Hail dings and dents
03/06/19 03:46
I learned to drive in an old Wileys Jeep. The jeep had been sort of retired from service as a flagger vehicle for spraying because it wasn’t very highway worthy. Not that any of our jeeps were good for more than about 50 mph. This jeep had some cracked windows and only one windshield wiper. It had a straight 4-cylinder engine and a three speed transmission on the floor, with a manual transfer case. The two front seats had seen better days and the back was full of all kinds of tools and parts and cans of oil and who knows what else. There was also a carton of bulbs for the lights that ran around the perimeter of the airport. That was the job that was assigned to me after I learned to get the thing going without stalling it when I let the clutch out. We turned on all the lights in the field and drove around and replaced all of the burned out bulbs. The lights had to be checked once a week, which was all that I got to drive when I first started.
I took my driver’s test in a 1963 Chevy Cary-all. Chevrolet didn’t yet use the name Suburban. This particular carryall was a bit unique in that it had only two doors. The passenger seat folded towards the dash to allow passengers to access the middle seat, one third of which folded down to allow access to the third row of seats. There was quite a bit of cargo space behind the third row. The truck was the same length as an 8’ regular cab pickup. I know because we bought a pickup and the carryall in the same order. Same color, same 232 ci six cylinder engine, same four speed on the floor, two-wheel drive with posi-traction. It was the same vehicle in which my sister had taken her driver’s test and the same that my brother drove when his turn came. Our father insisted that we take our driver’s tests in a vehicle with a standard transmission. In fact it was a couple of years after i took my driver’s test that our family got our first car with an automatic transmission.
I was thinking of some of the old cars that we used to drive yesterday afternoon when I was inspecting the hail damage to my daily driver, which had already been totaled due to hail damage, but which is sporting some significant new dents and dings. Worse yet, my pickup got it good on the hood and will have to go to the body shop. I’ll have to remove the ladder rack because the body shop will have to get at the roof of the pickup as well.
It dropped ping pong ball sized hail for about 15 minutes just after lunch yesterday. There was no point in going outside once I realized that it was coming down. The hail was too big and too dangerous. The good news is that the roof looks like it is in good shape and we didn’t lose any windows. The deck was punished, but it needed new stain already.
Hail does funny things. There was a spatula sitting next to the barbecue grill. A hailstone hit the flat part of the spatula and sent it flying into the air. I found it about 6 feet away from its original location. The grill took the hailstones without damage, but I have a roughneck cabinet that I keep a few barbecue supplies in that now has a ragged hole right through the top. My garbage can in which I keep applewood for smoking also took a direct hit and has a big hole in the top.
I try to take good care of my things, but I am unwilling to worry about the weather. This is the second time the truck will be going to the body shop for hail damage. And I intend to wait until the end of the summer before getting the damage repaired simply because the last time it got hailed on three times before I got the damage from the first storm repaired. Might as well do it all at once in the same trip and hail is part of the story of living where we do. In general a hailstorm is less expensive than a tornado, so I’m not complaining.
I was speaking to friends who are contemplating a move to Florida yesterday. I suppose that there are some really nice days on the beaches of Florida, but I’d be worrying about hurricanes and rising water. And I do much better in cold weather than in hot weather. I wish the best for my friends, but moving to Florida doesn’t seem appealing to me.
The hail and occasional spring blizzard are probably the worst weather phenomena we experience around here and both can be endured with a little care. Our “new” car, which is only 8 years old, escaped damage entirely as it was at the church where the hail was only pea sized and caused no damage.
Like other experiences, the hail storm has already given me a good story to tell to my grandchildren. I showed them some of the hail stones over Skype and they seemed to be pretty impressed. After I get the truck fixed up and give a try with my “do it yourself” dent repair on the car, it will be all over. “Do it yourself” involves heating the metal with an electric heat gun followed by turning a can of compressed air upside down and spraying it directly on the dent. The super-cooled canned air on the hot metal will often cause it to “pop” back to nearly its original shape. And it is entertaining as well.
