Restoration Shop

I started working in a body shop in 1962 when I was a junior in high school. I am very thankful I got started as early as I did as this particular shop still metal finished all of the work. Any fill work was done with lead, but this was limited to seams or a dog-leg or areas that were totally inaccessible. I learned to paint when nitro-cellulous lacquer and synthetic enamels were the only options for paint. I mention this as it was important then and just as important today that the preparation was done perfectly. In those days prior to having urethane sealers, primers, and paints, if there was a scratch that wasn't sanded out, it would blow up in the finish coat. That meant totally redoing the job. As it was with the synthetic enamel jobs, the car had to be perfectly clean, or you would have a dirt speck that could not be repaired. It seems in today's restoration world, the attitude is I can hide it with sealer or sand it out later and fix it. I believe in repairing everything right.....no shortcuts....just like in the old days when one didn't have the option to fix one's errors as easily as today. Today we use the best PPG polyurethane sealers, primers, and paints, but we adhere to yesterday's preparation standards. We do the highest quality body restoration and refinish work possible. We replace rust out areas with new metal. We repair and replace new panels with quality metal finishing techniques with a minimum of filler. We have the old school attitude with the addition of all new products and technology. We restore all domestic 50s, 60s, and 70s cars and trucks, and we also build customs and street rods.