Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!

[flashed]

Oscar was a very cute baby and that Ford is just plain Bad Ass .

[Grizz1963]

I am sorry to start this report with some sad news......

Remember the donkeys at Phils place?

The smaller one of the two, Jenny, died on Sunday, after trying for hours, the vet lost her.

Such a sweet animal, she certainly captured,my heart instantly with her insistent attention seeking and love giving.

Now she is in donkey heaven.



Another random pic from a pawn shop, not sure if I posted it before.




Right, so we had a good nights sleep, got up early and headed out by 08.00

The rental car again told us it needed attention.

We also knew the front tyres were at the wrong side of legal..... So Martin was freaking out every mile we drove, rightfully.

Then when we left Clem's the one brake light was out as well..



So we got to Don's new part time job at O'Reilly's and he opened up while Martin and I went down to SONIC for breakfast Burritos

I was cynical, but man, they were silly good.



After breakfast, Martin bought some more parts for his truck, then we headed out for Little Rock.

Don prayed for us for a safe journey and I felt quite guilty leaving him behind.... This is a good friend, very good. Someone you can rely on at all times, he will always have your back.




Out on the road it was raining, traffic was not particularly heavy, being a Sunday, except for some slow traffic on roadworks sections.

Always love seeing cars being used, rather than stored up.



We decided to swing by Alamo car rental in Lttle Rock (Remember who came from there?) to see if we could exchange the Captiva for something with less issues. As we had changed the faulty brake light lamp (seen too many movies) and the tyres were not safe, especially considering we still had a significant distance to go. As well as the fact it kept demanding an oil change.

So we got to the airport via a slight detour and reported the car in. The staff were incredibly helpful and offered us a few cars in the same class, but ever the negotiator and by being gentle and nice about it, we managed to get a decent upgrade for free. It also meant that we would not have the ski bag poking through between the front seats getting on our nerves.

The new car was a Chevy Traverse.

The 2015 Chevrolet Traverse features a 3.6-liter V6 engine that produces 281 horsepower and 266 pound-feet of torque in LT trim level.

Stepping up to the 1LT trim adds 18-inch alloy wheels, foglights, heated outside mirrors, rear parking sensors, remote ignition, an eight-way power driver seat (with two-way power lumbar), a leather-wrapped steering wheel and wood-grain interior trim. The 2LT includes all of the above and adds auto-dimming driver-side and rearview mirrors, a power liftgate, tri-zone automatic climate control, heated front seats, second-row captain's chairs (the second-row bench seat is still optional) and rear-seat audio controls and headphone jacks. You also get the MyLink infotainment interface, which includes Bluetooth audio connectivity, Internet radio app integration and new Siri Eyes Free technology.

Old and new......





I had previously posted up this pic by mistake.

The new car just swallowed up all our baggage and darkened windows meant a modicum of visual security.






With extra oomph and space we set off, also gained a full tank of fuel and returned a half tank of fuel in the Captiva..... Score!!

So we headed back onto the i30 toward Sulphur Springs where we had spent the first night.

We were also going to stop over at John's place at Texarcana to pick up a spare LED light and drop off some T-Shirts etc for his daughter.

More in a while.

[Grizz1963]

Another photo of how sorted we were.

We had already started packing stuff into the new car, red one to the left, when the lovely guy managing the floor offered us the Traverse as we had mentioned that the Ford and Jeep products in the same class were not really nice.

So all three together. Discarded Captiva out front.




Some more barn finds we discovered along the trip. These were covered up in a huge industrial building. Like everything we saw, they are for sale too.





And this beauty.





So from Little Rock, we drove down to Texarcana to meet up with John at his home.

He was busy extending and remodelling his home. The man is very very capable and handy.

So when we got there it was the usual coffee, drinks, chat and of course looking at his Chevy truck that he is currently building.

The description is directly from an email he sent me.

