• by P.J. Bednarski  @pjbtweet, October 11, 2018

Marketing and advertising probably has its easy projects — and then there’s B’laster Corporation. It’s known for PB B’laster, which people in some circles immediately recognize as the number-one penetrant for auto repair and restoration, and its other  lubricants and rust inhibitors.

That’s hard to get excited about. But it’s possible, as shown by a bunch of automotive-tech high school students from Freedom, Wisc., who are part of B’laster's “Rusty Race to SEMA.” (SEMA is the upcoming Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show — the Las Vegas convention for the $41 billion automobile aftermarket.)

The students will be there showing off their once-junky but now newly restored 1951 Chevy 5-window pickup truck, the crowning achievement of 30 from Freedom High. Four of them will make the Vegas trip to enjoy the oohs and ahhs of the crowd.

Last year, SEMA had a throng of 165,000.

The truck will become a display at Booth  #53020. While there, B’laster notes, convention-goers can get acquainted with B’laster’s products.

The students  got involved partly because of the company’s B’laster University, a program the company started years ago to “support the next generation of skilled mechanics and technicians by providing supplementary and educational tools.”

“Spending their evenings and weekends in the shop is easy for these kids, because they love the work and value the opportunity to practice their technical skills,” says Jay Abitz, automotive and collision repair instructor at the school. “I’m so proud of the blood, sweat and tears they are putting into this project.”

Says Randy Pindor, B’laster’s president and chief operating officer, “Supporting vocational-technical education is one of this company’s passions. When we met Jay and his students through our B’laster University initiative, we knew the Freedom automotive program was special. This truck proves that.”

To get to Vegas, the students put in a new engine and transmission and 4-wheel power disc brakes and a new rear end. The work on the truck entailed metal fabrication, construction of a new floor board, rewiring the entire truck and patching rusted parts throughout -- where B’laster must have come in handy.