Shaping Your Next Classic Sports Car

Specializing in Classic Vintage sports cars. Hand Rolled Panels. Panel Beating. Repairs. Reconstruction.
Learn MoreBook a Consultation

Shaping Your Next Classic Sports Car

Specializing in Classic Vintage sports cars. Hand Rolled Panels. Panel Beating. Repairs. Reconstruction.
Learn MoreBook a Consultation

Vintage, classic car, or hot rod – your car is an investment. It deserves the best.

At J.S Panels, my goal is to produce the finest hand-rolled body sheet metal in the world. I specialize in excellence, with 35+ years of metal-shaping experience.

This is your passion. We share it.
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Metal Shaping, Welding, & Fabrication

These three timeless skills, which have their roots in blacksmithing and tinsmithing, are the bedrock of every design we produce at J S Panels. Using the most basic tools, we’re able to comfortably fashion just about any item, whether constructed from ferrous or non-ferrous sheet stock.
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Chassie Construction

Chassis construction and repair are standard services offered at any traditional Carrozzeria, and we’re proud to offer them as part of our trademark service at J S Panels as well.
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Coach Building

From talented craftsmen centuries ago who built carriages using ash and a very basic assortment of tools to the early 20th-century automobile engineers using those same skills to construct the framework for automobile bodies that were sheathed in steel or aluminum, our coachbuilding services are based on centuries-old traditions.

Metal Artist

Meet Joe Stafford

45 yrs of experience
Joe’s background in reproducing handmade aluminum and steel bodies for vintage and antique automobiles began with an apprenticeship in sheet metal at General Motors, where he worked for almost six years. Years later, he moved to Massachusetts and began working for a prominent east coast restoration company. His clients encouraged him to start his own business, which led to the opening of New England Metal Crafters in Newburyport Ma in 1985. In 1987, Joe moved the business north to New Hampshire and the name was eventually changed to Panel Craft to better reflect his mission statement. In the late 1990s, the business was incorporated and thus became Panelcraft LLC.

Since then, Joe has applied his skills to numerous vintage and classic cars. Panel Craft has worked on virtually all the iconic marques, including Porsche, Ferrari, and Cobras. In the late 1990s, Joe was commissioned as a panel beater to oversee the sheet metal design during the restoration of the Formula One Scarab. The Scarab made it’s public re-debut in 1997, almost forty years after its original appearance.

In addition to the Scarab, other legendary machines brought back to their original glory include a number of historic Porsches that were chosen to race at Le Mans, France’s premiere 24-hour endurance race.

Where we build

The Facility Built in 1997

The J S Panel facility was built in 1997 and can comfortably accommodate three projects simultaneously. Joe believes that bigger isn’t always better, especially when it comes to restoring exotic automobiles. Excess space translates into high overhead and a rush to take shortcuts, which can lead to sub-standard workmanship – something he will not tolerate.

Each job is handled with the utmost care and attention. Once the car is in the shop, Joe keeps clients in the loop on a bi-monthly basis with progress reports, photos (if requested), and a billing statement.

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Clients are saying…

"It was a pleasure working with Joe on a metal restoration project.. He is a craftsman with the highest level of skill. Thank you Joe for your attention to detail! I look forward to working with you on another project."

Bobby Singh
Singh Motors Inc.

"If anyone is looking for superlative work on their special car, they will not find a better shop than Panel-Craft and a nicer, more honorable person than Joe Stafford."

“My Experience with Joe Stafford and panel-Craft began with a minor accident which caused front end damage to my beautiful ’57 Prosche Speedster -17 years of joy for me. What appeared to be an easy fix turned out to be major damage from an accident about 35 years ago, hidden under a lot of filler and covered with a beautiful paint job. Joe ended up having to fabricate a whole new front end. When doing this, he ended up having to restore the doors and door frames. Starting from back edge of the doors, the front hood, fenders and nose are all at factory spects – with no more bondo! Beside being a real gentleman, Joe is a master craftsman and a true artist. Joe kept me up to date on the work being performed with back up pictures between my monthly visits. Panel-Craft was recommended to me by a friend who had major damage to his Cobra.”

– JIM

"..I have known Joe for some time, his quality is top notch for any metal application. A true craftsman and master at fabrication. Two thumbs up!"

Jeffrey S. Gagnon, Worthen Industries Director of Manufacturing

"What a job! Thanks!"

Jim Macri

"My Cobra has never looked better. You are a true artisan from an era gone by. Thanks Joe, I had not a single worry."

Wayne Odle

"It was a pleasure working with Joe on a metal restoration project.. He is a craftsman with the highest level of skill. Thank you Joe for your attention to detail! I look forward to working with you on another project."

Bobby Singh
Singh Motors Inc.

