Curly Tremayne Merc Restoration
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What was the point in sanding it down to do body work if you not going to even bother trying to put a hammer and dolly or at least try to heat shrink something….??
The big guy on the right holding the sander must of staged the photo because I never look that clean sanding bondo and he is wearing Black…! I bet he would burn him self tying to light the OXY acetylene if you gave him a bronze welding rod and some flux.. and then warp the crap of the panel…!!.!!!
Might as well just wet sanded the whole thing and repainted it…
What a waste of time to fill the whole car with 100 gals of bondo…. This reminds me of the JACK CALORI RESTORATION and they even threw away the original whole front clip….LOL…Then some fool paid $300,000 for half a car full of bondo…..LOL….
Id rather have a car in bare metal then full of bondo with pretty paint….. There are guys who are into kustom cars and then there are guys who just want things to look pretty on the out side…….. I don’t get it they go to all this trouble to get a car that his some type of history or is a known custom, Then it gets a cheep body job and paint. You get what you pay for today.
They need to sell more sticks of lead in the BONDO section of the paint shops….!!! People might actually try using it….
RULE ONE # Don’t ever stand beside an awesome historical kustom to have your photo taken when the whole thing is full of BONDO…..!!
Rule TWO # Burn it like BARRIS use an OXY acetylene …
KUSTOMLAND
Not saying I disagree with you on the metal finish work Luke. But if it comes to accurate Restoration…
The way they do the restoration now, is pretty much the way they did it when the car was originally customized in the 1970’s. (not talking about the Calori Coupe here)
Enjoy the beauty of Customizing
Ok Rik you have me on the comment it is a exact resto as it was done in the 1970’s.
The point is if this car was bought and shipped back to the guys in NORWAY / SWEDEN / DENMARK they would not have settled for what is being done to the car….
The car will only be what it is, Another chopped Merc full of BONDO…. And from the photos when its painted they will never be able to say that a huge amount of love went into it….But mind you when this car at some point becomes for sale again…..They will ask a million $$$$ but these photos will be there to show the world that the car will only look as nice as the paint job it will receive……
There is nothing wrong with going the extra effort and mile , Rob Powell built cars in the 1970’s and he still used lead….
But what I would like to know is did the guy buy this car, Then looked for a shop that advertised ” WE DO 1970’s RESTORATIONS WITH LOTS OF BONDO ” But hey if he was looking for a perfect correct resto that is 1970’s then he got it…..
I just thought the whole point was to take a car with some historical value and make it better then it was meaning , Putting more effort into the body work then the people who originally did the car……
Im just tired of seeing cars like this , then they go on display and then there is all this hype over the car, Then the car becomes for sale and they want a million for it….
Its just another car full of bondo………. And the photos are staged.
For example Ida Automotive paint striped there Merc and done an awesome job from start to finish.
What can we all really say when the car is done….???? GREAT JOB….
KUSTOMLAND
I’ll step up to the plate here to interject just a bit about body work now vs body work then….having seen original Barris bodywork in person on more than one occasion, as well as current metal work done by some of the “heroes” of custom car building, I will counter that the skim coat of filler that appears to be on this car, which I will wager is less than 1/8 inch in most areas is better than the literally inch plus of lead in most areas done “back in the day.”
Now, I’m not saying that metal working isn’t a great thing, but I am saying that by and large, “metal finishing” by most of the big names of customizing back in the day is a myth and slathering on lead by the hundreds of pounds was more the order of the day. Yes, there were exceptions, but really, stick on a piece of conduit, weld on a chunk of metal and cover the rest in lead was more the norm than, say the work of Brian Bass today.
For example, you can easily see in most every custom how to article in the “little pages” that stuff was just stuck together in rough shape and then covered up in lead. I’ve seen Barris chops that have worse looking metal work than the pic above of Curly’s back window….all covered in huge amounts of lead. I’ve also seen some of the “greats” do similar or worse metal work on chops and other custom work today and bury it all in filler….bondo or lead.
I’m in no way saying that these guys didn’t, or don’t today, do good work. What I AM saying is very, very few cars back then were “metal finished,” and to me, I’d rather have a properly done skim coat of filler with most of it being sanding off than inches of lead piled on a chop….or making whole body lines for that matter. (I do know of one “back in the day” “real deal” famous Merc that the entire door dip was originally done with not one lick of metal work but was filled in entirely with lead…..held on with 2 inch wood screws from the backside through the door skin).
