Mission 47 part 5

Does a tune up have to take three years of your life, ruin relationships and finish off with a paint job for 4000$? These questions led to Mission 47. The mission was to fix rust, lower the suspension  and also to paint it fresh, all in 47 hours. No professionals got to participate and the cost was not to exceed 1200$. By Lars Krantz. Translation Lars Krantz and Stefan Blautzic.

Resumé Friday night. The car striped, interior out, suspension down and rust repair taking place.

Saturday afternoon. Here the planning goes south.  The hood will not be able to be painted along with the rest of the car. Samuel is  grounding. Mabye, mabye they manage to spray the top coat on Sunday and put it on wet before 4 p.m.

Saturday night and 15 hours left. Starting this restoration  on a Friday night at 5 p.m. it is now already Sunday and the clocks running out. It’s already past midnight.

The car hasn’t even been grounded yet as we watch the clock haunt over our need impossible deadline. “two hours paint….etc” The five has been sleeping totally four hours. Dennis face says it all.

Rabbe mixes the paint and Sam starts to spray.  The the guns starts to fail but he’s so exhausted he doesn’t notice . .

No pros are allowed but the guy they borrowed the shop from Leffe Eriksson, has popped in.  At the same time the tires are just pressed of the rims. After sanding by hand they wait for paint. 

Saturday night. Leffe is off, free loose and happy and where could you find a better place to party than in your own spray booth with a 50’s Buick. (Car painters are some cool dudes). He stops on a dime with his plastic glas in his hand.
-Stop, the gun doesn’t sound right, se says.
He walks into the booth in jeans and leather jacket, turns some knobs and puts two perfect sweeps over the roof with steady hand.
-Now, he says. Now it’s doing the job.

Samuel takes over and paints the car.  The dead tired warrior that never have experiensed a professional spray both was presented in the January issue of Worldkustom as the offensive defense player of the  five mechanics. A giant that carries a huge responsibility but also can step in to offensive zone and to the extra when needed. .Drained on energy he steps up at 3 a.m. focused and presents two perfect sprayings with no curtains and no dry spray. Just two top notch layers that gives the Buick the finish five massive working guys deserved after sanding through the day and night.  
-Now you’re a bit slow Bert-Ove smiled closing the shop at 4 a.m. on Sunday morning. In 12 hours the car has to be done.

New day, new burnout. Clic on the picture for a fullsize image of Samuel burning his tires in his pickup! Works every where in Worldkustom. 

 

Sunday morning 9:00 a.m. 5 hours of baking, the Buick hits fresh air for the first time. Samuel peaking down the lines of the car. “Not bad”, everyone expecting this paint job to be by no means a good job since the rush time. Rabbe and Dennis take a look and look back at each other “Not Bad”!

-So damn good they shout and the happiness over the result is materialized. You can touch the joy.  Tiredness is away. Coffee machine snores and strength is regained. Six hours left. Hood not fully sanded, door jams not done, steering wheel and tires not painted. Car’s  reassembled and the front wheels point cross ways. Rear side windows are still a question mark.

With a 6 hour deadline haunting over them. They brake up tackling individual jobs. Per lifting the car, Rabbe taking pain meds while wrenching.  Bert-Ove has killing head ace.  We can do this! WE WILL DO THIS!

The Headlights partnered back up with the bumpers. Dennis, Bert-Ove och Per thunders the pneumatic tool spinning the nuts in 200. Rabbe sands the hood and Samuel preps before spraying.  He grounds the steering wheel and rims but gets no hood.  He goes over to spray the door jambs but someone has taken away the masking.

One step forward and two back. The masking wagon is rolled in again. Hands from all corners comes. Not a word is said. Everybody helps everybody.  Sam sprays and puts in the infra heater. He looks at Rabbe still sanding the hood like crazy.  Dennis gets coffee served into the car. He refuses to leave it.

Grinder just roaring. The stress gets under your skin. I go over to Rabbe to listen when the hood is .. like … released… done.  The big guy takes of his mask, stares me in the eye, and says wery calm and low :

-Sir …,  long roofs and sweeping hoods says it all about the prepping. You are going to sit and watch the hood when driving. I´m giving you the best possible result under this circumstances. That’s why I came in the first place.
-I’ll tell Sam when its done, he says and throws the mask on.  PIZZA ADVILO. Pizza time in the garage. Anders Viklund is always eating American food but he’s on vacation now, have followed the drama and buys the group some good old fashion Swedish pizza. For you American readers who didn’t know, Sweden has some of the BEST if not the BEST pizza in the world.

