A Day In The Life Of Hot Rod Cowgirl For Oregon Dayshoot 2013!

03 Aug 2013 29 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Hot Rod Cowgirl, Hot Rods, Photography, Wild Bill Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A day in the life of Hot Rod Cowgirl begins in the dark dawn of July 15th for the Oregon Dayshoot 2013! The Dayshoot first began 30 years ago in 1983 to depict life in Oregon on any given day of everyday life. It’s a way to record Oregon history and what our lives were like in 2013 compared to the first Oregon Dayshoot in 1983.

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It’s 4:30 in the morning on July 15th and I am excited to be a part of Dayshoot 2013! I’m ready with my camera…a nice clean card, along with a spare one and extra batteries too. And its time to begin as I step out to capture the sunrise…it was well worth it but I wish the stars had shown up in the photo too!

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Yard sprinklers were doing their thing…I lightened this photo up so you can see the drops of water! A fun time of day to be up and taking pictures of life in Juniper Canyon!

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Here comes the sun…I do truly love this time of day anymore…used to not be crazy about it but then I got into photography and I love the sunrise and the sunset…the two enchanted times of light and capturing images with hues of color that knock your socks off!

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Yard Bath or Showers! We have had the sprinklers only 1 year and I love them. It is so much easier to water the yard with a switch instead of dragging around hoses all over. WB said too he thinks all our gophers have left due to the water!!! Yeah!!!

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Finally daybreak…I am the only one up and I need coffee soon…it is now 5:30 in the morning! And its going to be a beautiful day! I love it as it is so quiet and speaks deep to my heart of God’s beauty all around us if we will look and observe.

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 Annie was up and wanting her hay breakfast…”Morning Mom, dayshoot or is it dayhoot-cares…I’m hungry and yeah yeah about taking pictures…just gimme my hay and I will pose for you later ok.”

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And here’s Pat and Jack putting in their two cents since Annie got to. “Well really Mom, you need to sit down here and pet us, rub and love us and feed us treats!” I miss Jack so much as he was beautiful inside and out!”

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“No way Mom….what are you doing outside at this time of day….get in here and I need treats too and lots of pets and kitty loves!” “And who cares about this dayhottenany or whatever it is called!” “Humph!”

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As the day slowly wore on, it was over a 100 degrees and too darn hot to be out very long. After lunch I figured I would go check out the shop…WB said to come down and grab some photos of the guys working for fun! So here I am in Wild Bill’s shop wondering if I can catch some sneaky action photos of the guys working on cool cars:) And I LOVE Corvette’s!

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Here’s Bryan working away but I think he is hiding…Hey Bryan…quit hiding and smile!

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Come on Clay, look up and smile at the camera…geez! Clay is working on a very cool 1935 Ford Pick Up…it is going to be very classy when it rolls out of the “Lab!”

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“Ahhh HA! I caught you Wild Bill! Smile for me and what are you doing now? Hmmm, well I am having trouble getting the guys to smile like they are having fun with all these super cool cars to work on!!! At least you will smile at me if I try to capture you working on one of the cars right?”

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Apparently not…and hmmmph…hey WB come on and look up!!!! He gets all obsessed over Corvettes too like I do! This is a 1976 Corvette…hey WB LOOK UP Dang It!

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I know maybe Nathan will look up and smile….by the way this is a 1958 Metro…cute huh? Nathan likes to draw and he drew the smiley face on the Metro and at least it is smiling, and looking at the camera!

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I know what they are saying….”Here she comes again, so look like we are discussing something very serious” “Ok Terry and WB come on and look at me you ding-dong guys!!!”

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And one last picture of Bryan working on a 1949 Chev. Pick Up…

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Guess I will head back outside to see what is going on….Hey heres Jagged, our 1928 Dodge Coupe! WB likes louvers can you tell?

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The landscape view in bright light of day! This is the view of the sunrise photos I was taking at dawn…looks way different huh?

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Typical scene outside the shop…lots of kooool custom cars in front of our old-fashioned service station!

