Fender bender realities, Muscle car dreams.
Here we have a very special build, My Late Father Ed’s 37 ford coupe. This car has been in my family for a very very long time, and has gone though many changes, i used to work on this car when i was a kid, and now its time to strip it down and work on it with my kids. We ripped the entire car apart and its currently at the sand blaster so we can get a fresh start, We will keep you posted.
Here we have our long time friend Scott’s Camaro. Scott handled all the mechanical work himself, leaving us the body. The Car has some stout pieces, a GM High Performance Crate motor, High tech tubular suspension, and a killer set of wheels and tires, as well as some neat interior tid bits. We worked the body over and got it lazer straight for its custom Look At Me yellow Paint job, The pictures speak for themself and you cant miss this beauty comming down the road!
1-28-2011 This is our coverage of the 52nd Annual Frank Maratta Custom Car and bike show. We had a great time, saw a ton of nice rides, and brought home 5 Beautiful Awards, From Best custom, Best interior, Best paint, Best engine, and my favorite: People Choice check it out!
2/19/2011 We just got back from Harrisburg,PA from the 2011 Motorama show. Not only do these guys throw a tremendous show, the vehicle selection of the entire show was amazing and they had Wall To Wall beautiful rides, from cars, trucks and bikes. They also had a really cool Go Kart track right inside the show and seeing those 80 horsepower rockets go around that short track was pretty amazing. We had some great luck with the Ultimate Camaro, Bringing home Outstanding Display, Outstanding Weekend Driver Custom, And Award Of Excellence for finishing in the top 12 out of 400 Cars
3/25/2011: NorthEast Carshow
Wow!! Thats the first thing that pops into my head when i think about this show. The 2011 Northeast Carshow was one to drool over. The Caliber of cars was incredible, the place was jam packed with the most beautiful cars, trucks, Racecars, and even Gokarts. They had several events, Celebrities, models and there was never a dull moment the whole weekend, The live Gokart racing was some Fast Paced indoor fun, and We even Got some Awesome Pictures with Model Krista Elyse with our Ultimate 68 Camaro, and she picked our ride out of 350 Beautiful rides as her personal choice. This is one show we wont miss, Cant wait untill next year!
This is a car you dont see everyday, Here we have Joe’s 1964 Dodge 440 for a full restoration. Joe did the hard work under the hood of the car, building a serious engine, and taking care of the suspension, brakes, ect, leaving us with all the fun stuff 🙂 When we got this car it still wore its original White hue, and was in very good shape for its age with a few rust issues you would expect with a car 40 years old. A Common problem with any vehicle of this age is Rust/ Rot in the window channels, and this car was no exception. With the windows out we got right to work, making our own window channels, this might sound easy but it takes alot of fitting of the glass to make sure you have an air and water tight seal. With that hurlde out of the way, we could work the rest of the metal on the car, removing all dents, dings, and unwanted trim holes to set it apart from the pack. Since we were dealing with a car that had the original paint, and didnt have rust, we decided to hand sand the car down to bare metal instead of the normal media blasting we use for our restorations. Once it was all down to bare metal we quickly gave it some Sealer to make sure nothing crept into our fresh metal. After we finished that, we were ready to do the body work, we worked one panel at a time, getting it to prefection and then laying down some High Build primer, getting it ready for a few rounds of block sanding. Panel after panel, we worked our magic on the whole car, and gave it a good block sanding with the car all together, and then rolled it into the booth to re-prime the whole car and get it ready for another shot of primer when we had it all apart. Once that was dry, we dissassembled the car and begain working the inside of the doors and under the hood and trunk. We stripped all these parts down to bare metal and and adressed a few small problem areas, this way the car looks as good on the inside as it does outside. With all of that set, it was time for the teadious job of wet sanding the car and getting it ready the its mirror finish. Once that was done we rechecked the body one last time and rolled the car in the booth, after giving it a new bath in black paint we re-assembled the car and begain the long process of color sanding, which gives the car its smooth, mirror like finish. Now that its complete its a sinister looking black paint the car is sure to be a real show pleaser and a definate head turner!
