Martin's mi-STRESS, 1965 Long Fleetside C10 "Rebuild in ENGLAND"

[mjh1965]

Thanks for posting the pictures Rian I should have mine loaded by Tuesday photo bucket playing up

[Grizz1963]

Mike and Sarah Losh's Cloud Nine.

SEMA winner truck.



The man. The Legend that is Clem Johnston.

One of the kindest, most generous people I have ever met. Sharp sense of humour, and eye for detail, a caring man.

Proud to call him a friend (His wife, Kim is a match for him too)

Thank you for everything you facilitated Clem.



Some of Www.tubatrucks.com 's work



Tilley, built by Clem for a customer. Harley Davidson recovery truck with Utility bed



Yup, it is strange.







Mate Martin, VERY HAPPY IN CLOUD NINE.

This is a seriously cool build by Mike Losh of Sloshtubz




The band going for it.




That's it for tonight folks, bed time now, up at 05.00 to get to Margate for an early morning lecture.

[Palf70Step]

Really enjoying the pictures and your guys view of our country. Nice to see it from a different set of eyes!

[mjh1965]

First I would like to thank everybody for there generosity and kindness . You guys made my trip and my 50th a trip of a lifetime .

Unfortunately I have been really busy as soon as I got back . My photo bucket has been playing up so Rian has already started loading trip pictures .


Here's some from the hot rod shop we stopped at on the first day . What a way to start a trip . Scot and John both good guys .

[mjh1965]

Just thought I'd post some of my photos of the junkyard , its very hard to take photos when you are junk drunk. I could have stayed in this place for the complete trip and still not seen everything . All I can say is THANKS CLEM !!!!!!



















Once again thanks Clem. I think what made it such an awesome day was we were all like kids again running around not knowing what to look at first . Best of all it was with a great bunch of people .

[Ta2Don]

Bunch of great kids!!!

Hanging and being Junk Drunk with this bunch... PRICELESS

[disasterbus]

Originally Posted by mjh1965

now that's rather nice!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by disasterbus

now that's rather nice!

All of their work is rather nice.


After an early start for the day out on the farm, then the afternoon drinking, dancing, partying and eating, Clem, Kim, Bomp (Greg) McMurphy (Michael) Martin and myself went uptown to Clem and Kim's house where most of us were staying (McMurphy was booked into a local hotel)

Kim went to bed by Midnight, but Clem had other ideas.........

Break out the Redbreast Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey over ice, some red skinned roasted peanuts in a large shop style dispenses and massive jar of Kim's Home made Choc Brownies....... Ohhhh, and open up the full sized pool table.

Everyone was expected to wear a Fedora hat to play.

I will just say, Play continued till much later.

Photo courtesy of Bomp (Greg, who had travelled from Kaiser, Oregon)



Sunday morning wake up call came all too soon, as Clem had another treat up his sleeve for a bunch of us.

Breakfast being prepared by Clem and Kim. She is an absolute whizz at the stove and baking.



We were joined by more couples from the previous evening, and soon it was another party in the kitchen.

Once everyone had eaten, we all decamped back down to the Fuel station/workshop to collect Pete and Jeff, then we went of to Siloam Springs where Mike Losh of Slosh Tubz fame and previous SEMA Build winner was working on Boosted Bertha his 2015 build for SEMA. Clem had some the Bed Wood and a load of other tasks for him.

We were all going to help, mainly just loads of extra hands, cleaning, prepping and helping lift the bed off etc.

Of course also to drool of their magnificent build.

Before we went, I looked over this chassis and motor that Clem had done for a customer build. Rather special, fortunately he has a small elite team working with him.




On the Saturday Bomp had also taken this pic of the forum members from www.67-72chevytrucks.com who were present at the party.





Master of the Selfie, Bomp.



Some random pics.




Mike and Bomp



How low does it go?





Mike and Clem sorting out placement of the wood.



This truck is incredible trick.

There is not a part that has not been modded, massaged, painted or polished.

The headlights have been specially built for the truck too.

Note the writing on the inside of the lense.



And then all hell breaks loose....... Red will look awesome once fitted.



One of the things that happens when you are involved in a hobby, forums etc like this one, is that you end up meeting loads of "normal" people who live extraordinary lives and create products and builds we can only dream of.
But ultimately, they are only human, and if you treat them that way, they will amaze you with their generosity of spirit.

While we were there, we spoke to Mike and mentioned that we were going to swing by Gas Monkey Garage and also go look for a bBurger or something to eat on Martin's Birthday the 26th of October. Mike had previously supplied some of his Slosh Tubz to thenFast and Loud crew for a build, and his truck Cloud Nine had also featured in the programme.

