News: 12

I loved these trucks since I was a kid and wanted to buy one to convert to an expedition camper for cruising around Ohio. Bought the truck in NJ. Added a Petronix ignition upgrade added new clutch and flywheel. Replaced the generator, and added a Ron Davis Aluminum Radiator. Replaced the brake master cylinder. Rebuilt the carburetor.

My husband had a ’62 impala and had novas back in the day and I knew he could help me build a nice car so we looked for a 69 nova and found a food project car. I’ve always wanted my own car and so far I’ve sanded the paint off, got the interior out, took out the v6 engine and itis currently having floor pans and body work done. We are taking a grandmas car and making it into a super sport! I can’t wait to see this project complete!

My son (Bradley) and I are working on his first vehicle. He worked all summer on a almond and cherry ranch to buy what he wanted and he wanted a project truck being the mopar family we are he chose a 1973 Dodge with a 360 eng, 727 torqueflight trans, divorved nv205 transfercase open nuckle dana44 up front and a 8 1/4 rearend that he bought for $800. Now when we picked it up the transmission was out of it and completely disassembled. We borrowed a flat bed trailer and used two hand held come alongs to winch it up. We bought a overhaul kit and rebuilt the trans our self in the garage.

I recently retired and decided that I wanted to restore a classic vehicle to keep myself busy. My wife, who has never hesitated to lend me a hand in the garage while maintaining our daily drivers, suggested finding an early 50’s Ford pickup. She has fond memories of these trucks because when she was young her grandfather took her with him to farm sales in his early 50’s Ford F1. I have always thought that the Ford Flathead V8s were pretty cool so I thought this would be a fun project.

For 1966 the Ford Ranchero has a Falcon nose and a Fairland tail. There were somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 1966 Ranchero’s produced, making this a rare although underappreciated aka affordable, hobbyist car. This Ranchero appeared to receive enough cosmetic attention in the early 1980’s, nothing professional, that kept the car alive as a daily driver and out of the hands of the crusher. Due to the low production numbers, finding parts was a challenge.

Ever since I was a kid the Autopia ride at Disneyland was my favorite. I loved being able to drive a car at a very young age. In 2002 when Disney got rid of the “Corvette” style bodies I new I had to have one. My wife actually bought one for my birthday. I had it hanging in my garage for a few years until my kids bugged me enough to get too it and build a chassis. It was my first real welding/fab project. I built the frame out of square tubing. Bought a 13HP electric start engine. A brake system from a Quad. And assorted parts from Ebay etc.

This car was purchased on July 3, 1968 by my father at Joscelyn Dodge in Culver City, CA. I was 14 at the time and went with my dad to help pick out the car. The purchase price was $3,912.00. It was originally yellow with a black vinyl roof and was a daily driver with a 318 engine. In 1978 I purchased the car from my father. I rebuilt the engine and transmission in 1979 and drove the car up the coast to Carmel, CA on my honeymoon. My wife and I drove the car until 1987 when it was parked in my garage for the next 20 years. In 2007 I decided to restore the car and do some minor upgrades.

I have a 66 c30 dually that has been in my family as long as i’ve known it. its been passed around more than a set of hooker headers! My uncle and cousins had actually street raced it from time to time, with a 383 stroker then a 427! Everyone from my distant uncles to cousins, step dad, myself and even my mom has driven this truck. I drove it in high school but lost track of it in 1993. My 8 year old wanted to build a hot rod for his first car and i immediately thought of the old truck.

My dad (Mike Keller) has a 1961 International Travelette (Brown), which got me into IH trucks. One day I was looking around one day on google, not knowing how rare these trucks actually are. I found a cool looking IH truck and told my dad I might want it someday. He told me: “good luck because they only made 17 of them!”. A few years go bye, and I thought I would never get my own IH truck. Then when I was 15 years old, the exact truck pops up for sale on facebook (White) for only $1,000! Me and my dad went to get it right away. We loaded up his already working IH with our neighbors trailer.

This is an Oliver crawler that had been through a forest fire. It was 90% burnt so I dismantled it, sand-blasted repaired all damage, painted and reassembled. When i was young, my father owned one like it that i used it for moving logs around during the times I wasn’t in school my father has passed on since so this machine brings back memories of being a child working with him. Now that the main work is done this machine is used at least once a week around the yard moving and lifting various items and plowing snow from the yard during the winter.

It started as a dream in high school. I always wanted a front engine dragster. I bought a Te440 replica chassis from cornfeild customs and hung it in the rafters of my upholstery shop for a couple years and saved up all the parts. The engine is a 235 bone stock 57 Chevy 6 cylinder out of my first car. I always saved it with this plan in mind. It has a shorty powerglide and a narrowed ford 9 inch with a 4.11 gear. My buddy jason helped fab a lot of the brackets and sheet metal for it. It was really a blast from start to finish. I ran it the first time at the meltdown drags in Byron Illinois.

We found a sand rail that was made from a vw beetle. My husband and I removed everything down to the frame. We have never done anything like this but wanted to do a project together. We sanded the frame, repainted using spray canned paint, ordered new parts, rewired, found sheet metal and slowly made something we were proud to drive down the road. Love to drive and tell everyone this was a husband and wife project. Love showing it off.

Back before electricity was widely available, most machines ran by hand crank or small gas engines, including washing machines. This is a 1941 Maytag twin cylinder washing machine engine, made in Newton Iowa. It puts out about 5/8 hp. I have a love for all things mechanical, but not much storage space so these little engines are great !!! I started with a pile of parts. A friend had started to tear down the engine to rebuild it but both pistons were stuck and he couldn’t get them out so he gave up and sold it to me.