STAFF WRITER

POMPTON PLAINS -- "Mad Mike" walked down the aisle of the Pequannock Marching Band bus, freezing

when he got a good look at the dashboard.

"Dude, do not tell me that is a cassette player with an analog balance on it," Mike said. "Is that a throwback

from the '50s? Do you guys even own cassettes?"

Someone told him it was not a cassette player.

"That's an 8-track player?" he asked. "No way."

Mike "Mad Mike" Martin, best known for turning beat-up old cars into flashy, eye-catching sedans on MTV's

"Pimp My Ride," lent his expertise and charisma to Pequannock High School's marching band Saturday

morning. The MTV personality caught a red eye from Los Angeles to help the young musicians remodel a

blue-and-yellow bus that has broken down several times since Bob Mott began driving it several years ago.

"I'm not so much for the bells, lights and whistles," Mott said. "I'm for the safety of it."

James Riley, the school's band director, said the kids load nearly $150,000 of equipment every time they step

on the bus. The heavy equipment goes in through the back door, up a battered wooden ramp.

"Take this out and cut it up into little pieces," Mike told the crowd. "We can't use this. Put it in the fireplace."

Among the improvements Mad Mike intends to make during the coming weeks:

• Install a new engine.

• Affix an LED marquee to the front and back.

• Attach a new ramp.

• Put new rims -- alas, not spinners -- on the wheels.

• Add inside speakers and a CD player.

• Clean the rust off the exterior and give it a new paint job.

"I think it's going to look really good when it's done," Pequannock senior Kathleen O'Neill said. "I think it's

going to be the talk of a lot of people for a while."

During his tour of the bus, Mad Mike took suggestions. Some he considered. Some he shot down right away.

"Aw man, we can't put a hot tub in here," Mike said.

Mike and his road manager, former Wayne resident Adolph Kruger, enlisted several local businesses to help.

Mike will be working with Atlantic Detroit Diesel-Allison, a Lodi-based company that services diesel and

alternative-fuel engines.

"I would say cosmetics would probably be the largest, most time-consuming part of this," said Chris Novins of

Atlantic Detroit Diesel-Allison.

Mad Mike said fixing the engine was the most pressing assignment.

Copyright

Copyright Infringement Notice User Agreement & Privacy Policy

The cameras were not rolling Saturday morning. "Pimp My Ride" films only on the West Coast, but Mike

makes several appearances a year to fill special requests. He said he will return to New Jersey in a few

weeks to see the finished version. The project will take anywhere from two to six weeks to complete.

E-mail: kerwick@northjersey.com