The engine is a fresh 355 build.
The cab is a 1981 Frame 1987, front clip 1991, engine and transmission is out of a 1994. It has a 460 lift cam. Modified the intake so I could mount a 454 throttle body, had to install different injectors as the 454 injectors to match fuel. Has a few go fast parts but kept it so I can drive it on the street. It's a 1987 R10 short wide by the paperwork. Lowered the rear a total of 9 inches. Used all the factory parts have, 3.5 inch ground force springs on the front .

The color is Flame Orange.









In the end we spent over three hours with John and his family, with me throwing toys for one of the dogs...... My kinda visit.

Martin was fascinated with all his attention to detail and obsessive precision in all he does.

It was another day that had turned even better than expected, with the generosity of spirit we had experienced throughout the trip.

Eventually we dragged ourselves away from there and hit the road for Suplhur Springs, knowing that we needed to find some add Who stuff once back in the UK for Johns daughter.

We had a fast food Chinese meal for almost no money that was filling, tasty and again had some of the staff come over to our table to chat with us.

The off o book into our massive room with two double beds......




Back where we started.

I loved these tables in the hotel.

The next day was Martin's 50th birthday.......... The main reason for the trip in a way.




So that was Sunday then.

[mjh1965]

These are some of the pictures I took at johns house .







After seeing the crinkle black paint on the intake and serpentine belt fittings . I nearly had a rethink . John's attention to detail is really good to see .

[flashed]

Sorry to hear about the death of the donkey ,never thought it possible for me to fall for our donkey that died way too soon but he was a hoot ,I miss him terribly ,he too loved attention .Im still loving your pics with the very detailed updates.

[Ta2Don]

Was a pleasure having my mates spend time here in Searcy…

Absolutely enjoy your tales of this epic adventure...

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

Sorry to hear about the death of the donkey ,never thought it possible for me to fall for our donkey that died way too soon but he was a hoot ,I miss him terribly ,he too loved attention .Im still loving your pics with the very detailed updates.

Yes, the donkeys death really was unfortunate.
Next part here for your and anyone else's pleasure Flashed, I hope there are still guys enjoying this.

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Was a pleasure having my mates spend time here in Searcy…

Absolutely enjoy your tales of this epic adventure...

Don, you are a most gracious and generous host, and your wife, Saless is incredibly tolerant of guys like Martin and I who just charged into your house and took over.

It was a pleasure sharing a bit of time with you, pity we are not neighbours, could be nice and at least then I could just quietly roll your dads old ride on mower over to my place.

[Grizz1963]

Monday 26th October.

Martin's 50th Birthday. The primary reason for this trip.

We both woke quite early, as usual.

I gave him his birthday card that I had designed and made up via FunkyPigeon.com (unfortunately no pic of that) also got him another T-Shirt with snarling Rottweilers as a reminder of his dog Bow in the UK.

Breakfast, then check out and pack up the car (with all the spares we had, we unpacked the car every night) after which we decided to go to a local Walmart down the road to pick up some provisions and for me to look for a nice hoody for Nicola. Nothing found, but we did see Gas Monkey garage T-Shirts for $7.50 and long sleeve sweatshirts for $10.00 Unfortunately not in my size. I did manage to buy Nicola a couple of Day of the Dead shirts though.

As always, Walmart was interesting, with sights you can never clear from your mind.



So this was foremost in my head as we left the car park........



Heading down the i30 toward Dallas, we had a mission........

It was after all Martin's Birthday !!!!

Some of you will know the whole story, some of you part of it and some of you may now be surprised.

When Clem took us over to Mike and Sarah Losh's place on the Sunday after his Big Party the Saturday to give a hand and generally be amazed by Boosted Bertha a few things transpired.

