Keeler Custom Restorations: Jeremy Gouge's A Model finished

hey guys I am back here at ker custom Restorations and finally I know a lot of you have been saying you need to go back and I know it's been a while but the orange a model is done and it is unreal um I'm GNA let Jason tell you what all was done with this because it's it's a it's a pretty big list I mean I guess the question is what wasn't done to it but yeah um thanks for coming up Steve good to see you again yeah you too uh this project wow it was a local truck its whole life um it spent its whole life basically three three miles away uh Dayton Wheels um short wheelbase Maybe 210 uh standard Hood 1693 13 speed uh very close friend of mine Mentor um growing up his father owned the truck and he pulled a 20 couple 28t dump trailer Parker dump trailer in and out of the local stone cories with the truck and uh I just I knew the truck I grew up with the truck it had a really cool unique old paint job on it um I always thought it was anyway it was different um and it changed hands when that when the gentleman retired it changed hands and it was made into a day cab and uh there were some changes made to it and I think it it ended up at an auction but anyway it came back it came back to a local farm and they didn't want to use it because it didn't have a jake break 1693 didn't have Jake so I ended up getting it and I was building it for another gentleman um I even scored the old original bunk they they had made it a day cab and painted it truck white um I scored the original bunk for it and brought it home and tore it down brand new frame rails um reskinned everything cab uh the sleeper and when we did that we pulled the cab back foot or so whatever it um made an extended hood out of it and it was originally just going to get a straight Tim k600 well that changed and then it was going to get a Detroit a high horsepower Detroit and uh the truck changed hands after at that point the truck changed hands and Jeremy gouge who is a close friend very awesome person family the whole family is awesome we've built a truck for their father um so he was interested in the truck and uh he didn't like the color that it was he wanted to bring it back to a k model and he said I'd like it to be like your your your light blue and white truck similar to that kind of so I'm like are you sure man so uh he says yeah absolutely so he says you just do do what you do and and that's what I did I mean it took a while um there were several trucks built around this uh with his okay I mean his father's truck was built around this truck uh this truck was put on hold to build his father's truck um a couple other projects the 359 we put a k model in a set of boxes in is 359 um uh so this has been a long project it hasn't been one of those work on it constant deals so it's it's been quite a few years couple different owners couple different engine combinations couple different colors um I'm very happy with the end result there's a lot of stuff on this truck that I see what I did in this is the first truck that I did for an outside customer or started doing for an outside customer this is the first one so there's a lot of stuff on this truck that I see that I did in the beginning that wow I do a lot of things different now you know a lot either easier or better or evolution yeah you know and you learn if you when you quit learning you're in trouble so you learn something new every day I mean I've been around trucks my whole life but you always learning something new um and it's very timec consuming it doesn't happen in a hurry this this kind of a build you got to at least for me I have to have my head in the right spot and be able to take my time and think through everything otherwise I guess for better words nothing good comes of anything that's done in a hurry Steve that's that's a fact so and through my previous experiences out on the road and hardships out on the road breakdowns different things you know over 20 who knows I I don't know I started Trucking when I was 17 or 18 years old and I it's been seven years since I trucked but that's um all those years of of fixing your broke stuff or maintaining the truck so it can go for another week to pay your bills you you try and I don't know I try and build the trucks for my customers so the last so they're very simple like if they do decide to go work them they they'll pin a trailer any day of the week uh any any of the builds that that happen here can and will work okay uh and if there is any problems down the road 5 10 How you know it's a truck it's a machine there's going to be an issue you know who who knows when but uh very simple righty tidy Lefty Loosey and hot and ground um we dabble with the electronic Motors a little bit they're a little different but I try and make those simple as well whenever we put them together there's not a lot of not a lot of fancy plugs not a lot of fancy stuff where you just can't buy anything if any if anything went wrong with this truck other than something maybe inside the engine which they'd probably give me a call to to get that fixed but uh it can be fixed anywhere along any exit ramp any any rest area cuz it's um you know terminal blocks or or just general easy hookup stuff yeah um but it's uh it's come a long way since what it was oh yeah oh my gosh I mean even since the last time I was here yeah the engine was sitting on the floor yeah I was building motor mounts for the for the truck yep so I mean and it is it's got to be like I was telling Jason it's one of the most detailed trucks I've ever seen in my life I