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And the day is winding down…horses doing the nuzzle after their dinner

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Hey Dash what do you think? Hmmm…he not looking at my camera either….geesh!!!

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Enjoy the summer as soon…it will be gone…and big fat WAH! I LOVE nice warm 80 degree days and the sunshine! Have a wonderful weekend and peaceful night wherever you are and a Simply Sunshiny Sunday! Smile and…click click click!

Hot Rod Cowgirl’s Horse Power and Horsepower!

18 Apr 2012 28 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Horses, Hot Rods, Landscapes, Photography Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Often I am asked, how did I come up with the name Hot Rod Cowgirl? Am I really a cowgirl? What does Hot Rod mean in your name? How can you be both a Cowgirl and Hot Rod Girl?

 The pictures will help to explain the how and the why:)

Horsepower and horse power represent my life. I love my horses and I love horsepower! This shot is perfect…I can see both at once in my view:)

I grew up like this…horses and cows…on a large cattle and wheat ranch…in the middle of nowhere!

Horses have been a large part of my life and my heart…from the time I was 2 years old:)

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Then I met WB…and my heart became his…this country cowgirl turned into his Hot Rod Cowgirl!

Horsepower…My Classic Hot Rod!

Horse Power…My Classy AQHA “Fanny Annie!”

 “Hot Rod Cowgirl.”

Happy Horses…Happy Heart!

 Cadillac Truck…Cowgirl Style!

Hot Rods…Horsepower!

Hot Rod Cowgirl, Hobby Horse And Dog Maggie May.

 Original Cowgirl Cadillac…Miles Of Memories.

Go Fast GTO Horsepower!

Hot Rod Cowgirl Cutting Loose With Horse Power!

Hot Rod Cowgirl’s Cadillac 4-Horse Hauler Deluxe!

Cowgirl’s Hot Rod Husband…

And Her Cowboy Husband…He Has A Dual Look For Me!

Hot Rod…

Cowgirl:)

I hope that helps to explain it…we live on the ranch and operate our successful hot rod business here…we live the western life  with our horses, Aussie dogs and…Hot Rods!

Hot Rod Cowgirl Is Headed Down The Trail…Ta-Tah For Now!

Portland Roadster Show 2012….Part Two

23 Mar 2012 23 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Award, Holton Secret Lab, Hot Rods, Photography Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The Portland Roadster Show opened to the public last Friday at noon and ran until 7:00 Sunday night. It draws around 40,000 through the gate each day and with 500 custom, restored, classic and beautiful cars…there are some incredible cars to see and drool over…it is a fun show as we have gone enough that we know some of the people and that makes it special to us.

I love seeing the new cars that come to the show with the various modifications and the creative touches…however it is hard to leave our display as Wild Bill is always in demand to talk to about either restoring someones car or building a dream car or doing a frame off restoration on a car that has been in the family for years, so each night when we leave for the hotel we walk a different route so that we can see more of the cars.

Before I show you some of those I want to show you the 1956 F-100 that we took and also a few more pictures of  the 1972 Bronco…they both won Best of Class in their classes which was awesome for the owners and awesome for us too:)  It is fun for us when the owners tag along with us to show their cars as we have a chance to know them more as friends and share some laughs and memories plus we get to share in their joy when they win!

1956 F-100

The Roadster Show was the F-100’s first show debut…Wild Bill was still putting the last bolts into the hood after we got it unloaded…it is that fresh of a build….in fact it is back in our shop today as we have to finish the wiring yet. It was a show stopper as the color is incredible…the silver looks like chrome in person under the lights…and we used a blend of colors in the blue FORD on the tailgate that makes it pop out.

I love how the motor reflects into the firewall…and the glow of the unusual color as it shines like a jewel. Winning Best of Class was the icing on the cake for Stan and Marie…we were thrilled to see Stan float up to the stage to accept his award. He was here today in the shop to see WB and he is still floating:)

We had a perfect amount of space to display both vehicles in a good way…and parking at a slant was good too as it was not the usual line of parked cars…I like different:)

Look at the color of the Bronco, it is a custom color…in person it is even prettier and has incredible depth…almost like it is 3D…winning Best of Class two years in a row is very cool:)

Lots of colors and various styles of cars…

I love this car…very rare…and the color is gorgeously incredible!