Do you guys want to see if we can get you in behind the scenes he dropped in conversation.....

Hell yeah!!!

So he said that he would ask his wife Sarah, to see what she could get arranged for us.

This Road Trip had suddenly stepped up a couple of notches.

We met Sarah later and gave her one of the hoodies that I had bought through the year. She is tiny, so it will be used when she watches Downton Abbey.

DOWNTON ABBEY......? Yes, the Americans love it. As a bonus, Martin has also been able to sort out something for her.

Later the afternoon she confirmed that we were going to enjoy our visit to Gas Monkey garage.


Mike and Sarah Losh of Slosh Tubz fame with Martin and Myself.



Our day spent with Mike and a whole gang of amazing builders would and will be another high light of the trip.


In the late afternoon we said our good byes as Clem had another surprise for us.........

Dinner with his and Kim's friends Dick and Dorrie Sedon on their ranch.

Dorrie and her daughter breed high end, award winning Arabians.

Dick has a mind blowing collection of all sorts, I really do not know how to describe it all. From Sabres, Spurs, swords, revolvers, muskets, saddles, Bowie knives and guitars to smoking pipes and cars. The man had worked hard all his life and collected stuff he likes.

We got to spend time looking, and I will post only three photos, I just cannot load all the photos I took of the stuff that just interested me.

As often is the case, not everything is everyone's cuppa tea, so scroll past if you get bored.

Dick and Clem in the "museum house"



One I could not stop touching.




And what I call a Knife.





That is all for tonight, up early tomorrow.

[flashed]

My wife wondered what those headlights were .

[Ta2Don]

Already looking forward to the next installment...

[Bomp]

You sure do know how to throw a 50th b day party. Nice getting to meet you.

[Low Elco]

More! More!

[mjh1965]

Originally Posted by flashed

My wife wondered what those headlights were .

If you are talking about Mike's he had them made

[flashed]

Yes ,that's the ones I was talking about ,I have been sharing this thread with her.

[Grizz1963]

I thought I would post up a real time photo that just surfaced on my Fartsbook feed, from SEMA in Las Vegas.

Boosted Bertha as she stands right now.

Dream to reality.

It has been an incredibly challenging build for Mike Losh and the team he had assembled, with many broken promises and contracts, but he made it.





Back to the report if anyone is still reading the words and not just scanning photos.

I may have overdone on the photos a bit, but love them myself.

So Sunday night when we got back in from Dick and Dorrie's Ranch, the pool table was again opened and some play ensued with refreshments over ice.

At some point we all went to bed, as Clem needed to be up at 05.00 for work and to open the shop, and Kim needed to get out for work.

Martin and I got up, packed up and locked up, then hit the road for Kansas City where we were headed to LMC Truck to collect our orders, mine at around $700.00 and Martin's around $400.00

The road was filled with America, much to be seen and at one point we stopped to buy fuel and also got a Walmart special drink....... A cup of Dr Pepper for me and Diet Coke for Martin at 88cents for any size, so we bought the large, which must be around 1500ml or 1.5 litre.
Perfect.




Eventually with all our stops etc, we made it to LMC by about 13.00 or 1pm.

This is the front of the parts collection showroom.




Paid for the parts, and they threw in a free T shirt each as we had travelled so far to collect.



From there we went down to Winfield, Kansas to meet up with friend Herb John and his wife Luz, who I have known for years through www.garagejournal.com

We chose to avoid motorways again, knowing the route was longer but a whole lot more interesting.

Driving along, we drove into the aptly named El Dorado..........

And did a dangerous U-Turn to go back to an old run down street corner shop that was immensely interesting from the street, the front windows filled to the max on both street sides with old Skool Hot Rods.

Parking up, we went in the side door and met up with a bunch of young guys all chewing baccy, spitting and chawing their lumps.

Interesting.

The front showroom was filled with cars of all descriptions, V8's everywhere, Superchargers, twin V8's on a "Coffin car" and loads of skulls everywhere.

But weirdest of all, was that the massive workshop housed about seven, that is 7 Hummers, full size, of all descriptions, some on 22" wheels, some more modest 20's

These were being fitted with modified diesel Duramax engines, one in the shop that they happily demonstrated for us, kicking out a Dyno'd 1500bhp.

Just insane...... But we were in El Dorado after all.

Martin got chatting to the one guy building Harley's in there (he is a Harley guy) and I went into the basement with on of the other guys.