mean there's attention to detail everywhere in this truck um I'll do video of it and try and do it justice but I don't know if I'll be able to it's just that good there's just so much going on thank you it's an amaz I mean it's it's artwork it truly is so um I can pick it apart all day long yeah we're always Our Own Worst enem oh my gosh yeah but I don't go to a lot of truck shows I haven't been to hardly any this year um a couple times we went to Louisville I've been twice in the last 10 or 15 years and there's just some amazing Craftsmen out there and amazing workmanship that that that you know there's a lot better people than I am as far as I'm concerned that can build trucks but I like this old school horsepower um addicted day model kendler and this was kind of right up my alley so yeah this is this is amazing and uh definitely appreciate you letting us kind of the limited amount I did document the build of it I wish I had time to come up here more often you're welcome here anytime you know I appreciate that for sure but man this is just unreal it's a hydraulic variable timed twin turbo 750 K model comings wow so it would be a ktta 750 okay that's what it would be bone stock it's twisted up a little bit but nothing that I don't think it will uh destroy itself so back in the day do you have any idea how many of these were actually on the road very few of this particular setup made it on the street okay I know the herreras had one out in La yeah super truckers super truckers they had one in the 359 um I put one in my truck the last year and a half of my Trucking career unfortunately I I wanted I wanted one my whole whole Trucking career and couldn't afford to do it or you know just everything got in the way for me to to build one that I had to V8 itch so but after I had one I didn't have to uh wish or want for horsepower anymore so it made me a Believer as far as that goes I mean my first one was basically bone stock and I dyed it before I went to work with it just to just to shake it down it was it was uh and we made two hard pools with it and it made 747 at the tires jeez a little underrated yeah so you go you go you go twisting them up putting some fuel to them it's not hard to go over a hill just just drive it like a pickup [Laughter] truck especially in Pennsylvania or West Virginia or something like that you just if you're sleeping you use a splitter if you don't you just Mash on it that's awesome but uh they're not for everybody they're they're a they're an engine for a tinkerer um they're uh they're primitive but they're they're good setup damn good setup but uh it's uh has an 18 speed behind it okay uh 355 rears 24 Low Pro Tires um 24 Low Pro Tires straight Treads um man there's so many people I'd like to thank to that's that's helped me along the way Travis Baxley for the interior he's he's just a a well they're they're the real deal him him and Cliff they're just awesome and U the the sheet metal shop that helps me out dreaming some of this stuff up I hand it to them and they look at me and they scratch their head and they say we'll see what we can do and but uh and then you you for coming and being interested in checking it out but it's uh it hasn't really gone anywhere it's ready to leave um they're going to pick it up beginning of this next week and hopefully it serves him well I'm hoping while I'm because I'm getting ready to leave for Iowa in two weeks I'm hoping I can do some some rolling footage of it out there get it on the road and yeah let them show everybody what it's got he says he wants to put it to work and you know I can't blame him I'd want to drive it too yeah you know I mean it it's it uh it would be hard it's going to be hard for me to see it leave it's been it's almost a part of the family I mean I'm sure um especially I'm sad to I'm sad I hope you don't mind me saying this with your video Steve but um I lost my mother Thanksgiving this past Thanksgiving and she was a part of this place she was here every day um she had heart issues and she she died at 73 but yeah I'm sorry she saw she saw this truck from this was the first one and she saw the other ones in between and she never got to see this one done so it kind of it's it's going to be Bittersweet to see it go I'll be so glad to see it Go and and be glad that they're going to be happy with it and and hear the stories over the phone but uh it's it's almost a part of the family here yeah yeah I know I definitely get that for sure it's uh man like I said it's it's it's it's artwork thank you it's it's artwork I mean just through and through this thing is just unbelievable so I know the I know I think I know the answer but uh any anything done on your little window that you started I sold that truck oh you sold it I sold it I sold a very good friend of mine from New Jersey has uh a handful of little windows and he just kept bugging me and bugging me and bugging me and and to tell you the truth Steve with all with all the projects we have going on here here I I don't have well and that's why that's why I I don't have the time I it's I you can always make the time for something you want okay I guess that's yeah you can always if you make the time it'll happen but it's either build a little into Peter build or go snowmobiling so well I know and and that's how I get the question all the time where's your where's the firebird and well the simple answer is doesn't pay my bills so I do what pays the bills first and I can't I don't have the time now it will it's coming back I'm going to do a video series I'm bringing it back I'm going to get started but