Why this decision is hard
Every man at every car show knows somebody it happened to. That is why your car has been sitting while you think about it, and it is a completely reasonable reason to be careful.
What you get
Mechanical work is $225 an hour. Restoration paint and body work is $150 an hour. Everything is itemized, and nothing gets billed that you did not sign off on first.
Progress photos and updates as it happens. You will never wonder what is going on.
If we open a panel and find a problem, work stops and you get a call before a dollar is spent.
Quality control at every stage, not one inspection at the end when it is too late to fix.
Who you would be trusting
You are handing over something you cannot replace, to people you have just met, for longer than you would like. We have been on the receiving end of that trust for more than twenty years, and we built the whole shop around not breaking it.
Customer stories
“They drove multiple hours looking for a part needed for the car and were able to get the work done on time. Super great guys who you can tell have a lot of pride in their work. Mario was super helpful and frequently updated me on all the info.”
“The work was completed on time and within the budget they quoted.”
“Cannot give Mario enough thanks and praise. I was heading back to OKC from Houston and had a piece of my car fall off on a Saturday. Mario usually closes at 2pm on Saturdays but he stayed open.”
How it works
We put your car on the lift and find out what is actually there, including the rust and the repairs somebody hid before you owned it.
Phases, hours, parts, an honest timeline, and a real number. It is yours to keep, and you can take it anywhere.
Photos as it happens, quality checks at every stage, and no invoice with a number on it you have not already approved.
Step one, in detail
Nobody should commit tens of thousands of dollars based on a phone call and a guess. So we do not ask you to.
The full fee credits toward your build if you move forward.
Most shops give the estimate away and make it up somewhere you cannot see. We would rather charge for the hours it honestly takes and show you everything.
Book a Build AssessmentWhat this looks like when it is done
What we build
Full rotisserie teardown, metal and floor work, restoration paint and body, interior, reassembly. Chevy C10 trucks, Mustangs, Camaros, Broncos, and the muscle era generally. The welds you will never see are the ones we care about most.
Precision LS, Coyote, and Hellcat swaps into Fox Bodies, F-100s, and vintage rides. Custom wiring, custom cooling stacks, precision tuning. A build tuned on a seventy-degree dyno will overheat in a Wilmer parking lot in August. We do not build them that way.
Custom turbo setups, heavy-duty drivetrain builds, full suspension, brake, and chassis work. The things most shops send out, we do here.
Straight about money
We are not the cheapest shop in the Metroplex and we have never tried to be. Both rates reflect experienced specialists, work inspected at every stage instead of once at the end, and an invoice with no number you did not approve first.
Total cost depends entirely on the car, what is hiding under the paint, and how far you want to take it. We will not pretend to quote a frame-off build from a phone call. That is exactly what the Build Assessment is for.
Tell us your budget honestly. It is the fastest way for us to tell you honestly what it buys.
Before you call
Most shops will tell you yes and figure it out later. We would rather be straight with you now, because a build that starts on a misunderstanding ends on one too.
The full process, for the researchers
You tell us the car, the goal, and the budget. We tell you what that budget actually buys and what it does not. If we are the wrong shop, you hear it on this call, not three months in.
The car goes on the lift. We document what is really there and hand you a written scope with the work, the hours, and the parts.
Nothing gets touched until you sign off. If we find something nobody could have known about, work stops and we call you before a dollar gets spent.
Quality control at every stage instead of one inspection at the end. Progress photos and updates. If the timeline moves, you hear it from us first.
We walk the car with you, top to bottom, with the documentation of what was done. Then you drive it home.
“We were built on the same values that come out of military service. Discipline, integrity, attention to detail, accountability. That is not a slogan on the wall. It is why we will tell you no.”Mario · Founder, MPR Garage · Wilmer, TX
Book your Build Assessment
Fill this out and a person from the shop gets back to you. Not a call center, not an automated sequence. The more you tell us, the more useful our first conversation will be.
Would rather call or text? That works too.
Mon to Fri 8:30am to 5:30pm · Sat 9:00am to 2:00pm
Common questions
Because doing it properly takes hours of a technician's time, and because a free estimate is never really free. Shops that give them away recover the cost somewhere you cannot see. We would rather charge for the work and hand you a document you own, that you can take anywhere. It also means the people we sit down with are serious, which is better for both of us.
A frame-off build is measured in months, not weeks, and the honest answer depends on what we find once the car is apart. What we commit to is this: you get a realistic timeline in writing after the assessment, and if it moves, you hear it from us before you have to ask.
Mechanical labor is $225 an hour. Restoration paint and body labor is $150 an hour. Both are billed transparently. Total cost depends entirely on the car and the scope. Anyone who quotes a full restoration over the phone without seeing the vehicle is guessing, and you will pay for that guess later in change orders.
Yes, and most people should. We scope builds in phases so you can start with the structural and mechanical work and continue as budget allows. It is a better way to build a car than waiting years to fund it all at once, and it means the money goes into the right things first.
Our specialty is American muscle and classic trucks. Chevy C10s, Mustangs, Camaros, Broncos, and the muscle era broadly, plus LS, Coyote, and Hellcat swap work. If you have something outside that, ask. We will tell you straight whether we are the right shop or point you toward someone who is.
Yes. We would rather you came and looked at what is on the lifts before you trust us with your car. We are at 1325 E Belt Line Rd in Wilmer, open Monday through Friday 8:30 to 5:30 and Saturday 9:00 to 2:00. Call ahead so somebody is free to walk you through it.
