It’s important for a small town to have something that draws people in, and in the tiny town of Bogota, Texas, Kravened Kustoms has become something of a landmark.
Owned and operated by father/son team Wyatt and Lance Bush, Kravened Kustoms is a classic car restoration shop, but they don’t restore what most people regard as typical cars.
“A lot of people expect a polished, shiny look when it comes to classic cars,” explains Lance. “So sometimes when people see our rusty finds, we get a lot of snickers—until we pop the hood and they hear the engine roar.”
That’s because the cars resurrected by the Bush boys look like they’ve been sitting out in the field for years (where they do find many of them), and why their growing YouTube channel is appropriately named Turnin’ Rust.
“We like to give all our vehicles a rusty patina look,” explains Wyatt. “That old look is what it would look like now if it had been on the road the whole time. It keeps the history going.”
The duo is always on the hunt for older trucks, buses and unique cars to bring back to life. Some of their restorations have been found in obscure locations.
“We found a 1960 Apache on one of the picks,” Lance says.
“It was sitting on a makeshift ramp in a field about eight feet and a hair off the ground, just ready to fall. You never know where these things are going to turn up, or what condition they’re going to be in when you find them.”
But that’s just the fun of it all.
“We like to give the past a future,” explains Wyatt. “We like to give these vehicles a second life that they weren’t supposed to have.”
In their “hospital”—as Lance likes to call the shop—the two transform vehicles from something that someone once couldn’t wait to get rid of into a car that someone is proud to call their own. There’s just something about seeing the restoration all the way through that makes it all worth it, because the state of these vehicles is pretty questionable. Many of their builds have been sitting out in the elements for 20, 30, or even 40+ years. Simply getting the motor to turn while trying to use all original parts to do so is certainly an uphill battle.
“Anybody can buy a new part to fix a motor,” says Lance. “The challenge is keeping it all original and having it drive the way it was originally designed to. We take the old bones and give them worth again.”
And though they like to keep the exteriors rusty, when it comes to the inside, that’s a different story.
“There’s a lot of things Mother Nature can do to gum up the fuel system and carburetors. It takes a lot of work to get all that crud out,” he says.
To keep the newly restored engines running safely, Lance and Wyatt like using a product that not only keeps their vehicles on the road, but also helps to unclog the fuel system. It’s why they trust Techron High Mileage.
“A lot of our customers are just like us,” explains Lance. “They love old cars, but they need to keep them on the road. With a lot of these high-mileage engines, they need the right additive to make them work.”
To learn more about Lance and Wyatt, check out their Turnin’ Rust YouTube channel, or to get more information about Techron High Mileage for older vehicles, visit techronclean.com.
