Forty years ago today........

[MARTINSR]

It was today Aug 1, 1977, FORTY YEARS AGO I painted my truck in our garage. My third paint job behind my 64 Nova (White Lacquer) and my brothers Model A (Yellow acrylic enamel,) I was on my way in a career in the auto body industry. The photo was taken on Martin Street in front of our house (well down the street a way.)
I wanted "Competition orange" a very hotrod color. So I went to Township Auto Supply here in Fremont where I bought paint and looked in the color chart for Corvette Orange, one problem Corvette used for a few years Omaha Orange, a GM fleet color that was used on the CalTrans trucks! I bought a gallon for $33 and brought it home. When I opened the can in my garage with the truck sitting there ready to paint I almost puked, it wasn't Competition orange! I could have brought it back and pumped it up with some red toner or something but I knew nothing about that and went ahead and painted it with what I had. I'll never forget the next Pumpkin Festival (it was only a few years old at the time) in HalfMoon bay they thought I was part of the show! LOL I sprayed it with a Craftsmen paint gun my parents bought me for my high school graduation gift. They knew where I was going, and it made perfect sense. I would go on to feed my family and put a roof over my head using those skills I learned in that garage with that Craftsmen gun, photo below hanging in my garage today. It was also the day I started my mustache, more on that later.

Brian

[OrrieG]

Found a few of those last week at my dads garage sale, ended up recycling them, no one wanted to buy them. Also found boxes of NOS stuff for 50-early 70's stuff, looks like my ebay account will be busy. Found old manuals and other auto literature too. Will copy for the old car manual site and decide if I want to sell of keep for my kids to throw away.

[iowaboynca]

A sad thing maybe is that all the fields behind up to the hills is now mostly developed...I see them a lot when I have to drive to the south bay.

Time marches on...

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by iowaboynca

A sad thing maybe is that all the fields behind up to the hills is now mostly developed...I see them a lot when I have to drive to the south bay.

Time marches on...

They are COVERED with houses, yep, as far as the eye can see.

Brian

[Dan in Pasadena]

Interesting story. On my computer screen the truck looks pink with orange spots but i get it, 40 year old faded photo.

If I'd made my living starting off with that gun and still had it all these years later I'd polish it up and maybe frame it!

[MARTINSR]

Yeah the color in the photo has faded out, it's up on the wall in my wash room. Believe me I do a lot of goofy stuff like polishing that gun and hanging it up, I may just do that.

Brian

[vintovka]

The hair and bell bottoms bring back memories. Speaking of wrong paint I once had my 54 painted in a 1970 popular color called burnt okra. Before i saw it the shop called and their head paint guy said he couldn't stand it and asked if it would be ok to add some pin stripe to juice it up.. Wound up with a full pin stripping job. Down side was the large marijuana leaf on the grill nose. Was sh-tless for a while driving it thru the main gate at Nellis AFB. Luckily I Didn't lose any of my own stripes over it.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by vintovka

The hair and bell bottoms bring back memories. Speaking of wrong paint I once had my 54 painted in a 1970 popular color called burnt okra. Before i saw it the shop called and their head paint guy said he couldn't stand it and asked if it would be ok to add some pin stripe to juice it up.. Wound up with a full pin stripping job. Down side was the large marijuana leaf on the grill nose. Was sh-tless for a while driving it thru the main gate at Nellis AFB. Luckily I Didn't lose any of my own stripes over it.

That's funny stuff.

Ok boys and girls, only my oldest friends knew what looked like without a mustache. I started growing my mustache 40 years ago today, Aug 1, 1977. I have never shaved there since! Well this morning I thought I would change all that, so for the first time in 40 years...drum roll please....Brian Martin cleanly shaven!

[iowaboynca]

That's a change.
My wife won't let me shave my goatee as she says ours kids have never seen me without it.

Nice look and hey if you don't like it you can grow it back!

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by iowaboynca

That's a change.
My wife won't let me shave my goatee as she says ours kids have never seen me without it.

Nice look and hey if you don't like it you can grow it back!

Thanks and exactly I grew it 40 years ago in weeks, or months, today it would take days.

Brian

[nvrdone]

Fremont? I grew up in SLZ and spent many Fri & Sat nights on E14th. Also spent time at Fremont drag strip which was a shopping mall last time I was there. And yes, the hills are all covered with homes.
I grew a mustache in '73. Cut it off in about '95 and my wide didn't recognize me.
Good times, good memories

[mr48chev]

My 33 year old son has never seen me without a mustache, while his mom and I were split up and she was in Texas with the kids about 30 years ago i got up rather groggy an had half of it shaved off before I noticed so I shaved the rest off and started growing it back the next morning.

