Our Process
ARRIVAL & INSPECTION
Once your helmet arrives at the shop, we'll mark it on our logs and get your build sheet ready for you. Shortly after unpacking your helmet, pre-restoration photographs are taken for our records, and pre-inspection begins. Our pre-inspection is a 10-point safety evaluation encompassing the entire helmet. It focuses on the condition and general integrity of the helmet, measured on a scale of 1-5, with five being in top condition. Customers are notified of any remarkable findings not previously noted, so if we encounter anything that can't be worked on due to preexisting/unseen conditions, we'll bring it to your attention before moving on any further with the helmet.
DISASSEMBLY
After your helmet is logged in the shop, it will be fully disassembled to kick off the rest of the process. All of the hardware and soft goods are removed and stowed in your helmet bin where they will remain for the remainder of the refurbishment process until it reaches the final assembly stage. With the entire helmet disassembled and ready for the next segment, it's on it's way to looking as refreshed as ever.
SANNITIZATION
If you're having the soft goods of your helmet sanitized or if they're being modified by our seamstress and is required to be cleaned, we'll take your liner, chinstrap, etc. over to our cleaning station to be washed out and refreshed. Older helmets have much more delicate soft goods, more specifically the liner, so we'll be sure to handle those with a keen eye since the liner wire can break apart easily. Even more so if it has been affected by dry rot. We often use Chief's Choice gear cleaner by Conway Shields™ for a full cleaning of soft goods as it's tough of grime and stains, but handles the materials softly.
REPAIR & PREP WORK
If your helmet is getting repair work firsthand, this stage is meant for you! As the helmet works its way down after being stripped (if being repainted), our techs begin working on laying down compound epoxy and filler in the areas that are being bolstered. From general brim patching to crease filling or wire welding, we bang out all the repair work needed, and then we move your helmet down to our sanding booth. There, helmet receives meticulous sanding to refine & prep the surface of your helmet for additional repairs, and then for primer later on in the process. Excess debris on the helmet is entirely cleared, and the helmet is cleaned off before heading over to paint for primer.
PAINT PREP
After your helmet is fully sanded and prepped for paint, it moves into the primer stage where our paint tech lays down a thorough coat of paint primer via HVLP in our contaminant-free paint booth. After the initial coat of primer is applied, we leave the helmet to dry entirely before re-examining it for any natural imperfections or rough patches. If the helmet needs to be refined a bit more, another coat of primer is applied to it, especially in areas that were touched up. This ensures that the paint has a good surface to stick to and boasts a clean look once finished.
PAINT
After a 48-hour drying period post-primer, 3 coatings of paint are applied to your helmet over 4-5 days through our professional painting process. After the initial layer, we check the helmet again to make sure everything is looking as best as it can be, and if anything happens to stick out, we'll take care of it from there. Each helmet is assigned a slot on the board in our booth to track how many coats has been applied, what paint color you have, what finish it will get, where your helmet is located in the drying room, and who that helmet belongs to. Here, your helmet is tracked day-in and day-out to get it moving closer to the end of the restoration process.
FINAL ASSEMBLY
Finally, at the end of this arduous journey, your helmet has reached the last step of the restoration process and is just a couple steps closer to being back in your hands! Once the helmet is wrapped up in paint, we'll take your it out of the booth and set it down on the assembly racks where our techs will take all of the parts that were being added to it, and toss them back on. Pretty simple, but it's all that stands in the way between your and your helmet. This stage is where things such as your tets, bourkes, finial, liner, and various other components get installed. Once fully assembled, your helmet is looking in tip-top shape and is ready to be shipped right back out to you after a thorough examination in QC.
QUALITY CONTROL
Rather self-explanatory, but in QC, we'll examine your entire helmet build to make sure that everything is correct, review any revisions, and confirm that all looks right across the board. If anything sticks out or needs tweaking, we'll handle it as needed or notify you of any significant items in general. After everything checks out, we'll photograph the helmet for our records again and it'll be ready to ship out soon after!