LegatoGelato
Smooth
Taste…Island Pace
Painting
my Truck
I am still amazed at the number of
different skills I am learning in the process of having a dairy and starting a
gelato business. It is stretching me in all sorts of ways.
Has anyone else painted his or her own
vehicle? I have an awesome 1991 Dodge Ram 4X4 pick-up truck with a Cummins
Diesel engine. It’s a wonderful truck for the farm, one-ton size, lots of
power, pulls any kind of livestock or horse trailer, big enough to put a camper
on, carries 35 big bales of alfalfa hay without any problem. Goes well in heavy
snow, built like a tank and I feel really safe in it. If I drove off the road
it would get a couple more dents but would survive and keep on running – it’s a
beast! Visually – well to put it mildly, it was a little beat up looking. It
has a number of dents in the body and rust/holes on the back wheel wells, the
dark blue paint was peeling, and rust patches were growing. The brush guard on
the front and the dented fender on the back were showing a lot of rust as well.
I had sprayed spots all over it with rust-stopping primer trying to hold back
the corrosion.
I took it into a local auto
painting/bodywork shop to get an estimate to put it back into shape. The guy
very kindly told me it wasn’t worth it. The bodywork alone would be ~$10K and
then ~$6K to paint it – much of the current paint would have to be sanded away
down to metal and redone from scratch.
I
think the he felt sorry for me, I was pretty disappointed. The value in the
truck is the engine – that year and type of diesel engine will last to over one
million kms, it’s the body that wears out. We kept on talking and he instructed
me on how to paint it myself. I had also done quite a bit of research on the
internet as well so it wasn’t a completely new idea. Armed with all this theoretical
knowledge I purchased Tremclad gloss white paint, a few sizes of rollers, sandpaper,
and thinner and started in. Sometimes not knowing how much work is involved is
a good thing. Otherwise, I would never start a big project – like a dairy or a
gelato business.
Three days later (having to fit in my
sanding, washing and painting sessions with the regular chores and keeping out
of the direct hot sunshine) I think I have done a good job. I have had lots of
experience painting in the house, my mother like to redo the room colours every
other year or so – so I can tape, prep, and paint rooms fairly well. I have
also dabbled a bit in refinishing furniture, just for fun. I think the basics
are fundamentally the same – prep the surface, tape everything you don’t want
painted, keep everything clean, follow instructions and don’t rush. I also
realize that the prep takes 2 to 3 times as long as the actual painting itself.
I think there is a life lesson in there somewhere – to be successful you need
to plan and prepare three times as long as the job will take. Something like
that.
It looks pretty darn good. I still
need to get a couple special rollers or foam brushes to reach areas I just could
not get to but I am happy with it. So from a big blue truck with rust spots and
gray primer spots all over & a burgundy canopy it has become a big shiny
white truck with a shiny white canopy. Couldn’t and didn’t take out the dents
and I am looking to get wheel well covers that will hide the rust. This truck
“extreme makeover” happened for under $200 – and time. Always seems the way, to
save money you have to spend time. There is probably a life lesson in that
statement as well.
It’s all about learning and trying new
things. How does saffron/raisin gelato sound?
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