Page 66 - Issue 50

The Winner In The Weeds HotRods
Winner:
Winner:
Chris Walker,
In The Weeds
In The Weeds
Hot Rods -
Minnesota
1957 Chevy
Wagon JERRY RIPLEY
L ike many Rat Rod Magazine
Ladventures, the build-off’s
started with a simple phone
call. I remember watching a
big-money TV build-off and
thinking “this is ridiculous…” and
calling then Ride Hard Magazine
Editor Jerry Ripley and posing
one simple question: “what do
you think about doing our own
rat rod and bike build off?” As
Jerry and I have often done over
(Some build-offs featured rat rods and bikes together, spreading the winners across both RRM and Ride Hard Magazine
covers… one build-off the classes were split between RRM and Raw Bike Magazine. For this look back we’ll focus on
the Rat Rod Magazine material, but don’t want to discount the other half of this equation. The bike portion has been
awesome and so has our partnership with whatever magazine Jerry Ripley has been commandeering.)
66 RAT ROD MAGAZINE ISSUE FIFTY
66x69 build offs revisited.indd 66
winner I don’t know about you guys, but controversial, as we found when using similar- i couldn’t find one in the price range that wasn’t the ‘30’s and ‘40’s
if you recognize the name, it’s because
with the sideways fins,” chris explains. “But
i had my doubts when i saw
chris’ wild ’37 dodge tanker truck made the
cars that rot rodders have
what stacy, minnesota’s chris
cover in the early days of rrm — issue # 5
we had to work with. then i saw this ‘57 on
been doing this whole time.
walker chose as raw material
to be exact. that truck should have been the
craigslist. i called the guy a few times and he
i wanted something out of
first clue that chris would build something
to build a car for the t our.
didn’t want to budge on the price. t hen i told
special. But utilizing cars of the ‘50’s can be
the box, but i also wanted
him what it was for and he said come on out
when he posted the pictures of his
an iconic car that everybody
would recognize.”
and take a look at it, so we did. w e came to a
vintage cars when building the 2011 and 2013
gutted, rusted 4-door ’57 chevy
price on it and we brought it home.”
rrm tour cars. Post-war cars like chris’ and
the car has to be seen
chris goes on: “it had already been turned
wagon on Facebook i wondered,
casey Hueser’s ’57 Fairlane are breaking new
in person to be truly appreciated. i t’s low. i
“what could he possibly do with
ground on the rat rod scene, showing that
in for scrap metal. w e bought it back from the
think it could almost drive underneath a stock
scrap dealer before it got crushed — that’s
finned cars can be rat rods, too.
’57 chevy wagon. the extreme modifications
tHat?” all he did was win the 2013
how bad it was. when my name was drawn,
the ’57 wasn’t even his first choice of car,
ratHard Build-off/drive-off with
to the body give it a sinister stance from
i was at a loss of what to do with the build. i
either. “my first thought is that i wanted to
every angle. the genius of the build is giving
his stunning creation.
kinda scratched my head and tried to come
the roof a reverse chop and sectioning the
do a 4-door impala wagon, like a ‘58 or ‘59
up with an idea. i just wanted something that
body in such a way that it still represents
By rick Loxton | rick@ratrodmagazine.com
PHotos By cHarLie PacHeco, JeFF eatLey, and Jerry riPLey.
BuiLd PHotos suBmitted By itw Hotrods.
team Leader: chris walker
1957 Chevy Wagon
the tally: Finished 1st overall, and 2nd in the public voting. w as also the comp cams 2nd choice.
penned in as their top pick, and this creation turned heads everywhere it went. t he car had it’s
problems along the way, but it finished under it’s own power and looked good doing it.