And this car was in your face…outrageous and my hubby loved it.

And then we found this one that emanates “Bad To The Bone.”

I love the paint and the flames…and the look:)

“Quit taking my picture Cowgirl…Grrrrr”…he really doesn’t mean it:)

I took a picture of this very cool Chev. Pick Up as the color on it is British Racing Green. We are considering painting “Jagged” this color as he is a

1928 Dodge Coupe with a V-12 British Jag motor in him, compliments of Wild Bill. Until we saw this color, we were leaning towards black. Now we are re-considering…what do you think?

This morning when we woke up,  “Hello Winter…sorry to tell ya but Spring is here…so vamoose!”

 Have a Fantastic Friday wherever you are…I took a bunch of cool pictures coming home from Portland…so stay tuned:)

And yes I’m still a Cowgirl…just have a bit of Hot Rod too:)

Hot Rod Cowgirl Heads To The Portland Roadster Show 2012…Part One

20 Mar 2012 23 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Award, Holton Secret Lab, Hot Rods, Photography, Wild Bill Tags: , , , , , ,

Hello my fellow bloggers and friends:) I am finally able to update you on the last week at the Portland Roadster Show.

We left last Wednesday morning for Portland, Oregon…which is over 200 miles from our front door step.

This is about half way into the trip to Portland…we are now in the Columbia River Gorge…as you can see the terrain is vastly different from what I usually photograph.

The Gorge is beautiful and scenic but you usually have weather of some sort…we had snow off and on as well as mist from The Dalles on…only once did the trailer slip a bit….and HRC  prayed a lot!

Setting up at the Expo Center last Thursday morning…the Portland Show invites us to put our car trailer into our display as they like the trailer and people like walking through it…WB and his buddy Jack are rolling out the awning…WB is on the ladder trying to tear some tape off with his teeth…ding dong now quit that!

Here is a small view of the inside of the trailer once the car is unloaded.

And here is what I got to do….not fun! Cleaning and scrubbing the tires of both vehicles that we took once they were unloaded. My fingers are still cracked and split as I had to use my fingers tips to get into the deep places in the tread on the Bronco…I was thankful that my Sister Blah Blah other wise known as T,  helped me do the Bronco tires before they left for home…the party poopers!

I kept my smile and as you can see the part of the tire that is done is shiny clean and black while the part not done is dirty and blah…it makes the car when the tires are detailed out…the differnce between winning or not.

Here WB is helping me with the second vehicle tires and wheels…lots to do and get ready once you do get to the show. See my entry…the saddle? I thought I would show the original car seat:) Hee-hee wink wink:)

My hubby Wild Bill built this 1972 Bronco…it is custom and beautiful. We bought the Bronco back in 1993 for WB to build and have fun with:) And he did for several years when he had time…if you look close there are no door latches…he built the tauna cover that is open in this picture…of course he louvered the tail gate and did an amazing job. I could go on and on about the various customizing he did to the Bronco…

See the ladder bar suspension under it….WB designed and made them….WB is very innovative and creative….he is an artist of restoration with customizing, building and creating. We sold the Bronco a few years ago…which was hard for us to do as it had been part of our family for 16 years. It won Best of Class last year at the Portland Show…the first show for the Bronco…note the flames on the rear end housing:)

This is just one row of the 500 plus cars that were displayed at the roadster show…it is a huge show to attend and the vehicles are pristine…perfection…incredible!

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part Two…and the rest of the story:)

Thank you MJ for the awards:):):) I have missed all of you!!!

Happy 36th Valentines Day Wild Bill!

16 Feb 2012 13 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Holton Secret Lab, Hot Rods, Life, Lifestyles, Photography, Wild Bill Tags: , , , ,

Happy Valentines Day Wild Bill! I know this is past due but we were business busy yesterday:)

“It’s amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word, you can light up the dark
Try as I may, I could never explain
What I hear when you don’t say a thing”

“The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There’s a truth in your eyes sayin’ you’ll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all”

“When You Say Nothing At All” By Alison Krauss

The day we met was the beginning of a life long love affair…36 years ago today!

