Monthly Archives: August 2017

I’m going to fix it, someday

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If you have been around cars, or car guys, you have undoubtedly heard this at some point, either in 4508192955_b8e7b5626f_bperson or, via a story about a dream car just sitting, rotting away.

When I saw this picture, I had to laugh, because, I have seen this many times and have even asked the person, when they thought they might get around to it. Yes, it kills me to see something just rotting away, never to be used again, never to be enjoyed again. You see, there is a point where something is just too far gone.00b68c9e14bb3befef96b63dda0eab4e

That said, I have seen people pull what looked like total junk out of the woods, or out of the ground and completely restore it. Yes, I love that, I love it when something gets a complete restoration, gets rebuilt to be what it was meant to be, in its glory days, or gets built to be something better, mixing old and new, to become something with greater function and purpose.

catspring-old-houseCars are not the only thing that I have seen this in. I have seen people hold on to an old house and let it rot to the point of falling down, because they wanted to “rebuild” it, someday. The day never comes and it just wastes away, to be forgotten and trashed.

We, as a general rule, put off what we do not deem as important. Sure, that old car or truck has meaning, or may be your dream, but, other things have become more important, so you push it aside, again, with the idea that you’ll fix it tomorrow. That old house that you purchased to fix, or that you inherited from old Aunt Bessy and Uncle Wilbur would be a great project, which you intend to do, but, it is over there and other things are making it impossible to get to today, so, you figure you will have more time, tomorrow.

This is also what we do with our lives. With our very soul. (See my article, called Restoration.) It is over there, it is far off, it just isn’t important right now. We don’t give any thought to where we will spend eternity, because, we are living here, right now. We already have a life to live, responsibilities, desires, so, there is no time, today, to get to our very soul.

Here is a quote I found that I think hits the nail on the head.

I know there are people who hear me preach regularly who will never consider changing their way of living They will go ‘underground’ before they will do that! Our situation is not an isolated case. There are millions of men and women with an understanding of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, who are still not willing to receive and commit themselves to Him whom the very angels and stars and rivers receive. They hesitate and they delay because they know God is asking the abdication of their own selfish little kingdom and interests. This is the tragedy of mankind, my brethren! We have rejected Him from our lives because we must have our own way. But until Jesus Christ is sincerely received, there can be no knowledge of salvation, nor any understanding of the things of God. The little, selfish, sinful man rejects the Son of God. While he is still enumerating the things he deserves, the Son of God stands outside. My brethren, I repeat: this is the great tragedy of mankind!
A. W. Tozer Sermon: Unwilling To Yield

Think about that, ponder it, are you one who will not listen?

I hear, a lot, from people I meet that they aren’t worried about where they will go when they die, they are alive, young and healthy, they have plenty of time to consider that, tomorrow. This makes me very sad, because the Bible is very clear, tomorrow is not promised. We do not know when Jesus will return for His people.

Mark 13:32-37 (ESV)

32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard, keep awake.[a] For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants[b] in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows,[c] or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

Luke 12:35-40 (ESV)

35 “Stay dressed for action[f] and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants[g] whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he[h] would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

God does not promise another breath. I have shared 2 passages from Scripture so that you can see the urgency with which you need to place upon where your soul ends up. You could live another 25 years, or you could die before the end of this sentence. I urge you, take care of your soul, now. Stop putting the things of the world before your very soul.

Luke 9:25

25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

This verse in it’s context is shown below. I urge you to read it, but I also urge you to read my article on Restoration.

Luke 9:23-27

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

I urge you to make your decision now, for, you have been shown the truth and have no excuse. Choose this day, who will you serve?

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1956 Cadillac Coupe DeVille – Shaun Swanson

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Sometimes you run into people who have a dream, trying to make it a reality, but, it seems life is against them in every sense. You want to help, because you see their desire and their hard work. This is such a story. The Cadillac is far from done, but the project has been started and could use some help.

