So the company's switch last spring to Sherwin-Williams' AWX waterborne basecoats fit in well with Henry's environmental focus, but he said it has had other benefits as well.

"We are in a high-density area, with restaurants on both sides, and residents above all the businesses in this area," Henry said. "My neighbors used to complain about the paint smell. With AWX, we don't have that complaint any more. This area is one of the hottest spots in San Francisco for night life, but we could paint cars now in the middle of the night and you won't smell it because of waterborne paint. It's been a God-send to have Sherwin-Williams and AWX."

Making the transition to the new paint system has been "very smooth," Henry said, even though it occurred in a year when the shop has seen its annual sales almost double to about $3 million.

"We added an extra dryer and filters, but otherwise all AWX required was sending our painters to training," Henry said, standing outside the shop's Garmat prep station and Eagle Spray Booth. "Both our painters have gone to the Sherwin-Williams training center for classes. And it is a very good product. It doesn't die back. I'd say AWX is one of the top products I've ever had in my whole 30 years in the business. It's so easy to work with."

The shop now repairs about 110 or 120 cars a month, Henry said, fueled in large part from referrals through direct repair programs with Progressive, Mercury, and Esurance.

"I'm also one-fourth Miwok Indian, and we get some business through the tribe," said Henry, pointing out the Native American-themed murals on the sides of the shop's building.

"The Mission District neighborhood has also been very good for us. There just aren't that many shops around here any more. They've all been moved out of the city, (and the buildings have been) torn down and replaced with condominiums. I can show you where there used to be five shops near here where there are now 350 apartments and condominiums."

That's been positive for his business in terms of reducing competition, Henry said, but also has led to pressures on him from developers and even the city to also sell his property for redevelopment. While the offers have been tempting, he said, for now he's staying put.

"As long as Progressive, Mercury, and Esurance stay with me, I'm staying here with them," he said. "Also, I have four boys. The oldest is just 15, but they love the business. They want to start working on cars. Someday they can run this place. That's the reason I'm keeping the building. I am going to stay here for my kids."

Henry credits another family member, brother-in-law Fred Sanchez, for helping get the business back on track after a bookkeeper embezzled funds from the shop last year.

"I trusted this woman with everything," Henry said. "She did my payroll and everything. It was just the two of us in the office then. She wrote herself checks and bought computers and iPods on our credit. She even set me up: As we were having our Christmas party here, her boyfriend was robbing my house."

Sanchez, who was a painter in the industry for 22 years, is now general manager of the shop for Henry.

"Fred came in and has really helped make things happen," Henry said. "I have a whole new office staff in the last year or so, and it's really made a big difference. We've pretty much doubled our gross, and I sleep much better now."

He said he's added technicians as well, and now has a staff of 17 people.

"We do a quality job because we try to keep quality employees," he said. "My average body technician makes between $32 and $35 an hour, and we provide full benefits, including paid holidays and vacation, and full medical insurance."

Having no outside parking and a shop divided on two floors can be challenging, Henry said. All the paint work is done upstairs, but with body technicians on both levels, Henry has equipped essentially two body shops: a Chief EZ Liner frame rack on one level and a Chisum Signature rack on the other, for example, and multiples welders, including an Elektron Multispot M83 spot welder and MillerMatic 185 MIG welders on each floor.

It's a long way, he said, from his early days decades ago when he painted 2,000 newspaper boxes for a San Francisco newspaper to earn the money he needed to buy a paint booth to start painting cars.

The growth over the past year had him considering adding another spray booth, Henry said, but he decided instead to bring in another partial crew to work some evenings and Saturdays. He said he's also aware of several shops in the city that are for sale and is thinking about adding a second location.

"I'm looking at possibly expanding down the road, keeping this shop and buying another, and there's one for sale that I'm looking at that is in a good area," he said.