Rich Evans (40)
Rich Evans is the owner of Huntington Beach Bodyworks and an award winning painter and fabricator. He offers workshops in repair and customization at his facility to share his unique talents. He also appears on a new show on Speed Channel, Car Warriors. See his Twitter (left) and Facebook (right) feeds for more on Rich's active projects.
For contacts and design samples visit www.huntingtonbeachbodyworks.com
Sharing the Love of Custom Painting with Students at Lincoln
Written by Rich EvansTo view a pdf file of this article with photos, click HERE.
I did a little traveling this month. I got a call from Tony Passwater, the director of the Indiana Autobody Association, who organizes the bi-annual Convention and Technology Exhibition which was held in Indianapolis Feb. 22–23 at the Lincoln College of Technology. See Janet Chaney’s piece on the event, p. 26 this issue.
‘55 Panel Truck Converted into a Pickup on 2006 SSR Chassis
Written by Rich EvansTo view a pdf file of this article with photos, click HERE.
Last September while I was in Eastern Canada working on the 2004 H2 Hummer build for the filming of the pilot for “World Wide Car Building,” we were also challenged by a local Nova Scotia resident to do another build at the same time.
Building Body Molds from Plugs is No Easy Task
Written by Rich EvansTo view a pdf file of this article with photos, click HERE.
This month’s column is Part 2 of my June column about building a junior motor sport body for a motor sport vehicle for an 11-year-old driver.
You can read or download it at www.autobodynews.com in my columns section if you missed it.
In the last column, I talked about building the plug to make a mold. As we left it, I was creating the plug form. I was working to get the plug completed so it was totally true to where I was satisfied enough to make a mold. Doing body work is one thing, but making a plug and going to a mold is just repeating steps and you can’t even see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am totally exhausted from it. The hundreds, almost thousands, of hours I’ve put into it just to get a part. After you get a mold made, it’s amazing how you can put out a part every 30–35 hours, after the hundreds of hours I spent making the mold. So, there are rewards at the end of it—to make that part in that short amount of time and get exactly all the details you wanted.
Getting back to the plug, I left it at 400 grit. I did a wet sand after primering: 80 grit, 150 grit, with 400 grit, then I’m ready for sealer. Next, I wipe it down with carbon wax twice, then come back with a release agent that I spray on. Then, I mask all the areas off, to break this down into a form of how everything comes apart to get the body out. We mark off a section of the car—the roof, hood and trunk is one section. I make a flange using a fiberglass 1/8 inch sheet, two inches wide. This flange is where we are going to bolt this mold together. Then we’re going to use locating buttons along the top to keep everything together. We use clay, hot glue, and wood to give it structure. Then I come back with FBS brown tape that allows me to draw out my lines, tape two inches, then come back and glue blocks of wood all the way down where I put the tape. Then I cut and make a flange that goes all the way around that perimeter. After I do that, then I wax everything once again, use release agent, then put tooling gel coat down. Any cracks or imperfections are filled with clay, like sculpturing. Then, we’re gonna lay mat down and use cloth and a Squeegee to get all the air bubbles out, then pull off the cloth and let that cure. We also use a paste, too, to get down in the corners where the cloth might not sink down and pull up.
We do that once, then we come back the next day and grind everything, put another mat down, another cloth, and do it again for a total of five times. That way, you have a total of almost a half inch of thickness.
After we finish that, we tear off the flange, we go to the left and right side of the car and make another part and do the same thing: the wax, the tooling gel coat, the mat, the cloth, the same process.
Then we go to the rear of the car and do the same thing, plus the wheel wells, the rocker, the rear part of the bumper. There are 14 pieces to the mold by the time I am done. That’s hundreds of hours just to make this one mold.