In all fairness, I appreciate and admire the heck out what guys back then were able to do with what we would consider crude tools, materials and workspaces. Nothing they created was done with the intention it would last forever….heck, often it only had to stick together long enough to go through one season only to be redone or touched up for the next paint job for the next season. HUGE kudos to those guys….even though they were not “metal finishers.” 😉
I think the guys are doing a great job on the restoration and can’t wait to see it fresh and new again!
Now, I’m not saying that metal working isn’t a great thing, but I am saying that by and large, “metal finishing” by most of the big names of customizing back in the day is a myth and slathering on lead by the hundreds of pounds was more the order of the day. Yes, there were exceptions, but really, stick on a piece of conduit, weld on a chunk of metal and cover the rest in lead was more the norm than, say the work of Brian Bass today.
For example, you can easily see in most every custom how to article in the “little pages” that stuff was just stuck together in rough shape and then covered up in lead. I’ve seen Barris chops that have worse looking metal work than the pic above of Curly’s back window….all covered in huge amounts of lead
This is true, and I have also seen with my own eyes some of this work from the past.
On the other hand, because I know a guy who is the friend of the guy getting the work done on the Tremayne car, I also know that plenty of people not paying the bills have commented one way or the other about how the work is being done. The bottom line is, despite what our dreams might be, the reality is the owner can only afford so much.
And unless someone else steps up to pay for it, this is how the job is being done.
There is not one historic custom transported back to the guys in Europe that has ever been restored like this…..Just saying the car deserved more love …..
David in true respect of Barris ect …Bondo did not exist when they were building cars so what ever they did will always be set as the original guidelines for what kustom car guys should expect to achieve.
Because what are we all here for if the standards they set don’t count….. Then the all the kustoms and the C.C.C would just be something we all just like to read and not try to replicate the standards they set……
David lets be real and im open to any one to tell me im wrong…. But that much Bondo over a huge surface are WILL CRACK….. It does not matter how think or thin it does not flex…. It will make the car look nice and straight sitting still , What my point was any one can do this can fill every thing with Bondo……The body work will not last and I never seen them acid wash the metal before re skimming the body, So it will lift and bubble and crack from the stress of even driving it and then add the car sitting in sun time to time and the heat will paly a part also….. Even if it get a chip some were that will also start a huge head ake……
What I posted is my personal opinion , Rik made it clear that it was a correct restoration as done in the 70’s and he is 100%. It get old seeing this same type of effort on a wonderful car,
It becomes uninteresting and boring, It’s like eating the same thing for breakfast over and over…
What is interesting is seeing guys like Palle, Paul Bragg, doing awesome stuff , Guys who go all the way the U.S to find a custom car then take it back to Europe and go far and beyond. You learn so much stuff here on the C.C.C with Palle making back windo glass , That stuff you can learn from …..
When the SNOOK JANICH car was being done… Who in there great wisdom primes a car in ” CANNERY YELLOW “……!!! only to paint the thing metallic green…… I was dumb founded…..!! Then to make it worse they guy cut the whole inside door panel and removed all the Barris welding for what…??? There was nothing wrong with it……Then the guy modified the quarter window for what…??? Reason..? To make it better…..? It became less of a Barris built car ever time some thing was removed, The inside door panel had been there since day one id like to know what the point of removing it was….I hope some one could explain it to me…..
Tony your comment is correct and I understand that this is all he can afford…. Just thought there would be more love…..
None the less The standard of body work on this car is Low …… But is 100% correct for its era.
KUSTOMLAND
One point I would like to share with every one…….
I have the original papers and letters from Jerry Titus from 1980 whe the KKOA were founded. In these letters inducting Barris and Rod Powell are many interesting things. And one of the most interesting things is a comment he makes….
He states in his personal letter to Rod Powell and George Barris is that one day he fore sees kustom cars and there builders with become famous and that the art of building kustom cars will one day be recognized and that there will one day be a hall of fame that will be as big as the music hall of fame…..
He was correct…. The reson I get bent out of shape seeing historic cars half ass resorted and butchered is because I see these historical cars as art work like the MONA LISA. There are guidelines in the art world to preserving this art and history…………What is acceptable and what is not… There are people who dedicated there life to preserving art in every way you can imagine………….
