K.C. Mathieu, a key player in Gas Monkey Garage’s Fast N’ Loud television show, is also an accomplished automotive painter. He announced in October 2015 that he was stepping away from the series in order to spend more time with his family and at KC’s Paint Shop in Burleson, Tex.
In the initial seasons of Fast N’ Loud, Richard Rawlings from Gas Monkey Garage arranged for Mathieu to paint cars at Mathieu’s own shop. When Gas Monkeys moved into a bigger shop with a paint booth, Mathieu started painting there. Now, he’s back at KC’s Paint Shop, right next to his house.
KC’s Paint Shop is a WFH Dream
K.C. Mathieu’s shop is part of his homestead and makes for a convenient, no-commute work style. The shop was shown in early episodes. It consists of 1,600 square feet under roof: 1,000 are usable working footage, and an additional 800 square feet are under an awning. He has one full-time employee and one part-time helper. They work four days a week, ten hours each day, to allow for three-day weekends. Mathieu said that he generally only gets to do 25 to 30 hours of paint work himself each week. That means Mathieu only takes on eight to 10 vehicles a year at KC’s Paint Shop—a small fraction of clients seeking his services.
KC Mathieu at work.
All in the Family
Mathieu learned the craft from his father who still runs a production paint shop nearby in Crowley, Tex. In fact, Mathieu painted his first car when he was 12 years old. After school, he honed his craft by rotating through a variety of shops.
The only vehicle Mathieu regrets selling was a shortened Ford F250 diesel.
KC’s Paint Shop Origin Story
When the opportunity came up to buy the house and workspace that would become KC’s Paint Shop, Mathieu sold three vehicles, including his blue Ford F-250, on eBay to raise some cash. That beloved 2001 Ford F-250 was the only vehicle he regretted selling. Mathieu had shortened the truck chassis 16.5 inches and swapped a long bed for a short bed. It turns out Ford hadn’t offered a short bed in the F250 series at that time, so Mathieu did it his way—with help from Gas Monkey’s Aaron Kaufman. He had the diesel engine outfitted with the full set of Powerstroke accessories from Banks and painted it Sonic Blue.
The lucky buyer made a trek to Dallas by bus—from Mexico City. With the proceeds, Mathieu bought land and set up KC’s Paint Shop, where he can be found today working his trade.
Folks often wonder what happened to Gas Monkey Garage. Now you know the story why KC Mathieu moved out of GMG HQ and back to his own shop.
See Gas Monkey Garage Men's T-Shirts for sale on eBay.
