Automotive Artistry British Car & Bike

📍 Streetsboro, Ohio

Daryl Wagner learned about quality and hard work at a young age. Now with his Performer^® ES Paint Booth from Global Finishing Solutions^® (GFS), his quality and hard work have translated to a strong reputation in the British car and bike restoration industry.

Please introduce your business and tell us your story:

My paint and body experience goes back to the early 70s when I was 12 years old. My father had a Model T, and I played with that. I wanted a mini bike, so he made me a deal — if I helped him paint some wire wheels, he would think about getting me a bike.

He gave me a 2-inch piece of sandpaper to use on the wheels, and when I told him, “I’m all done,” he says, “No, you have to turn that over and do the other side now.” So I did a set of five wheels, and again, I said, “I’m all done!” And he said, “No, now you need to learn how to prime.” So I primed all five wire wheels.

What GFS equipment did you purchase and how has it benefited your business?

We have been in our current building, which is 7,000 square feet, for the last five years. We purchased a galvanized Performer ES Paint Booth four years ago, and we have 3,000 square feet for paint. It becomes difficult to have production shops handle your paintwork, so when we moved into this building, we came in with the notion that we were going to put in a quality automotive paint booth.

The spray booth works phenomenally. We have an in-roof filter system that has worked out really well for us, providing a dust-free finish within the spray booth. There is very little nibbing — that cuts my time down significantly. The lighting has also been phenomenal, without any shadowing.

“When customers see my GFS paint booth, they see a company that’s willing to make an investment, and the quality of the work that has come out of it has helped the reputation of our restoration business. People walk in and they’re like, ‘Wow, that’s one hell of a piece of equipment!’”

What services do you offer?

We do 100 percent full rotisserie restoration for almost all makes and models of post-war British cars and bikes — Armstrong Sidley, Aston Martin, Austin Healey, Bentley, BSA, Jaguar, MG, Morgan, Norton, Sunbeam and Triumph. We do everything from full restoration to regular maintenance — lube, oil, etc. Sandblasting is pretty much the only thing that we don’t do in-house.

How did you decide on GFS equipment?

There are so many automotive paint booths out there to choose from, and I spoke with some guys who are on the production side. GFS’ name kept coming up. I heard that GFS paint booths are made with quality components, construction, accessories, lighting, doors, etc. Everything kept coming back to that Global Finishing Solutions paint booth.

“If I was going to do it all over again, I might have gone with bifold doors, but I wouldn’t change the supplier. George Volpe and the BCI Equipment crew were extremely professional. They did what they said they were going to do. They didn’t shortcut anything, and it was certainly done in a timely manner.”