Lipstick

So a few weeks back a buddy drops by and just happens to mention that he needs to go down to the coast to pick up his 5yr old daughter. There had been allot of snow in the preceding week so I asked which of his 2 vehicles he planned on taking to which he responded " Oh the 4runner" and I was forced to ask him about the safety aspect of said trip.He has new winter tires but the frame on this 4x4 of his is almost none existent not to mention more hole in than wheel wells. He says ya I know but what choice do I have. I have to go and get my daughter from my ex. "Ah the frame will be fine" he further states. But what really worries me is that the rusted out wheel wells  are going to attract attention and that will get me pulled over for a spot safety check and then I'll get a bunch of tickets that I can't pay, and the list just goes on. Not to mention what my daughters mother will say! So I have a half can of bondo so I'm gonna just fill the holes and I thought I'd drop in and see if you wouldn't tell me how to go about doing it. I said "your really going to do this and he says "Ya!" and I said where ? He says "Oh at my place outside" To which (being his friend and just having cleared the shop up) I said "No we'll do it here!"

So the next day he turns up about noon and we spend the next 36 hrs (none stop, no sleep) and use a whole bunch of my fiber glass and other art stuff to fix (actually recreate) his wheel wells. I won't bore you with all of that fun but I will pass this along. The work we did would have fooled the most diligent of random glances.

We remove all the masking and tape, open the door and roll the gleaming beast into the mountain crisp, winter air. My buddy smiles and says "I think we're done here and I need sleep! He heads for home to catch a nap before he has to leave.

Now the reason he has this 4x4 is that he lives up a mountain at the top of,  (being gracious) a goat trail type driveway. In which in the winter, there is no snow at the bottom. But at the house there could easily be 3ft. On this day luck was not on his side. He gets the bottom of his driveway rolls about a 100 yards up and suddenly there is this horrific sound of grinding and bending metal and his truck comes to a halt and then starts to roll backwards. He jambs his foot on the brake and jumps out to see what he has run over in the snow. He bends down on one knee and looking under the 4runner see's the drive shaft all bent up and the rear wheels out of whack. And on top of all that he now has to climb his 1/2 mile driveway. Fun times eh!

The moral to this story is don't waste time on junk, substrate, materials ect... Because no matter how much time or how good a job you do.....Lipstick on a pig does not make it "less a pig"