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I can do a few things, but vehicle painting is not one of them. The old 55 was in said shape as far as the paint finish and some body cracks - the hood was too embarrassing to take out in public.
The new avitar pic and images below are our truck after a paint job and some body work by a local high school technical school paint and body group. The kids did all the work themselves and I think they did a great job. All they charge are materials and any donation you want to give. The cost was about just a few hundred dollars and we gave a really good donation. Even with that, I think it was a great deal money-wise. It took them a while, but they had too strip the hood down to metal. The two main kids finished 1st and 2nd in district competition and are going on to state competition shortly.
We wanted to get the truck back to more original of the telephone company truck it used to be and get rid of the black fenders the previous owner had on it. The only problem is that I only asked them to do the outside and interior door panels so the original paint dash looks really faded now. That is a future project.
Has anyone else used local tech schools?
Have a great spring everyone.
Bruce
Old paint job which had deteriorated more since this pic.
Wow talk about a "WIN, WIN". I think its great to know young people are having a chance to learn skills that they can actually use to not only make a living, but gain self worth, and getting to work with there hands as well.. Your truck looks great and the kids benefitted from the experience as much as you did. Great thinking Bruce
I've heard of that sort of thing. I think that's fantastic, like Jimmy said, a win/win situation. You got a great looking truck, the kids got some great experience. Not only with bodywork and paint, but with body work and paint on a classic vehicle. That's more experience than a lot of other body guys will get. There's a ton of difference between working on one of these old trucks and working on any modern transportation.
Unfortunately around here the trades, any trades, aren't taught in high school anymore. Back when I was in high school you could take all sorts of practical classes; graphic arts, electronics, drafting, metal shop/welding, and auto shop (we didn't have a body shop though). Heck, we're doing good to maintain PE and band in the schools around here. Its a shame, the trades are important and we need to start teaching the next generation of craftsmen.
You deserve a pat on the back for entrusting your great truck to a local high school class. Good on ya!
Bobby
Looks great !!
Our community college (which is practically across the street and my wife works there) used to have a body & paint class. Maybe I should check into it.
Great looking truck.. New York Tell '69 '86. Pulls strings in my heart. I wanted to use our tech school here. They have the most fantastic shop going. All waterborne. They could not do a project that big. Are you going to put the old Bell System decals on it?
Great thinking. Much better for those guys to do a real project instead of test panels. Shame all future projects for them will not be as beautiful as the 53-56 Ford truck! I had an arrangement with an aerospace company who would give small jobs out to apprentices to learn on. Unfortunately, once the commercial department got wind of it, that was the end of it!
Great looking truck.. New York Tell '69 '86. Pulls strings in my heart. I wanted to use our tech school here. They have the most fantastic shop going. All waterborne. They could not do a project that big. Are you going to put the old Bell System decals on it?
Thanks everyone for all the nice comments. It was a good experience for both me and the students. They are working on an old 53 Chevy flat bed stake truck for a local guy they know as well. I haven't seen the progress yet.
I would like a Bell System magnetic decal to use when I wanted to for parades, shows, cruise-ins, etc, I haven't found a local shop that could/would do one yet. Any suggestions where I could get one? We have a few tools from my wife's Dad who worked for Bell companies for 40 years (probably worked with our truck as it was retired from his work area) and some old headsets from her Mom who was an operator for over 40 years. I thought I might take some to shows with the truck now that it is painted.
back in 1997 i used to work at JEFFERSON VOCATIONAL SCHOOL,in jefferson ohio.they had everything there.body shop that did everything.one guy had the students work on his 1929 dodge pick up,he wanted then to make it into a king cab,and they did.what a great looking truck it came out to be.beautiful body work and paint job.i knew the teacher very well and i asked him which was his best student,he told this girl was tops.i asked her what she wanted to do.she said that she wanted to work on street rods.they also had a mechanic shop where they did everything.all of this was free except the parts,and you paid what the school paid.they also had a shop where they worked on farm equipment.there was a welding shop.they made a few things for me.they would build bars for people.they built houses for habitat also.they even had barber shop.they had class for nurses.they had mechanicle drafting.horticulture shop.you had to really know someone to get any of these things done and then there was a long list.i really loved working there.i dont know how many acres they had but it was a lot.my wife wanted to move to florida so here we are.
I may be able to help you on the Bell system decal. Send me a picture if you have one of the old bell system decals. If you go magnetic, a heavy coat of wax is in order. Do not leave the magnet on for log periods of time. the moisture collects behind it and deteriorates the paint. I will run it by by sign person. I am having some work done for something. Nice hearing about your inlaws time with Ma Bell
back in 1997 i used to work at JEFFERSON VOCATIONAL SCHOOL,in jefferson ohio.they had everything there.body shop that did everything.one guy had the students work on his 1929 dodge pick up,he wanted then to make it into a king cab,and they did.what a great looking truck it came out to be.beautiful body work and paint job.i knew the teacher very well and i asked him which was his best student,he told this girl was tops.i asked her what she wanted to do.she said that she wanted to work on street rods.they also had a mechanic shop where they did everything.all of this was free except the parts,and you paid what the school paid.they also had a shop where they worked on farm equipment.there was a welding shop.they made a few things for me.they would build bars for people.they built houses for habitat also.they even had barber shop.they had class for nurses.they had mechanicle drafting.horticulture shop.you had to really know someone to get any of these things done and then there was a long list.i really loved working there.i dont know how many acres they had but it was a lot.my wife wanted to move to florida so here we are.
Several of these students were female as well. Hopefully all the students who really want to have a paint and body career will find work locally. One already has a position lined up at graduation.
This school has welding, carpentry, masonry, and even forensic science. They do a great job trying to help the kids.
I had an experience with a local technical school body and paint shop that didn't turn out so well. It involved the Oldsmobile Auroa in my signature. The car was in overall great condition, but there was a problem with the finish on the aluminum hood. I was an instructor at the technical school at the time, knew the body shop guy, and was aware that he and his students worked on cars for the cost of materials. I decided to let them have a go at repairing my hood. I figured I'd be saving some money, and was anxious to have my Aurora looking flawless again.
The first indicator that my project was in trouble and wasn't going to end well was when I was told that the hood the students worked on didn't match the rest of the car, and would it be alright to repaint the whole car? The whole car didn't need repainting, but I reluctantly gave permission.
The whole car was repainted (eventually). This whole process, it should be noted, took over a year! The finished paint job wasn't great, but it was acceptable for an almost 10 years old car with 200,000 miles on it. It didn't take long, however, before the new paint began to fall off the car. My "friend", the instructor, was mortified and readily agreed to paint the car again sighting poor prep work by his students as the problem.
When I saw the car after the second paint job, I realized immediately that it hadn't been painted the original color. It was white, but not the special pearl metallic white it was originally. The instructor was mortified and apologetic again, but didn't think a third paint job was in the cards.
I ended up having my much beloved Aurora repainted (again) professionally at considerable expense. It turned out great, looking in fact, like a brand new car. I couldn't have been more pleased.
Sadly, within a year someone pulling a snowmobile trailer side-swiped my beautifully repainted and pristine Aurora while it was parked. A car I was intending to keep "forever" was totaled for just about the price of the new paint.
So, this is my little cautionary tale. I learned that sometimes you get what you pay for, and possessions that may seem so important--are never forever--and certainly not as important as we thought.
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