Milestone Paint & Body in Mt. Juliet, TN, is a custom restoration shop founded by father and son John and Jacob Miles. The duo gained enough of a reputation from working on their own classic cars that they took the leap and transformed their hobby shop into a full-fledged business, offering frame-off restorations and mechanical work.
Since then, their work has been featured on national TV shows and in magazines, and attracted the attention of several country music greats, thanks to the shop’s proximity to Nashville. Customers from across the U.S. pay up to a half million dollars for one of their builds.
Milestone Paint & Body
Mt. Juliet, TN
615-804-4391
milestonepaint.com
Facebook: @MilestonePaint
Instagram: @milestone2002
YouTube: @milestonepaint
TikTok: @milestonepaint
Company At A Glance...
Type: Custom Restoration Shop
Facility Employees: Four
In Business Since: 2002
Number of Locations: One
Production Space: 7,700 square feet
Before starting the business with his dad, Jacob Miles served in the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard in Washington, D.C., for three years under President Bill Clinton. He then attended Nashville Auto Diesel College for two and a half years. The school, which has since been bought by Lincoln Tech, inducted Miles into its Hall of Fame in 2012.
Miles said he and his dad first got into restoration because they had several classic cars his dad had bought new that needed work, like a 1966 Corvette Stingray and a Cushman he’d used as a kid to deliver newspapers.
“We built the shop to work on our own vehicles, and then it turned into people wanted me to work on theirs,” Miles said. “So, we got it zoned commercial, put in a paint booth, and turned it into a business in 2002.
Jacob Miles is using a SATAjet X 5500 PHASER on a classic Chevy C10 he’s restoring for country music singer Justin Moore.
“We started from scratch,” he said. “It was make it or break it, but we seem to be doing pretty good.”
Milestone Paint & Body took off in 2008, when some of its cars went to a Barrett-Jackson auction, leading to media exposure on a national scale. Now, in addition to word of mouth, the shop finds customers through its website and social media posts on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok.
To complete the top-shelf custom builds his clientele expects, Miles finds products he trusts and sticks with them. He had been using a particular spray gun for years, when Tony Larimer from SATA USA came in with a local SATA representative, Dylan Randall, in early 2024 with three suitcases full of SATA guns.
“He was like, ‘Just try one,’” Miles said. Skeptical, Miles sprayed two, a SATAminijet 4400 B and SATAjet X 5500 universe, with Larimer’s instruction.
“I was like, ‘Man, these guns really spray good,” he said. “They felt good in my hand, and sprayed great.”
He was hooked. Miles sold all of his old guns and has since bought six SATA guns. In addition to the two he tried, he bought a SATAjet X 5500 PHASER, two SATAjet100 B primer guns and a SATAminijet 4400 B.
“Usually, when I’m with [a manufacturer], I’m with them,” Miles said. “I don’t change products because I’m not into saving a dollar. I want to use the top-of-the-line materials as well as top-of-the-line paint guns.
“I love [SATA spray guns],” he said. “I don’t know if I’d ever switch back because I like them that well.” The other painters at Milestone Paint & Body are fans of the SATA guns too.
Miles’ favorite build is this 1966 Corvette Stingray his dad bought brand new. In addition to restoring the car, Miles custom painted a guitar to match it. Photo by Anthony Ross Tyler.
Miles said he prefers guns that spray an “O” pattern, as opposed to an “I” pattern, as it lays down more material. “I’m not a three-coat clear coater; I like my coverage,” he said.
The SATA guns feel to Miles like they lay down the material smoother with less air pressure.
“Not all jobs get wet sanded and buffed, but when they do, I can start with 1200 or 1500 grit sandpaper and be done faster, because it’s slicker already,” Miles said.
Customers may not be able to tell a difference in the result between Miles’ former guns and his SATA guns, but he “can tell a difference when I’m spraying it,” he said.
Miles didn’t have a lot to say about SATA’s customer support, because he hasn’t had to use it.
“I know if I needed them, they’re a phone call away, but I haven’t really needed them because everything is just flowing smoothly,” he said. “I fully disassemble my guns every time I use them, to clean them. No issues.”
Miles recently used his SATAminijet to customize a guitar Dolly Parton is set to autograph. “I loved how the finish looked without having to wet sand and buff it,” he said.
He is also using the SATAjet X 5500 PHASER on a classic Chevy C10 he’s restoring for country music singer Justin Moore.
Still, Miles said, his favorite build is his dad’s ’66 Corvette. They did a full frame-off restoration and repainted it in its original Nassau Blue. “That one meant the most to me because it’s his,” Miles said.
A few years ago, Miles and his wife, Amy, started a second business, Milestone Cattle Company, which breeds and shows Texas Longhorns. They currently have a herd of 65 cattle occupying 80 acres behind the restoration shop.
SATA Spray Equipment
800-533-8016
www.satausa.com
PO Box 46
Spring Valley, MN 55975
Facebook: @SATAUSA
Instagram: @satausainc
YouTube:@SATAUSAInc
To read more auto body shop profiles from the October 2024 Shop and Product Showcase, click here.
