outlive him. I had a good patch job done on the paint so I could bring the truck to Jeep Fest in Toledo, but the problem was still there.

In the meanwhile, I went to the local body and paint shops that I felt could do a good job on repainting the truck. The first three said “No Way. We won’t do jobs like that”. The fourth said “OK, but we’ll just have to see what it costs as we go along”. Yeah, sure – I’m going to take work there. Then, a friend told me about a paint shop out in the wilderness of Kendallville, Indiana where people take Auburns and Cords for paint work. I took it there. We looked it over and the answer was; “Hand sand and repaint”.

After 2019 Jeep Fest, Mr. Murray and I talked and he decided to file a work liability claim with his insurance company. (Remember, he had kept his shop insurance). Then, he went back to the hospital again for the third or fourth time. While he was in the hospital, I got a call from an insurance investigator who had been assigned the claim.

The investigator came out to the house and looked over the truck. I was pleased when he drooled over the truck and allowed that it was one very nice truck. Then, we waited some more. After a reasonable time, I contacted Mr. Murray and asked him where things stood. It turned out that his physical condition was such that he was doing all he could do to just get through the day. I asked him if he minded if I worked with the insurance company and he told me to go ahead.

I contacted the insurance adjuster and asked if he was willing to work with me, the owner, to get the claim settled. (Many companies only work with their insured, not a third party.) I told him the circumstances with Mr. Murray and he told me what he needed to process the claim. I pulled together about an inch of paper to document the work we had done, sent him a lot of pictures of before, in progress and after. It turned out that the deal sealer was the adjuster talking to Mr. Murray after I had sent in all of the paper.

He asked Mr. Murray; "Is the paint warrantied."

“Yes, the paint is warrantied.”

“How long?”

“For as long as the customer takes proper care of the finish”.

“Would you repaint the truck under warranty?”

“If I could walk I would have been sanding it down six months ago.”

And, that ended the conversation.

In a couple of weeks I had a check and authorization to take it to the shop in Kendallville. It goes to the shop tomorrow – estimated shop time is over 60 days so it spends the winter in someone else’s garage.

It may be unusual for things to work out with an insurance company this well, but I want to thank Auto Owners for how they worked with us to settle this and for Mr. Ted Murray for standing behind his work long after many folks could have, reasonably, said it wasn’t his problem any longer.

The saga continues ... just wait until Jeep Fest 2020!

Photo Notes:

1. If you look at the panels on the bed and step, you can see the paint difference. The roof even is a bit different

2. The paint peel started on the windshield pillar. but it will peel just about anywhere if you put down tape and pull.

TJones
12-11-2019, 05:36 AM
Well, the saga of the truck continues.

The almost 2-year restoration of Ham’s ’48 came a quitting point in the early summer of 2016. As we all know, that doesn’t mean it’s done – it just means that it’s out of the shop and into my hands.

It looked nice (very nice if I do say so) and ran well. But, after a few weeks, a few issues began to show up. If you got the truck in the right light – it was two colors. Some of the parts and panels were a darker shade of red than others. The paint was also, for lack of a better term, brittle. It rock chipped a lot easier than it should have and I was doing a lot of touch up right away. Even so, it wasn’t anything that I couldn’t live with.

Now, as with most sagas, there is a twist to the story. Mr. Ted Murray, the owner of Custom Classic Restorations, the gentleman who had done the restoration - got out of bed one day and had a really sore back. He wrote it off to twisting it or lifting something wrong and just went about things. Well, a couple of days later – Mr. Murray couldn’t get out of bed – his legs didn’t work. The sore back turned out to be a bacterial infection in his spine that ended up destroying the nerves to his lower body – leaving him a paraplegic.

Mr. Murray worked his way through a lot of physical therapy and was able, on a few occasions, to go back to his shop to piddle around or watch someone who had leased space in the shop do some work. In the hope that he might someday be able to go back to the shop, he kept up his shop casualty and liability insurance.

In November 2018, I decided to replace the windshield in the ’48. It leaked, and it leaked at the worst possible place – on my wife’s foot in the passenger side. I took it to one of the local glass shops (most would not touch the job) and after about 6 pieces of glass, the windshield was about ready to come out of the shop.

Then, I got a phone call. When the glass shop peeled off the masking tape around the gasket – the paint came off with it. It was just everyday masking tape – there was no reason that the paint should have come off. I brought the truck home and gave Mr. Murray a call to see if he had a paint guy who could fix things. He was very distressed, but said he had a guy that could fix it. SO, the truck goes back to the shop for a paint fix.

The paint is single stage metacrylic paint, so it wasn’t just fixing the clear coat – it was a go deeper task. The paint guy did his thing, and when he pulled off his masking tape – more paint came off again. By now we recognized that we had a real paint problem. To compound the problem, Mr. Murray had several very serious health issues arise including at least one heart surgery and several other incidents that could have had very serious consequences.

Even so, Mr. Murray started calling his paint and primer suppliers trying to get someone to come look at things and to try to see just what had gone wrong. Why was the paint not sticking to the primer? After visits from the paint Tech rep and a primer rep, we heard nothing. We were getting the old run around. I really believe they thought they could outlive him. I had a good patch job done on the paint so I could bring the truck to Jeep Fest in Toledo, but the problem was still there.

