Page 72 - Issue 47

wonder what else I can do.”
The biggest thing about the
car community is people don’t
care what you are, who you are,
or where you came from. They
want to help you and share their
knowledge so you can extend
it. The most attention I ever got
was “hey you’re the guy in the
chair right?” Followed by “you’re
a crazy bastard, good for you”;
There was never any “oh poor
you” or wanting to feel bad for
me. That’s what I loved the most.
I was normal to them. Specifi cally
I was normal to them. Specifi cally
I want to give a shoutout to Jeff
Cheney, who taught me everything I
know about engines.
When, my great mentor Jeff &
I were buttoning up the rebuild on
my SRT hemi, I was complaining
about my job selling cell phones.
He fi nally just said “do something
about it, life is nothing but an
opportunity and it is what you
make it”, so I looked into jobs
that I could do which led me to
Hennessy Tuner School in Sealy,
TX. Being from central Minnesota
and in a wheelchair I thought it
was impossible to move across
the country alone, so I called
them. Now as I’m typing this I am
working on spec’ing out a cam for
a ProCharged ls3 Camaro. What
is the takeaway message from all
of this? I thought at one point in
my life I was screwed. My hopes
and dreams were done and gone.
I sat in the shop and felt bad for
myself until I thought “what do I
have to lose? Already lost my legs,
ain’t gonna give up my balls next”
so I picked up that welder and
everything escalated from there.
72 RAT ROD MAGAZINE ISSUE FOURTY-SEVEN
68x72tinman.indd 72
mid-Torquey build and took a
pretty big toll on my emotional
health, but I was able to spend
time in the garage and, sort
of, “forget” for a little while.
My dad also had a double lung
transplant and a heart valve
replacement during the build,
which was a positive thing-
but also extremely stressful.
Between the frequent visits and
appointments at the hospital
I was working on the car-
because that’s what he wanted
me to do with my time.
While I was physically
With the help of great friends, and spending time at the hospital, with
family pushing, believing in me, and my dad, I often brought my laptop
not letting me be a “lazy asshole”, and worked on sending emails,
I now feel like I can do anything. writing articles for magazines and
I’m one of the most involved in other promotion of myself and my
my class. I drag race, I drift, I do brand. Research was another key
burnouts, I weld, I crawl on the use of time, as the internet is an
ground, I crawl in the engine bay, I unbelievable wealth of knowledge
piss the women off in my life, I tear at no cost to you. So, what is the
apart, I build, I cuss, I spend more point of this story? Anyone can
on parts than anyone should on make time to forge success for
anything. This makes me a normal themselves. There is nothing that
car enthusiast; no different than can’t be overcome. If you are feeling
any other, except a little slower. overwhelmed or ready to succumb to
I’d like to thank Charles for the forces of evil, reach out to the Rat
never giving up and being an Rod community, fi nd your passion
inspiration to many people. The and move forward with YOUR life.
easy thing to do when hard times As always, more of my physical
come is to give up, but once work can be seen on my social
you fi nd that one thing you’re media.
passionate about, it’s un-escapable.
As another example I will briefl y
touch on an additional couple To see additional projects and
personal issues I faced through the tutorial style fabrication content
last few years, which have made feel free to visit my YouTube at
signifi cant impacts on who I am as https://www.youtube.com/
a person and builder. The sudden, tinman2kustoms or
accidental death of my little sister follow the Tinman 2 Kustoms
was probably the hardest. This was page on Facebook.
12/15/17 3:57 PM