who's the one of the best fabricators out there these days

100% agree

 

I am with you there desoto. I had to repair a "Floyd" built frame for Roger Burman a couple of years ago. Piss poor design and fabrication on a front suspension bracket. Luckily it broke in the trailer and not going down the road.
On the subject of "actual" fabricators there are a bunck of good ones here in Indy but for me a coupe really stand out. Jackie Howerton and Jerry Weeks both do absolutely incredible work. Both are former racers and I think that helps. If anyone has not seen it yet they should take a look at Howerton's track roadster that was faetured in RJ. Absolutely stunning on all fronts and probably capable of being raced quite effectively if you were crazy enough.

Roo

 

What about Roy Brizio he does some amazing work and has great attention to detial.

 

Just before that it was worse (79, 80, 81) in this area. I remember riding around in the car with my Dad while he was looking for a job. He's a toolmaker, and has forgotten more than I could ever learn.

How about Buttera? Didn't the guy build a fairly successful Indy car in his garage?

 

I second Denny Lesky... he's a great welder, fabricator, and grinder. a very good eye for what looks right! He likes putting holes in stuff too!!

 

A third for Denny! One hell of a fabricator and an even nicer guy, always eager to crawl under a car and give a tour, or an opinion.
One of the smaller guys getting some well deserved press lately.

 

First and foremost thanks for mentioning my name!! I have to agree with alot of people when they say the internet and T.V. has made alot of people heroes! I have to admit, it has probably helped me and my shop. And I also agree with the fact, that there are alot of Fabricators that build killer stuff and never get the recognition they deserve. There are many fabricators that build off road race stuff in Southern California that create some of the most amazing stuff, No one knows who they are. I am thankful for the recognition I have recieved, I do believe when you walk in my shop you can see what you are going to get. There is no hiding in my shop, every weld is exposed, and we try our hardest to do the best engineering that we can. Everyone that knows me, knows that I am not much of a sheetmetal guy, Having my own shop my sheetmetal skills, have considerably improved but It is definetely an area I am working on. I feel that owning a shop I have to be proficient and knowledgable about everything we do. I wouldnt feel right about owning a shop and not having a thorough understanding of welding,fabrication,machining and general automotive. It is really tough sometimes because I dont always know!! But I have surrounded myself with Friends and elders, that I can always rely on to steer me in the right direction. I also have two employees that work in my shop that never cease to amaze me. One of them Matt Proctor started working for me part time, now he is full time and his skills are getting to be really good. My other employee Brandon Winters, is what you guys and I, consider an unsung hero. He is a really good metal guy, built his first hot rod years ago, and has worked for some pretty big name shops. So between these guys and my friends that help out I have a pretty good support system. So now that I have given you the rundown on me, here is my list of people I look up to (in no particular order).
1. Bobby Walden-amazing sheet metal guy, he makes using a Yoder power hammer look easy. Plus he is a hell of a nice guy.
2. Ionia Rod shop- I really like there style!
3. Hot Rod Pro - builds really nice cars with solid engineering and style.
4. Brian Bass - He came out here a few years ago, stayed at my house and worked at my shop for about a month. He then went back to Texas and proceeded to kick ass!! Its amazing to see how far his skills have come in such a short time. He is a true artist.
5. Keith Tardel- hell of a nice guy and builds a hell of a car.
6.Littleman- no explanation neccessary!!
7.Kevin Tully- I saw some headers he built on here, there were really nice.
8.Geordie paul- From England builds really nice cars.
9. Bob Brooks- like a second dad to me, he is my engineering hero!
That is all I can think of right now, my hot rod heroes list changes from month to month, these are my current inspirations and heroes.
Jimmy White

 

Over here dude!