In front of the kitchen window…summer 1980…married four years:)

We raised three kid between us…the boys and I doing Thanksgiving dishes about 1984 in the old kitchen of this house and looking out the same kitchen window.

Now we have several grandkids…we started having kids when we were 10 years old…or maybe this year we will celebrate our 75th birthday….either way we were young!

This picture was taken in 1964 up at the mountain cattle ranch and this is what my parents gave to me…the commitment of marriage and love…respect and honor. Mom was a city girl raised in a good life…Dad was rough and tough…he also was raised in a good life here…he was a cowboy and had survived some serious health issues…and he loved my Mom with every breath he took and she him. I thought of my parents as “John Wayne and The Lady.”

I remember writing stories about my parents before I was in school…I was an only child and for some reason writing was natural to me. I am rusty now…I gave up writing after loosing both my parents within a year of each other…I felt like I was 80 years old…the innocense of life disappeared…I have not written since 1998 until now this year…lucky you:)

I asked my Mom once in High School how she could stand my Dad as at times he was not a fun person to be with…don’t get me wrong…he was a great Dad and husband…but he was human. She smiled and told me this gem of wisdom…she said and I quote, “MJ, you make two lists…one has the bad points and one has the good points…as long as the good out weighs the bad, then things are ok…nothing is ever perfect but if you have more good than bad all is ok…”

Hot Rod Cowgirl in 1970 on her colt Stormy…waiting to meet Wild Bill.

I love how you love me Wild Bill!

No matter how tough…

Or rough….

I am with you always WB with lots of love and faith.

We will laugh and goof every day I promise…as much as we can!

Even when we are on TV:)

And when our Hot Rod over heats…we will tensely smile.

I will be quiet for a minute or two…then I will nervously laugh and smile:)

Or when we are providing vehicles for a catalog fashion shoot…a rather famous one.

I will smile because I am with you WB:)

I love you WB…I love our life together:)

Happy 36th Valentines Day!

Yep it’s true he is a Hot Rod Cowboy and I am a Hot Rod Cowgirl…we were made for each other:)

I love you forever WB…I will stand with you and always find a way to smile…cuz I love you:)

Happy Forever Day…36 years to the day that we met:)

January 26th 2006…Not The Usual Normal Day But A New Normal.

27 Jan 2012 6 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Holton Secret Lab, Hot Rods, Life, Photography, Storms, Survivor Tags: , , , ,

January 26th 2006 was not the usual normal day for WB or me as it was time for my six month mammogram…it was a toss up…would I be clear or would there be another suspicious spot. I had 8 suspicious high risk breast biopsies in the five years before and because of that I had sought out a specialist in breast cancer at OHSU in Portland.

That crisp cold morning we left home in the dark not knowing how the day would go. We stopped for coffee and pastry about an hour into the drive in a place called Boardman…we both needed caffeine and sugar…and when we climbed back in the car the sun came out with blue skies.

Nervous? Yeah I was…it was possible that I would be diagnosed with what if this or what if that…”if” was a huge word in 2006…what we would do and how we would choose?

I knew without a doubt that my husband would be ok with me no matter what. I was me…a cowgirl…WB’s wife…a daughter…a mother…friend and sister…I was young. Our life was just beginning to take shape and we had so much yet to do.

10 hours later we found ourselves in a weird kind of shock…when your breath goes in and does not come out and you can’t breathe. There was a large area that the head of radiology told us that was highly suspicious…he was certain it was cancer. We saw my Dr. immediately after the mammogram and he agreed…he wanted to do a biopsy as soon as possible a few days later and on February 9th I was called and told that yes it was cancer.

Three weeks later we were at the Portland Roadster Show with three customer vehicles we had restored…we were signed up to go before the cancer diagnosis and no we will keep going and live our life…we brought home three Best Of Class Trophies…yeah baby!

 My oncologist explained what we could do to treat my cancer and how we had three choices…we chose to be very proactive as it was best for my survival…and it was the right one.

