A full downdraft spray booth — without the ramps
When the vehicles don’t drive in, an on floor system is the answer.
For Exclusive Customs Paint & Panel on Queensland’s Gold Coast, the challenge wasn’t simply finding a spray booth with the right airflow. It was finding a booth that matched the way the workshop actually builds cars.
Exclusive Customs specialises in high-end restoration, custom paint and show-quality automotive work. The vehicles entering the workshop aren’t necessarily finished, running cars. Many arrive as rolling shells, chassis assemblies or bodies mounted on dollies and jigs — ready to be transformed from the ground up.
That made a conventional drive-in spray booth, complete with ramps, pits or a raised floor, less than ideal.
R&I Zambesi’s answer was the Z-Air Plus On-Floor Dual-Side Extraction Full Downdraft.
Designed around the way the workshop works
The key requirement was simple: keep the floor flat, and make the booth accessible to vehicles that cannot drive themselves inside.
The Z-Air Plus On-Floor system achieves this without compromising the full-downdraft airflow required for high-quality refinishing.
Clean, filtered air is introduced through the full booth ceiling and moves vertically down through the working zone. At floor level, extraction runs along both sides of the booth, drawing overspray down and away from the vehicle.
The result is a genuine full-downdraft spray environment — without the need for a conventional recessed extraction pit.
Benefits:
| No ramps. | No pit. | No raised threshold. |
Just a flat floor and clear access.
For Exclusive Customs, that means a vehicle body can be pushed directly into the booth, whether it is sitting on wheels, dollies or a chassis jig.
A better fit for restoration and custom work
For a restoration and custom paint specialist, the paint process extends well beyond simply refinishing exterior panels.
Engine bays, door jambs, undersides, interiors and complex bodywork all form part of the finished vehicle. With a full-downdraft airflow pattern, the booth provides controlled airflow over the vehicle and helps carry airborne overspray down and away from the work area.
That makes the configuration particularly well suited to workshops where finish quality is the priority and vehicle access is different from a conventional collision-repair operation.
It is a practical solution for restoration shops, custom builders and specialist automotive workshops where vehicles may arrive incomplete, non-running or mounted on fabrication and assembly equipment.
The Z-Air Plus solution
R&I Zambesi supplied and installed a Z-Air Plus On-Floor Dual-Side Extraction Full Downdraft specifically around Exclusive Customs’ operating requirements.
Rather than forcing the workshop to adapt its workflow around a standard booth design, the booth was configured around the way Exclusive Customs actually moves and paints vehicles.
The result is a dedicated spray environment that combines:
- Full downdraft airflow
- Dual-side floor-level extraction
- Flat on-floor installation
- No extraction pit or drive-in ramps
- Easy access for rolling shells, dollies and chassis jigs
- A clean, controlled environment for high-quality refinishing
Built for the cars that matter
Exclusive Customs has built a strong following for its restoration and custom automotive work, with its work showcased through @exclusivecustomsgoldcoast.
For a business where the final finish is part of the vehicle’s identity, the spray booth is more than a piece of workshop equipment. It is part of the production process.
The Z-Air Plus gives Exclusive Customs the airflow performance of a full-downdraft booth while retaining the practical advantages of a flat workshop floor.
Because when the car doesn’t drive into the booth, the booth needs to work differently.
The customer’s verdict
| “We love our Z-Air. It hasn’t missed a beat, and the after-sales support is amazing.” — Exclusive Customs Paint & Panel, Gold Coast
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