Remember the Pink "I Love London" hoody we gave to Sarah? Well, it turned out she is a bit of a fan of all things British, including Downton Abbey. So the hoody was immediately seconded to Downton Abbey couch wear......... For her to watch her episodes in as she is so little that even the size Large was massive on her.
Martin's was clearly taken with this tiny little fireball who is the light of Mike's life and he quickly established just how much she loved Downton Abbey.
Sneaky guy that he is, he then slipped away for a bit and called a friend in England on the mobile and found out that he could get hold of a very limited edition book for Sarah.
This was all done on the spur of the moment, and at that time with no further expectation.
While talking to her we mentioned going to Gas Monkey Garage where "Fast and Loud" is filmed to see what we could maybe see and the possibility of buying a T-Shirt, followed by an over priced burger or sandwich at the GMG Restaurant for Martin's birthday the following week on Monday.
Mike and Sarah then asked if we would like for her to see if she could us in behind the scenes, as it is actually a closed film set now, with tall fences, barbed wire and large gates...... Hell yeahhhh !!!
Later she came back and said that she had spoken to her friend who happens to be the Public Relations guy for the Fast and Loud franchise.

Were we excited...?? Stupid question really.

So we had a week to wait after leaving Slosh Tubz and Boosted Bertha, which saw us do all the stuff reported so far.

So back to the Monday morning.

We left Walmart, drove down the motorway and eventually got to Gas Monkey Garage at about 10.30am.

Parked up in the car park, wandered in, browsed the merchandise after seeing all the tall fencing outside and clearly no way of getting in.

Martin found a nice shirt to buy. (He does like a nice T-Shirt) and I saw nothing that appealed to my simple tastes.

I then went up to the pretty girls (yes, they have to be in that job) at the counter, feeling like a prize sized knob, to ask if Jonathan was there, we were expected after all.

Errrrrmmmmm,..... I will go see if he is in said the girl, disappearing into the back offices behind the merchandise shop.

She came back about 5 uncomfortable minutes later to say "Sorry, Jonathan is not here, he went out earlier to drop off some chroming that needed doing at one of our suppliers"

I WAS GUTTED !!

I think Martin standing just behind me may have peed in his pants too, I wanted to. His face was a picture of extreme pain and dejection.

So in my best pretend it is not a big thing, voice, I asked her when he would be back, and if there would be a chance we could speak to him later??

She did not know.

Then disappeared again into the back office and came back, saying she had called him on his mobile phone and that he had forgotten about us altogether.

Keep in mind, this is a business, so making money comes first.

She said that he should be back around 1.30-ish and if we wanted to come back then he would speak to us.

At this point I felt like a total idiot for thinking we would even have a chance to meet these people, especially Aaron who Martin and I both were interested in meeting, given any chance as he is a real thinking mechanic.

Yes of course we will come back later I heard myself say.

So we went out to the car park, took a couple of pics.

Note the fences and gates.....



How many hundreds of people have stood in those positions, photographing themselves or groups? Pretty sad ehhh.
Still, we were there, and it was a bit like a pilgrimage of petrol heads, so needed to be done.



While we were there Denny Hamlin's tow truck popped in as well, he currently drives the number 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. So it looks like everyone wants a cut of the Gas Monkey Garage action.

This is a full size truck.



Texas is full of these trucks, especially it seems Diesel trucks that have stupidly fast acceleration and an awesome sound.

We decided when back in the car to Google where ASM upholstery and Sue Martin was, to go take a look in there, or at least drive by, and also to look for the original Gas Monkey Garage where the Fired Up Garage crew now made their home.

When we got there, Sue was not there, so I chatted to one of the upholstery guys for a while, then Sue came in and greeted us, friendly, warmly and interested in why we had come all the way from England to check in on her shop.

She is really a lovely lady and incredibly hospitable.

She took us through the shop and showed us some of her work, seriously neat stuff, and some cool cars they were working on.

Interestingly.......... She collects car number plates, now who would have thought that?



I loved this sedan delivery they had done for a customer and asked her if I could get a pic of her next to it, to which she agreed, showing her best side.



.

After this we went to Jack in a Box for lunch.

Again, fast food, but really tasty. And all the girls spoke Spanish and were friendly.



I opted for a large burger, fries and a gallon of bottomless Dr Pepper.



While eating we watched cars, trucks and other automotive craziness pass in the street.

We sooooo live in the wrong country.


After Jack in a Box we went to look for the original Gas Monkey Garage, where Fired Up Garage now gets filmed.

Martin will be along in a while to write this up.

