This project was one of the most fun projects I’ve done.The customer wanted it to look like a real race car, so I safety wired every bolt I could.When I build something I expect it to be driven so I make it as comfortable as possible. I recessed the side of the transmission tunnel so there’s enough room for your foot to be relaxed.The placement of the steering column was terrible so I made my own. The steering column mount also houses the fuse box and head light, ignition, and turn signal switches.Race cars don’t have keys, so this one has a push button started. I hinged the passenger seat and installed a battery disconnect under it. I installed a lock in the seat so it can be locked closed.It’s such as cool car! It’s a blast to drive, it’s actually comfortable and it handles like a go-cart. I had to deliver it northern Wisconsin and if It had plates and insurance I would have driven it there!
1932 Ford roadster
This was kind of a tough one because I only had 8 weeks to build it. Previous projects ran longer and I built this for my wives birthday so it had to be done on time. There was a lot of 18-20 hour days… I got it finished on time, with 1 hour to spare!I built a steel cage inside the body, everything is hinged and latched to steel. I converted it from a trunk to a rumble seat too. I thought I was really rolling along until I discovered the rear of the body was almost 1 inch lower on one side than the other, I had to cut the rear panel out and cut the quarter panel in half and glass it back together. THAT’S A HAPPY FACE! It was well worth all the hours! I’ve made a few changes since I turned it over to my wife. I redid the dash using a ’59 Chevrolet cluster, added a 3 deuce manifold, ’32 Ford headlights and some bigger rear tires.We drive it everywhere, to the grocery store, to the casino, to work, our daughter drove it to high school a few times. It’ll idle in a parade for an hour and it’ll cruise down the highway at 80 all day.
1932 Ford 5 window coupe
I wish I could have kept this one..I hinged the dash and mounted the master cylinder at a 90 degree angle. It makes getting to the fuse box a lot easier too. I even mounted a light so you didn’t need a flashlight to see what your doing.What started off as a basic 5 window coupe escalated when the customer watched American Graffiti. I had to get the correct fenders for the front and back, get the correct rear bumper and install the 4 carb intake.
I couldn’t find a linkage I liked so I made my own.The car turned out great! It drove fantastic!
1966 Shelby Cobra replica
What a car! This was a kit from Classic Roadsters, it came with every thing except a battery and oil.A friend of mine helped build this, this was the end of day 2!2 weeks and it’s on it’s way to the body shop! Back from the body shop in 2 weeks time!Done! What a blast to drive! You really have to pay attention to the speedometer ,it’ll be going 90 before you realize it….
1966 Shelby Cobra replica
Another Classics Roadster kit. This one was started by someone else and never finished. It had a 460 in it that made 830 hp on the dyno. It was kind of interesting to drive a 800 hp car that weighs under 2500lbs.This is how I got it. It had a ridiculous hood scoop on it and it was an automatic.I converted it to a Tremec 5 speed, disassembled the things that were done wrong and sent it to the body shop. they corrected the hood scoop and painted it Guardsman Blue with white stripes.I tracked down the correct steering wheel, gauges and shifter.It’s a lot easier to start from scratch than it is to pick up were somebody else left off…The end result was fantastic!
1957 Chevrolet Belair
Can you tell my wife likes green? I built this for her! My wife wanted a ’57 Chevy since the day I met her, I had a lot of cars but never a ’57.
Here’s her dream car! We had been married 15 years, she was 8 months pregnant and I had a broken back and neck, we certainly didn’t have any money to waste, but I knew we’d never find another one this clean for this price so I got an advance on a credit card to buy it. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but it worked out ok.
At this point we owned it for 12 years. 3 of those years it sat ready for paint, but I refused to paint it green. I finally gave in and now we get complements on the color everywhere we go.It’s a great driving car and yes we drive it just like a regular car, it gets parked in parking lots and parking garages, I’ll take it anywhere.
1963 Ford Galaxy 500
This was a very clean car to start with. I was supposed to get it running and drivable, then a light sanding and repaint.Well that didn’t work out so good. The car had hardly any rust, but somebody loved bondo. The front fenders were really bad we had to replace one of them.Then I found this little dent, about the size of a fist and over 3/4 deep. I spent what seemed like forever with a hammer and dolly fixing it. Besides this , a couple bullet holes and gallons of bondo I had to sand off the car really was pretty nice.I spent weeks blocking this car and it was worth every second. If this car ever goes up for sale I’ll be the first one in line to buy it!
1962 Chevrolet Impala
This was a simple one, get it running and paint it.It wasn’t to bad, I fabricated the bottoms of the quarter panels, the bottoms of the front fenders and some parts of the trunk floor. I spent more time blocking than anything else.
