change is good

There are always changes, it is one of the few constents, semi -ironic
 this phrase got me thinking, we are going thru some growth pains at Airkooled Kustoms .
We have added an office that could fit two cars, although we hate to give up the space as the company grows it is needed.  This gave us the opportunity to take the old office space and turn it in to an engine assembly room since we have been asked to add motor build and service to our list of offerings.
We have been working with a great machine shop about 2.5 hours south of AK. Its worth the extra miles, these guys have been doing this for 20 yrs .
 Crazy Uncle Floyd has been just giddy about getting his own room to build motors
all though I think we should have to padded the walls
 First Build up
 Sledds T-4
full on 2.0 with some nice goodies
can you say fully balanced and blue printed ?  I knew you could …

If you are up for a new mill come by and say hi.
and we have the transmissions to back them up
www.airkooledkustom.com

Fillers

fillers

bondo- while it is a generic term for body fillers, ie plastic epoxies
the actual product 'bondo'tends to have a higher solvent content
while this make it easer to spread, it leads to more shrink, as the solvent
evaporate and the product cures.
If you are going to use plastic fillers then buy a good quality ( we use evercoat rage,and then sparingly )
while body fillers have there place in auto resto, they are usally not used
correctly. If it is applied to thick it shrink and crack as it out gasses and cures.Thin coats of correctly mixed filler is the way ,curing then sanding between coats.
There are dif types( chem makeups) of plastic filler.
talc-
most fillers are talc based,talc being the main solid component
typically use by 90% of the industry for filling small areas and feathering repairs.
alm-
also called metal to metal filled, main solid is alm power typically used in areas of the car that have a higher vibration or shock loads
we use it primarily around doors/trunks and deck lids
kitty hair-
epoxy resin filler with short, fiberglass strands and talc for for its main solids og designed for fiberglass ,it is mostly used to pack it to bad repairs.(we see alot of this.) We use it... to make molds for shaping complex curves out of steel, or on fiber glass
out of those 3 kittyhair is the only one that is NOT hydroscopic .

lead-
to og filler, old skool, not much use today, we still do lead work for some clients, while it is a lost art, it is actually very simple to do.
non lead lead-
same as above but it is a tim based alloy with no lead in it
working temp is slightly lower than true lead
(thanks EPA)

the best way to do a repair, is to do it and not use ANY fillers and metal finish . this is unrealistic for most peeps , their check book, or skill level.
(most people do not have the patience to do this).
the final thickness on filler ( for our shop) can be no more than .075" (1/16"), I want it thiner than that

glazing putty-
talc based, but with much smaller particulate size than standard plastic filler. use primarily for pin holes, ( if you use good fillers correctly you wont have pin holes) and small repairs has a high solvent content -so it will shrink if used incorrectly .
NEVER use one part glazing compound EVER

I still HATE Bondo

zen

A moment of Zen, Fridays at the shop



got to love being at the church of the wholly dub

FORE

back at it after a strange trip, I have heard that expression before, but never lived it. I have now.

As we grow up and have kids of our own, gasp grandkids now. our family ages with us. perhaps more so. My folks are getting settled in to there life after kids,  and I have been going through that as well. My kids are all grow and moved out, making my wife and I empty nesters .This is life, so we live it, good, bad , ugly and pretty , but watching my folks it hit home for me. My step mom has been getting ready for her chemo, and Nana is well Nana, just a bit slower. Then there is Dad..... It was watching him that had the most effect on me he works to much, and loves it, I think

So after watching that for a week, I have redoubled my effort to balance my life between work and home. Not so easy when the walk from my home to my office is a real short sand wedge.

FORE

Drop Smoke

D-day as is departure .......

All the beams are made, the truck is packed, still need to wash and vacuum the purple people eater. and we roll.......at noon. We have 2 cars on trailers , 1 pulled behind an suv, and 5 that are driving.... this should be interesting. 

Mad Props To Just Jim

Let me tell you about my buddy Super beatle JimJust Jim, or JJ .

he is one talented dude!!! He is a car guy, he owns a 69 camaro ,

lifted stepside 4X4, and a 79 convertable bug. and all are nice, but

that is just his hobby. In real life he is a defense sector graphic artist .

 I don't really know what that is , but I do have an idea of what he does

cause of a promo vid he did for the shop. 

 See we are growing a bit, and  are helping to sponsor a few shows

this season. the first one will be Bug a paluza 11 anyway... part of the deal is

the shop gets a vender space, and need draw peeps in, this is in all fact a 

temp store for the shop, so After talking with Master Gumby, the other 

owner of the shop, we decided to get a dvd made for display of the shop,

a 5 min commercial if you will. Now  Jim is a member of the vw club

and hangs out at the shop once in a while, and I was talking about this

in passing about 1 month ago, and he offered to help out and give it a try.

 well this is the result .