Monthly Archives: August 2011

State Of Mind Customs Shop Visit – 1966 VW Beetle Project

I visited State Of Mind Customs today to see how the car was coming along.  In one word, “WOW!”  I’m extremely happy with the work that John and his team are doing on the car. I spent almost 2 hours with John going over things, although it didn’t seem that long. Just like when he picked up the car, he was extremely helpful and willing to share knowledge. I never felt rushed. Gotta love that! I’m really excited to get the car home and continue putting it back together. I didn’t take pictures of everything, but here are a few pictures of the headliner, and front/rear glass installation. I’ll take more pictures once the car is home. The paint on the front apron and passenger side rear quarter panel looks GREAT! John even took the time to smooth out some of the metal underneath the front apron that I hadn’t noticed. The undersides of the fenders looked AWESOME! The driver side door is very solid now, and hanging straight (It had a bit of a sagging issue). When John picked up the car from my house, the door latches, latch plates, and the door check straps were not installed. John noticed this and had me round up the parts I had. I didn’t have all the required parts, so I ordered the rest from Wolfsburg West and had them drop ship the order to State Of Mind Customs. Long story short, John took care of it and it’s all installed for me now. He didn’t charge me for it either. I could go on, but I’ll stop now and just say I’m EXTREMELY happy with the customer service that I have been provided by John at State Of Mind Customs. I can’t wait for my next project to start, so I can work with him again.

Here are some pictures I took today:

My First Homemade Custom 9ft Fly Rod – Fishing – Rod Craft

This weekend, while the beetle is in the shop, I decided to get started on my first homemade 9ft custom fly rod. I’d like to get it done by the end of September, as I have an annual Salmon fishing trip the first week of October. This rod has been on my to-do list for a long time. Anyway, here are some pictures of my progress from this weekend…

 

Removeable Fighting Butts…

  

First Guide (Stripper Guide) Installed…

 

Gold Trim Bands…

 

Second Guide Wrapped…

 

All 10 guides are wrapped and aligned…

 

Reel Seat and Ferrule…

State Of Mind Customs – Pickup Day – 1966 VW Beetle Project

John Bickel, owner of State Of Mind Customs, picked up the car this morning.  John and his team are responsible for creating VW’s Max, the German accented shiny black 1964 vintage Volkswagen Beetle.  In 2008, Max appeared in many VW commercials where he interviewed different celebrities including basketball coach Bobby Knight, supermodel Heidi Klum, Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy, and Baywatch actor David Hasselhoff.  Five indentical cars were restored for those commercials, three of which were restored in just 21 days (1 car per week).   That’s movin’!

The day started early with John arriving promptly at 7am to pick up the car. John spent over an hour with me going over the car, and all the work that needed to be done. John really knows his stuff, and offered up lots of good insight and advice.  I felt like a sponge, trying to suck up all that knowledge .  It was a pleasant experience, and I feel confident the car is in GREAT hands. The work to be done includes installing a new headliner, applying a matching body color bedliner for the undersides of the fenders. Here are some pics from today:

 

All Packed Up And Ready For Transport

 

Loaded On The Trailer