Seattle-Located in two buildings that total more than 4,600 square feet on a dead-end street in Seattle’s Lake City District, Brad’s Custom Auto performs everything from frame-off restoration to general maintenance service, said Owner Brad Seibold.
Founded by Seibold in 1989, the custom shop services about 1,100 vehicles a year, he said, with several partial or full restoration projects included. “Probably 75 percent of our work involves Ford products, mainly Mustangs, but we work on a lot of Chevys, mainly Corvettes, and some Chrysler vehicles,” he said. “We’re known for working on Fords and GM products and have customers throughout the Northwest and Canada.”
Seibold said the shop performs complete restoration for cars and some trucks, but sends out the paint and body work to two local autobody shops that they prefer for high-quality work.
“We just completed a 1972 Chevy Malibu and also did a 1966 Mustang convertible last year, along with other restoration projects,” he said. In-house during Parts & People’s recent visit were a 1970 Cougar and a 1967 Camaro being restored in the eight-bay shop.
Complete restoration work runs from $75,000 to $150,000 or more, depending on the condition of the vehicle and the number of upgrades desired by the customer, Seibold said. “Price and time depend on what we run into during the restoration and what the customer wants to spend on engines, modifications, and upgrades.”
The “house car” is a 1996 Mustang that was completely restored in-house and is raced throughout the West by Dane Bergman, the firm’s service manager, and technicians Brian Holsten and Mario Brown. Powered by a supercharged modular Ford engine that produces 600 HP, the Brad’s Custom Auto Mustang has won several SCCA races in the Western United States, Bergman said. “The car is a great marketing tool for the business.”
With six full-time employees, including four ASE Master Technicians, Brad’s Custom Auto performs a variety of service, repair, and restoration work by highly qualified staff members, Seibold said. “We have a well experienced group that can provide all phases of service work from complete restoration to general maintenance, fabrication work to performance upgrades. And we get a variety of vehicles to work on in a given year.”
Seibold said the company also sell parts, tires, and performs wheel alignments with a Hunter alignment system.
The mainstay of the business is one- to two-week projects, Seibold said. “Those could be brake and suspension upgrades to performance tuning to some variation of restoration. We do a lot of early Mustangs, as well as later models, and a full scale of Corvettes.”
In the Corvette realm, Seibold said the earlier C2 and C3s have mainly brake and suspension work performed. “C4s need everything and a lot of upkeep, so we do a variety of work on those models,” he said. The C5 and C6 models generally involve maintenance and upgrades, he said.
“We often get cars that have been to other shops and still have performance issues,” Seibold said. “I guess we’re known for taking the time to diagnose problems and repair the older vehicles to their proper condition.”
With suspension work, either during restoration or as an upgrade or repair, Seibold said the firm uses mostly Maximum Motorsports. In the clutch arena, he said Fidanza products prove to be high quality products for upgrades.
Parts stocked by Brad’s Custom Auto include rare Corvette parts such as suspension and brake parts, Recaro seats, and parts that cannot be ordered for same-day delivery, Seibold said. “We have a lot of sources for parts with quick delivery, so we inventory the harder-to-find parts that are needed for upgrades or restoration projects.”
Several publications, including 5.0 Mustang & Super Ford, have written articles on Brad’s about the restoration or specialized upgrade work they have performed, Seibold said. “We’re proud of the articles and have a bound book in our front office with most of the stories written about us.”
While the restoration business is off somewhat, Seibold said that that enthusiasts and collectors still want their toys and are willing to spend money on specialized projects. “The difference today is that customers are more careful as to how they spend their money, but we have projects in play for 2010 that include a 1965 Chevy Panel truck and a Camaro, among others.”
“The start-to-finish process of restoration is exciting,” Bergman said. “A good deal of our work is performance or modification, so seeing a full restoration project come into play is something we all enjoy. Watching the vehicle transform is rewarding.”
