www.ridetech.com
812-482-2932
The Original Air Suspension Company...Since1996 Air Ride Technologies president Bret Voelkel’s 1970 Mustang launched the company in 1996. Now as RideTech, we manufacture a complete line of premium coil-overs, control arms, and suspension systems
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
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FEATURES
DEPARTMENTS 6
On the Throttle
8
Out of the Groove
18
Tubbed Life
22
ProRender
24
ProNography
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COVER CAR
FRESH PICKED Tommy & Joy Pfister’s citrusy-sweet ’67 Camaro RS is so deliciously smooth, it’ll make your mouth water! by Toby Brooks
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FEATURE CAR
CORN-FED COOL Terry Ciesla’s incredible blown 1955 Chevy is an E-85-fueled Shoebox full of awesome
STAFF
by Toby Brooks
PUBLICATION
Toby & Christi Brooks....................................Publishers Taye Brooks.................................................Contributor John Baechtel..............................................Contributor Shawn Brereton............................................Contributor Michael Scheuren........................................Contributor Brian Stupski................................................Contributor Christopher Ellis.........................Director of Advertising Jerry Whitworth................................Visual Media Editor
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ART
Toby Brooks.................................................Art Director
PROJECT CAR
BILLET PERFECTION
Project aPocalypSe Horse gets some new Visner Engine Development goodies as chassis fabrication wraps up at Virginia Rod Company by Toby Brooks
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TUBBED represents a new era in automotive print magazines. We are actively growing the brand and eager to help promote business that support the incurable condition of pro street in the blood. Contact Christopher at 636.856.4362 today to find out just how affordable new media can be!
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HOT EVENTS
HAND PICKED
TUBBED shares the tales of win and the tales of woe of choosing and using a professional shop by Toby Brooks
ON THE COVER
We saw Tommy & Joy Pfister’s awesome retina-burning citrus Camaro for four football fields away at the Street Machine Nationals and just KNEW it was TUBBED material. Once we finally got to it, our suspicions were confirmed. Elsewhere in this issue, we actually HEARD Terry Ciesla’s 1955 Chevy before we saw it, but this similarly bright Bowtie had all the right stuff, too. Toby Brooks photos. TUBBED Magazine is published six times per year by Chaplain Publishing, a division of NiTROhype Creative, 3104 CR 7520, Lubbock, Texas, 79423, phone 806.781.8482. Contents may not be reproduced without consent of the copyright owner. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means electronically or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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TUBBED Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, articles, photographs, or artwork. To submit information, photos, or stories or for advertising inquiries please contact TUBBED Magazine at 806.781.8482, via email at admin@tubbedmagazine.com, or via the TUBBED Magazine website at www.tubbedmagazine.com.
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Throttl
ON THE TOBY
BROOKS
WHO GETS THE CREDIT?
T
he resurgence in pro street’s popularity these past few years has been nothing short of remarkable. What was not too long ago considered as tired and out of style as disco and bell bottoms has become the flavor of the month once again with all the mags stepping all over each other to take credit for it. What’s laughable is that those same self-important publications were the very same rags celebrating the death of pro street not so long ago. When I first started researching my book, Sensory Overload: Hot Cars, Cool Builders, and Wild Times at the Street Machine Nationals, it was 2010. I hadn’t turned a wrench on a pro street car since I lived at home with my parents in high school. I had never owned a pro street car of my own. But I knew one thing: I was going to do everything in my power to re-start the Street Machine Nationals in DuQuoin and try my best to usher in a new era for pro street. I spent three whole years researching my book, talking to builders from all over the world. I tracked down retired police officers, security guards, and even bikini contest winners to get their take. I purchased every back issue of Hot Rod, Popular Hot Rodding, and Car Craft from 1977 through 1998, the years the show existed. I flew across the country on more than one occasion to talk to show promoters in the hopes of getting the Nats back. And finally it happened. That 2013 show was something special. The Legends of Pro Street were out in force. Fat tired cars from multiple states showed up in droves. The weekend—especially Saturday—reminded participants and spectators alike of days gone by. In a word, it was incredible. At the same time, authoring the book had fueled me with new found enthusiasm for pro street, so
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I launched TUBBED online only that spring. With no budget any only owner-supplied photos, we set off on a new adventure to recapture the golden age of big-tired cars in the mags. Since that time, the genre has continued to grow. My pal Jerry Gary’s Pro Street Era Facebook group was born and has served to connect pro street enthusiasts in a way never before possible. Jerry is as humble and kind hearted as humanly possible and he’d never insist on getting any credit, but his page is undoubtedly a source of good in the pro street world. Other entities has since cropped up, too, claiming to have cornered the market on the new pro street movement. But here’s the deal: as hard as I have tried and worked to help, as much as Jerry has done to help, and as much or as little as others who seem to relish the spotlight might love to claim it, there’s really ony one person to give the credit to... You. If you’re reading this, you’re on Team Pro Street. You’re probably a card-carrying member of the National Pro Street Association. You probably had, have, and/or want a pro street car. Heck, you might even be a Legend of Pro Street who helped send the thing into orbit the first go’round. Regardless, it exists because YOU think it is cool...because YOU’RE building/showing/racing and otherwise loving a pro street ride. And if it is anything like last time, you’ll still be doing all those things long after all the other magazines claim it is dead again. It’s been said that there’s no limit to what we can accomplish if no one cares who gets the credit. I mostly agree with that, but this issue I’ll take exception. Thanks to you for ushering in the Second Coming of Pro Street!
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Groove
OUT OF THE
READERS’ RIDES
W
e are working on ways of streamlining our process to submit your rides for our “Out of the Groove” column, but for now, to be considered, each of these owners had to submit their photos and info to our submission address at rides@tubbedmagazine.com. Just like last issue, we enjoyed them all, some have much larger photos than others. It isn’t personal...we simply included the high resolution pics in larger sizes but had to keep the lowerresolution pictures smaller so that they would print properly. Regardless, we hope you’ll enjoy! All photos provided.
Have other cool rides we should feature? Share them on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/tubbedmagazine!
RICK
BRUCE
Chase
FRANKFORD, DELAWARE 1976 Chevy Nova
This two-owner (Bruce’s dad bought it new and sold it to him in 1979) is almost entirely owner and buddy built and features a mildly warmed small block crate engine, a narrowed 12bolt, and a set of Torque Thrust IIs.
Serino
NORTHWOOD, NEW HAMPSHIRE 1986 F150 Ford Pickup Serino’s alternative fat-tire body style is a stepside Ford pickup that he has treated to a Lexus white paint job with black and charcoal Peter Knewell flames, a blacked out billet grille, and matching Weld wheels. The fat Mickey Thompson tires are roasted by the power supplied from a Paxton-blown 320 with a 150-shot of juice just for fun. Inside, a 1600watt Polk Audio system is commanded by a dash-mounted iPad in the center that has been flanked by a flat panel CarPuter monitor on the passenger side.
