Tin Lizzie's Bumper and Fender

I am not wet behind the ears but I am by no means a Barris, Starbuck or Zocchi. I have been destroying cars since I was 16. Well, I would say making them more stylish but I choose to use my father's words for that is what I hear in my head when I start to cut into virgin autos. Every time my mind says "don't do it!"-but my need to create causes me to light up the cutting torch or put in that motor that was never meant to be there.

I prefer bodywork to motor work hands down. I can sand or shape a piece of steel for hours but I don't have as much interest in the bolt on accessories. Call me crazy but I think my lack of funds has trained me to buy the tools and make what I can. So a body panel is easier to make with the tools that I have than an intake manifold or Cam shaft.

1977 Chevy Truck My first project was a truck that I bought off my older brother that had originally belonged to my Grandfather. It was a complete heap. It had rested at my parent's house in the driveway ever since my older brother was 14. With the anticipation that my older brother may someday drive, the truck was left in the care of no one and sat lonely in the driveway for two years awaiting the day that my older brother may show some interest in driving. Well that day never came. Between semi-consciousness and many party nights my older bro. did not show one lick of interest in that lonely truck. A year later when I turned 16 it seemed only logical to me that I should give the old truck a chance. I had been working since the age of 14 at a local hardware store and had saved up some coin. $500.00 dollars later and with no sweat from my older brother I was $500 poorer and one piece of work richer. To make a long story short, MRS. Sinstead (that's right a woman!) gave me some useful points on fixing up the body of the old truck and I was on my way.

1986 Mazda B2000 I sold my first truck for a song because I just had to have a Mini truck like all of my other friends. I purchased the Mazda when I was 18 ( 1992 ) and started cutting. The Mazda needed plenty of bodywork. I had no money and big plans. Here is a list of modifications that I performed over the course of 3 years or so.

· Channeled the body 2", shaved the door handles and marker lights.
· Added a 4x4 bed
· Shaved the gas door and entire back of the bed with the exception a 2 ft. wide access door so I could work on the hydraulic suspension that I had installed.
· Added a triangulated 3 link rear suspension.
· Made and welded on a roll pan.
· Made a tube grill and added a late model ford ranger bumper.

My only regret is that I paid someone else to paint it. I am always disappointed when I pay someone as I expect a lot, and am most often let down by the end result. That truck won a few trophies at truck shows including ' Lowest of show' and 'Top Ten Import Truck'. In all honesty I spent more time working on it than I did driving it, which is O.K. with me. The way I look at is there are some who like to build and others that like to drive. I like to BUILD. Needless to say the truck rode like a Cadillac without any suspension what so ever!(yeah right!) I own that truck to this day. A this point in time it sits in my parents garage thousands of miles away waiting to be brought back into the world for people to laugh at, point, drive beside, think its cool, whatever!

1970 International Travelall In the last few years I moved around a lot with my work and landed myself in the southwest where any vintage car guy would love to be. Since I found myself in the Travelall graveyard of Las Vegas, I got talked into buying one. I bought a 1970 International Travelall and redid the entire body and painted it in the garage.

Of course in Vegas it was not hard to find more vintage tin and even a circle track car to mess with. In the last few years I have built a few cars in my garage, not all mine, and with plenty of help and financial assistance from friends.

1955 Ford Truck A good friend of mine purchased a 1955 Ford truck so I convinced him to work on it at my house. That truck was:

· subframed with Camaro running gear,
· frame rails were boxed,
· body parts installed,
· suspension redone,
· and on and on....


Circle Track Car In conjunction with the '55 Ford Truck there was another project in my garage that I had invited along: A circle track car that we raced at the Las Vegas Bullring. Along with the crew we had our friend 'Duff' in town who has been racing since A's were in. The race car went through many, many modifications:

· Load bolts were installed up front,
· roll cage was reinforced,
· drivers seat positioning as well as all pedals and steering column repositioned,
· fuel cell added
· ford 9" rear end with disk brakes added
· many body panel changes.
· Aluminum door panels were constructed
· the read deck lid was done in aluminum
· front nose cone was changed
· installation of an aluminum radiator
· fabrication of new body mounts and fan shroud.

Needless to say at this point my wife, pregnant with our 3rd child and was getting a 'little' bothered with all of the work I had gotten myself into: the guys traipsing through the house with their greasy selves (we had cream colored carpets like everyone else in Vegas), the clanging and banging all night long and the fumes escaping the garage into the house. So knowing that I had stretched her to the edge of sanity; I went ahead and bought another project with all of 2 months to get it rolling before we were scheduled to move from Las Vegas to California.

1957 Ford Custom 300 This was an offer I could not pass up. With little wheeling and not much dealing I purchased the car for $1000.00 (less the motor, transmission and some bits of the floors and rocker panels that had been left behind in a Nebraska field where the car had been rescued from a few years before by a friend.

The Motor was missing and the car was for sale because the built 302 that used to reside under the hood had blown up due to a failed roller rocker. The head and pistons were destroyed. So in the course of 2 months I Installed a 350 Chevy motor and transmission, installed all new braking and fuel system. The Chevy motor and tranny combo was a freebie from my friend with the 1955 ford truck and the fuel and brake systems were made up of new parts purchased from Auto parts and racing shops. If the motor dies you can always wait for a tow (AAA) but if the brakes don't work you can kiss you butt goodbye!

Well it all worked out, kind of. I towed the 1957 Ford Custom 300 from Las Vegas to SoCal (where as a car freak I have always wanted to live!). And I am still married, thanks to my beautiful wife. Because of the ability to stay awake for long periods of time I am still alive and ready to share experiences or try and help out some Yardsale Surfer members. So Please join us at Yardsale Surfer ~ The Online Market Place For People Who Know Their Stuff , where you can join our forum and share info about your projects, ask questions etc. If you have any parts or unfinished projects you would like to buy or sell post them on our auction! See you there!