Here we have another beautiful muscle car, Our friend Dennis’s 1971 Chevelle Convertible. Dennis is the long time owner of this classic, and it has seen many changes over the years, its a big part of his family, and it even influenced his Sons to follow dads steps by buying chevelles themselves. The car was in pretty sad shape when it came in, it suffered from extensive rust in the Quarter panels, wheel houses, and floors, but surely was nothing we couldnt handle. We started by stripping the car down of all bumpers, trim, glass, and interior, then begain working on the body of the car from the front to the back working one panel to prefection at a time. Stripping the front fenders and doors, we found a few rust spots that needed attention, some cutting and welding and we were back on track. With the front end metal work done, we dove inside the car, replacing the floor pans with fresh metal, then we moved our way into the trunk for the same treatment with a brand new trunk floor. With a sound footing in the car, we could begin on the rear quarters, We started by removing them and begain metal work on the wheel houses, They dont make new wheel houses for a Convertible car, so we had to modify coupe parts to work with our convertible. Once that was set, we set them in place and begin fitting our new quarters. After a ton of cutting, welding, fitting, and testing, we finally got all the metal work done, and had our panels and gaps lined up perfectly, and it was time to break out the body filler to straighten out any imprefections. With all the body work done, and our panels fitting beautifully, it was time to prime the whole car with high build primer, and block sand it down for that arrow straight finish we desire, We did this process 3 times to get our old muscle car looking better then it did in 1971. After all that hard work, we wet sanded the whole car down and layd our new grey paint on with the classic black stripes.
Here We have Carl Gehring’s 71 Monte Carlo, The Car came into us so we could restore the whole frame and related components, and clean up the engine and firewall, without touching the exterior paint of the car. The First thing we had to do was to disassemble the whole interior and prepare the car to take the body right off the frame so we could really attack all the floors and frame rust and rot we had to deal with. After we had the interior out, we worked our way up to the front, removing the whole front clip, and getting the car ready to remove the powertrain, and clean and fix the firewall as well as clean and reseal the engine and transmission, that is in perfect working order. Once we had all the driveline and interior off, we focused on taking the body right off the frame. After Removing a few rusted and broken bolts, we were ready to lift the body right off the frame and really get to work. We started by removing all the old brake and fuel lines, that after 30+ years were shot and brittle, and we began to disassemble the front suspension to replace it for the same reason. Once that was all set, we sent the frame out to be sand blasted, to remove the years of caked on junk, and to get nice clean metal back so we know what were dealing with. A few days later we had the frame and suspension back and we were ready to start the hard work. Years and years of New England winters took its toll on the frame, and it left it with a few spots of thin metal and a few rust holes. Welding has come a long way since this frame was built, so we went over the whole frame, and Boxed the complete center section for much added Strength and durability, This will really help make the car handle, and get traction much better then it did before with the old flimsy frame. A Few days of welding and Fabricating later, and the frame was ready for a nice coat of rust proof black paint to keep the rust from ever comming back. With all that hard work out of the way, we started to bend up some new Brake And Fuel lines, We chose the coated brake lines since they resist rusting far better then started issue parts, and will insure a long lasting Job. With our lines run, we could start getting to work on the suspension, Replacing all worn out components, and making the car handle like new. Once that was complete we took our power train, and started to clean and degrease it, and prepare it for fresh paint and gaskets to make sure out nice paint doesnt get ruined by a leaky motor. Once we were finished with the engine, we stripped down all of our brackets and accessories and painted them for a like new finish. With all of our parts looking brand new, we dropped our freshly painted power plant in, and started to install everything for the final time. All the hard work payed off and were left with a car that is better then new!
While not car news, Nothing is more important then family, And when you have an amazing singer and song writer like my sister, Barbara Lombardo you have to spread the word on her newly released Album. Im very proud of all the long time hard work she has put into her music, and am proud to show off all her talents, Here she is with one of her new songs Barb. For more of her work, check out her website, and dont forget your copy of her new Cd! http://www.barbaralombardo.info/
Here we have Bills 57′ MGA, Bill has owned the car for a pretty long time now, and it suffered from an old restoration that needed alot of help. The car Wasnt in the worst shape when we got it, but had alot of little holes, and some poorley installed rust patches. When we get a car with an older restoration we like to strip the car back down to metal to remove all the old material and know what we are starting with. Then we dissassembled the car down to make sure we had Everything fully stripped.
After Stripping the car down, Continue reading “Bills 1957 MGA Restoration” »
