This past Saturday we were excited to lend our venue, people and projects to a good cause by hosting a photoshoot spearheaded by Dallas photographers Christie McMillon and Kevin Dukes.
Christie and Kevin had approached us back in May with their fundraising vision for a 2012 calendar to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, inspired by friend Christine Grizzle whose son Cooper has CF. As a family owned and operated business, we were happy to participate and enrolled staff, friends and customers in the effort. We collaborated with the photographers over the next month on the schedule, shot outline, set design and volunteer participation to finalize a plan for the July 16th shoot.
Shoot day finally arrived and we began setup early with a meet and greet at 6:00am. Considering the Texas heat index fast approaching 110 degrees, the goal was to knock out everything by early afternoon. The next eight hours was a flurry of activity with volunteer models, including Mrs. Texas 2010 Shannon Schambeau Patterson, hairstylists, makeup artists, assistants, and shop staff working hard to contribute their time, talent and effort. Our customers began to stop by to graciously lend their cars for the project; Christine Grizzle took part for her son by modeling in several of the thirteen scenes (one for each month of the year plus a cover shot). The production wrapped just before 3:00pm and everyone parted ways feeling exhausted but gratified in their work for a good cause.
Calendar sales are anticipated starting in September with 100% of proceeds going to CFF. For more information on the charity or to make a contribution, visit CFF.org.
All cars featured in the shoot are current or previous projects at North Texas Customs; for build pics, visit our photo gallery. We are thankful to our customers, particularly Mike Stom, Jerry Smith and Dr. Ryan Maguire, for their time and generosity, as well as Christie McMillon, Kevin Dukes, Christine Grizzle and Cooper for providing the opportunity to give back.
Models
Pam Daniel
LaSharon Renee
Valerie Roberts
Carmen Foy
Galatha Williams
Amanda Edirimanasinghe
Rhonda Weaver
Christine Grizzle
Amber Natishyn
Jill Northington
Dee Dee Stone
Shannon Patterson (Mrs. Texas 2010)
And of course, much appreciation to shop staff and photographers’ assistants for all the heavy lifting!
We’ve been updating the North Texas Customs photo gallery with tons of classic, muscle car and hot rod project pics from the past year. If you haven’t visited recently, check it out and see what we’ve been up to! Lots of fabrication work to see, and some pretty nice paint colors along the way. We add to this section regularly so stop by every so often and you’ll see something new.
Also, we just added a new video gallery that we plan on expanding as time allows, so look for updates there as well!
Got any questions about the work you see or ready to see your project in the gallery? Contact us online or call 972-442-9793 and we’ll be happy to talk.
A treat for the MOPAR fans: we recently finished out a full restoration on this 1969 Plymouth Road Runner. Named Motor Trend “Car of the Year” for that year, she came off the factory line, shipped straight to Dallas and sold in a Dallas dealership. The car cruised the city all its life when its second local owner (who still has the bolt-on dealer plaque) decided it was time to make her shine again.
After stripping it down to bare steel, we added a little metal and body work TLC, then took everything completely back to stock including the iconic (and recently resurrected!) B5 Blue Fire Metallic paint, white interior, rebuilt 383 engine and tranny; sans A/C or power steering for a truly original feel. Now many more days of running the Dallas roads lie ahead for this mean machine.
We had our work cut out for us to restore this 1969 Chevelle – or should we say, we cut it out ourselves. The back half was completely rotted and had to be scrapped, frame rails and all. After stripping what was no good, we welded in new cross members, rails, trunk pan, full floor pan, quarter panels and wheel tubs. Some grinding and a little bodywork later, she was ready for color.
On a typical paint job, all panels are hung and gapped, then removed from the car before painting and sprayed separately from the body. However, this Chevelle was getting treated to a custom candy application, so we removed them, cut in all jambs, then re-hung and gapped them out in order to allow the painter to build the candy up uniformly across the whole surface of the car.
Using House of Kolor products, we sprayed a Shimrin Metallic Solar Gold base, followed by Kandy Apple Red, and finished out with PPG High Solids clear coat to give it a nice, deep shine. Once color sanding and buffing was done, she was begging to see the sun, and we were happy to oblige. This one may turn a few heads when cruising season rolls around.
Wanted to share this quick video as we turn over a 350 Chevy small block engine on the way to finishing out this ’67 Camaro full frame-off restoration. More to come soon…
Marketed as the “smoothest car afloat,” the 1947 Dodge D24 Custom boasted power, speed, low maintenance and a spacious interior. With those features in mind, we set out to transform this fatigued stone beige sedan into a sleek black powerhouse and get her back in the game. Highlights of this model include an interestingly modern push-button start, a smooth, reliable flathead 6 engine, and Chrysler’s innovative Fluid Drive transmission, embellished with suicide doors and a dramatic butterfly hood. All rebuilt components and a new two-stage coat were just what was needed to put the spirit back in this car.
With the high demand following WWII, the popular D24 cost about $1500 new in 1947. While you may never find that on a sticker again, driving a vehicle like this makes a classic style statement today that’s definitely priceless.
Summer’s just around the corner – ready to get moving on that project car or truck? Start by getting blasted at North Texas Customs! If you’re the do-it-yourself type, media blasting is a quick and affordable first step that, when followed with an epoxy coat, will halt corrosion and let you take your time for the next stage of repair. Prefer to hand it over to the pros for step two? Blasting will reveal what work needs to be done and allow us to formulate a plan to meet your goals. There’s no time like the present: the longer your rusty metal sits, the worse it will progress – blast it and stop it today! Contact us or learn more on our media blasting page.
At long last, we have posted photos of our recently completed 1968 Camaro restoration. This was a special project presented as a gift to the owner by his family, and we thoroughly enjoyed working on it. It’s not often you get the opportunity to turn back time for someone; he was delighted to see her looking better than the day he bought her new, 41 years ago.
We gave this gave this car a complete overhaul but remained true to the original details, from the color to the 230 inline six. We did up the ante on the paint job, converting the original single stage Rally Green to the matching modern two stage, a PPG Fender guitar color called Eric Clapton Candy Green. The interior got fresh but genuine Ivy Gold upholstery and trim, and the engine was reconditioned and stroked to 250, a rare build which ads to the museum quality of this project.
Please enjoy the snapshot of history we worked hard to capture – having customers like these definitely makes our work gratifying.
Honoring childhood memories of his family car, the owner of this 1956 Pontiac Catalina came to us to help bring it back to life. To meet his request for true authenticity, we used only original and new old stock (NOS) parts, fabricating any pieces that were not available.
This car got the full treatment: a frame-off restoration complete to stock, including media blasting down to bare steel, a rarely rebuilt 316 V-8 engine and Jetaway/Hydra-Matic automatic transmission, a large assortment of new and re-chromed trim, hand-fabricated floors, and an interior hand-stitched from original factory stock material tracked down for the project. We finished out with a classy two-tone Terragon Green and cool white paint scheme.
Seldom seen in common restorations, this model’s a definite head-turner and is sure to make many reminisce when she cruises by.