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Groove
OUT OF THE
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READERS’ RIDES
ANTHONY & BRIDGETT PLAINFIELD, ILLINOIS 1968 Chevy Nova SS
Marchetti
The Marchetti’s have had this wicked flamed Nova for about four years, and during that time they have equipped it with a 396 big block and a built TH350 trans along with a narrowed 9-inch rear and a killer black-n-flames paint job. “We continue to build it a little more each year,” Anthony said. Don’t we all brother...don’t we all!
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Shank
JAMES
BUNKER HILL, WEST VIRGINIA 1969 VW Beetle Okay, we’ve seen a lot of things pro streeted in our day, but a tubbed ans small blockpowered VW Bug is certainly not one of your more common tratments. For that matter, a Punch Buggy with a cowl induction hood with a custom grille is on the list of stuff we’ve NEVER seen before. The 406 ci mouse pushes around 600 horses, while the massive Hoosier Quick Time Pros and 15x14-inch M/T ET Pro5 wheels provide the hook. The car has run a bes of 9.87 at 137 mph in the quarter in what must have been a hairy ride considering the 36-inch (give or take) wheelbase. We love it, James!
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READERS’ RIDES
Stevens
JEFF
LUCAS, OHIO 1964 Chevy II
This cool little Deuce sports a full roller 377 small block and a ChassisWorks 4-link with a narrowed 9-inch Ford rearend. The Weld RodLite wheels complement the gold and white paint nicely. “This car is not all show...there is a lot of go,” Stevens said.
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Wales
JOHN
FRANKLIN, INDIANA 1977 Chevy Cosworth Vega
This cool little Vega packs a lot of punch in quite a small package. Starting with the exterior, a ’71 doghouse with stretched front fenders was installed. Out back, the factory rear quarters have been treated to stretched wheel openings, while a fabricated aluminum wing has been partnered with a ’71 rear bumper, C5 Corvette tail lamps, wheelie bars, and a single drage ’chute for a custom look. The satin black paint has been adorned with a white Yenko tribute stripe, all complimenting the big-n-little Weld Wheels/Mickey Thompson tires combo. Power for the beast comes from a supercharged 468 big block with aluminum heads and a Nitrous Oxide Systems fogger kit. “The original build was performed by Danny Mercantini with newer modifications and updates by me,” Wales said. We’re a sucker for a cool Vega around these parts, and this has all the right parts in all the right places!
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BOB
Williams
FRANKLIN, INDIANA 1969 Dodge Dart
This issue’s only work in progress, Bob Williams’ Dart has come a long way. “I didn’t start with much,” Williams said. “It was in bad shape.” The car is now rust-free with tons of custom touches. The 360 Magnum engine features fuel injection and a pair of fabricated valve covers among tons of other high performance stuff. Billet Specialties wheels and M/T tires handle the rolling stock. We can’t wait to see the finished product, Bob!
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TUBBED
Life
WHEN DID
HOT RODDING BECOME HIP HOP?
T
hink back to your first memorable experience that set your fate as a “car guy.” Don’t let nostalgia sway you, just blurt it out. Just roll with the first one that comes to mind. I’d be willing to bet that it had nothing at all to do with what anyone else thought of you. Taking that a yep further, I’d sweeten that bet by adding that it had nothing to do with fame or money. While one or two of you may have thought about the guy with the bitchin’ ride in your hometown that got all of the girls or that every other guy wanted to be, that seems pretty normal, and had nothing to do with defining just who you were. It started with the car, right? Along that patch of blacktop we all travel on our way to becoming full-fledged car guys (and gals), we all get a taste of the pride that comes with a thumbs-up at a stoplight, or the strangers wanting to discuss our cars and the one they had “just like it” back in the day. Ego always grows a bit to fill those freshly upholstered bucket seats, and it’s all fine if you know how to keep it in check. And if you had any car guy friends worth anything, they knew how to help you keep that in check. It’s what good friends do. It’s a family. Compare your memories to what any kid coming into what remains of the hobby today will know it as:
“Compare your memories to what any kid coming into what remains of the hobby today will know it as: A bunch of posturing and ego-driven, money-hungry, wannabe celebrities driving catalogsourced vehicles destined to provide big returns at auction. ”
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BRIAN
STUPSKI
A bunch of posturing and ego-driven, money-hungry, wannabe celebrities driving catalog-sourced vehicles destined to provide big returns at auction. In an entitlement-driven, fameis-everything era, we’re losing the real car guys and builders to a steady stream of TV stars and project managers. It’s an awful lot like Hip Hop and reality TV: just a load of “look at me” bull$hit with no redeeming value. And having already conquered reality TV, it’s not a far stretch to see the whole thing sink to a level of commercedriven stereotypes telling you what’s cool this week, and making everything so base and trend-driven that they’ll be left with little choice but to either cannibalize the damned thing or just leave it to die and move to the next. Let’s roll with the whole Hip Hop analogy. Let’s create a fictional car guy who maybe came into the scene in the late-1970s. He’s stoked about these “ProStreet” cars, and can’t get enough of the look. It becomes in his mind the right look: big, fat tires out back, a rake, skinny tires up front, and perhaps some form of induction poking though the hood. The essentials are in place. Our budding car guy is exposed to cars like Joe Ruggirello’s Mustang II or Lisk’s Challenger or Kollofsky’s ’55 Chevy (side note: Anyone else find it coincidental that all of these guys have names befitting a cool character or bad-ass cop in
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a movie?) or any other of a series of killer, pro-style bruisers. And much as any fan of what would come to be called “Hip-Hop” would have heard Grandmaster Flash or the Cold Crush Brothers early on and been drawn to it for the unique approach and the imagery it inspired in anyone outside of the Bronx, what would come to named “Pro-Street” did likewise to anyone who never cruised Woodward. While Hip Hop evolved by taking outside influences from funk and soul to new wave and even punk, Pro-Street did likewise, borrowing from Street Freaks and Street Rods and other places, always looking to raise the bar just a touch. And, like anything gaining popularity, each had a stand-out that came to be the face of the movement: Hop Hop had acts like Run DMC, and we scored with names like Sullivan, Dobbertin, Robertson, and Hay (they could play the law firm in that film idea mention earlier). And in that popularity of a select few, we can trace the evolution of each, mans see the ongoing influences applied to shape just where each might head. Like anything that goes popular, there exists the danger of having it buckle under its own weight. While Pro-Street suffered from a number of ills, we could blame the decline on magazine saturation and constant
competition to be the next big thing, with cars adding more extreme power plants and detailing and so-on, that it just became a caricature of itself, and begged for something to step in and rebel against it. We wound up with Pro-Touring, which didn’t seem to heed its own warnings, and is finding itself on a similar path. As for Hip Hop, it changed from a creative ocean of experimentation and arrangement to a soul-less money farm in the 1990s (oh, the similarities between Hip Hop and Pro-Street are many, kids), and eventually a sad joke with all of the “gangsta” posturing and crunk bragging. (Side note 2: Consider that Dr. Seuss coined the phrase “crunk car” back in the 1970s, and you start to feel all lightheaded, right? Scary how that works.) Where Hip Hop and its offspring found their way into the mainstream via MTV and radio play, hot rodding was doing likewise via major events, magazines and videos. TV wouldn’t be far behind. It’s not such a far reach, then, to compare Hip Hop and Hot Rodding. Each became a pale version of its former self once television became a part of the marketing. Hell, we could take this little notion on a whole other ride, but let’s settle on
?
