Bill Hines

A photo of Bill taken when he was 13 years old. Photo courtesy of Custom Rodder.

A photo of Bill taken in front of his first custom, a 1941 Buick convertible that he restyled in 1941. Bill bought the convertible brand new. Photo courtesy of Bill Hines.

Marty Ribits' 1934 Ford, the Golden Nugget, was restyled by Bill at his Detroit shop in 1952. In 1953 Marty won the "Best Custom" award at the Detroit Autorama with the car.

An early version of Bill Hines' 1950 Ford, Lil' Bat as it appeared when Bill moved to California in 1958.

In 1958, after moving to California, Bill laid Gold scallops on the Lil' Bat.

A signed photo of Bill with a torch from The Brad Masterson Collection.

Bill restyled Jerry Yatch's 1959 Chevrolet Impala in 1959, while living in Detroit.

The Mroz Brothers' 1950 Ford outside the first Alexander Brothers shop in Detroit in 1960. Bill was quite busy painting Candy, being overloaded with work he hired the Alexander Brothers to do bodywork. The Alexander Brothers didn't do Candy paint jobs, so they traded work for Candy instructions and paint on their own jobs. Their first major paint job was on The Mroz Brothers' 1950 Ford, which received a Candy paint job under Bill's watchful eye. Photo by Dave Jenkins.

Bill and Teddy Zgrzemski did the scallops on Sy Gregorich's 1955 Ford Crown Victoria in 1960, when Teddy was 14 years old. "I went over to his garage and taped them all off," Teddy told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama in 2019, "then my uncle painted them." The next day Teddy came in and pinstriped around the edges. "I got 15 dollars for doing it," he still recalled in 2019. "Back then I was into customizing, and money wasn't that important. It was the second or third scallop paint job that I ever did on a car." Known as the Victorian, Sy's Crown Victoria went on to become a pretty famous car. "White Pearl with Candy Apple Red scallops. That was a beautiful car. The nicest car the Alexander Brothers built I thought." Photo from The Dave Jenkins Collection.

Bill restyled Teddy Zgrzemski's 1954 Ford around 1959 - 1960, while living in Detroit.

Dave Robertson's 1956 Ford F-100, Lil Nugget, was restyled in the late 1950s or the early 1960s. Bill did most of the lead work on the car.

Bill restyled Pinky Richard's 1957 Chevrolet Corvette

Bill restyled Tats Gotanda's 1959 Chevrolet Impala, The Buddah Buggy, in 1961. Tats' Impala was the first car that Bill installed hydraulic lifts on.

Richard Mikami's 1961 Chevrolet Impala of Gardena, California. Restyled in 1964, Richard's Impala featured hydraulic lifts by Bill Hines, a Pearl paint job by Joe Andersen and a custom upholstery by Russ and Bess. The car was known as "The Ant Killer"

Richard Zocchi's 1964 Buick Wildcat of Concord, California. Richard's Buick featured hydraulic lifts by Bill Hines and a fadeaway paint job by Gene Winfield of Winfield's Custom Shop. The car was restyled in 1964, when it was brand new.

Teddy Zgrzemski' 1957 Chevrolet Nomad of Rockwood, Michigan. Teddy bought the Nomad from his friend Gene Rosco back in 1964 or 1965. It came from California, and it featured a beautiful Eddie Martinez interior. Shortly after buying the Nomad, Teddy's uncle, Bill Hines, helped install hydraulic lifts on the car, turning it into what might be the first hydraulic lifted car in Michigan.

Milton Mills' 1965 Chevrolet Impala. In 1967 Bill Hines painted and installed hydraulic lifts on the car for Milton.

A photo of Milton Mills' 1965 Chevrolet Impala taken at Bill's Lynwood shop in 1967. According to Milton the yellow Impala in the garage is the one Alexander Ruelas got from his dad in 1999. Photo courtesy of Milton Mills.

Alexander Ruelas' 1965 Chevrolet Impala was originall restyled by Bill Hines around 1966/1967.

Dennis Unea's 1959 Chevrolet Impala was restyled by Bill Hines in 1969.

