Here are a couple of photos that Harrod took recently, to give you some idea of the magnitude of the roof replacement job that the Art Car World crew are doing on the main building. They’ve discovered that there are no fewer than 18 layers of asphalt rolled roofing up there! Evidently the previous owners over the last few decades found it easier just to keep adding new layers, rather than remove roofing material as it wore out. And of course as they added more layers, the weight caused the roof to start sagging more and more, and consequently leaking more, and requiring more layers…

So now it’s unavoidable. All of that nasty old asphalt has to be wrestled loose, little by little, while trying to keep the resulting dust out of one’s eyes and nose and mouth. And then the sagging structure has to be replaced with new trusses, etc. Here we see Kevin Ratliff and Francisco Valencia attacking the mess with pry bars. Behind them is another section waiting to be demolished, while at the bottom right is a gleaming section of new roof already completed. In all, the roof is over 11,000 square feet, so this is no small undertaking.

On March 14, Bob Castaneda and Joy Davis (of the wonderful Radio Fiyer art car) were here to volunteer their time to help paint the exterior of the building. They even donated the paint! Here’s a photo of Bob (left) and Hunter Mann hard at work. This shot shows only a fraction of the surface that they ultimately painted. And that’s just the primer coat — there are still two more coats to go. Bob and Joy are on their way here from California as I write this, to help the local crew finish the job. We’re looking forward to seeing their smiling faces.

And while we’re at it, here’s a shot of Kevin Ratliff (left) and Francisco Valencia repairing stucco on the front of the Art Car World building. Good job, guys.

We’re thrilled to announce that the fabulous Jewel Box car has arrived at Art Car World! If it’s been a while since you’ve seen Wild Wheels, pull out your copy of the DVD and watch the segment about Jay Battenfield (or read about it in the Wild Wheels book). It’s a heartwrenching story. But the ultimate result was this beautiful and priceless art car. The late Mr. Battenfield’s estate donated it to Art Car World in 2010, and it arrived here from Amarillo, Texas, on March 31, 2011. Harrod says when he was filming the car for Wild Wheels all those years ago, he never imagined that it might someday end up under his own care. It needs some cleanup and restoration, but we look forward to having it on display eventually.