I went to his shop/ hot rod ranch today for the first time today to drop off some spindles and an axle to have the bushings reamed for new king pins. Fist off, I've got to say he hands down has the coolest garage, tons of vintage steel and parts everywhere peacefuly basking in the Cali sun. In addition there were numerous traditional hot rods in various stages of completion, all of them unique from each other, the completed rods just hit the nail on the head for me. He asked me what I was building. I gave him the details of my AV8 project. I asked if he had any old k-members for sale. He walked off as if to go look and came back with a fabricated k-member for Model A frames. Apparently, this was a tacked-together prototype for his newly released k-member available in his catalogue. As happy as I was to see that he had the part, I was caught by surprise when Vern told me that I could have it for FREE!. What a solid dude. It is very refreshing to see that the old ways of doing business and Baker's dozens still exist. He's got a new loyal customer. Support Vern!!!
Vern gave my boss and the rest of the Lake Area Roadsters the tour this summer while they were out there. After they left, one of the guys cracked an aluminum oil pan, they went back and Vern helped them get back on the road!
I showed up at Vern's at noon last Saturday with a busted driveline in my '34 truck. He and a couple of his buddies worked until after 8 PM to get me off down the road that night. Outstanding mechanic, great guy. Couldn't agree more.
remember the post by AV8 Mike some time back, with the pics from Verns shop?? He's got so much cool stuff I almost coudn't believe it. Think I could lie down on a trolly and slide around in there for weeks. Roof where loaded with hangin' goodies.
hey, isnt it great to hear stories about someone who is a total legend treating everyone like thier the same. ive seen lesser people with bigger egos thats for sure.. danny
Need too add my experience with Vern. I was out there 2 yrs ago and was treated super. Had the run of the shop plus went to lunch with him and Mike and some of their buddys. The ride to lunch was in Verns roadster, had a ball that day thanks to Vern and Mikes hospitality
no one gets treated like their SANE... the patients are running the asylum... the FLATHEAD FUNNY FARM... nic
I'll add my two cents, i recently bought my '39 from a good friend of his & was fortunate enough to be introduced to him at his place. Although very busy he gave me all the time in the world & talked me through some very neat flathead tricks, he even came up with a cam for my particular application & had it ground for me within two weeks. A great guy & any praise is well deserved! Kev.
Had a similiar experience in Feb 2003. Didn't get to go with Mike Bishop but he did give me directions and the password. I spent about 5 or 6 hours there and it was indescribable. We did the lunch thing with Jim Stroup. The more I looked the more I saw in and outside of the shop. That guy is full of good stories but not full of himself. Its always good to see guys like Barris,Gene Winfield and Vern at the top.
While we are on the subject of Vern - and his shop - I understand they now have a catalog AND the book that Vern and Mike Bishop produced for "Steering Boxes" - Vega I think. Last time I checked he doesn't have facilities for charge cards. So .. can anyone post the proper name of the steering book; the cost, and the price of the catalog? If someone can post the FULL (mailing) address where I can send a US money order; I would be most appreciative. Thanks in advance! Dave
Digger Dave- Vern has a website now.You can buy that book on it and use your cedit card or paypal. http://www.verntardel.com/
What everyone said, and then some. Even mail order you get the feeling your doing business on a handshake. George
can't wait to visit Vern and ask him questions about my new rear end set-up i want to do! heard he is the man with all the answers can't wait to check out his amazing place. CAB
In a couple of weeks my fiance and I are going to be out in Sonoma Valley/County, I think the town is Santa Rosa. Is Vern Tardel's shop anywhere close to that. We have a '31 roadster we haven't started on yet and we would love to swing by his shop. Any info from you guys would be appreciated! Thanks, sled
Damn! I noticed my typo and fixed it this morning and hoped no one had quoted it...doh! same! was meant to be same lol. danny
I ordered the steering book off of the website........good stuff..... Kind of funny side note: I sent him a fax to order one of his cross members for AV8's. I put all my info on there and had my wife take it to work to fax it. I awaited like a little kid on Christmas Eve night for it to arrive. About a week later I got a envelope from Vern Tardel Enterprises and it had a flyer with his K-member on it....maybe I forgot something.....in the mean time, I went ahead and built my own cross member. I may still order one yet, though. I REALLY want to head out to the left coast and meet Vern and Mike. I know I sound like a little kid, but they are my idols! Great to hear stories like this. I would hope that we'd all not be too busy to talk to somebody.....
Yep, kinda funny story.........2001' we drove the 34' Hotrod to the salt and my pop's and I saw a cool flathead roadster, so I started chatting with the guy just hanging around with him and after a while (AKA: an hour), someone came up and said "Hey, Vern.....How did you run". And I looked at my dad and thought to myself that I could not beleive that this was "Vern Tardel" from the book that we had been reading. And to top it off, I was taking a nap on Monday of speedweek in 01' and my pop's went get something to eat and ran into Vern again with a busted fan pulley and was pinching some radiator chambers with needle nose pliers and my dad started chatting again with him and he said that he is "A-Ok" and that he would drive the roadster home even if he did not have a fan to pull air thru, because that he could not trailor it. Chris Nelson Kansas
I guess it's time for me to tell of a personal experience I had with Vern and Mike Bishop. I had finally met Mike in person at Bonneville in 2002 where we shared some "lies " about flatheads. Vern was racing the Tardel and Mckenzie car so was too busy to chat; but he did say hello. He was "racing" to change engines. A year later Mike and I struck a deal for him to polish a Merc flathead crank - took some weight off as well. Mike was doing the work at Vern's shop. As the polishing was almost finished, Mike suggested that a good finishing touch would be to use a set of French connecting rods and said he would ask Vern if he still had a spare set. Vern appologized and indicated that he didn't have a set, but he would check around. A couple of days later I got an email indicating that if contacted Red Hamilton - Red's Headers - and told him who sent me; Red had a set. Now comes the fun part. Vern uses a chrome shop in the same city that Red's Headers is located. Vern suggested that if I would get Red's to drop the rods off at the chrome shop, they could deliver the rods with Verns next chrome shipment. Now as it turned out, Vern nor any of his crew was there the day the delivery was made, but the chrome delivery guy just set my rods and the chrome order inside the gate at the end of the road! It's kind of nice when you can trust your neighbours. Mike weight balanced the rods and took them and the crank over to the FedEx office near Vern's shop. The shipping order showed - in BIG block letters - GROUND! and was being shipped collect to a friend of mines business here in Calgary. Normally this would have been 3 to 4 day delivery, but luck was on my side! A FedEx driver - who just happened to be the brother of one of the employees of my friend - spotted the address, and threw it on his truck because he was making a direct overnight run to Calgary. Was I happy the next day when my friend called and said, "I have something here for you." - I was expecting some other parts he was working on for me. - YOU BET! So .. Vern if you and Mike are reading this; THANKS, AGAIN!!
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