Page 67 - Issue 50

It’s all about
It’s all about
It’s all about
It’s all about
It’s all about
It’s all about
It’s all about
It’s all about
It’s all about
the journey
the journey
the journey
the journey
the journey
the journey
the journey
the journey
the journey
Clockwise from top: Hammer, Brent, hen Bryan dagel and Brent Bonneville took off in the ’31 d esoto t our rat
Bryan, and CJ at the old Lemp brewery back in 2011 on the very first r at rod t our, it was an experiment. w e asked
in St Louis during the 2011 Tour; Bryan ourselves, is this even possible? while that first t our wasn’t very big – a
looks over a paper map… remember
those? The 2012 Tour led us right handful of participants, stops, and a loose idea of what we were doing – it
through the Rocky Mountains, over 12,000 opened the door for what has become the t our today. in 2012 it was the rockies,
ft in elevation; After conquering the Midwest,
the Rockies, Vegas, and the Hoover Dam, the route 66, Vegas, and a lot of miles. i n 2013 it was Louisiana and the first Build-o ff.
2012 Tour ran Route 66 into Laughlin. Below: In this year, it was the midwest, the rumble, and our second Build-off. the evolution of
2013 the Tour split the US from top to bottom, this thing is fun to watch, because no matter how hard we plan… it just kinda happens.
heading straight into Cajun country. each adventure is different. t he run through the r ockies was nothing short of epic.
it was a smaller caravan, taking on a huge challenge – going toe-to-toe (or tire-to-toe?)
Rat Rod Class Winner:t Rod Class Winner: with mother nature. it was intimate and fulfilling, and it created a bond between all of
Ra
us who were there. 2013 had a different feel. i t was a larger caravan, and the Build-o ff
added an element of competition that we hadn’t experienced before. i n the end, our
Gary Fisher, ary Fisher, family grew. everyone involved walked away with something. e ven with the stress of
G
the Build-off, the t our was a success.
Resurrected to re-route the entire thing. this of course was a blessing in disguise, as we ended up
Resurrected
Fast forward to 2014. our initial plans to t our into tulsa, oK, fell apart and we had
Rust - Oregon
Rust - Oregon to see more connecting two very cool events (shapiro steelfest and the redneck rumble)
Want
with some meaningful stops in between. the Build-off took on an even more
The Winner 1933 Chevy 2013 Tour documentary central role than last year, and the caravan got bigger. t he participation
of past Tours?
1933 Chevy
Both the 2012 and
got bigger. the exposure increased. this is all part of that evolution.
Like the t ours before, 2014’s offering had its share of highs and
Sedan delivery
Sedan delivery videos are available on lows – but ultimately was a very successful event. t he worst thing that
our youtube page.
www.youtube.com/
happened were a couple breakdowns and a bit of discombobulated
I don’t know about you guys, but chris’ wild ’37 dodge tanker truck made the i couldn’t find one in the price range that wasn’t the ‘30’s and ‘40’s ratrodmag the t ennessee countryside and visiting coker tire, stacy david’s headquarters,
travel, which of course lead to some frustration, but by no means ruined
if you recognize the name, it’s because
i had my doubts when i saw
with the sideways fins,” chris explains. “But
the trip. highlights included keeping a massive caravan together through
what stacy, minnesota’s chris
cover in the early days of rrm — issue # 5
cars that rot rodders have
we had to work with. then i saw this ‘57 on
walker chose as raw material
to be exact. that truck should have been the
been doing this whole time.
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
the box, but i also wanted
special. But utilizing cars of the ‘50’s can be craigslist. i called the guy a few times and he i wanted something out of and enjoying some tourist attractions in st. Louis, chattanooga and nashville.
him what it was for and he said come on out
when he posted the pictures of his controversial, as we found when using similar- an iconic car that everybody and to think, once again this all started up at a little place called t J’s country
vintage cars when building the 2011 and 2013 and take a look at it, so we did. w e came to a would recognize.”
gutted, rusted 4-door ’57 chevy
price on it and we brought it home.” corner in one of the smallest minnesota towns i’ve ever been in.
rrm tour cars. Post-war cars like chris’ and the car has to be seen
wagon on Facebook i wondered, chris goes on: “it had already been turned
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 i returned home a little beat up from this one, but with a whole new appreciation
scrap dealer before it got crushed — that’s
tHat?” all he did was win the 2013 finned cars can be rat rods, too. ’57 chevy wagon. the extreme modifications
how bad it was. when my name was drawn,
the ’57 wasn’t even his first choice of car, for what we’re doing. the good, the bad – it’s all part of the journey. w ithout
ratHard Build-off/drive-off with i was at a loss of what to do with the build. i to the body give it a sinister stance from
his stunning creation. either. “my first thought is that i wanted to kinda scratched my head and tried to come every angle. the genius of the build is giving the challenge, there would be no reward. w ithout
do a 4-door impala wagon, like a ‘58 or ‘59
the roof a reverse chop and sectioning the
up with an idea. i just wanted something that the adventure, there would be no experience.
➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻ ➻
body in such a way that it still represents —Steve
By rick Loxton | rick@ratrodmagazine.com
PHotos By cHarLie PacHeco, JeFF eatLey, and Jerry riPLey.
2014 rat rod
2014 rat rod
2014 rat rod tour
2014 rat rod
2014 rat rod
2014 rat rod
2014 rat rod
2014 rat rod tou ou ou our
2014 rat rod tour
BuiLd PHotos suBmitted By itw Hotrods.
24 Rat Rod Magazine issue twenty-eight
24 Rat Rod Magazine
24 Rat Rod Magazine issue twenty-eight
ratrodmagazine.com Rat Rod Magazine 25
ratrodmagazine.com Rat Rod Magazine 25
ratrodmagazine.com Rat Rod Magazine 25
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
eaM M Leade
eaM Leade
LeadeR:
teaM LeadeR:
teaM LeadeR:
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 teaM M Leade
ratrodmagazine.com Rat Rod Magazine 27 daRReL HeibeL, texas
Open Class
winner
arrel heibel’s t eam stP
h
managed to pull off the
managed to pull off the
managed to pull off the
Dalmost unthinkable – build
two rats within the 30-day
window. they finished the
build-off car in 11 days, so they
decided to build a truck for the
open class, as well. i n doing
so, they managed to build the
winning open-class vehicle.
starting out with a semi-crushed ’50
Ford F-1 cab, they smoothed her back
into shape as much as possible, while
also chopping the cab 3” and narrowing
it another 4”. what they couldn’t fix
in the roof was torched out and
replaced with a sunroof they had
lying around the shop. they added a
shortened bed from a ’50 dodge and
threw the whole thing on the stock frame.
stock, except for the 6” z in the back
to get the ride height just right.
Power is provided by a stock
Ford 302 and a 4-speed, both picked
from a junkyard. a late-model chevy
pickup rear axle with disc brakes was
added for better stopping power. the truck
navigated the t our with nary a hiccup, except
they planned on replacing the junkyard clutch
as soon as they got back from the tour.
team stP faced some wild competition
in the open class, but their super clean,
well-executed truck proved that
well-executed truck proved that
well-executed truck proved that
ratrodmagazine.com Rat Rod Magazine 55
ratrodmagazine.com Rat Rod Magazine 55
ratrodmagazine.com
sometimes, less is more. ratrodmagazine.com Rat Rod Magazine 55
sometimes, less is more.
sometimes, less is more.
54 Rat Rod Magazine issue twenty-eight
54 Rat Rod Magazine issue twenty-eight
Rat Rod Open t Rod Open
Ra
teaM LeadeR:
certain number of miles. And just JeReMiah gaRdneR, Class Winner:
Darrel Heibel,
nebRaska
Bikes
like that, the fi rst rat rod focused winner STP - Texas
build-off drive-off was born. 1950 Ford
Of course we didn’t invent the pickup
build-off, but we brought it to
the home-builder, took away the
TV drama, and made it a REAL
challenge that meant something.
We’ve always been proud of
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. Bike Class Winner:
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
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 Jeremiah Gardner,
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
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 Gardnerroad
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 Kustoms - Nebraska
employing a series of sprockets and cams to transfer
(Some build-offs featured rat rods and bikes together, spreading the winners across both RRM and Ride Hard Magazine 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 1981 Yamaha
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
covers… one build-off the classes were split between RRM and Raw Bike Magazine. For this look back we’ll focus on 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, 850 Triple
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!”
the Rat Rod Magazine material, but don’t want to discount the other half of this equation. The bike portion has been 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
how will he defend his crown in 2015? m ore
they were a necessity for this build for both comfort and
greatest supporters. thank you to all the staff of r at rod
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
awesome and so has our partnership with whatever magazine Jerry Ripley has been commandeering.) 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
RATRODMAGAZINE.COM RAT ROD MAGAZINE 67
66x69 build offs revisited.indd 67 6/20/18 7:18 AM