Take Hwy 50 west and turn left on Hwy K. We are 3.5 miles down Hwy K on the right. Call 573-796-8485 for more info on how to get here. OVERALL PAINT JOBS
These are not restorations. This may be something as simple as painting the outside of your vehicle without doing under the hood, doorjambs, etc. This is usually what is referred to as a paint job from the pinch welds out. On this type of job the
windshield and back glass is usually not removed, the interior is usually not removed and no work is done under the hood or to the floors. These are considerably cheaper than restorations because they are not nearly as in depth and time consuming and in this case the customer is usually not after a show car, just a nice looking driver. The process is still the same just not as in depth as a total restoration would be. On this type of paint job I can usually give a ballpark estimate but that can change as we run into things that could not be seen prior to starting the teardown and paint stripping process. On overall paint jobs as well as restorations I DO NOT CHARGE A MARKUP ON MATERIALS! We make our living off the labor alone. You are simply billed for the materials it took to do the job at our cost. You will get copies of material bills with the labor records. Each job has its own material cabinet so you can be sure your materials are used on your project only. Material prices are high enough so I try to help the customer out in any way I can here. As with total restorations step by step photos will be posted on the that projects album on or page so you can see at any time what stage you project is in. RESTORATION INFORMATION (This does not apply to custom paint, insurance collision, or minor repair work, or basic overall paint jobs. This applies only to restorations)
COST & PROCESS
At regular intervals we provide our customers with billing invoices, time summaries, labor records, and photos of repairs. LABOR PRICE ESTIMATES
We undertake projects on a labor and material basis. Because of the many obstacles and factors involved in the custom build and restoration of projects, as a matter of policy we simply do not provide estimates as to labor requirements or price at any phase of the build. Because we simply charge for the labor and materials it took to do the work, we seek our client's approval and involvement as their project progresses. Each project we take on is unique. Keep in mind that a vehicles overall condition and the amount of original or custom parts needed will vary. BEWARE OF PRICE QUOTES
Many people call and inform us of a bad experience where a supposed reputable shop ripped their pride and joy apart and then stopped the process. The problem is usually a "price quote" that sounds too good to be true. We are often contacted by customers who have had their project at a shop that did not do much work to their car before stopping. A common scenario goes like this: The shop owner talks about the project with the customer and assures them that he can handle the restoration for x amount of dollars at the labor rate of??? At this point several things can happen.
1. The shop may use the customers’ car as fill in work if they slow down on other jobs.
2. After a few hundred hours into the job the shop may think they took on more of a job than they can handle. They may realize they priced the job wrong and will not make any profit if they continue. They often tell the customer they will get back on it but they never do. The customer gets angry because their car is in the corner collecting dust and they pull the car out of the shop. In the past we have taken in this type of "already started" project and after taking inventory we found that all the parts were thrown in a few boxes and nothing was tagged or marked properly nor was it photographed. In addition many parts were missing, lost or damaged. This makes for a much more time consuming project because the project was not done by a shop that specializes in restorations. Your project deserves the attention to detail that we provide here at Herron Custom Paint. INVESTMENT
1. The value of any particular vehicle depends on how collectable and/or desirable it is. For example let’s say there is a Pinto with 10,000 parts and a Ferrari with 10,000 parts to restore. Although no two cars are the same we will use this for comparison. Let’s say these two cars have the same rust, same dents, same price for each part, same material costs and both take the same time to fully restore right down to the minute. The value of the Ferrari is over $250,000.00 and the Pinto is worth around $10,000. Even though it takes the same investment to restore them you still have the value difference. Supply and demand will always set values and we cannot change that. The customer decides the investment value/return by what vehicle he or she loves. RESTORATION INFORMATION
I am trying to give people a better understanding of the process so more cars get completed instead of becoming a pile of parts behind the garage. If you start with a car in very good condition you can achieve a very decent job in a reasonable amount of time. Just keep in mind that it can be a long term and fairly expensive project. The first thing you should do is research. You should check the cost of all possible parts you may need. The cost of materials, sandpaper, grinding disks, cutoff wheels, welding wire and gas, primers, activators, thinners, paint, clear, etc. After you have done your research and gotten a much more realistic idea of what is involved you should set a realistic schedule. I recommend disassembling the car as far down as you have decided to go. Then you can get a really good look at how bad things really are that you may not have noticed before. Disassembly is a project in itself. All parts and bolts and screws should be marked. We take pictures and draw reassembly diagrams. All screws and bolts are bagged and marked for reassembly. This takes a little longer but saves hours when it is time to put the car back together. Take a good hard look at the body. How much rust is there visible? Does it have rust through holes? How are the seals, and weather-strips? How much rust is under the windshield and back glass? How are you wanting to strip the car, sand it, media blast it, sand blast it, soda blast it or send it off and have it dipped? I do not recommend chemical stripping. That will come back to haunt you. Trust me on that one! The decisions you make now will affect the entire process. What type paints are you going to use. I very strongly recommend you stick with the same brand all the way through. If you do not you may have compatibility problems and it may void the manufactures warranty. If you have rust then you will have to cut and weld panels and/or patches or rust will come back in a very short amount of time. The finished product is only as good as its foundation. Are you going to put patches in correctly or are you just going to fill the holes? Anyone with a little experience repairing a car can spot a simple patch very quickly, and any future buyer will probably see it too. Can you get quality replacement panels, or will they have to be fabricated, if so how much for the panels? What will you find after you remove a panel? A simple repair can turn into a major project rapidly. Be prepared. Any vehicle can be done in any way you can imagine. There is no set of rules that is required. It is up to you to decide how involved and expensive you want your project to be. If you are building a car to be shown then attention to detail is critical. If you are building a daily driver then you may not want to be as picky. Just keep in mind that as with all things in life "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR". When you cut corners to save a few dollars you are most certainly cutting the quality right along with it. I hope this will help people better understand the restoration process. Keep in mind that a paint job is just that, a paint job. A vehicle restoration is something altogether different. It is up to you to decide what you want and how nice you want it to be. I will be happy to discuss the process with anyone who has questions just give me a call. The photo albums on this FB page are a good place to go to see the restoration process step by step. I usually put some of the in progress pictures on with the finished project as well. Keep in mind the condition of each car is different and each customer’s expectations are different so the time to restore their project will reflect that. I tell all potential customers to read the About page of our Facebook site and do research before beginning their project. Anyone who has brought us a project or vehicle to be worked on agrees by doing so that they have done that. By dropping off their vehicle they also agree that they will be responsible to pay any and all labor and material fees involved at the current hourly labor rate at the time they dropped the vehicle or project off. They also agree to pay their bill in full every month unless prior arrangements are made in writing with Herron Custom Paint. If legal action is necessary to collect these debts the customer agrees that they will be responsible for any costs involved in doing so. The customer also agrees that Herron Custom Paint will not release possession of their vehicle or project until their bill with us is paid in full. Thanks, Tim Herron
