restoman

A couple more... The red Nova SS is a western Canada car, 350 4 speed. Very solid. The fella who owned this car was one of those customers every shop owner dreams about: A genuinely nice guy who was thoroughly appreciative of the work his car needed, and the effort involved to get it to look this good. He didn't even moan and whine about the cost, just left a bottle of rye on my desk and two very straight black marks out of the parking lot. The huge '71 New Porker... owned by a friend. It's not really worth anything but he loves it. Passes everything but a gas station, as he says. 1969 Beaumont. Or, rather, a collection of '68 & '69 parts that someone put together. This car had all the typical GM A body convertible problems and a few that weren't typical, and has to be near the top of my list of cars that turned my shop white. There was soooooo much filler removed from this baby. The '69 GTO still looks very much the same today as it did when I finished my portion of the work on it in 2006. A father-and-son project that stalled when Jr. went off the university. The Ram Air engine built to IV specs is bolted to the Muncie and waiting for someone to pay some attention to it. A wavy, wavy, wavy car, and fitting that Enduro bumper was a nightmare, like most of them are. I think I spent most of a day pulling the twist out of it and getting it to line up without distorting everything around it. Gotta love Verdoro Green! Parts of my dream car live on in the '74 Swinger. A local car, originally a 318 slug. I sold him the nicely built 360, 727, and 3.23 SG geared rear I had planned to put in my '69 Dart. New quarters, a set of rally wheels I had kicking around and a set of oooooollllllld 'glass fenders to go with the rims ended up here. It's a pretty peppy little bomb. I've always had a thing for Mopar A bodies... Comments always welcome.

Yup. Same here.. and before you know it, those guys who looked down their noses at your tools, are asking to borrow them. I've worked with more than a few guys who spent more time cleaning and beaming over their tools than actually using them... I will say that I've got an old set of S-K SAE combo wrenches that have served me extremely well. I'd put them in the same league as my much-more-expensive Snap-On sets. A lot of the fault of rounded fasteners today lies with the quality of the fasteners themselves. That's where the flank drive excels.

I'm one of those Snap-On snobs... except when it comes to their roll cabs and tool chests. I've never been able to justify to myself spending that obscene amount of money on tool storage. The roll cabinet assembly that has served me well since the early 80s is two Craftsman cabinets - a 12 drawer and a 9 drawer - bolted together and sitting on a 2" angle iron chassis with HD Snap-On casters. A 12 drawer Craftsman top chest sits on the 9 drawer cab, and a 1/8" steel plate sits on top of the 12 drawer cab and the 2 end cabs that are bolted to the side of the 12 drawer. It's huge, even by today's standards. Drawers are sliders and they still work ok, though the lower ones are balky sometimes. I don't think I have more than $1000 invested in the whole shebang, and have gotten 30+ year out of it. I rolled the whole thing to be beside every car I was working on. Sometimes it might move 4 times a day, back in the day. Thought many times how I should put a motor and steering mechanism on it. It weighs a ton! I looked at the General and Icon boxes at the Port Huron HF. They looked pretty decent to me... If I was in the market for a new storage system, they'd be a definite contender.

Very nice work. I like it a lot!

This one looked to be built on a custom frame, with Ford power & drive train and suspension.

Found some more... The race car I didn't have much to do with, other than priming, basing and then clearing when my bud finished the flames. I did, however, watch as the driver lost control at speed and take out most of the 'glass body. Driver was unhurt, but I think he needed to change his underoos after... The Citroen DS is a beauty. A local guy used to be a well-known Citroen guru, and this was his ride. Finished in Ford E9 Laser Red tint, I was shocked when he sold it. Shocked even more when he told me he got well over $100k for it... Citroen TA, brought through the DS owner. A neat car, but unfortunately, this was owned by one of those not-so-great people. The '32 Chrysler is an interesting car. The story goes - according to the current owner - that it was actually a '31 model taken back by the factory and sold as a '32, to (this is kinda steep) someone in Al Capone's organization to use as a bribe back when. Some literature acquired with the car shows it as sold in the Chicago area to a Limited company, but who knows for sure how and why? Good story, though. It was pretty rough and neglected when he brought it to me. '57 Thunderbird, owned by the same gent who owns the Lincoln and the Merc woody. He's always buying and selling, this is just one he wanted freshened up for re-sale, A nice solid car. The underside and engine compartment was immaculate! Studebaker... Supposedly bought from Lawrence Welk's nephew, it was near mint and original when my customer bought it. I guess the nephew was some upset when he found out what the truck turned into... I was the lucky guy who got to finish the work done by seemingly countless shops before me. It was a bloody nightmare! Ever try explaining to someone that even though they spent tens of thousands of dollars on something, that it was mostly trash and had to be re-done if he wanted the truck to look like something? Wasn't fun, let me tell ya! A carb'd 502 big block crate engine, built on a '88 Chevy truck chassis, I bet this truck has been over most of North America in the years since I finished it. He finally spent his money in the right place, I guess. More to come... Comments always welcome.

