2017 Chevy Silverado 3/4 ton

12/29/2019

When I decided to finally give in and buy a newer work truck, I wanted something different, but it had to be capable for all the towing and hauling parts for the shop. I had an 01’ Chevy HD that I debated painting up like an old Silverado (think late 70’s and early 80’s), but the more I thought about it, I was better off to sell that one while values were still good, and start with a new canvas. As I began looking, this truck just fell out of the sky – it was almost like an omen – I had to buy it. It was pretty smashed up, every panel had to be re-worked or replaced, including the cab! The good – it had 16K on it, was the correct base color for my preference, and was a basic model – 4wd on the floor, rubber mat, just a simple truck! I stuck with my idea and rebuilt the entire truck, de-badged it and painted it like an old Silverado, complete with the trim at the bottom and Chevrolet Script in the tailgate! It’s crazy how many heads this thing turns; everyone remembers having a square body in the earlier years!

’70 Nova aka Natalie

This one is near and dear to me; a really good friend owns this car and in our younger days we did a 30 and out restoration on a super tight budget. We worked together and he had this Nova that he wanted to freshen up, but didn’t make a lot money, so it had to be cheap. We left work each day and for a month slaved away on this car every night until about 10! I had been building cars for quite awhile, flipping them but wanted to  get into building them for other people instead of always putting my money up until the sale. I didn’t make much either, so I told him if he would buy a few tools and help every night, I would just help him build it as advertisement.

Fast forward – That cheap build lasted almost 20 years – but was showing its age. My friend moved up in the world, and I did too – I was only building cars for those willing to wait 2-4 years to get their “baby” restored. Well, my friend wanted on the list – and this time not many limits – just make it badass! Like all projects, this one got a little carried away – and he loves every minute he gets to drive it!

1957 Chevy Bel Air

This was one of those cars like many that I get build for clients. The owner had had this car for 30 some years – he had courted his wife in this particular car! He had many fond memories of drag racing, dating, and all the fun stuff a young man in farm community gets into when he has a fast car! Well, as most of the stories go, they got married, kids came along, something broke on the car so it got parked – and stayed parked for 25 years before he knew what had happened! Even though I really wanted to lower the car’s stance, put an LS in it, and make a gentle introduction to pro-touring; the owner had other ideas. He wanted those high school days back – Stock height, 15” Cragars and a built 327 with Muncie 4 speed; but with a bad ass paint job and interior!Full restoration for a customer, before pictures and mid project pictures to be added

1970 Nova

This is another project that is near and dear to me( I do like Novas, but that’s not it). This car was a Father/Son project that I wanted to do while my son was around the house, to teach him some of the facets of the restoration process and hobby, as well as the great people you can meet. There were so many life lessons learned on this project that you can’t put a price on. My son had worked for me in the shop for his early childhood – detailing, cleaning, masking, prepping parts. He always worked for the money to buy the things a child wants, as time went on, I told him he needed to save back for a car – so he had some skin in the game! When he was 14 he had around $2K saved if I remember right and we bought this great investment for $1200 as an old drag car, and sold as many of the unneeded parts as possible to get money for new sheet metal. In the end the car broke us both – as a high school kid, he couldn’t make the money fast enough! As I started to help fund this to make sure it would get done before he went to college, I found myself funneling any money I could get to this like a bad addiction! We got it completed his Junior year, complete with basically a new body, suspension, and a LS swap, with a Saginaw 4 speed. He has had a ball with the car, and we have created many great memories in this car; he’s learned a lot of great life lessons as well as personal and work lessons. Since I had him wire the car; he found that he had in interest in electronics and has pursued an Engineering degree because of it. At the end of the day, he has a great car we built together, and has found a direction for his learning that will affect the rest of his life – things you cannot put a price tag on! This is part of what makes this hobby/business so unique and enjoyable!

1984 Camaro IROC

This is a car that my step son and I were supposed to build. At the time of purchase, he wanted a car like what his Dad had in high school. As the project went on, you could say he lost interest in the amount of work it was going to take; and Honda Civics were the cool car to drive now. The short story is I gave him what he had in it and we went and bought a wrecked Civic to fix for him. Since the car was here, I finished it out and drove it for a few years before selling it. It was head-turner; painted in Atomic Orange over a silver base and split with the glass black. I had a lot of fun driving that car, but had to sell it before I wrecked it!

1968 Mustang Convertible

This was the start of my higher end builds – I built this car and a 1957 GMC truck about the same time, and that was when I realized people would pay to have their dreams made into reality! The down side of this one was that it was for family – my brother wanted a cool old car. This car was literally pulled out of a chicken coup in Midwestern Ohio for the price of $500 and a power washer – the stuff TV shows search for! This project was rough – there was very little of the floor left, as well as most of the rear of the car was rusted away! I made a fixture to keep the car oriented correctly and began a 3 year process of restoring it whenever my brother had some spare money. It was a crazy project; just because of how much was not there! It took over 800 man hours to build this; for a fairly small car, it was a tremendous amount of work! As I mentioned, it was for family – so it didn’t pay exactly what it should have – a true labor of love!

1972 Chevelle

Chevelle that I restored the body and engine for a customer years ago. More to be added later.