Paint/Body Shop Recommendations
 

I think my wife has lost her mind, but in a good way. As I am out in the 98 degree garage loosening up the body bolts, she says she thinks it is crazy to take this stuff off and then do it again when I plan to paint. She also says she wants to change the car to one of the blues, elkhardt, lynndale or marina and wants to do it while me and the boy are doing the frame/suspension. I said we can't we afford to both and she says we can figure that out if I get a price from some paint shops. I'm beginning to think she may have a little honey stash hole somewhere. My hats off to you guys that do your own paint body, but in this heat, I'm gonna pass. I will strip it and de glue the inside I think.

So back to the question. Does anyone have any good recommendations for the Dallas/Ft Worth area? To be honest I'll even drive to Oklahoma, Arkansas or Louisiana for the right shop. Unless that is a bad idea to have that kind of work done so far away. She tells me to get on that website I am always looking at and find out where to go. I said yes dear.

Thanks in advance

New Concepts in Plano is the best shop. Call Thomas Liu he runs it and his brother Bruce paints the cars. They do the Lamborghini repairs.

Give Carr Campbell a call. Carr's Corvettes and Customs in Plano, Tx. Award winning restorations and resto-mods. All work done on sight.

The only one I know will do a beautiful job is Tom Ames in Longview. He is a life long painter and is the NCRS National Paint Specialist. .....and a great guy. If he can't do it, he will have the names of those that can and are trustworthy. He may (or may not) be solid booked, but you can try. Tell him Larry Mulder from NCRS Louisiana Chapter told you to call. He should still remember me.....although it has been a few years.

Update. Sometimes I see recommendations here without follow up so here is mine. I spoke with all companies listed above as well as few others and here is what I found. First off I will say the owners of all three listed were extremely polite, professional and took time to answer all my questions. I know none of them could give a guaranteed estimate but they were able to give me a ballpark for typical jobs they do on C2's.

New concepts only does one to two restorations a year and he is full now. He said it would be at least a year before he had an opening.

I spoke with Carr and he explained that they would put new body mounts on the car and torque them down to spec. Then he would do all the body work and paint prep on the frame. When it was ready for paint I would get the frame back for me to complete and then return it to him for the body to be remounted. As far as payment, he requires an initial deposit and then bills weekly or biweekly (I forgot) until the job is done. He was good with me removing the carpet, bumpers etc to help keep the cost down but preferred he strip the paint. He explained the paints they use and why and even offered to come by my house to look the car over and tell me what to remove and to leave.

I spoke with Tom for over 45 minutes and we went over a ton of things. He recommended that I bring the car to him on the frame and he would lift it to one of his metal body jigs and I would take the frame. Then when both were complete I would bring the frame back and he would remount the body. He did not mind if I stripped the paint or carpet glue and even told me what products he recommends and how to do each job. Here again, the more I did the cheaper on his end. His payment schedule is divided up. You make your initial deposit and he works through that amount. Then you do the same thing again until done. As Powershift mentioned, he is the NCRS paint and body guy and I learned a lot about different parts of the car.

I spoke to another local company who was very nice and professional. He was fine with me removing some things but also wanted to remove the paint with soda blasting down to the gel coat and leave the car on the frame until done. Said I would more than likely need new door and hood hinges as those wear out. He requires a deposit and bills biweekly until finished. He stated upfront that every car has surprises so he gave a wider guess quote range than Tom and Carr.

I don't think you could go wrong with any of them. I'm not sure if one way is better than the other in their methods as I have never painted a car. All owners stated they were 2-6 months out from taking on another car and for what I want done would be 4-9 months for completion.

Has this guy ever done a Corvette before? Midyear Corvettes never had gelcoat on the body, and the door hinges are about as close to indestructible as parts can be. :thumbs:

I am guessing that he thinks the car is a shark, they have a problem with the door hinge spring.