Full & Partial Vehicle Restoration
Full vehicle restoration is what we live for. Our custom auto builds are magnets for awards. We restore classic cars to their showroom glory and create hot little one-off items that make serious car lovers foam at the mouth.
We also do partial restorations–sometimes because that’s all a budget allows, sometimes because that’s all that’s needed.
Air Ride Suspension
Air suspension has many advantages over more traditional types of suspension. With easily adjustable ride height, it affords the ability to raise the vehicle for clearance of speed bumps and steep driveways, then air-out for the perfect look.
The most common myth surrounding air ride suspension is poor handling. Modern air suspension systems utilize bag-over-spring strut technology, so handling performance is very similar to a coilover type strut.
Carolina Kustoms is a leading air ride suspension dealer and installer in the Northwest. We carry and install every major brand of air ride, including: Ridetech, Slam Specialties, AccuAir, and Air Lift Performance.
Metal Fabrication
Metal fabrication is one of the central tasks of auto restoration. One of our biggest points of pride, we do most of our own custom metal fabrication in-house. Major fabrication work we do includes:
- Custom parts design and fab
- Rust repair and panel replacement
- Chassis repair and modification
- Custom auto body work
Body & Paint
For a worthy auto body paint job, you have to strip away the old paint, seam sealers, and body fillers before you even think of starting to paint. At Carolina Kustoms, we even remove the factory lead and replace it with our own.
Now, classic auto paint is a different beast, which many paint shops don’t seem to understand or respect. But classic auto paint is another one of our specialties. If you have a classic car and want an authentic paint job, just check in with us before you say yes to another auto body paint shop.
Engine Swaps & Auto Repair
If you’re looking to restore horsepower in an older engine, Maybe swap to something newer you’ve found the right shop. Carolina Kustoms has over years of experience with Ford, GM, and Mopars. Another specialty we have is LS swaps into just about any platform. The beauty of the GM LS series of engines is its compact size, high availability, immense aftermarket support, incredible reliability, and massive performance potential.
Performance Upgrades
While we love doing restoration work, we’re all about upgrades here.
At Carolina Kustoms, we have extensive experience installing superchargers, turbochargers, pully kits, Vintage Air kits and more.
Suspension, Brakes & Chassis
There is a whole world of chassis and suspension possibilities under your car, including a completely new chassis for body-on-frame vehicles. Even if air suspension isn’t for you, there are many other suspension and chassis modifications and replacements to achieve your goals, based on how you plan to use the vehicle.
To compliment the suspension, there’s also a huge range of performance braking systems, both for racing and street driving. Disc brake conversions, drum brake rebuilds, master cylinder replacements and upgrades, brake line replacement are all services we proudly offer.
Car Stereo Installation & Automotive Electronics
Some of us want to restore or build a custom vehicle for car shows like SEMA, some of us just want to be safer and have a better time while we’re cruising. Besides the power-adder and restoration work.
Portland’s Auto Upholstery Specialists
An auto interior is its own work of art, like an engine rebuild or a paint job. And no restoration is a full one without custom auto upholstery. Some people even start with their seats and interiors and save the engine work for later because your interior dictates what mood you’ll be in while you drive.
We take a special pride in our auto interiors and feel a certain excitement when someone comes in asking for custom seats or flooring and nothing else. Let’s turn your car’s interior into the most comfortable room in your house.
Parts & Supplies
Everyone who works at Carolina Kustoms is a do-it-yourselfer. We love talking to peers about techniques and tools – the more obscure, the better.
Half our job is finding and creating specific auto parts and supplies for the crazy projects we do. We are industry experts when it comes to finding the right parts and supplies to approach every custom build. Depending on the project we can fabricate parts from scratch or modify off-the-shelf parts. We also have an extensive relationship directly with many brands, which enables us to buy directly from them, and we pass the savings to you.