I need some help! (SEMA Project)

[KrisHorton]

First off,

Larry, Ralph, and other admins, move this post if you have to, I wanted to start here because this forum get the most visibility, but it might belong in the paint/body forum. If it is appropriate, can it be made sticky?

On to my pridicament. I have a car that needs to be painted. Not much of a problem, right? I need it painted and ready for re-assembly by the end of September. That is my problem.

I live in a small town with 4 paint shops. All of which are one to two man shows. Average turnaround time here is about 8-12 weeks. There are also no pinstripers/graphics painters around here.

I am about 2.5 hours from just about everything in Southern CA and am willing and able to haul the car just about anywhere. My budget is somewhat limited, but can be negotiated. I'll be happy to keep the cost withing 4-digit range, but am expecting to go higher. The painter doesn't need to know that though, right? ;)

What I need is for anyone in the SoCal area (Orange County, Anaheim, Valencia, Ventura, Bakersfield, LA, Lancaster/Palmdale, etc.) to turn me on to a shop that can do this and do it within reason. I have photo references and renderings ready to go at the drop of a hat as well.

Upon roll out to paint, the car will be lined underneath, have the quarters patched and rust areas fixed. It can either be on a frame or dollies/rotisserie, whichever is preferred. It will also be sprayed with sealer. The to-do list for the paint/body shop is

Re-Skin both doors, maybe shave handles.
Smooth some rough areas on the rear quarters, no patching.
Weld up holes made by factory trim.
Smooth and fit hood, doors, and fenders.

I have a paint company that is sponsoring us and ready to supply the paint/clear coat, etc. There is a graphic on the car, it is really simple and I can provide a line drawing of it if needed. The car is primarily 2-tone and I think it is reasonably easy to do, but as I mentioned, we are on an insane time budget thanks to hang-ups beyond our control.

So, if anyone is still reading at this point and knows anyone who owns a shop capable of this or even knows OF a shop here in Southern CA, PLEASE help me out by either talking to them or just giving me a name and a phone number. I have some last resorts, but I would really like this to be done to the highest standard. If you think the shop might be interested in gaining some GREAT exposure, let them know that the car will be at SEMA and it will be highly visible.

Thank you so much in advance!

Desperate in the Desert,

Kris Horton
[email protected]

[ProdigyCustoms]

I would take care of ya. Shipping would be a killa though.

Frank

PS, did a little research, gotta lil somthin comin your way.

[KrisHorton]

I appreciate the offer Frank, and if I were any closer to Florida, my car would be at your shop in a heartbeat. I am going to try to talk to Larry Radcliffe (Radlark) as he might know a shop or two down in Ontario. I'd like to get this squared away before the weekend...hopefully I can pull it off.

Kris

[bonspeedbrad]

L&G in San Dimas is a great shop that you should discuss the project with. I will e-mail you some info.

Brad

[KrisHorton]

Brad,

I just got off the phone with Magnolia in Ontario. I am seriously considering them. Radlark strongly recommended them. Their projected turn-around time is roughly 2 weeks and their rough estimate on the cost is well within our budget (though the price will surely go up a fair bit, as is normal.) I know it can be done in two weeks, I just hope that they can pull it off. If they start in one-two weeks and then deliver as said, we will be right back on schedule with a month for re-assembly. All of the parts for re-assembly are sitting stacked almost to the cieling of my guest bedroom. It's a beautiful thing. *tear* It will, however, be much more beautiful when the parts are all on the car and it is sitting at the SEMA show. Gotta get back to work!

Kris

[chevymike]

Hey Kris, we need to get you with Foose and the Overhaulin' gang. They do a whole car make over in 7 days! :icon996:

I would hate to see their budget to do this though...


Ok, Ok you can tell me to now.

Anyways, good luck with your project. If you were closer to San Diego, I would be happy to help reassemble the car with you.

[Steve1968LS2]

I could check with my shop in Escondido if you want.. they are busy but maybe they could get you in since its for SEMA..

Would they get some press or mention out of it???

Let me know

Oh, they are a GOOD shop.. $10k would be a middle of the road paint job.. how much body work does the car need? (panels replaced? rust?)

Oh.. the shop is Hot Rods and Custom stuff.. there is link on my site in the sponsors area.. ask for Mike Adams and tell him I sent you

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Kris, just a heads up, on something I haven't seen mentioned yet. Make sure you discuss the paint you will be supplying. Some paint guys only like to work with certain manufacturers, and the quality of their work might diminish if it's their first time using a certain manufacturer. Maybe not though, it's just something that some old school guys have told me about different manufacturers of paint. Good luck!

[KrisHorton]

These guys are familiar with using HoK paint, which I hear is pretty difficult. The paint I will be using is similar in many ways, so I don't anticipate any real problems. Thanks for the heads up though!

