My brothers 1957 Chevrolet 150 Handyman Wagon (Goat Wagon)

JeeperG

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverdale
Posted this up before but here is a new thread about it, they have been out showing it off all over the place, maybe you've seen it? technically it is my brothers father-in-laws but they built it together, my brother did much of the work. Car was originally purchased by the father-in-law in the late 1960's when he was in high school. What originally was just going to be a couple year build ended up turning into 12 years. Blood sweat and tears where put into this no doubt but lives where lived, shops where built and full time jobs worked.

They purchased a wrecked 2006 GTO and used a whole of that in the build and the reason it is now called the "Goat Wagon" engine, trans, wire harness, instrument cluster, door handles, seats, etc all included. This was basically garage built, the only thing not done by them was the stitching of interior, even that was ready to go with things such as door panels.

Super proud of the work they did on this one and you can guess who I call when I need help with my 40. :D

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johngottfredson

Threat Level Midnight
Location
Alpine
Unreal. Sweet vintage cars with modern components is for sure the way to go. Impressive on its own merits. Triple impressive that this was done in a home garage.
 

JeeperG

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverdale
Unreal. Sweet vintage cars with modern components is for sure the way to go. Impressive on its own merits. Triple impressive that this was done in a home garage.
Yeah, I agree, they did a super great job, too be fair though during that 12 years the garages where discarded for detached shops complete with a lift and paint booth, they are neighbors. Regardless they are not doing this for a living, father-in-law is also now retired.
 

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
The Goat was at Hot Rod Hideout for sometime while the Sunbeam was there. On occasion when I was in the shop at the beginning of the Sunbeam build, when Andy still kind of liked me, I would see (I assume) the father-in-law in there working on the interior. Talked to him just a little about it. Not sure how much of it he did by himself and how much Andy did. I sure hope they had a better experience than I did.

Beautiful car.
 

JeeperG

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverdale
The Goat was at Hot Rod Hideout for sometime while the Sunbeam was there. On occasion when I was in the shop at the beginning of the Sunbeam build, when Andy still kind of liked me, I would see (I assume) the father-in-law in there working on the interior. Talked to him just a little about it. Not sure how much of it he did by himself and how much Andy did. I sure hope they had a better experience than I did.

Beautiful car.

Ohhhhh, okay yeah It all makes sense now, I've never completely went through the build thread on here.

My brother brought all this up on Saturday when he called me after Peach Days. He told me about the KSL article and said, "if that guys interior work took a little longer it is cause we kept pushing him to hurry and get the wagon done" It sounds like you both had a bad experience. They had hoped to have it back before Autorama last year and didn't get it till the end of July I think, so Hot August Nights in Reno ended up being their first show. He said the guy does awesome work but his customer service is lacking. They had the whole inside of the car ready for upholstery, I am not sure if Albert lent a hand or not down there.

I can tell you this, my brother and I are doing the interior on my build, it's probably the only thing left for my brother to master and he already started learning, I don't think he'll ever pay someone again.
 

JeeperG

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverdale
The Goat was at Hot Rod Hideout for sometime while the Sunbeam was there. On occasion when I was in the shop at the beginning of the Sunbeam build, when Andy still kind of liked me, I would see (I assume) the father-in-law in there working on the interior. Talked to him just a little about it. Not sure how much of it he did by himself and how much Andy did. I sure hope they had a better experience than I did.

Beautiful car.
I just wanted to add that I had a more in depth conversation with my brother about his experience with Andy since I had only heard bits and pieces, I was not involved in any way, never even met the guy. Yes he had frustration, disappointments and missed deadlines. What should have taken 8 weeks took 9 months. It was a co-collaboration so he was involved in a lot of the upholstery process and spent much time down at Andy's, so he is fully aware of the sunbeam situation. I have still not read the entire thread on here. Obviously he gets asked a lot who did the upholstery on the wagon and he gives Andy credit where credit is due, he still is on good terms with him and does not tell people to not go to him, nor does he tell them to, that is their decision. He really does do beautiful work.

So up next for us both to learn upholstery not because of Andy but because that is how my brother is and he wants to learn, he wants to be able to do an entire build by himself. My 40 Ford should be a good one to do cause of its size and I am not trying to do a build on the caliber of the wagon by any means.
 

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
Andy is a toss up. As I've talked about him on here, I've tried to leave personal feelings aside (although they may be obvious) and just tell the facts of my experience. There is no question about the quality of his work. I've said that from the beginning. It speaks for itself. However, I feel its important to tell the rest of the story as well. An unsuspecting potential customer with unlimited time and budget would do well with Andy. Those with a time crunch and a strict budget for upholstery will have heartache. I'd be doing a person an injustice if I was asked about the upholstery and not share the full story. They could then make an informed decision. I feel comfortable with that because as I learn more about Andy I find out our story is usually similar is others as well.

It would be awesome to have the skills to build an entire show car in my garage. I know next to nothing about body and paint, or upholstery. I'm comfortable with everything else. I'd love to learn body and paint though. Not so much upholstery.
 

JeeperG

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverdale
Well, she is under the knife again, guess 12 years wasn't enough time. ? In reality it was originally gonna be a pretty basic build....4 link, through frame brake fittings, rebuild exhaust... She'll be at Autorama Boise same weekend as Autorama SLC this year, March?

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