Much bodywork.
This is… 2 days of work since my last update? Something like 2 days. Maybe a day and a half. I’m honestly amazed at the speed Carmers is working on Sharka.
The driver’s side was definitely the ugly one.
Fender.
Leopard spots.
My 97 crunchy fender is no longer crunchy. It is now smooth and lovely. And they went on about how it really wasn’t that much work. Like 20 minutes or something ridiculous.
The black art of bodywork amazes me.
Bye bye rock guard.
Such smoothness. Wow.
I remember the first Miata I ever looked at back in 2000. I saw the wavy lower door and thought it had been in a wreck and badly repaired. Then I saw the other side and scratched my head. And then… I saw every other NA was the same.
Yuck.
As I mentioned in another blog, 80% of Sharka’s rock guard will be going away. The stuff below the door will remain, but the guard below the belt line will be removed. Er, is removed. No longer there. Yay!
And then there’s the back fender.
Smooth lines. Bliss.
Sweet 8 lb 4oz baby Jesus. That is lovely. Music for the eyes. All sorts of descriptions. Having my bad fender pull gone? So happy.
Much words. Such bodywork. Wow.
The driver’s side.
Yeah. That’s the good stuff. I love progress.
Next episode.
This was being worked on when I stopped by the shop. They said it might get glued on and left to cure. Since it was a Friday afternoon… I kinda doubt it. But we’ll see what happens when I stop Monday.
I is excited. Wish I had more intelligent commentary to provide.
I should put inspirational quotes throughout my next update…
Mark and Mark II are jealous. They understand, of course. But they are certainly jealous. (I am speaking from experience and not from actual conversation. They are fans of Sharka)
And in a weird way, I get it. I get the watching from afar. LIke you said, you sent your beloved to camp. And we can’t touch the pictures but we want to.
Yeah. We all just want to touch the pictures.
I really wrestled with driving Sharka out there and leaving him for a few months. But, in the end, a local friend-of-a-friend won out. Not having access to an NA for an extended period would be pretty rough on my store. I constantly tear into the car for product development.
And I’d go crazy if I couldn’t SEE the car at a whim. lol
Trust me. I completely understand. I get it. And I couldn’t be happier for you and for Sharka. And Bucky!
You know, I realized that I have a good solution for learning bodywork:
Do it on something you aren’t going to have any real strong attachment to.
Picked up a 48 Chevy Fleetmaster a few years back. I love the shape, but for a $400 investment, if I completely hose up my attempts at fixing it, it’s not like I’m out a ton of cash. Plus, it’s in fairly rough shape, so to put it another way, I have a lot of work ahead of me haha.
You might try the same approach. Don’t even need the whole car, even a panel or two, so it’s not taking up a ton of garage space…
I’ve actually done that to a small degree. I can wetsand, buff, spray with a rattle can, and do a bunch of other small things. I need a spray gun (well not any more) and a few more panels to learn more on.
I would love to learn (and intend to learn) bodywork, and all that goes with it. Learning to have patience with myself and not let the perfectionist within stop me from enjoying it will perhaps be the bigger challenge…
The patience is a big thing. I have a lot but for paint? I just wanna see what happens next! Ha