Kris

[Richz68]

Kris,



The Overhaulin theme is not that bad of an idea.... maybe contact one of the shops used for paint/body work in a previous episode. I really hope this comes together for you for SEMA.


BTW: I know that you are slammed right now & I hate to ask you, but how far along are my renderings coming. I am getting to the point now where they would really help my cause.


I am going to Woodward in eight hours and won't be home until Saturday night.


Let me know...

[OHCbird]

Kris-

Although I haven't had the chance to talk to him yet, call Sal Perez of American Musclecars (619)449-2439. They've done several Projects for Super Chevy and CHP- Blue Streak to name one. He owns both a dedicated body shop, and the in-house shop used at AMC. His shops are around Santee- so hauling, etc shouldn't be too bad.

He normally speciallizes in 1st gens, but has done others. I don't think you'd be dissapointed.

Good luck & tell him Jeff Hartsell (the navy guy) sent ya...

[BRIAN]

I think you guys are watching too many TV shows. I have never seen any of the OVERHAULIN cars in person but I would have to say they are not typical Foose quality cars. I would have to say they push paint application times to the limit which is something you don't want to do with a show car. Missing a deadline sucks but having a project out there that will give you a bad name is even worse. Hey I would ship that thing to FLA to the fellow above who seams well versed in resto work. In the end the extra $800 in shipping will be nothing if it doesn't get done correctly. YOU DO NOT WANT TO SKIMP ON PAYING A PAINT OR BODY GUY IT WILL BITE YOU IN THE ASS IN THE END. Get that thing on a trailer!!

[KrisHorton]

Went in for paint today. The shop is well-reputed and the owner is a stand-up guy it seems. The paint job might not be cheap in the end, but I want quality to be the number one priority.

I would be curious to see the Overhaulin' cars too, they can't be super show quality, not with the one-day body work/priming/painting that they normally do. I believe that it probably is pretty good, but not as fantastic as the TV makes it look.

I want my car to be on par with the Foose Chevelle from Overhaulin' especially since it is slated to be there at SEMA.

They figure it will be about 2-3 weeks total for their end of the bargain, which is painting the body, fenders, hood, and other components and lining the bottom of the car with Line-X. I would be happy with 2-3 weeks, but if they need 4 or 5 and the quality is higher, so be it.

Kris

[socalfandabodys]

I saw the chevelle that they did on overhaulin. I saw it in person down at opgi and the body was lazer straight and there was no overspray runs or defects in the flame stripeds or anything. even the valve covers and air cleaner were painted like the car. In fact I saw it before overhaulin even was advertised and I saw the little foose air brush on it and said wow foose has really down some killer paint and body work I wonder how many months this took him and then I see it on overhaulin.

[Radlark]

Kris Larry, here spoke with Dave and as far as them being able to ge the car done, they have a staff of 6 guys now! They are going to be starting on mine next week, I still strongly recommend them, Dave will be shooting 2 more of my cars the 69 GTO and the 69 Camaro that I am building for a west covina police officer! I know you'll be happy with the work, and they are versed in different H of K paints along with the DuPont's. I will try to get you some digital pics and I will post them up on the board for your viewing!

[KrisHorton]

Larry,

I will be sleeping much easier now that you posted. I was a bit nervouse when I saw your Skylark at the shop, as I remembered that you gave it to them a while back. Dave gave us a pretty good idea of what we will be able to do with the paint and how long it will take.

I was a but worried at how dead the shop was when we got there, but I realized it was right in the middle of lunch time for everyone. It was nice to see everyone come back and get to work over the hour or so that we were there. My dad will be stopping by there on Tuesday on his way to San Diego to drop off the remaining parts and get a final estimate on the cost. I was worried about not being able to see it progress, but if you could snap pics of it for me every few days and shoot them my way, I would be FOREVER grateful. How far is the shop from your place?

I'm not all too concerned with their body work capabilities, I just want to be sure the paint job looks just like the renderings. I tried explaining the graphic to the airbrush artist and he didn't quite get it, so I am going to do about 5 or 6 renderings of just that area on the car to make sure he nails it.

Shoot me an e-mail if you think we could work out some picture-taking schedule.

Thanks again for the peace of mind!

Kris

[Radlark]

Kris, no worries I told Dave to hold off on my car because I had to take care of some personal business, and I didn't want it to be funished and I could not pay him. But I will snap some pics for ya!

[Radlark]

Hey Kris saw the "bucket" today! Looks like your gonna get the royal treatment from the guys over at Magnolia Street Autobody! you lucky dog! Dave feels pretty confident on getting the job done given the time frame.

[KrisHorton]

*Sigh of relief*

It's nice having a contact that is close to the car! Otherwise I'd be calling Dave every day and saying "is it done yet!?!"

:D

Kris

[Jagarang]

Glad to see things working out on your project. Being under a tight schedule really makes our hobby infinitly harder. Post some pics of the paint process, not the finished product, just for informative reasons. Looking forward to seeing things come together for you!