Truck Bumper Fabrication

Amateurs take a back seat for classic car restorations

When Dana DeCoster found the 1953 Ford of his dreams, it looked more like a nightmare.

"It had been sitting behind a garage in Oak Park for more than 20 years and there were trees growing out of the bumper," said DeCoster, publisher of Cruis'news magazine.

"Only two of the six cylinders were working and it was pockmarked with rust, especially in the rocker panels."

After forking over $1,200 for the car, the Sterling Heights resident sent it to Ray's Hot Rod Shop in Warren to have the exterior restored.

"I did restore the interior, but I'm just not set up for body work and painting," said DeCoster, 57, who plans to drive the light green two-door sedan up Woodward a week from Saturday.

"I might have done it 30 years ago, but not anymore. Call it getting older or smarter, but I decided it was easier to let someone else put it on a hoist rather than me slide underneath to work on it."

With the Woodward Dream Cruise approaching, DeCoster and other owners of collectible cars have turned to professionals to polish their diamonds in the rough.

In southern Wayne County, classic car owners depend on Scarry Larry's Motor City's Chop Shop on Middle Belt Road in New Boston.

"We do top-end restoration: painting, extending, chopping, everything," said the shop's free-spirited founder and namesake, who legally changed his name to Scarry Larry.

While his garage does straight restorations, Larry also performs some unusual combinations.

"We're putting a 1937 Cadillac body on a 1989 Lincoln," Larry said. "I've transferred the body of a 1971 Mustang onto a 1992 Mustang and a 1992 Cougar onto a Jaguar.

"We also produced a four-door, extended-body Corvette we called 'The Red Baron.'"

Scarry Larry and his crew, Baby Larry and Friend Noah, also dropped a Police Interceptor engine into a T-Bird.

"But you'd never know it to look at it," Larry said.

Over in Romulus, Leo Przybylowicz's Showroom Productions Garage works more on straight classic restorations.

"We're buttoning up a 1952 Chevy pickup truck, which will be ready in time for the Dream Cruise," Przybylowicz said.

"We redid the entire truck. You would think it would be difficult finding parts for it, but there was no problem.

"But it can be difficult to find parts for some vehicles, like a 1985 El Camino I was working on. Also a 1957 Buick Super. In those cases, we had to fabricate the parts ourselves.

Bottorf Fab DII Front Bumper

I realize that Nate at Bottorf is still having his bumper sale so I though I would post some information and pictures of the bumper he sent me along with some tips on how to mount it. First off my camera broke when my father, my wife and I were mounting it. Since grandma was also here to watch the kids and I had the time off from work so we mounted it. Second I am a novice at this sort of thing and I wasn’t sure we would be able to do it, but you don’t know till you try it. To start with I had to disconnect the lights it This wasn’t hard. See the pictures of the plug. 2000 D2 SD w/BFG MT 255/85/16, 3" lift, ARB front bumper, custom rear bumper & rock sliders, Mantec snorkel, CDL, KMC front & rear diff guard, Columbia Rovers gas tank skid, LR front skid, RoverTracks HD tie rod & drag link, BajaRack roof rack, Great Basin HD rear driveshaft & 4.14 gears, Trutrac LSD front w/Detroit rear locker, Ashcroft HD axles & CV, Polybush Dynamic bushings, blr HD engine mounts 2000 D2 SD w/BFG MT 255/85/16, 3" lift, ARB front bumper, custom rear bumper & rock sliders, Mantec snorkel, CDL, KMC front & rear diff guard, Columbia Rovers gas tank skid, LR front skid, RoverTracks HD tie rod & drag link, BajaRack roof rack, Great Basin HD rear driveshaft & 4.14 gears, Trutrac LSD front w/Detroit rear locker, Ashcroft HD axles & CV, Polybush Dynamic bushings, blr HD engine mounts don't waste your money on a relocation kit for the washer bottle. Just build your own out of *censored**censored**censored**censored*ter pipe...I followed this and its really easy, and if you ever break it or if it breaks, it ain't real hard to make another. To make it a little more stock looking I cut the filler neck off the stock bottle and coupled it (stuck it down in the pipe and glued it) to the pvc which retained the blue washer cap instead of using a screw on cap like he did. I've ordered a very similar bumper from Nate and expect it to arrive next week. (I went with the brushed metal winch box cover and fog lamps with the brushed metal skid plate. I may hit you up if I get stuck with the self install. (I'm in San Diego also. Chula Vista nowadays though.) CDL is on it's way and then lift/sliders as the cash permits. I'd like to see more pics of your truck though. Also, how much of a lift (and which manufacturer) is on your truck?

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