Feel Your Power

We build extraordinary automobiles for people who appreciate extraordinary craftsmanship.

For more than 37 years, Blalock Customs has specialized in automotive restoration, custom bodywork, high-end paint and finishing, collision repair, full frame-off restorations, and one-of-a-kind custom builds.

But what we really do is craftsmanship.

We take automobiles with history, character, and potential and transform them through experience, imagination, fabrication, and painstaking attention to detail.

Sometimes that means returning a classic to its original glory. Sometimes it means taking an owner's vision and creating something that never existed before.

Either way, our standard is the same:

Do it right. Make it exceptional. Build something worth being proud of.

Blalock Customs is for people who believe perfection still matters.

Our clients understand quality because they have usually demanded it throughout their own lives. They know the difference between something that is merely expensive and something that is genuinely well made.

They aren't looking for the cheapest way to build a custom automobile.

They're looking for a craftsman they can trust.

We work best with people who appreciate the time, skill, judgment, and attention to detail required to create something exceptional, and who would rather do something once and do it right.

We build automobiles to the standards our clients have used to build their own success.

Because a custom automobile is ultimately an exercise in trust.

You're trusting someone with your automobile, your money, your vision, and often something that carries considerable personal meaning.

That trust has to be earned.

For more than 37 years, Blalock Customs has developed the skills that can't be learned from a manual: how metal behaves, how panels should fit, how a surface should feel, how paint should lay, how proportions work together, and how to solve the hundreds of unexpected problems that arise when building a truly custom automobile.

The finished car matters.

But so does everything underneath it, the things you may never see once the automobile is finished.

That's craftsmanship. And that's where we believe the difference is made.

Absolutely. In many ways, that's the point of a custom automobile.

We aren't interested in simply reproducing something you've already seen.

You may arrive with photographs, sketches, specifications, or a very clear picture of what you want. Or you may simply know how you want the finished automobile to make you feel.

Either way, we'll work with you to develop the idea.

Body modifications. Stance. Paint. Trim. Fabricated components. Mechanical choices. Details that may be noticed immediately, and others that may only reveal themselves after you've owned the automobile for years.

The goal isn't to build another custom car.

It's to build your car.

Our current published labor rate is $148 per hour.

But the meaningful question isn't simply what an hour of labor costs. It's what happens during that hour.

Custom restoration and fabrication require skills very different from conventional automotive repair. A craftsman may spend hours shaping, fitting, correcting, fabricating, or refining something until it is right.

Sometimes a solution has to be invented because no part exists.

That's why we begin by discussing the vehicle, the owner's expectations, the anticipated scope of work, and the investment required to achieve the desired result.

We aren't trying to build the least expensive automobile. We're trying to build the right automobile.

Yes. We believe clarity is part of craftsmanship.

Before a major project begins, you'll receive a written agreement outlining the scope of work, estimated costs, labor rates, anticipated schedule, payment requirements, storage provisions, and other important terms.

A custom build represents a significant commitment for both the owner and the shop.

Putting expectations in writing gives us a common starting point and helps establish the trust required for the work ahead.

No ambiguity. No handshake-and-hope approach. We want both sides to understand the project we're undertaking together.

On a decades-old automobile, surprises aren't unusual.

Once we begin disassembly, we may uncover rust, old collision damage, previous repairs, structural problems, hidden corrosion, poorly executed modifications, or components that simply aren't what everyone believed they were.

Experience teaches you to expect the unexpected.

When a discovery materially changes the scope or cost of the project, we'll explain what we've found, discuss the appropriate solution, and submit a change order for your approval before proceeding with that additional work.

We won't hide a problem simply because fixing it properly is inconvenient.

If it's worth building, it's worth building on a sound foundation.

Major restorations and custom builds are completed in stages, and payments are structured the same way.

Your specific progress-payment schedule will be established in the project agreement.

This allows materials and components to be purchased as needed and the craftsmen working on your automobile to keep the project moving forward.

It also gives you a clear understanding of the financial commitment as your automobile progresses from one stage to the next.

The investment follows the work.

As long as it takes to do the agreed-upon work properly.

Some projects can be completed in approximately three months. More extensive restorations and highly customized builds may take a year or longer.

We'll establish an anticipated schedule at the beginning of the project based on what we can reasonably see and know at that time.

But custom automobiles aren't manufactured on an assembly line.

Hidden damage can be discovered. A rare component can become difficult to obtain. Fabrication may prove more complicated than anticipated. An owner may decide to change something after seeing the automobile take shape.

All of those things can affect the schedule.

We understand that you want your automobile back.

We also understand that years from now, you won't remember whether it took three months longer. You will remember whether it was done right.

You shouldn't have to wonder what's happening to something this important to you.

We typically provide progress updates approximately once a month so you can follow the transformation and understand where your project stands.

When we reach a decision point, encounter an unexpected issue, or need your approval, we'll contact you rather than simply waiting for the next scheduled update.

A custom automobile evolves during the build.

We want you to be part of that process.

Absolutely. We want you to see the craftsmanship taking place.

Scheduled visits give you an opportunity to see your automobile at stages most people will never see once it is finished.

You'll see the fabrication. The fitting. The preparation. The problem-solving. And sometimes the hundreds of small details hidden beneath the finished paint and bodywork.

We think that's important because a custom automobile isn't something you simply order and wait for.

It's a collaboration between the owner who brings the vision and the craftsmen who know how to make it real.

Whatever the automobile requires to achieve the right result.

Depending on the project, that may mean original manufacturer components, high-quality aftermarket parts, modified components, or something fabricated specifically for the automobile.

After 37 years of custom work, we've learned that sometimes the correct part simply doesn't exist.

That's where fabrication becomes part of the craft.

Rather than compromise the automobile because an off-the-shelf component doesn't fit properly, we can fabricate, modify, shape, fit, and finish components specifically for the project.

Sometimes craftsmanship means knowing which part to buy. Sometimes it means knowing how to build the part that can't be bought.

Yes. But we recommend talking with us before purchasing anything.

We've spent decades developing relationships with suppliers and learning which manufacturers, components, and materials consistently meet our standards.

A part that looks like a bargain online may fit poorly, require extensive modification, delay the project, or ultimately cost more in labor than a higher-quality component would have cost in the first place.

If you have a particular component in mind, bring it to us. We'll be happy to discuss whether it makes sense for the build.

The goal isn't to buy the cheapest collection of parts. The goal is to build the best automobile we reasonably can.

The details. Especially the ones most people never see.

Exceptional custom automobiles aren't created by one dramatic decision.

They're created by hundreds, sometimes thousands, of small ones.

• How does this panel fit?
• Is that body line exactly right?
• Could this bracket be cleaner?
• Does this component look like it belongs here?
• Is the surface ready for paint, or merely good enough?
• Could we make this better?

Thirty-seven years of craftsmanship teaches you that the difference between good and exceptional is usually found in those decisions.

Most people may never notice every one of them.

But we will know they're there. And so will you.