I in my eyes I don't see myself ever going back Trucking again I miss driving my truck drastically but the business has changed so much things are different yeah um traffic not so much traffic but just societ in general is different than what it used to be MH and and I'm very happy being home here SP I got you know spending time with my family which I didn't get to do for all those years out on the road and you never get that time back no um you never get it back so I'm very fortunate to to work alongside my father when he's feeling well um and and and my wife my brother uh so I I know I got to spend some time with my mother before she she passed a handful of years before you know where if I was out on the road I wouldn't have been able to do that but I as far as building any more for myself I'm I'm estatic to to make somebody else happy it's not about I I I've done it I don't need it you know I have I have three or four that sit here and they they don't go anywhere because I just it's it's a Time issue and do I want to do I want to go there there's life outside believe it or not I never used to think this if you would have told me this when I was 22 uh I I would have said no but uh there is a life outside of trucks yeah you know I I mean that's all I've ever I've lived eight BR breed and and and sleep trucks I wake up in the morning 3 4:00 in the morning and I I'm thinking about auxiliary transmission Steve but uh I I I found other hobbies that are equally and different as as much fun if not more sometimes you know but uh I don't know I I sold this I sold the little wind Pete to a very good friend of mine um he's been tinkering away at it he's in New Jersey um and he has several other ones he he he's a good guy and he has some very nice equipment and it went to a very good home okay well that's good to know and if I called him up tomorrow and said hey let me take your truck he he'd let me so it's not like well and that's why I said I'm pretty sure I know the answer to the question that nothing happened and and it makes it does make sense why you would sell the truck I mean I understand I get it and and the long and the short of it it was is I I I actually needed to make room for for a customer truck it you know and and I'm the kind of guy that has a hard time saying no that's my problem turn you into a workaholic real quick yeah that's true but I mean I I do love doing this um I do um just like I love it it definitely reflects in the work that you do I mean it's and everywhere I go that's what I hear you know if you want good quality just perfection the ker suppos to take your truck try I mean there's nobody's perfect and it's it is a machine mhm and there's always there's always a variable uh but I I just try to do do what I've learned from my experience out on the road fixing stuff or my father's I've watched him I've watched him break stuff or stuff break and and fix it in a parking lot or or in a in a in a snow covered driveway you know we we never had a garage till 9 years ago wow never worked we worked in the driveway Stones wow and he built some large rides right on the fence row you know yeah so and when you when you're used to working outside it kind of Grooms and you get a garage you finally get a garage or get a nice place to work under under a roof where it's it's warm or dry or or whatever the case may be it changes how you you you you have a little more time because you're not pressured from the weather right from daylight daylight right trouble lights wind um it it changes everything so on top of trying to fix something outside in the weather to not fail you on your way to Texas or California or Washington State and leave you sitting somewhere while you're under somebody's Freight you know that's which is an obligation I was the kind of guy that you know if if I committed to the load you bet your ass I was going to be there early not late yeah um well I mean see you were perfectionist on that end too well I mean you're only as good you're only as good as you your your word you know exactly um yes so I just I always tried to because you know if if you don't do somebody a good job they might not give you the job the second time correct um so and that's that's how I try and do the old trucks here I mean just I just try and make them as nice as and as as well-rounded as I can without you know setting themselves up for obvious problems I mean um some of the when when the factory builds them I mean they build a great truck but they were on an assembly line and and neat wasn't always into their factor and I like to see neat everybody likes to see neat and shiny and and and well routed lines and stuff that flows and I sometimes I hit the mark sometimes I miss it but at least it's not going to rub through you know but uh that's what that's about I mean and I appreciate that people like it I really do it's I mean I I like that too you know I you've got a fantastic ftic reputation everybody out there just is in love with your work so well I appreciate them as well I mean it's I really do we we try we we try and that's all a fell can do yep y absolutely so well thank you you're welcome you're wel and I will be back we'll we'll we'll try and document some more builds and yeah you're welcome here any time there's always something going on um the show season's winding down and that's the big reason why I haven't been back is because I've been on the road and uh I just there's not enough hours in the day there's not enough days in the week summertime I try and I mean we work six sometimes s days a week out here in the