Here we are again. Another month, another dollar (one dollar? – yeah, sure!) and some more progress. Not much progress – but some. OK, let’s tell the folks what’s happened since last time.

I really like working with Bill Klingler. He’s not only fun to be around, but you learn a lot from him. And you never know who, or what, is going to be at Bill’s shop. It might be a 4x4 in for some dent removal and paint touch up, or a Camaro getting an incredible white pearlescent over blue paint job. And then there is the Alfa basket case that Bill is trying to straighten out and repair. It’s full of the Swiss cheese, rust holes. If the Hussy is difficult, the Alfa is truly hard – and yet Bill says he can do it.

Jeff has been doing most of the body work on the Hussy. He’s a thin, quiet guy who likes to do his part without anyone else messing with it, or him. He’s a great craftsman and does exceptional things with the impossible. I still don’t know how he got all of those parts to fit together so well. One week the fenders didn’t fit, the running boards were too long and the hood didn’t match the cab, and a couple of weeks later it was all perfect. And when I’d ask him how he did it, he’d tilt his head a bit and give me that thin smile of his and not say a thing. The work he did with the rear fenders was incredible. This man is really talented and proud of what he does.

Body work is really an art form that borders on the mystic. An example is when mating the left front fender to the cab body, he heated up the center of an area so that the side nearest the door would shrink a bit, pulling in the area the fender attached to and then the fender fit was tighter. HUH? And the method of shrinking an area is right out of the weird world too. They use a special tool to weld some rods to the area. The heat of the rods being welded causes the contraction. Then they cut off the rods and grind them flush. When I saw it, it looked like the Hussy had a bad case of acne. But the magic was how well the fender fit. And I thought the solution was to bang on the fender with a hammer.

Another example of metal magic was what Lee Wellbourn suggested that Lanny do to fit a metal top to Den Reinholdt’s 37’ Packard. Crimping the edges just 3/4th of an inch all around caused the top to bubble up. Like magic, it worked. Metal working is truly mysterious. Some metals are easily worked and others aren’t. And heating some metal hardens it and makes it brittle, while others become softer and easily worked. And then there is aluminum - or stainless steel. This whole area of body bending, metal fab, panel beating, is special and if you want to play in this area, be prepared to have some weird experiences and results. This is an area where pros are really pros. And then there are the tools. You’d think all you’d need is a hammer, a dolly and some sandpaper – better get real fast feller, cause if you don’t, everybody’s going to know who did it.

So, Jeff, you’re really special in my book. And I thank you for all the extra you put into it. Most people look at the paint,
Saga of Just a Brazen Hussy- cont. from page 9-

but I now know what it takes to make a car really look good. And I can truly say that a craftsman did make a Hussy look right.

Then you get to painting. Back in 1951, at the tender age of fifteen, my neighbor, Ray Ryberg, helped me buy a 39’ DeSoto Club Coupe. Because my father would have had a hemorrhage if he had known, Ray hid it in his garage so I could work on it. The first order of business was to paint it. I spent the better part of a year sanding off rust, then sanding Bondo, and prepping the car, which mostly meant brushing on some lacquer and then sanding it smooth. Then came the magic day when Ray said we were ready to paint it. He took the leftovers of three gallons of enamel and mixed them together. The color was what my mother called s—t brindle brown. But, hey, the price was right. And in less than an hour, it was painted. And the next day we could touch it and sand off the bugs and big dust bunnies. It did look like a rotted, brown orange, but it was state-of-the–art for that day.

Not today. Even priming is an education. There are so many different primers and each has its purpose. There’s zinc-oxide primer for preventing rust. There’s building primer to get things smooth – filling low spots, leveling high spots, etc. There’s final primer that goes on after the building primer and allows you to spend more time sanding, so that you really can get a really smooth surface. And finally there’s sealing primer that provides a base for the color coat. Sure, most shops don’t do all of these priming steps, especially the three coats of building primer. But the really good guys want to go the extra steps because of the results they’ll get. (It also takes somebody who is willing to pay for the time, effort and materials to get this kind of finish.)

But then the magic day happened two weeks ago. Bill called and said, “Come and get your cab. It’s ready and you can mount it on the chassis” ALLRIGHT!!! Claudette and I went up and gawked at it. It was so beautiful. The green, metallic paint just glowed and every curve was so pretty, so smooth, so shiny. I couldn’t wait to mount it and get to work. But then it rained, and then Drake’s box van was busy, and Lanny got sick – so I had to wait a few more days. But what the hey – I’m used to waiting now.

Right now the very pretty green cab is mounted on the chassis and I’ve got most of the sound deadening/insulation in, and I’m getting ready to reinstall all those parts and pieces into the cab and onto the firewall - if I can remember where they all go. No sweat – I’ve got Lanny and Pat who remember where everything goes – I hope. And Bill just called and said the hood is ready and he’s going like a house-a-fire on the rest of the bits and pieces. Hot dog, I’m going to be busy again. I think I’m gonna finish this Hussy.

Isn’t it a great feeling when the guys look at the paint job on your rod and make nice sounds. (NO, Den Reinholdt, you can’t have the green color that’s on my Brazen Hussy on your rusty old Packard. Find your own color. And none of this stuff about you had it first.) Ray, you’re right about walking through the dark with you head up and knowing what the vision is. But it sure is easier when you can put your hands in it and do something. Now, tell me again - how are we going to pay for all of this?