{"id":476544,"date":"2016-07-11T03:48:05","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T10:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bangshift.com\/?p=476544"},"modified":"2016-07-11T03:48:28","modified_gmt":"2016-07-11T10:48:28","slug":"shop-tour-we-hang-out-with-the-crew-at-cornfield-customs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangshift.com\/bangshift-galleries\/shop-tour-we-hang-out-with-the-crew-at-cornfield-customs\/","title":{"rendered":"Shop Tour: We Hang Out With The Crew At Cornfield Customs"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Words and photos by Doug Gregory) –\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Mike Wagner started Cornfield Customs as a side-business in 2007 and that grew into full-blown self-employment in 2009.\u00a0 We\u2019d been aware of the craftsmanship coming out of this shop for a while and had dropped by their old location once before.\u00a0 They\u2019ve recently moved into a new, much-larger property and now have room to grow.\u00a0 Mike is an official instructor for Baileigh Industrial, makers of finely-crafted, heavy-duty metal shaping tools.\u00a0 This fall he is scheduled to be at SEMA plying his craft and teaching with others in the Baileigh booth.<\/p>\n

Cornfield Customs currently offers vintage Chassis Research TE-440, TE-448, and K88 replicas jig-built and TIG welded.\u00a0 They also reproduce Ford A, \u201932, and 33-\u201934 chassis and build many custom frames.<\/p>\n

The current \u2018shop car\u2019 is an Edsel wagon pictured in an article or two we did last year.\u00a0 There are many projects spread amongst the facility. One long-term project pictured here is the Wyke \u201932 Sedan.\u00a0 The custom chassis is pretty much complete and the body mods are now underway.\u00a0 This one will be super-detailed with lots of fine modifications.\u00a0 The C-10 cab came in for some reconditioning, a chop, suicide doors, and more.\u00a0 The Fiat shell is real-deal stuff and needed some repairs and a proper spare tire well.\u00a0 That was fabricated out of one piece of metal\u2026..no seams here.\u00a0 Folks told Mike \u2018it can\u2019t be done\u2019.\u00a0 He regularly explains that \u2018he doesn\u2019t know he can\u2019t do something\u2019 so he tries anyway.\u00a0 He is constantly pushing himself to further his craft.\u00a0 Both cars on and under the lift feature Cornfield chassis while the one on top also features their quarter panels, door skins, cowl sides, and the whole floor.\u00a0 The wild-looking Ford truck is another long-term project and came in specifically for the chassis work.\u00a0 Cornfield designed and built the frame and suspension.\u00a0 If you look carefully you will see the rear is a cantilever setup.\u00a0 The Henry J just recently showed up for firewall, floors, and the rest of the tin-work inside.<\/p>\n

When it comes to metal-work, they do it all.\u00a0 Virtually any metal-shaping, hole punching, panel fabrication, brackets, and more – they do it.\u00a0 There is a plasma cutting table that has churned out some very interesting and artistic pieces.\u00a0 We saw presses, mills, lathes, welders, shears, and all manner of hand tools.\u00a0 One table even has a swing-out diner stool.\u00a0 This was fabbed up at the former location due to their limited space.\u00a0 The main chassis table has holes everywhere to facilitate just about any large fabrication task from full-frames to narrowing a rearend housing.\u00a0 You can see by the photos there are parts everywhere and at the time these pictures were taken they hadn\u2019t finished unpacking.<\/p>\n

In the last photo is John Gilliam\u2019s \u2018car.\u00a0 John brought it in for a full-aluminum hood with louvers and some odds&ends.\u00a0 We caught this photo of it at the 2015 NHRR in Bowling Green, KY.<\/p>\n

Presently they don\u2019t offer the full-build range of services, but in the future they may do body & paint on a very-limited basis.\u00a0 Check out their work at cornfield-customs.com or look them up on Facebook and Instagram.\u00a0 They regularly post up works-in-progress and video of the processes to make metal yield to the master\u2019s will.<\/p>\n

Enjoy the photos.<\/p>\n

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