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Our Project Ford Mustang Gets A Paint Job by House Of Kolor - Real Pretty
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Apparently because of its reputa-tion for high quality, House of Kolor is unfairly considered an expensive paint. Our local rep, Ernie Banfalvy, explained the company's product is not that much more than competitive paint-it's simply most often used on custom jobs such as our flamed and faded Real Street car. For example, the paint supplies for our car cost in the $800 range, but by the time you do wild paint such as ours, you're looking at a $6,000-plus job thanks to all the labor. However, you could do something cool such as a monochrome job in the Lemon Yellow (the brightest yellow we've seen) basecoat we used, still look cool, and not spend nearly as much. From there, we had an illustration created so the painter would have a better idea of what we wanted. Of course, having a skilled painter working on a custom job such as ours was key. One of the guys in our sales department turned us on to Abdullah Baker and Auto Specialty Custom Paint & Body in Longwood, Florida. There, Kevin Busby and Patrick Daharm of Bermuda's KP Custom Design do high-end work for many of the athletes and entertainers who run their SUVs and sports cars through Auto Specialty and its sister car stereo shop, Audio Excellence. With the illustration in hand, Kevin and Ernie came up with a wild combination of paints to make our car stand out-and keep the paint in great shape for years to come. Then we replaced our worn-out exterior gear, and beast became beauty.  Once the rolling chassis received...  Once the rolling chassis received its basecoat, it was time to hang the doors, the fenders, the hood, the nose, and the rear bumper cover before commencing the final paint work. Our friends at Year One really bailed us out on this project, because the Auto Specialty crew discovered our fenders and moldings just weren't in good enough shape to be sprayed. As such, Year One supplied passenger- and driver-side fenders, as well as all the door and fender moldings, on short notice. Thanks, guys!  Despite his painting prowess,...  Despite his painting prowess, Kevin had never shot flames before, so we opted to use House of Kolor's Bag o' Flames template kit as an outline. Here, House of Kolor's Ernie Banfalvy demonstrates how to perforate the template with a pattern-maker's pinwheel.  With the template perforated,...  With the template perforated, it is taped to the body at the painter's discretion. Kevin and Patrick dust the paper template with powdered chalk to outline the flames. Then the template is carefully removed to show the chalk outline that the painter uses to tape off the flames. Cool, huh?  We picked up our shiny, new...  We picked up our shiny, new Project Real Street on March 1, 2002-a scant week before the NMRA season opener in Bradenton, Florida. We had a lot of work to do, but a beautiful new canvas to work on thanks to Kevin, Patrick, and Auto Specialty.  She's getting close now. The...  She's getting close now. The flames are taped off, and Kevin begins spraying the flames. He fades the flames from light gold to red, then tops it off with clearcoat laced with House of Kolor's Ice Pearls for some extra sparkle.  Once we hauled Project Real...  Once we hauled Project Real Street back to the safety of our tech shop, we began a six-day thrash converting our flamed shell into a Mustang again. Naturally, Tech Editor Mark Houlahan bore the brunt of the work (and stress). Here Mark installs new door weatherstripping from Latemodel Restoration Supply. Now we won't have to worry about any pesky wind noise at the big end of the track.  To get rid of the rotting...  To get rid of the rotting stock stuff and to keep water from flooding our doors, Mark replaced our run-channel weatherstrip with new pieces from Latemodel Restoration supply. LRS also provided us with new hood bumpers, a firewall-to-hood seal, and trunk weatherstrip to make Project Real Street good as new.  Of course, dingy, yellowed...  Of course, dingy, yellowed headlights just wouldn't do on our freshly painted car, so we ditched them before the car went to Auto Specialty. To contrast with our bright paint, we ordered a set of KS Reproductions smoked headlights and the required headlamp adjusting plates from LRS. Here Mark bolts the lights into place, and they look smokin'!  Out back, we reinstalled the...  Out back, we reinstalled the stock taillight chassis, as Associate Editor Michael Johnson makes his cameo appearance pushing on our new smoked KS lenses from LRS.  Somehow in the thrash we forgot...  Somehow in the thrash we forgot to drop off our wiper arms at the paint shop, and the worn, flat-black arms just wouldn't work with the new paint. Fortunately, we have a set of UPR Products' Billet Wiper Delete Covers. These sleek, billet aluminum pieces simply slide over the wiper crank and are held in place by set screws.  Since we plan to do a little...  Since we plan to do a little street driving with Project Real Street, we have two sets of wheels. Mark bolts on our "street" wheels-Weld Pro Star XPs. The XP version of the Pro Star drag wheel is built for the street with a forged alloy construction and improved brake clearance. It is available in 15-, 16-, 17-, and 18-inch versions. We just love the way the XPs look, and fit them with Nitto 555 rubber for the street.  After we finished making the...  After we finished making the car presentable, Kevin and Patrick removed all our fingerprints and gave the car a thorough detailing before we loaded it on the trailer headed for Bradenton. If you didn't get to see it there, you'll have to wait till the World Finals, as we have a lot of work left to do. First up, we'll pull the engine and dash out of the car and take our time installing the fuel system, trunk-mounting the battery, wiring the gauges, wrapping up the interior, and more.
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Nitto Tire
6021 Katella Avenue
Suite 250
Cypress
CA
90630
877-565-8448
www.nittotire.com
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Late Model Restoration Supply
400 Jan Dr.
Hewitt
TX
76643
866-507-3786
www.latemodelrestoration.com
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House Of Kolor
210 Crosby Street
Picayune
MS
39466
601-798-4229
www.houseofkolor.com
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UPR Products
750 S. Eastcoast St.
Lake Worth
AK
33460
561-588-6630
www.uprproducts.com
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Weld Racing
6600 STADIUM DRIVE
Kansas City
MO
64129
800-788-9353
www.weldracing.com
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Auto Specialty Custom Paint & Body
100 High Line Dr.
Unit 108
Longwood
FL
32750
407-834-5777
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YearOne, Inc.
Braselton
GA
30517
800-932-7663
www.yearone.com
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Cervini's Auto Designs
3656 N. Mill Road
Vineland
NJ
08360
800-048-8605
www.cervinis.com
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