I doubt that this hail would have had any impact on the kind of cars in which I learned to drive. The metal was heavier, the finishes were less impressive, and they already had their share of dents and dings anyway. All things considered, I haven’t got it bad. Our basement is dry and our vehicles are in good running condition. That’s enough for me. I’m not ready to go back to that old jeep.
I took my driver’s test in a 1963 Chevy Cary-all. Chevrolet didn’t yet use the name Suburban. This particular carryall was a bit unique in that it had only two doors. The passenger seat folded towards the dash to allow passengers to access the middle seat, one third of which folded down to allow access to the third row of seats. There was quite a bit of cargo space behind the third row. The truck was the same length as an 8’ regular cab pickup. I know because we bought a pickup and the carryall in the same order. Same color, same 232 ci six cylinder engine, same four speed on the floor, two-wheel drive with posi-traction. It was the same vehicle in which my sister had taken her driver’s test and the same that my brother drove when his turn came. Our father insisted that we take our driver’s tests in a vehicle with a standard transmission. In fact it was a couple of years after i took my driver’s test that our family got our first car with an automatic transmission.
I was thinking of some of the old cars that we used to drive yesterday afternoon when I was inspecting the hail damage to my daily driver, which had already been totaled due to hail damage, but which is sporting some significant new dents and dings. Worse yet, my pickup got it good on the hood and will have to go to the body shop. I’ll have to remove the ladder rack because the body shop will have to get at the roof of the pickup as well.
It dropped ping pong ball sized hail for about 15 minutes just after lunch yesterday. There was no point in going outside once I realized that it was coming down. The hail was too big and too dangerous. The good news is that the roof looks like it is in good shape and we didn’t lose any windows. The deck was punished, but it needed new stain already.
Hail does funny things. There was a spatula sitting next to the barbecue grill. A hailstone hit the flat part of the spatula and sent it flying into the air. I found it about 6 feet away from its original location. The grill took the hailstones without damage, but I have a roughneck cabinet that I keep a few barbecue supplies in that now has a ragged hole right through the top. My garbage can in which I keep applewood for smoking also took a direct hit and has a big hole in the top.
I try to take good care of my things, but I am unwilling to worry about the weather. This is the second time the truck will be going to the body shop for hail damage. And I intend to wait until the end of the summer before getting the damage repaired simply because the last time it got hailed on three times before I got the damage from the first storm repaired. Might as well do it all at once in the same trip and hail is part of the story of living where we do. In general a hailstorm is less expensive than a tornado, so I’m not complaining.
I was speaking to friends who are contemplating a move to Florida yesterday. I suppose that there are some really nice days on the beaches of Florida, but I’d be worrying about hurricanes and rising water. And I do much better in cold weather than in hot weather. I wish the best for my friends, but moving to Florida doesn’t seem appealing to me.
The hail and occasional spring blizzard are probably the worst weather phenomena we experience around here and both can be endured with a little care. Our “new” car, which is only 8 years old, escaped damage entirely as it was at the church where the hail was only pea sized and caused no damage.
Like other experiences, the hail storm has already given me a good story to tell to my grandchildren. I showed them some of the hail stones over Skype and they seemed to be pretty impressed. After I get the truck fixed up and give a try with my “do it yourself” dent repair on the car, it will be all over. “Do it yourself” involves heating the metal with an electric heat gun followed by turning a can of compressed air upside down and spraying it directly on the dent. The super-cooled canned air on the hot metal will often cause it to “pop” back to nearly its original shape. And it is entertaining as well.
I doubt that this hail would have had any impact on the kind of cars in which I learned to drive. The metal was heavier, the finishes were less impressive, and they already had their share of dents and dings anyway. All things considered, I haven’t got it bad. Our basement is dry and our vehicles are in good running condition. That’s enough for me. I’m not ready to go back to that old jeep.