[mjh1965]

Here are a couple I took at sue's , she really puts her self out to talk to fans of the show , and really down to earth .





This was a job in the shop having the complete interior done




Well after dinner we took a drive around to the old Gas Monkey Garage . The gates up the side were all shut and no sign of the fired up guys , but Phillips garage at the front was all open . So I walked in and had a chat with the guy working in there . I asked it I could take some pictures he replied no problem.

This is some of the pictures I took inside








I don't know if any of you watched fired up garage , but one of the episodes had a C10 cab fall of the trailer . Well at the time I thought it was all a set up , but looking at the amount of filler (bondo) in the roof and the paintwork was really good . They had gone to a lot of trouble making it look good just to drop it off a trailer .

The cab you make your own mind up





So then onto Gas Monkey Garage .

[Grizz1963]

Have I mentioned that gas/petrol is reasonably cheap in Texas?



I had previously mentioned that full size trucks rule here, I guess then they need full size recovery trucks too.

Not sure about the pink, but a neat truck for sure.



While at lunch this truck had pulled into the car park too, of course I had to get a photo and then ended up chatting to the owner, he was headed out to SEMA the next week as well. Small world.



Everything is bigger in Texas.





So there we were, back at the shop after lunch, not knowing what Jonathan looked like was not exactly useful, as we had no idea what or who to look out for that could be returning from a job out or lunch break.

At one point the gate was slid open a few feet wide and the unmistakable sound of a V-Twin came from inside the building, the next moment a large beard, wearing a full face helmet rode through the gates and disappeared out onto the street.

I think that may have been Aaron leaving the premises.

Things were not looking good at all.

Hanging around like eager teenage groupies at a One Direction concert venue had me feeling very uneasy, and to be honest, at that point I could have left with no regrets, but then conversely, I do not often give up on stuff. So we stood around, I went inside to tell pretty girl no1 that we were back hoping to see Jonathan.

In the mean time we started chatting with a group of three guys..... Turns out they are in the textile industry and had come to an expo to advertise their wares, from South Africa. Small world as I mentioned before.

Anyway, a while later, pretty girl no1 came out of the front shop with a bearded man, not Aaron Kaufman of Gas MonkeyGarage fame, but she pointed at me, so I went over and was introduced to Jonathan. At last......
Martin came over too, and we stood outside chatting for a while about the show, our trip etc.
a Mexican family with a young boy, who had also done the pilgrimage came up and asked if they could have a photo with Jonathan. It was clear that they somehow thought he was Aaron. I think he knew this too, but did oblige happily.
Then he asked us if we would like to go inside and see a bit more of the shop and meet some of the people from the show.

HELL YEAH !!!!


So we followed him in, at which point another guy who had travelled some distance to get both Aaron' and Richard Rawlings' autographs on his two arms, after which he was going to get them tattooed in position, tried to attach himself to our little group.
With practiced ease, Jonathan told him this was just a quick private entry and led us through to the inner offices, where RR has his office, the behind the scenes guys do all the online buying of future projects etc.

It turns out that Jonathan and Aaron have been best mates since school.

So of course I ask him if it is OK to take some photos while we are inside? As I have a thread to write up on our road trip when I get back to the UK.

Carry on he says.

Incredibly patient and an obvious choice for PR man to this show which has its fair share of Prima Donna characters who all demand their fair share of attention, Jonathan is hugely informative, clearly loves the programme and what it has become himself. He realises that the show constantly needs to stretch its own boundaries and evolve as your typical car show fan can get bored quickly and the attention span, thinking of myself here, is only that long.
So as long as they can create interest with plot twists and new directions, they should stay successful.

First thing I see when we get through the offices, is this bike Aaron built a long time ago.

I really could just sit and stare, it is so different.




Then of course there is a moment for me to clown about, I do love any small motorised vehicles.






There are so many things to look at and I only took a few photos, as the discussion with Jonathan and some of the other guys including the film crew, is much more interesting to me. We meet some of them and get introduced to projects that have developed as they got deeper into this programmes DNA.

Another favourite of mine.




