HOME . CURRENT WORK . ARMAGEDDON TOP FUEL . LINKS . GALLERY . MEGAPLEX . CONTACT
This is a gallery of work that we're either working on now, or have completed over the last year.
If you have questions about the work that we do or your interested in having Conder Custom help with your project, we triple dog dare you to contact us.
John was my first customer after moving to Sonoma in 2003, and we've been collaborating ever since. Our deals are trade/cash (which takes a lot longer), but the results are some of my best work. His gallery consists of paint for his hot rod FXD and a stubby, 150 h.p. suicide/jockey chop that is currently under construction. Normally, I don't build scary choppers like this for other folks. I believe hardcore bikes should be built mostly by their owners, due to y'know...terror and metalflake death. However, John owns his own business (Sonoma Paint Supply) which takes up most of his time. He's also a semi-pro motocrosser (who rides WAY better than me) so I reckon it's okay to build one more Chopper. He did request a front brake and electric start, which I was completely happy to provide. I've never kick started a 127 inch Evo or tried to hold one back with a little sprotor brake, but my hunch is to not to. The best part though, was his request for me to build him a basic show quality chop, designed to showcase the paint on the fuel tank.
The above sketch was originally created back in '04 for the late, great Lucky's Choppers in Seattle. They built their version of it (called "KillBilly") and it wound up in the Horse I think. John saw this drawing hanging on my wall and had to have it. Some of the modifications I've completed so far consist of a factory H-D Springer, shortened 4" with the shock moved inside the right spring. Bars narrowed 1.75" with hidden (SWEDISH!) throttle, custom aluminum fuel tank and a strutless, Schwinn flip rear fender with peg/receiver mounting, battery box below the tranny, a kinky shifter and some rediculously difficult exhaust (don't get me started). Chris Bocciocco, Jake Hudson and John himself have helped a bit too. The mega horsepower freak show motor and trans were built by Doran Benson. The entire bike is getting loads of little kooky details and intricate candy 'flake paint, but it's subdued to showcase the tank, which so far consists of half a jar of gold metalflake and a real scorpion(?)...I don't know man...we're making this !@#$ up as we go...
I met Dan Stoner thanks to Sherry Johnson (one of my devil girls for Armageddon Top Fuel) back in '02. Thanks to Sherry and the Jalopy Journal, Dan asked me to do some artwork for the premier issue of Garage Magazine and we've been friends ever since. This T is Dan's personal hot rod project and it's been worked on by some fantastic craftsmen in the bay area, so it was quite an honor when he asked me to contribute to it. The project started out as an early '60s style show rod co-designed by Dan and Jeff Allison, then a couple years ago I did the below sketch and posted it up on the H.A.M.B. for fun. I love the "Uncertain T" and Ed Roth Monster shirt art, which involve heavily raked bodies (RACE?). Folks dug it and it kicked ol' Dan into high gear! He kept threatening to drop the T off at my shop (along with a chubby ass lump of cash) and turn me loose. So, when he sold Garage Magazine there it was...a (kinda) chubby lump of cash and a pile of parts in my garage. Bear in mind, this is Dan Stoner's Hot Rod. I took his parts collection and a loose set of ideas that he had and did my best to help create "The Stoner T"...