"If anyone is looking for superlative work on their special car, they will not find a better shop than Panel-Craft and a nicer, more honorable person than Joe Stafford."

– JIM

"..I have known Joe for some time, his quality is top notch for any metal application. A true craftsman and master at fabrication. Two thumbs up!"

Jeffrey S. Gagnon, Worthen Industries Director of Manufacturing

"What a job! Thanks!"

Jim Macri

"My Cobra has never looked better. You are a true artisan from an era gone by. Thanks Joe, I had not a single worry."

Wayne Odle
projects

Completed Cars

At J.S Panels, we’ve recreated Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, Cobra, Delahaye and more.
process

Behind the Scenes

Step One: Inspiration

Creating a work of art requires inspiration, imagination, intuition, skill and a lot of hard work. When it comes to fabricating hand-rolled sheet metal for vintage car chassis, Joe Stafford of Panel Craft LLC provides all the requisite ingredients.

It begins with the model. Most of the time, Stafford is able to use the original car, from which he creates a template after taking measurements. “Even if there’s only one fender, I can do it,” he says. One fender provides the proper scale. From there, he can mirror the image on the other side of the car.

If he doesn’t have the back end of the car, he can still get the height of the fenders, the lift, the volume and other details. Stafford relies heavily on intuition and previous knowledge as he carefully examines the chassis, observing subtle details. “I also look for what isn’t there,” he adds, relying on shadows and reflections to provide hints about the shapes of the bodywork. “I study shapes, not the car.”

If the original car isn’t available, Stafford turns to photos – of which he has tens of thousands, many of which he took at car shows. If he doesn’t have it, it’s likely to be found on Instagram or elsewhere on the Internet. He will then track the photographers by their photo credit and purchase the images.

Step Two: Building a Model
Originally, building the model was very time consuming and costly. But now, if another completed donor car can be located, it’s possible to digitally scan that vehicle without fear of touching(and thereby damaging) a pristinely painted surface. Scanning is done by employing a small, hand-held scanning gun which targets the surface and plots it onto a three-dimensional matrix. This model is, in turn, further refined using CAD technology which provides the necessary key for the automated process of making a buck.
Step Three: Creating the Car

Once the buck is properly proportioned, Stafford needs to lay out the size and shape of the blanks. These small individual pieces, when shaped and welded, become the building blocks for the completed body skin. But, before he can cut blanks, he has to have a template for the blank. In order to make these paper templates, he draws on his years of experience to formulate the optimal placement of seams, while not exceeding a workable size, and then shears the blanks from the material of choice which then, collectively provides the roadmap for construction.

Finally, Joe begins blocking out the panels. In metal shaping , blocking is defined as hammering a rough shape into the blanks using a round-face mallet or hammer, which then produces an approximated shape that can be finished off using the wheeling machine. Because it isn’t possible to make a body from one single blank, it’s mandatory that multiple pieces be used in its construction. Once all these blanks have been shaped, they’re all welded together using the traditional oxy/hydro method, then meticulously planished to form the completed body shell.

the right equipment matters

Tools of the Trade

To augment the two wheeling machines in the shop, we have the Kraft former 324 “Piccolo”. Additionally, we have accumulated a vast array of tooling which accompany these two hammers. Shrinking, stretching, beading, doming and louvering are cleanly and accurately performed in a fraction of the time required if only traditional hand methods were used.

If the ash frame of your classic car needs attention, we have every tool and piece of equipment on site necessary to implement repairs or re-construction. With this equipment, we feel we are the best equipped small shop in the country.

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Eckold HF 80 Hand Former
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Edwards 42″ Type E Wheel

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Miller Syncrowave 250
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Eckold Kraftformer KF 324 Piccolo
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Hypertherm 600 Plasma Cutter

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4 Henrob MK III with Low Pressure Regulators

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Trident 22″ Wheel
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Roper Whitney 48″ Finger Break

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Roper Whitney 10 Ton Punch

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36″ Slip Roll
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60″ Slip Roll
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Millermatic 200 with Mig Torch
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Large assortment of dedicated hand tools

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 

How much is it going to cost?

Because hand-made cars are each unique in their own way, it’s impossible to project with any certainty what the final tally will be, even if we have done the same model previously.

How long with it take?

Deadlines lead to shortcuts and shortcuts lead to substandard work. The process of handcrafting automobile bodies from steel or aluminum is one that we are passionate about, so every detail is meticulously executed. This requires patience and persistence to get it right.

Can you make a hood for my Maserati Ghibli or (substitute make and model)?

Yes, but only if we have a buck. A buck is a 3-D template, constructed using either wood or steel, which gives us a hard surface to work on. In almost all cases, the car will need to be sent to us so that the buck can be constructed and the pieces can be fitted to the car.