Do I look like a push over folks?  Cancer smancer…Fran Dresher said it right on! The key with life is no matter what we are dealt with, we gotta keep a going with the attitude that it will be ok. Smile and know that you will kick whatever it is…do not ever give up ever! Everrr!

Tonight I am celebrating life…hang on Minnie!

January 26th will always be a sort of birthday to me…the war of life that was won by faith…a new life fought hard for…and I am here!

Where ever you are tonight…where ever your heart is and your life is…celebrate your life and know…you have a purpose…you are needed and always keep the faith in tomorrow!

No matter how dark it may get…keep going knowing that you can do this…it will get better or will be a new normal that is even better than the old normal!

Watch out I may be taking your picture…Hot Rod Cowgirl on the move!

Over and out:)

Hot Rods and Secret Labs

06 Jan 2012 Leave a comment

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Holton Secret Lab, Hot Rods, Photography Tags: , , , , ,

Hot Rods and Secret Labs….what does that sound like but Holton Secret Lab!

“Should you accept this mission?”

I decided last weekend that no matter that it is cold out, it was time for another HSL photo shoot to let you know what we are working on…we have many various projects going currently.

By the way…all you car people out there…you can click on all these pictures and they will blow up and fill your screen…makes them look very nice!

I love the shot of the “53 F-100″…it sits right and looks bad to the bone…it is parked in front of  “The Secret Lab.”

Currently we have been working on two F-100 Ford pick ups.

We call this “56 F-100 The “Chrome One”…the paint and all the chrome make it shine beyond belief!  It is like a mirror…and shines like a wild thing…it is going to be a show stopper this year.

It  has a big heartbeat…yah-yah! Can we all say…incredible…awesome and fast!

When you see this F-100 in person…it is jaw dropping and ver cool.

Can you say “Zoom Zoom?” This belongs to a “68 Cougar” that we have built a new suspension for among other details….if this car pulls up next to you at a stop light…forget it…it will blow your doors off!

The ever changing scenery in the lab…I never know what I will see on the rotisserie…here we have a “54 Willy’s” cab on one end and a “35 Dodge” cab on the other end…getting ready for priming.

We spend hours customizing each customer job to their specifications…from a louvered firewall…

To a custom dash and interior as most customers would like to have more gauges and air conditioning installed as well as satellite radio etc.

Another custom touch…a back light on a “35 Dodge Belt Line.”

It takes many shop hours…labor along with talent to create and fabricate hot rods into outrageous and outstanding rides.

This “48 Ford Coupe” is in process right now…it is getting a new heart and suspension.

This is a “46 Ford Tudor ” that we built and if you look close at the two vehicles you can see that we customized this Ford a lot.

Here is my “36 Ford Pick Up Cab” sitting on top of the paint booth…”Hey…wait a minute Wild Bill…I want my pick up finished!”  I used to own a 35 Ford Pick Up that got sold…arggghhhh!

On any given day this is what I see…

Cool stuff…nice stuff…custom delight stuff and yee-haw…oops…sorry…the cowgirl got the best of me:)

 Cragers…wow…unfortunately you do not see them as much now…when I met Wild Bill they were the only wheel to have…I loved them then and I love ’em now!

And Bella Bel-Air!

And this very cool F-100!

This was just a very brief look at “Holton Secret Lab” as there is much more to showcase.

“Hang on and check back with us”.

“We deliver the unexpected.”

“Burn ‘Em and Enjoy The Ride or The Drive!”

Until next time…”Your mission is complete.”

This brief will self destruct in 5 minutes…over and out!

http://www.holtonsecretlab.com

Check Out My Other Blog On Holton Secret Lab

06 Nov 2011 Leave a comment

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Holton Secret Lab, Hot Rods, Photography, www.holtonsecretlab.com Tags: , , ,

Check out my other blog on our website Holton Secret Lab. If you like Hot Rod Cowgirl…you need to go check out what put the Hot Rod in the Cowgirl:)

Our newly revamped website is up and running. I still have lots to update on the website but that will take time yet. I think I have about two years worth of updates with events, restorations, awards, articles etc. Part of the problem was having to pay a web tech to upload my pictures and news…with our new website I can upload news and new pictures due to Word Press. Thank you Word Press!!!

