Prodigy Customs presents "BACK IN BLACK!

[ProdigyCustoms]

Congratulations to our member WBlanton (Will and Shanna Blanton). This bad boy is in the trailer and on its way back home to North Carolina. No one deserves this more then you. As with most Prodigy Customs projects, this car has a story. It is a story that starts quite sad but ends very happy tomorrow morning.
So, Will was building his father a car as a surprise birthday present (a 66 Chevelle we also re did a few months back). While Will and his wife Shanna were having dads car built, Shanna decided, on the sly about halfway through dads build, to contract with the same guy building dads car to build Will a Camaro . A Pro Touring 69 Camaro convertible. Now before someone starts thinking these are really rich people, so what. I have to tell you I think they do OK, but I can tell you this was a HUGE thing for Will and Shanna with dads car, and for Shanna with Wills car. WAAAYYYY outside of their normal boundaries.
Unfortunately what was supposed to be a dream, a life long memory, turned into a life long nightmare memory! It is a long story, but the shop built the two cars, but both cars turned out horrendous! Some of the work was not only ugly to look at, but down right frightening dangerous. A few things were done (or undone) that could literally have caused death and / or fire. I will post some before shots later in the thread.
Anyway. Will contacted Prodigy Customs to fix both cars. We handled dads car first as it needed a little less time and $$$$ then the Camaro. It seemed the other shop was way over their head building the high end super modified Camaro, more over their head then the mild retro modded Chevelle. We finished the Camaro this week side by side with MotiV8tr. We tried to use as much of the car as we could as Will financially built this 1 ½ times! So we did not throw it all away, and saved what we could.
We were going for a classy Pro Touring theme, something comfortable at the Country Club, but something with some balls also. Will let Shanna and I work with Ben Hermance on the rendering an styling. I think we nailed it.
So about the car. It is a LS6 / T56 (made 360 to the tires on Norris dyno), We put in a Prodigy Bar and Prodigy / Moser 12 bolt, Wilwood 12.2” brakes, it has a Fatman subframe the first shop put in.
On the exterior after a total bare metal strip, cutting some panels off and realigning them, welding and grinding gaps, welding up holes with bondo dripping through and re metal finishing, we painted the car Magic Black with a very faint gold metallic in it. We used a Champagne color for the stripe and color match the Forgeline ZX3P centers, 18 X 8 and 19 X 9.5 with 245 / 40 / 18 and 275 / 35 / 19 BFG TA KDW2 rubber. We added a RS grill and striped and smooth the front bumper to paint it body color.
On the interior we tried to save as much of the tan as we could, but deiced to add some black Ultra Swede here and there along with two tone the dash. My man William at One Off Ride handled the trick center console, trunk, seat inserts> William also covered the Prodigy Customs Door panels (As in Project EmptyNest). William also handled the install of the Pioneer AVIC 2 Navigation system with a couple thousand watts pumpin through JBL and JL Audio speakers. The thing is a rolling concert.
The car is simply gorgeous. It is not a street fighter, it is not a street rod (anymore), I guess it is Pro Touring! I love it.

Thanks so much Will and Shanna for trusting us with both your projects. I hope we turned your nightmares back into dreams.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[ProdigyCustoms]

And now, some before shots!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
Looks good from here

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
From this distance looks like a couple nice cars

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
Oh

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
Uh!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
Excuse but...........

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
you have got to be kiding!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
once it jumped up on the striker it was a little better!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
I have got to stop drinking!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
is it me or is that dash 4 colors?

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
OK, i am not even going to joke about this, That is a live wire, NOT fused even.

[Vegas69]

Turned out great guys.

[compos mentis]

Congrats, a creative thinking well executed rescue Frank and crew!

[dropit69]

Wow that is unreal that a shop can even build a car like that and feel ok about it..Awesome job Frank and Co. for fixing it right and car is bad ass ...love the colors you used def diff and i love it !!!

[ProdigyCustoms]

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
Multi coats of pain, 2 paint jobs, laquer primer to bare metal!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[Steve1968LS2]

Sweet.. that just went on my "must shoot" list... :)

[ProdigyCustoms]

Sweet.. that just went on my "must shoot" list... :)

I was hoping you would say that, these are really nice people, would mean a lot to them.

I will get that arranged.

[jayb53guy]

Freekin' awesome! Great work. :bananna2:

[Modo Innovations]

Great job. Nice combinations with the wheels, interior and paint. :twothumbs

[slck6t9]

That's AWESOME!! You can't go wrong with black. My car will definately be coming to you guys some day.

[nitrovette]

I usually dont care for black cars but this one really stands out above the rest especially with the interior color choice,very well done.

[Magic]

Awesome end result!

[Motown 454]

looks awesome

[stealth71]

Looks nice. Are the numbers rated in STD or SAE from Mike's dyno? I wish I could afford to bring my car to you guys for paint.

