Sometimes the cards change.

In my last update, while discussing a nice paint job I wrote: “spending months doing it myself is also not in the cards.”  Well, sometimes the cards, along with my plans, change. I really did want to get the Stretchla up and running this summer, but as discussed earlier that would mean a very quick and dirty paint job in addition to months of stressful work. Since then a few things happened to change my plans. First off, a number of friends discussed the question of paint quality with me. “After all” they said “this is a popular project that will attract attention wherever it goes, do I really want my first interaction to be apologizing for the house paint?” Additionally, as I pulled the windows I found some rust holes that needed fixing. I could do some hack patch, but the truth is that the soft house paint is not going to work well under window seals. Now with all the windows out, the Stretchla is really begging for a proper paint job, inside and out.   Either way the line of rust behind the camping gear needs work. If I can locate a larger replacement panel, I’d like to replace the whole thing to delete the obsolete camper connections while fixing the rust perforation that is often caused by leaking around those same connections. So far the scope of this project seemed pretty clear. By choosing this fork in the path a mountain is revealing itself through the fog. I can’t tell how big it is yet, but in my imagination it could be pretty big or maybe only a strenuous foothill. Learning decent quality bodywork has always been on my bucket list so it will certainly be an adventure. I guess the time has come to collect the tools and learn it. RestoLad is a great fun resource, he makes it all look pretty easy!  😉 I’ll need to make a booth to keep the rest of my shop from being buried in dust. The left side of the shop, with a nice roll up door at the far end should lend itself well to the job, as soon as I find somewhere to put all the unfinished projects stored there…   If anyone is in the market for a large Trike (Burning Man art vehicle, needs work), Quad IVc SMT Pick and Place machine with feeders, a Honda Insight with EV-1 motor installed (project) or maybe a CNC router project please let me know so I can make some room! Although this mountain is making me hesitate a bit, I can’t blame it for my utter lack of progress in the last month. I’ve had a few other obligations show up which alone would have made me miss my electric summer travel plans. Those delays ease the burden of choosing the longer path since that means it wasn’t just the paint that screwed up my schedule. Hopefully I can get these other obligations wrapped up in a couple weeks and then struggle through the cleanup so I can get back to the fun parts of Stretchla project!