Anybody else out there do their own body work and paint their vehicles themselves?

[old_man]

I have almost 40 hours into prepping my rig for a paint job. The previous jobs were a weekend start to finish proposition and the cheap acrylic enamel would only last 3-4 years outside. I have used probably 100 sheets of peel and stick on my DA's ranging from 120 to 400 grit this go around. Hope to get some epoxy printer sealer on it today. It is 20 degrees outside so I will be painting in my heated garage with the door half open. Once that cures, I will wet sand it with 600 before color coat with acrylic urethane, followed with acrylic urethane clear coat.
Then I will cut and buff it out. Hope to have it all finished and the interior plastic refurbished by Christmas.

It wouldn't be such a big task but I suffer from SEVERE chronic headaches that come and don't leave for up to 18 months and make a migraine or cluster seem like a vacation. It feels like someone is digging around behind my right eye with a spoon, and I have what is called 4th nerve palsy and have nasty double vision. I am 3 months into a siege. This time they are pulling out all the stops to try and figure out what they are. I have been fighting them for 40 years. This time consisted of 3 mri's, 2 cat scans, a spinal tap, and a temporal artery biopsy with a three inch scar down the side of my head, and a month of high dose prednisone (100mg/day) with no relief. They think they have a name for them, hemicrania continua, but I have heard dozens of times over the years that they have it figured out, only to be proven wrong. Wish me luck.

 

[Anak]

You have my condolences.

I started getting migraines when I started school. Went through a number of different prescriptions before they finally put me on Vicodine. This would have been in the early '90s before Vicodine and doctor shopping were household terms. They didn't tell me anything about the potential downsides. Not a word. I thank God for a good friend's grandparents who kept a book of drugs and their attributes on their coffee table. That was how I learned what I had been prescribed. That was the end of me trying to use modern medicine to solve that problem.

I found that I could keep migraines at bay largely by staying hydrated. Everything fell into place then. My problems started with school because that was the point at which I could no longer go get a drink of water when I wanted. Staying hydrated would have been such simple advice for a doctor to give me, yet none of them did. No money to be made that way. I still hold a grudge against modern medicine.

I do wish you the best of luck and I hope they get it figured out. That is a hell to live through.

 

[old_man]

You have my condolences.

I started getting migraines when I started school. Went through a number of different prescriptions before they finally put me on Vicodine. This would have been in the early '90s before Vicodine and doctor shopping were household terms. They didn't tell me anything about the potential downsides. Not a word. I thank God for a good friend's grandparents who kept a book of drugs and their attributes on their coffee table. That was how I learned what I had been prescribed. That was the end of me trying to use modern medicine to solve that problem.

I found that I could keep migraines at bay largely by staying hydrated. Everything fell into place then. My problems started with school because that was the point at which I could no longer go get a drink of water when I wanted. Staying hydrated would have been such simple advice for a doctor to give me, yet none of them did. No money to be made that way. I still hold a grudge against modern medicine.

I do wish you the best of luck and I hope they get it figured out. That is a hell to live through.

Thanks for the support. If you have never been through a chronic problem that lasts for years, it is hard to comprehend. Everybody thinks you can simply take a pill or a shot and all is gone. Not hardly. I have been prescribed over 20 drugs and had 8 surgeries trying to get rid of these headaches. The only good thing about them is that they teach you to totally concentrate on one thing and block everything else out. It made me a damned good engineer.

 

[GEARS]

Ive tried my hand at all the automotive arts over the years. These pics are from an old project. It was almost too far gone. I managed to get him back on the road eventually.

 

[old_man]

I have almost 40 hours into prepping my rig for a paint job. The previous jobs were a weekend start to finish proposition and the cheap acrylic enamel would only last 3-4 years outside. I have used probably 100 sheets of peel and stick on my DA's ranging from 120 to 400 grit this go around. Hope to get some epoxy printer sealer on it today. It is 20 degrees outside so I will be painting in my heated garage with the door half open. Once that cures, I will wet sand it with 600 before color coat with acrylic urethane, followed with acrylic urethane clear coat.
Then I will cut and buff it out. Hope to have it all finished and the interior plastic refurbished by Christmas.

It wouldn't be such a big task but I suffer from SEVERE chronic headaches that come and don't leave for up to 18 months and make a migraine or cluster seem like a vacation. It feels like someone is digging around behind my right eye with a spoon, and I have what is called 4th nerve palsy and have nasty double vision. I am 3 months into a siege. This time they are pulling out all the stops to try and figure out what they are. I have been fighting them for 40 years. This time consisted of 3 mri's, 2 cat scans, a spinal tap, and a temporal artery biopsy with a three inch scar down the side of my head, and a month of high dose prednisone (100mg/day) with no relief. They think they have a name for them, hemicrania continua, but I have heard dozens of times over the years that they have it figured out, only to be proven wrong. Wish me luck.

Just an update for fellow headache sufferers. After more trials and research, it appears that the headaches are a rare form of shingles that manifests in the sinuses and probably around the optic nerve. A round of valacyclovir knocked them within 24 hours but after the first course they promptly came back. A second course seems to have them at bay for several weeks. I am going to spend the $350 and get the shingles vaccine and see if that keeps them away longterm.

The funny thing is that it also seems to have massively improved my diabetes. Go figure.

NEVER GIVE UP TRYING