2 1: Just when I thought the engine bay was ready to paint, Matt laughed at me and handed me a stack of scuffy pads with strict instructions. Hours later and a few more instructions it finally met his approval for paint. to paint my engine bay for me, before I put the 572 big block in it. At that time, I shared the vision I had for my car with Matt with the hopes of convincing him to paint the entire car for free in exchange for all publicity and attention I had projected she would get. It’s important to note that during this sales pitch we were complete strangers that were introduced by a mutual friend, who naturally endorsed and attested my skills. Having never met me before, Matt politely declined
2: This was a big tease for me as I was imagining the entire car being painted.
3: When the job was all said and done, it came out WAY better than I had ever imagined. The paint in the engine bay is better than the paint on the car.
the opportunity. He did, however, agree to paint the engine bay, and educate me on how intricate and labor intensive his level of excellence was. I accepted his gracious offer and the beginning of our relationship was born right then and there. Over the course of time, I continued to do my best to convince Matt to paint the entire car. Through my relentless pursuit and bartering skills, he agreed to wet sand and buff it. Matt and his incredible staff were able to polish the
proverbial “turd” of a shell into an impressive luster. When I finally finished my car, she looked amazing to say the least. However, the overall quality of the paint was still way below the level of excellence that the rest of the car exhibited. The first six months after completion, I had a whirlwind schedule with her. She won awards everywhere we went and earned her keep winning a lot of grudge and street races. (Because show cars can’t be fast right?) I was also asked to be
3 a featured exhibitor at some of the biggest shows in our tri-state area. My car was quickly becoming a celebrity, and I was the proud Dr. Frankenstein loving every minute of it. During this time, Matt asked me to come to his shop and work on some high-level cars that had come in for repair. Slowly, we were able to develop our relationship during these “shop talk” sessions. Recently, he admitted to me that when we first met, he truly doubted I’d be able to
build the car I pitched to him alone in my home shop. I can’t say that I blame him. Seriously, what kind of nut job has the mad skills and perseverance to build a world-class pro street car by himself, along with the ability to see it finished long before it actually is? He went on to say he’d be honored to paint my car, if I was still interested in having him do it. This time he pitched me on how perfect everything was but the paint, and how his shop and incredible skill set
could take my car to a whole new level. The only downside was that I’d have to disassemble a completely finished car to do the intricate work he had planned. Not only was this process going to be extremely hard on me, but also not having the car in my shop during this time would be excruciating, given the intense OCD I have. Don’t get me wrong, I am 100% sold on his ability to create art with his gifts and talents. I am literally sold to the point that I think I’d be afraid of ever racing the car
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www.rpmmag.com | august 2018
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