Tales of a Gearhead

Matt Tisdale, owner of Tisdale Coachworks out of Winslow, Indiana, is in the shop today. He and Stacey dig into one the most American trucks ever produced - the Dodge Power Wagon. Matt describes how his love for these WW2 classics motivated him to mortgage his house to start his own company reproducing all-metal Power Wagon cabs and beds.

If yesterday was Tuesday, then today is "Woodsday". Jeff Major from BEDWOOD is in the shop. Stacey and Jeff talk about Jeff's early days growing up in a gearhead family and his father owning a gas station, then getting into stock car racing, demolition derby, and finally tractor pulling. They also talk about how that background and his dissatisfaction with the aftermarket wood truck bed kits available at the time motivated Jeff to start his own company, which is now a global leader in aftermarket wood truck bed kits!

Stacey is on the road this week, traveling all the way out to DuBois, Wyoming to sit down with Dan Starks, the founder of the National Museum of Military Vehicles. The museum is a massive 160,000 sq/ft facility that houses over 500 military vehicles, weapons, and other artifacts used in this nation's conflicts going all the way back to the Revolutionary War up to Iraq and Afghanistan. Stacey and Dan discuss Dan's passion for celebrating the veterans and their sacrifices for the country, Dan investing over ONE HUNDRED MILLION dollars of his own money to bring the museum to life, and his veterans outreach programs like The Wilderness Healing Project.

When it comes to our projects' interior, we all love it when it's finished and looks great but hate the road we have to travel to get there. Well, to make that journey a bit easier, Stacey is joined by Jonas & Eric from AUTO KUSTOMS out of Harrodsburg, KY. They discuss how they got started, what made them get into interior work, their least favorite vehicles to work on, AND bounce around few ideas for what they & Stacey might do with APACHE project.

On this episode, Stacey discusses what happens to the projects that he doesn't have the time to finish. So, he invited Jim & Jimmy Miller of MILLER & SON COLLISION out of Lancaster, NY onto the podcast since they are now the new owners of the CATALOG CAMARO project and will oversee its completion.
Then, it's mailbag time! Stacey answers "should I get into 30s hot rods?", "How many miles is too many when buying a used car?", "What do I do with this project I inherited?" And "Have you ever regretted selling a project?"