“It’s not such a far reach, then, to compare Hip Hop and Hot Rodding. Each became a pale version of its former self once television became a part of the marketing.”
OR
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“Only two kinds of people wear sunglasses indoors: Rock stars and a-holes. Be on the lookout for a guitar.”
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the marketing of each as being hand-in-hand harbinger of destruction for the movement. Don’t get me wrong, I get the money thing…we all need to eat. But when the problems come banging down the doors, they usually look like the fresh-from-college guys from Marketing. And when they come visiting, even the goldfish stop swimming, if you get my drift. The dollar signs flash, and it’s off to the races. On the music side, it becomes about selling the image of what Marketing thinks that it should be, with reference to moving product (as Yogurt the Wise taught us so many moons ago, the real money is in merchandising). You craft an image, and get the kids to buy into that. On the car side, it’s eerily similar: craft an image of what someone outside of the whole thing thinks it should be (based upon what the data shows will sell), and run with it, facts be damned if need be. Understanding that, it’s not so difficult to see why we had shows like Orange County Choppers or, keeping with the theme, Pimp My Ride. On one hand, you had screaming and yelling and time crunch drama because, by golly, that has to be how it is in a real shop, right? The natural outgrowth was American Hot Rod, Wrecks to Riches and their ilk. They appealed to the “behind the scenes” exclusivity gene which TV inserted into the genetic code, and never mind how skewed from reality it might be…just cash that check and find more shit to fight about. Take that a step further in the appeal to “you can sell these cars and make money!” idea, and by golly, the shows practically write themselves. I am convinced that there are but two formulas for any reality-based show: 1. The Shop as setting for drama (family, client/shop, contest, money or otherwise) formula, 2. The find it/buy it/fix it up/sell for profit/ repeat formula …each of which may be seasoned to taste by adding celebrity appearances, surprises, some form of competition, pranks or canned “tech tips” wherever holes appear in the story line. Take a long, hard look at Monster Garage and tell me it isn’t so. $hit, get a hold of a script from Lords of the Car Hoards, Unique Whips, Leepu and Pitbull, or Fast ‘N Loud, mix them all up, and I’d bet that a seven year old could put a season’s worth of shows together at random, and you’d never be able to tell the JAN/FEB
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difference. You could do likewise with any current Hip Hop video premise. It’s not about telling a story or building a cool car; it’s about who can brag the loudest. And that opens the door to really scary things, and can usher outcomes like not unlike the Lucifer Effect, as postulated by Philip Zimbardo (aka the Stanford Prison Experiment), wherein the wheels can be put into motion that make a good person do some really twisted evil things. I mean, what would the dollar amount be for you to sell out and bastardize the car hobby you love? Roll with your first instinct. That’s a lot of effing zeros, isn’t it? And that’s chump change when the Advertising Department bros get involved (and you thought that little fishie was holding still earlier? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet). And when the image consultants and writers come to play, you’ll hardly recognize yourself. It doesn’t take a lot to go from singing about your sneakers over a sampled loop to bragging about the women you slept with in the penthouse last week and how big the rims on your SUV are when the residuals roll in. And that’s where we stand today: it’s not about some guy with a cool 1970s actionmovie cop name building a kick-a-- machine that will set your synapses afire, blazing a whole new path for thought across your brain or even mashing two things together that have never been mashed before. It’s about having some money guy or project manager (at best) playing the douche (OK, sometimes it’s not a stretch for the guy. As a wise man once told me, “Only two kinds of people wear sunglasses indoors: Rock stars and a-holes. Be on the lookout for a guitar.”) and creating some filler to top with ad sales. It’s loosely connected product placement opportunities designed to make the numbers so that Trent and Blaine in the front office can keep that tee time. You don’t have the imagination or thrill of discovery involved with your entry to the hobby anymore. Instead, you have an image to play up to, and try to out-douche so that you can make your own mark and score that show. After all, it isn’t about the cars anymore, unless they’re a prop for your hoes to lean against while you pose with jewelry and assorted gold-plated handguns. While I can appreciate how anyone uninitiated into the family that is hot rodding can fall for this, you can bet your rear that I’ll be stepping into frame and doing my best to drop knowledge on Quick Mix Theory and Bill Jenkins’ Pro Stock Vega.
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Render
PRO BRIAN
STUPSKI
PROBLEM CHILD CUSTOMS STUDIO
1973 ROAD RUNNER As a fan of the marketing (and vehicles) produced by the Mopar camp in the 1960’s and ’70s, I couldn’t help but dig into my bag of tricks and bang out a Tubbed version of one of my favorite designs, a custom 1973 Road Runner. This bad-boy is the ultimate retro ride, and is a four-wheeled vision of the things going through my adolescent mind way back when... If you recall the cars from the Rapid Transit System Caravan, then you’ll get the theme at play here. Massaged metalwork and a full-on, ready-to-rumble driveline, all neatly clad in a bold color combo designed to build excitement. With a full-custom front end (bracketed by groovy throw-back ridged headlamp covers, like an early Magnum, just because) featuring a one-off grille, bumper and hood, the idea is “Menacing.” The front fenders are modified to use the ’71/’72-style wheel openings to not only better match the rears, but to help visually lower the car even more. The 8-71 blown Hemi is backed by an overdrive-equipped 5-speed (after all, it’s a driver), feeding the power to a narrowed Dana 60 spinning some big-by-wide billets (another concession to modern times, but offset by those carbs poking through the hood). A nicelyappointed, but almost stock interior keeps things rooted in the street machine world, and that paint blends some Top Banana and Vitamin C hues, just to appear healthy enough for Mom to approve, along with a nice charcoal gray to match almost any of your pants. Think of this as a nostalgic look forward, and the perfect ride to show up at your high school reunion with, if for no other reason than to show your old teachers that you can perform complex equations and know your history, even after keeping your head buried in car magazines during their classes. Brian Stupski loves singing the backmasked lyrics of ’80s glam metal at full voice, sorting his closet by color and genre, and enjoying a good sidekick cop drama. He owns and operates Problem Child Kustoms Studios in the veritable inferno of Higley, Arizona. In addition to being a skilled web developer and a recorgnized industry expert by everyone except one particularly angry and inflamed California liberal, he is one of the most sought-after automotive graphic artists in the world. While much of this bio is made up, his awesomeness and off-thecharts abilities as an artist are not. Check out PCK on Facebook, Instagram, and anywhere eloquent and expletive-laced rants are sold.