Like me, he loves slammed hot rods, but he wanted to avoid a suicide front end, keep the frame horns and not have the forward frame rails exit the body a foot and a half up the firewall. He didn't want front brakes. He had some 1942 Ford Tractor parts that he insisted I use, a great collection of original museum quality dragster stuff, plus new parts contributed by hitters like Edelbrock, Hot Heads and Hot Rod Rubber etc. I tell ya cousin, building this killer on limited time/budget (without a shop big enough for a car) isn't for the faint of heart! Or, the impatient, which Dan is neither. I've cut this thing into 28 different pieces (so far) and welded it all back together. Most of the steel came from Gordon's Forge,a blacksmith shop in Sonoma where I rented space for a while. I shortened the body a foot but didn't chop it. It's got a nasty '62 Olds rear (narrowed by Chris Bocciocco) and '65 Buick Riv aluminum drum brakes. A '31 Ford frame that's turned into a hinge (with a torsion bar suspension I sort of invented) a '53 Chrysler 331 Hemi (by Gotelli Speed Shop's Bruno Gianolli) and a turbo 350 Chev tranny. The dash is a Chinatown Buddha statue with a '62 Chrysler 300 speedo replacing his beer belly. I'd like to thank Gordon Kirby, Joey Mirren, Jake Hudson, Walter McQuillen, Brian Fox and my army of neighborhood kids, in addition to the folks above for helping out when I get stuck. It's fun, it's !@#$in' NUTS, but most of all it's a cool collaboration between craftsmen and friends. - Thanks Dan, send money.
Patrick Guennette works as a "shader" for Pixar studios (lucky !@#$%@#%^$!) and digs industrial grade machinery. I met him in '07 after being invited to put one of my Halibrand Specials and a Bomber in their annual Pixar Motorama show. Thanks to Jay Ward, AJ Raebli and all the fine folks at Pixar, Patrick said "Howdy". A year later he put his own Conder Custom Bomber in the show and I (yet again) got to walk around the enchanted kingdom that is world dominating, superbad but really polite and funny PIXAR studios, envying a couple thousand people and their fantastic jobs...which frankly, is something I haven't done in over 20 years....!@#$%^&&^^!!!!
before
after
Anyway, Patrick said..."I want the big tires, I never want to wash it and it's gotta have a LOT of flat black. I ride hard, so I'm going to need some padding on the seat, and don't lower it too much either. Please keep the pipes and the handlebars. I did this cool graphic at work, (no doubt on his BREAK) can you put it on the tank? How long is this going to take?" I said 4 weeks (it took over 7) and secretly inside I was bummed because I hate high bikes with fat seats.... er...except this one. This sucker's got a 103 and at stock height you can really hang your !@#$ OUT jack. I love it, she turned out pretty !@#$in' bad!
The Bomber Convertible (Patrick's inspiration)
Halibrand Special II
Both of these bikes are currently for sale, check the MegaPlex...
I met Dave Crawford when I first moved to Sonoma. I asked around for a good muffler shop to do a set of duals on a chopped Lincoln I brought down from Seattle, and everybody said "take it to Dave's Muffler". Dave's is a solid exhaust/auto repair shop with deep Hot Rod-Harley roots. They drive. They ride. They build. They're not full of !@#$. YAY. He did a great job on the Lincoln and a year or so later he asked me to paint his bagger, which went pretty smooth and turned out cool. One day I see this clean little '61 Caddy sittin' outside the shop, so I go in to check 'er out...
It was rust free and straight. Dave said he had a buddy who was going to paint it, and he wanted me to maybe metalflake the top. He asked me for a couple quick sketches so I did these. No, I didn't get to chop it...if I had my way EVERYTHING ON EARTH would be chopped at least 4 inches. Including the earth. Well, my old '62 wagon was getting pretty worn out and it needed a complete suspension/brake rebuild. I also had a basic Air Ride system for it (still in the box). Long story short, my wagon's bagged, braked, and suspended like new along with quality mechanical work and even a little bit of Top Fuel Dragster sponsorship, thanks to Dave Crawford and this badass Cadillac (annointed with 4 gallons of clear, 35 hundred yards of tape, 4 jars of gold 'Flake and 900 cups of coffee.) Trades can be beautiful when the combination is right. God bless America.
Special thanks to Master tattoo artist Jim Valivannis from Sonoma Hiway Tattoo for his help on this one, my little girl Audrey O and Dave's dad Dave for help in masking. Also, a BIG thanks to Steve and Mario at Pacheco Auto Body. Good paint advice and GREAT paint facilities are now available to me for my high end jobs. You boys are SAINTS.
.
HOME . CURRENT WORK . ARMAGEDDON TOP FUEL . LINKS . GALLERY . MEGAPLEX . CONTACT