On the  web some 9.000 has followed us through the cam in the ceiling.  The gang comes in to the pizza pit stop. All except Sam. He’s finally got the hood and is in the booth. Sunday 12:00. Four hours left.   Clock’s ticking.  Out in the shop Sam comes with a new lottery!   He’s been pin striping different gifts back home that now are handed out. Rabbe comes with a packing.  He brought new chrome from his own restoration of a 50 Buick. Now he’s changing it for our old. Lotterys, crome rain.  No words. Big guys choke up. Memorys for ever. -“I’m done”, says Samuel after painting the last of the car. He knocks out in the impala “Inn” as he calls it quits. Total sleep apnia.

Exactly here Dennis gears up.”Get me the interior” he screams. While the others take another coffee break Dennis muscles the interior in place. Coffee,  he shouts and gets it plus screws, moldings, glas and polish. The tallest guy in the most narrow place refuses to come out until it’s all done. Rabbe mounts chrome on the hood. While Bert-Ove puts the tie rods in place.  Per puts the electric to work.  I watch the car being put back together as if I were watching a fast motion film.

Samuel Zombie is back. He breaks out his paint brush and lays some old school pin strips across the trunk lid. Hes eyes are red like tomatoes. He does it while wheels are put back and Dennis jumps around inside.
-New style he mumbles, pin striping a rocking car.

I walk into the office and jump on the computer to find 12,000 people watching the progress.

Per is every where putting on the final trim, fast fast fast.  Rabbe has the clock locked in his peripherals. These guys aren’t just mechanics at this point. They’re warriors.

– “It’s an honor to be here with your guys
“Krantz”

 Ten past three. 50 minutes left.  No hood, no steering wheel, no grease in the front suspension, no back seat, then Per and Rabbe gets an idéa!
They want to polish the side rails. They need steel cotton and Samuel needs white spirit  to go with the polishing of the aluminum. Som new witch craft they’ve  heard of.
-Are you nuts! Start on something new now? I shout.
-We work until four, they say.

Twenty past three I’m in the line to the registers at the mall. I fumble and drops a small wrench on the floor and at least three people gives me understanding nods.  The whole city knows what’s going on and is supporting us!!I get back and the Buick’s sitting on the shop floor with everyone smiling and high fiving each other over the stance of the car. Looking more and more like a sled at this point but the 47 hours arne’t up yet!

Twenty minutes to go and the five are in full swing. Determined these guys will not let anything from stopping them. The light at the end of the tunnel is here and it looks to me like these guys might have pulled off the impossible. More coffee pumps energy in tired bodys. 

Five to four. At five to four the wet hood is brought from the booth. On a 50 Buick it just clicks in.  Clank it says and the Buick is absolutely awesome done done done.  They did it! From beater to drive way queen. They sure made it.  The Victory is theirs. Forever.  Their magic weekend with Mission 47 is a true fact. The web blowing up over the accomplishment. With people calling in from all over, it was truly something special to watch as start to finish people followed mission 47 on usabil.nu.

”We see you- Congrats”  came from every where. Rabbe sitting back and looking over the hood. Just shakes his head and smiles over the mirror reflection and quality finish done in such short time. I mixed the final layer thinner and now I can see it float out and get that surface like calm lake water.
-”Turned out well”, he said.

Mission Accomplished.  Victory home made cakes.

16:00 Official faked glamour pic showing five happy mechs after 47 hours in the mine. 16: 03  The truth.

Friday

Sunday47 hours total.

 

Out for the first time

At SHRA Örnsköldsviks spring exhibition a couple of weeks later.

 

Did we do it under  1200.  Well $  1201 in the end.

 

TV  2008

. . . and further

Mission 47  resides in the biggest car museum in Sweden. 

The Buick is lend out to a new 60.000 sqare feet museum opening March 31,  2015.
A film was also shoot during the 47 hours. Never shown.
That movie is gong to roll next to the car.