Painting Bob's 57 AGIN

[57AGIN]

Thought I'd open a new topic since we certainly got off the PhotoShoping one.  The car is in the final stages of preparation before color is applied.  Today, I went over before work to see what's happening and the rain gutters were being scraped to remove any caulking left over after the media blasting.  I was surprise as I'd looked pretty darn closely at them after it got back from media and they looked pretty clean & down to metal.  Shows what I know, doesn't it.

Santini has a warped sense of humor and likes to rib both Rick and me about our passion for 57 Fords.  Although he says that he too is a Ford lover, as proved by a Roush upgraded Saleen Mustang he had, a 56 Ford wagon he's been going to fix up for his wife (he's been going to do it for quite a few years, but the shop comes first), his shop truck and a new Ford Edge that his wife drives.  Anyway, when I shot a photo of my 57 after the second coat of primer had been blocked, I noticed a bow tie emblem painted onto the passenger side window masking.  Note: the guy scraping the caulking is one of Santini's workers.  He has two or three workers, that work on preparing the cars for painting, he does the color, & clearing, his son manages the office and wife does the accounting.  A nice family business.

I'll keep shooting photos of the progress and posting them here.  Unless I hear that enough is enough.  It is very exciting for me to see what skilled craftsmen can do.  Rick is IMO one of the best.  The skill and care he take when assembling, restoring or doing anything on his car or mine is amazing to watch and learn from. 

Bob
57 AGIN

[shopratwoody]

Look'n Good Bob 

[RICH MUISE]

BOB...GIVE US AN UPDATE...PLEASE.   RICH

[57AGIN]

Rich:

Not too much to update on at this time.  The fourth coat of primer, followed by block sanding has just been done.  We are getting real close to the application of color (I can hardly wait).  But in the paint & body business out here, the day-to-day insurance work and quickie in & out jobs get done first, as I understand it, to keep the doors open.  The really extensive jobs and complete restorations are done over a more lengthy time period.  So, all of the skilled do-it-yourselfers keep on, keeping on.  Yours will more than likely be done first.  A number of my friends out here who have had this kind of work done tell me that the wait will be well worth it.  Given what I've seen is the body work and meticulous preparation he and his employees have done, I believe they are correct.  This isn't one of the 7 day OVERHAULIN make overs with a quick skim coat and a primer followed by a color coat & then cleared.  He tells me he wants his jobs to last and if cared for properly never come back except to be painted a different color or to be repaired following an act of GOD or a collision.  So I'm being patient for the time being. 

The engine has been painted and Rick and I are reassembling it and cleaning up some of the supercharger installation boo boos (sp?) too. 
Yesterday the TKO 600 was delivered to Rick's garage and we will be opening the box tomorrow (that is exciting).
Bob
57 AGIN   

[05gt]

Looking good......and that's a beatiful motor!!! What kind of numbers are you expecting once it's up and running?

[57AGIN]

05GT:

The motor has already been dyno'd in the car before the tear down for painting.  The horse power was 472.8, the torque was 456.8 ft. lbs.  These numbers were achieved with a leaking boost reference signal to the fuel pump (now fixed) and the air intake right next to the headers (also fixed).  With the new oil pan, crank scraper & windage tray and the small repairs it should put out a little better.  The main thing is the reliability.  With that power and the poor gas milage I really needed to get a stouter transmission with an overdrive.  Rick and I just took the new TREMEC TKO 600 five speed out of it's shipping crate this afternoon and we measured the differences from the old Borg Warner T-10 four speed.  We found I need to get a shorter input shaft, a mid-shift conversion kit and a 2 inch offset shifter kit to make the setup work in my 57. Things are starting to pop again finally...

Bob
57 AGIN

[57AGIN]

Here is the latest on 57 AGIN.  My Surfing buddies car (the Shirley Muldowney World Champion AA Fuel Dragster) is in at Santini's for paint, too.  Here are a couple of shots of it along with 57 AGIN still waiting for color.  Shirley's dragster has a priority, as it is booked for a Cacklefest on July 9, 2011 here in Southern Calif. and Shirley is flying out to fire it up, slightly over 30 years after winning the World Championship.  After that show it is going on tour throughout the country.  Seems like my poor ole 57 will never get color again.

Bob
57 AGIN

[JPotter57]

Old fuel dragsters turn my crank man....very cool.

[Jeff Norwell]

Me too Mista Potter.....

[57AGIN]

Guys:

No additional progress on my 57, but the Muldowney Dragster is getting close to being done.  Here is a shot of my with my "very fine Pin Stripping Brush" getting ready to add my touches to the Dragster. LOL  and the other shot was taken yesterday as Santini was getting the body ready to paint the graphics.  It is interesting the way the dzus (sp?) fittings can hold the panels together with little or no additional support.

Bob
57 AGIN

[JPotter57]

I saw that car run at the Gatrornationals in either 78-79, maybe 80.  I was just a kid, but loved it.  I have snapshots of Shirley and others of that car at home somewhere.  Looking great.

[57AGIN]

For James & Others that love the Older Dragsters:

Rick and I went to a great car show yesterday afternoon & evening.  One of the features was a Cackle Fest with about 18 famous dragsters from the "good ole days" both on display and later in the evening after it got dark to fire up on Nitro & cackle for a few minutes.  The first photo shows Big Daddy's Swamp Rat III, the TV Tommy Ivo Dragster and the last the Chi Town Hustler driven by the Greek (Chris Karamascines, Spelling?).  The second photo shows the Shirley Muldowney Dragster that got painted ahead of my 57, Santini did a real fine job on it.  I'll post another couple of shots taken yesterday on the next post as I didn't want to shrink them to the point you couldn't tell what they were.

Bob
57 AGIN

[57AGIN]

DEragster Lovers:

Here is a shot of Rick speaking with Shirley Muldowney and the next two are a couple of the best shots I could get at night of  Nitro cars doing what they do best at night.

Bob
57 AGIN

[shopratwoody]

Thanks for the pics Bob. Looks like a good time.

[RICH MUISE]

ditto...looks like alot of fun.   where was the show?   Rich