And a car that is just mind blowing under the skin. I think it's programme aired the week before we were in the shop.




So how many of you are still with me...??

There are a few more photos of this day, but I guess it is time to get to sleep.... Maybe tomorrow.

Thank you for looking in.

[Grizz1963]

Sometimes I really really hate technology. I use the works iPad to post these updates, but every now and then, like today, just as I get to the last bit or photo, the iPad has a hick up or brain fart and loses all you just wrote up..... An hour or more gone sometimes. As everything takes time.

Grrrrrrrrrr...!!!!


Right, we're back on track.

I am meant to be doing a load of work work, but car stuff and procrastination is so much more fun.

One of the first things that catch your eye when you walk into the massive workshop behind the offices is this oldie, but goodie.

I remember watching RR hooning around in it at arace track in one of the episodes and just hoping he would not break it or roll it.......

While we were there, speaking to Jonathan outside in the yard where a load of other future and past projects live, RR and others were busy adjusting one of the lifts legs. No idea why, but he was getting his hands dirty too.



What was interesting, meeting some of the production and film crew was that many of them were petrol heads too, and how some like Johnny had been seduced by the cars and trucks being built on the show.

So Johnny was crew and this is the truck he is busy building.

Ford, with serious wheels, power and as low as a snails willy. I do hope it gets featured at some point. Johnny was hugely interested in the 24 volt LED lights Martin and I had acquired, as every rodder looks for that something to make his/her car stand out.




Sitting quietly, brooding in one side of the shop was this Ford GT40 that GMG had recently completed.

The crew at Gas Monkey Garage teamed up with AccuAir suspension to build the lowest Ford GT40 ever for this year’s SEMA!

This updated version of the classic GT40, rests its roofline at a ridiculous 38 inches high and packs over 800bhp!

YOUTUBE LINK HERE:

https://youtu.be/2w6Qcdc_aog

JONATHAN IS THE GUY DRIVING IT. LUCKY LUCKY MAN.

He also started it up and demonstrated the Accuair ride for us once he had slithered into the black, inviting interior, I would have a problem getting in and out of it for sure. Just awesome again. The install is sooooo clean and looks factory. Everything just as a highest end buyer would want.

The car is a serious hair raising monster. The exhaust note and drone of that engine cutting through to your deepest core if you "get" cars. It is absolutely visceral and reaches out to your most primitive soul. My heart was screaming out in joy at that point. This day had already delivered so much for us. I truely felt blessed.

I cannot thank Jonathan enough for taking almost three hours out of his day to show us around and introduce us to many of the people there. I would like to believe that Martin and I contributed positively to his and the other people there's lives as well, otherwise the visit would have been a 15 minute economy tour to just "pay back" Sarah and Mike because they asked him to speak to us. This hobby is a whole lot more complex than many people realise and I guess we are all inter dependant.

Obviously, all of this is courtesy of a whole bunch of people, maybe firstly ourselves for making the effort to go out to "Mid-West" America, then the various internet Forums I frequent, the friends made over years, followed by then meeting many in person, guys like Don, Clem and Mike & Sarah Losh of Slosh Tubz for all helping us get closer to this incredible day.


Lead photo courtesy of the Internet.







We drifted in and out of the workshop, yard and various spaces over the next three, yes 3 hours.

It's amazing how time flies when you are having fun.

I think Jonathan also enjoyed our company and the fact that we were "Nickel and Dime" builders. Having to reuse, modify and often create bits to make our builds progress.
I think he was quite shocked that there is so little material, spares and the cost of importing every nut and bolt we need when they just drive down the road or overnight parts they want. So possibly a learning for him as well from us.

A Dodge Brothers panel van....... Future project, or easy flip? Who knows, at the end of the day, if you have the money, you can have the toy.



Just gorgeous, one of RR's favourites, purported to be worth a whole heap of money too. I would happily own it.



Hood ornament really says it all.