[1project2many]

You're a brave man Brian. I'm not sure I could go through with it. I've never shaved my mustache off. It took a *while* to really come in and since I have light hair I looked like I had a dirty lip through my teenage years. There's no question now.

At about the same time I started growing a mustache I started losing hair on my head. For years it seemed like they were tied together. As the mustache grew faster the hair got thinner on top. I'm bald down the center now so I tell people I concentrate on growing hair where it makes the most impression. I also try to get my money's worth out of a haircut by leaving the mustache and beard untrimmed for a week prior.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by 1project2many

You're a brave man Brian. I'm not sure I could go through with it. I've never shaved my mustache off. It took a *while* to really come in and since I have light hair I looked like I had a dirty lip through my teenage years. There's no question now.

At about the same time I started growing a mustache I started losing hair on my head. For years it seemed like they were tied together. As the mustache grew faster the hair got thinner on top. I'm bald down the center now so I tell people I concentrate on growing hair where it makes the most impression. I also try to get my money's worth out of a haircut by leaving the mustache and beard untrimmed for a week prior.

I will never forget being in church one Sunday morning and in front of me was a very balding guy. He had nothing on the top, we are talking shiny skin, with a very pronounced line around the top of his head with black hair from there down! The rest of his head looking perfectly normal with beautiful hair on it.

In front of him was a young kid with an hair cut where they shaved the sides of his head leaving this "rug" on top of beautiful black hair. It was so close to the exact dimensions of the bald guys bald spot behind him it was friggin hilarious.

I noticed the bald guy thinking the same thing, he kept looking at that young kids head. I sure he was thinking "You young punk don't understand."

Brian

[Hblee]

I still have a 35 y/o Binks #7 spray gun. That was the best there was back then. I worked at a Corvette shop in the 70s. None of the guys spraying lacquer ever wore any type of respirator, I never did either.

[SatinSeventy2]

Originally Posted by martinsr

i will never forget being in church one sunday morning and in front of me was a very balding guy. He had nothing on the top, we are talking shiny skin, with a very pronounced line around the top of his head with black hair from there down! The rest of his head looking perfectly normal with beautiful hair on it.

In front of him was a young kid with an hair cut where they shaved the sides of his head leaving this "rug" on top of beautiful black hair. It was so close to the exact dimensions of the bald guys bald spot behind him it was friggin hilarious.

I noticed the bald guy thinking the same thing, he kept looking at that young kids head. I sure he was thinking "you young punk don't understand."

brian

lol !!!

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Interesting story. On my computer screen the truck looks pink with orange spots but i get it, 40 year old faded photo.

If I'd made my living starting off with that gun and still had it all these years later I'd polish it up and maybe frame it!

I do a lot of that sort of thing and you sparked a spark in me to do just as you suggested. I am stripping it right now and may just make a lamp using the velocity stack that was on the truck the day I bought it.

Brian

[Russell Ashley]

Great pic and great story, martinsr. At least you started out with the "good" Craftsman gun, which was probably well worth the extra that it cost over the one I had. Mine had a screw on cup which was always difficult to remove even when I used vaseline on the threads. I still have it too.

[Dan in Pasadena]

I shaved my moustache off fter having it from probably 20 years. My kids had never seen me without and it kinda scared my then 10-12 year old daughter. I've never grown it back. Just as well, it'd be all gray looking.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Interesting story. On my computer screen the truck looks pink with orange spots but i get it, 40 year old faded photo.

If I'd made my living starting off with that gun and still had it all these years later I'd polish it up and maybe frame it!

Thanks for the push Dan!

Brian

[Indian113]

Now that is Nice!

[MARTINSR]

Thanks!

Brian

[Russell Ashley]

That gun polished up nicely, and that's a good use for it. Nice job.

[MARTINSR]

Thanks, I was going to have it polished like a piece of white gold jewelry but decided after a quick sand and polish that leaving the flaws that it earned working for me was the way to leave it. I dig it, I'll tell you that!


Brian

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

Thanks, I was going to have it polished like a piece of white gold jewelry but decided after a quick sand and polish that leaving the flaws that it earned working for me was the way to leave it. I dig it, I'll tell you that!


Brian

You're welcome! That looks SOOO good. Plus you have a great story for when someone inevitably asks, "Why'd you make that into a lamp?"