Welcome to Herron Custom Paint

Herron Custom Paint

September 09, 2010

Herron Custom Paint

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There is an awsome story behind this car that can finally be told. This car was built totally in secret by two sons and given to their father as a present. We started this car on 5/28/09 and it was completed and given away on 9/26/09.

This is what we had to start with. Not alot here but its over 80 years old. The body was for sale. Bill told his dad he had sold the car for him. He gave him the cash and told him the guy came and got it. His dad had no idea that the body was here getting built.

We talked Bill and Patrick into buying a new frame and suspension system from Speedway Motors. That was the only way it was going to be done in time. They mocked it all up and brought us a rolling chassis.

The body was gone from the lower door hinge down. We built a complete floor. Once that was done the bodymounts were made and it was fitted on the frame. The cowl and firewall we extended 4 inches. A complete trunk floor was built.

Time was a big factor on this. We had 4 months to build a complete car. The bottom of the doors were gone so we made them shorter and built a rocker panel on the body. It was alot faster than rebuilding the lower 3 inches of the doors. Some body lines were added for visual effect on the cowl and 1/4s.

Once all the body welding was done it came off the frame and the frame went back to Bill's. They took it all back apart and we took it all to be powdercoated gloss black. The stuff that could not be powdercoated was painted.

While we were finishing up on the body Bill and Patrick were getting the engine and tranny ready to go. This was the engine that was going in the Nova we are building for Bill.

When the frame and suspension pieces were done Bill and Patrick started the reassembly. Several times they had to move and hide the frame and parts to keep their dad from finding out what was going on. I even went and got the rolling chassis one time and hid it out here at the shop.

Long days and into the night a few times and the body was finally ready for paint. Dupont Hot Hues Hot Rod Black was the color choice. I painted the entire body inside and out in one shot. Eric Campbell from Kansas City came down and pinstriped it.

Any good hot rod has big giant fat tires on it. A ford 9 inch rear end with a 4 link and coil over shocks was used on the back. All the brake lines were custom bent and are done in stainless steel. The fuel and tranny lines were made too.

A look at those big fat tires and rear suspension. It has 4 wheel disk brakes too.

Once all the paint work was done the body was bolted on the frame and it went back to Bill's house. Then he started wiring the car himself. The upholstery guy started his part and patrick and I helped out as well with all the odds and ends stuff.

Bill got all the wiring done and all the guages in the dash. I got the fuel and brake lines bent up. Patrick got the calipers all lined out and got the linkages and steering arms aligned. Pulleys were borrowed from another car to use on this one for the time being.

Bill told me about all the sacrifices their parents made for them as they grew up. He told me how their dad was always helping them and other people build cars and never built one for himself so they wanted to build this for him.

That is what the build of this car was all about. I am very happy to have been a part of this. I was even asked to be there when they gave it away.I think this is one of the coolest things I have ever been a part of. It was a very emotional day.

This picture turned out bad but the dash looks really nice. I will try to replace this with a better one down the road.

Way to go. You can finally get some sleep now!

The trunk lid and trunk floor were built around the fuel cell and battery. A hidden box holds the battery out of sight. The trunk lid is held up and held down by the shocks. The angle of the shocks pulls the lid down as well as holds it up. No need for a latch.

I airbrushed some bloodshot green eyes on the scoop flaps.

The new windshield frame was polished and tinted glass was installed. We had to fabricated the slides that move it in and out.

We had a total of 436 hours worked on our part of this project. That does not count the countless hours that Bill, Patrick and their families put into it. This car started out as a great idea and I think it turned out better than anyone had dreamed it would.

I am going to show some of the pictures that were on the In Progress page of our website as the car was getting built. This will be a very small portion of what it took to do this.

We had the entire body media blasted inside and out. It was then sprayed with epoxy. Then the welding began. Major rust repair was done on this car. There was no floors. The entire trunklid had to be hand built. the doors and 1/4s rebuilt and more.

The previous owner was Fred Flintstone. This was the floor. Not much here.

Grinding on the left door.Tom shortened both doors about 3 inches and built a rocker panel to take up the difference. this is a nice touch and its a whole lot faster than trying to rebuild the bottom of the doors.

The new rear trunk crossmembers and the new wheeltubs.

The old ratty firewall has been cut out and the sides of the cowl are getting rebuilt.

The trunk frame has been built.

Now that the body has been set on the frame we got to get it all centered and squared and get the height right on it.

The center body mounts have been built and installed.

The cowl has been extended and the new firewall has been cut out and tacked in place.

The front floor pan, toe boards and tranny hump are getting welded in.

Building the trunk floor and battery box. There is not much room in here. We have to fit a battery and fuel cell in this tiny trunk.

All the welded areas on the outside of the body are getting sandblasted.

Panel adhesive has been put on the body seams and over the welds.

Josh is sandblasting the entire inside of the car now.

The bottom and inside will be sprayed with epoxy with it on its nose. Then we will set the body down on jack stands to do the outside.

Well we got less than a month to have our part of this car completely done so the owner can wire it and get it running and then the upholstery guy has to do his thing. So everyone in the shop is working on this.

The left side in primer. Tommorow Tom, Josh, and I will all be blocking this primer and hopefully by sometime tommorow night it will be reprimed.

3M Bodyshutz has been sprayed on the bottom of the car.

The body was wetblocked with 400 grit. Then the entire body was hand sanded with 400 grit wet. The hand sanding after blocking removes any block marks and alows you to sand the areas the blocks wont reach.

It wont be long now and it will be off to the upholstery guy and the owner is going to wire it and make it come to life.

The body has been bolted back on the frame. If you followed the build on the In Progress page you would have seen that I skipped over alot here but this gives a general idea of what we done here at HCP.