 

I just came across this, I don't even know what to say. I never considered my self to be one of the best, never considered my self to be even considered when there are soo many good builders out there. I never thought people would look up to me or think of my work the way they do. Young guys e-mail and tell me that I inspire them, ,or they say i raised the bar for them to try harder, or they saw something on my page that made them think, ?'s they ask, I answer, they'll write me back and say hey thanks thats what does it for me, the helping.

For me, I could care less about mags, shows, exposure, sure it may help with the biz, but I just like what I'm doing. I'm very very fortunate to be able to do this for a living. I have been doing this since i was a a kid at 14 making a living doing it. thats a fucking long time. I'm 33 now still trying to make ends meet, like little man said theres allways gonna be someone better to pop out of nowhere. You guys found me last year, and the chit was F!@!@#ing crazy!! all the e-mails, i had a counter on my page that shit should be around 30, 0000 hits since last feb, though some fucker hacked my account.. i don't really run adds, I don't call up mags and say hey i built this you need to run it in your mag. If the car makes it to the show,, and it gets reconized cool, I don't care for the spotlight, id rather stand back and just watch others admire it, thats enough for me. It's the build, watching shit just come together, the thinking,, design, hell you think i make money at this psssshh i wish, I get soo invovled with things i don't know when to say when, i don't look at it as money or hourly figure,, it's mine until i finish it,, seems like the customer always gets the better end. Come the 23rd of this month it will be a year since a new good friend posted my link on here, here is the old link for you new guys.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=164595

When i 1st got on i dint know what to F!@#1ing think then it went kinda south never one to stand down, i learned alote about shit that is said on the internet and breaking a mutha F!@#@!er off, not thinking that the world is reading it, or not agreeing with one that runs shit! but hey my whole life i learned the hard way.

I thank all you guys out there for the support and inspiration you have given me.Steve Sellers, no different than you!

 

My feelings exactly Steve. I have been doing this for much longer than you (I will be 60 this year) and I still love it. Sometimes people ask me why I am willing to help out the opposition or young guys who really don't have a clue. I have been lucky enough to work with some really talented fabricators and they all taught me something, either directly or simply by lettting me watch them in action. I figure that it does not cost me anything to pass at least some of that knowledge on when I get a chance. I think back to how clueless I was when I started out and how I got to where I am because of people who were willing to help me out and try to do the same.

Roo

 

See I didnt have that, ,the help or someone wanting to show me, ,i was always conisdered the PUNK ASS! kid who fogged the tires sideways through a parking lot car show. I worked for maybe 4 shops,, and only for about 6 to 8 months, sure i didnt know it all, but i was always one to rebell, or do it my way cause it was faster and cleaner and that kinda pissed them off, or I would say naaah I'm not doing it! shit aint safe! or they would sell a customer stuff they didnt even need so I would walk out. Then some exposure came TRJ, ,now all these older guys who never gave me the time of day when i would ask a ? or how did you do that.. now they want to be all buddy buddy with me,, Ahhh wait a minute 1st impression is a bitch aint it!. Soo I stick to myself.. I'm more or less a 100% self taught everything i do is by hand,, no C.N.C shit,, no lasers or water jets.. I had a father figure in life Rod Furtado some may remember him from building flat head motors throught out the U.S stuff for Roy, ( BRIZIO) he always gave back to mei was maybe 20 when i would start going over to his shop,, never treated me any different than his buddies or customers, he lived around the corner from me, i hung out at his house, watched him line bore blocks, grinds cams on DE lONGS old cam grinder,, i asked all those annoying ?'s and he never got sick of me, we became really really good friends he was my DAD more or less. he inspried me to machine shit, he always said well whats your time worth,, you could go buy it or just make it! he always helped anybody out no matter what they asked or needed. he gave back .. he would tell me "YOU CAN"T TAKE ALL THE KNOWLEDGE WITH YOU WHEN YOUR GONE" and I'm a TRUE firm believer of this.. sure i may have a skill but I have never been the one OHHHHH it's my secret i want to be the only one= who can do it this way FUCK THAT! you wanna know i'll tell you just ask.. I have had quite a few guys come over and they think they can flash money in my face and buy me, when i tell them i'm booked out, busy. I just blow those guys off when they come back tell them the same thing they don't appreciate the work or effort you put inot there job, I'd rather help any kid or guy out who truly wants to learn or know how to do it, for me, ,that you can't buy , that feeling of helping one out, or showing them how to drop Dime Over Dime. I have been in this game a long time,, I have seen the market change,, the attitude change, along the way over the years it bums me out how other people treat others just because you have a shit load of dough and I'm buying gas with pocket change ,, I'll go toe to toe with the best, my whole life it was like i had to prove something to others, now I don't say shit! I'll just let the work speak for it's self. I don't even care anymore, i have come to terms this is what I'm to do the rest of my life, you like it cool you don't no biggie I didn't build it for you! Guess over the years it's just but a bitter taste in my mouth, So I have noo problem helping out others or showing/ telling them how to do it, Remember we can't take it with us when were gone soo why not share it!

