Curtis McGann

Grandson of San Jose legendary painter and founding member of San Jose Rod and Wheelers Joe Crisafulli, Curtis grew up with the painting talents passed down to him from his grandfather. Curtis has continued to perfect his craft and push the envelope on many custom paint jobs, ranging from custom-painted Indian Motorcycles all the way to some well-known custom cars. Curtis recently was enlisted by Wes and Kevin Bennett (owners of the Joe Bailon Candy Bird) to help finish the restoration of the radical custom and original Rod and Wheeler club car. Photo courtesy of Kevin Bennett.

The Candy Bird was started by Kevin, His father Wes, and Andrew Noel of Noel Customs back in 2019. The Candy Bird is known to have the 2nd ever Candy Apple Red paint job. Due to the unexpected and sudden passing of Andrew Noel, the project was put on hold until Kevin Bennett reached out to Curtis McGann for some help. After all, it would turn out to be such a fitting collaboration to finish the car due to the fact that the car was once in the original car club started by his grandfather back in the early 1950s. Back in July 2022, Curtis flew out to Texas to pull off an epic 10-day-long marathon in order to get the car from bare metal into the first primer. Photo courtesy of Kevin Bennett.

In April of 2023, Curtis once again prepared himself to fly out to Texas to pick up where they left off and pull off another 10-day marathon and a huge push to get the car from primer all the way to the infamous Candy Red paint job. The days leading up to the 2nd trip to Texas, Curtis consulted his coworker and personal friend Jesse Cruz, (Salinas-based custom painter), for a game plan, and that final boost of confidence to push the project and paint job to the end. Within the first three days of Curtis and Kevin working to get the car to the final stage of paint, they had the car blocked out and in final primer, ready for the first of several colorful stages of color. Curtis told Kustomrama that on the 7th day of the marathon, he applied four coats of a Honey Gold Basecoat. Photo courtesy of Kevin Bennett.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Bennett.

Three coats of a 24-karat gold pearl followed before Curtis laid five coats of the signature Candy Apple Red before finally applying four coats of (POR15) American Icon C831 Clearcoat. Photo courtesy of Kevin Bennett.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Bennett.

The paint job took over 9 1/2 hours from sealer all the way to the last coat of clear, all on the same day. Photo courtesy of Kevin Bennett.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Bennett.

On the 9th and final day of the trip to Texas, the Candy Bird once again, had its beautiful Joe Bailon signature Candy Red paint job. The car is in its last stretch of completion, leaving Kevin with the task of tying all the loose ends up on the car before one final trip is made to put the icing on the cake and add the beautiful gold scallops and pinstriping originally done by Tommy the Greek that the car wore. The last trip is planned for sometime in the next few months ..Stay tuned for the final update of the famous Joe Bailon Candy Bird restoration. Photo courtesy of Kevin Bennett.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Bennett.

Grandson of San Jose legendary painter and founding member of San Jose Rod and Wheelers Joe Crisafulli, Curtis grew up with the painting talents passed down to him from his grandfather. Curtis has continued to perfect his craft and push the envelope on many custom paint jobs, ranging from custom-painted Indian Motorcycles all the way to some well-known custom cars. Curtis recently was enlisted by Wes and Kevin Bennett (owners of the Joe Bailon Candy Bird) to help finish the restoration of the radical custom and original Rod and Wheeler club car.

The Candy Bird was started by Kevin, His father Wes, and Andrew Noel of Noel Customs back in 2019. The Candy Bird is known to have the 2nd ever Candy Apple Red paint job. Due to the unexpected and sudden passing of Andrew Noel, the project was put on hold until Kevin Bennett reached out to Curtis McGann for some help. After all, it would turn out to be such a fitting collaboration to finish the car due to the fact that the car was once in the original car club started by his grandfather back in the early 1950s.

Back in July 2022, Curtis flew out to Texas to pull off an epic 10-day-long marathon in order to get the car from bare metal into the first primer. On the 10th day, Curtis flew back home to California while Kevin continued to work feverishly on the car's other areas that needed attention. Nine months later, fast forward to April of 2023, Curtis once again prepared himself to fly out to Texas to pick up where they left off and pull off another 10-day marathon and a huge push to get the car from primer all the way to the infamous Candy Red paint job. The days leading up to the 2nd trip to Texas, Curtis consulted his coworker and personal friend Jesse Cruz, (Salinas-based custom painter), for a game plan, and that final boost of confidence to push the project and paint job to the end. Within the first three days of Curtis and Kevin working to get the car to the final stage of paint, they had the car blocked out and in final primer, ready for the first of several colorful stages of color. Curtis told Kustomrama that on the 7th day of the marathon, he applied four coats of a Honey Gold Basecoat, followed up with three coats of a 24-karat gold pearl, and then followed up with five coats of the signature Candy Apple Red before finally applying four coats of (POR15) American Icon C831 Clearcoat.

The paint job took over 9 1/2 hours from sealer all the way to the last coat of clear, all on the same day. On the 9th and final day of the trip to Texas, the Candy Bird once again, had its beautiful Joe Bailon signature Candy Red paint job. The car is in its last stretch of completion, leaving Kevin with the task of tying all the loose ends up on the car before one final trip is made to put the icing on the cake and add the beautiful gold scallops and pinstriping originally done by Tommy the Greek that the car wore. The last trip is planned for sometime in the next few months ..Stay tuned for the final update of the famous Joe Bailon Candy Bird restoration.

Cars Painted by Curtis McGann

Joe Castro's 1955 Ford Thunderbird - The Candy Bird