Pictures and Text by Jack and Maryann Lawford

December 2, 2005

This year we expanded out booth exhibit to include a 52" LCD monitor along with some additional signage which just wouldn't fit in the Hotrodhotline Durango so we needed to upgrade our wheels to something more utilitarian..... an idea we just hated ! Our solution was to get a 2005 Chev Astro Van ( boo hiss) but to do all we could to "Hot Rod" it.. Believe it or not, it was nearly impossible to find a New Black van .... no dealer in Idaho was able to find one for us so we fell back on our Southern California contacts and ended up getting it in Glendale, California at Allen Gwynn Chevrolet. The dealership was great... Hossein Nadjar took care of the sale for us and they had the truck in a few days. Jack flew down to pick it up. This was in early June with the show season fast approaching so we had to get to work FAST!

Jack "smoothed" the van by removing the door handles and installing automatic door poppers and electric windows, worked on the suspension a little to get it lowered somewhat , replaced the grill and then it was off to the Paint Shop.

Doug Batchelor of Dougs Designs in Mountain Home, Idaho is a very talented young man who is well known for his great work on Motorcycles. Doug designed the layout and Jack took the truck over for the paint job.

Then it was onto the layout for the lettering and flames

Doug did a great job and we recommend him highly for his talent and quality of work.

After the flames was the clearcoat, then the “grunt work” of buffing it all out.

Back in 2000 we took some shots at Doug’s Design Shop. Take a Look....

After that the finishing touches ... Wheels from Billet Specialties and low profile tires gave it "The Look". This winter Jack is working on getting a full out Air Ride system on the truck so we can get it down on the ground..... he's working on that right now and we'll keep you posted....Mary Ann Lawford