I mentioned in
my last post that I learned a lot about fixing cars when I lived in Southie.
After I got married I continued to service my cars and tried to get as many
years out of them as I could. After all having two small children, a house
mortgage and such was quite a drain on my salary. One car I may have kept a
little too long. It was a Ford wagon that was beginning to show its age especially
where the rust was more predominate than the original paint job.
I decided I
would paint it myself. After all it had to look better than its present
condition. So off to Sears I went to buy an electric air gun and paint that was
specifically designed for “metallic” surfaces. I went back to my Father’s garage
in Southie filled up the container with paint and let it rip. I said that it
had to look better than its present condition. WRONG. Actually, from 100 feet it didn’t look too bad.
Unfortunately the closer you came the worst its appearance. The end result was
a finish that looked like some of the refrigerators had in its day. The ones
that advertised that fingerprints would never be seen because of the undulations
in the paint.
My young neighbor who pumped gas at the local gas station
shook his head in disbelief when he saw what I had done. I may have saved money
but even to this day I still have to endure the ridicule of my friends.