At this point Richard Rawlings came racing in on some massive fairinged Harley Davidson, music blaring and parked it, charged off into the offices and then out to the front of the yard for some photos, selfies and signing autographs and T-Shirts for fans. I just watched from a distance as mass hysteria is not my thing.
Jonathan mentioned that was how it went most days.

Martin had popped back into the workshop and grabbed a pic as he came in while I carried on chatting to Jonathan about E-Type Jaguars that they suddenly seemed to have cornered the market in, exporting them back to the UK and Europe.
There is a lot to be said for dry, warm salt free climates and winters like what the U.S. Offers, cars just survive so much better there.



Being out in the yard we were looking at many of the old projects from previous episodes and I pointed out a Ford that I had seen earlier in the day when we were outside the fences..... "Whose is that cool Ford?" I asked. Not realising it was actually his.

He proudly replied that it was his, one owner, very low mileage, and as you can see, great condition, statically dropped, with some plans for the future.

It was interesting speaking to him and some of the other guys, despite all having high powered modern cars as a convenience, they all loved their old cars, and pickup trucks ruled the roost by a very wide margin. This was after all Texas.



At this point A beard on a Buell Lightning came riding back into the yard.

Aaron was back from his lunch or possibly his other shop that he runs.

He disappeared into a side room for a while and then later came past on his way to the main offices while we carried on chatting to Johnny about his Ford truck and the Slosh Tubz he had fitted and what his ultimate plan was for the truck.



More later.

[flashed]

Wow,it just keeps getting better and better ,thanks again for taking us along.

[Grizz1963]

Right.... Part three of the Gas Monkey Garage day for Martin's birthday.

At this point I just want to share a pc Nicola sent me..... My ideal home.

The visit to Dallas and the GMG workshops reinforced the idea.
Watching "Grand Designs" on television has made me realise there are many ingenious building materials and techniques, and this plan has me thinking, a lot.




At some point we found ourselves drifting back into the workshop, chatting again to Johnny about making the programme and the way everyone always looked for ways to evolve the programme and business.

At this point Aaron came back into the workshop and came straight over to us where we were next to the Ford and control table for the recordings etc, guys moving about us with ear pieces in and getting on with their jobs, letting us just absorb it all.

Jonathan introduced us to Aaron and he was even nicer in person than he comes across on the show.
Interested in what we did at home, why we were there, he approved of our choice of trucks, engines and what we were doing to them. He asked many relevant and intelligent questions that again illustrated the way he is always gathering information and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things automotive and mechanical.

Martin managed and worked in a body shop for many years, developing his problem solving skills. He has been doing bespoke disability conversions for everyone from midgets to paraplegics and quadriplegics as well as wounded war veterans.
His day job is filled with constant challenges on how to build and adapt motor vehicles for people with all sorts of disabilities.
This was of major interest to Aaron and my head spinned as they discussed how the hand controls translated to applied energy when driven by disabled drivers.



Ever since watching Fast and Loud, I had been fascinated with the one tattoo Aaron wears as one only sees half of it at best.
You know the one I mean?
The four fork teeth sticking out from beneath his T-Shirt sleeve.

I asked him about it and he told us a story that he abbreviated to about 15 minutes, suffice it to say that he is a brilliant story teller and the story is most interesting and actually makes loads of sense.

I then asked him if he minded me taking a photo of it for this thread, to which he agreed.

So what do you see? Any ideas on the origins of the design?

Answers below please.



Aaron, Jonathan and myself, I nearly did not have the photo taken as I thought he must be so tired of the hero worship every day, but as he and Richard says, "This is what puts steak on our plates"



After a loooong chat, probably 40 minutes, he went back to work on his Harley Davidson and we carried on talking cars and trucks.

Martin started telling of a friend who has a Chevy truck with Mopar big block power and a Ford rear end.

....................... NEXT THING AARON'S TOOLS WERE DOWN AND HE WAS BACK WITH US.

HIS AUTOMOTIVE FASCINATION IS ENDLESS.

I seem to recall that there is a quote somewhere from him ( not his words verbatim) that goes something along the lines of: " I like to take something perfectly good and make it even better"

This is certainly a great motto to live by in this game.



