Tim Donelson will no longer be featured on Texas Metal moving forward, as he resigned from Ekstensive Metal Works in 2022.
The Ekstensive Metal Works team that works on the Texas Metal show, churns out one impressive truck build after the other.
Tim Donelson, who used to be the shop foreman of this team, resigned from Ekstensive Metal Works in 2022. Thus, he will no longer be part of the team or the show in future seasons.
What does the team on Texas Metal do?
Most of the car restoration work that we see done on television these days mostly revolves around muscle cars and vintage cars.
But the team at Texas Metal’s Ekstensive Metal Works shop focuses mostly on building and restoring the biggest trucks that they can find.
The Ekstensive Metal Works team restores an average of about 25 to 30 builds monthly and since each of their builds are completely custom and unique, the team works pretty much around the clock to hone their skills and get this builds out as quickly as possible.
Of course, they still have to maintain the same high standard that Bill Carlton and the rest of the show have become known for.
Is Tim Donelson still on Texas Metal in 2023?
One of the reasons why Texas Metal is so enjoyable to watch is because the Ekstensive Metal Works shop, which serves as the backdrop for the show, is a real-life custom automotive shop located in Houston, which was founded by Bill Carlton on the property where he grew up and where his father had his own shop.
Although this does give Texas Metal its real and authentic edge, it also means that the cast of the show tends to change, as the actual employees of the shop come and go, over time.
One of the real-life Ekstensive Metal Works positions which is integral, not only in ensuring that the shop continues to deliver high-quality builds, but also in ensuring that the show is entertaining and educational to watch, is the shop foreman, Tim Donelson.
Tim Donelson has been part of Texas Metal since the very first season of the show (and has been working for Ekstensive Metal Works even longer than that).
As the shop foreman, Tim was often responsible for making sure that all of the projects remained on schedule.
This is exactly why you may be surprised to hear that Tim will no longer be on the show, following his resignation from Ekstensive Metal Works in 2022.
Tim announced his exit from the shop (and the show) in an Instagram post on November 28, 2022. Although this post did not reveal much about his future plans, it did reaffirm that he was leaving on good terms.
Why did Tim Donelson leave Texas Metal?
Tim Donelson never explicitly stated his reasons for leaving the show in his resignation announcement post.
But since we know that he left on good terms and has continued to live out his passion for building custom cars and trucks after he left, it is highly likely that Tim simply needed time and space to work on his own projects outside of the show.
Tim would certainly not be the first television gearhead to find that the filming of this kind of show interfered with their actual restoration work in the shop.
In fact, other mechanics like Wheeler Dealer’s Edd China and Fast N’ Loud’s Aaron Kaufman also left their shows for similar reasons.
Tim Donelson’s new job
Although Tim’s resignation seemed abrupt for many Texas Metal fans who were following along on his journey from home, he clearly had things planned out behind-the-scenes.
Tim now works full-time for Timmy John’s Machining and Fabrication, alongside another familiar Texas Metal cast member, John Villarreal-Vega.
This company provides a variety of custom CNC Machine Services and products, ranging from custom automotive parts to regular old emblems, trophies and plaques.
What Tim Donelson has been up to since he left the show
When Tim first announced his split from Texas Metal, he added that he was “excited to start this new adventure”, but he did not give any further details about what this adventure would entail.
Now, almost a year down the line, we know that the biggest part of this adventure has been the establishment of the Timmy John’s business.
Fortunately, Tim’s social media pages reveal that he has not only been focusing on business since he left the show. Tim took a short vacation to Paris shortly after his resignation from Ekstensive Metal works.
Since then, he has seemingly been splitting his time between new builds and his extensive animal welfare projects.
