Bob's 57 AGIN is back to the shop (Santini's)

[57AGIN]

robhaerr:

Me, too.  Several of my 57 friends have had them on their 57's.  I'm not sure how it will look on my car with the color scheme I'm using, which is why two hoods being worked on.  I was over at Santini's again today and it was being block sanded.  Talking with Pete, he says the new guy in the shop has really good old school techniques.  He said that most body guys he's seen in recent years would have just skim coated the hood and sanded it smooth.  Instead, this guy started by rubbing his hand over the surface and got out his hammer & dolly and began shaping and stretching the metal to smooth out the bumps and valleys.  Now he is block sanding the metal smoothing it further, then he will probably use a little skim coat and finish it off.  Pete is impressed with his work, so am I.

Bob
57 AGIN

[RICH MUISE]

No, but man it pours!
I want that Buick in the last pic.

[57AGIN]

Rich:

I think that's a 57 Buick, I'm not good on identifying GM products.  I believe that is in for a full restoration.  A stock yellow 1966 Pontiac 2+2 is done & just waiting for the chrome & trim before it is finished.  It turned out very nice, it isn't going to be a show car.  A son who is stationed near by in the Army is having it done for his dad who lives in Arkansas.  I'm sure his dad will be thrilled, given its poor condition when it was being worked on beside my 57.

Bob
57 AGIN

[57AGIN]

Rich:

According to Santini you wouldn't want that '57 Buick.  I found out it is just in for a repair of the driver side rear quarter panel that got bent in some kind of accident.  He said for a decent restoration on that Buick could run up to 6 figures, it needs major work underneath it all.

Still no more progress on my '57, everyday I go over to the shop the car just sits under a tarp and waits for my next visit.  Obviously, my schedule of events and Pete's aren't the same and he's the one with the paint gun. 

Bob
57 AGIN

[JimNolan]

Bob Lee,
    Every time I end up driving in bumper to bumper traffic over 45 mph, I think of you, then I back off and piss all the people off behind me.

[57AGIN]

Jim:

Yeah, I sure learned my lesson the hard way.  Earlier today I was cautioned by a long time car collector/friend, not to drive my 57 to those long distance shows.  But, as I told him some day I'd like to do a Power Tour or just a trip to the middle part of the country to visit fellow 57 owners.  Whether I could do that driving my 57 or towing it behind our motor home. I hope my some day comes some day and I don't let too many some days go by to no longer be able to do it.

Mean while, today I visited Wheeler's to check out the progress on my bumpers.  The front is ready for chrome and the rear is getting there.  Brian (from Wheeler's) brought the rear bumper over to Santini's so he could take a good look at exhaust routing and whether the bumper can be tightened a little in its mounting to the rear of the car.  Both Brian and Pete decided to slightly re-route the exhaust about 6" closer to the outside of the bumper.  I agree with them, it should enhance the look I'm after quite a bit.  So he's fabricated a couple of new bumper brackets to mount on the outside of the frame rails and a neat bracket that will be welded to the exhaust tip to ensure no rattling exhaust where it passes through the bumper. Here are a few photos of what I saw today.

Bob
57 AGIN

[57AGIN]

Here are the final 3 photos taken today at Wheeler's 3-15-2016.

[RICH MUISE]

Very impressive, Bob, I like that look alot.

[JimNolan]

Bob, that looks nice. I bought a new Ram Truck the first of 2013 and I've drove about 40,000 miles since then. The 2013 Ram truck just turned over 10,000 miles on the odometer. You can guess what the other 30,000 miles was put on.

[gasman826]

... I was cautioned by a long time car collector/friend, not to drive my 57 to those long distance shows.

WHY!!!!!!  Got 'em, drive 'em!!

[John Palmer]

Bob, I think about the Harley Davidson TV commercial that appeared several years ago.  It showed an old geezer (like me lol) sitting in his rocking chair on the front porch as a "new" Harley rode by in front of his house.  He say's something like, "I should have bought one back in the day, but the wife wanted a new couch".  We have a limited time here, and will not always have the mobility to just do what we want for entertainment.  Enjoy the journey, not just the destination.  Pay the insurance premium, let the insurance company have the sleepless nights with worry about the risk, and drive 'em hard while you can.

I know your anxious about getting it back on the road, but you cannot rush an artist.  There's not many places in the entire country that can, or will do body and fabrication work to the quality of Santini's, or Wheeler's.  Fortunately they are local to both of us.  Your not new to the hot rod scene.  We all forget how many hours, weeks, years we invest into our projects to get them to our desired level of completion.  When you go back and look at how much they have accomplished in "only one year", it's amazing.  We are not talking about a "daily driver quality" rebuild.

You will be pleased with the results after that "first cruise".

[57AGIN]

John:

Thanks for the encouragement. Sometimes though it does feel like the car is in "Body Shop Jail."  By the way, Other than robhearr, Rick Crawford, Kid Courier and Hiball3985 I wasn't aware of any other local 57 owners.  Please give me a call (562) 716-9601 and maybe we can get together sometime.

Bob
57 AGIN

[BWhitmore]

I too am in So Cal (Alhambra) but no longer own my 57 Ranchero.  I can highly recommend a body shop in Montebello, Montebello Auto Center located on Whittier Blvd.  The owner is Joe Ortega and they have done body and paint work for me on about 15-16 restorations over the past 20 years including my Ranchero.  Not cheap but very high quality body work, fabrication, and paint (including color matching). 

[hiball3985]

John:

Thanks for the encouragement. Sometimes though it does feel like the car is in "Body Shop Jail."  By the way, Other than robhearr, Rick Crawford, Kid Courier and Hiball3985 I wasn't aware of any other local 57 owners.  Please give me a call (562) 716-9601 and maybe we can get together sometime.

Bob
57 AGIN

Don't forget Chick with the black Fairlane, I haven't seen him in a few months. I have a friend with a finished wagon and a ranchero under construction but he doesn't have internet so he has never joined us here.

Also DgasMan and Ray in Huntington beach

[57AGIN]

hiball3985:

Thanks for that update.  I just talked to Chick last night.  He's bringing his 57 to Knott's this year and helping us out with parking the thundering herd (lots of Mustangs, lol).  He recently suffered a great loss when his wife passed away unexpectedly.  So he's feeling pretty down.  Wish there was something that could be done to cheer him up, but that is something only time will heal.  I'd surely like to get a group of us 57 owners together some time.  Knott's would be nice, but I'm so darned busy with putting on the show and helping out with the Ford Drag Team displays, two of them this year.  One is for the active drag & other Ford race cars, the other the wild "SOHC "Cammer" bunch that is actually being coordinated by Butch Englebrecht & Marc Bodrie.  We hope Gas Ronda will be healthy enough to come to the show we've booked a room for him at the Knott's Hotel, also one for Butch Leal.  Linda Vaughn, & Cloe Shelby and  John Vermeersch Technical Advisor for Ford Motorsport Performance Equipment will  also be among the celebrities attending the event. 

How's that I hijacked my own thread.  Badd Bob, badd Bob.

Bob
57 AGIN