Page 47 - Australian Paint & Panel March-April 2020

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Crawford believes this learning process is set to sky rocket in the next few years with the introduction of electric cars.
“I don't think the industry realise it yet but electric cars will be a whole new trade on its own,” he says.
“These vehicles have 300 volts of power which is enormous.
“A general electrician that works in your home doesn't work with that much power. “Not surprisingly, a lot of manufac-
turers are still experimenting with what they are going to do.”
I put my foot down
but I was the last car so all the spears ended up getting stuck in the canvas roof,”
Throughout his TAFE career Craw- ford estimates he has taught hundreds of apprentices and he still gets to see former students today whenever he is out doing work placements.
He believes Australian technicians are the best in the world.
“Our tradesmen are better than any I have seen around the globe,” Crawford says.
“There are very few universal tradies in the United States, they tend
to learn one facet of the industry or specialise in a specific area.
“Our technicians learn every facet of the trade, they understand what the next process is down the assembly line.”
Crawford loves to see his former apprentices suc- ceed. One of his success stories is high profile re- pairer, Dean Prodger, who is well known today for his metal fabrication work.
WORKING WITH THE KING
When it comes to working with the best in the business Crawford has been in- credibly fortunate, even working on Hollywood movie sets with the most celebrated custom car builders of all time, George Barris.
But before heading to the United States Crawford took a detour to Papua New Guinea (PNG).
“There were five of us in the PNG shop which was extremely busy, we had a huge backlog of work,” he says. As Crawford explains, the locals were not very good drivers.
“They only knew stop and flat to the floor so whenever they came to a corner the car would roll,” Crawford explains.
“Fortunately there were a lot of Land Cruis- ers there and they are fairly strong cars.”
Crawford said the boys in the PNG shop all rode motorcycles and decided to set up their own club house. First they had to build the club house and headed out to the local timber mill to collect supplies.
There was a contingent of three cars heading out to the mill but on the way they hit a pig.
“This upset the locals and they de- manded payment for the pig,” Crawford says. “It happened on our way to the mill so by the time we were heading back the locals had built a blockade to stop us going through.”
Of course Crawford and the boys had no intention of stopping and drove at top
LEFT TO RIGHT:
80s icons KITT and Hasselhoff. The Munster Koach and cast. The creator the Batmobile and all of these cars, George Barris.
ABOVE:
This Corvette sported a ‘flames licking’
paint job.
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