How To Metal Flake Your Car Just because I love grease, doesn't mean that I don't love sparkly things too! Before going to Viva Las Vegas this year, I wanted to add a little bling to my 1955 Studebaker Champion with a metal flake paint job. Studie and I have been through a lot together in the five years I’ve owned and drove her. I’ve become attuned to her original patina’d coral and white paint job. So originally the thought of changing her exterior in any way made me nervous. But the more I thought about adding a subtle sparkle to Studie’s white roof portion, the more I liked the idea. Not knowing the first thing about how to paint, I was lucky to have an expert nearby. Pati Fairchild is the newest member of my car club, the Gasoline Girls. She also happens to be a professional paint and body chick who teaches the subject at El Camino College. After polling friends on Facebook and looking through various paint samples, I paid a visit to Coast Airbrush in Anaheim for my final selection. I went in knowing I wanted...

My Ford Falcon Wagon's Finally Got Paint   It's been a long journey. I'm rebuilding/restoring/modifying (choose what you like) my 1963 Falcon Wagon. I'm way over due on what's been done, but here's where it is now:     Shown with premium primer from Squeeg's Kustoms (Squeeg's is a TOP QUALITY paint shop, not to be confused with the painter mentioned later)   OK, fine, the car's been sitting around way too much waiting for me to get off my butt. I'm kinda off now, but not completely. Thanks to buddies here in town helping me "get off the computer!" and back into the garage... there's been some progress.   So I have one question: Do you like GOLD?   It looks great in the sun here, but I would NOT recommend this painter. Terrific Paint and Customs, a Phoenix, AZ custom painter and body shop.     The great thing about MY Ride is Me is that I don't really care all that much if you like it.   I've been working with a Phoenix, AZ painter that specializes in affordable paint. The idea was to get a...

Custom Car 1965 Crown Imperial Sedan What does a hot rod shop owner's wife drive?  It's gotta have some purple and lace right?  Even some fur... Even though its a ladies ride, I think you dudes out there will dig as well. This is Julie's 1965 Crown Imperial custom.  Julie is married to Scotty Birdsall, owner of Chuckles Garage.  If you missed the story on his ride, click this link, '62 Ford Falcon Straight Axle Gasser. This 1965 Crown Imperial (alot of folks call it a Chrysler, but Crown was its own entity at the time) is definitely My Ride is Me.  Let's see why... You can see it certainly fits in as a "Mild Custom" build.  There's not alot of mods other than a super crazy paint job, some suspension work, a groovy fur dash (it is a lady's ride remember!) and some 600-15 wide whitewalls.  When the goal is to personalize your classic machine, those are simple and effective touches. Here's the face of a not-often seen 60's classic luxury sedan.  I can't say I've seen one of these before, but I like the mid 60's era Detroit...

Ford Falcon Wagon Wheels Choice It's been a long journey. I'm rebuilding/restoring/modifying (choose what you like) my 1963 Falcon Wagon. I'm way over due on what's been done, but here's where it is now:     OK, fine, the car's been sitting around way too much waiting for me to get off my butt. I'm kinda off now, but not completely. Thanks to buddies here in town helping me "get off the computer!" and back into the garage there's been some progress. All that'll have to wait. For now, I just wanna ask a question.     Which cap?   At the LA Roadster Show, I found the Cal Custom spider caps on the left along with some Cal Custom trim rings, both still in the original, well worn box. Do you know the ones that fit on the inner ring of the wheel where a dog dish hubcap would fit? I've heard them called "Toby Rings" since a guy named Toby was the first to run'm. I don't know...  I later found the two-legged spinner caps on the right, also from Cal Custom on Ebay. Both of these...

It’s funny how trucks work. No matter how many stories are written about trucks and their experiences, they all seem to have a common thread: Guy buys a ride with the pure intention of just doing a few things here or there to make it a little bit better, and next thing you know, the truck is getting painted, the suspension is rebuilt and it becomes as far away from stock as normal. This story is no different. Andrew Moreno, of Tucson, Arizona, bought this ’72 Chevy truck in 2004 with the intention of fixing it up a bit. His brother was about to turn 16, so Andrew and his father figured that they’d rebuild the motor, give the truck a blue paintjob and some chrome wheels and it’d be a perfect driver for his little brother. Andrew and his dad tore into the truck, taking out the drivetrain in the process, and they discovered that the suspension all needed to be rebuilt. Plus it really needed a quality restoration if they wanted it to be safe. No reason why not, right? A decision was made: Take the truck...

The first thing I picture when I hear the words “chrome car” is my childhood Barbie car that I outfitted with reflective chrome tape. This 1932 Ford Roadster is no Barbie car, that’s for sure. Let’s begin by taking a look at the Platinum Bomb. This 1932 Ford Roadster was designed and built by owner Zach Norman along with the Troy Ladd and his crew at Hollywood Hot Rods with a WWII airplane in mind. (Get more about this car in A Roadster That Can Fly?) So when it came to paint, he wanted a polished aluminum looking body. Those of you who have worked on 30s-era cars know that finding a rust-free body to do this with naturally would be impossible. What else is there to do but give it a chrome-like paint job? Simple right? Hardly! When painter Tom Prewitt chuckled and told me, “We just followed directions,” I knew there was more to the story. How did the Platinum Bomb get to be so shiny? (Speaking of shine...the picture of Tom below shows the car's body before clear coat is put on. As you can see...

