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Art & Inspiration Remembering Earl Scheib

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Dave Gray, Jun 28, 2022.

  1. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,405

    alchemy
    Member

    I remember riding in Larry Lamb’s 40 convert at one of the early HAMB Drags poker runs. Earl Sheib drove, Bob K was shotgun, and me in the back. I think I had a pretty good hand that day.
     
  2. 2935ford
    Joined: Jan 6, 2006
    Posts: 3,843

    2935ford
    Member

    While living in SoCal in the mid 60's, my brother had a silver and white '57 Chev mor door done by Scheib in all black for 29.95.
    Brought it home and the next day coming home after work......the roof peeled off!
    Took it back and they repainted it and it stuck that time!
     
  3. Koz
    Joined: May 5, 2008
    Posts: 2,699

    Koz
    Member

    When I was about 10 our neighbor, who was just about the cheapist SOB ever, took his bathtub Nash to Earl Sheib for a mettalic green job. He actually chiseled them down on the $19.99 price. The deal was he would do all the prep. They would just paint.

    When it came back they did exactly what they said. Unfortunately for Howard, the owner, they didn't mask anything, and they painted right over a healthy coating of mud on the rockers. The windows were fogged in. All the chrome was semi painted and the tires were pretty much green. It took him weeks after work to get most of it off and yes, he was one of the loud complainers but he got exactly what he paid for.

    As I remember the paint didn't look too bad though.
     
  4. HEATHEN
    Joined: Nov 22, 2005
    Posts: 8,560

    HEATHEN
    Member
    from SIDNEY, NY

    Probably straight enamel, like Dupont Dulux. It would shine like hell, until it didn't....and, at that point, nothing would bring it back.
     
    Moedog07 likes this.
  5. I read the headline and thought Mike had died! @earl schieb
     
  6. silent rick
    Joined: Nov 7, 2002
    Posts: 5,207

    silent rick
    Member

    mike will paint your car good, fast and cheap. just pick any two
     
  7. 5window
    Joined: Jan 29, 2005
    Posts: 9,516

    5window
    Member

    I'll take good and fast or good and cheap. Never did get that statement.
     
  8. silent rick
    Joined: Nov 7, 2002
    Posts: 5,207

    silent rick
    Member

    good and fast won't be cheap

    good and cheap won't be fast

    cheap and fast won't be good
     
    cfmvw, Kelly Burns, RICH B and 5 others like this.
  9. Jimbo17
    Joined: Aug 19, 2008
    Posts: 3,959

    Jimbo17
    Member

    I was in Dallas about 10 years ago and there was an Earl Scheib paint shop still there!
    I forget the name of the road, but it ran from North Dallas over to the Fort Worth airport, and it was just south of the 635 highway.
    My friend used to paint cars at a shop here in Florida and each day they would prep about 8 cars, and he would start spraying about 8 PM and finish all of them late at night.

    He was very good, but the shop did not use the best paint. I purchased the paint, and he shot my van one night with Matrix paint, and it came out beautiful, and he did it in the same shop as the other cars because they had a nice down draft booth.

    Jimbo
     
  10. Greg Rogers
    Joined: Oct 11, 2016
    Posts: 802

    Greg Rogers
    Member

    Took a 65 Olds Jetstar I there in about 1973. Had it painted red as the original paint was. When I picked it up I was absolutely disappointed. There was a spot on the front of hood where guy who took off tape had laid his jeans. Had a fabric implant on it and many other faults. I was disgusted. Parked it in my Mom's front yard in the summer. Next day it looked better, after 3 days in hot sun, it had smoothed out and looked great! Fabric implant and the other rough spots were gone. It kinda melted together!!
     
  11. I grew up in Cedar Rapids Iowa, and my next door neighbor drove a Volkswagen. Every other year he had Earl paint it in a different color. That car must have had 1/4” of paint on it! Dad would always say if you washed and waxed your car, you wouldn’t have to get it painted every two years.
     
    VANDENPLAS likes this.
  12. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,709

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    I don't remember there being one anywhere around here. There is a MAACO over in Birmingham that used to advertise on TV all the time, may still do it, but since I don't watch local TV much anymore I haven't seen their ads.
     
