the taihitian, 62 suburban!

Hi
Just thought you might be interested in seeing my new car that I have just finished! It is a 1962 Chevy Suburban called The Tahitian. As you can see by the pictures it is TIKIed!! And just to finish off the interior, I have a puffer fish interior light!!
Hope you like it!
Sue and Dave.

Now that is a SWEET RIDE!!

SHOTGUN
wow, that is a nice ride.. bet you turn heads wherever you go! is it hard with a right hand drive vehicle in a left hand drive country?

now that's one beautiful ride! What fun that would be to drive a few tikis around town or hang some longboards out the back to go catch some waves....Your wagon made my day. Thanks!

Very cool. I dig it.

I'd like to know about the seat upholstery...

awesome looking suburban!! i love the matting in the interior....it looks great! the pin stiping looks cool, too!

That might be the coolest thing ever! I'm bringing you my jeep. Oh wait, you're in England...

Awesome ride. *Definitely gets me in the mood for the Grass Valley Roamin Angels Classic Car show this weekend! * Me loves your Suburban!

Sweeeet!!

Sweet Sue and Dave! When y'all coming again?

What, no WET BAR!?!
Very nice job- that must be lots of fun to roll around in!
Great lettering on the dash & windows too, BTW. Whats under that hood?

Thanks for all of the great comments, it has a new crate motor 350 under the hood which is also painted gold flake!
And Danny, we are coming out on October 5th, so would be good to catch up with you again, let us know when you are available?
Thanks.
Sue.

Boss ride! Looks like a gas! :tiki:

Sweet,Sweet ride...enjoy

Your car looks great,
I all ready said the same on the HAMB (my username there is Tiki God)
I visit the Hot rod nats in Engeland this year, and i saw the car there, its so cool.
I took alot of pics, from your car.
I bought tikistuff at your shop there and i visit your site
http://www.hotrodtiki.com and signt the geastbook.

I also love your other car, i saw a pic off it on the HAMB.
And i read the article of it in the CROOM and Flames.

good luck and hope to see you next year at the Nats

Thanks tiki rodder for your comments, come up and say HI to us next time you see us, we really appreciate these kind words.
Thanks.

I will do that, if everything goo's well i will be at the Hotrod nats 2007 with my Ford.

WOW - really really coool - love the blowfish dome light - If you could, explain the roof detail/floral pattern. How is it applied? what is it? Original paint, decal, fabric or what - it looks perfect. Did you work on the engine? Show us if you did!

U can do that by using a lace, put it on the roof and spray paint over it than remove it. or something like that

That's fantastic!

Great job.

The Pin Stripes, Lettering, and all the nice effects really work well together, without ruining the vehicles actual feel.

Very tastefully done.

Makes me want gussie up my Travelall!

This is one of the best tiki themed cars/trucks I've seen thus far! Great job! The roof job is a late 60's to early 70's styled lace job. It is right when the Bellflower/Downey hotrod crusing scene was fading and Hollywood and Montebello were the newer hotspots. Its technically out of the earliest of lowriding roots that was influenced by the Full Kustom Hotrods of that era.Similarly influenced by Larry Watson & Gene Winfield, but with a twist. This is a tedious job. First you start with maybe a basecoat of a metallic base(silver or gold).Spray it on to get ample coverage. Then you mix metalflake with the clearcoat and spray the combo to where you feel you have enough flake on the surface(usually determined in percentages) like my roof is 90% covered in metalflake. Then after your flashcoats(time between spraying layers of another coat of paint or clear) you then seal the metalflake/clear combo with straight clearcoat(no flake) (usually 3-5 coats of clear)to seal in the flake to protect it during the wetsanding process. It is nesseccary to wetsand to remove "boogers"(debris), fisheyes and orange peel. Then you use thinline tape with masking paper to mask areas that you want only the flake to show like the silver lined border you see dividing the lace job. then you grab grandmas lace curtains and secure it to the roof using paint tape leaving the areas underneath your lace, metalflake exposed. then you spray your favorite colored candy paint(a transparent tinted paint)and cover the lace.
When you achieve the level of candy color you want(just don't run the candy by applying too much,or else back to the sanding it off after it drys). You then proceed to remove the lace material and masked taped areas. Now you need to reclear the roof with clearcoat usually about another 4-8 coats with about 10-20 min in between coats. Now the car sits and dries.(Paint cures slower, with more coats). My roof is curing for 2-3 weeks before the FINAL wetsand 1000-1500grit wet. Last phase is the buffing out after the wetsanding for that "like glass" look. 3 different buffing pads, 3 different cutting/polishing glazes are buffed into the roof which brings it to a clean mirror glass finish. Once again great looking Burb