I want to introduce my work in progress… “Living Dead Girl”. She’s a 1989 Chevy Suburban V1500 Silverado, she currently has a new power plant, fresh mid build LS1 with flat top pistons, stage 3 cam and tuned for daily driving, coupled to a 4L60E trans and NP245 transfer case. Axels are stock for now but next on the upgrade list. She sits on an all spring 8″ lift with 35″ tires. Interior is modified and still in progress with a custom built all metal dash fully airbrushed and pinstriped. The entire interior will be painted, pinstriped and gold leafed any where metal is showing. The headliner is in progress and completely custom as well. It will also be fully painted. The outside is in progress of being covered with airbrush, pinstripe and gold/silver leafed as well. All the “patina” is hand sanded for the look. Body is rust free and only a couple small dings.
Now there’s a story behind this truck and it’s theme… Starting at the grill is where the bicycle went in, the rider was sucked in to the motor and he began to blow it apart from the inside out. The rider was so full of Rage that he morphed into cargoyles made of engine parts suddenly stricken with sentience. As the rider began making his way through the truck in the form of molten metal tweaked with vengeance, he began attacking inside and outside. LDG was full throttle as engine parts were bursting through the fenders and flames started consuming the entire front end. Inside, the riders hand started creeping through the dash still adorning a chunk of the bicycle chain weaved through it. As the rider made his way towards the back of the truck, his final form became this spider made from pushrods, wheel bearings, spark plugs and wires. Living Dead Girl never stopped, now she’s grown a taste for fresh fossil fuels…
LDG is a constant work in progress. I’ve attached a link to her progress pictures and I’m still going with her. The paint job, inside and out, is a combination of Rat Fink and 80’s graffiti art. Inside, I have two vintage trunks, one has an air tank I made from a mini keg along with a compressor and the other trunk holds a 25′ retractable air hose and a retractable cord reel and there will be a 6000w power inverter as well. The air tanks primary function is to run the train horns but to provide on board air also. For the back seat, I built a set of cup holders from two jack Daniels coffee tins and engine parts from the same engine that runs it, I kept all the parts from the rebuild. The headliner is not fabric nor is it the original size, it’s in progress of being fitted then painted. The interior paint will match the exterior. Next to the driver’s seat on the floorboard will be the pull switch for the air horns, I built this pull switch from a toy six shooter and a real .50 cal holster, it’s spring action so you just give it tug and let her rip. Also for the interior, I’ve built a 12 circuit fuse block from a coyote skull, one bank is constant hot and the other bank is keyed hot, it has 3 extra ground leads and a USB charger as well, that was fun to build. On the dash I’ve added a tachometer, AFR gauge (wideband o2 that I installed) and a trans temp gauge. Under the hood I have the typical jack Daniels gallon for the coolant recovery tank and a jack Daniels single barrel reserve for the washer fluid bottle, for the pump I robbed a little water pump from a coffee maker and stuck it inside a jack Daniels flask, works perfectly. Everything I build for this truck also functions, I take pride in not “sticking and pasting” random stuff all over the place, I prefer to build things that actually have a reason to be there. There’s more coming to this truck, aside from the evolving paint job, the axels, bumpers, roof rack and lighting, AC and fresh seals all the way around. My daughter and I have been building this truck for the last 4 years, she’s learned to weld, paint, airbrush and build because of this truck, she’s developed her own art and style because of this truck and she’s developed a hunger for square bodies and rat rods because of this truck. Living Dead Girl has been more than just a build, not only does she turn heads on the road and at car shows, she’s forged a bond between a father and daughter(s) and has been a lifesaver for my mental health. I absolutely love being an artist and a builder and my style fits comfortably in the rat Rod world, I just need to be seen…. I appreciate you and your time, I hope this email will at least point me in the right direction to go for visibility.
~Bones~
(Ray Patten)
(435)375-8738
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