26 Rat Rod Magazine issue twenty-two Highlights: chris went way outside the box, and it paid off. a ll but three judges had the chevy
ratrodmagazine.com Rat Rod Magazine 27
the years, we batted around the certain number of miles. And just JeReMiah gaRdneR,
teaM LeadeR:
nebRaska
Bikes
idea and came up with a plan.
like that, the fi rst rat rod focused
The fi rst build-off concept was build-off drive-off was born. winner
certainly challenging, and while Of course we didn’t invent the
no bikes fi nished that fi rst year build-off, but we brought it to
we learned a lot about ourselves, the home-builder, took away the
competition, comradery - and TV drama, and made it a REAL
rolled that experience into the challenge that meant something.
next build-off. The premise was We’ve always been proud of
simple: build the baddest rat rod that. The following few pages are twisted spoke rims (21” in the front, 16” in the back) wanted a little extra fuel capacity, so he called upon be difficult to top next year.
special thanks: First, i want to thank god, for the
a plumber friend and he came up with a way to store
opportunity and blessing to have been a part of this.
s many of you know, no motorcycles
or bike you can in 30 days, for a brief recount of the build-off Afrom there, you can only go up. add a cool retro look. it did cause a small problem out about another half gallon in the form of a fixture with second, i want to thank my wife, alesha and my two
made it to last year’s Build-o ff. But
back when trying to mate the y amaha caliper to the
multiple outlets most often used in houses. t he exotic
boys dylan and drey for being so supportive and
harley rotor. the solution was to machine down the
plumbing looks superfluous, but is necessary to get the
less than $3000, and drive it a winners. — Steve there were seven eligible bikes this year, all of them rotor to the proper size and it’s worked fine since. fuel to collect in one place before hitting the carbs. understanding and letting daddy chase his dreams. a lso,
a big thanks to the guys at Bare m anufacturing, Larry
the plan was to run with the stock motor but it
outstanding. But the one the stood out from the rest was turned out that the factory h itachi carbs were junk, and Being a huge fan of leaf spring springers, Jeremiah Bare, simon Jensen and rigging mcKnight. i couldn’t
the creation of Jeremiah gardner of mitchell, nebraska. replacement parts were hard to come by. a moment wanted to build one, but with a twist. h e had never have built this caliber of bike without you guys. a big
his ’81 y amaha 850 triple is a masterpiece of creativity of panic set in, but he had the solution sitting in his seen one that was chain-driven. it’s a simple system, thanks goes out to alvin, who kept my paint shop going
employing a series of sprockets and cams to transfer
and engineering. garage. he had a four-pack from a Kawasaki Kz 1000, the load to the springs. he can attest to their drivability, and to mike meloney, Jeff woodward, Jason muhr, Josh
starting with the motor and the neck and pitching
Kreiling and my brother garrett gardner, who all had
but how do you make four carbs work on a triple? y ou
as he made it through the tour unscathed. a s for
the rest, the bike bears no resemblance to how it left the don’t – you lop one off, do a little machine work, and the originality of his idea? “i’m calling dibs on it until a vital roll in very important pieces. Last but not least,
factory. the frame was completely built from scratch.
dwight schoonover and my parents, harry and deborah
slap it on. obviously, there was a little more finesse than
somebody proves me wrong!”
how will he defend his crown in 2015? m ore
while he doesn’t particularly favor pull-back handlebars, that, including making new fuel rails. But it looks like a ingenious engineering? something painfully simple? gardner, made the trip possible and have always been my
greatest supporters. thank you to all the staff of r at rod
they were a necessity for this build for both comfort and
factory setup and most people don’t even notice. a ll
and ride hard magazine, you guys are an amazing family
handling, and they also tie well into the overall design
of the bike. originally a shaft drive, Jeremiah utilized a of the electrical, including the battery and the Pcm are it’s going to be a challenge, as very one of this year’s and i’m so glad to be a part of it now.
stashed in a .50-cal ammo box at the rear of the frame.
builders helped to set a standard of excellence that will
set of customized sprockets and a jack shaft to properly
convert the bike to chain drive. a couple of harley a 30’s-era fuel tank now carries flammables. h e ratrodmagazine.com Rat Rod Magazine 59
58 Rat Rod Magazine issue twenty-eight
6/20/18 7:17 AM