Type this address http://www.holtonsecretlab.com/  into your browser and go to Holton Secret Lab.

If you go to the web site…check out all the links and see some awesome work and cars…then head over to the Blog link and you can read about the “Secret Lab”.

This is the header for the Blog…Hint Hint…Cool Cars!

Like this one! Incredible 3 D flames huh? My husband is a creative artist.

Amazing 1972 Bronco…built and restored with custom fabrication and details from the ground up…this Bronco is jaw dropping…it won the very first show it went to at the Portland Roadster Show…winning Best Of Class!

Our current “Wild Bill” build in progress “Jagged”. A 1928 Dodge Coupe with a V-12 Jag motor in it and yes it runs really well! Look close at all the custom fabricated work on this car. “Wild Bill” had to make the headers, manifold and the intake. “Jagged” has nitrous injection with a dual four tunnel ram. “Jagged” is going to the Grand National Roadster Show.

Another cool shot of the 1972 Bronco…incredibly customized and truly one of a kind! It needs to be in a magazine…it is beautiful.

We have owned “Bella Bel-Air” now for 6 years. We restored her to stock and that includes the paint. It is fun to drive her as truly you feel like you are back to the 50’s or 60’s.

“Mr. Blu2” at our restored gas pumps that we use for photo ops with the cars we restore and paint…it is fun for me to take the pictures and then roll back the time.

Cruzin Magazine interview at the “Lab”. All customer cars that you see HSL built and restored…we had about 20 customer vehicles lined up in front of the shop that day.

“Wild Bill” got a louver machine a few years ago and of course he went nuts…he has 936 Louvers on “Jagged”!

Close up of “Jagged’s” heart…why you ask…because we can. V-12 Dual Four Barrel, Tunnel Rammed, Nitrous Injected Jaguar Motor…in our 1928 Dodge Coupe with a 5″ Chopped Roof and lengthened 10″ to fit the Jag motor on a custom frame…all built by “Wild Bill” and Holton Secret Lab. If you go to You Tube I have a video of the beginning of the build on Jagged. Go to YouTube and search for Holton Secret Lab…I have 15 videos of various frame off restorations that we have done.

I know I know…you came to my blog to see horses and ranch life and cowboys and cowgirls…the wild west!

Yes I am still a 100% cowgirl here…this cowboy scene that you see, is happening about 150′ from Holton Secret Lab…on the other side of the 103 year old barn.

I could not leave out Fanny Annie…she is a sweet girl:)  Ok “Wild Bill” I am getting back to Hot Rods!

This gray “1936 Ford Five Window Coupe” is on You Tube too…the video is incredible as the restoration was intense….lots of fabrication of parts as we could not locate a few of them…quite a bit of rust repair etc. The “Gray Ghost” as I call this “36 Ford” came out beautiful!

This “1970 GTO” was also intense with lots of rust repair etc. and for those that do not know…black paint shows every flaw…so if it is “Black and Beautiful”…it is Beautiful!!!  This GTO is a crowd pleaser as you do not see these rare cars very often anymore. Go take a look at the YouTube video of this “1970 GTO”…it is impressive. “HSL strives to do every car good enough to be painted Black.”

This is the link to the YouTube Channel. http://www.youtube.com/

We go to the Portland Roadster Show every year with several of the customer car builds that we have done. It is a fun week for us and for our customers that go with us. Lots of people and it is fun to get out and meet new potential customers. Of course we always hope we will win several awards each year for our customers and for HSL!

Typical view at HSL…incredbile cars! This “1970 Chevelle” is on You Tube too…..and this little Chevelle has won lots of awards! Check out the ghost flames on the hood!

I think that “Wild Bill” spent too long in the sun that car show day…hmmm…stay tuned.

“Have A Happy Sunday!”

