Methods

First, a little about who we are. We are, first and foremost muscle car lovers. Our staff size is small, limited to a half-dozen dedicated professionals, each of which owns at least one Mopar, all in different states of repair, from rusty buckets to show-quality street machines. Rebuilding Mopars is not something we do to make a buck, or because its our job. We do it because we love the cars and have a sincere desire to help get as many of these awesome cars in the shows and on the road as possible. We have built or are building 50 Mopars to date, and always have around 20 in the shop at any given time. Translated, this means that we know your car, know how to take it apart, and how to put it back together. It also means that we always have similar vehicles in the shop, should there be any doubt about a measurement or an orientation of a part. No guesswork, and best of all, Mopar guys are working on your Mopar. Guys who care.

We make right every part, every hole, every line, so that when the car is done, its done right. Thats not to say that we're all about strict restorations and numbers-matching correctness. In fact, if you have a rare version of car and you are seeking an OE Certified-type restoration, we recommend you seek out one of the few fine shops in the country that specialize in that type of work. We've been there, its not fun. Our preference is to build cars more likely to see the streets, as original or as modified as you wish to make it, but our rule is that if a part is to be original, it needs to be right... if its to be modified well then, how far do you want to go? Following this path keeps the build costs way down, gives you a car that exactly fits your personality, and you are likely to get out and drive!

At any given time here in the shop we'll have a couple of restorations and a couple of highly modified pro-touring customs, but the majority of builds are simply what most would call resto-mods.... factory bodies and interior with big blocks and some wheels and with factory or custom colors. These are the least expensive to build, as you're not looking for high-cost aftermarket parts, not are you paying for NOS original parts. However, custome suspension packages, brakes and engine mods are common too. Make no mistake... its not so much like the old days where the perception of value was limited to 'original' cars... the street-rodded version of these cars have gained value in leaps and bounds... its what many younger buyers want! Classic bodies on a chassis that handles! Do not be afraid of changes! And don't think that just because your car was avocade green from the factory its worth more to keep it that way... thats just simply not true any more. Bottom line: built it your way!

All our builds start with complete disassembly. Small parts are stored in labeled bins for safety. Large parts are tagged with your car code from day one until installation. Nothing gets lost or mixed up. The bodies of the cars are media blasted by an outside vendor and returned to us completely clean top, bottom, inside and outside. We work with a plastic media blaster that has given us very consistent, always thorough results with a minimum of material left for us to clean up. The plastic media completely removes paint, rust, etc. Having the body professionally done save us many, many hours of otherwise intensive labor, and saves you time and money. Next up is the metal work process. In our years of business, we have installed dozens or quarter panels, floorboards, trunk floors, etc, and there is not a part, bracket, or section of one of these cars we have not already experienced. Some cars end up needing 80% of the body replaced, piece-by-piece... we know how the parts fit together, and how to fit them back together. All major work is done on a build table with jigs in place to maintain proper body geometry. Over the years, we've taken in several projects that were started by other shops... and severely damaged by the well-intentioned attempt to repair the metal by individuals that had neither the experience to know how to assemble and align the parts, nor an example to go look at to measure. We fix it, and we fix it right. Its important to understand that we attend to every part, however small.

Once the metal work is complete, the car goes to the hands of our body technicians. The process of making the bodywork right consists of lots of hammer-and-dolly work, some use of fillers and surfacers, and lots of hand blocking. A repeated process of priming and blocking the body eventually results in a perfectly straight surface. During this procedure, doors, deck and hood are installed a few times to verify gaps and lines from one panel to the next. No flaw is left uncorrected. We are well-known for our high quality fit and finish. If we find a flaw that was somehow overlooked, we fix it, no matter what it takes. All projects are rotisserie-mounted for complete detail underneath.

Once the body is perfect, the car is moved into the paint department. Paint is not just a point-and-shoot operation, it involves painting, blocking, painting again, clear coats and other proprietary steps that allow us to guarantee an absolutely gorgeous finish that is flawless. Our reputation is on the line with every job, and we make sure welive up to our reputation every time.

Painting is not the last step, however... there is still the polish process. Sanding with multiple grades and polishing with multiple polished returns a deep, glassy shine that will impress all lookers.

Here is where paths diverge... some will have us complete the reassembly of the car, others choose to do the reassembly work themselves. Even here there are many options. If you choose complete reassembly, then what you'll end up with is a turn-key car that is complete, has the fluids all topped off, the A/C charged, the front-end aligned and the stereo tuned to your favorite station... just get in and drive! A common alternative though is to have us finish all paint, polish and panel alignment, and often have the glass installed, maybe the dash hung, and the suspension painted and assembled. All the hard stuff, or all the stuff that the owner is not comfortable with doing. We can still, even then, paint, polish or powder coat all your parts so that when you're ready to install them, they're ready to be installed. In either case, we'll to all the intertior paint needed, we'll work over your wiring harnesses, we'll rebuild your A/C or heater box, we'll repair and polish all your stainless trim, we'll fix your damaged plastics (like your grille!) and whatever other service you can imagine.

Read magazine articles about some restorations and you'll find that projects are often moved from shop-to-shop... this guys does paint but not metal, that guy does engines, that one exhaust, this one reassembly. We on the other hand do almost all of it ourselves. Once we have the car media blasted, it does not leave our shop until it gets a front-end alignment. Period.

While we're doing the reassembly, we can work in any modification you can imagine. Because we also build full-custom Mopars for the show circuit, we have experience with all manner of upgrades. Engine swaps... Hemis, 5.7's, 6.1's, V10's, 440's, what? Turbos? Superchargers? Four, five and six speed transmissions, Four-bars, IRS, sways and brakes. Inside, how about power windows, locks, aftermarket A/C (a specialty of ours), sound systems, custom interiors,etc. And the body... graphics? Painted-on stripes? Custom colors? Eye-popping pearls? Custom metal work? If you can imagine it, we think we can build it for you.

But here's the best part. We're not a bunch of big-headed ego-minded individuals with kids to put thru college, so you're not looking at a tab that is going to be in the upper stratosphere. In the great scheme of things, our shop is positioned, on purpose, in the mid-to-upper price range, with quality among those at the top. In choosing our place in the pecking order, we specifically chose to not seek to be one of the top-priced shops, a nod to our own roots of coming up the hard way, pinching pennies to make ends meet. We chose to keep our pricing such that our services can be available to as many as possible, while enabling us to keep our doors open. You can read more about or pricing policies under the cost icon elsewhere on the home page.

Finally, let us say that we've never had a dissatisfied customer, and any of our cars that have left here and gone to cars shows have taken first place awards and best-of-shows. Normally, the cars are driven to the shows. We strongly encourage that! We'll handle any issues that may arise after the fact, and we'll help you in any way we can before, during and after the build.

What can we do for you?