  13. A Boner
    Joined: Dec 25, 2004
    Posts: 7,419

    A Boner
    Member

    Friend I worked with stopped at Earl Sheib’s in Milwaukee to check about getting his car painted plus some minor body work, back in the 70’s. He asked to talk to the body shop guy. They took him to the back corner of the shop and introduced him to the body guy…he had one arm and a 1/4” drill with a sanding disc. Those were the days!
     
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  14. The same…
     
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  15. Hillbilly Werewolf
    Joined: Dec 13, 2007
    Posts: 504

    Hillbilly Werewolf
    Member

    Accounting for inflation, $20 in 1960 is around $200 now. How much does MAACO charge these days for their bottom of the line job?

    Reminds me if a Tom Waits song:

    "Used car salesmen dressed up in Purina checkerboard slacks
    And Foster Grant wraparounds
    Pacing in front of Rainbow, Earl Scheib, thirty-nine ninety-five merchandise.

    Like barkers at a shooting gallery
    They throw out a Texas Guinan routine:
    'Hello sucker, we like your money, just as well as anybody else's here
    Come on over here now...
    Let me put the cut back in your strut and the glide back in your stride
    Now climb aboard a customs Oldsmobile, let me take you for a ride"

     
  16. Depending on which location you chose, it was often a good idea to mask it yourself especially if it was a color change.
     
  17. BuckeyeBuicks
    Joined: Jan 4, 2010
    Posts: 2,705

    BuckeyeBuicks
    Member
    from ohio

    In 1957 Dad wanted a station wagon for camping and general all round hauling duty. I was six at the time and was all for a wagon. We checked out a few, I saw a blue and white Buick wagon I wanted him to buy but Dad said it was way too much money. In a couple days he came home with a light green 53 Chevy wagon with a dark green top, the cheapest model Chevy made. As I remember it the paint was faded so bad it looked like it was 40 years old instead of four years old. Mom decided a good coat of DuPont #7 and Turtle wax was all it needed, that's what our 55 Buick got treated to every spring and fall. Wrong! It looked even worse. Earl Scheib to the rescue! We dropped it off after Dad taped it off (he was no body man) He told the guy to paint it the same colors. we went to pick it up when they called, Dad was PISSED! It was painted some kind of blue-green, hubcaps, tires and all and over spray everywhere. The shop mgr. came out when he heard all the cussing, wanted to know what the problem was. Ended up Dad got his money back, they repainted the wheels, cleaned up the tires and we had an all one color blue-green Chevy wagon. The happy ending was, about a year later the Chevy got traded in on a two-tone blue 56 Buick Century Estate wagon and this 2nd grader was happy as a pig in shit!
     
  18. Earl Scheib, huh? Not a fan.

    In the summer of '76, my grandad wanted to get our old, gold with wood grain Vista Cruiser painted.

    Now, my grandad was a lot of things BUT an excellent judge of color he was most assuredly NOT.

    My Gran tried to warn him, when he picked the color, but NO. Later he brought home the god ugliest BRIGHT ROYAL BLUE behemoth you've ever seen. They had painted over the woodgrain decals, the trim, the... well pretty much everything but the glass, the headlights (glass only) and the tail lights (plastic only). My Gran about pissed herself right there on the lawn, laughing her ass off when he pulled up in that thing.

    Due to his embarrassment, two days later that car was gone, only to be replaced with the god ugliest, BRAND NEW, TURD BROWN, with baby shit interior, AMC Hornet Wagon (or "HornaTWagen" as he'd say in his thick irish accent) you've ever seen. Gran laughed at that one when he brought it home too. Turned out to be a dependable little grocery getter for years to come.

    And, of course, which car do you think was the first car I ever got to drive to school? Yup. One VERY USED AND ABUSED, brown HornaTWagen. :p. And, boy, let me tell you I was hot shit! Well... at least I thought I was cool. :D

    Man, there is just something about a fat kid wearing Wranglers that are too tight and an orange and black band letterman's jacket, cruisin' into the school parking lot, blasting the Cars on a factory radio out the windows of a turd brown compact station wagon that really turns the chicks on, man. I mean... had to stop by the car wash on the way home from school that day to scrub off all the poon that thing pulled in. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: :D:D:D.

    So... aside from that fat kid in a band jacket thing, Earl Scheib is the reason I never got lucky in high school, the rat bastard. :p
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2022
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  19. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    When I lived on Bainbridge Island Wa in the early 60's the "older guys = high school Seniors would strip their cars down. sand them and do the minor body work and take them on the ferry to Earl Scheib in Seattle to have them painted and then take them from there to Sure fit Seat covers to have some custom looking seat covers put on and then back on the ferry to Bainbridge to reassemble the car's trim. Usually late 40's early Fords, Chevys or in one case a 49 Plymouth rag top that my neighbor had.
     
