Testimonials Wolf Creek Rod Works

Four years ago, I made the fatal E-bay purchase. Sent a huge deposit to an unscrupulous seller who promised a drive-anywhere, show-stopper vehicle. Towed a trailer 10 hours to find that I had been blatantly lied to. Seller had already spent the deposit. Good thing he was in poor health and using a cane to walk. My hopes sat dormant in a dark garage for months. Fast forward two years. I saw an amazing 38 Chevy (had one of these in high school too) at a car show and overheard that the builder was living in Pagosa Springs. After looking through his brag book and recognizing his level of skill, turned my nightmare, I mean project, over to him to either bury or resurrect. Don promised a glimmer of hope for the beast. Work began.

Fast forward to spring. I had not seen the truck for many weeks and received a call that Don and Renee would like to "drop by" for a short visit. My heart raced. This was truly like my first Christmas and Don was my Santa Clause. After gathering the wife and kids, I could hear the freshly rebuilt 350 before ever seeing the truck. As Don rounded the corner to our home, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. There it was, my first hot rod. As bright as the sun with nasty black tribal flames and looking meaner and cleaner than I could have imagined. Don smiling like the cat who ate the canary. What a reveal.

One last fast forward and my kids and I are at the Durango show with the truck (second place thank you). I know how Angelina Jolie must feel at the mall of America. Then the Alamosa show, then Goodguys in Colorado Springs...and simply picking my daughter up from volleyball practice, or son at the soccer field, or...you get the picture. What price can you place on seeing your kids turn on to the cool car scene, or having a hottie give you a whistle at 44 years old? Do I have your attention?

Bottom line: Don is a super-hero in our lives. My family thinks Don is a Wizard. We have to talk! The level of attention to detail, both mechanically and cosmetically is simply amazing. Don's understanding of "the whole animal" is second to none. His plan is executed from the foundation up and his ability to fabricate a diamond out of a refried bean is re noun in our parts. To top it all off, Don was professional and always a pleasure to work with. His after build service has been fantastic too. As a business man and native of this special town, I feel we are fortunate to have Don and Wolf Creek Rod Works in our community. I'm even more pleased to call Don my friend. We worked together to accomplish a life long dream of mine which turned out a product that surpassed all my expectations. Many folks at Goodguys said "I've seen that truck in Hot Rod Magazine haven't I?" Your search for the right builder has ended.

Call or email me any time. I've recommended Don's services to numerous friends and would enjoy learning about your project. Email is jon@frontier.net and the phone is 970-264-7000.

Jon Johnson
Chopped, shaved, flamed, slammed, louvered, pro street 56 Ford F-100 Pick up

What can I say? Wow! My Land Cruiser has turned out better than I could have imagined when we started. It is a work of art! There just aren't enough superlatives available to capture how much I like the final product. All along the way, your suggestions on how to improve the Cruiser were dead on, taking some vague ideas I had at the beginning and fleshing them out as we went, so that the final product is beyond my wildest expectations.

Every time I go out in the Cruiser, heads turn. I had one fellow at the gas station a few days back say “I didn't know they were making those again.”

Driving down Main St., I had another guy pull up next to me and ask if I wanted to sell it. My answer... Not a chance.

I've now had a chance to drive it to my brother's, in Fraser, a 7 hour drive, through Leadville, over Fremont Pass, Ute Pass and one of the forest roads from Ute Pass into Fraser. Coming back, I came over Berthoud Pass, the Eisenhower Tunnel, and back over Fremont Pass. Even with all of that high altitude driving, the Cruiser performed outstandingly. The fuel-injected V8 and 5-speed transmission worked flawlessly; it truly cruised, effortless.

Everything just works. Updating all of the systems, with the disk front brakes, the sound system, the engine and transmission, the tilt steering wheel, and on and on, and there just aren't any problems. I think that speaks as loudly as anything I could say about the care and precision with which you fitted all of these disparate pieces back together. It is truly a masterpiece.

The bottom line... I wouldn't hesitate a moment to recommend to anyone who wants to take on a project like this one to turn to you. The product is a work of art, and a precision instrument. I couldn't be happier!