A Kustom Coachcraft by Bill Hines Kustom Auto Enterprises ad from the souvenir program of the 1969 Westernationals.

In the early 1970s Bill restyled Nick Daneri's 1970 Chevrolet Camaro. Nick was the President of the Bachelors LTD car club.

Bill Hines' 1957 Lincoln of Garden Grove, California. This photo shows the car as it appeared circa 1997.

A photo of Bill at the 1st Hot August Nights in Branson, Missouri, circa 1997. Photo courtesy of Rick Ruth.

Rich Pichette's 1957 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery of Moreno Valley, California. The car was restyled by Bill Hines and Gary Minor after a rear end accident in 1992. The build was completed in 1998, featuring scallops designed by Jerry Weesner and pinstriping by Larry Watson.

Bill sold the original Lil' Bat in the early 1960s. The new owner had Bill perform a bunch of new cuztomizing to the body. The front and rear ends were heavily modified, and the chopped top was cut off, as the new owner wanted to fit the Bat with a bubbletop. The build was never completed, and the unfinished project was parked outside in the wilds of Michigan, so Bill decided to clone his old custom.

Bill Hines' 1980 Buick Riviera

Johnny Shredder's 1949 Ford was chopped by Bill.

Bill working on one of his many top chops.

Bill welding.

A photo of Bill holding the original caricature drawing of him in 2004. The caricature was drawn by a young man who worked part-time after school at Bill's shop in the 1960s. Bill referred to his portrait at "The Little Man." Unfortunately Bill didn't remember the name of the artist. Photo courtesy of Custom Rodder Magazine.

Custom Rodder March 2004 contained a Hall of Fame story on Bill. The story was written by Jerry Weesner.

Bill was part of the build crew that restyled Jesse James' 1954 Chevrolet 210, The Old School Chevy, on the TV show Monster Garage in 2004.

Bill painting the restored version of the Buddah Buggy.

In 2005, Bill Hines was named Builder of the Year at the Detroit Autorama. He was on hand to receive accolades for his contributions to the art of customizing, and five of his creations were displayed at the show. One of the cars was the newly restored Marty Ribits' 1934 Ford cabriolet, the Golden Nugget. Current owner Larry Jordon completed the restoration 3 days prior to the show. Photo courtesy of Larry Jordon.

Bill helped Brad Masterson chop the top on his 1951 Chevrolet.

Bill Hines made the folding mechanism for the chopped top on Steve Lininger's 1951 Ford Convertible

A signature flyer from the Meet & Greet at the 2011 Grand National Roadster Show.

In May of 2011 the remains of the original Lil' Bat was advertised for sale on Craigslist.

A portrait photo of Bill taken in 2011. Photo by Sondre Kvipt - Kustomrama.

In 2011 Kings of Kustoms released a 90 minute long documentary about Gene Winfield. Click here to watch it now with Amazon Prime.

Custom by Paint - Made in Bellflower - A tribute to traditional custom cars of the 1950s. Bodywork by Barris. Paint by Larry Watson. Lifts by Bill Hines. Long live Kustomland! Price: $19.99 - Check availability on Amazon.om.

Bill Hines (03.23.1922 - 05.20.2016) was a legendary custom car builder born in Erie, Pennsylvania.

William Chandler Hines was born in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1922. He had a twin brother named Edward Robert, and a sister named Elizabeth Gertrude. Bill was born with a badly curved spine. It was bent at unusual angles, and it kept him leaning way forward instead of standing straight up. He was a sickly child with severe health problem. Two years old he was sent to the hospital for two years in his hometown of Erie. He had two vertebrae removed. That helped his condition, but it didn’t cure it. Soon after Bill's release from the hospital, his father, Edward Hines, died of tuberculosis at the age of 36.

The Sunshine Camp

After Bill's father died Bill was sent to a "Sunshine Camp" where he was strapped to a board for seven months. In an interview with Autoweek Bill told Mark Vaughn about his time at the Sunshine Camp; “They put me on a board, put me in the sun in the morning, I would stay there all day, then they would take me out at night. Two and a half years I did that. And it cured my spine, my humpback.” Bill said.