[Vegas69]

Who did the previous work? Be a good idea to get that out in the open. These crappy shops need to publicized.

[srh3trinity]

Nice execution. The wheel color, stripe, and interior all come together to make a complete car.

[gearheads78]

very nice work as usual

the wires through the jams :eek:

[BMF Machine]

AbsolutelY SicK! Will you guys ever stop getting better?

[wblanton]

Well it has been a long ride. This thing started almost two years ago and has definitely had more down than ups until this morning when Michael opened the trailer. I was speechless and still cant believe this is my car. The pictures just cant do it justice it is absolutely UNREAL what these guys have done. Frank has been an absolute pleasure to work with on both projects. The character of a company isnt tested until something doesnt go perfect well let me tell you guys Frank and his crew have proven to me they stand behind what they do. Today when Michael unloaded the Camaro we loaded the Chevelle back on the trailer. After a few months my dad noticed some blisters popping up. I called Frank he said send me some pictures. He looked at the pictures and without hesitation said dont worry about it we will bring it back to Florida and take care of it then, bring it back. I would definitely recommend Prodigy Customs to anyone looking. I would have posted earlier but I have been :6gears: since Michael and Dave left. THe car is unreal handles like a dream, drives like a dream and it is fast. I know for most guys on here 360 rwhp isnt all that but it is definitely the fastest thing I have driven. The whole car is awesome. Thanks everyone at Prodigy for the hardwork. WOW. Thanks for all the nice comments, it means a lot. Steve anytime anywhere.

80 MPH in second gear is INSANE!!! I couldnt be happier with the car. Cant wait till Dad gets his back and we can hit some shows and cruise ins. PRODIGY ROCKS!!!!!!!!

[wblanton]

Shanna> I'm crying, Frank, just reading your sincere note and all the comments. It's such a relief to lay eyes on it and be so excited! I had no idea how excited i was until i saw it roll off that trailer this morning! That was nothin' until Will let me drive it today! I was just screamin' riding down the road, "this is your car... its here.... it's so awesome"!!!Words cant hardly express the turmoil and the waiting for 2 1/2 years. I wanted to deliver it as a surprise originally but was obviously out of the question while problems started with the other shop. Will and I soon lost all excitement as we/you discovered exactly all that was wrong with the car and how much money it was going to cost to make it what we wanted it to be in the first place. All I ever wanted was to be able to give a car to my husband that was his dream car! Frank..... you delivered that dream car to us today! I have more joy from just looking over at him from the passanger seat and seeing him smile at me! We both know what a blessing it is to be able to have such a car! I never imagined that it could be so exciting again! It was more than i could have dreamed of, and Will is simply blown away!
You really, really made it reality! I thank you and your crew for all the time, love and determination you put into it! It certainly shows and we cant wait to show it off to everyone! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[ProdigyCustoms]

Ahh ****, now I am crying!

I know exactly what is on the Chevelle fender, Michael told me he knows what it is and the paint company will help with us a little $$$$ the problem on the fender. It is a problem with a batch of epoxy that also showed up on some areas of Patricks car done at the same time, and shared some of the same primer. Regardless of paint company or human error, we would handle it anyway.

As I said, thanks for letting us do this for you.

[wblanton]

Shanna and I own a HVAC company and have since 1998. Basically when I started I knew nothing about business except how to do the work. To make a long story short at 24 I had no business running a business. I got behind on some bills and taxes and my dad and mom really came through to help me out BIG TIME. For two years my dad handled all the books for the company and helped turnaround my mistakes, he never asked for a penny. Eventually with the help of some business classes and my lovely wife we learned to manage the business side and business has done very well. So I could steal Vegas69's project name for the Chevelle "PAYBACK".

Now I spent all this time thanking Frank and the crew and didnt mention the person who made this car happen my love my life and my lady. Baby you can drive my car!! Frank good luck at SEMA and the Optima Challenge.

[Patrick]

You're car looks great!!! I've seen it in person---

And don't worry about the paint issues...Frank and his crew will get it straightened out.

Patrick

[Chevrolaine]

Awww crap, now I'm starting to get all misty eyed just knowing how happy ya'll are! Happy endings are cool.

[wblanton]

going to the DMV today to get some tags, have been driving with tags off of my hunting truck which Shanna made us wash before we put them on the car LOL... there is a F-Body car show here this weekend i think I will hit up, now if I can just figure out the stereo...

[Payton King]

I live in Charlotte and would love to see it in person. I know you are in NC., just not sure which city. If you are close PM me and maybe we can meet up. I would love to check out those rims. I have been trying to decide between those and the 5 spokes that Forgeline makes.

Again, great car and a great story. Glad it all worked out!..

