The Big, Bright Future of Fat Fender Garage

FAT Fender Garage has been putting out top-level builds for years, as well as working to create parts we all need to take our personal projects to the next level. With its business growing like crazy, FFG had to grow with it by moving into a new, larger location just shy of a year ago.

I was chatting with Jason Noel, president at FFG, and he said they were going to put on its first block party at the new facility. I thought that would make the perfect opportunity to go down early and check out what FFG has going on before the festivities. All I can say is WOW! Fat Fender Garage is working on setting a new standard for efficiency when it comes to restorations and restomods.

Now, I am getting ahead of myself a little. I think we need to start with when you walk in the door. FFG has created a very open and inviting space with couches, a beautiful leather wall, a side room for consults with clients, and open offices for designers and marketing staff to work together with their teams.

All in all, I was blown away by what Fat Fender Garage has going on, and I can’t wait to see what it has planned for the future.

From the main office space, you step into the main part of the shop, which has been laid out based around the type of work being done. FFG has a dedicated area for each phase of the process.

One of the first things you see as you enter is the upholstery area, where staff are not only building complete interiors for the builds they are doing in the shop but also complete interiors that can be ordered for anyone’s build. There are multiple sewing machines and different stations depending on what someone is currently working on.

With each employee specializing in what is happening at each station, they have a set amount of time to complete the tasks before it moves on to the next.

From there, you roll into the “mechanic” area where they are doing a number of different things like custom fabrication on turbo setups, packing bearings, mounting axles, and everything in between.

Continuing further back in the shop, you get into all the sheetmetal fab. This is where they are working on raised bed floors, rust repair, panel gaps, and wild fabrication for that one-off touch a customer is looking for.

From fab, you move into a sectioned-off portion where all the bodywork and paint are handled. You’ll find employees doing everything from sanding body filler to wet sanding clear coat so body panels can be polished for reassembly.

This all may sound standard for most restoration shops around the country, but we are about to unveil where things evolve to the next level. Once you leave the bodywork and fabrication area, you head over to assembly and the Revival Series area. FFG has two separate lanes in this area with 4 to 5 stations in each lane. The stations have a dedicated employee that specializes in what must be done during that part of the build. I will give you a couple of examples. One station is dedicated to getting the engine and trans into the chassis and running the exhaust. Then, it rolls to the next station and gets the tank installed and all the plumbing done for the fuel system—then onto the next station where the body is put on and all the wiring is completed, and so on. With each employee specializing in what is happening at each station, they have a set amount of time to complete the tasks before it moves on to the next. This keeps builds moving forward and getting to a customer in a timely manner.

The Revival Series is a super cool idea. Most of the vehicles moving through this lane are survivor/original paint trucks that need little to no paint or major fabrication done. If they need any of that, it is handled prior to moving into the lane and moving through the process. Now, I know FFG has a number of different levels available in the Revival Series where it does offer repainting and a number of other things, but this is the 10,000-ft view where an old truck turns into a revitalized classic truck equipped with modern comforts and the drivability of a new ride.

All in all, I was blown away by what Fat Fender Garage has going on, and I can’t wait to see what it has planned for the future.