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NOT YOUR AVERAGE ’69 You’ve seen one pro street ’69 Camaro, you’ve seen ’em all, right? Wrong! Jerry Sanguinetti is no stranger to pro street Camaros, but his latest creation might just be his best yet. This killer SS sports a wicked big block with a ginormous 14/71 Blower Shop billet huffer and a BDS EFI setup. Inside, the Impala dash is super cool, and the massive hoops out back give the ride a little newschool flavor.
Nography
PRO
Nography
PRO
RAT-A-TAK Mic Sites might have started with a 1972 Chevy Cheyenne longbed that was anything BUT fast, but after treating it to a fat-tired back half and a heavily-nitroused 706-ci big block, he’s managed to plunge the hefty hauler into the mid-sevens in the quarter mile. Now that’s haulin’! You can read all about it in the December 2015 issue of RPM Magazine.
Louis Fronkier photo courtesy RPM Magazine
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FROM THE PAGES OF
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Nography
PRO
JUST PLAIN NNNNNASTY There were plenty of smooth builds, old and new, at the 2015 Street Machine Nationals, but none had the raw old-school pro street vibe working any harder than Keith O’Fallon’s sinister 1966 Corvette. The blown and nitroused big block with a classic Hilborn mechanical 4-hole injection system might not have the fuel efficiency or steady purr of a docile late-model LS, but man, is it ever reminiscent of an era gone by in pro street and Street Machine Nationals history. Coupled with a timeless matte black paint job, and it looks like it could rip your face off while sitting still. Look for a full feature just as soon as we can manage a full set of pics of this wild ride! Toby Brooks photos
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BILLET
PERFECTION
Project aPocalypSe Horse gets some new Visner Engine Development goodies as chassis fabrication wraps up at Virginia Rod Company
story by TOBY
C
hassis fab is a funny thing. It can seem like a car goes together incredibly fast for the install of the main bars and major details. However, when it comes time to install small items like brackets, mounts, and various other items necessary for completion, it can seem like progress slows substantially. While we aren’t seeing dramatic changes, Bobby Starcher at Virginia Rod Company has been chipping away so that our ride will be ready to head to paint in midDecember. Meanwhile, we turned our attention back to the engine, where Dave Visner of Visner Engine Development carved up an absolutely gorgeous 16-injector billet intake manifold complete with provisions for a 20port nitrous system and
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an ultra-trick BigOval throttle body. Matching the incredible intake is an equally impressive pair of billet valve covers, believed to be the world’s first Boss Nine billet valve covers. Visner utilized his CAD artistry to design parts that are not only precisely machined, but in the case of the intake, likely outperform our previous fabricated piece. With a lot of work and a little luck, all the major fabrication chores will be done by next issue and the car will be headed to paint in a super secret hidden bunker in Uzbekistan. Once it emerges, we’ll have to pull the body off and send the chassis to powder coat back in Lubbock then get to work painting, coating, wiring and plumbing the car before it finally heads to JD Glassworks for a trick custom interior.
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DIGITAL BEGINNINGS Dave Visner of Visner Engine Development has been a long-time supplier of precision machined parts for countless NASCAR teams and drag racers including the likes of Warren Johnson over the years. Our Kaase Boss Nine engine isn’t a super common design, making most every part from the short block up relatively scarce to find...not to mention pricey. Using a loaner head from Jon Kaase Racing Engines, Visner whipped up this incredible intake design with a 16-injector system and ports for 16 nitrous foggers in the runners. The matching valve covers were added for additional cool points.
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OH MY MY...OH HECK YES The new Visner Engine Development billet intake manifold is absolutely incredible. We can’t wait to see the induction system fabbed in with the charge tubes in place, and the matching billet valve covers are absolutely incredible, as well.
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714 OLD OYSTER POINT ROAD | NEWPORT NEWS, VA | 23602
757.596.7275 OFFICIAL FABRICATION SHOP OF PROJECT 32
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1
WORK CONTINUES 1: Does it get any sexier than a 16-injector VED billet intake? We say no. 2: This trick trick 4-port nitrous plate (top) will be sandwiched between an equally cool BigOval throttle body (bottom). Both will bolt directly to the inlet of the intake and will be plumbed to the charge tubes with Spectre Perfomance tubing and mandrel bends with AccuFab billet clamps. 3: Elsewhere, Michael Seal got busy stretching the Harwood cowl induction hood. Using two hoods to start, he is in the process of adding five inches in length to match the fenders. 4: Our Mustang has headlights for the first time in nearly two years! 5: Chillin’ at VRC next to Greg Dudash’s killer twin turbo pickup, you can really see the sleek lines of the Seal-stretched hood in this shot.
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3 More parts have rolled in that we have yet to install, including a whole host of DJ Safety equipment, Alston RaceCars FastGlass lexan rear and quarter windows, Spectre Performance induction tubing, mandrel bends, and air cleaner assemblies, and a first-ever super high-tech DCE Electronics Pro Street electric power steering assist unit.
Obviously there is much left to do, but we were thrilled to continue to see progress. Provided we can emerge from paint sometime in February, we should be back on track for our summer 2016 debut. We hope you’ll continue to follow the build both here and in the pages of RPM Magazine. Welcome to the new age of Pro Street!
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and find a car that wasn’t so near a total loss. However, Pfister’s girlfriend and eventual wife Joy had other plans. “She talked me into buying it,” Pfister acknowledged. After acquiring the car, Pfister managed to get it in running
order and drive it unrestored for two years. “My friends all joked about it being a piece of $@#t and how I shouldn’t fix this one,” he added. And if Joy’s insistence to purchase the car had helped nudge Pfister to the initial purchase in the first place, it was a new
job opportunity that ultimately nudged him toward restoring it. The car was rebuilt with an allaluminum small block, a full cage, and a fresh paint job. “It ran low sevens in the eighth and it was all I wanted… and that was a pretty quick street car back
in the day,” he said. Life soon came calling, though, and with the Pfister’s growing family in need of a down payment for a house, the Camaro was sold to a co-worker in 1997. Unfortunately, with Pfister at the wheel at a local drag strip later
SUBTLE TRICKS ABOUND Pfister pulled out all the stops on the Camaro’s incredible paint and body. A very taseful and understated ducktail spoiler was added to the upper lip of the rear quarters and the decklid, while the rear bumper was shaved and the rear filler panel smoothed. All factory trim was painted body color for a sleek monochromatic look that really pops with the tinted windows. The paint perfection has been carried throughout the build, with even the chassis getting the full body color treatment.
