Lil' John Buterra

Welcome Lil John,we are honored to have your input,thanks for setting things straight.To the people interested in the fate of the 33 willys,it was in a mainstream street rod mag in the last year,with plans for it's unfortunate "update".In my opinion that was such a milestone car,it should be"preserved" not altered!

 

An ICON! This thread turned into a great 'Where are they now'. Yep, some writer need's to do a coffee table style book on this man.

 

..noticed it was the two year anniversary of Lil' John's p***ing, thought I'd post this up here.



..man those guys had the "porkchop" sideburn thing goin on, even the dude standin in the backround has 'em.

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btt and does anyne have any pics of the model a he was working on with his son before he p***ed??

 

call it billet if ya want...i call it great designing and styling.........pic of the Lil John water pump and matching crank pulley that will grace the front of my 315 dodge hemi in LIl Beast.......



the pump is made up of a 2 peice main body, with the hub for the impeller to ride in being the third and then the graffed on hose ******.....it also came with adapters to set it up for long or short water pump configuration...i ran it for years on my blown vega sbc...then pulled it and pressed in a new impeller when i sold the car...i'll throw up a side shot of it later today..it really has that unique look to it........

 

I like the old articles in "Hot Rod" with his 32 3 window and the cut away drawing, one was his version of the model "T" frame with double frame rails. I think his son did a 69 Z/28. Cool stuff, true talent.

 

OUTSTANDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
like the first time I saw Peters fright train at Irwindale all warm and fezzy

 

Thanks for reviving this thread for those of us who weren't on the HAMB in 2006. I read Hot Rod cover to cover back in the 80s. Didn't save many of them, but I saved the "Novette" build series and the "Makin' Parts" article that John did. His theory was that you could make 90% of the aluminum parts you needed with a bandsaw, drill press, belt sander, and files. Cl***ic line from the article - "Watch your fingers, you don't want to leak blood all over your new parts."

Truly a creative giant.

 

Lots of people worked for or with John.....but who's the guy on the left with John?
Wait a minute.... more Tatts and a hat pulled down over his eyebrows?
Whats the Orange County Chopper dudes name???? lol

 

side veiw of the pump

 

The orignial Buterra wheels are alive and well, if somebody wants them give me a call. During the liqidation of the the Mr Gasket inventories I purchased most of the wheels, There was a 44,000 foot warehouse in Phoenix filled with wheels and other suplus inventory, I purchased in all in 1992 and those original wheels were included. I sold most of the remaining wheels to a couple of major retailers but set the Butera wheels aside. I worked for Mickey Thompson in the 60s when John came out from Wisc to work for M/T. John and remained friends untill he p***e away. I figured I would use the wheels for some project and use them in his honor. They are still in a storage unit we kept in Phoenix. If anybody has real interested in them give me a call Tom Curnow 818-426-4605 ( Los Angeles area)

 

Do a introduction, please. You sound like a fella who has ALOT to share w/ this board!