Moving to Detroit

Bill's widowed mother, Willie Jane Chandler, moved to Detroit, Michigan for work while his grandmother raised the children in Jackson, Tennessee. In 1932, when his mother was settled, Bill and his brother moved to Detroit to join her. When Olav Kvipt worked with Bill in his shop, he told him that one of his childhood memories was hunting frogs with a slingshot.

School

During the Great Depression Bill was enrolled in art and shop classes where he excelled. At age 14 he wanted a motor scooter. He couldn't afford one, so he ended up building his own, using his skills in the machine shop to fabricate the necessary parts. Bill often skipped the academic classes to spend more time in both shop and art classes. In art class he sculpted a clay bust of Will Rogers that he cast on school.

First Car

Bill's first car was a 1934 Ford tub that he bought while he was in school. The car was powered by a Flathead V8, and Bill used the machine shop at school to mill the heads. In 1989 Jerry Weesner interviewed Bill for Street Rodder Magazine, and during the interview Bill told Jerry that after the heads were milled he proceeded to race anyone who dared choose him off. Bill loved racing so much that he would go on and build and professionally campaign a V8-60 powered Midget. The interview, titled "The Leadslinger, " appeared in Street Rodder September 1989.

First Custom

In 1941, while in the 11th grade, Bill quit school and rented a garage in Ecorse, Michigan to practice custom body work. Bill was self-learned when it came to leading, and he claimed that it just came to him! Later on the same year he opened up his own gas station on Dix highway in Lincoln Park, Michigan. Behind the gas station he continued building custom cars, doing custom body and paint work. 1941 was also the year Bill bought what would become his first custom car; a brand new 1941 Buick convertible. Bill told Jerry Weesner that he immediately began customizing the Buick. The first version was turquoise with molded fenders, widened rocker panels, fender skirts, single bar flipper hubcaps and a spotlight. Later on he cut the doors down and added a fin to the center of the decklid. Bill used the car while it was being restyled, so while he was working on the doors, he drove around without doors. Fins and cut-down doors would be one of Bill's first trademarks. The fin was way ahead of its time, and Bill took a lot of kidding for it. So much that he after a couple of weeks installed a stock decklid back on the car. In 2015 Bill told Mark Vaughn that he chopped the top 2 inches. He also told him about the fin, and how he widened the rocker panels; "I widened the rocker panels, they had a 4-inch rocker and I probably made an 8- to 10-inch rocker panel. And it had fins. Every one of my cars winds up with fins. I like the fins. I have ‘em in all of my cars." When Bill bought the Buick it was blue. After he had restyled it he painted it red. In 2015 he told Anna Marco that "Every custom should be Candy Red with Tan or White accents. No other color. My first car was a blue 1941 Buick. I had to paint it red."

One of the other known cars Bill restyled in the 1940s was a near-new 1946 Ford coupe that he chopped. The Ford was later remodeled by Jack Florence, another Michigan customizer.

California

In 1943 Bill and three friends decided to make the trek west from Michigan to California on two Harley's. One of the Harley's belonged to Bill, and it had a sidecar. Bill told Olav Kvipt that a one-legged buddy drove with him in the sidecar, and that they drove Route 66, spending 9 dollars and 30 cent in gas. While in California Bill and his buddy stayed at a friends place close to Redondo Beach. When Fall came they packed their bags and returned to Michigan. After that Bill visited California several times during the Summer seasons.

Dick Dean

Vick Sawitskas ran a Nash dealership in Wyandotte. Vick's body men could remove and replace anything that unbolted, but they were not capable of doing extensive bodywork, so an outside fellow that owned a tin building with a dirt floor did all the serious repair that called for replacing quarter-panels and lead work. That fellow was Bill. Vic had a son, Richard "Dick Dean" Sawitskas, that Bill taught how to work lead and do other custom tricks. By the late 1940s Bill had become quite handy with the paint gun, and he was also painting cars at the dealership, giving used cars new paint jobs. In 1949, at age 16, Dick had a 1941 Hupmobile that his dad let him work on in the shop. After Dick had leaded and straightened the body on his Hupmobile, Bill painted it Vermillion. Dick became known as the “Sultan of Chop”, and during his career he chopped more than 1000 cars. Around 400 of these were 1949-1951 Mercury's.