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SWEET UNDERPINNINGS The thoroughly detailed undercarriage sports a fully boxed and smoothed frame with a tubular control arm setup up front and an Alston ladder bar setup out back.
quarters were opened up an additional four inches to accommodate the big rear meats, and all the factory drip rails and handles were shaved. A 4-inch cowl induction hood was added, and the factory firewall was smoothed and recessed 3 inches to add some much-needed space under the hood. Pfister’s smooth touch wasn’t simply restricted to the top side of the Camaro though, as he also fabricated custom floorpans and spent over 200 hours prepping and painting the chassis alone. Once all was lovingly worked until perfectly prepped, Pfister laid down
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one of the most gorgeous, eye-popping, bright orange paint jobs the world has ever seen. Case in point: we noticed the glistening citrus from a distance of over 400 yards at the Street Machine Nationals! The House of Kolors three-stage Sunset Pearl color is difficult to adequately capture on film, but trust us…it is absolutely incredible. Although at first glance the car appears to be devoid of graphics of any sort, a factory-style RS stripe on the nose has been ghosted in pearl. We were 50 photos into the shoot before we noticed it, but man is it ever cool! With paint this perfect, other upgrades were a necessity in order to propel the wild first gen to pro street stardom. First, a monstrous 572 big block now dwells where the factory 327 once did. The
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GM Performance block sports a 4.360 bore and the Callies 4340 forged steel stroker crank generously swings 4.375 inches to create the engine’s spacious displacement. GM Performance H-beam forged 4340 rods have been mated to SRP forged aluminum 9.5:1 pistons with full floater wrist pins. The entire assembly was balanced and blueprinted for maximum performance. Valvetrain for the big Rat consists of a Lunati hydraulic billet roller cam sporting a 0.744/316 intake and 0.744/326 exhaust lift profile. A GM Performance double roller timing chain spins the cam, while a set of Lunati 7/16-inch pushrods actuate the GM Performance 1.7 ratio aluminum roller rocker arms. A pair of ported and polished GM rectangular
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THAT PAINT THOUGH... Photos simply don’t do this car justice. Try as we might, we just couldn’t capture the factory-style RS stripe ghosted in pearl on the nose of the car. You just have to see it in person to appreciate it!
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port heads was selected, and the large stainless valves ensure free flow through both the intake and exhaust sides. The GM Performance aluminum high-rise intake manifold has been equipped with a 500-horse NOS fogger port nitrous system and a massive JET Performance 4500 Series HP Holley Dominator 1050 cfm carb. A Barry Grant 400 Series fuel pump keeps the big thirsty Chevy adequately supplied with flammable liquid and a Laesch Electronics controller ensures that the hit of nitrous doesn’t blow the tires off. The engine did 740-hp (6,250 rpm)/720 ft./lb. (4,500 rpm) on the dyno without nitrous, and keeping those high-performance internals adequately lubed is a Melling high volume oil pump in a Milodon 6-quart pan with windage tray. An Edelbrock aluminum water pump has been coupled with a big BeCool radiator and a pair of Show-N-Go polished SPAL electric fans. Ignition duties are carried out by an MSD multiple spark distributor coupled with a Digital 7 box. The March billet StyleTrack serpentine setup with high output 1-wire alternator and polished AC compressor ties it all together, and other underhood bling such as the Fesler-Built billet hinges and GM Performance aluminum valve covers finish it all off. Rumor has it a single turbo may be in the works. www.facebook.com/tubbedmagazine
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That said, exhaust chores for the Rat are currently handled by a pair of 2-inch Sanderson Jet Hot-coated headers plumbed into a Joe Tynerfabricated 3.5-inch exhaust. All tubing has been steel luster coated, and a pair of Flowmaster Racing Series 50 mufflers help keep the throaty rumble (barely) legal. Backing the big engine is a Coan TH400 three-speed trans with a reverse manual valve body. The S&W flexplate has been bolted to a Coan 4,000 RPM stall converter that serves to enhance the car’s street manners. Power is sent rearward via a Moser 3-inch steel driveshaft. With all that power, acceleration isn’t really much of a problem, so Pfister upgraded the braking system to help the fast-moving Bowtie slow down as well as it speeds up. Wilwood 13-inch disc brakes have been installed all the way around. A trick SSBC polished master cylinder is perched on the firewall, and polished stainless SSBC lines work well while looking great. Once the paint and powertrain complete, further chassis enhancements were performed up front, as a pair of ChassisWorks
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IT’S ALL HER FAULT Tommy says he wouldn’t have bought the car if not for his then-girlfriend and now wife Joy. We’re glad you talked him into it Joy!!
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“STREET ROD” NICE The luxurious cockpit really sets the car apart from many pro street builds, as Kent Biedenharn created an incredible two-tone cinnamon leather interior that features not only a Vintage Air system to keep cool but also a rockin’ Kurt Zimmer audio system with a DVD touch screen to keep occupants entertained. A Dakota Digital dash sits behind a Billet Specialties wheel that has been trimmed to match, and the trunk has also been fully detailed with more twotone leather, as well. It’s a far cry from the old days of rattling tin interior with little more than a cage and a pair of race buckets, and we love it!
