The Green Machine Diaries: Prime Time (and patches)
/January 3 - January 11, 2023
“And the work of their hands brings them reward.”
Last time on the Green Machine Diaries
Last time on the Green Machine Diaries (The Donor Car) I sourced a donor van in PA, cut it to pieces, and sent the “leftovers” down the road on a flatbed. Happy trails to you! Since that time, we have hauled the sourced parts to our shop in Arkansas.
Next up . . . Prime Time!
Deion Sanders, TV broadcasting, and the Green Machine share one thing in common — Prime Time. After five years (YES, 5 YEARS), we’re finally taking the Econo to bare metal, laying down a fresh coat of Epoxy Primer, and excising cancerous rust, which created some cavernous holes.
In this Green Machine Diary entry we are going from this . . .
To this . . .
STEP 1 - STRIP IT
It took some time, but I stripped off the Green Machine’s faded green and the original Frost Turquoise (Light Aqua) under it. I used my metal finishing tool from Harbor Freight (great tool!!) and my media blaster to get the hard-to-reach spots.
STEP TWO: EXAMINE IT
You wouldn’t know it, but behind that rear bumper was enough body filler to carve a monument to Bondo, the king of all plastic body fillers!
When it comes to this rolling breadbox, I’m singing with Mama Odie (The Princess and the Frog): You gotta dig a little deeper, Find out who you are, You gotta dig a little deeper, It really ain’t that far. And it really wasn’t that far — chipping out an inch or two of body filler — before I hit the true core behind all that painted plastic.
It wasn’t very nice . . .
That rusted metal was so weak there was no way to pull it out; the cancer had to be surgically removed and repaired with new metal.
STEP THREE: PATCH IT
Lacking a Sheet Metal Brake, an English Wheel, a Shrinker/Expander, or even a good sandbag (I really do need to get a few of those . . . “Shannan!”), I formed the bend as best I could and welded a decent backing plate. This would be the base for the finished bodywork, which I will work out over time (another diary entry). For now, I had to get the no-longer-green Green Machine into epoxy prime before I left. Out came the welder. Let’s get to work.
Sure, I’m not going to have Dave Kingdig knocking down my door or Ian Rousell asking me to make a guest appearance on Full Custom Garage, but I’ve now addressed over 30 issues of cancer on my patient, and she’s much better — and relatively cancer (rust) free.
All this effort takes place in the gap . . . of family and work and Arkansas sunsets and writing and dreams of my next project.
STEP FOUR: PRIME TIME
When it comes to paint, prep is everything. Painting is relatively easy, but prepping for priming or paint is a serious piece of work. Here is several hours of work in 21 seconds.
And a walk around . . . with Waylon and Willie.
And finally . . . drum roll please . . . PRIME TIME!
So what’s the reward?
For starters it is going from holes to patches to prime!
But the reward is also getting there! It’s progress! It’s improving my fabrication game! It’s laying a foundation for more work to be done, that can’t be done apart from the foundation being laid — sounds a lot like life. It’s the satisfaction that comes from moving toward the vision and seeing the vision slowly become reality.
So what’s next?
In short, the Green Machine is going to get a nose job. Stay tuned!
Lessons Learned (and Re-Learned):
Rule #1: Don’t be in a hurry! As Carl Jung noted, “Hurry is not of the devil, hurry is the devil.” Or as Richard Foster notes in Celebration of Discipline, “In contemporary society our adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in muchness and manyness he will rest satisfied.” Projects like writing, like relationships, like our relationship with God, takes time. Don’t be in a hurry.
Work like an ant! I learned this lesson from Solomon in Proverbs 6:6 and from Dr. Henry Cloud’s great book, 9 Things You Simply Must Do. As my friend Will Mancini has reminded me many times, “We overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in ten years.”
Progress is a powerful potion. Ours is a society addicted to the immediate. There is no immediate when it comes to projects, unless that is tying your shoe. But progress toward that project has a way of silencing the “I’ll never get there” that likes to haunt our minds. Punch sheets “punched” and check boxes “checked” are a powerful elixir.
Figure out your paintbrush! Wait a minute! You had me until that one. Decades ago and at a low point in his career, Winston Churchill discovered painting. It was a powerful antidote to the pressures of his job. I would encourage you to read Chruchill’s Painting As A Pastime. It’s great.
Working on cars is my “paintbrush.” If you know yours, make time for it. If you don’t, then I would encourage you to pick up my resource, Churchill’s Paintbrush. It is available as a softcover booklet and as a downloadable PDF.