First Custom Shop

In the early 1950s Bill finally opened up his own custom shop in Lincoln Park. One of the most famous cars he restyled there was Marty Ribits’ 1934 Ford convertible. Marty bought the beaten up Ford late in 1952. He wanted to turn the car into a head turner, so he commissioned Bill to turn the rustbucket into a custom hot rod. Modifications included a 6 inch channel job, a 6 inch sectioned grille, a sectioned rear, and raised fenders. The Mercury flathead powered Ford was painted a rich burgundy. Inside it featured a black and white rolled and pleated upholstery. Once completed, Marty won the “Best Custom” award at the 1953 Detroit Autorama with the car. Bill continued to work on the car, and it eventually received 1955 Chevrolet headlights, extended front fenders, a custom pan, a brand new 322 Buick Nailhead engine, a black and white diamond tuck interior and a gold paint job. The gold version, named Golden Nugget, won the first place trophy for Altered Street Roadster at the 1958 Detroit Autorama.

Lil' Bat

Another famous custom that rolled out of Bill’s Lincoln Park shop was a 1950 Ford called the “Lil’ Bat.” The “Lil’ Bat” was Bill’s personal car, and he built it in 1957. Modifications included a 4 inch chopped top, frenched headlights, a 1951 Ford Meteor grille bar and huge fins that incorporated 1956 Ford taillights. The “Lil’ Bat” made its debut at the 1958 Detroit Autorama, and in 1959 it gained national recognition when it was featured on the cover of Rod & Custom March 1959. The story was titled: “Those fins are still growing.”

Teddy Zgrzemski

Teddy Zgrzemski was Bill's nephew, and even before Teddy was old enough to drive, Bill took him under his wing. In an interview with Joey Ukrop for the book Hot Rod Detroit, Teddy said that Bill taught him how to do leadwork; "He was not a very good teacher." One day at the shop Teddy was frustrated by the drudgery of sanding panels, and he asked Bill if he could weld instead. Bill started by cutting an old fender in half, forcing Teddy to weld it back together. With the pieces reassembled, Bill tested the handiwork by trying to destroy it. "He couldn't break it," Teddy told Joey. "So he said 'you know how to weld, now go back sanding."

Moving to California

In April of 1958 Bill moved from Lincoln Park to California. He brought the whole family in a house trailer along with the Li'l Bat. He stopped by the Barris shop with the Li'l Bat, but George Barris, Bill Carr and Dean Jeffries were out of the shop, on a show tour back East with The Aztec and The Kopper Kart. Bill met a guy named Gene Simmons, who was the manager at the time. He saw Bill's custom and asked who did it? Bill told him that he had built it himself. This was a Wednesday, and Gene, also called Gino, told Bill that he could use somebody right now. Bill told him he could start on Monday, but Gino replied "How about tomorrow?" Bill loaded his toolbox and started the next day. Sam was gone by then, Junior Conway was just a prep boy, and Larry Watson took care of the paint department while George was away. George returned about three weeks later. He saw Bill working on a car and he kept looking and looking. This went on a couple of days, not much said, as George was a fussy man according to Bill. But Bill was doing so good, and so fast that George was very impressed. Bill can't remember what he did first, but according to Larry Watson he did all of the work on his 1958 Ford Thunderbird. After that he got into the big ones, Dave Cunningham's 1940 Ford, Mitch Nagao's 1957 Ford Thunderbird, and Shirley Barris' 1958 Ford Thunderbird.

When Bill moved to California, his nephew, Teddy Zgrzemski, tagged along. Being a teenager, Teddy was in custom car heaven. He helped clean cars for George Barris, getting them ready for shows. Eventually, he started sanding, preparing and painting cars as a painter's helper at the shop. He also volunteered helping Dean Jeffries mask off paint jobs on some nights after work.

