With help from the new Rod & Restoration Color Deck from Martin Senour paints, custom car builder Chris Carlson mixed up a wicked Red Velvet finish for a chopped ’66 Mustang featured in the company’s SEMA booth this year.

Unveiling of “Good Karma” at the SEMA show.

“There’s some 200 to 300 man-hours in the prep work and finishing alone with this car,” says Carlson.

Carlson worked with NAPA and Martin Senour to select the Velvet Red from the 200 colors available in the deck, then he gave it a “double dose” of crushed reflective crystals (see video below). All of the paints in the Rod & Restoration series have combinations of reflective additives that promote a multi-dimensional finish. Depending on the project and what the end vision of the car is, the Rod & Restoration custom color program is available in three color categories to meet most vehicle restoration visions including: Exact Match OE Classic, Barrett-Jackson Modified Muscle Car and Rod & Custom.

“These paints work fast,” praises Carlson, noting that start to finish on the paint took about 18 days.

The Mustang body was modified with: a 2-inch top chop; the quarters were extended and raised one inch; there’s a pancake deck lid; Frenched-in Camaro rear bumper; custom rear rollpan; custom wheel openings; cowl shortened 3.5 inches and the entire front clip is molded together.

“We then added a hood scoop, Frenched headlights, custom grille, front bumper cut and tucked, custom fabricated inner fender panels; a custom fabricated firewall; and finally, a flush-mount windshield and back glass,” adds Carlson.

For the paint, there were four coats of primer, a sealer, three coats of base color with some “tweaking” followed by two more coats. Then came eight coats of clear broken up by hours of blocking and finish sanding.

The Mustang is called “Good Karma” in honor of Carlson’s wife, Karma.