Repaint Reporter

AT A GLANCE 1977 YEAR EST. 1 LOCATION $1.9 MIL ANNUAL SALES 15,000 SQ. FT. 11 EMPLOYEES 3 PAINT BOOTHS ENVIROBASE HIGH PERFORMANCE PAINT SYSTEM AT A GLANCE 1977 YEAR EST. 1 LOCATION $1.9 MIL ANNUAL SALES 15,000 SQ. FT. 11 EMPLOYEES 3 PAINT BOOTHS ENVIROBASE HIGH PERFORMANCE PAINT SYSTEM Customer Mike Venditto chose Doug's for his Prowler's custom finish. Doug Nelson understands what it's like when your "baby," your special vehicle, needs repair. After all, that's what started his whole journey into the collision center industry. "I had a lowrider that needed some work," says Doug of what compelled him to seek a job painting cars back in 1973. "I loved to cruise, and the work was taking longer than I wanted." So when the repair shop owner offered him a job, he accepted, and a 40-year career in custom refinishing and vehicle repair was launched. After a decade or so of learning on the job and then subleasing space, Doug established his own self-standing business, Doug's Custom Paint & Body, in its present location in Chatsworth, northwest of Los Angeles. It was the late 70s, and conversion vans were all the rage. Doug loved the "canvas" that vans offered, but he also enjoyed helping other people whose special cars needed repair. The collision side of his business grew, and Doug was soon doing double duty with custom paint jobs and autobody collision repair. When legislation in California compelled Doug to look for a waterborne refinish system, he initially chose to continue to work with his incumbent supplier. But the product was unable to perform at the level he required, so he invited PPG to the same, if not better. It was nice to speak to someone who understands the situation we are in, being both collision and custom. Six years later, we're still swapping tricks and tips." Today, Jerred is lending his talents to the business side of their operation. In addition to learning the art of a successful collision repair, Jerred has attended PPG MVP Business Solutions courses on several occasions and is taking steps to advance the shop's throughput and cycle time. Like his father, he's focused on getting vehicles back to their owners as quickly as possible and is tapping lean manufacturing methods learned in MVP classes to help. Doug and Jerred complement one another well. They bring the best of old-school artistry together with new- school thinking and the latest in paint technology. The combination makes their future doubly bright because while trends like conversion vans come and go, one thing remains constant: People love their cars, and they value the people—like Doug and Jerred— who understand that. demonstrate the ENVIROBASE ® High Performance system. Doug found the PPG system worked well for collision repairs and his concern for how it might affect his custom paintwork capabilities was quickly dismissed, thanks to the availability of VWM500 Custom Midcoat. The product enabled Doug to create custom candy or pearl midcoat layers over the waterborne basecoat and take advantage of all the special effect pigments available from PPG's VIBRANCE COLLECTION. ® PPG Territory Manager David Grandé says, "Doug was a pretty tough customer. We had to show him that he could still do whatever he wanted with his custom work—he has such an eye for color—which we were able to do with the Envirobase High Performance system." PPG expertise in the realm of color is invaluable to Doug's work on older vehicles as well. "Many of the color formulas for the projects I do are simply gone," says Doug. "But PPG has been able to come in and help me achieve the right match." Doug's son Jerred, who earned his stripes early on as a painter, praises the waterborne system for its user- friendliness. "It's easy to apply and I especially like its reparability." PPG trainer and accomplished painter Paul Stoll was a great help during the switch from solvent to waterborne. "Paul told us that everything would be 41

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