April 12, 2007

Caught in the 'Net

I've been finally putting some real work into getting my Dodge Coronet in order. I've ripped out much of the fabric and plastic from the interior, and my primary job is to now smooth and prep the metal for paint. This car is going to have a real rough and ready appearance, especially from the inside. I'm going to make it as basic as I can, and then gradually continue to refine it for however long I'm able to keep it. I'm working over all the surface with a wire brush on the end of a drill, and so far all nearly all the rust I've seen has given way to shiny metal underneath. (Yay!) I'm also cutting off the metal upholstery 'tangs' with my Dremel-clone. Those things get hot when you cut them off -- I had one seal itself to the vinyl seat. Good thing the seat covers are already shot!

It's a restoration process that takes real work, but what I'm doing now is being rewarded with less work later. It's a metaphor -- if you get to the corrosion in time, you can save it with a little work. If not, it's major surgery!

Making noise in the basement of a condo is kinda fun, but I wonder when I'll get the official word to stop. Though, you know, it's not like I'm hurting anyone. Yet... And with me being downstairs so much, I'm getting to meet a few neighbours. Well, at least the ones who aren't nervously and furtively scurrying away, desperately trying to avoid eye contact. Living in a condo has some really funny moments...

Pictures have been requested. Here are a couple of 'before' shots of the Coronet. Now the car now looks even more 'before'. Eventually that'll change -- I'll try to keep the process alive here.



2 comments:

Deb said...

I was walking down the hallway yesterday and someone was walking by. She made eye contact once, and then stared at the ground. I said hello, and so did she, but she didn't look at me when she said it. She was in her 40's and lives in our hallway, but certainly wasn't in the mood to be friendly. One more funny moment...

bradj said...

People are such slaves to technology (cell phones, e-mail, etc.), that they're forgetting how to live in the real world... Community is being replaced by its lesser surrogate.

But then with some of the dumb questions I've had to answer about the bike (if you have to kickstart it, does that mean it "doesn't have sparkplugs or anything?"), I have to keep checking my own grace level.