What Are You Workin' On?

My Hot Rod project is customizing a 1984 Corvette. This car was bought new by my late 2nd cousin, Ronnie Smith, when he worked for GM in North Alabama. Ronnie was a serious car collector, enthusiast, and NASCAR fan throughout his life. He got all the ‘goody’ out of this Corvette, 165K miles, numerous tickets, and a few body repairs. I even found a pair of Gargoyles under the seat with old Bristol Speedway ticket stubs. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago after a long struggle with various illnesses for over 10 years. The upside was my opportunity to acquire the car and begin its transformation. It’s definitely a weekend project and long term one at that. I’ve been at it now for almost 2 years; that’s my time - time to forget all the rat race and just focus on the art of making something cool in my own way. My goal is to have a cool customized Corvette that I can drive to car shows or picnics and probably make the Corvette purists gag. I’m sticking with the original Gen I 350. I ditched the heads and intake, installed some FloTek heads, Fitech RAM fuel injection, Comp cam and roller rockers, and ditched the auto transmission. I found a 6 speed from a ‘93 C4 along with the matching Dana 44 rear end. The body work is still coming together as I go along. It’s still a somewhat blank canvas, but I have ideas in the works. I included some photos of some powder coating that I’ve been experimenting with. The wife got a little pissed when I left traces of red powder coat on the sides of the oven; she’s been very supportive and purchased an old used oven for me to use in the garage. For body color I’m leaning toward a tactical gray to mimic the F14 / F/A 18’s color from when I worked on them in the NAVY onboard the USS America CV-66 as an AT back in the early ‘90s.

My project car is a 1985 Ford LTD that was a former Washington State Police car. It came with a factory 5.0L H.O. engine with an AOD transmission and a Trac-Lok 7.5” rear end - pretty good from the factory. The reason why I chose this project was kind of weird. I worked for a company that sold C3 Corvette parts and drove a 1985 Pontiac Trans Am. One day on the way to work I blew the engine just as I pulled into the driveway at work. Perfect timing. At the time one of my bosses had a 1985 LTD LX (pretty much a civilian version of the police car) for sale and he let me borrow it until I changed the motor in the T/A. The moment I drove it I instantly fell in love with the 5.0 power and great handling suspension, to me it handled way better than my T/A and the power was nice for a stock setup. So instead of fixing the Trans Am, I purchased the LTD LX. I daily drove the car for about 10 years after that. Back to the police car. He also had this 1985 LTD police car that was always in the shop on a lift. It was an ongoing project that my boss had owned for years before I even met him. He had previously done a lot of work to it; he swapped the entire front and rear suspension from a 1995 Mustang Cobra and then let it sit for years. After a few years of driving the LTD LX, I wanted something more, so I purchased the police car too. The reason why I love this car is because my dad, who has since passed away, also loved this car. He was very proud of the custom work that I had done to it, and I used to drive him to his job sites in it, which was usually at least a 300-mile round trip. Once it’s done, I’d really like to hit the auto-x with it and maybe even a Hot Rod Power Tour, and of course daily drive it. Since then, I have completely re-wired the engine bay and rebuilt the original 5.0 with performance heads, camshaft, valve train, intake, and carburetor. I’ve added a full MSD ignition system, upgraded the starting, charging, and cooling systems, and added long tube headers with turndown pipes. I did a complete 5-speed manual transmission conversion with a heavy-duty Ford Racing T5-Z. I then had a baby and of course the project has since then been on hold. The only work I have left is to make some brake lines to connect the front and rear brakes and of course some bodywork and paint. The interior is all original from a 1985 LTD LX in great condition. I have since sold my original car the LTD LX, but still have the police car which is being stored at a buddy’s house. One of these days, hopefully in the near future, I’d love to finish this car so my wife and kids can take a cruise in it and hopefully enjoy it as much as I do.

The Muntz was to be my oldest brother John’s first car he was 15 in 1978. Our neighbor was moving out of state and sold the car to my father. I was 5 and can still remember the Wheelhorse tractor pulling it down the driveway. The Muntz only drove once with its 331 Hemi - up and down the driveway with no brakes. It turned out to be too big of an undertaking at that time so many VWs and hot rods came and went over the years, but the Muntz remained. Sadly, my brother passed away about 8 years ago and at that time my father asked me and my two other brothers to finish the Muntz. We replaced any rusted metal - pretty much everything from about middle of the doors down. For the complex radius pieces, we were blessed with the expert work of Pavletic Metal Shaping. The 331 Hemi had a cracked block, so a 392 and Monster transmission were sourced. All the chrome was sent out and glass redone. The interior is being done to exactly recreate the original. Soon, it will be back at the house for final assembly, wiring, drive shaft, and exhaust. If you find yourself in Downers Grove just a handful of exits from the start of Route 66, we could always use a hand!