What I saw, defies belief..... The term high end hoarder springs to mind.

Cars described as one of only two, the only one ever built and other weirdness cam into view, there were no lights like in a showroom, so I really could only look, tried photographing, but it failed miserably.


I will post a couple of pics from the El Dorado shop later.

Dinner time now.

[Bomp]

I'll be here waiting for after dinner pics.

[mjh1965]

Sorry Greg but my photo bucket has overloaded so I need to set up another account as you may have noticed my pictures are no longer on show .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Bomp

I'll be here waiting for after dinner pics.

Sorry mate, took a bit longer.

Just down the road from Clem's place when we left.

I love this sort of art.





Some of El Dorados cars
Owned by this man.


















After Eldorado, we drove down to Winfield, Kansas to stay over with Herb and Luz.

Unfortunately, I took a load of photos with my regular camera, and need to get them into a smaller format so that I can upload and post up here.

So this will be all for tonight.

Last photos just to remind you where we made it to after Kansas City.

[mjh1965]

Well I have paid photo bucket to upgrade my account so back online posting pictures . Here are a couple of my pictures of El dorado cars

[Palf70Step]

I like that art also. You guys found some really kool spots. Enjoying the photo recap of your trip.

[Bomp]

Next time you make it to the states, I'd like to ride with you, I'll even chip in for gas. lol

[mjh1965]

Originally Posted by Bomp

Next time you make it to the states, I'd like to ride with you, I'll even chip in for gas. lol

It would be a pleasure to have you ride along with us Greg

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by mjh1965

It would be a pleasure to have you ride along with us Greg

What he said Greg. ^^^^

But you may be doing a lot of the driving.

Here is a Duramax being abused.

http://youtu.be/ZEMDqY37tJw

I did enjoy seeing and hearing them in the cities, being driven hard.

[Grizz1963]

So, where were we....???

Aaahhh yes, had left El Dorado, headed from Winfield, Kansas.

Got to Herbs ranch in the early evening as we were still using back roads to avoid the dead boredom of bombing along straight motorways.

Pic taken earlier the day, mainly for all the fans of "Big Bang Theory"



Another random image, out of context and sequence, but really good food and value we had one evening on the road (possibly in Texas)



Another one of my traditionally favourite views.... School busses.

We did see one short bus. I liked it.



When we got to Herbs it was unpack, relax and just take in all of his "hoarding" and collecting.

He is a lover of old Americana, and his special interest is Coca Cola items, he showed us a couple of items that I believe could be off the scale for collectibility and rarity, which I will not post up here.

But it was incredibly cool to meet a buddy I have known for years via Garagejournal.com who lives with his wife who tollerates his treasures.

Later Luz came from her classes she had been teaching and served us a traditional dinner that her mum had prepared for their guests. Perfect way to end the evening.

We crashed out and went to sleep as we had probably averaged under 4hrs per night since we left the UK, next morning Luz made us pancakes for breakfast and rather spectacular coffee.

Then we went out to see Herbs little shop.

On an American scale, I would say it is large, in fact, very large..... On a British scale..... Well, just stupidly big.

The new big shed...... It's the second time he has had it built, and enlarged it after having real problems with the first build.

It is deceptive as there is another shop diagonally around the rear too.



The little shop. Home to his Hearse, Beach Buggy, VW Beetle and other treasures was first.

HEAVEN !!!!!



The hearse, currently undergoing restoration. I took him some old Funeral company side plates that would go in the side window as advertising to add to the composition.



There were so many treasures to behold, so again, I guess I got a bit "junk drunk" except nothing Herb has is really junk.

Perfect nest boxes for the Blue Tits that nest at my garage every year, guess I will have to make some. Herb did offer me one, whichnImdeclined due to my ever increasing load of spares and treasures.



These 4 foot high Chickens are made in Mexico and sold in various places, Imwould so love to have one here at home. Just because I can.



No petrol head worth his spanners would say no to this selection and shelving unit, again a treasure Herb would have snagged up at an auction somewhere.



To close this posting out with, in order to keep Volkszone happy with the 10 photo limit...... Per posting.

A real issued number plate/tag.

If you are religious it is interesting having these two messages together.

Herb, like me collects number plates too, and it was interesting recognising South African and English plates I had sent him in the past.




More in a bit.

Time for a coffee

[mjh1965]

Well as Rian was looking at the hearse due to Nicola working at an undertakers , I was interested in the vehicles outside .

Here are some of my pictures











And now for the treasures inside













So another great day was over head junk drunk again with more to come