CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 57 A product made by the hands of an American means everything to the man who has worn the same pair of Doc Marten boots for a decade. Quality design, crasmanship and a blue-collar work ethic go into every work of art that roars out of TBC Hot Rods and Bikes, hidden behind an antique shop, just over the railroad tracks on Russell Street. e final product leaves customers ready to should praise to the gods of ma- chinery or become blissfully speechless. It is a reputation that has come to the shop and its owner Tim Bradham, a self-taught metal fabrication artist that can repair, rebuild, revitalize or reinvent the designed box form of just about anything. "We talk about it all the time how guys at dealerships change out parts and how people come to me because they are thinking outside the box or looking for a voice that will go there for them," Bradham said. "ey are coming to me because they can't do it and in most cases now because they know I can." Any given week Bradham and his crew will be working on up to 10 projects, which vary in scope and difficulty — from a $500 motorcycle project to work on a hot rod that has a street value of more than $100,000. "While I run a business I look at this as a hobby, so there's very little stress because I don't treat it as a job," he said. "I just lock down and focus 100 percent. People don't know whom to trust anymore. But I'm also willing to do projects no one else will touch." Bradham, a Terry Sanford graduate, has quietly been la- beled a rock star in his field since started out on his own in 1989. In his field of play defying genres, stereotypes and expectation is required. So while every business owner will Tim Bradham's reputation to restore and reinvent motorcycles and hot rods revs up and down the East Coast By MIChaEL JaEnICKE Man of Steel stress quality, Bradham said he holds himself to the highest standard. "It's not about what I want or expect it's what the cus- tomer expects and thinks," he stressed. "ey've seen stuff on our website. Crasmanship and quality are number one and come before everything. It's not about the money. Yes, I tell them its 'x amount of money' until we get the job done right. But, I also live to my standard, which is kinda work- ing for free until I get the quality to where the customer is happy. I may put three hours of work into something, but if it's not as I would like it I do not charge the customer. It's a whole new ballgame when they see it completed." Two projects define his character and abilities. e first is a five-window 1930 Ford Coupe he rebuilt for a member of the Road Devil Car Club. He received only the vehicle's rough body, built a chassis around it and craed the rest of it in typical TBC fashion— from the ground up. "Two or three weeks aer it was done the client drove it to a car show in Las Vegas," Bradham said. "I did about 80 percent of it on my own. Members of the Road Devils came in, hung out and gave me some opinions and a little help at the end." And then there's the 1930 Dresch motorcycle he built piece by piece. e French bike is so sharp that it would even impress its original design and build team, which be- came an international sensation but stopped manufactur- ing bikes at the start of World War I. However, we can't forget about Bradham's current pro- ject for 7th Group Special Forces 7th Group soldier, SFC Josh Burnette. Before Burnette deployed to Afghanistan, his 1963 Ford F-100 pick-up was parked at the shop, ready for some fine-tuning and detail. Tragedy struck when Bur- nette hit an I.E.D (improvised explosive device) and re- FEaTurE

• Cover