2-inch drop spindles and tubular A-arms helped get the nose of the car closer to the pavement. A pair of QA1 single-adjustable shocks keep the ride smooth, and the custom rolling stock completes the killer stance. Weld Pro Star wheels have been powder coated black, with 15x4s up front and 15x15s out back. With Mickey Thompson 15x6 Sportsmans up front and 31x16.5-15 ET Street tires out back, the look is perfect. It is rare that a car with such a bright paint color can look so sinister, but Pfister pulls it off with the combo of the black wheels, blacked out factory hidden headlamps, and dark tinted glass. The only downside to the tinted glass is that it serves to conceal an absolutely flawless Kent Biedenharn/ Twin City Upholstery two-tone cinnamon leather interior. The street rod-style CSI seats have been treated to a custom-stitched patterned leather with trick aluminum accents and the incredible sculpted door panels match perfectly. The rear ventilated and sculpted beauty panels not only conceal the big tubs, but also house a number of electronics components including the MSD box, a Dakota Digital Commander 10000, and some of the car’s audio system pieces. A doubleDIN Pioneer AppRadio 3 head unit with Apple CarPlay handles the tunes and its central dash mount is within easy reach of the cockpit occupants. A pair of Rockford Punch 10s and two Matrix Audio 6.5-inch components serve to accurately reproduce the sounds. The stock dash openings have been plugged with Dakota Digital factory replacement gauges and GlowShift nitrous gauges. A Hurst Quarter Stick with line lock and trans brake
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switches has been nestled into a custom full-length console. The push-button start and push button controls add a high tech touch, while the black roll cage blends in nicely. A trick Billet Specialties split grip wheel adds a trick touch inside, while the fully finished leathertrimmed trunk completes the whole glorious package. Pfister is thankful to several people who helped him turn what was once a rust-infested nightmare into a citrusy-sweet dream come true. “My boss Kurt Zimmer of Kurt’s Auto Body in Bloomington let me use his shop and materials, and Toby at Mobile Audio in Normal did an awesome job on the stereo,” he said. Jeff Meyer and Tim Kupec assisted with metal fab, metal finish, and tons of other fab work, while the late Keith Dolly initially performed the back half. “Kent Biedenharn and the gang at Twin City Upholstery are true craftsmen and I couldn’t be happier with the interior,” he said. “Lastly, I’m especially thankful to Joy and the kids for letting me do what I do, along with my mother and father-in-law for the special gifts along the way,” he added. So the next time you look at that pile of parts, stack of papers, or other nearly insurmountable task, consider Tommy Pfister. With a little bit of encouragement, quite a bit of help, and a whole boatload of work, he was able to turn this nearly hopeless ’67 RS into one of the tastiest street bruisers you’ll ever see. We’d “pick” that kind of motivation any day!
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t was one of those experiences you just don’t forget. We were cruising the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds on our trusty loaner golf cart at the 2015 Street Machine Nationals. It was a pictureperfect late-June day in Southern Illinois. As we neared the facility’s iconic marquee, first we heard it. Whooomp...Whooomp... Whooomp...Whooomp. What. Is. THAT? Then we saw it. A gorgeous, gleaming, screaming yellow bucket of badness just five cars back in the cruise lane. We immediately pulled our cart to the side and hopped off to snap some pics. It took a grand total of about three seconds to decide that we had found our latest feature car. The guy behind the creation in its current state is Terry Ciesla, a thickly-built shop manager from New Lenox, Illinois. Ciesla isn’t just interested in building his biceps, though. He likes plenty of muscle in his garage, as well. NOT SO MELLOW YELLOW Ciesla’s Chevy sports plenty of old-school blower surge and whine, but the E-85 fuel he uses keeps things cool. Even though it was a 90+ degree day, the car stayed below 200-degrees in the slow stop-and-go traffic on the way around the fairgrounds and through town on the way to our photo shoot.
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“Ever since I was a kid, I have been interested in engines and what makes things tick,” Ciesla said. “My mom used to say I was always fixing things, from go-carts to mini bikes and pedal bikes. As I got older it changed to snowmobiles, dirt bikes, and finally cars,” he added. At 16 years old, Ciesla’s first car was a ’57 Chevy. After driving it for a while, he sold it to purchase a’68 Cougar that he built as a driver and a show car. The Cougar went to the Street Nats from 1985-1994. Following that, an ’86 Mustang SVO and a 1996 Corvette also came and went, but Ciesla decided it was time to return to his roots. He traded the Vette for the ’55 two-door post in 2000 and set out to build it to his liking over the course of the next decade. “The car had been treated to a complete frameoff restoration by a premier local body shop,” Ciesla continued. “It had a pair of race buckets and a roll bar inside, and a basically stock small block under the hood. It was beautiful, but I needed to change it to my liking,” he said. Bump & Grind Autobody had sprayed the classic Chevy with a flawless DuPont Chromabase paintjob. After replacing all the damaged and corroded parts and pieces and lovingly massaging the nearly halfcentury old GM steel back to better-than-new, the car
was slathered in gallons of custom-mixed Penzoil Yellow. With the exception of a shaved fuel filler door and a rear-mounted battery disconnect, the body is otherwise stock. The perfect stance on the car is credited to a Fat Man front suspension with a two-inch drop and QA1 coilovers. Out back, a narrowed Dana 60 rear was equipped with Strange 35-spline axles and a Richmond 3.73 gearset before being suspended via custom ladder bars and QA1 adjustable coilovers. The “BLONBOX” rides on a set of Johnny Rods Legacy wheels with Mickey Thompson tires, giving it a perfect hint of sparkling old-school cool. Narrow 15x6 wheels with 28x7.5-15 tires roll up front, with 15x10s fitted with 29x12.5-15s in back. A pair of custom steel tubs and well-executed steel sheetmetal work out back finishes off the back half along with a neatly tucked six-point cage to stiffen the chassis and further protect occupants in the event of the unthinkable. Stopping chores are managed by GM discs with 11-inch rotors up front and Ford 12-inch discs in rear. A custom Wilwood dual chamber master cylinder pressurizes the calipers through custom stainless hard lines and Russell braided flex hoses. While the fit, finish, and fatness out back all handled, Ciesla turned
DRAWING A CROWD The classic Chevy was a crowd favorite at the Nats, gorgeously whining and surging its way around the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds all weekend. As hard as it may be to believe, it is as sweet to the ears as it is to the eyes.
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his attention to the Chevy’s powertrain. Taking care of the engine build himself, Ciesla started with a cast iron 4-bolt 350 Chevy block and fitted it with a Lunati stroker crank, Lunati Pro Mod Rods, and Lunati 8.5:1 compression flat top pistons. The resultant 383 ci mouse was then treated to a Lunati mechanical roller cam spun via a Roll Master double roller timing chain. The cam was spec’d to 0.600 lift/308 duration on the intake side and 0.618 lift/318 duration on the exhaust, providing that wicked and unmistakable lope. A Moroso highvolume oil pump and Milodon 8-quart pan serve to keep the internals adequately lubricated, while DART aluminum heads were treated to Pro 1 custom CNC work by Ted Borowski before being torqued in place via ARP studs. COMP Super Roller lifters articulate with a set of Manley swedged end 5/16inch 4130 pushrods that subsequently send the valvetrain signals to Crane race roller rockers. ONE SLICK BOX Hard to believe as it may be, the car was actually painted in 2000, but you could never tell that the flawless Penzoil Yellow is over 15 years old just by looking at it. Fit and finish is exquisite, but the screaming yellow hue with just enough chrome—and a BDS scoop poking through the hood—is plenty to tell you that this ride is no boring concours-stock resto...but rather a cool pro street cruiser!