summertime I found a love for playing in the snow so when that's when I try and take my time off I try and justify it by by working solid through through the the nicer no that makes sense you know now how you can work everybody's got to get a little bit of time off you've got to unwind at some point so y well thank you very yes sir thank you hey guys I'm here with Jeremy gouge so you saw early in the video we we interviewed Jason and kind of went over uh what went into building the truck and and uh what he did with it and um like I told him during that interview this truck is absolutely a masterpiece it is it's a true work of art so I wanted to talk to Jeremy and uh get his input on the truck and how much how much he put into the build and uh ideas that were used and what inspired him to do some of the things he did so what all did you uh like what kind of communications did you have with Jason on the build and and uh he wanted a lot more direction from me than really what I was willing to give him because like I'm I'm the type of guy like if I use a pinstriper I want I want I want your art for a reason like I'm not going to hire an artist and say like okay but I want you to do it this way you know and same way with like with whether it's a motorcycle build like if you're a a Paul yaffy type of guy you got no business going to a Jeff Wright or a Jesse James or those type of guys so like Jason I mean i' known who he was a lot longer than what where he knew who I was I followed him you know he's just one of the a model guys that everybody followed and I like his dad him and his dad would drag race and everything I seen tidbits of their workmanship and everything was like motorcycle Precision that's a a term that I use when I think of Jason's work and like dragster precision right so him and I connected and he actually came on as an owner operator and it was like the first literally he just had put the K in his in his truck took the V8 out V8 out put put his K in it and I was just a struck by the attention to detail the way he plumbed everything the way the way he wired everything like Jason's truck is beautiful but that that the way his workmanship and his care into the detail is the the part that people don't see is my favorite part about Jason's builds right um so that's kind of what brings us to this thing here like you know Jason's not a low front end guy like you know that he's no he's not he's a form follows function to a fault and me I I like a like that stupid black one over there you know I just like a Rowdy looking slammed yeah you know uh a model and I just they just kind of got a owny look to them and it just I think it shows off their their Art Deco lines even better right so he kind of fought me a little bit on it and he's like do you know what it's going to take to get that thing down there I'm like no but you do you just do it so I mean to to have a big K like this into a truck that's this low you don't just I mean you have to lower the motor but all the geometry that comes along with doing that is it's just mind-blowing because every you know in flame cut World they call it curf you know every every every curve changes the outside and inside diameter blah blah blah yep so everything we did that changed the original geometry to this created another problem another problem cuz when you got curves that are clearing on a normal height now they don't they inter sex so if you if you look at Jason's handiwork how he reverse dished the intake tubes and just like literally everything here is handmade like you like everything he made handmade every every water jacket every tube every Everything sent it to get chromed and he sent me pictures along the way like kept he kept wanting me to give him some direction and I'm like Jason I i' love I hired you I wanted you to do it your way so he um kind of when when he was an owner operator I was like man you should you could really be doing this for a living man like you you should you should do it like I'll be your first customer and that's kind of what got him out of the truck and into his shop okay is just me kind of brow beating him like Hey this is this is special like you you don't understand how special your your skill is and uh I said just showcase the world what you can do with this truck like we'll make a we'll make a big deal out of it and he didn't disappoint no not at all the attention to detail everything I've had the man do for me is same way you know I had a 359 I took out to him and we put a k and a six and a four and that and it's just it's the same Precision it's not as flashy it's still cool but it's not as flashy yeah no I'll I'll I mean I want to put a lot of video in of the details and stuff and it's going to translate pretty well in video but seeing it in person is just it's the way you got to see this truck oh yeah and I'm not discounting that because I'm doing a video on it right now but it's unbelievable well like I remember you know we had some pretty cool trucks when I was a kid but like Tyrone and Malone and brought the the whole crew to Alona Iowa and uh I was just in awe that trucks could be that detailed you know the pin striping on the spring hangers and just the the way the hoods were made and all just all those neat little details and that's why I told Jason like be the be the Jesse James of the trucking World be the Jeff rght of the trucking world don't just try to be the Tyrone Malone you can beat through that like yeah and Tyrone's trucks were cool for the day but I don't think the workmanship was anything like this no and and Jason he like when