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For those who may have missed this info in the paper, Blue Chip Street Rods is hosting their annual Open House on Saturday, April 21st and Sunday, April 22d, from 8 til 5 (today and tomorrow).
I went last year and ended up hiring this shop to do some work for me. I was satisfied with their work. I plan to go back again this year and see the numerous projects that they underway.
Marshall
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I plan on going down and taking a look around also. I had some work done by them also and thought they did a good job.
I did go out this morning, and spent about 2 hours there. I forget to take my camera with me. crybaby2.gif
Wow, Oh Wow!!! What can I can about the cars currently undergoing restoration. Everyone has a story. There are currently about 12 Chevelles in the shop, in various stages of restoration.
The yellow, 32 Ford 5 window coupe, the “American Graffiti” car that Blue Chip built a couple of years ago is back in the shop, currently for sale, and at a reasonable price if anyone is interested. The owner of this car will be unveiling and presenting his new car currently being built by Blue Chip at Automation 2007, coming up in a couple of weeks.
All in all, a good day at Blue Chip. Thanks, Kerry and Dave, for your hospitality, thanks for having your staff on hand to discuss the fine details of restoration work. I liked what I saw, I continue to be impressed with the quality of their work, and I will continue to recommend them.
Marshall
I still don’t understand how he manages to have that many cars in the shop at one time, they can’t possibly get them done in a timely manner. I’d hate to give someone my money to restore my car not knowing when and/or if I’m going to see it again any time soon.
Granted, many of their projects have been long term. That is to say, they came into the shop in late Fall/early Winter, and they were’t scheduled to be completed until late April or early May. One example is Bruce’s flamed purple street rod. It is currently in the shop, and will be ready for the Automation 2007 show in May. There was no rush or urgency to get his car finished right away. By the way, Bruce’s car is looking extremely fantastic, even better than last year!
In my case, I didn’t pay anything until my car was ready to drive home. But, I had a pretty exact estimate of what the work was going to cost me. But, I wasn’t on a strict time line either, as I was flexible as to the completion date of my work.
They seem to excel with with one off, ground up restorations. How can one reasonably expect any hot rod shop to take a barn stored car and turn it in to a consistent show winner in a few months? The blue Coronet convertible that is currently in the shop hasn’t run in 30 years, and granted, the restoration is not totally completed. But, when the car was made driveable, and the owner was able to drive the car around the neighborhood for a few moments, after 30 years in storage, I say that is quite an accomplishment!
I don’t know if this shop is profitable or not. I don’t know if they are making money or losing their shirts. What I do know is that they are still there and the quality of their work is top notch. I had a positive experience using them, and I would use them again. Actually, they would be doing me a favor by taking my car into the shop in October and holding on to it until April, while they completed the work. I wouldn’t need to worry about winter storage fees.
Just my two cents worth.
Marshall
Ah Bruce ~ that car has been back so many times for this and that. I know he’s more than anxious to get it out again. Can’t wait to see it!
I stopped out there also and looked around. They have allot of projects going. I was surprised by the number of Chevelles there. They said the Coronet was there for about a year and a half so far. That is a long time.
Did you see what that Coronet looked like when it came in? There was a photograph of what it actually looked like a couple of years ago. It was in storage (a true barn car) for about 25 years when Blue Chip got the car.
I’d say that the car has come a long ways, but still has a ways to go.Marshall
Quote:Did you see what that Coronet looked like when it came in? There was a photograph of what it actually looked like a couple of years ago. It was in storage (a true barn car) for about 25 years when Blue Chip got the car.
I’d say that the car has come a long ways, but still has a ways to go.Marshall
Marshall
They have done a great job with that. In the shape it was in it takes a long time to complete. In fact they are looking for a part for the dash and we found a resource which we used for the GTX which we will send the name to them. It is a cool story, just like the white ’54 Cortvette which was in the back. One thing interesting about all these cars is the history behind them. I think that what is interesting about walking through an old salvage yard, every car has a story to tell if it could.
Nick
How many people actually work there and what is the average turnaround restoration time? Where is the painting done? From their website it’s hard to tell, I’d hope they have a separate location.
I also went out to Blue Chip on Saturday – great cars! That was a nice Impala outside, it was a good weekend for an open house and good practice for Jefferson next weekend. They had a lot of very nice cars inside as well, the Chevelles were beautiful and it was nice to see that white corvette again. I missed the picture of that Coronet, Marshall. It sounds like that’s gone through quite the transformation!
If I am not mistaken, they are leasing space across the street. This is where they actually paint their vehicles and have at least one, if not two, paint booths.
I did ask about the “old school style” flame job on the black 1935 Ford Cabriolet that will unveiled at Automotion. Specifically, I asked about the cost, and learned that something like that would be way out of my budget.
I got motivated to finish up a few “small projects” on the Mustang that I had been putting off. I ran into some problems with the polished stainless trim around the windshield. Essentially, I ended up stopping and I will need to order replacement clips in order to get the trim on right. My new philosophy seems to be – “When you’re not working on em, you need to be drivin em”. So, I took the car out and drove it for awhile.
Marshall
Quote:How many people actually work there and what is the average turnaround restoration time? Where is the painting done? From their website it’s hard to tell, I’d hope they have a separate location.Those are good questions. Maybe it can take so long because with so many projects going on it is hard to complete one. That was an obvious statement.
Quote:I did ask about the “old school style” flame job on the black 1935 Ford Cabriolet that will unveiled at Automotion.Is that where they freehand paint all of it?
Quote:I got motivated to finish up a few “small projects” on the Mustang that I had been putting off. I ran into some problems with the polished stainless trim around the windshield. Essentially, I ended up stopping and I will need to order replacement clips in order to get the trim on right. My new philosophy seems to be – “When you’re not working on em, you need to be drivin em”. So, I took the car out and drove it for awhile.Will the new ones be in for Boondocks/Automotion, or are you going to just use the current ones for now?
Well, that’s a good question. I called in an order to Virginia Classic Mustang yesterday, and I should have a supply of replacement clips by this weekend. I hope to take off a couple of pieces of stainless, replace some of the clips, and try and get the stainless back on before next weekend. Certainly, I hope to have the work done by the Boondockers show. Since I am having so much trouble with the windshield trim, I may wait on the rear window trim.
Marshall
Quote:Well, that’s a good question. I called in an order to Virginia Classic Mustang yesterday, and I should have a supply of replacement clips by this weekend. I hope to take off a couple of pieces of stainless, replace some of the clips, and try and get the stainless back on before next weekend. Certainly, I hope to have the work done by the Boondockers show. Since I am having so much trouble with the windshield trim, I may wait on the rear window trim.Marshall
Marshall,
Hopefully it will come soon – there always seems to be a hitch though! :doh:
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