Anybody else get real nervous before a paintjob?

R

Revolver

Been having this "problem" for a few years now. When I first started out in body shops, I was gung ho, just give me the job and a gun. No problem. As the years went by, I started having issues. Jobs were still looking good, but it was taking more for my confidence level to increase just to get started. Once I got going, I was fine.

Finally got so bad that I quit doing collision work, got a job doing military/industrial painting and I'm much happier. Still do some work at home for people, and the nervousness hasn't gone away. But at home, I usually drink a few beers and that calms me down considerably, enough to get started. Once I get going, I'm fine and the jobs look good. If I'm doing something for myself, no big deal, I can dive right in. It's just when I do something for someone else. Expectations are just so high, nowdays.

Current car I'm working on will probably be my last one for somebody else, except for close friends that want "completion over perfection". My work schedule isn't the greatest for sidejobs, anyway.

Just wondering if anybody else got nervous.

Gregg
 
A (now) old bodyman/painter that I worked with back when I was in my early 20's used to tell me in his southside Va drawl "son don't think about it, just shoot it". It worked for me. I learned to accept that I would make mistakes but tried to learn from them and not repeat them on the next job. Somewhere along the line in my mid to later 20's things just clicked and everything that was difficult became routine. Don't over think it, just use the proper procedures, do the work and the confidence will come in time.
 
Much like lighting a brush pile on the farm . All you can do is run i n a circle and saying "oh shit !"
 
I can't say I get nervous but I do lock the shop door on base/clear day. I make money the first time and I don't want any distractions during the process. That would make a hard job even harder with anxiety about the job.
 
I get butterfly's every job when it gets down to the paint but I overstress on anything that is critical.
I was in a tournament Sunday and so nervous I could not put the straw in the plastic top of the coke, I was shaking so bad, nothing new for me.
 
I use to, without realizing it, get so worried about important things (Final paint, job decisions, anything serious) that I would get stomach cramps that were so bad I couldn't sleep. Once I figured out that me stressing out was causing it, I was able to control it better, but I still get overly stressed about these things. One of the military books I've read talks about tactical breathing, which is basically a 4 second breath in, 4 second breath out. It really calms you down before something (job interview, winning shot in a game, etc). The stressor will always be there, but at least you can control yourself a bit.
 
There's always some degree of nervousness when trying to do higher quality work, all I can do is prep the best I can and pull the trigger. Avoiding potential problems by prepping well takes care of a large percentage of worries and problems, stuff still goes wrong now and then though. If I'm going to screw up big it will usually be on a relative's car-for some reason that's just how it goes for me. Crack a beer, play some good tunes, whatever it takes to calm yourself down before you spray.
 
It's always the easiest to paint something you don't care too much about. I think after all these years I am still pretty crazy about details, but when it comes to spray time I am just an emotionless robot arm, anymore. No thoughts except for speed, distance, and overlap.
 
crashtech;n74956 said:
It's always the easiest to paint something you don't care too much about. I think after all these years I am still pretty crazy about details, but when it comes to spray time I am just an emotionless robot arm, anymore. No thoughts except for speed, distance, and overlap.
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This is so true. Whenever a writer tells me "This guy is super picky it needs to come out perfect" everything that can go wrong does. But when its a car that maaco did before and I could spray it with a wagnor power sprayer and some deck paint to come out looking the same the it would end up coming out better than anything else I painted that week (I know some good maaco painters out there not all are bad so please dont be insulted if you work there). Cause I had no worries painting it. So I finally just started telling myself "Its all just metal" whether its a porsche or a nissan its all just metal and that has helped me out. I had a nervous tick in my left eye for 2 years when I first started painting in a collision shop thats gone and my stress is too you just have to work over that metal hump find what works for you.
 
Thanks, guys. I knew I wasn't the only one. I'm gonna try that tactical breathing trick. Pretty sure once this car for this particular customer is gone, i'll be able to work thru this. Once again, thank you all.

Gregg
 
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