He drove the car for a few months, and then decided to go all out. In an effort to better showcase his painting talents, he began the difficult and tedious task of patterning the entire car. With additional help from his eldest son, Ruben, shop assistants, and Ralph, the task was made easier than imagined. Pete decided to use a mixture of House of Color candy paints, old school flake, pearls, marbleizing, fades and gold leafing to design the color scheme. Blending the old school with the new, he ran the patterns from the hood through the windshield to the custom-made fiberglass dashboard, which also houses a custom-made Color Bar by Igarashi.
Pete's goal was to finish building the car in less than a year, and he worked long hours to accomplish this task. In fact, with all the overtime hours and countless late nights he was putting on his car, a joke was passed around that Pete was spending more time with his car than with women. So the name "More Than A Woman" stuck, and it was officially christened within a few weeks after its completion.
Pete's knowledge of lowriders and paint has truly put him on a different level when it comes to painting cars. His natural ability to color coordinate paint jobs and his attention to detail has made him the go-to guy for lowrider painting needs. Pete would like to extend his thanks to Ruben, Ralph, Mike and Igarashi for helping him finish the car in such a timely manner. He also thanks his family for putting up with his passion and love for lowriders, as well as the Fantasy Life Car Club for always helping him out.
More Than A Woman
Owner: Pete "Brochas" Caldera
Vehicle: '73 Chevy Caprice
City/State: Whittier, California
Club: Fantasy Life Car Club. Los Angeles
Engine: Igarashi from Craps Inc in Whittier, CA replaced the stock motor with a Chevy 350 Crate motor with custom bend radiator hose and custom tubing.
Body/Paint: Pete and Ralph got the car ready for paint. Pete replaced the original color with a Candy Brandy Wine, then laid down some custom graphics and patterns with a mixture of Candy, Old School Flake, Pearl, Fading and gold leafing. Gary Jensen and Boza added the finishing touches with some pin stripping. The car was then clear-coated, wet sanded and polished into a smooth glass finish.
Interior: Guero at Santanas Auto Upholstery gutted the car and replaced the interior with new maroon carpet, then reupholstered the seats with a mixture of maroon vinyl and accented the inserts with purple and pink suede. Pete's son, Ruben, fiber glassed the dashboard and Igarashi built in a custom Color bar. Pete then painted the dashboard to match the car including running graphics from the hood.
Sound System: Ruben Caldera did the custom installation of the sound system, which includes a Sony head unit with ADS Amps and Crossovers. The ADS woofers are housed in a custom fiberglass trunk that was color matched to the car.
Suspension: Igarashi and Mike from Crap Inc hooked up the Caprice with two Hi-low Pumps, custom bend tubing, 8-inch cylinders in the front and back, ton springs all around and is powered by 6 batteries with the movements controlled via four switches and is placed on a custom floating rack that was fiber glassed and painted. The suspension was also taken apart and sent to Joe and Eddie Reyes at Joe's Polishing in Whittier, CA to give it the finishing touch.
Tires: P155/80 R13
Wheels: 13-inch wire wheels