Saturday, June 20, 2009

Dad, Son Tinker Together

By Jeff Proctor
Journal Staff Writer
          Roy Shank is grateful for all the time he's spent with his dad, Dave, over the years.
        A lot of that time has been under the chassis, hunched over the engine block or meticulously applying a fresh coat of paint to classic cars.
        "Dad was an old hot rod guy from the '50s," Roy said. "I guess it kind of rubbed off on me. He always had a car he was working on, and I was a nosy little kid standing on a milk crate. I don't know how much it annoyed him, but he tolerated it.
        "And for me, I mean, how many guys can say they got to spend good quality time with their dad when they were little? I can."
        The Shanks have come a long way from milk crates and muscle cars. And they've spent a lot of quality time together.
        They've restored upward of a dozen cars together — some of them "from the ground up" — and have taken their work to car shows all over the region the past 15 or so years.
        Today and tomorrow, the Shanks will be taking a couple of their creations to what has become something of a Fathers Day tradition for them: The Sagebrush Auto Show.
        In its third year, the two-day show starts today at 2 p.m. with the "Rod Run Cruise," which leaves from J & R Vintage Auto Museum in Rio Rancho.
        All roads lead to Sagebrush Community Church at Coors and La Orilla NW, where events begin at 3 p.m. There will be free hot dogs and beverages until 9 p.m.
        On Sunday, the show's Father's Day events will run from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. For $20, folks can buy a raffle ticket for 1986 Buick Grand National Turbo V6. For $5, tickets are available for a Murray Off-Road Mini-Motorcycle. The raffle starts at 1:45 p.m.
        Admission is free both days.
        Prizes will be awarded in eight categories. For cars: stock, street rod, muscle and truck. Motorcycles will be judged in the vintage, cruiser, sport and custom categories.
        The prizes have not been announced, but whatever they are, it's something else about the show that has drawn the Shanks to it.
        "This show has a nice, laid-back feel," Roy Shank said. "For about 10 years in a row, we did most of the shows here and a lot out of town, too. But like anything else, it got monotonous. Car shows have gotten so political. They tell you what you can and can't do. We got burned out on it."
        Faster & stronger
        Rules and car shows aren't a good combination for the Shanks.
        Roy's mom and dad were part of a Mustang club in town for several years. But they were always the "black sheep family" of the group.
        That's because the Shanks were all about how to make the iconic Fords faster, stronger, Roy said.
        "The rest of them were purists," he said, chuckling.
        Car shows are a laborious undertaking, Roy said. He and his dad have spent days at a time getting cars ready for shows — especially the ones where the competition is the main component of the show.
        For the Sagebrush show, he figured they've spent about eight hours a car.
        The Shanks will be showing a 1967 Mercury Cougar drag car and, if the weather holds, a 1967 Mustang convertible. If it rains, a 1966 K-Code Mustang the Shanks rebuilt pretty much from scratch together will pinch-hit for the convertible.
        These days, Dave Shank does a lot of the prep work, his son said. That's because Dave, 65, is retired from Sandia National Laboratories.
        "But right now, he's working his butt off because it's alfalfa season," said Roy, adding that his parents still own a farm in the South Valley.
        Roy has a little less time to get cars ready for shows. He runs Automotive Machine Services on Second Street NW.
        "I'm a machinist, and we rebuild engines," he said. "Everything from tractors to cars. Anything that runs, we've touched it.
        "My dad taught me a lot when I was a teenager. My first car was a '65 Ford pickup that I still have. He helped me work on that. When I got older, I went to TVI, and then I was a mechanic for years."
        Other hobbies
        Roy and Dave have other interests outside of cars, of course. Some of those, such as hiking and fishing, they've done together for years.
        So when Father's Day rolls around, Roy leaves the decision-making up to his dad.
        "I always ask him if he wants to go and do the show," Roy said. The Sagebrush show "is real family-oriented, and they hold it on Father's Day. So we like it."
        It's always been as much about the time spent between father and son as it has about the shows themselves, Roy said.
        There were months when the two would be restoring a car that they'd be out in the garage together every night, he said. Most of the time, they looked at it as a chance to put in some time together and blow off a little steam.
        They've had their differences of opinion on some projects, Roy said, remembering a few coin tosses to decide paint colors.
        "There have been lots of times where we could look back at it and be really proud of what we did. We could say: 'Hey, we built a car,'" he said. "It's been fun. I know a lot of guys who haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with their dad. I don't know too many people who have done what my dad and I have done. It's been a great ride."
       

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