Any classic car project, whether it is a street rod or a restoration, will be an important investment in your money and time. The wisdom of such an investment is that it is guaranteed to appreciate in value – if done right. Cars that look good when finished but are a mechanical misfit are as dreadful as a mechanically sound vehicle that does not have the proper fit and finish. Neither is worth your investment.

Solution to this predicament: Don Haywood at Wolf Creek Rod Works. Don is a highly skilled professional who knows how to properly engineer, fabricate and build a street rod that is sure to make you proud and to increase in value year after year. How do I know? Don and I built my 1952 Willys Wagon street rod. It was featured in the February 2004 edition of Classic Trucks. It has won numerous awards and its uniqueness always draws a crowd. Unlike the more popular Chevys and Fords, the Willys presented a special challenge because there are no aftermarket products made for it. Don did all the engineering and skillful fabrication from generic kits – this is a testimony to his abilities. He replaced its original 4-cylinder engine with at Ram Jet 350, 700 R4 tranny and 9 inch Ford rear end, with four wheel disc brakes.

Without hesitation I would recommend Don Haywood at Wolf Creek Rod Works for your project – take the worry out of your street rod, take it to Don. I welcome any calls or questions: my phone is 530 668-9538; my e-mail is philnruthie@charter.net Good luck, Phil Marler, Woodland, California

I purchased my 1939 Chevy 4dr sedan @ the Good Guys West Coast Nationals in August of 1996. The car was far from finished, however, with the help of a few friends (not to mention a $12K paint job and an $11K interior) I was able to finish the car the following year. Like many home built rods there were a multitude of small problems with the car. Nothing major but just enough bugs that it made one cringe with fear with the thought of taking it to a car show that was further than 30 miles away. While attending a car show in Willows, California I noticed this beautifully constructed 38 Chevy Coupe. Although it was under construction it was readily apparent that the work was nothing short of quality craftsmanship. After meeting Don and his beautiful wife Reneé, I found out that Don had done all of the work on the car himself. We began talking about some of the problems I was having and he was more than responsive to my dilemma. Pretty soon Don had the car in his shop and began to turn my home built hot rod into a first class street rod. That includes two “Best In Shows” and multiple 1^st and 2^nd in-class trophies. I don’t have enough space to detail what Don did to the car, but basically he re-engineered the entire under carriage of the car from the front-end to the rear-end and everything in between. He also replaced a considerable portion of the electrical system. Not only did Don turn my car into a winner, he did it for an extremely reasonable price.

One afternoon I was cruzin’ down the highway when my rear suicide door decided to open up @ 60 mph (my fault as I hadn’t shut it tight). Needless to say the door made a lousy speed brake but put a hell of a bend in the hinges, rear fender and the door itself. I was absolutely sick. I took the car to Dr. Don and within the week he returned it to me completely repaired, repainted and ready to go. The color on the car was a custom color and I felt that there was no way he would be able to match it, but match it he did and it’s impossible to tell where! Absolutely first class body and paint work.

My wife recently purchased a 1994 Chevy Caprice Wagon. She purchased the car in Minnesota (sight unseen) and had the car shipped directly to Don @ Wolf Creek Rod Works. The car was bare bones. Don installed electric windows, electric mirrors, remote entry and a super sound system. Since there are no rear disc brake conversions available for this car, Don replaced the entire rear-end with a disc brake rear-end from another Chevy. The install was flawless. He then finished the car off with an Air Ride Technologies “Ride Pro e™” air ride system. Again, the install and fabrication was of the very highest quality. I have come to expect nothing less from Don and Wolf Creek Rod Works.

I currently have two project cars in the works. A 62 Cadillac convertible and a 40 Ford that runs a blown KB hemi. Rest assured that no one other than Wolf Creek Rod Works will be working on these cars.

There are many people who strive to be perfectionists in their applied craft, however, very few have the talent to pull it off; Don Haywood is one of these gifted individuals who does. I have been around hot rods and car builders for many years, and there is no way that any prospective customer will ever get a better “bang for their buck” than from Don and the guys at Wolf Creek Rod Works.

Dennis Johnston

extremehotrod@sbcglobal.net

(916) 718-4980