[68/CamaroFL]

Wow Another Nice Project! Hats off to Frank and his crew!:cool:

[ProdigyCustoms]

Shanna> I'm crying, Frank, just reading your sincere note and all the comments. It's such a relief to lay eyes on it and be so excited! I had no idea how excited i was until i saw it roll off that trailer this morning! That was nothin' until Will let me drive it today! I was just screamin' riding down the road, "this is your car... its here.... it's so awesome"!!!Words cant hardly express the turmoil and the waiting for 2 1/2 years. I wanted to deliver it as a surprise originally but was obviously out of the question while problems started with the other shop. Will and I soon lost all excitement as we/you discovered exactly all that was wrong with the car and how much money it was going to cost to make it what we wanted it to be in the first place. All I ever wanted was to be able to give a car to my husband that was his dream car! Frank..... you delivered that dream car to us today! I have more joy from just looking over at him from the passanger seat and seeing him smile at me! We both know what a blessing it is to be able to have such a car! I never imagined that it could be so exciting again! It was more than i could have dreamed of, and Will is simply blown away!
You really, really made it reality! I thank you and your crew for all the time, love and determination you put into it! It certainly shows and we cant wait to show it off to everyone! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

My name is Frank Serafine and I approve of this message!

sorry, I could not resist!

[compos mentis]

My name is Frank Serafine and I approve of this message!

sorry, I could not resist!

Chad from Florida has been hanging on the line with a question for the candidate...

I could resist but I didn't ...lol

[Martin71RS]

wow, very nice car! I like the color combo, actually I like it all!

[Damn True]

Beautiful work.

[wblanton]

this isnt the best picture of the engine but the only one taken since it has been home. I was busy talking to friends that were looking at the car and Shanna took this.26859
We went with satin black for easier maintenance..

[dk239]

All I can say is WOW!!! I saw the car for the first time Sunday, believe me pictures don't do this car justice. It is awesome to look at and it will get down the road in a HURRY too. I would like to thank Frank and his crew for restoring Will and Shanna's enthusiasm in their car. You can only image the ups and downs that they have been through not only with their car but with my Chevelle too.
They are great kids who really care about people. Due to legal restrictions they are not able to devulge the name of the shop that jacked up both cars to start with, but I am not under those restrictions. The name of the shop is The Classic Chassis in Fayetteville NC. They even have the nerve to show pictures of Wills car in their gallery.

CLASSIC MUSTANG RESTORATION (http://www.theclassicchassis.com/gallery/flashGallery.html)

[BossaNova]

going to the DMV today to get some tags, have been driving with tags off of my hunting truck which Shanna made us wash before we put them on the car LOL... there is a F-Body car show here this weekend i think I will hit up, now if I can just figure out the stereo...

Well be sure & let us know how the show turns out.

[wblanton]

the Fbody show is Dec so I guess I will have to find something else to do LIKE CRUISE... It has been raining and cool since I drove it Sunday and i am going CRAZY ready to :6gears:

[stealth71]

I was just curious if the numbers were STD or SAE because I had my Chevelle on Mike's dyno last weekend. Was trying to see how it compared to the LS6. Definitely an awesome car. Enjoy.

[maldo]

nice work ... did you also do the enigine install ....?

[wblanton]

The engine was installed when Frank got the car. I ordered it from Turnkey Engine so it was received complete (their 450hp engine) and the trans was from classic chevy 5 spd again complete. I think this was the only thing that was done close to right before Prodigy, however Prodigy did have to straighten up some things with it. They installed the Prodigy Bar, Moser, Upgraded to larger brakes, I have some six piston calipers on the way. Installed new headers (for some reason the old ones rusted up and they were coated) turnkey and hooker were great to work with getting them replaced quickly, great customer service. Installed a Rick's tank and new pump. The old system was a nightmare. Completely reworked the body and interior. New wheels.

[wblanton]

Stealth the sheet says STD 357rwhp and 360ft-lbs which they guessed the 450hp at the engine should be pretty close.

[wblanton]

By the way what did you use for your intake tube? I would like to relocate my filter.

[stealth71]

By the way what did you use for your intake tube? I would like to relocate my filter.

Not sure if this was to me. If so, it's 4" stainless mandrel bent from woolf aircraft: http://www.woolfaircraft.com/ and couplers/clamps from http://www.siliconeintakes.com/. Looks like you're setup for an SD tune with no MAF. so you won't need so many couplers. I picked a filter from here: http://www.knfilters.com/universal/universal.htm, just found the biggest cone I could fit, but you might be able to reuse yours depending on the inside diameter of it. Let me know if you need more details and I can help you get the parts together.

[Elec87]

Nice cars....

[wblanton]

the question was directed to you and I appreciate the info. I think it looks better with the filter relocated.