“Over and Out from Hot Rod Cowgirl…Hobby and I getting ready to cut a cow, which was so much fun, the next second of this sequence we were cutting. OK Wild Bill…I know it is time for me to go make dinner:)”

Thank you Kristen of  http://nine2fivecreative.com/

If you need a new web site…get hold of http://nine2fivecreative.com/

Hot Rod Cowgirl Heads To Holton Secret Lab’s…Hot Rod Shop For The Day!

13 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Holton Secret Lab, Hot Rods, Ranch Life, www.holtonsecretlab.com Tags: , ,

Hot Rod Cowgirl heads to Holton Secret Lab’s Hot Rod Shop for the day as we had our house fumigated a few weeks ago…we do this every couple of years to get rid of spiders and various country bugs…and we have to vacate the house for a few hours…that means Ms. Minnie Mouse who is the Queenie of my house and myself move out for the day to the Burb and the Lab.

Minnie is 16 and a half years old….but acts like she is 7 years old…she is the sweetest girl!

Sadie Sue becomes our hang out place for a while….Minnie even has her own cat TV video that I can play for her in the Burb.

Ok well Ms. Minnie is not happy…do not blame her…but…we have to get those darn Juniper Canyon bugs out of our house. I promise we will watch your video Minnie:)

Off we go to the “Lab”…which is not that far from the house.

“Hey Leonard…what’ cha doing?”

This is a typical “Lab” picture…here we have two vehicle bodies on the rotisserie…a 1935 Dodge on this end and a 1954 Willy’s on the other end.

“Well…what do we have here?”

“Hmmmm….son Greg and Troy in the trunk…almost sounds like a game?”

Wild Bill says “Ok so what are you guys doing?”

“Hey It Is The Troy In The Trunk Game.”

” Troy” now realizes that “Hot Rod Cowgirl” “is taking pictures”..he is stuck and can not get out fast enough!

Serious panic time…”Does my butt look big???”

“No Flame…only when you ride a horse:)”

One of the cool things on the wall at Holton Secret Lab…with a cowboy flavor.

Typical “Lab” decor.

Can we all say together “Zoom Zoom.”

Always different various jobs going on at HSL.

Side shot of “Jagged” and son Greg working on the frame for the 1948 Ford that you see above.

This is the Media Blast Room…which we call the holodeck room…we grew up with Star Trek soooo…we often media blast the cars that we work on to take the old paint and body work off so that we can find the rust and places we need to repair and re-build…this is a rare 1969 Mustang on the rotisserie….stripped to bare metal. We use plastic media which is better than sand as it does not pit the metal or cause it to rust.

“The Lab” from a different view and angle….coming out of the paint mixing room.

Father and Son…”See this is what I mean.”

“Uh…wait I need to think…this takes intense thinking Greg”.

“Ok I think you have it.”

I love sneaking around the shop and catching everyone from different views.

Troy sees me and I am sure he is going to duck or hide:)

This is the custom fabrication part of the “1935 Dodge” dash.

More custom design by HSL on the “35” Dodge.

“Wild Bill and Leonard talking and thinking on customizing something on the Dodge”…what you see is wisdom, talent and experience.

“Wild Bill” messing with “Jagged” and Greg working on the “48 frame”.

Our fabrication area is a bit full…but that is good:)

“So Dad is Mom still sneaking around taking pictures?”

“Ah…yep she is…look busy son and maybe she will go bug Leonard or Troy.”

Another shot of the frontage of Holton Secret Lab from above…kind of cool.

Since I am in the barn..had to get a shot of something horse related.

Back to Holton Secret Lab….this is what we do here…incredible restorations and builds…perfection with attention to detail.

This F-100 will be incredible…it is going to “The Portland Roadster Show in 2012.”

Another cool shot of the frontage of “The Lab.”

Hey we are back in our house and all is well here in Juniper Canyon!

It is a late fall night here in Juniper…yeah the colors are incredible.

And amazing Ms. Kiah…we love her lots and lots.

And with that said…Good Night from Holton Secret Lab and the Juniper T.

