One project that has brought me a lot of recognition, and was most rewarding as well, has to be the Meguiar's big rigs. At the Super Chevy Show in 2002, I displayed one of my skulled out trucks which caught the attention of Meguiar's driver John. He later approached me and explained that Meguiar's had just recently purchased two new big rigs and were looking for the right person to lay down the custom graphics. Mike Kennedy of Meguiar's asked me for an estimate or quote for the job - typical procedure for a paint shop. 

The beginning of this enormous project -- truck and trailer sanded down with 800 grit wet sand paper.

Both trucks were supposed to be black, but one arrived painted a bright white.

However, this particular job presented a lot of challenges and I really wanted to do it. So I boldly said something like: "Why mess with an estimate? Just tell me the budget you are willing to work with and I'll do the project." Of course, if I had known what an overwhelming task this project was about to become, I probably wouldn't have been so enthusiastic to take it on. Nevertheless, it remains one of my most memorable jobs.

To start things off, I was told that I would be receiving two black rigs and all I would have to do is prep them and apply the custom graphics. Unfortunately for me, only one arrived black and the other was a bright new white. So I was obviously going to have to paint the second rig black before starting on the graphics.

After masking and prepping the white rig, I painted the roof black, then clearcoated it so that I would be able to mask and cover the roof with a canopy. Being careful to cover my feet with plastic and masking paper and working my way from front to back, I put on a good black base. Now I was caught up to the starting point.

As with all my projects, I then began breaking down the vehicles, removing the smaller parts such as hoods, bumpers, and doors to be completed in the spray booth.

Fortunately, I have an extremely large facility at my disposal which has always been more than adequate for all the projects in progress at any given time, but there was no way these rigs were going to fit inside my building, let alone a spray booth. They were going to have to stay outside for the duration of the project and I couldn't allow weather to be a factor. With new challenges, it may become necessary to invent a new system to complete the job So I sat down and mapped out how I was going to go about completing these two behemoths. Knowing that the rigs were going to have to be done almost completely outside, I had to research what amount of spraying I was going to be allowed to do out in the open.

Rich tip: Every locale is different, so check with your local authorities before spraying any paint products outside.

To complete the temporary work space, we took off for a shopping spree at Home Depot to purchase PVC piping, pipe cutters, joints and canopies. My idea was to build a roof over the rigs and use the PVC piping as a frame for the canopies to protect the rigs from the sun, wind and rain. I tied the canopies down to anchors and bowed the ends to allow moisture and rain to flow down, over and away from the surface, rather than letting it collect on the top and possibly ruining my finish.

It was still necessary to paint the remainder of the white rig. With such a large area to paint, I was going to have to change my usual system for spraying. It was obvious that I wasn't going to be able to start at one end, have a continual spray all the way to the front and then back and forth again from top to bottom. No way - it was just too big.