Story and Pictures by Andy's Pinstriping "I have a friend in Seattle that was doing some pre-Spring cleaning and needed to make some room for a new project so he called me. The offer was too good to pass up.  I was told that if I could find a way to pick up an old 1963 Chevy truck that i could have it. I had to fork out $350.00 to have it delivered from Seattle to my door step and after looking at the truck, I realized that was a great deal!   This is what I started with. A good original truck with a bad 90's Teal paint job...but I saw potential. I did some research as well and found out that this truck started life as a Forest Service truck, so sentimentality kicked in as I had a beloved uncle that was a Ranger all his life. All of a sudden, an idea was born... Obviously, it had a height issue that needed to be addressed ASAP!  This is after the front went down about six inches. This is what it looked like after the back went down...

Andy from Andy's Pinstriping gives us 5 Steps for painting Vintage Door Art on Shop Trucks 1. The first thing I like to do is use some wax and grease remover and clean the panel to be painted. This simple step is honestly one of the most critical and most often overlooked steps in any paint project. . . . . 2. I like to make a stencil to help draw out the design. There are several methods I use to achieve the stenciled on pattern. One of the easiest ways is to use a pounce wheel & chalk, but on this particular truck I had no colored chalk, and obviously white wouldn't do, so I went old school on it and cut the pattern out of poster board with an exact-o knife....five blades and several blisters later ta-da, a handmade stencil. . . 3. Finally to the fun part, let's thrown on some paint! I start by tracing the pattern (after centering it on the door) with a stabilo pencil. After that it's pretty self explanatory...just fill in the spaces with the one shot color of choice. ....

Steve McDonough's  ''67 Camaro Pics by Chuck Vranas Words by Keith Harman Steve McDonough, an electrician from Pembroke, Massachusetts, had the right idea when he contacted his local hot rod shop, Competition Specialties (www.competition-specialties.com) in Walpole, near Boston, about carrying out some work on his Chevy Camaro. Originally, Steve approached C.S. owner Peter Newell, about simply laying some flames on the car once a friend had painted it, but that plan was soon to change however, once he saw just what Competition Specialties were all about. Peter formed the company over ten years ago and since then through quality construction, fabrication and paintwork, it is now regarded as one of the top specialist car builders in the North Eastern USA, with many show winning cars to its name. After a few ideas were discussed between Steve and Peter, it was decided to turn the old Camaro into a total show stopper, nothing was to be too good for this car, and all the stops were definitely going to be pulled out! It's difficult to know where to start when describing this car as so much has gone into it,...

  Every year at the Grand National Roadster show, Von Hot Rod assembles local, and as it turns out international pinstripers for the Pinstriper's Reunion. The get together of 30+ pinstripers culminates with an auction where proceeds from the sale of donated items goes to charity. Hats off to Von Hot Rod for organizing this event.   Cruising through the end of building 4, the main hall with the AMBR contenders, many of the pinstripers are at work, including Von Hot Rod, but I what caught my eye was a couple of Japanese guys shooting a video.   I lived in Japan for a couple years and I speak some Japanese. I'm not sure what I like more... speaking some Japanese is great because you get to sneak up on guys and spit out "Hajimemashite, Pike desu." (kinda means, How are you, I'm Pike). The look on their faces when this tall lanky American dude (call me henna gaijin) hits the accent dead on, but usually they look past me to see, who really just said that? When they finally see me smiling, they realize, it was me. After...

Submitted by Jason Wenig from The Creative Workshop, a restoration and full service coach builder out in Florida. An interesting turn of events transpired this past weekend. As you are probably aware, last week was the "big auction week" out in Scottsdale, AZ (culminating on Saturday night), where all of the major car auction companies display and sell a dizzying array of vehicles. On top of the grandeur of these events, in many ways, it can be said that this past week sets the tone for values and trends for the coming year. As a car builder, I walk a thin line. I personally am not a big fan of the auctions - I don't sell cars - I build them, but it is hard not to at least be interested, and in many instances, it is important for me to understand where people's money is going - what types of cars, what eras, etc are being sold… if not just for business, then certainly for my own love of cars! Which brings me to my story: My Client, (Arizona's own, car collector) Barry Smith, decided to get the...

Have you ever gone through your closet to find some clothes that make you say, DAMN!  I never wore that, did I?  I think the same is true for cars, especially custom cars that were built in the 80's. At some point, did the designers take a step back and go, "Really?  Is that cool?"  I wonder cause this is an example of just about everything that's wrong with 80's custom paint. The only redeeming quality about this car is the LT5 tucked under the hood.  As a 1988 Camaro, this is a combo that never was and that's probably why with this car, like every other car offered by GM, they read a long a boring disclaimer stating that basically that as far as GM is concerned, these cars don't exist. So if you can, look past the glowing neon yellow wheels and matching neon yellow seating surface and dig that sliding seal fading to upside down shoe graphics done in, you guessed it, neon yellow and *gulp* purple.  Adios 80's! What do you think?  Please leave a comment below! Look for many more and much less nauseating...