[wblanton]

Went cruzn today man this thing is fun. The exhaust sounds killer. I had a late model mustang beside me pop his pipes. So I did the same. He quickly gave a wave as to say I surrender and puttered off like a puppy with his tail between his legs LOL. Then went to a cruise in or what I thought was a cruise in. Turns out it was a Mustang convention, they were nice enought to let me park a 40 year old Chevy with all their new stangs and hang out.

[BMF Machine]

SweeT DudE! I bet that was a "Good DaY"....... Ice Cube

More like helluva time ?

ProdigY works their balls of to make people happy(Except for Lisa of coarse) Lets say she just put's in a relentless effort? Is that PC?, anyhoo, glad to here about someone having a good time in a beast they helped create!

:cool: Story!

[formula]

freaking fantastic lookin' car....hats off once again to the prodigy crew. Can't wait for my turn to have a thread like this!!

[ProdigyCustoms]

freaking fantastic lookin' car....hats off once again to the prodigy crew. Can't wait for my turn to have a thread like this!!

Your next!

[wblanton]

I know the feeling I remember watching all the posts about other peoples cars and thinking man I want to get something up here about my car. Can't wait to see yours.

[slck6t9]

Frank you are building a green 69 camaro convertible for a guy I met this weekend. Do you have any info/pictures of it?

[ProdigyCustoms]

Shhh, that one is a secret!, LOL!

Actually they were laying out the hockey stick today. Pictures coming later in the week

[maldo]

I really like what you did with this car. man what a night and day difference.... I can believe the other shop let it out looking the way it did and those front speaker pods gezzzzz horrible.

The only thing I was not crazy about was the the instrument panel cluster.. it looks kinda of out of place (I know you had nothing to do with it because from the old pictures I can see the car came to you like that and you were trying to make the best of what you had by repainting it to make it look better much nicer).

[slck6t9]

Thanks Frank, he is another military guy like me and was WAY excited just talking about it. Says he can't wait see it finished.

[curly]

I really like the color scheme! I might have missed it but where in NC are you from? I'm on the east coast of NC.

[ProdigyCustoms]

Will is in Fayetteville.

[curly]

I'll have to be on the lookout the next time I make it down that way! You did an awesome job on the car!

[wblanton]

curly where are you from? The car will be out a lot in the spring, I will be hitting up some cruisins and shows, there is an F body show here in Dec. I will be going to.

[wblanton]

the instrument cluster is the DSE panel with Autometer gauges. They look killer at night the silver background turns black and has a really cool glow to it.

[curly]

I live in Washington, NC. Can you send me some info on the f-body show? I might have to take a drive down in the T/A for that.

Congrats on the awesome looking '69!

[bigtyme1]

Will what did you use for seats? they look like they fit well.

[MiDiablo]

Awesome car, awesome story! Congrats to the Blantons, and Kudos to Prodigy for a job well done on the Rescue(s)!

[dk239]

Curly we'll be in Little Washington next year fishing a bass tournament.

[wblanton]

Found out yesterday the details. It is actually a charity event, Cruisin for Clothes sponsored by the F-Body Club to benefit Urban Ministries.

The seats are made by Corbeau, dont remember the type, but Frank's interior guy cut the backs down some cause they were to high.

[Weldon0405]

That is one FINE piece of work. I'll be moving to FT Bragg next summer. I look forward to seeing this work of art in person.

[wblanton]

Weldon about you and another 40,000... welcome to Fayetteville..

[curly]

Curly we'll be in Little Washington next year fishing a bass tournament.

Don't guess you'll be using the camaro to pull the boat, eh?
:rotfl:

[wblanton]

Still havent figured out how to get the hitch on it

[1971CHEVELLE]

Wow nice i love the car :) I like the color combo:1st:

[jonesmoto]

Wow, what a great ending. I have only known about Frank and Prodigy Customs for a short time now. It seems like everything I see come out of this shop is outstanding work. I have bought some things from Frank in the last few months, and have to say he knows his s*** and is just a pleasure to deal with. It is unfortanate that there are alot of shops/bodyshops out there that are just interested in the all mighty $, and could give a crap about the finished product. I just went through it with my wifes 67 Camaro. Just got it back from the bodyshop last tuesday, and man does this thing have issues. Those before pictures of Will's camaro look all to familiar. God I wish I had just sent it to Frank to start with, I would be time and money ahead.

[wblanton]

Tim I hate to hear you had problems with your car as well. I tell my customers all the time to get references and do research before buying. I should have taken my own advice and my car would have been with Prodigy or one of the other reputable shops in the 1st place. I wanted to keep my car close to home so I could watch the progress.

[Larry Callahan]

I wanted to keep my car close to home as well and look what I did. I did some research and I sent my car all the way to Prodigy Customs from California.

[colt zantop]

very nice! love the color combo!

[wblanton]

Yeah Larry i wish i would have done the same as you but you live and you learn.. my next car will start at Prodigy.. Although that might be a few years down the line and it will probably be a 56 vette for my wife