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Thread: Ham's '48; Standing There In My Underwear

  1. #1
    Super Moderator LarrBeard's Avatar
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    Ham's '48; Standing There In My Underwear

    Life never gets to be dull.

    Ham’s ’48 is at Butch’s body shop in Kendallville, Indiana to get repainted. Google the shop to check out the 1960-vintage Shell station Butch has recreated on the premises.

    Why is life not dull?

    Well, Butch is the old guy (about the same age as bmorgil and I) who built the shop. But, he has decided to semi-retire and rent the shop to his son-in-law. Butch gets a rent check from his son-in-law. But, Butch also still works there, and although the son-in-law is the proprietor, Butch is still the bull of the woods – the old guy who knows everything about the business. He keeps an eye on things and is the senior technical advisor on things. ( I’m not sure I want to be at Christmas dinner at that house … ).

    The shop worked today, December 23rd. They were going to close on Christmas Eve day and Christmas – then work Thursday and Friday. But, then the son-in-law decided to go snowmobiling and take the rest of the week off. So, Butch said “Screw it – you kids don’t want to work – we’ll just take the rest of the week off.” (Keep in mind that Butch takes all of January off and goes south for a month).

    Butch has decided that the Jeep is his project. Nobody else fools with it. The good news is that the truck is being coddled by the most senior and experienced guy in the shop, the bad news is that it will sit under plastic until he gets back in early February. His shop is warmer than the car barn here at the house, so it’s a nicer place to spend the winter.

    In addition to the paint issues, the bed on the truck has always had a bit of a slant toward the left front, probably from a frame issue we didn’t really fix in the restoration. Butch wants to look at that- it may be as simple as a shim under the left front corner. But, nothing is ever that simple with this truck. We’ll see how that works out.

    Now - about the paint. Butch used the hot water, high pressure wash I had mentioned in the first post about this repaint. Sure enough, it peeled 95% of the paint off the truck. So far, not a bit of any hand work to get off the paint. Except for a couple of places at the front of the hood, the primer seems to be intact.

    When I went to look at things today, I was startled to see it in the pale grey primer again. It kind of looked like a half-picked chicken, but then I took a second take. It looked like the truck was sitting there, in its tighty-whitey underwear – hence the title of this post.
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  2. #2
    Super Moderator bmorgil's Avatar
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    Wow that is unbelievable! Of course patience Larry. Ham's 48 is loving the stay in the tropics.

    Man I am going to have the boy look into that stripping method. That is unreal. That truck was sooo nice the last time I saw it. I can't wait to see it again.

    As far as the "Old Men", reminds me of my 105 year old Gramother's things she'd say.

    " My mind feels 35, my body on the other hand, not so good!"
    Last edited by bmorgil; 12-24-2019 at 08:43 AM.

  3. #3
    Super Moderator gmwillys's Avatar
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    A well experienced gentleman gave me some advice that has stuck with me all these years. When I talked about going to work in one of the local tractor dealers, he told me how to be successful. Find the oldest guy in the shop with the most fingers, and learn from him. The advice has worked well over the years.

    Your truck is in good hands from the looks of things. I can see what you mean about the bed dipping an inch or inch and a half. I'm sure Butch will iron out the bed to make it perfect.

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