Call me crazy - Ranchero's (again)

**Luva65wagon** · February 9th, 2012, 04:07 PM

This is used on any pinch-weld, but will work well on the edge of this too.

**doghows** · February 9th, 2012, 04:28 PM

I swear I am going to just start dropping stuff off at your house. Obviously I am not getting it done over here.
That looks awesome, but be careful or you will be re-building Genes that way to!!! Should look good painted. I am guessing the same black?

Glad the whole measure it twenty times drill the holes 19 did not come into play..

**Luva65wagon** · February 9th, 2012, 05:10 PM

The top side will be black for sure, but I'm leaning towards white underneath just so its not like a tunnel. We'll see how it looks.

Saw your brown ranchero on Craigslist last night. Why not post them here too?

**SmithKid** · February 9th, 2012, 09:26 PM

I don't think there's any cracks in the one that I got, but I will probably reinforce the big areas if there is any sign of the oil can effect. I just haven't had the time to look at it recently with my other project.

**doghows** · February 10th, 2012, 08:05 AM

I like the idea of the white, maybe a couple of courtesy lights?? (kidding) should look real nice.
I got a wild hair the other day and tossed the brown one up there just to see if the market is there. Only got I guy wanting to trade me a 52 Chevy panel truck.. I will keep playing with it for a bit it is kind of fun to drive with the 289 in it.. Maybe I will drive it over for tech day and park it next to yours!!

**Luva65wagon** · February 10th, 2012, 01:03 PM

A few of you have seen and I mentioned having had the bed sprayed at RhinoLiners NW up in Everett at the new year. Needless to say the experience has been less than stellar. There were runs in it; spray that had clearly been shot heavy from one side, which ran on one side and created a shadow valley on the other (due to the humps in the bed floor); bubbles forming; areas/parts missed. It was far from what I would consider a good job.

With other things (bugs) needing to be worked through on the car, and snow, it took me about a month to get it back to them, but I made an appointment last Friday to deliver it on Wednesday this week, which I did.

When I took it to them at first the "owner/manager" tried to write it off as "Oh, this sort of stuff happens all the time. That's normal." But the sprayer-guy indicated (after his boss had walked away) that he thought it was ugly and he'd make it right. He'd also indicated that they had fired the guy who sprayed mine shortly afterward. Great! That explains a lot.

So I called yesterday to check on the progress because he was sure it would take him a couple days to grind parts of it and spray it again. He said he wasn't done yet, but he claimed he had done the grinding and then had problems with the sprayer and had been working on it all day and would need the car another day because he, quote, "didn't want to test his repaired sprayer on my car." I said OK to that.

This morning at 10AM the owner/manager calls and says he's in a pickle. He'd been asked this morning by the sprayer-guy how he should do some of the things, which irritated the owner/manager because he had already said to us both that day a week ago that "what is, is" and it should have been left at that. His concern was with adhesion of new over the previous application and blah, blah, blah. I said, "but he's already ground on it."

"No, he just said that because he was up against a wall and needed to buy time."

"WHAT!"

Now I'm getting really PO'd at these guys and told them this was totally unacceptable and I wanted them to fix the bubbles (which were the items of most concern) and give me my car back. I said I was blown away at how low their standards were and that of their customer service and would be sure everyone I knew was aware of this. And then pretty much hung up on them.

An hour later I get a call saying "I've talked to my partner and he's got a plan..." (I'm waiting) "and he thinks we can make this look really good. And you do have a nice little show car out there and I don't want you showing that and saying it came from us..." (I'm waiting) "and he thinks we can use an 'adhesion promoter' on it and make a new spray-on work really good." (I'm waiting, here it comes) "and we'll need to keep the car another day to get it done because we have this truck to do first and this trailer is next..."

So I gave them until 2:30 Saturday to make it right. We'll see if they make it.

More to come as this unfolds.

**doghows** · February 10th, 2012, 02:17 PM

I say we all get in our cars, drive over there and have a impromptu car show. Then tell everyone how crappy the work is and the customer service blows.
If I did that over here in a smaller town I would be out of business in a month or less. People just don't understand customer service anymore???
Anyway I hope they make good on their promise. It would suck to see their crappy work work ruin all your great work.

**Jeff W** · February 10th, 2012, 11:07 PM

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_u...?v=2kd2mMa0KqE

Here is one sexy advert... maybe you could install some rear roll bars on you cover to simulate this look. I even like the spoiler on this bird.

If it wasn't for having to haul the kids around, I wound have to see about shipping one of these statewide.

**Luva65wagon** · February 11th, 2012, 08:58 PM

Now you've gone and done it. Now I'll be searching for a roll bar and a wing to add to it... while I'm at it.

(It is pretty cool though. The Aussie's still get all the cool stuff. I noticed that the cover hinges mid-way.)

As for the RhinoLiner deal, they had it for the whole day today too (4 days total), so they didn't get it done in time for me to get it to the muffler shop. Probably won't find the opportunity to do that for weeks now. If I do it at all. I want to have my hacked-up exhaust replaced, but it's not falling off or anything.

Anyway, they resprayed the entire bed again and it does look better. Not perfect, but not ugly like before. I still found one bubble after all that, but I'll fix that by shooting some 5-minute epoxy under it and squeezing out the excess. So, for now the drama is over. It's gonna be covered now with the tonneau cover anyway, so it's back to restoring that.

**Luva65wagon** · February 11th, 2012, 10:06 PM

Here it is. Done.

**Jeff W** · February 12th, 2012, 11:06 AM

looks good. I especially like the mailboxes mounted on the rear deck.

I recall you picked up an extra hood. Since you apparently never have idle hands, why don't you start working on some kind of unique bump or scoop contraption. Not the teardrop - that is so overdone. Take your time and make it a showpiece.

I'm talking about something along the lines of the one in the movie "Corvette Summer".

**Luva65wagon** · February 12th, 2012, 10:03 PM

Sorry Jeff, not sure what a bump or scoop contraption is...

but after a little discussion with Gene this afternoon, I think this is the direction I'll go with it.

**BillP 98201** · February 13th, 2012, 09:44 AM

What direction are you going to go with Genes Ranchero then?

**Luva65wagon** · February 13th, 2012, 10:14 AM

I've noticed a few times on Gene's thread that people will reply to his thread beginning with Gene (Roger) - but I'm here to say that he really is his own person. We are not the same person with dual personalities. You might have actually met him before, I think. Nice guy, that Gene. His wife Vel could have done a lot worse. And I've told him as much many times.

The point is that Gene is actually making his own decisions on his car. But I try really hard to dissuade him from doing the crazy things I have done when I see him heading down that path. I'm always saying to him, "Gene, do as I say, not as I do." Of course, it works occasionally, but more and more I believe I am a bad influence on him. He has contracted WIAI disease, same as me. It may be too late for me, but there is still hope for him if we all pull together and stage an intervention.

**SmithKid** · February 13th, 2012, 10:37 AM

I think your stance needs the addition of a 12" lift kit to keep the mudders from scraping off the paint from those re-worked wheelwells. Oh.... and don't forget to put a winch on the front. And , of course, you are going to need some super-bright lights topside for when you go boonie crashing after sundown.

By the way, the direction I'm going with my Ranchero is firmly established. I am just not the adventurer Roger is.