Hot Rods Small shop needed - West Coast Prefered

I have been looking the last few months for a car to buy but cant seem to find exactly or close to what I want and am now looking at getting it built. Im looking for a small shop or even a backyard guy, preferably near the west coast as it needs to be shipped to me in Japan.

Anyone know of someone reputable trustworthy and well positioned to build a bare bones A coupe highboy?

Building one myself is not an option for a variety of reasons so if that's your feedback please dont waste your time nor mine.

 

What about Keith Tardell at Rex Rods. His father Vern would have to be first on the list to build a traditional A coupe but he's retired from building so Keith has to be next. I know he's in Texas but I'm sure someone down there would love to drive it to Long Beach to put it on the boat.
If Keith is too busy then Ben Thomas is also in the Austin area so you could have an Aussie build you a car, in America to ship to you in Japan-is that multi-cultural??

 

Seems like a good way to get snookered out of your money, be careful.

 

The west coast goes from Alaska to California.
Must be something in between.

 

What's your idea of a bare-bones coupe ?

 

Canada, Washington and Oregon.

 

Get a hold of Zap Tashema, he may know someone. Moon eyes japan may have his contract info here in the states. Also he is on Facebook

 

From their site.
Boling Brothers is now located in Lindsay, California. We've been building Hot Rods and Chassis since 2005. We are a full fabrication shop and specialize in Model A frames and chassis, as well as Bendix style Lincoln brakes for your 1928-1948 Ford

http://www.bolingbrothers.com/about-contact-us/

 

You need a better descriptor than simple, bare bones, highboy. Do you need them to find the car and build it, or do you have the bones? Do you want to do any of the work, when it gets to you, or are you looking for a turnkey car? Is it important to you to have the car built, instead of buying somebody's pride and joy? If you want us to help you figure this out, we need more info.
Anyway, below are a couple of shops I'm willing to vouch for:
Don Dillard at Hwy 99 Hot Rods, in Visalia CA is a real craftsman and honest as the day is long.
Mike Porter Street Rods in Atascadero CA does fine work, too. He's a straight up guy, too.

 

do not jump into having a ride built that you can not at least visit shop and view progress once in a while - any good shop, small or big, will be busy and you may have to wait a long time for project to start and finish - be very careful with finances when you find your shop - do not want to give them a big down payment to start, etc

 

Thanks all.

As Im an Aussie that might work out well thanks.

Thanks. Want a turn key car ready to drive. I can help source parts etc if need be but have nothing except a right hand steering box and some HAMB alliance tags Have been looking and cant find what I want hence looking for a build, pic below is pretty close to the mark.

Warm SBC, 7004R so my Mrs can drive it, 9"



Thanks. Will reach out to the guys suggested so far.
Pete

 

^^^Not sure what your budget is and of course it's none of my business, but I hope you have a realistic expectation of what this project is going to cost, especially if you are shipping parts back and forth from Japan to the U.S. and ultimately the finished car to you^^^ The above car, though it may be "bare bones" wasn't inexpensive to complete I'm sure. Just cover all of your bases and do your homework.

 

I would add Stokers Hot Rods to the list. A really great shop, highly competent and honest, and a member here on the HAMB, http://www.stokershotrodfactory.com/

There's also Waldens, exceptionally great builder: https://www.waldenspeedshop.com/

And there's also Cambra Speed Shop: http://cambraspeedshop.com/

 

..........My thoughts and prayers go out to any friends and relatives you may have back home. Hope they are safe from the terrible wildfires.......Don.

 

Thanks. The image above is photoshopped. Not sure if I can go for the header and slant set up $ wise but have what I think is a reasonable budget if the work is done in a smaller shop with lower overheads etc.

Only parts I plan to ship is the right hand drive steering box and I am across shipping costs both internal and ex USA for complete vehicles as its not my 1st rodeo shipping cars and bikes

 

One of our own members. https://www.rocketsgarage.com/ He's about fifteen miles from me and can turn one out at any level you want it done at.
Second generation rod builder with a shop crew that is top rate.
There is also a paint shop that he works with a few miles away that can turn out a world class paint job if you want one.