While writing up this piece I was also looking at other interesting fact about Aaron and his history.

I found this piece on DFW.com about him, written by Cary Darling and I would suggest you click on the link and take a look as it really sumarises the man.

Aaron's story.

Author: Cary Darling. Thursday April 30th 2015

http://www.dfw.com/2015/04/29/991071...-kaufmann.html


Eventually near 5.00pm we suddenly realised that time had marched on at a serious pace and we still needed to get out of Dallas-Fort Worth area during peak traffic and make our way down to Best Western Hotel on the far side of Austin, Texas.

However, before that we needed to get to Gas Monkey Bar and Grill for a burger and to check the rest of the legend out.

So we said our goodbyes, feeling just stupidly spoiled for having had the type of opportunity very few people ever get, spending time with heroes who turned out to be incredibly nice people.

We drove to the restaurant and had a look around, sat down, beers, burger for Martin and I had a pulled Pork sandwich and fries.





Stock photo, the bar is usually packed.






Martin's head just popping into view.....




Then we hit the road for Austin.

[flashed]

Again ,cool pics and I never noticed the tattoo on Aarons arm ,have no idea what it means.

[mjh1965]

Well I better add my photos of the day .

Note the razor wire



Getting the other side of the gates was such a great way to spend my birthday . The best part was meeting Aaron , I know it's a tv show but after speaking to him in person for quite some time it's clearly obvious that he is in love with his job . I know I get a sense of satisfaction with making the things I need to do for work , but its clear that he loves a challenge .

My self and Aaron

Filming in progress



Note Mike Losh's Tubz



Aaron working on his bike



The rest of the court yard







Then I saw Christie come out of the main building so I walked over and asked if I could take a photo she said yes . Just as I was about to take the picture her phone rang . At this point I thought she would have gone back into the office . No she answered the call and told the person on the other end that she would call them back. So I got me selfie with her and said thank you .

My photo



Richards office



Yes Richard working



Best of all . After we had said our goodbyes , Aaron was riding home (note the British bike ) and I got my T-shirt I had got from the shop earlier in the day signed .



So a great day and one to remember

[mjh1965]

As Rian had said we were talking to Jonathan, after we had been speaking to Aaron. While he was back working on his bike , when heard that I was talking about my friends truck with a Mopar engine and ford axel in a Chevy truck . At this point he put down his tools walked back over to the three of us to listen . He then said if you can't impress them then shocking them is just as good .

This is the truck it's owned by Nigel who owns the motorcycle repair shop in the town I live in it took him about 4 years to build . He is putting nitrous in it over the winter as a 440 Mopar it's quick enough

[61K10]

funny, how gas-monkeys seem to think you guy's are the only ones that work on your own projects----reality at it's best.

[Ta2Don]

Cheers Mate!!!

[Bomp]

Thanks for taking the time to write up your incredible trip. I read along so intently.
Thank you.

[RockTonka]

What a great day for y'all...congrats on making it all happen!!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by 61K10

funny, how gas-monkeys seem to think you guy's are the only ones that work on your own projects----reality at it's best.

Not sure I understand your comments.

But they know most people do their own toys.

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Cheers Mate!!!

.

Originally Posted by Bomp

Thanks for taking the time to write up your incredible trip. I read along so intently.
Thank you.

Pleasure on this forum.

You do pretty well in the writing department too Greg.

Originally Posted by RockTonka

What a great day for y'all...congrats on making it all happen!!

Thank you Phil.

Originally Posted by Bomp

Following along, glad to see your back at the build. Thanks for all the pics.
I may have missed it but what was the story on Aarons tatoo?

Martin said I needed to post the reply as I am the one with the photos and story telling.
I was also the one who asked about the tattoo and photographed it, because I am just like that

So in the simplest form of reducing a 15 minute, highly amusing story from Aaron......... Here goes.

Pitch fork Arrow.....

It was no15 on a list of things the world needs.

Aaron had received a 4 page letter with attached diagrams of 15 things the world needed, he ran through a few of them for us there in the shop.

He is a brilliant, and funny story teller.