So far only since 2010 when the ” THEN AND NOW ” GRAND NATIONAL ROADSTER SHOW did these historic cars become known to many people who never new so many cars existed that were built. Not even until this did any car auction place acknowledge that these cars were in fact in a class of there own….. And now these is a class just for historic customs at car auctions…..
Never would I have thought that Mercs would be gathered at MONTERY Pebble Beach and of all the years I have lived in Salinas and been to this event of cherries jubilee / Pebble Beach did I see a historic custom, Maybe Kurt McCormick cars.
So far I have seen many historical kustom cars get butchered because every one thinks doing a car with historical value is like every other….. It is not and restoring and saving a historical car falls into several categories’ as we have just discussed…..
Some one who buys the car but can only afford cheep body work.
Some one who has a historical car that just happens to have it but has no interest in it witch ive seen happen a lot..
Sme one who has the car but dreams of doing it and it never gets done and sits rotting.. See this all the time…
Some one who has a historical car and intends to modify it to there own desire and does not care…..
Im tired of seeing historical cars given to some Joe Shmoo shop and have its door panels cut out and thrown in the bin……..!!!! Because I run around the country side trying to save these parts…..
I saved the ED Pink 1936 Ford hood from being tossed away for $30 to be lost for ever at a swap meet…..!!!! If it was not for people like Jerry Titus and people who really care then a lot would be lost.
No one has ever set standards into what is correct and what is not correct in preserving a historical kustom.
I think because there is so many ways to paint and slap a car together we have lost sight on perfection…
And when it comes to restoring a historical paintings or art and even a buildings there are standards….
And they all involve perfection because it is the only way to bring the item back to life at a point in time when it was created….
So with this I think Jerry Titus cared enough that people on the C.C.C should build a standard of what is considered acceptable in the car world to preserve a historical car.
If not then we can all just watch historical cars be butchered and clap our hands and pretend…
Im not going to B.S any one I go to shows see awesome historical cars butchered walk around them look at all the things they changed on it I admire it for what it is then walk away saying what a heap of crap. I would never of done that if I had it……But hey that’s just me and im not afraid to admit it……
I am a huge fan or saving historical car parts and art work….
I own the only known AUSTRALIAN paper work for the very first AUSTRALIAN CAR ever built and it took 5 years for the team from ENGLAND AND FRANCE to restore it….. The team leader came from The Queen of ENGLAND’S Royal Palace to over see the art work as he is the career of the Queens Art . He came to care for and correctly see that every step was done to perfection to preserve it…..
The Historical car paper work is considered an AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TRESURE I became the career for it because it was tossed and no one could see the value. I bought it in 2005 whilst on a vacation from the U.S in Australia with my girlfriend.
The paper work is valued at over $100,000 now and took the team 5 years to save and put it on Japanese rice paper. I asked the FRENCH lady what is was like restoring. Her comment was it was mediation and very stressful.
I just have the same attitude and view when it come to historical cars and I hope one day people see things the way I do….
KUSTOMLAND
I don’t think it looks too bad in those pics from prior to tear down considering it was built in 1977. So if they restore it to the same standard again and it will last for another 40 years or so, then I guess it’s all good. I absolutely loved the car when I first saw it and I read that “how-to-chop” article over and over again.
Not to be argumentative….as I am sure if we were all sitting in a room or hanging out in a parking lot having this conversation, it would simply be entertaining and just a conversation among friends on their take, but I appreciate typed words on the internet without tone of voice or gestures often come across as drama an argument. 😀
That said, just from practical experience, I drive both a chopped Merc and a custom ’50 Chevy everyday that both have a whole lot more filler on them than what I am seeing the Tremayne Merc has on it. Both were first built as customs in the 90’s. The Merc has nearly 50k miles on it since built, and the Chevy has over 100k on it. They sit in the sun all day. The bodywork has held up great on both. I wouldn’t call the work these guys are doing as “cheap”….as I’m sure neither would the guy paying the bill. I have seen just as much, if not more rust under Barris applied lead as I have under any 30 year old bondo I have removed off on my projects. Again, I’m not saying lead or metal finishing isn’t great, but I am saying looks like these guys are doing a super job and I’d be most proud of what they were doing were the car mine.
Carry on….loving seeing another great car return to glory. 😀
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