Back to Detroit

Bill stayed in California for about 9 months. He left the day before Christmas and went back to Detroit. He stayed in Detroit all of 1959, and built several custom cars there, such as Jerry Yatch's 1959 Chevrolet Impala that he gave a candy apple paint. According to Bill this was one of the first cars in the Detroit area to ever be painted with that type of paint. Hines is also credited for being one of the first people to do molded-in side pipes. Bill was quite busy painting Candy, being overloaded with work he hired the Alexander Brothers to do bodywork. The Alexander Brothers didn't do Candy paint jobs, so they traded work for candy instructions and paint on their own jobs. Their first major paint job was on The Mroz Brothers' 1950 Ford, which received a Candy paint job under Bill's watchful eye. The Alexander Brothers also gave Sy Gregorich's 1955 Ford Victoria a Pearl paint job while working with Bill.

The X-Tremist

Back in Detroit, Bill helped Teddy Zgrzemski restyle his 1954 Ford into the radically restyled X-Tremist. When Joey Ukrop interviewed Teddy about the car, Teddy said that he only wanted frenched headlights, rounded hood corners, a bar grille and maybe split bumpers; " But I came home from school one day and went to the shop and he had the whole front end cut up with welding rod and tubing." Bill told Teddy he would front clip if Teddy tackled the rear. "I always thought the front end was ugly, and he always thought my back end was ugly." Shortly after completion, the car was shown at the Detroit Artillery Armory in Oak Park. "I was completely broke. I didn't have any money to buy headlights or taillights." He scoured his uncle's shop for burnt out bulbs to fill the voids. It wasn't a big problem Teddy told Joey, he was perfectly satisfied being a 16-year old with a car in a car show.

Bill Hines Kustom Auto

The warm California weather was calling Bill, and in October of 1960 he returned to California. He went back to work for Barris Kustoms again, but as George wouldn't pay him more than $100 a week, Bill rented a building next to Eddie Martinez in Lynwood. One day George called Bill in the office saying "Hey Willy, I hear you got a shop" He was pretty hot-headed in those days according to Bill, and told him he couldn't make it. But Bill was there for 23 years running his own company called Bill Hines Kustom Auto. George had respect for Bill, they were still friends and Bill continued doing some sub-contracting for George when the shop was busy. Bill and George were competitive, and according to Bill, George kept Bill out of the magazines, keeping him from getting recognition. George never stepped on Bill's toes though, and according to an interview Bill did with The Rodder's Journal Number Fifty Six, he never took credit for any of his work.

The Leadslinger

As new materials such as Bondo and Fiberglass were introduced on the market, most custom car builders and body shops stopped using lead. Bill considered Bondo as poison, and he swore to lead as long as he lived.

The Godfather of Hydraulics

In 1962 after meeting Ron Aguirre and his X-Sonic bubble top Corvette Bill equipped Tats Gotanda's Candy blue 1959 Chevrolet Impala, better known as the Buddah Buggy with a full hydraulic lift system. After that Bill became one of the first installation shops of hydraulic lift systems, and he installed hydraulics on several other cars. The best set around at the time included an Adele square pump or Kidde valve with the pump tank containing the hydraulic oil sitting on top of the motor. Bill was later named "The Godfather of Hydraulics". In 1969 Bill's shop was located at 11 508 Long Beach Blvd. in Lynwood, California. In 1981, Bill told Chalo Lafuente of Technical Lowrider Magazine that some of his latest hobbies included restoring antique cars back to original, and converting Cadillac Sevilles into 2-door convertibles using hydraulic system to retract the rag top. In the same interview Bill also told Chalo that he had stopped putting hydraulics on cars due to the increased cost of parts and labor.

Bellflower Shop

In 1983 Bill moved his shop to Bellflower. In Bellflower Hines built cars such as a clone of the Lil' Bat, the '41 Bat and the Big Bat.