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Up top, a custom-welded BDS aluminum blower intake mates to a polished 8/71 BDS supercharger with Teflonstripped rotors. The big huffer has been spun at 5% over, pushing around 15 pounds of compressed atmosphere into the combustion chambers. A pair of custom E-85 Holley HP supercharger carbs have been mated to a BDS Hilborn-style scoop that pokes perfectly through the aerated hood. A Barry Grant 400-2 electric pump and an Aeromotive regulator manage fuel pressurization and management duties respectively. “The engine was originally set up at 5 pounds of boost on pump gas, but I decided that I wanted to create more power and use the motor to its fullest potential,” Ciesla said. The conversion to ethanolblended fuel made a massive difference, helping the car stay plenty cool during slow summer cruising—not to mention producing far more power than the old-school traditional pump gas setup. Assisting the corn-fuel blend in keeping the temps down is an Edelbrock high flow aluminum water pump along with a custom built aluminum radiator and B&M SuperCooler polished external trans cooler. A Power Master chrome alternator keeps the trunk-mounted battery charged, while an MSD Pro Billet distributor and 6AL box handle the ignition chores.
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CLEAN UNDERCARRIAGE The modestly narrowed Dana 60 rearend has been hung via ladder bars and coilovers, and a pair of widened steel tubs have been installed to make way for the Mickey Thompson Sportsman rear tires. Johnny Rods Legacy wheels with long studs add a classic gasser feel, while the chassis has been nicely detailed and cleanly plumbed with plenty of AN hoses and fittings and a Barry Grant electric pump.
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NICELY FINISHED Inside, the ’55 has been neatly trimmed with a tone-on-tone beige interior sporting a Billet Specialties split grip wheel and a Hurst Quarter Stick shifter. Autometer gauges adorn the dash and custom center console, and the trunk has been upholstered to match.
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HIGH FRUCTOSE MOUSE The fortified 383 ci Chevy engine has been topped with an 8/71 BDS supercharger and a pair of Holley carbs set up to run E-85 with the blower. The ethanol blend not only adds octane, it helps the engine run cooler, too. Helping along the way is a custom-built aluminum radator and a polished B&M transmission SuperCooler.
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That incredible exhaust note is courtesy of a pair of custom-built 1 7/8-inch 4-into1 AlumiCoated headers. Aft the collectors is 3-inch tubing and a pair of Flomaster Stage 2 mufflers. The engine combo was good for 653 hp prior to the boost and fuel upgrades and an estimated 850 horses after. Backing the potent powerplant is a custom-built Turbo 400 three-speed trans with a reverse manual valve body and trans brake. A TCI 4,000 RPM stall converter has been mated to a PRW flexplate, and a custom aluminum driveshaft sends power rearward. Other than beefing up the car’s power production, Ciesla also tricked out the classic Chevy’s interior—a task he tackled not just to add good looks and comfort but to accommodate his growing family. “After a few years we needed to make room for our
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MOUSECAPADES The warmed-over small block pushes around 500 hp before the juice, and over 600 with the plate NOS system adminstering the N2O.
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second daughter, so I decided to upgrade the interior. I moved the rear roll cage bars and installed a custom bench seat with belts in back,” he said. At the same time, the car was treated to a pair of low back buckets pulled from a Cadillac Catera to improve front row comfort, too. AutoMeter gauges provide the data acquisition and display, while a B & M shifter has been mounted in the custom-built center console. Rounding out the other trick touches inside is a Billet Specialties steering wheel and yards of beige tweed and vinyl. Custom door panels and cage wraps lend a street rod feel that has been carried over into to the fully finished and detailed trunk. A Rockford Fosgate sound system provides the tunes whenever the lurching and whining of the blown small block isn’t entertainment enough. “Lots of times people ask me how we can put our daughters in this type of car,” he said with a smile. “There have been lots of times my daughters and wife have helped clean and repair the car. I wouldn’t trade those memories for the world,” he concluded. While it may not be the fattest-tired creation you’ll ever see in the pages of TUBBED, there’s no denying the simple reality: this cornfed shoebox is so cool. It’s almost enough to make us go vegetarian.
PROUD OWNER Terry Ciesla poses next to his prized tri-five.
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T
here are two kinds of fat-tire enthusiasts: those with the skill, ability, patience, tools, and equipment to do it themselves…and then there’s all the rest of us. As gratifying as it is to do things on your own, sometimes it just isn’t practical. For others, the desired outcome simply surpasses the likely result of your on-the-job training if you’ve never done it yourself. In those situations, the only real choice isn’t whether to hire someone else to do it for you but the figure out who would be the best fit. Project aPocalypSe Horse has taught us a number of valuable lessons, not the least of which is what to look for when choosing a shop. As a
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result, we thought we would share some of the good, the bad, and the ugly surrounding hired help and professional shops in general. We hope that our failures along the way can be of benefit to you and hopefully help you save time, money, stress, and heartache as you pursue the build of your dreams. First, there usually seems to be no “middle ground” when it comes to overall opinions on shops. It is rare to find someone who has hired a shop for a job who is just “sort of” happy with the job that was done. Typically if the job is done right, on budget, and on time, the customer is a raving fan. However, if any or all of those three are lacking, the shop was “horrible,” or “criminal,” or any host of other non-publishable expletives. This can make references a challenge. As a result, you have to filter through the emotions and try to get to the core of who the shop is and what they are all about.
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In our experience, the vast majority of disagreements between shop and customer stem from the reliance on nothing other than verbal agreements. While texts, emails, or even Facebook messages are better, there is NO reason why a shop should not provide you with what they are offering to do IN WRITING and UP FRONT. After all, if they are willing to offer you a certain service for an agreed-upon price in an agreed-upon time frame, putting the agreement in writing protects both parties. It is important to point out that things don’t always go as planned. Having an initial agreement in place is an important first step, but it should be flexible enough to allow for changes that significantly impact the build. Again recognizing that unforeseen issues can and will crop up, it is critical for both parties to understand what should happen when they do.
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HORSE SAVERS When we got our Project aPocalypSe Horse to Bobby Starcher (left) and Donald Williams (right), it was in awful condition. $11,000 and 13 months got us nothing but a useless junk start-of-a-chassis and a car that had been hacked to bits by a previous shop. Even though we thought the first place was more than capable, we learned so painful lessons the hard way.
MAKING THE CHOICE
Before we get too deep into what to do and what not to do during the build, it is critical to consider the main factors that should influence where to take your car first. There are really four main types of shops: the “Name Shop,” the “Up-and-Comer,” the “One-Man Show, ” and the local hack shop.