 

while i admire your ambition to have a traditional hotrod in japan, i have to say proceed with extreme caution. your in japan for a reason, a good job? a lovely wife? a life experience? what ever. to hire a shop to work for you when you cant even stop by and poke em with a stick to get moving is asking for trouble. if you are a big shot and money means nothing, well thats easy you just hire one of many big dollar builders in LA and it goes out the port in long beach. but when you open the door to the small shops, and you are on the other side of the planet i see problems. now all the little guys will attack me, and i'm sure there are some good guys out there, but my experience has been this...first off, i am a do it yourselfer. the few times i have hired a small shop to save time, or do a "professional" job it has always gone to shit. many small shops are gonna spend your down payment to finish the car thats in the shop that the guy promised the owner to be done months ago, and most likely already spent the down payment on the car sitting out in the drive way, and soon your car will be third in line and the guy is now living on your money. my 34 coupe was a nightmare from a guy in canada, it got so bad i was looking into international law to see if i had any chance of getting my car or my money back after it took 2 1/2 years to do about 2 months worth of metal work. you look young, i am old and that guy took 2 1/2 years from my life. problem was i gave him too much money down, so no longer any incentive to finish the work. next, a common problem, and in my case, you hire a guy who is extremely skilled, and you expect that workmanship, but after 2 /12 years he sold another car to some one in the states so the big push was on to get my car done as quickan easy as possible to be able to ship them both at the same time and collect the final cash. i will drive rat rods before i ever hire out any work again. enough whimpering from me, but in your case, please buy a car that has a title, runs and drives so it can be driven home when you get it, and you can do your personnel touches while driving it. model a coupes are not scarce. pick one and ship it. there are many talented folks in japan, i know parts are an issue, but if you live there you have that figured out. please...proceed with caution, best wishes

 

Thanks Don! My family and friends are OK but so many have lost so much. REALLY appreciate your thought! We have been holding fund raising charity event this past week to send money back to those that need it.

 

You can't do better than Jimmy White, Circle City Hot Rods. Orange, Ca.

 

I see where you're going with this. now, Pete. I think you should find a car that you like and have a shop convert it to RHD. There are very fair deals out there. That would be the most efficient way to get where you want to be.

 

Jimmy White is great.

So is my man Matt Seret in Vallejo. Take a look at my thread and see his work.



And I don't live in CA.

 

I agree with Marty, Jimmy White is another good shop. Which ever shop you pick, they should be one that cares about their reputation and will get your work done so they can take in a different job. Don, Mike and Jimmy can give you references. They have excellent reputations. They have a body of work that speaks for them. If you plan to ship the finished car to Oz, when your work in Japan is done, remember they have pretty stringent regos there. Good luck.

 

The more I ponder this the more I agree that the possibilities of opening a can of worms and my are in the 90% range. Maybe buy a finished or almost finished car and ship it to you. With no one breathing down a shops neck , it could be a long row to hoe . If you figure shop rate x 40 hour week x how many weeks of just labor you could buy one maybe.

 

Also, did you locate and A? I believe Matt has one still (a 30/31 coupe) that he'd sell.

 

Thanks all. My preference all along has been to buy a completed car and make some minor changes if need be, just not found the right one hence thinking of going down the build route..

Thanks Brent, been following your thread from the start Sorry which Matt?

 

Matt Seret - Seret Speed & Custom, Vallejo, Ca.

PM if you need his info.

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1930-ford-coupe.1178412/
buy this and be way ahead of the game....check the classifieds here...gonna be way better off buying something running and driving imho...unless you got a big fat check book...why do you think the Japanese come to GNRS and other West Coast shows..

 

Cheers have been looking at that since it listed, it would be a good start but by the time I got it to where I want it its getting to build $.

If I could buy something super close to what I want I would in a heart beat.

 

Cheers mate have sent him a PM on here and via FB. Appreciate the help.

 

I have seen several really n

Hey Pete check the HAMB classified ads. I often see
Model A coupes there in various stages. Some are quite nice. I would suggest you contact Mr. Ralph. ( his hamb
handle) He is offering a partially completed Model A at the moment . A few months back He also offered avery
nice running driving A he had built for a what Ithought was a reasonable price. I believe he is continuously building these and similar rides.
Mr. Ralphs ads often appear offering vehicles.
I personally dont know the fellow. His builds appear
nicely done in my opinion. Just a suggestion.