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  20. exterminator
    Joined: Apr 21, 2006
    Posts: 1,695

    exterminator
    Member

    When i was in high school,i had my 58 ford 4- door painted by the Scheib for 29.95. Burnt orange was the color with chrome rims and moon hubcaps with a rake. Thought i was cool in Berdoo. LOL
     
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  21. bowie
    Joined: Jul 27, 2011
    Posts: 3,098

    bowie
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    This is a genuine 1968 Earl Scheib paint job. It has held up pretty good over all these years: 1882C9BB-8D74-4FB8-83A4-DE3D23392918.jpeg 8022A286-E5A9-4B28-9E02-3B1A7E362A8B.jpeg F147476E-7483-48CD-9EFA-7E3684D56608.jpeg 4CA43F32-11E0-4413-BAE2-81DC330C5FC9.jpeg A1EADF63-3BD9-4C64-8718-F05756D70546.jpeg 4EEC8276-B4E9-48C3-845C-CF395AC0AE3D.jpeg 11F55F42-2CD2-467A-949F-CEF95600D63C.jpeg
     
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  22. 5window
    Joined: Jan 29, 2005
    Posts: 9,516

    5window
    Member

    bowie likes this.
  23. Jacksmith
    Joined: Sep 24, 2009
    Posts: 1,565

    Jacksmith
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Aridzona

    When I was 15, I scored a job at the Earl Scheib in Elmhurst, Il.. Thought I'd learn how to do body & paint work there. There was a woman there who was really good job with masking to tape off the chrome trim and pot metal lettering before a paint job. We'd spend a 1/2 hour sanding the car. They used DuPont DuLuxe paint that was packaged as Earl Scheib enamel. They'ld bake it with some infra red lights after the paint was applied.
    Many years later I'd moved to Quincy, Mass. & got a job working at Paul's Auto Body. Paul gave me a '65 GTO to repair some rust holes on a fender. I got half way into the job and Paul walked up and said; "Where'd you learn how to do that?" I said; "At Earl Scheib!" He said; Forget everything you ever learned there!"
     
  24. B.A.KING
    Joined: Apr 6, 2005
    Posts: 4,039

    B.A.KING
    Member

    Yeah ,i sent him a IG msg also .Good thing he answered
     
    earl schieb likes this.
  25. bowie
    Joined: Jul 27, 2011
    Posts: 3,098

    bowie
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    @5window : I concur…I have always tried to keep two roadable at any given time. But life continues to get in the way ! Stopped accumulating about two decades ago. I am probably going to thin the herd, to be able to get a few more drivable, God willing…
     
    5window likes this.
  26. dreracecar
    Joined: Aug 27, 2009
    Posts: 3,476

    dreracecar
    Member
    from so-cal

    When you can paint 10 cars a day, you get very good at it
     
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  27. dreracecar
    Joined: Aug 27, 2009
    Posts: 3,476

    dreracecar
    Member
    from so-cal

    Earl was a paint salesman, you bought a franchise for XX amount, but had to buy the paint from him. 1,000's of gallons a day and no responsibility for how they turned out.
     
    Tman likes this.
  28. 5window
    Joined: Jan 29, 2005
    Posts: 9,516

    5window
    Member

    Are you anywhere near Union County?
     
  29. 5window
    Joined: Jan 29, 2005
    Posts: 9,516

    5window
    Member

    And when you are very good, you also can get faster. Faster means less labor time which could mean less labor cost. So it might just be possible to have something done, good,fast and cheap.
     
  30. indyjps
    Joined: Feb 21, 2007
    Posts: 5,377

    indyjps
    Member

    The one car I took there, all trim removed and prepped, painted light blue metallic. Paint looked good, was happy with it - for what it was.

    Less than a year later, paint totally chalked out, buff it out and chalk again very quickly.

    I bought a cheap paint gun, learned to use it, bought better paint guns, moved to hvlp, got a part time job at body shop, learned more.

    I can say that the quickie paint shops, made me learn how to paint. Cause I didn't want to have to use them again. Access to a booth or clean area is always the challenge. I'll never be a pro, but can do what I need.
     

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