Thanks. The Yellow Cabriolet was a total re-do. It sat under a tarp in Toronto for 20 some years. F.I. cars don't like to sit... neither do steel cars. When it was finally sorted out, it turned out to be a very nice driver. The giant creamsicle VW was actually my wife's car. Originally red, it was pretty plain. The Avanti is one of my bucket list cars! I loved just about everything about this car. A US car from the west, I believe, it was in really nice shape just needing a few 'glass repairs and a new coat of paint. R1 engine with an auto, I got to drive it for the weekend when I finished it. The '70 Mach One is a local ride, owned by the same guy since the late '70s, He bought it from his brother. It was rough... rear rails, floors, front aprons, wheel wells, quarters, etc. A 2bbl Cleveland automatic car, it now sports a healthy 4bbl mill, and a more-civilized 3.50 rear (had a 4.57 when he brought it to me) and the original colour. He wanted some Ice Pearl in with the clear. That's my '74 Super Beetle next to it, in front of my shop. The '56 Olds Holiday Coupe is another local ride. 2nd owner since 1972, this car has never seen snow or ice even though it comes from Montreal originally. Original paint when brought to me. Power steering, heater, radio and a Hydramatic are about the only options in the silver, black and white interior car. Solid as a rock, it still needed a total refurbish. The 1956 Lincoln Premiere convertible is nice! Originally done in Wisteria, it was just about rust free but was one of the waviest cars I've ever worked on. I used polyester primer on most jobs for blocking out straight, but this one I think I went through 4 or 5 gallons of the stuff. Then I did the same with high-build urethane. My arms and shoulders hurt! It's a big car! That gorgeous Merc woody is owned by the Lincoln owner. I think I had close to 600 hours in the body & paint, not including the floor replacement. It looked good when he brought it in, but once the old, chalky white and blue paint came off... Oh Boy! Lots of rust, old collision repairs and generally shoddy work was hidden underneath. Those fiberglass trim pieces around the woodgrain needed massive amounts of work. I sprayed the body but the owner had a German fellow do all the woodgraining. Awesome job he did, too! Like all of this fellow's cars, he assembled it himself. The Mercedes is a fiberglass replica. A very thick, old and wavy replica... It was sold to Switzerland soon after this pic was taken.

8.75". For sure.

I used electrical tape a few times and it looked ok. I did find that, over time, the tape seemed to shrink slightly and left a bit of an adhesive edge. That was a good place for dust to stick. Now, the cars are all in their own displays, so it's a non-issue. I liked the look of black pinstripe tape better, though...

Cleaning up my hard drive and came across these... I've been retired from the autobody & paint biz for a tick over three years now, but there was a time not so long ago that I was feet-deep in the resto end of things. 32 years in the trade, 20 some-odd spent solely on restos and a few hot rods. I loved pretty much every minute of the work itself. The business end of things could get you down in a heartbeat. I did it all: from the initial estimates, to the parts finding, to the repair, prep, paint and re-assembly, to final delivery. I've met some truly great people, and some not-so-great people, and got to work at my heart's desire. I even got paid sometimes to do it! Most of these were from when I had my own shop, and one or two are from after. I'll be adding more as I come across them. Comments are always welcome!

Very nice work! I, for one, love that style 'Bird, and it looks killer in pink.

I've somehow collected quite a few of these in my parts bins... Anyone know what kit they're from?

Todd didn't even need to be called! He volunteered most times... Nice job!

Thanks for the comments! It was a fun little truck to build, and like most of my stuff, I built it to represent what I would want my Datsun truck to look like, if I ever had one. ...And, I would most definitely want one of these in 1:1! The wheels came in the kit, but the tires are leftovers from the parts bag. The supplied tires just looked too big for my tastes. I did some work on the front spindles to lower the front. The back springs are as-supplied. Some clear headlight lenses over top of the kit's chrome units, homemade duals, a bit of embossing powder for the carpet, and a shot of Tamiya orange with automotive clear over top rounds it all out.

I like that. A lot. It has the look of what a young guy would do with Mom's Olds, just as your story goes. I'm a little jealous of that kid.

Holy Schmoly, that's some nice!

Very nice!

I tell the folks who look at me funny that my Great Dane loves his toenails painted, and is particularly partial to whatever colour I'm buying that day... Shuts them up every time.

IN 1973, Lewellyn McGinty opened up his own little business, wrenching on muscle cars, street machines and hot rods. .It's always summer in Florida, so business was good. Within a year, he got into selling speed parts to supplement his income, and saw a whole new market in Japanese cars and trucks, just waiting for someone like him to come along and take advantage of it. By 1975, Lew figured he needed a better parts hauler than the back of his old station wagon. With gas hard to get sometimes and the wagon's thirsty big block eating into his profits, Lew turned his eyes toward one of those little import trucks. This little orange gem caught his eye, and soon enough it was parked in front of Lew's shop. With some added hi-po parts and a snazzy set of wheels & tires, Lew was the talk of the speed world in Florida. Comments always welcome.

Generally speaking, engine compartments including frame rails visible from the engine bay, radiator support panels, most of the wheel side of the front fender aprons, most of the rear wheel tubs on the wheel side and the trunk compartments all got a splash of body colour, albeit a thin coat. The undersides of hoods and decklids were painted body colour too.Passenger compartment floors were a hit-and-miss as far as colour coats. The underside edges of the floors along the rocker panels, lower quarter panels and rear panels were dealt a shot of overspray when the bodies were sprayed. Frame components in close proximity also got oversprayed. Depending on the body colour, the grill sides of rad support panels usually got a sloppy spray of black. K members (engine cradles) were black. Mostly, the primer undercoats were grey, though I did own a '71 Citron Yellow Duster that had red oxide factory primer on both front fenders (factory repair?), and when I did my Dad's Harvest Gold '73 Swinger, it also had red oxide factory primer.

I haven't run into too many quirks, other than my meat hooks seemed too big to get the front suspension to co-operate on the first or second try. The third time was the charm, though. I did assemble the box to the cab before prep & paint began, and did a little scribing & sanding to get it looking like two separate assemblies. Other than that, it's been fun so far.

Sitting on all fours... I lowered it a bit, especially in the front, for a bit of a '70s rake. It sat like a 4 x 4 before...

Very nice! I can just about hear it rumbling...

Been playing around with this over the summer... The colour is actually pretty bright but the cell phone won't capture it.

Excellent timing! I just picked up the Orange Crate, sans instructions. Found 'em!