7tonemonte

This truly is awesome! Love that they are giving us respect as a club also

I used to enjoy this. Used to get great satisfaction seeing a car returned to its old beauty. People loved getting their cars back clean and shiny, freshly polished and detailed, with all traces of an accident removed, and returned to its former glory. Used to enjoy the occasional restoration job, hearing the stories of back when the car was beautiful, and the owners plans of what they will do when its beautiful again. Used to enjoy my time with my boss and friends I worked with together as a team for 10+ hours a day, spent more time with them than anybody. Then, as times changed, I chased the money. I wanted to....I Had to. Shops became larger, along with the workload. No more speaking with customers, hell, I barely saw the finished product anymore. 2-3 cars a day turned into 6-10, some days even more. Teamwork turned into a free for all, and nothing matters but pushing that job out of your bay and onto the next step. Quality left for quantity. Along with that, happiness and satisfaction left for stress and anger. Constantly hating getting out of my car every day. I thought I had to do it for my family, and we needed the money. Well I need to say what my family needs, is me. Happy. Alive. Free. This thing I used to enjoy has sucked the life out of me, now it has sucked my enjoyment of cars out of me too. Cleaning my own personal vehicles has become a chore, I hate everything with wheels at this point. The very thing that got me started in painting was my love for cars, and gave me great joy on weekends and at night. I’m hanging up my paint guns, at least in this capacity, getting out of the booth. Stepping back from all this aggravation and stress. The whole industry has changed, and not for the better, however all I know is paint. It’s what I’m good at. It’s what I’ve probably shaved years off my life for. I know getting away from the daily anger will bring me back to my former happiness. I want to love getting in my Monte and going for a ride again, and not be upset when and if I actually have to pick up a wrench. I will now use my skills again, helping people solve problems and learn how to use the products the way you are supposed to. Not just be a robot and spray car after car with no care or concern about the vehicle, or the customer for that matter. Go back to not being angry. Having a dream of advancing, some for of light at the end of this tunnel. Hanging up the guns and stepping out of the booth to be a tech rep for Finishmaster’s, starting on Monday January 6th, new year, new career! Very much looking forward to it! When I saw this car pictured below in a jail cell with my kids on a trip to the Eastern State Penitentiary, it hit me. This was me in the paint booth, a prisoner in my cell. It was meant to be art, representing what happens to ones mind being locked in a cell. But I guess it means whatever you want it to, For me, Time to break out, get on with my life. I’m better than this, and I deserve better. Time to act on it!

Glad things are settling down a bit there Rob, 2020 is going to be a new start for everyone!!

Wow, been a while but time seems to fly!!! They genuinely have as much fun at the meets as us adults do!

Roger, as I’m sure you know, the problem is that it’s a plastic shroud, good chance thinner will melt that and leave streaks. I’d start with thinner or acetone on a microfiber, that way there won’t be lint imbedded into the shroud if it starts to melt it. Obviously start in a spot you can’t see so you can test it out. I would almost say you may have to sand and paint the shroud again to cover it. sorry I’m not better help here.

Congrats on the new home!! Best of luck with it That should keep you busy for a while too!!

I used AuVeCo part # 8400 worked perfectly . Its a plastic clip instead of a metal one, so no worry of it scuffing the paint then rusting. I used to keep a few boxes around for members but I cant find any more in my garage or Id send some out. https://www.auveco.com/universal-moulding-fastener-nylon-8400

CarsInc is who did mine. At the time they were the only ones producing the cloth covers. I have heard nothing but great reviews on Legendary stuff also now that they are making them. About double the cost of vinyl, but I wanted to go with cloth as that's what was in my car originally, that being said, the cloth and sandlewood color is not very user friendly. I probably should have done vinyl just for cleaning ease!

Rage Extreme is what I used when I did my car, and its still pretty popular. Very few pinholes, and easy to sand. No shrinking back after over 10 years. We used it at most of the body shops I worked at

That’s the size of mine, sorry I didn’t specify. I only know the difference it made over stock with my car and it was significant , but bigger ones may be even better.

Jim, I can tell you that after updating the rear stuff on my car, it put a lot of emphasis on how bad the front was! I spoke with the guys at UMI at Carlisle a few years back about it, they suggested starting with a front sway bar, then upgrade the shocks. If I still wanted more, then go on to the springs, A arms and changing spindles and all last. I went with UMI front sway bar and that alone made a remarkable difference over stock. I had redone the entire front end with stock stuff back when I did the car, but that swaybar change was huge.

I did the same as Kevin, easier than it sounds really

Odd, my 71 didnt have it on my pad, and Im sure that was original

Hope your recovery is going well Rob. Glad you’re on your way

i could definitely see the value in this! Even when I worked on my floor pan on a lift it was a pain being upside down. Like Bob said, If you post some dimensions Im sure people would be interested

Nice! Some impressive driving distance stats for everyone out there.

Mark, from what I remember i was powering mine up with a 9v battery to test. I know there was a + and - side to the bulbs, and if in reversed they would not light. Its been a while since I did this but I remember checking after I put each bulb in to make sure it was correct

That is correct. 5/8-18 inverted flare ended up being the one. I spoke with Bill at https://www.gofastfittings.com and he thought that was it, I did get a thread pitch gauge at Fastenal and that’s what it turned out needing. Anyone looking for AN fittings and plumbing, check that guy out. Super helpful, quality stuff, best prices I’d seen also.

Looking forward to seeing you two as usual! I know this will make Alli happy also

Ugh, that is the wrong thread also. Gonna try calling a place this weekend for advice.

That’s what I meant, they were on the bottom of the top slat. LOL i was wondering why people were saying mine were upside down as they looked just like the pictures! Now that I re read the original post from Mark it’s clearer what was asked.

Found the fittings I think I need, I will keep my fingers crossed ! Appears to be this

That’s going to be my next try. If I can find that size

The line I got from Edelbrock has a 3/8 NPT to -6AN fitting. The NPT will not thread into the fuel pump.

Hmmm, Mark they are on the bottom of the slats on my car