I was over there he kept saying well it's all right but you know that that other truck this I'm like and I see a lot of trucks and no offense to the other builds out there but this this is on another level it it is and and it's not necessarily functional either which Jason's a very functional guy so he you know he's got to balance like he I mean he's a very functional guy everything's got to be very functional for him he's always saying that everything he builds you can hook it to a trailer and it to work it's a show TR shows up to work you know that's that's his key phrase and like so I'm not a cover guy like my I I take everything back to motorcycles right so like I like strip down 60s Choppers Bare Bones like all muscle you know and that's kind of what I wanted out of out of the truck with the Ed Roth touch to it yeah and like it's not a truck that needs that that we want covers on everywhere like like I was telling the other guy I would be willing to bet if Jason could make the block of this thing transparent so you could see the Pistons working it it would probably have butterfly cut swirls in the Pistons you know just that kind of detail so like I I just I don't want to nut swing on the guy too much but he he his work speaks for himself I don't need to sit here and brag him up he's just second to none but he's he he can he can back off of this too like he can still he he overhauls just like our fleet trucks like I'll have him do cats and and whatever and like he's just a very very well-rounded from fabrication to oh yeah you name it you know yeah y yeah he can he can do it all when it comes to a truck yep he can do it all so that's where my input on this thing other than the stce of course uh the wheel base you know I wanted a kind of a cocky looking little short uh shorter extended hood 36 in sleeper um the interior you know I knew I wanted the Walnut but I said just make it how you would make it he's like well where do you want this with where you want that switch I'm like wherever You' want it is pretty much where I would want it like I can hop in his truck and feel right at home yeah so that's and that's like if I get on my buddy Perry's pan head chopper you know I just I can get it hop on that and write it just like you know it's that same it's that same geometry the same placement of the little details that kind of stuff yep and you kept it very classically styled it's a factory Colorado visor y um little 18in bumper yep um what are those are they five or 6 in pipes 5 in 5 in okay yep I mean it's it's just a classic look to it yeah nothing sounds like a commin with a 5 in you know especially one of these things yeah we'll definitely there'll be video this thing uh idling and driving and I'm going to try and get everything sure it's Rowdy it's it's Rowdy you've seen it up there it's it's oh yeah it's a lot of fun I can't wait to I'm probably not going to pull a load with it till after Louisville cuz I don't want to have to clean it like we did but like I just don't want to go through all that again like for me whatever oh no no no I totally understand that for sure but I want it to display his work as he finished it up there and then it's going to go to work wow with I'm I won't like I I'll probably blow the black one apart that needs new frame rails and has needed new frame rails but I I don't think you're going to put a driver in it no this will this will be mine yeah yeah yeah this will be mine but uh I I provide you know the trucks that I provide for our drivers that I've never even sat in you know like those flat glasses with the with the uh atgs on them and like my guys get very nice stuff like very rarely do I something just for me and this thing is just for me yeah we'll do U next year sometime we'll do a video on the company and all the you know some of your some of your company trucks cuz they're they're everything's very impressive yeah it's just just like to like to reward our guys we got to if you want the best you got to have the best yeah absolutely so well very cool um I don't think we need to cover anything else um that works basically the idea was just for it to be a a business card for him you and me too this would be great publicity for our company as well but abolutely you don't come across that kind of talent very often and I I think he's kind of a waking up to see what he can actually really do by the feedback he's getting from some of the trucks you know it's not just like Stu man's you know there there's a lot of he's had his hands in some some of the baddest A's in the country and he's not even he's actually a little window Pat guy you know that about it you know yeah yeah it's that's the funny part about it but uh yeah he's had his hands and some KNE but I I just can't say enough about him and his family no he's awesome they're great people and uh I'll be back up there to film some more stuff with him again soon so sounds good well thank you very much make sure you get old Don in there too what I tell you well you want to talk about modesty at its best if I could get him to do an interview with me that'd be great yeah you almost have to trick him just make him think you're talking on the phone I know I know exactly yeah I I talked to Don for hours just love that guy oh my gosh he's awesome so well thank you very much thank you Steve and [Music] a spe [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: LargeCarMag

Views: 37,249

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Id: mra05BMvXms

Length: 34min 31sec (2071 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 06 2023