Recognition

In 1988 Bill was inducted into the West Coast Kustoms Hall of Fame. In 1992 the '41 Bat was named "Custom Car of the Year" by Kustom Kemps of America, and in 1996 Bill was also named International Show Car Association Builder of the Year. In 1997 he was inducted into Darryl Starbird's National Custom Car Hall of Fame.

Bill’s grandsons, Matthew, Mitchell and Michael have spent several hours with their grandpa in the shop, and Bill has been passing his talents on to them, learning them the tricks of the trade. Brad Masterson of Masterson Kustoms is another apprentice of Bill Hines.

Custom Cars from Planet Hines

In 2002 Bill's son, Michael Hines, was working on a book about his dad titled Custom Cars from Planet Hines.

Monster Garage

In 2004, Bill was part of Jesse James build team on the Monster Garage's Old-School '54 Chevy project. Entering the show in his Bat, equipped with a cigar, it seems like the younger generation of kustom car builders rediscovered this old legend.

Detroit Autorama Builder of the Year 2005

83 years old, Bill Hines was named 2005's Builder of the Year at the 2005 Detroit Autorama. He was on hand to receive accolades for his contributions to the art of customizing, and five of his creations were displayed at the show. One of the cars was the newly restored Marty Ribits' 1934 Ford cabriolet, the Golden Nugget. Current owner Larry Jordon completed the restoration 3 days prior to the show.

The Last Leadslinger

In 2015 Bill lived in Garden Grove, California. He had lived in Orange County since 1963, and was still working seven days a week! The same year he told Mark Vaughn of Autoweek that he would never consider retiring; "Noooooo, noooo. That’s what keeps me goin’. I’m 94 years old! What am I going to do, lay in the bed? Ha ha! Get up and eat an’ lay back in the bed? No, I’ll have a garage long as I live. Period."

In December of 2015 Bill had a mild heart attack, and the doctors kept him in the hospital for a few days for observation. He got back on his legs again after the heart attack, but 5 months later, May 20, 2016 Bill passed peacefully away at his home, 94 years old. Unretired.

Bill Hines' Personal Cars

Bill Hines' 1941 Buick Convertible
Bill Hines' 1950 Ford - Lil' Bat
Bill Hines' 1957 Lincoln
Bill Hines' 1980 Buick Riviera

Cars Restyled or Painted by Bill Hines

Marty Ribits' 1934 Ford - The Golden Nugget
Jerry Yatch's 1940 Mercury
Dick Dean's 1941 Hupmobile
Tom Rodriguez' 1947 Ford
Johnny Shredder's 1949 Ford
Bill Hines Bat
Jim Contreras' 1950 Mercury
Brad Masterson's 1951 Chevrolet Fleetline
Steve Lininger's 1951 Ford Convertible
Mark Drews' 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air
Jesse James' 1954 Chevrolet 210 - The Old School Chevy
Teddy Zgrzemski's 1954 Ford
Sy Gregorich's 1955 Ford Crown Victoria - The Victorian
Anna Marco's 1955 Studebaker
Dave Robertson's 1956 Ford F-100 - Lil Nugget
Pinky Richard's 1957 Chevrolet Corvette
Rich Pichette's 1957 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery
Tats Gotanda's 1959 Chevrolet Impala - The Buddah Buggy
Jerry Yatch's 1959 Chevrolet Impala
Bill Hines' 1960 Chevrolet El Camino
Richard Mikami's 1961 Chevrolet Impala - The Ant Killer
Richard Zocchi's 1964 Buick Wildcat
Alexander Ruelas' 1965 Chevrolet Impala
Milton Mills' 1965 Chevrolet Impala
Nick Daneri's 1970 Chevrolet Camaro

Cars Featuring Hydraulic Lifts by Bill Hines

Teddy Zgrzemski' 1957 Chevrolet Nomad
Richard Zocchi's 1964 Buick Wildcat

Cars Restored by Bill Hines

Larry Sanford's 1940 Mercury 4-door Convertible

Sources

Barris Kustoms Of The 1950s
www.billhinestheleadslinger.com
The News Herald
www.customrodder.com