Then I have to build a frame because the mold is so heavy. I have to build the frame while the mold is connected to the plug to make it even. I build the frame out of thick gauge 2x4 square tubing, then we mount casters on it, connect supporting bars, and then take it off, finish welding it, and turn it upside down. Next we take the mold off the plug, clean it up with water, then bolt it together. After that, we repeat the process of cleaning the mold, putting it all together, sanding down the imperfections on the mold with 400 grit to make sure its all smooth, then we go back and wax everything, put release agent, gel coat (not tooling gel coat), then repeat the same process on all the pieces. I’m using mat and cloth to get air bubbles out and make it stronger. Then I come back with some reinforcing 5mm Cormat which will fill up with resin to add density to flat areas. The next day, I come back and put everything together, using paste, cut out strips of mat, connect everything together, bolt the mold together. Three or four hours after that, we’re ready to pull it apart. Then I spend five hours cleaning everything. Finally I’m done with the first Rich Evans-designed motor sports body. This doesn’t count all the accessories … the wings, scoops, side scoops, front bumper, etc.
Seems like now I am getting away from parts and add-ons. Now I’m making complete bodies. Who would have figured?
I have major respect for guys who are building molds out there. It’s a whole different task. Props to the guys who are making molds day in and out, because as a car builder, you can see daylight at the end of the tunnel. But in this field, you don’t even know how many sand strokes you need to get to the end.
I’m excited about the project and to see it on the track in full motion. Then I can sit back and enjoy.
The body is ready to sand down, seal and paint, and it’s ready to go. I’ve got scribe marks to cut the doors out, and scribe marks for the hood and the deck lid. The whole idea is for this to look like a real car featured in the motor sport world. Stay tuned to see where this car will be seen and what it’s going to be doing on the track.
Follow me on Rich Evans Designs on Facebook, RichEvansDesigns.com, BuilditwithRichEvans.com, and HuntingBeachBodyWorks.com.
Thanks to all my sponsors, with a shout-out to FBS, a title sponsor of World Wide Car Building, and my other sponsors listed on my website.
See ya at SEMA. It’s a great month to be around automobiles.
Some Cool Tips and Tricks to Save You Time and Money
Written by Rich EvansTo view a pdf file of this article with photos, click HERE.
In this month’s column, I want to share some new and cool tools that have saved me time. As I always say, time is money, especially in this industry.
Many of you are fixing plastic bumpers and you’ve probably come across parts that are broken, made out of polyurethane or plastic, or sometimes you can’t get the parts you need, or the parts are too expensive for your customer.
Building a Junior Motor Sport Vehicle for 11-Year-Old Driver
Written by Rich EvansI’ve been very busy the past three months working on a new project for Dan Weaver of the Bakersfield area and his 11-year-old son Brandon Weaver, a junior race car driver who is number #1 in California and #3 in the nation for his class, Bandalero Bandit Division.
To view a pdf file of this article with photos, click HERE.
Dan and Brandon wanted me to build them a junior motor sports vehicle and I’m excited to share this new project with you. I was pretty pumped up. I’ve built body kits for the Mustang, I’ve worked with Mopar, and built the polyurethane body kits for the Challenger. Now, it’s going from parts to a complete vehicle—I am all about that. This is a challenge for me. It brings on my creativity and I will be able to learn more in depth what it takes to build a complete vehicle.
Barrett-Jackson DIY Event Draws Fans and Future Body Techs
Written by Rich EvansI was out at Barrett-Jackson in Phoenix last month with a good buddy of mine, Alan Taylor, from Entertainment Radio. I wrote about Alan in last month’s column (autobodynews.com/columnists/rich-evans.html in case you missed it) but that was about SEMA 2011. In Phoenix at the Barrett-Jackson auctions Alan put together something called A World of DIY (as in ‘Do it Yourself’).
To view a PDF of this article please click HERE.
Alan reached out to me and asked me to come there and show off some tools and demonstrate building a car. I said ‘yes’ without hesitation, “I’ll pack up some tools and drive out there and see what you guys have put together.” He told me “we’ve got a 12,000 square-foot DIY pavilion” inside a tent and we’re going to have a project car there. It doesn’t matter to me what car I’m working on because regardless I’m going to try to do something cool with it. When I found out it was an 1972 El Camino I suggested a toned-down concept. Something clean, more modern. You know, simplify the car and give it that old school look, a couple of rally stripes and choose a great color, add some rims, and we’ve got a car that brings back that 70s feel and some muscle.
