Click on the following links to see what's in the garage these days.
2004 Scion Xa, a blast of a little car.
1982 BMW 320is, it looks pretty stock-it isn't .
1968 VW beetle, German Look project.
1978 BMW 320i, low mileage, very original.
I have been asked by a couple of people that have visited this site how
I acquired all the skills to accomplish all the projects without spending
big $$ at a shop. Ok, a quick history lesson..... I grew up
in the '70s owning cars like SS Chevelles ('64, '67 big block 11.42 et),
GTOs (a '65, '66, '69), big block '70 'Cudas (3), a Mach 1 Mustang,
a '69 Firebird (400), and many others from a custom van (ugh!) to a VW fiberglass
buggy. I attended a vocational school for an 11 month Auto Repair
course, then went back the next year for 10 months of Auto Body Repair.
I tried the academic side of the school for a few months and dropped
out in '76.
I ended up enlisting in the U.S. Coast Guard in spring '77 and have stayed
in for the last 27 years. I am a Machinery Tech and have been fixing
ship and boat engines and equipment for most of my career. I have
worked on everything from 3 hp Briggs & Stratton powered pumps to 16,000
hp Pratt & Whittney propulsion turbines. Anything with more than
one moving part was my responsibility. Now I fix "people" problems, machinery
is easier!
Over the years I have acquired some more skills like: welding (gas,
stick, mig, tig), basic lathe operation, electrical wiring, sheet
metal fabrication, basic upholstery and probably a few more I can't think
of right now. I almost never leave a car stock, even our mini van
is modified, my wife calls it the "Race Toaster".