My Vehicles – Newest to Oldest

1954 Plymouth Belvedere Convertible

At the Goodguy’s Pleasanton car show – August 2021

The day I picked it up in Sacramento from a Craigslist add. One of 6900 convertible Plymouths built in 1954. There are only a hand full left.

My new lift makes removing the body soooooo much easier. It’s also a handy place to store the body while I’m working on the frame.

The floor was mostly rusted out and needed to be replaced.

The trunk was also rusted out and I decided to do the new one in fiberglass because of all the compound curves.

Frame back from the powder coater and coming back together.

Almost ready to set the body back on.

TCI front end with power rack and pinion, disc brakes, and coil-overs.

LS1 Corvette engine and 4L60E automatic transmission

Fresh out of the drying oven at Xpress Auto Body in San Jose

The bling back from Moreno’s Polishing and Chrome in Fresno

More bling

At Kirby’s upholstery shop in Gilroy

Restoring an old Plymouth is challenging because, unlike Ford and Chevy’s from this era, aftermarket parts are not readily available. Take these hood and grill emblems for instance. I had to have them custom made by a company called Emblemagic in Southern California. Missing trim pieces have to come from a donor car not from a catalog. Fortunately I found a 54 Plymouth Belvedere in Ohio that had many of the pieces I was missing.

4th of July Parade in Half Moon Bay

Volksamino – 2006 VW Jetta UTE Pickup

Using a Smyth Performance kit, I converted a 4 door VW turbo-diesel Jetta into a VW UTE as they call them in Australia or Volks-amino as I call it.

The tailgate is from a 2001 Ford Ranger. The tail lights from a 2002 Ford Explorer.

Starting with this pristine 2006 Jetta without a scratch on it. Get out the Saws-all and…

What have you done to my car?

Rear quarters are fiberglass as is the rear window surround. The bed and core structure are heavy gauge aluminum.

Very functional bed.

The finished product – a 45 MPG turbo diesel pickup with a 600 mile range.

1968 Olds F-85 (Poor man’s Cutless)

A friend told me about this unmolested 68 Olds that was sitting in a driveway with flat tires. I made an offer and brought it home. I did a body off restoration and modernized the suspension and drivetrain. It has single adjustable QA1 coil overs on all four corners, 4 wheel disc brakes with a power assist booster, sway bars front and rear, QA1 upper control arms, new bushings on all other suspension components, 3/8″ feed and return fuel lines from the Holley in tank fuel pump, 2003 6.0 LS engine with a 4L60E tranny, 3″ exhaust system with SS headers and Thrush Hush mufflers, Spectra cold air intake, new interior including headliner, carpeting, and side panels, Dynomat under carpet, Vintage Air under dash AC unit, Nitto 275/50R17 ultra high performance tires on American Racing Torque Thrust 17″ X 9 1/2″ wheels, new 442 rear bumper, original paint with just the right amount of patina which you can’t see from 10 feet away

I like the slightly lower in the front stance.

6.0 LS Engine

Frame off restoration

New seats, door panels, carpet, and headliner.