Back To School
Went to Los Angeles on Friday morning Nov. 16th and stopped to visit with Brad Masterson who is openning a custom shop in Lynwood at the same location where George Barris was. He has 4 project cars he is working on that are "old School" style as he worked as an apprentice for George Barris Kustom, Bill Hines and their contemporaries learning customizing the way it was done in the 50's and 60's.
Brad is in the February 2008 Issue of Rod & Custom Magazine page 22. Brad was introduced to me by my friend Fred in Northern California (he supplied the Kaisers and T-Birds). My visit with Brad was to see if he may be interested in doing some of the metal forming and installation of the replacement panels on the Kaiser. I enjoyed meeting Brad and the shop tour.
Then it was off to California Car Cover to pick up parts and a paint store for PPG Metal Prep and finally to the hotel where I would stay for 4 nights while attending
"The Art of Metal Working" School at Sunchaser
Friday afternoon I stopped by the Sunchaser Shop to drop off the damaged fender from one of my 50 Fords that will be my project to straighten, and meet the instructor Ken.
The next 3 days we learned what happens to sheet metal when it is stretched (dented) and how to straighten it back to original form with proper use of the hammer and dolly, shrinking and sanding techniques on 18 and 20 gauge panels supplied by Sunchaser.
At the end of day 2 we set-up our project fenders on wooden jigs and day 3 was spent learning welding, straightening the welded area, and working on our fenders.
I was only able to get about 1/2 the fender straightened that last day. The class received about 30 hours of procedures and instructions in an "hands on" class. I came away from the class with enough basic skills and confidence to start the dent removal from the Kaiser and would recommend this 3 day "hands on' workshop to anyone interested in learning the basics in bodywork and metal working.
Tuesday morning I went to Costa Mesa to visit with my 51 Ford. The body work is completed with final sanding being done and the base color blue will done next Monday. After color sanding the flames will be laid out and painted then color sanded and the clear coat applied.
Brad is in the February 2008 Issue of Rod & Custom Magazine page 22. Brad was introduced to me by my friend Fred in Northern California (he supplied the Kaisers and T-Birds). My visit with Brad was to see if he may be interested in doing some of the metal forming and installation of the replacement panels on the Kaiser. I enjoyed meeting Brad and the shop tour.
Then it was off to California Car Cover to pick up parts and a paint store for PPG Metal Prep and finally to the hotel where I would stay for 4 nights while attending
"The Art of Metal Working" School at Sunchaser
Friday afternoon I stopped by the Sunchaser Shop to drop off the damaged fender from one of my 50 Fords that will be my project to straighten, and meet the instructor Ken.
The next 3 days we learned what happens to sheet metal when it is stretched (dented) and how to straighten it back to original form with proper use of the hammer and dolly, shrinking and sanding techniques on 18 and 20 gauge panels supplied by Sunchaser.
At the end of day 2 we set-up our project fenders on wooden jigs and day 3 was spent learning welding, straightening the welded area, and working on our fenders.
I was only able to get about 1/2 the fender straightened that last day. The class received about 30 hours of procedures and instructions in an "hands on" class. I came away from the class with enough basic skills and confidence to start the dent removal from the Kaiser and would recommend this 3 day "hands on' workshop to anyone interested in learning the basics in bodywork and metal working.
Tuesday morning I went to Costa Mesa to visit with my 51 Ford. The body work is completed with final sanding being done and the base color blue will done next Monday. After color sanding the flames will be laid out and painted then color sanded and the clear coat applied.
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