The Build Process

We wanted to share with everyone the step-by-step process that we use when building a ground up Pacific Coast Customs vehicle.

Meeting with the Client:

The first step to any great project is meeting with the client to find out what the desired end results are.  You may want a vehicle to compete for the Ridler Award in Detroit Michigan, maybe an over-the-top Roadster to compete for America’s Most Beautiful Roadster, or maybe just a fun cruiser to take the grandkids out for ice cream.  You might want a Pro-Touring Muscle Car that can handle like your friends Ferrari or AMG Mercedes but have that Vintage Style, or a brand new undercarriage in your patina’d classic.  We can build all of those, our cars have been driven across the country and proven themselves in the indoor show arena’s.

After finding out what style of a vehicle you are interested in, we can then move on and find out if there are any key points you want to keep or eliminate.  Some people are sentimental about pieces and want to leave those exactly as is.  Sometimes there are aspects in a car someone will absolutely hate and want to cut it out or modify it.  We also try to find out if you have color recommendations or ideas on how things should look.  This would be a good time to bring in photos or magazines of examples you like, even a rough sketch or some scribbles on a post-it will help to get an idea across.

The last thing to discuss at this point would be a budget and timeline to work with.  You may want to work slowly and take the vehicle back to enjoy a few times throughout the build, on the other hand you may want to go full speed ahead and get things done as quickly as possible.  We will then go over billing and how we handle that aspect of the project.

Getting the Ideas on Paper:

This is where we would work with an artist to get the idea’s down on paper of exactly what the direction the project is going to take.  We work with a couple different artists on a regular basis, Brian Stupski of PCK Studio and Carter Hickman of Carter Hickman Design, however we’re more then willing to work with an artist of your choice if you have someone in mind.

We’ll start out by getting the basic shape of the body.  Whether you’re looking for multiple body modifications or none at all, it’s still good to have a quality rendering that way everyone is on the same page of what the desired outcome is.  We’ll then start plugging in the other aspects of the build that may be important to you.  Sometimes the focus may be on the chassis, other times the interior, and sometimes its on the paint.  Whatever it is, we can find a way to portray it in a rendering.  After we nail down the color choices, trim details and wheel/tire combo we’ll have a finished piece of art to work off of.

The Foundation:

After getting the idea’s on paper, then the real work can begin, the fabrication.  Like any good home, we start with the foundation as well, the Chassis.  This is where the pre-planning comes into play.  We now know which direction to head as we know what the final outcome of the project is going to be.  Whether we have to design and fabricate the entire chassis from scratch or modify the existing one, we always try to build from the bottom up.  Anything from designing a complete custom suspension setup to installing a set of tubular control arms, we can handle all of your needs.

The Drive-train:

We like to consider ourselves artists and believe that we build rolling art, but it still has to be functioning art.  That’s where a properly set up drive-train will make all of the difference.  It can be a basic carbureted small block Chevy engine, a high performance LS engine, a twin turbo setup, or be Magna Charger equipped.  Proper driveline angles and rear suspension setup will make the actual driving experience much more enjoyable and comfortable.

Body Fabrication:

This could be anything from simple rust repair to a fully fabricated custom body.  We can fabricate pieces from steel or aluminum and modify nearly anything.  You may want a chopped top, a wedge section, pie-cut hood, or maybe just lengthening the doors.  We can convert 4-door vehicles into 2-doors, adapt a different roof, change a front clip style, or recess your bumpers just to name a few things.  Your imagination coupled with ours is the only limitation.

Details:

Pacific Coast Customs has built a reputation on our high level of details in all of our builds.  We try to put effort into every little aspect of a build and treat each piece as if it is going to be the main focus of the project once complete.  We believe that everything should flow well together and pick up on aspects in other places around the vehicle.  We try to give every build a small theme that can be carried on throughout the project, sometimes it involves using the same design on all of the machined pieces, sometimes it’s the use of a certain material throughout, and sometimes it’s something as simple as using the same shape on all of the brackets.  It’s these little touches that when complete make for a well thought out vehicle.

Paint and Body:

While we don’t do any paint and body in house, we do work closely with a few different people who we farm work out to.  We can take care of delivery and pickup and deal with all aspects of checking on the project, helping with any questions the painter may have and color selection.  We work with different people so that you can choose what level of finish you are interested in.  You may want a show only vehicle that has perfect flawless paint, or you may want something you aren’t afraid to get in and drive.

Assembly:

We like to handle the assembly process on all of the vehicles we build.  We believe the assembly process is really what makes or breaks a build.  We have the care and finesse it takes to carefully put everything together without scratching or damaging anything along the way.  This is another area where the details really stand out.  Using or machining matching hardware to use throughout really makes an impact at this point, along with simple details like trimming hardware that may protrude through and stand out.

Plumbing:

We prefer to plumb all of our vehicles with stainless tube and AN style fittings, but we are open to using different styles or fittings.  We try to make sure that the style and color of plumbing flows well throughout the build and we try to keep adapters to a minimum to keep things from looking too bulky.

Wiring and Electrical:

We also like to handle the task of wiring on all our builds.  We like to use user-friendly connectors that make future maintenance as easy as possible.  We try to build all of our vehicles thinking ahead on what would make them easy to work on and easy to maintain.

Interior:

Upholstery is another task that we farm out.  We work very closely with our upholstery shop to insure that everything is stitched the exact way we have envisioned.  We’re very particular about the interior in our vehicles as we believe that is the area that the client is going to be spending most of their time, so we focus a lot of attention in that area to make sure it’s exactly what we’re looking for.  The interior aspect is where we would also discuss the instruments of the vehicle to see if you’re looking for something custom or something off the shelf.  We try to use a one-off steering wheel in all of our projects to separate them from the other vehicles out there.  We can also install a custom high end sound system, a video system to keep kids entertained or just to show off, and even an on-board PC system capable of browsing the internet.

Final Detail:

After all of the bugs and troubleshooting is worked out, then we give every vehicle a final detail so that it’s ready for whatever show you want to debut it at, a magazine photo shoot, or just ready to hit the road and enjoy!