Thread: '51 suburban school bus to show burb

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Originally Posted by Jack F

Great story, great work, great people. What else can I say.

Jack.

Thanks Jack, glad you liked it all... they were a nice couple to build for, known they for years as Dave and me worked together for many years...

Originally Posted by RichB

What a great vision for the finished product, the owners have to
be thrilled!

your retired my A#% ! LOL

Love the steering wheel, looks like the original except the center
hub is shaped different ?

Rich

Ha Ha, I am retired but it seems i work more now than i did when i "worked"... but working at something you really love isn't work i guess... The steer wheel came about because we had did some work on a '56 chevy truck putting in Mll front end and new steering column and the steering wheel came off the '56 and when the owner of the suburban saw it he liked it better than the stock one that came on the '51 so i just bought a new one and painted it to match the body color... i like it a lot better too..the center is a stock '56 piece

Originally Posted by cffisher

Great story and great coverage (pictures) Every one should be happy with the results..

Thanks so much, glad you liked it and no one was more thrilled than me...

Originally Posted by Whiplash23T

Wow.... you bloody liar.... how the hell did you sleep straight in bed at night..... Congratulations on not only an amazing build..... but in pulling off a grand surprise for the unexpected owners.... That vehicle sets the standard very high for others to meet and also shows that a ugly duckling can be turned into a very beautiful swan for all others the enjoy looking at. On a another note, proves to others that you can operate a small Hot Rod business in a small off the beaten track village and still turn out an outstanding show winning vehicle. Yes I did a goggle earth search to see where Shingle Springs is and was interested to find you ain't to far from where a friend of mine lives at Eldorado Valley. Thank you so much for the story and the photos of the build, I really appreciated and enjoyed the journey.

Mark, i didn't sleep well kept waking up in cold sweats.. and yes for an ugly duckling it came out much, much better than i had hoped for... It just kind of took on a life of it's own.. i've seen some great cars and truck come out of one car garages before, it's not have you have to build in it's how you go about it and have a vision for whats at the end... course a money doesn't hurt either... now go back and look at google earth and find sparrow lane third house on right ... your friend does he live in El Dorado Hills CA. Eldorado valley is a road in NV. also do you know a hot rod builder there in New Zealand by the name of Geoff Mitford Taylor?? I've know him for a long time meet him when he worked for Dan Fink in Hunt. Beach Ca. Just saw him again in June at the L.A. Roadster Shows, he was over check in on some old friends... had been years since i had seen him last...

Wayne, sorry I did get it wrong and now that I have looked again, heck he doesn't live far from you. His name is Bob and lives just off highway 49 south of ElDorado Village and he drives a 427 cu.in, SBC '23 T Track Roadster. He, like me is a full time care giver to his elderly Father, me, my Mum, so only manages to get out briefly for the occasional drive in at local eateries as far as Placerville. I personally don't know Geoff but he is well known and respected rodder here in NZ. He has set up home again in his home city of Napier which is approximately a 6 hour drive from home here. His club organize a excellent weekend run once a year where they have managed to get several well known American Rodders over for the weekend party, Billy Gibbon from ZZ top one of them. He has produced some awesome cars and I know I should be able to tell you his latest but the old grey matter in my head refuses to work at the moment.
Again, thanks for taking the time to post the story and all the pictures of a very nice vehicle and I'm sure the satisfaction you got from seeing the owners faces at that first sho was well worth all that work, congratulations on a fine build Wayne.

I bet that was an awesome feeling to get the burb delivered to the show and have time to spare so to speak! That is awesome! Congrats and you guys did a kick azz job on that build!!!

Originally Posted by Whiplash23T

Wayne, sorry I did get it wrong and now that I have looked again, heck he doesn't live far from you. His name is Bob and lives just off highway 49 south of ElDorado Village and he drives a 427 cu.in, SBC '23 T Track Roadster. He, like me is a full time care giver to his elderly Father, me, my Mum, so only manages to get out briefly for the occasional drive in at local eateries as far as Placerville. I personally don't know Geoff but he is well known and respected rodder here in NZ. He has set up home again in his home city of Napier which is approximately a 6 hour drive from home here. His club organize a excellent weekend run once a year where they have managed to get several well known American Rodders over for the weekend party, Billy Gibbon from ZZ top one of them. He has produced some awesome cars and I know I should be able to tell you his latest but the old grey matter in my head refuses to work at the moment.
Again, thanks for taking the time to post the story and all the pictures of a very nice vehicle and I'm sure the satisfaction you got from seeing the owners faces at that first sho was well worth all that work, congratulations on a fine build Wayne.

Mark glad you and all the guys who saw it like it. And it was a great feeling seeing them almost wet them selfs when they knew it was theirs. Would love to meet you friend Bob so when you talk to him again maybe you can find out what show he'll be going to and i'll look for him... know a little about the care of mom and dad just thankful there are people like you and him to do it..and if you do ever get the chance to meet Geoff tell him i said hi...

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

I bet that was an awesome feeling to get the burb delivered to the show and have time to spare so to speak! That is awesome! Congrats and you guys did a kick azz job on that build!!!

Ryan yes it was quite the feeling, made the whole year of hard work worth it for just those few minutes of joy at the show... for them the feeling still hasn't gone away.. got a call from Dave the owner today telling me they just shot it todayfor Street Trucks magazine to come out sometime soon..

That's awesome! Tell them congrats from us would ya?

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

That's awesome! Tell them congrats from us would ya?

Ok will do.... he wanted to talk about it so much i couldn't get him off the phone.. ha

Hey Wayne, just reading Ryan's thread about his '40 Tudor and noticed that you had posted some interior photos of the Sub showing the woodgrain work, absolutely stunning. I don't think you mentioned who is responsible for the excellent upholstery job but I must say, the more one studies the car the more detail one notices, eg. the embroidered picture of the Sub in the floor mats. amazing. It wasn't another Kiwi by the name Goodwin who was the Trimmer ?

Originally Posted by Whiplash23T

Hey Wayne, just reading Ryan's thread about his '40 Tudor and noticed that you had posted some interior photos of the Sub showing the woodgrain work, absolutely stunning. I don't think you mentioned who is responsible for the excellent upholstery job but I must say, the more one studies the car the more detail one notices, eg. the embroidered picture of the Sub in the floor mats. amazing. It wasn't another Kiwi by the name Goodwin who was the Trimmer ?

Yes Mark the dash and window moldings really help make the inside of the suburban look great.. That was my pin stripper friend in So. Calif. who came up with that and i just went along for the ride...he had just learned it from an pin stripper who was getting ready to give it up and retire and Phill wanted to try and keep the art of wood graining alive. Please check out some more of his work if you would like at WHETSTONE / MIRACLE DESIGN whetstone/miracle design should come up, just click on that and you'll see his web site.. also you can type his name in on Pin head lounge and see some of his stuff...
No sorry it was another Kiwi but a guy here in town that does upholstery on the side... he's done at least 5 jobs for me and they all come out great.. his name is Shawn Patterson and lives here in Placerville ca... the floor mats were a nice touch and something he wanted to do for the owners... hate to put your feet on them..
Thanks again for the kind words and taking the time to really look the thing over.. i took almost 1000 pictures of the build but could only post so many without hijacking the whole site...