The Name Shop
Chances are, you have heard of this shop. Sometimes that name is a result of a steady stream of feature-
Picked
HAND
We share the tales of win and the tales of woe of choosing and using a professional shop story by
photos by
TOBY
BROOKS
LEGENDARY FAIL This is what we got after 13 months and $11,000. The initial plan was for VRC to finish the chassis, but the “quality” was so poor, we were forced to start all over from scratch. Parts were missing and some factory pieces had been sold by the first shop’s owner and he kept the money. We’re still hoping to find a litigator who can help us get our money back just in case you know someone!
quality award-winning builds. Other times, it is due to wise advertising, aggressive self-promotion, and (heaven forbid) reality television. We made the mistake of choosing according to name not once but twice on our build, the first time costing us over $10,000 in deposit money that was never repaid for work that was never performed. The second time (thankfully) it didn’t cost us anything. The Name Shop can be excellent. There is usually a collection of high-profile builds in their stalls at any one time. However, you NEVER want to be the lowest-budget build in a name shop, as you will always be the lowest priority and if they are a larger entity, you
will likely be assigned to the youngest, most inexperienced employees. “When I worked for a big pro street shop in the 90s, we had two halves to the business,” said builder Steve Yates. “There was the back where all the high-dollar stuff got done by our most experienced guys and the front where all the low-end and entry-level stuff was built by the new guys,” he said. “Just because you wrote the check to the name on the sign didn’t mean that that guy ever touched your car, even though you were paying like he was building it himself,” he added. That also speaks to another fact of the Name Shop: many of the larger entities have grown so large
MORE LIKE IT Once VRC started over, we were thrilled with the craftsmanship. What’s even better, even though their shop is more that 1,200 miles from our location, they regularly send update photos and only bill for work completed...not a massive down payment up front like the other place that never delivered for services paid for on day one.
that the person you had hoped would be doing the fabrication work, stitching the seats, or manning the spray gun has become more of a personnel manager than a skilled fabricator, installer, or
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QUALITY COUNTS Jimmy Davis of JD Glassworks in Lubbock believes in the little custom touches like this custom embossed leather to set his work apart, but there is no substitute for good old fashioned craftsmanship and attention to detail.
“A bank doesn’t give you all the money when you build a house. They give it in monthly/work completed draws,” said Rod Bollini, owner of the SkullZilla Dodge Dakota pictured in our last issue. “You’ve got to look at it like building a house,” he added. We’d be leery of any shop that asked for more than materials and potentially the first week or two of labor up front. From then on, there really shouldn’t be a need to be more than a week or two ahead or behind provided both parties are making every effort to deliver services and pay as initially agreed upon. Thirdly, ask around. Don’t simply rely on a few sources, either. Check YellowBullet, a common site for people posting gripes. Go to shows and races. Find cars you like and ask the owners about the build. Ask questions about quality, price, and the overall ease of the process. “Simple thoughts that could be expanded upon would be reputation, time frame of other projects that have come and gone, cost of estimate versus cost of
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final product, and examples of work with references,” said Jef Fern, owner of a wild soon-to-be-featured twin turbo Camaro. Other than quality and price, sticking to an agreed-upon schedule seems to be the most frequent complaint. “I would rather the shop be up front about when I can drop my car off,” said Jason Osborne via Facebook. “When are they ready to start working on it so it doesn’t sit around while they work on other cars for six months?” he added. We couldn’t agree more. Lastly, be cautious about your parts. Obviously parts will be necessary for the shop to do the work, but if you are leaving a $20,000
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engine or a $1000 pair of wheel tubs in their care, you need assurances that your parts will be safe. Keep an inventory and review it from time to time. We lost a number of factory parts, a pair of carbon fiber wheel tubs, and a promised $1000 fabricated rear housing to our first shop. Factory parts were sold and the cash was kept. Others have reported that their race parts were sold or otherwise disappeared and they never got reimbursement, either. Sadly, there aren’t many ways some people can find to stoop to in order to rip you off. Keep tabs on your stuff. On the flip side, there are several things you can and should do to be a good customer and have a pleasant experience. First, trust
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KNOW WHAT YOU WANT For Ben Brewer and his crew at 13Sins Garage, a key to a successful project is a customer who either knows exactly what he or she wants or is willing to give the 13Sins team the freedom to build cool stuff unhindered.
your instincts. Take it from us: if you find it difficult to get along with the party involved during the initial conversation or estimate, it will only get worse. Sometimes two people can just “click” and get along great. Other times, not so much. Keep in mind that you will be interacting with this person and his or her staff for weeks or months at a time and the discussion of money will come up often. If you can’t have a straightforward conversation early in the process, we can all but guarantee you that you won’t have one later. Do be respectful of the shop owner and his or her employees. Things take time, and sometimes unforeseen issues like hidden rust, parts fitment, or any host of other issues crop up. Providing your unsolicited opinion usually doesn’t help, and over-questioning every step probably won’t assist your cause, either. “Most of my customers are pretty cool don’t really have too many issues—just the normal ‘How long does it take to get my car back?’ question is probably the one I deal with the most,” said Jimmy Davis of JD Glassworks, an upholstery and wiring shop in Lubbock, Texas. “I look for one of two things in a potential customer,” said Ben Brewer 13 Sins Garage, also based in Lubbock. “Someone who knows EXACTLY what they want or someone who is willing to let my fabricators do what they do best:
Sources
build cool stuff is what we hope for in a customer,” he added. Being critical without providing direction is a recipe for disaster, especially when dealing with a talented craftsman. That said, if you are paying for work, it is reasonable to expect work to be done. If you live close, dropping by at a regular (but not too regular) intervals can help keep you in the loop on the build and also help keep the shop accountable to make progress. If you are not nearby, it is best to make sure the shop is comfortable sending regular update texts with pics, or better yet, have someone local who can drop by on your behalf from time to time. If budget is an issue (and for who of us is it NOT?), you should also keep your shop appraised of your financial situation, too. Pay your bill in a timely fashion and if funds are getting tight, let them know. We have had to park our build for a month in order to catch our breath financially. If you choose to do this, discuss it with your shop ahead of time though, so that they can schedule other work in your place.
VIRGINIA ROD COMPANY 714 Old Oyster Point Rd. Newport News, VA 23602 757.596.7275
MYKAL’S CUSTOM AUTOBODY Rural Route 1 Fairfield, IL 62837 618.842.7676 JD GLASSWORKS 8907 Ave. P Lubbock, TX 79423 806.441.5137 www.jd-glassworks.com 13 SINS GARAGE 11910 Highway 87 Lubbock, TX 79423 806.683.9076 www.13sins.com BADD HABIT CUSTOMS/MARK DePRIEST http://on.fb.me/1HmJT2Z 304.813.4338
GET IT DONE
Selecting a shop is one of the most important decisions you can make when building a pro street car or truck. Trust us when we say that this should be a joy, and aligning yourself with the wrong place will turn the whole process into something you regret.
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