I put a concept together, sent it off to Alan, and he’s got feedback right away. “Dude, can you put this blue color on?”, including a paint photo. We collaborated on a concept and a design. I like working this way because when I get there everybody’s not going to ask me what I’m building (because they’ll already have seen the concept.) I don’t like having to sound like a broken record answering the same question over and over and over.
Doing a Charity Build for Patriot Outreach on a Donated Mustang
Written by Rich EvansAlan Taylor from Motor Trend Radio called me last fall to say he had partnered up with eBay Motors to ‘personalize’ a 2012 5.0L Mustang donated by Galpin Ford, and auction it during SEMA 2011. He wanted to put a team together to take the car from “stock to extreme,” but still street legal. I was in.
To view a PDF of this article please click HERE.
They also wanted to do a video-for-the-web program about personalizing the car from start to finish. The program is called modJOBS, and you can go to eBay Motors and watch our 6–8 minute episodes at cc.ebay.com/ mod-jobs. It’s narrated by Alan and Dennis Pittsenbarger from Hot Rod Magazine Live. (I come in on episode #3, Sweet and Low.) So modJOBS makes it fun, everybody gets to team up and you get to follow along by watching the episodes of how to build a vehicle and how to add accessories and what’s available out there for these new vehicles.
Alan said the car would be auctioned on Ebay and the proceeds would go to a charity called Patriot Outreach (www.patriotoutreach.org) to contribute to treating PTSD. The ultimate team would include Vick Edelbrock, Jr. (supercharged engine); Revo Reeves (interior), Ryan ‘Ryno’ Templeton (paint), and me (modified design and fabrication).
I love building cars and was happy to put time and effort to benefit the people that have served our country and are the real heroes. They go over and risk or sacrifice their lives to make better lives for us. Here was a chance to give something back.
So we started off with Galpin’s 2012 5.0L Mustang with the goal of putting some more personality behind it to represent the men and women that serve our country and provide some benefits when they get back from serving.
Solution Finish’s Brings Black Back™ is a Breakthrough Product
Written by Rich EvansI’ve missed you guys the last couple of months because I’ve been really slammed with great projects and getting ready for SEMA, but I’m back with a lot of great news and some great projects.
To view a PDF of this article please click HERE.
I’ve been fascinated with a product from a company that I came across about six months ago called Solution Finish. They have a product called Brings Black BackTM that is in a class by itself. Just like I do with everything, I put it to the 6 month test. I’m so excited about this product that I’m putting my name to it (see ad). I’m not just endorsing this product, I’m part owner of the company and I’m glad to be a part of Solution Finish. This is going to go viral and be used to fix millions of cars from here on out.
If you’ve worked on cars for a while you’ve noticed that the black plastic or the black finish on your windshield wipers fade over time. This problem is due to the carbon in the plastic and carbon is what makes the color whether it’s black, brown, grey. There’s never really been a product that could really fix these problems. A lot of us just came to accept that there is nothing that can repair the problem. Eventually the sun and the wear and tear, the carbon is eventually going to fade. Now I know that there are silicones that you can wipe on to make the surface shiny and slimy, but it wipes off on your towel or rubs off on your clothes. It attracts dirt, and after one or two washes it comes off anyway. You can also slip if you get it on your running boards; it’s just a real temporary fix.
This Year’s Entry for the SEMA Pinewood Derby 2011
Written by Rich EvansSome readers will remember that last year I built a Pinewood Derby model car, raced it at SEMA, and took second place. I told myself last year that this year I was going to really stay within the traditional Pinewood Derby build using a single block of wood. A ‘Celebrity Pinewood Derby’ build is what they were calling it. It’s all about having fun and auctioning off the cars to benefit Childhelp and Victory Junction Gang Camp. I’m all about charities and fundraising and whatever I can do to give back.