 

couple of paragraphs in there would make that easier to read for us old guys with blurry vision....

 

Fay Butler
Lil John
Craig Naff
Steve Davis
Ron Fournier
Ron Covell
Marcell Delay & Sons
Cass Nawrocki
Bob Munroe
Pat Foster
Tom Hanna
Jim Humme
Kent Fuller
Jackie Howerton
Jerry Weeks

All true craftsmen.

They can build all the parts - run all the machines - design around all the problems & somtimes even build the machinery they need to do the job.

Funny thing about public opinon, I have found most times the ( general public ) worships what ever celeb the Print & TV media choose to make heros.

Why The media picks certain people to be stars is a topic all on its own.

Why the general public follow the media is because they are to lazy to do any information gathering on there own....its easy to sit on the couch & watch TV or read a Mag.
If they did Some looking around in the real world of ( buildin stuff from raw materials & ideas ), they would see some of there hero's are fakes, and some are just average talent posers. Sometimes the work they take credit for is not there own - it's the work of a true craftsman in the background who may or may not get his day in the sun shine.

Its not fair, it's just the way it is.

( Thanks Unk, You put my name in with some pretty big hitters )

 

I agree with Sellers, I just like welding stuff together and making cool stuff.
Jimmy White

 

FINNALLY! Someone mentions Cass. Really nice guy and unbelievably talented. If you don't know his work, find some. It will blow your mind. I've never felt more like a drooling moron than when in his precence, and I've felt that way alot!

 

So true, I'm not one of them.

 

Jimmy, you forgot, JEB SCOLEMAN::::::::

 

Foster.

 

Ron Fournier for sure and Phil Remington. Still working for Dan Gurney at 85.

 

ETHER Local HAMBer here in Atlanta.... Made a Tudor Merc from a Fordor, amazing.....

 

Jaime Blanco is my hero, uhh I mean Jimmy White. thanks dude

 

T.V. Your right how could I forget Jeb!! He has amazing skills, and is a hell of a guy, He is definetely one of my inspirations right now.
Jimmy White

 

I love ya Jimmy, you also are a real talent and a nice guy.--TV

 

And the quiet ones that nobody included on their lists:

Joe and Jay Kennedy

Bobby Walden

Rudy Rodriguez

Mike Brown

Doug Robinson

Jaime at Hot Rod Haven

 

Dan Webb
Al Bergler
John Buttera
Craig Naff
Pat Foster
Cole Foster

 

This is what inspires me. i wish i could spend a week just watching you work. im teaching myself as well and had nobody tell me how to do it or to fix it but i have always found inspiration and thats what kept me going, I hope to be half as good as you are........keep it up steve! -jordan

 

I am, without a doubt, no question, the best fabricator in this room.

But outside my den, I'll admit to spending an hour letting Sellers' page load so I could look through each and every photo, detailing work I can only dream about.

Doc.