We specialize in high end work, not collision repair, so our technicians are focused on the quality of your project and not throughput. We take the time to repair, align and finish every project from bare metal to final cut and buff.
The first thing we do is completely disassemble the car. Every nut, bolt, piece of glass, wires, piece of trim is removed, cataloged and marked. Along the way we take notes for broken bolts, missing parts etc. From here we start a list of what we will need to complete your job in detail. Once the car is back from the media blaster - We will assess body damage and metalwork required - and which panels will be replaced or repaired.
After years under cars, we've honed the best installation matched with the right parts to do the job right
We won’t simply sand and bodywork over the 10 layers of paint that are already there. Every car gets media blasted to remove all of the old finishes, bodywork and rust. We won’t compromise here as going over old paint creates nothing but problems down the road.
We repair (or replace) all the damaged sheet metal and pre-assemble the car to fit all the panels either on the chassis or on a build stand and refine all the gaps for doors, fenders, trunk and hood. Even new reproduction panels sometimes require significant modifications in metal to ensure proper fit.
Proper bodywork, primers and expert craftsmanship with hours and hours of block sanding lay the groundwork for the final finish. This is the most labor intensive part of the process. Without laser straight panels and perfect lines - the paint on top won’t matter much.
The first thing we do is completely disassemble the car. Every nut, bolt, piece of glass, wires, piece of trim is removed, cataloged and marked. Along the way we take notes for broken bolts, missing parts etc. From here we start a list of what we will need to complete your job in detail. Once the car is back from the media blaster - We will assess body damage and metalwork required - and which panels will be replaced or repaired.
In this step we repair (or replace) all the damaged sheet metal and pre-assemble the car to fit all the panels either on the chassis or on a build stand and refine all the gaps for doors, fenders, trunk and hood. Even new reproduction panels sometimes require significant modifications in metal to ensure proper fit.
If we’re doing body modifications we do them all in this step and fully build the basic car with to ensure all the panels fit and all the holes we don’t need and components we are changing fit. Sometimes we may fully build the car with the engine and transmission and even suspension so that all the modification can be done without any risk of scratching paint.
Once everything is fit and we’re happy with the panel gaps and mods in metal we do our body filler work - We don’t call it “Bondo” and it’s not a bad word. Filler work is required to get the surface of all body panels closer to where we need them to be. Done properly, this filler can last 50+ years without issues. Can we metalwork your car without using any filler? Totally - but that’s easily 800-1000 hours of labor to get there. Using modern body fillers - and making sure that our metalwork is within 1/16” or less we can get the same or better results in less time.
If we’re spraying a metallic color on the car - at this point we will paint and clear coat the inside of the panels and the door jambs, fender and trunk jambs so that we can spray the car together. This is an important step for metallic paints as when the base coat comes out of the gun - we want to ensure that the flakes are oriented in the right direction from fender to door, door to quarter panels, etc. On solid color cars with no metallic this is the only step we skip as we can just paint the panels and fit them after.
It all comes down to this - All the work to get to this point has given us a solid foundation that is straight, smooth and ready to be finished. Most people think that we just sand a car real quick, prime it and spray on the paint - but in reality the actual painting process is the least labor intensive part of what we do. We do hundreds of hours of prep work to get here - and it’s under 20 hours of actual painting. Here are the paint and finish steps we adhere to.
Now that the paint work is all done - it’s time to install the chrome trim, stainless window moldings and bumpers, handles, door and window weatherstripping. We take great care not to scratch all of our hard work putting the bright work back on. Glass will be installed at this point as well.
That’s a very loaded question! On the lower end our paint service requires at a minimum exterior disassembly with all trim and glass removed and stripping to bare metal. On the higher end and rotisserie restoration to concours level or a magazine feature worthy custom Resto-Mod and anything in-between is in our wheelhouse. Price really comes down to level of fit and finish, modifications and parts we use.
There is no single price - but see the table below that details the basics for 3 levels of build level based on labor and components / modifications. There is crossover from one extreme to the other and every job is different - but you can use this as a guide to see how low - or far we can go.
| Description | Rate | Hrs Low | Hrs Med | Hrs High | Cost Low | Cost Med | Cost High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Disassembly | $100.00 | 20 | 30 | 40 | $2,000.00 | $3,000.00 | $4,000.00 |
| Metalwork | $180.00 | 20 | 50 | 100 | $3,600.00 | $9,000.00 | $18,000.00 |
| Body / Paint prep | $140.00 | 80 | 120 | 150 | $11,200.00 | $16,800.00 | $21,000.00 |
| Paint / Finish | $150.00 | 40 | 80 | 120 | $6,000.00 | $12,000.00 | $18,000.00 |
| Re-assembly | $140.00 | 20 | 60 | 100 | $2,800.00 | $8,400.00 | $14,000.00 |
| Paint / Body Materials | $4,500.00 | $6,500.00 | $8,500.00 | ||||
| Weatherstripping / Rubber | $500.00 | $800.00 | $1,500.00 | ||||
| Trim / Bumpers | $1,000.00 | $2,000.00 | $6,000.00 | ||||
| Subtotal | $31,600.00 | $58,500.00 | $91,000.00 | ||||
| Labor only | $25,600.00 | $49,200.00 | $75,000.00 | ||||
| Parts/Materials only | $6,000.00 | $9,300.00 | $16,000.00 | ||||
We feature the best materials for our paint work and use Axalta / Spies Hecker paint, clearcoats and primers for all of our work. The best materials cost a bit more - but make all the difference. With our in-house mixing bank we can make any color.
Most people think that we just sand a car real quick, prime it and spray on the paint - but in reality the actual painting process is the least labor intensive part of what we do. We do hundreds of hours of prep work to get here - and it’s under 20 hours of actual painting. After that the final finish process of wet / dry sanding and compound polish gets us that mirror finish.
This varies based on condition - but a basic job will take around 8 weeks from start to finish. A full custom build and / or restoration can take 6 mos. to 24 mos. depending on level of build, components and parts availability.
We don’t do this type of work. Paint is only as good as what is under it - and if we don’t skip it, we don’t do it - and we can’t offer a warranty. There are plenty of shops that can service this level of work.
We take this work on a case-by-case basis. So the correct answer is “It Depends” - but we’re happy to review your project in person.
We take a small portion for the build spec and design work if that is a part of the process. From there we bill on a regular schedule based on job length for parts, materials and labor. The payment terms will be defined in the build spec and estimate - but in general we bill every 2 weeks for shorter jobs, and every 3-4 for more complex longer term jobs until complete. It can be 4 payments or up to 30 payments depending on the job.
Sure - we’ll need to do an estimate and work with your insurer to get your classic car back to new again. We typically only work with specialty classic insurance companies like Hagerty and Grundy where the vehicle is covered by and agreed value policy. There is a charge for insurance estimates which is applied to the first payment.
Properly done paint work is a very labor intensive process and can take hundreds of hours to do a job that looks good and lasts. Quality materials are expensive, and professional certified technicians don’t come cheap. We don’t compromise on quality for either time or materials.
No way - we work on time / materials and parts. Once the car has been disassembled and blasted we can hone in closer on what it will take. But some cars need more work than others for metal and body, and some cars have parts that are expensive and hard to find.
Totally! This happens all the time… “Paint shop jail” is a terrible place to be. Just know that we may have to re-do some of the work that they already did to make sure it's right - and we won’t get involved with getting your car back for you.