To view a PDF of this article please click HERE.
This year I decided to get creative and came up with a pretty cool design. There are rules in Pinewood Derby racing and building and so “maximum weight limit of this car cannot exceed 24 ounces, overall length shall not exceed 8˝ , overall width of the car shall not exceed 2.75˝ including wheels. The car must have approximately 3/8˝ clearance underneath the body of the car, the car must have 4 wheels, all cars must display at least one HRIA decal on the car.”
The organizers provide a basic pinewood car kit including a block of wood, 4 wheels, and two axles. “The only required component is a piece of the wood block which must be visible on the car. You are not required to use any wheels or axles provided. Any materials may be used for the body of your car.” So that’s cool, but for me, for a Pinewood derby build, I want to stay traditional and use a hand tool to carve it out. To me that’s the fun of building a pinewood derby car.
This month I’m working on a project that I call re-do, nobody likes to do re-dos. About 6 to 8 months ago I did a ‘57 Thunderbird and I repaired the front end. I wrote a story for Autobody News (April 2010, Working On a ‘57 Thunderbird With Old School Tools & Techniques, which you can easily find in my column section at autobodynews.com) about it, but what I want to talk about this month is making choices and taking the extra time to take it all the way back. What I mean is why I made decisions to do it one way and not another and why they came back to bite me: 1) costing me my labor and 2) material, and 3) an inconvenience for the customer. All of the above are red flags for future repairs.
To view the full text of this article with photos please click HERE.
Going back to this ‘57 Thunderbird, I took the hood, we stripped it down around the edges just so I could get the gapping right. I made a decision not to take the paint all the way off because 1) I didn’t want to find more body work and 2) I didn’t want to warp the hood and cause a need for more body work.
What I did was grind and remove about 12 inches of paint on the front where I did the repair and then I took about 3 inches all the way around the hood just to get the build up of the paint. I thought I would come in, Bondo™ around it, true it up right up to the paint where I’m not really causing myself any more work and I’m just blending the Bondo™ into the paint thickness, which wasn’t too bad. So, as I got the Bondo™ to meet up to the paint, the additional paint that I left on the hood—which is a laquer—was kind of gummy. That was another reason why I didn’t want to strip it down.
I was planning to come in with some PCL Primer, which I did, and loaded it up because that pretty much hardens itself and it’s been pretty much bullet-proof since I’ve been using it. Taking it to that point, we blocked the hood, got it painted, put it on the car and sent the car off.
Repairing Quarter Panel, Bumper, and Molding: No Time, No Money
Written by Rich EvansChallenges—they seem like they’re always coming up. Since I did the Car Warriors TV show, where we were always fighting the clock with only 72 hours to build a complete car, it seems like everybody wants to hit me with a time challenge. My buddy, Diggity Dave, you might know him from the Pimp My Ride TV show, called me up to throw out a challenge.
To view the full text of this article with photos please click HERE.
Dave backed his 2002 Escalade into a brick wall and ripped about a three inch tear down the right quarter panel. He also hit the rear bumper and tore the right molding. Here’s the real problem: Dave’s got to have his SUV back the following day, which is exactly 24 hours, because he’s got a big meeting for a new movie he’s doing and he can’t show up with his ride damaged.
Now he’s asking to get this fixed in 24 hours (seemingly impossible, right?) so I’m thinking how to create a process that can make this happen in 24 hours. I’ve got to replace the quarter panel, the rear bumper and the molding. To top it off, he says, ‘I’ve got zero budget’ so this is a ‘bro deal.’ I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do and use what I have on the table.
Here are the steps and the processes that I used to beat the clock. You can judge if I was successful. The first thing I decide is ‘no parts,’ we’ve got to fix everything. I see that I need to cut a window—try to keep everything as small as possible—especially to cut and replace a piece with another piece of metal. The metal was actually 20 gauge, so I checked the gauge of metal to make sure I was replacing it exactly.
