Tres Burros Garage
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An online gateway to the Model "A" Ford hobby and antique car trunks.
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Yosemite in a Model "A", why did I not think of that!   
AA's played a significant role in WWII, we've posted some spectacular photos.
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Want to buy or sell Model "A" Ford stuff in CA or NV?
POST IT ON OUR FORUM FOR FREE! Click here.
Every Model "A" has a story, here are a few worth watching...
We now make 30 and 34 inch trunks.
Happy Honkers and Charter Oak A's visit Tres Burros Garage!
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Modern day Model "A" or "AA" hunting, the "cold war" way.
AA Shirts Sold OUT!
    "IT'S ALIVE!!"  The most thrilling moment of any restoration... your work moving under its own power.  Thanks to Merle and the Dallas MAFCA guys for the help.  Congrats to Bill and Chris for getting Cassie on the road.
    New bed just about done.  My Dad put some serious time into the design and build.  It's a perfect fit on the FABCO extended frame.  The look is based on the stock AA bed, matches the rest of the truck pretty well, and is very functional.   Time for test drive and celebratory beers.
  Got our 1929 long bed AA onto the road to stretch its legs, 30 mph felt like breaking the sound barrier.  Not like a modern car!
In that short drive we lost both windshield screws, but the bed and the running gear ran pretty well considering how long it had been sitting.  Next up is fixing the horn, head and tail lights, and installing the window glass.
It sounds like one of the exhaust valves may be sticking and it has a bit of an exhaust leak, but its hard to explain how much fun it is to drive this thing around the groves.  These trucks have a very unique sound and smell, and each of the miles it was driven today was preceded by hours of labor on its bugs.  Hopefully, this one will be on parade duty for a long time to come. Morning well spent.
  Learning to drive in our 1929 "AA", cruising through the orange groves with serious determination and control of 4000 lbs of old iron.  Good use of an old truck on a lazy Sunday morning in the Central Valley
  This trunk is for a 1927 Rolls Royce.  Its fully folding front and padded black leather exterior added to the restoration challenge but the finished product is looking pretty good.  We are looking forward to seeing the trunk and car back together, it should be a striking combination.  
William (Bill) Charles Dohnke Jr. of Terra Bella passed away on 27 Jun 2022 in Fresno from cancer, he was 77. 

 Born in Laredo, Texas on 9 November, 1944 to William Charles Dohnke of Evanston, Illinois and Nina Maxine Goodmon of Parsons, Kansas he was a long time Porterville area resident. Bill was a 1962 graduate of Martin High School in Laredo, Texas. As a Freshman at Laredo Junior College he had the distinctive honor of being one of the youngest members of the Peace Corps. He attended the Peace Corps training program at the University of New Mexico, while he waited for his 20th birthday prior to being sent on mission to Brazil in 1964. He was fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, and spent many years of his life traveling the Americas.  

He married Oraide Bernadete Vieira Braga in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 1969. They had two sons, Fred and Chris, and were married for 25 years prior to divorce. He earned an Associates of Arts degree in General business from Chaffey College in Alta Lama and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Cal Poly Pomona. 

Bill had a highly successful career working for Cemig Distribution S.A., the largest electricity distributor in Brazil, Samarco Mineração S.A., a Brazilian mining company he joined shortly after its founding in 1977, and from 1981 to 1985 at Aracruz Celulose, a Brazilian manufacturer of pulp and paper. In 1986 he took a position with Catalina Sportswear that brought him to Porterville, where he eventually started his own business in 1993. He was a dedicated father that always made time to attend his family's social, sporting and entertainment events and supported his children in the pursuit of their interests. His second marriage was to his high school sweetheart Adrianne, and he lived in Dallas, Texas, during that time. He was also a Dallas Cowboys fan, including the 1988/89 seasons.

In retirement he enjoyed making and selling high quality trunks for antique vehicles in his shop in Terra Bella, California. Bill was also an excellent woodworker, furniture maker and refinisher. He was also a lifelong LA Dodgers fan, he always loved listening to Dodger baseball on the radio while working in his shop. He was a member of the Porterville Happy Honkers and Dallas Model A Ford Club and had enjoyed tinkering with old Ford cars since purchasing a 1929 Phaeton in 1979. 

Like his father before him, Bill liked doing things his way. He did not use profanity, but had a sense of humor that could get him in trouble, as it sometimes did. He made it a point to donate blood every year, often multiple times per year. He could always be counted on for a story, short or long. He knew two short stories. He took up dancing as his new hobby and over the last few years would often be found at local dancing events.