The Secret Lab Of Hot Rods

31 Aug 2011 2 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Holton Secret Lab, Hot Rods, Photography, www.holtonsecretlab.com Tags: ,

The Secret Lab Of Holton Hot Rods is the topic today because it is a cooler windy day and kind of blah…I thought you needed some eye candy to brighten your view…or maybe I need it for my view?

One thing about owning a restoration shop…there are always lots of cool cars around…I never know from day-to-day what I will see or hear.

Our trailer moves down the road regularly to car shows all over the Northwest. This Chevelle is a beauty and I love how the picture turned out with the trailer. Being the ad person for our business I look for pictures to be taken in a way that I can use for my ads…this one is perfect…shows the nose of a very cool car with all our advertising on the trailer complete with web page info.

Holton Secret Lab delivers some of the most outrageous; yet incredibly classic Hot Rods and Street Rods…American Muscle and Customs…Classics and Vintage Cars in the Pacific Northwest.

Frame off rotisserie restorations…ground up restorations…all in house…custom paint and design…fabrication…we build what you want.

Notice how meticulously clean our shop is?

HSL strives for perfection with attention to detail…an orderly shop helps you know where things are at and helps keep the jobs focused…both Wild Bill and I are clean freaks:)

V-12 Jag in a 1928 Dodge Coupe…I will be blogging more about “Jagged” as we continue to build and finish this car…since it is ours Wild Bill is going all out with his creativity…it already looks wild and bad to the bone!

These are all customer cars that HSL built and restored…this was a magazine photo shoot.

Best of Class…Portland Roadster Show

For those who are not familiar with the Portland Roadster Show it is a large regional car show in Portland, Oregon. Usually runs well over 400 cars and draws over 20,000 people per day of the three-day show. It is an honor to be accepted to show your car in the show and when you win it is over the top as far as winning goes…I will do a post of the first Roadster Show Wild Bill and I attended with three cars that HSL built….all three won best of class out of 400 cars…we were thrilled!!!!

Wild Bill has painted flames for over 40 years…this picture shows depth in the intricate flames…almost 3D looking…WB you are an artist!

Amazingly cool car…all the comforts for today and it goes down the road with good old horsepower…where is the “Oh Sh*t Handle?”

“Mr. Blu2″ Portland Roadster Show Best of Class Winner Many Times Over.”

Love this car…the design of the body, fenders and grille…the belt line…the smooth classic lines.

It is interesting that the light effects how the color looks…inside car show lights verses outside car shows in direct sun.

Outrageous Super Bee Clone.

At the Portland Roadster Show…has won many times.

This shade of red is a crowd pleaser…lots of depth and shine…very classic and fits the car…when you see it pull in at the car show everyone takes notice due to the throaty sound and the stand out red.

A very rare Kaiser Manhattan…full frame off resto…look at all the amazing chrome…it sparkles!

Incredible lines and unusual design make this Kaiser a crowd pleaser…Portland Roadster Show winner and has won all over the nation as the owner takes it to national shows.

I will be adding this car to our website soon…www.holtonsecretlab.com

Also go to You Tube as I have the Kaiser Restoration on video….as well as several other vehicles…forgive the music as I had to go with You Tube music…just search for Holton Secret Lab and you will go to our video page…here is the link too http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhee

Car Shows

2007 Portland Roadster Show. We entered 10 customer vehicles that HSL restored and brought home 12 trophies.

Very rare 1969 428 Cobra Jet Grande.

Did I say flames?

These are only a few of the cars that Holton Secret Lab has built or restored for their customers….I will post more of our vehicles in the future…stay tuned.

I will update this blog 1-2 times per week so be sure and bookmark it…check back…pass it on to your friends and family too…it will be interesting…look us up on the web  www.holtonsecretlab.com…I am in the process of rebuilding the web site with http://www.nine2fivecreative.com. We are still working on it and it will be updated with all the vehicles that are not on it yet. My web designer is using a program that will allow me to update it daily if I need to.

“The Secret Lab” delivers…we are unique in what we do here…your dream can be on the road in a few months…dreams that become realities…in “The Secret Lab Of Hot Rods.”

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