Business is owned by Kenny Key. Please read the following before allowing him to work on any vehicle. Mr. Key is well known with law enforcement officials in numerous South Carolina cities and counties. He has taken money from innocent victims with the understanding that he will restore their antique vehicles. The majority of them are never even started. The money is never returned. Mr. Key wants all money before he begins the restoration...that's how he gets you. Supposedly he has to buy all of the parts before he begins the project. Then he makes excuses as to why so much time has passed with no work being done. The economy is one. He had to let employees go. Some employees were deported. When the victims have had enough, they pick up their vehicles, which are in pieces and/or missing parts. The new parts that were purchased by the victims were gone. When questioned about the parts, his comment was 'they were never brought to me.' He had not purchased any new parts. If parts are received from Mr. Key, they do not fit the vehicle and are useless to the victims. So there are no useable parts and the money is gone. It is questionable as to whether or not Mr. Key has ever completed a vehicle. To get the money from innocent victims, he tells them what they want to hear, snaring them into his web of deceit. He not only has the vehicles for weeks and months, he has them for YEARS! There are numerous civil judgments against Mr. Key. There is one criminal conviction against him. He never attends the civil hearings because he knows he is guilty. He pled guilty to the criminal conviction, so you can see he is guilty. The civil convictions are for thousands of dollars. The criminal conviction was a fine of or a year in jail. That was a joke, but he at least now he has a criminal record. Sheriff Thompson and his staff have been most helpful, but it seems that their hands are tied. This is probably due to the way the laws are written. The following people have been notified about this man: Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Senators, Solicitor, Sheriff, Area Representatives, County Treasurer, Internal Revenue, State Law Enforcement Division, SC Labor, Licensing and Regulation, Department of Revenue and Taxation, Judges, Mayors, Council Members, Better Business Bureau, Federal Trade Commission, and Division of Consumer Affairs. After thorough searches for property which is owned by Mr. Key, nothing has been found. He owns a motorcycle, a truck, a boat, trailers, and a house on the beach. Apparently they are in someone else's name. I was able to retrieve my vehicle, in pieces, along with parts that were not purchased for it. The parts were used, some were no good, and some were not compatible. The chassis cannot be repaired. Stickers left on the parts and address labels on the boxes were researched and it was found that NONE of these parts fit my vehicle. In fact the majority of them had been purchased years before Mr. Key acquired my vehicle for restoration. The new parts which I had purchased before Mr. Key gained possession of my vehicle were gone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This was posted on www.truckforum.org in November 2009, by one of Mr. Key's victims. 'Just wanted to let everyone know what happened so it does not happen to anyone else. About 8 years ago i purchased a 71 C-10 shortbed pick up truck that had a half *** restore job. I got a great deal on it and bought it planning on doing a full restore for show. I have had several cars restored in the past, so this was not going to be my first rodeo. At the time i was living in Myrtle Beach SC and Contracted a guy by the name of Kenny Key,DBA as Kenny`s Customs in longs SC right outside N. Myrtle beach. When i bought the truck it had a 327 with double hump heads, but the motor was pretty much gone as the main bearings were screaming. Anyway, i drove the truck till i threw the bearing as i knew i would scrap the motor and sell the heads. Well that day came so i called kenny and we started planning a build. I wanted a 383 Stroker for a powerplant, a Tremec 5 speed tranny for drivetrain, C5 corvette suspension complete with built rear end, baer big brake kit all the way around, Vintage air front runner system completely polished, Aluminum HI Perf radiator and alot of other stuff. For the body i wanted the truck completely shaved and demolded with Brilliant blk siekens paint. Bottom line is that it was gonna be awsome to say the least especially sitting on that C5 suspension! When kenny and i plus my father sat down to do the deal he says that he needs 1/2 the build money upfront as he had several customers that would order 30K in parts and labor and then they could`nt pay. Like i said earlier guys....this was not my first rodeo and had seen this scenario play out mant times in the custom car world, so it was beleivable. We told him we would buy and provide all the parts so he did`nt have to worry about that. Well the fab and paint work came out to right at 25K and the parts were right at 30K.....55K plus the truck @ 7K the way it sat. Now me and dad aint stupid so we had a lawyer draw up a contract stating what was to be done and what had been paid and we had him sign it at the lawyers office...so all is good right? WRONG.....this guy comes and gets my truck and tears it down into peices immediatly like hes gonna start the build. Well a week goes by, then a month, and then a year and nada! Well, i finally snapped and went out to the shop and i told him i was going to kill him! This guy puts a restraining order on me after that, so off to the lawyer i go. 7 years later and i finally got a $97K judgement against this dirtbag and will be attatching it to his property and taking anything and everything he owns to try and recoupe my money. The judge made a double judgement against him as the parts sat so long they were no good any more....just imagine how fast the seals would blow out of the tranny after 8 years of sitting lol! While i was going through all of this i hired a top notch private eye and we discovered he`s been doing this for the past 20+ years and has cases in Texas were he filed bankruptcy and then moved to SC and he has several cases in SC for the same thing! Anway, i just wanted everyone to know who this guy is and what hes about so hopfully it never happens again!'