So for instance number two on the list with engineers drawing attached was a Crystal pool ball, and a Lazer pointed pool stick. Thus you could see where your ball would hit the ball to be pocketed, making the game much more accurate.

The list went on and still he did no tell us exactly what the arrow meant.

At number 15 was this drawing of the Pitch Fork Arrow and it just got him right in the funny bone, so no real explanation, but if I recall correctly, it also featured on his Pikes Peak car. He had the tattoo done at some point and I am sure that for guys like me, it will always be another highlight of a good day spent with some amazingly nice and talented people.



I guess the final chapter of the story was when Aaron told us that the list and letter had actually been sent to to him by a registered, trained mental health nurse in the U.S.


The story was crazy but massively amusing.


Hope that helps for those who were interested.

[Grizz1963]

I trust there are still a few of you around to watch the culmination of this trip.

We made it to our hotel late evening on the Monday, tired, really not in the mood for checking in with hassles and had to pay $100.00 deposit on our room at the Best Western outside Austin. This was the first and only time we had to pay a deposit on a room. Guess being foreigners was being held against us by the check in lady who was "American" with a heavy accent and no sense of humour.

Unpacked the car, crashed and had a good night compared to some of the nights to date.

Next morning it was breakfast and then we were off to Leander, outside of Austin to meet up with Bret Johnston another Chevy truck and multiple multi skilled guy.

He had made Nicola the most awesome turned wood rocket for Christmas last year.

Despite being a long way out of our way, Bret and wife Jennifer along with their kids were on our list of "Must do's" due to multiple shared hobbies and just because they are amazingly nice people. We had a load of Lego stuff to deliver as well.......

Before we left the hotel, I photographed a transporter with amongst other a Datsun 240Z and an early Trans Am.

I also saw this train and had to get a photo, to me it is quintessentially Texan.



We drove off through late morning traffic and both commented on how nice it would be to live around here. If only we had a job and prospects.

When we got to Bret's dads place where the family were living until their new home is completed, the first thing was swapping out prezzies, T-Shirts and Lego for Bret and his family, truck models and some super cool Hotwheels toys for Martin and I.

Then we had a cuppa English Tetleys tea, something we missed most days, seems we got Bret hooked on it as well.

His dad is an amazing engineer and artisan, so we looked at and were amazed at some of his engineering, the way his workshop was put together , clearly where Bret learned his skills from.

Then the first highlight of the day......... His dad's old truck that his sister had used to university till she got tired of it, now it had Bret's name on it.
Spotless, original...... Just gorgeous.



At this point my $100.00 indicator switchgear came out too, remember the part I ordered after buying the steering column from Clem?

And this reminded us that we needed to use some of Bret's dads tools, including the band saw to trim the packaging of the bed strips and side mouldings down to as close as possible to 2.0 meters. As that was the size of oversized baggage that was permitted on the plane.

So we proceeded to dismantle and cut down to size all the packaging and bracing.





Amazing how a Sawzall will make quick work of stuff.



once all that was done, we locked up and left for his mum in law Gladys' place some distance away.

There was more to do and see, seems this day was turning into yet another highlight.

So we drove out to where she lives. Love the entrances to American housing estates, where space is just not a problem.

This was parked on the same estate as his mum in law, Gladys lives.

Patina look on the outside, but all modern brutal business on the underside. Seems the owner has some other toys too.





That's a hood ornament.



Notice also the flying pig hanging from the rear view mirror.




We drove past many estates like this one with impressive entrances and open blue skies.




Anyway, we eventually made it to Bret's mum I laws home where Bret owns some of the garages. The main house had two massive garages, and then there was this bank of garages to the side that housed a load of cars, tools and some storage space.

Did I mention I would love to live in the USA successfully?

More in a while.

[flashed]

Im still with you ,love the old Studebaker truck ,train and everything else .

[Palf70Step]

Waiting for moire!

[clemdaddy]

i love reading about the exploits that you guys had, mainly because it seems like you're still here.

you know, martins 51st birthday is a great excuse to come back.

till then...