Chris' Garage

Is this your business? Claim your profile

501 E 16th St
Kansas City, MO 64108

(913) 244-3323

Contact: Kuchem, Chris

Business Description: Chris Kuchem is the proprietor of the company and has 41 years experience in auto painting and total restoration services. While in high school, owning a boss set of wheels was paramount. Unfortunately, he couldn't afford many of the services required to make his ride "cool". Engine work simply had to be farmed out - but - maybe he could shave some of those costs by learning to paint, and he did. Self taught, the first car in 1971 was a horror. However a year later, a second attempt was made on an Opel Rallye Kadett and it turned out fairly good. Soon, other high school buddies began asking him to paint their cars. Mustangs, Camaros, MG's, and everything else that was popular in those days. That continued until entering college; earning a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering. For the next 27 years, he owned a manufacturing company but kept working on his own cars in his spare time. Many friends and acquaintances asked him to paint their cars but were turned down. There was barely time to paint his own projects. Eventually, he acquired his dream car, a 1969 Shelby GT-500, and proceeded to do a complete stripped down concours resto on it. That project was where he learned the ins and outs of researching parts, paint methods, and other details - ultimately leading to a 100pt. car that was sold in 2002 for what was said to be the second highest price ever paid for a '69 Fastback GT-500. In 2004, a friend asked him to paint a '55 Studebaker and he agreed. Nearing burn-out with the manufacturing concern, the friend suggested he ought to deep-six the manufacturing biz and restore cars professionally full time. The popular resurgence in collector car activity at the time didn't hurt with the decision either. So it was ultimately decided to take what he always loved doing as a hobby and turn it into a service for others who wanted his quality level of workmanship on their cars. The mechanical engineering degree has served him well even in this business. Like knowing how to perform critical structural repairs (as opposed to mere cosmetic repairs); especially on uni-body convertibles where the entire body integrity is controlled within the rocker panels. We prefer to take uni-body and body off frames all the way down and have them chemically stripped in full submersion tanks. This cleans out EVERYTHING (that media blasting simply cannot do) and reveals all troubled sheet metal areas needing repair or replacement. After metal work, we chemically etch the bodies once again to clean off any remaining surface impurities and then begin epoxy priming all surfaces inside and out - including all areas where the factory never dreamed of protecting. From there, all subsequent surfacing and painting processes are performed over a solid foundation that will hold all paint tenaciously without fear of future de-lamination. The rest is just a matter of reassembly. Restoration is more than a good looking paint job. Performance, reliability, function, and safety are just as important as appearance. Award winning.

In Business Since: 2004

On Angie's List Since: 11/10/2009

Free Estimates: Ask for details

Office Hours: Mon-Fri 8:00 AM-5:00 PM

Excluded Services: We're only interested in collector cars - not late model cars unless they're exotic, unique, or limited production. We're not a typical "collision" body shop - we don't work on daily driver cars. We only take insurance work on rare occasions and only on a case-by-case basis.

Licensed: Yes, I am appropriately licensed for my trade
(All statements concerning insurance, licenses, and bonds are informational only, and are self-reported. Since insurance, licenses and bonds can expire and can be cancelled, homeowners should always check such information for themselves.)

Senior Discount: No

Angie's List Rating for

Chris' Garage