In the meanwhile, I went to the local body and paint shops that I felt could do a good job on repainting the truck. The first three said “No Way. We won’t do jobs like that”. The fourth said “OK, but we’ll just have to see what it costs as we go along”. Yeah, sure – I’m going to take work there. Then, a friend told me about a paint shop out in the wilderness of Kendallville, Indiana where people take Auburns and Cords for paint work. I took it there. We looked it over and the answer was; “Hand sand and repaint”.

After 2019 Jeep Fest, Mr. Murray and I talked and he decided to file a work liability claim with his insurance company. (Remember, he had kept his shop insurance). Then, he went back to the hospital again for the third or fourth time. While he was in the hospital, I got a call from an insurance investigator who had been assigned the claim.

The investigator came out to the house and looked over the truck. I was pleased when he drooled over the truck and allowed that it was one very nice truck. Then, we waited some more. After a reasonable time, I contacted Mr. Murray and asked him where things stood. It turned out that his physical condition was such that he was doing all he could do to just get through the day. I asked him if he minded if I worked with the insurance company and he told me to go ahead.

I contacted the insurance adjuster and asked if he was willing to work with me, the owner, to get the claim settled. (Many companies only work with their insured, not a third party.) I told him the circumstances with Mr. Murray and he told me what he needed to process the claim. I pulled together about an inch of paper to document the work we had done, sent him a lot of pictures of before, in progress and after. It turned out that the deal sealer was the adjuster talking to Mr. Murray after I had sent in all of the paper.

He asked Mr. Murray; "Is the paint warrantied."

“Yes, the paint is warrantied.”

“How long?”

“For as long as the customer takes proper care of the finish”.

“Would you repaint the truck under warranty?”

“If I could walk I would have been sanding it down six months ago.”

And, that ended the conversation.

In a couple of weeks I had a check and authorization to take it to the shop in Kendallville. It goes to the shop tomorrow – estimated shop time is over 60 days so it spends the winter in someone else’s garage.

It may be unusual for things to work out with an insurance company this well, but I want to thank Auto Owners for how they worked with us to settle this and for Mr. Ted Murray for standing behind his work long after many folks could have, reasonably, said it wasn’t his problem any longer.

The saga continues ... just wait until Jeep Fest 2020!

Photo Notes:

1. If you look at the panels on the bed and step, you can see the paint difference. The roof even is a bit different

2. The paint peel started on the windshield pillar. but it will peel just about anywhere if you put down tape and pull.

WOW Larry that was a Great story and your truck is Beautiful!!!!
How’s Mr Murray doing?
Mine is in the paint shop as we speak and could only hope it turns out half as nice as yours!!

bmorgil
12-11-2019, 04:45 PM
I love that Truck! Can't wait to see it at the 2020 Jeep Fest. It sure looked good in the 2019!

gmwillys
12-11-2019, 07:54 PM
God bless Mr. Murray.

I can't wait to see the next rendition of Ham's '48. Sixty days will go by slowly, but it will be worth it in the end.

5JeepsAz
12-11-2019, 08:24 PM
Man that is a gorgeous truck! Love that color of red. Sorry to hear about the long saga but it seems like builds have a storyline swirling around always. I hope the guy recovers. Great truck!

okiemark
12-11-2019, 08:43 PM
That is a beautiful pickup. Is that the President Red color?

LarrBeard
12-12-2019, 09:56 AM
Every Jeep build project has a story behind it and, according to my darling and long suffering wife, am "windy" in that I like to tell my stories. Most guys here could write a similar story about the things that have gone right, gone wrong and things that have surprised them with their projects - such as the junk V6 from a so-called reputable motor builder that TJones got.

According to the color charts, the only Red offered for trucks in 1948 was Tunisian Red. The CJ-2 offered Luzon Red, a paler color and Presidential Red is somewhere between the two.

It did go to the paint shop yesterday. We left in 22-degree weather and I am pleased to report that the "dead goat heater" gave more than enough warmth to keep things comfortable (there is a story there too). Butch, the body shop head honcho, said his first poke at the paint will be to try to peel off a strip with masking tape and then use that as a starting place for a high pressure hot water wash.

If it will peel with a pressure wash, it's a lot easier than hand sanding.

LarrBeard
12-12-2019, 09:59 AM
See, if you had a Jeep truck you would have a snazzy vehicle to drive in the winter.

"poke - poke"

bmorgil
12-12-2019, 07:51 PM
It will be interesting to see how they get that paint off. I thought they might be going after it with the ole' zip strip. That is a bunch of sanding. I have never seen a pressure washer used to strip car paint.

LarrBeard
12-12-2019, 08:21 PM
It will be interesting to see how they get that paint off. I thought they might be going after it with the ole' zip strip. That is a bunch of sanding. I have never seen a pressure washer used to strip car paint.


There are places it is really that loose; that's why I want it fixed

okiemark
12-12-2019, 09:31 PM
I have a power washer that will take good paint off if you don't watch it. I bet it will get most of it off.

gmwillys
12-12-2019, 09:53 PM
I had seen a kid strip the paint off the driver's door of a brand new Kenworth with a steam cleaner. He thought the gold leaf in the hand painted company name was dirt.....?? That was his last day, even though he was the owner's nephew.

bmorgil
12-13-2019, 07:25 AM
Some things just can't go unpunished!

I have cut a hole in my vinyl siding with a pressure washer! I would think in some spots it might dent the metal. They are strong. I just have never seen a car done with one!