Maybe you are one who likes the underdog, the guy/gal who just isn’t “set” to win, but works hard to get where he/she is going, no matter the obstacles set before him/her. If so, this is going to be a good story for you.

This is the start of a restoration of love. Check out my article on Restoration to see another one made of love.

Without further ado, here is Shaun’s story.

What type of vehicle?

1956 Cadillac coupe DeVille. Production numbers show that there were 25086 ever made.

Who is the first owner of the project and is it still their project?

I am not the first owner and really don’t have any prior history on it other than it had been parked somewhere between 1976 and 1978.

When was it purchased?

November 1st 2015, she arrived.

Was this a father/son, Daughter project?

I hope to have this 56 done enough to be used to chauffeur my 3 children to prom and also for their future weddings. My children are 16, 14, and 13. Girl Whisper, boy Paul, and girl Lea.

Why this vehicle?

I had always been a fan of Harley Earl and how he designed cars of this era. The 1956 coupe DeVille has been a dream car for me for most of my life. Number one on my bucket list of cars to own before I die.

Tell me the story of how you acquired this car.

 It came to me from Minnesota through an even trade. Since I had always hoped to own one of these, I started getting worried about them going out of my price range or ability to acquire since I’m a very low income person. I owned and kind of restored/rat rodded/ customized a 1968 Cadillac DeVille convertible and after a 2200 mile, problem free road trip, decided I wanted to sell it or trade it for a 55/56 coupe DeVille. There were a few prospects before this 56 that didn’t end up panning out. When I was contacted with the offer of an even over trade, this 56 for my 68, I jumped on the chance without hesitation.  I was so happy I got teary eyed. On that trailer with 4 flats, rust holes in the body and floors, no back glass or engine or transmission. My 68 ran and drove but I didn’t care, the 56 is what I wanted. I was near homeless, living in a friend’s 32 foot camper in their yard…. but I had a 56 coupe DeVille. It’s like a sickness you could say… any one who has seen the movie “Christine” will have an idea of my mind set when I laid my eyes on my 56 caddy. Since that day, I started searching parts and scavenging supplies.

Give me some backstory, are you a mechanic, do you like to fabricate, are you really good at body work, etc. Some info about you.

I spent most of my life as an auto mechanic and was always so burned out I couldn’t enjoy my cars. With this 56 I decided also I wouldn’t repair cars for a living anymore and I went to work as a chef. I had experience as a chef and as it turns out I’m very good at it. This allows me to enjoy my 56 without being tired of fixing cars all day long.

What have you done to it so far?

The first thing I bought for her was a matching set of vintage Iowa 1956 license plates. Other parts and goodies trickled in the whole time I spent living in that camper.

Back glass came from Kansas city in a guys garage, $30 score. It was OEM blue/green tint back window.

I started hunting air ride stuff for it and found some amazingly cheap deals on eBay and on Facebook groups. I even ended up making some wonderful new friends through the whole process.

Eventually I had all I needed for my air suspension. Lines and fittings were free from a truck driver friend who said those parts are disposable in his line of work and free to him.

Another friend locally works for a metal fab place and got me 12 foot by 5 foot of 18g sheet steel to repair all my rust. Another freebie as it had be messed up and deemed as scrap for his work.

One of my new fender skirts came from an accident at a closed down auto shop/hoarders scrap barn. He was selling everything and I was looking around and tripped over a 1956 Cadillac fender skirt, rust free and perfect! $20 score. How often does that happen?

Not long after that fender skirt find, I got moved into town and into a house. So now I felt comfortable actually taking apart and working on the car.

I had been paying payments to Brandon Strange, owner of an amazing 58 Coupe DeVille in Kentucky, for the engine from his car. So in June of 2017, my wife and I went to Louisville, Kentucky and picked up a 1958 Cadillac 365 and its corresponding auto transmission. Brandon has become a wonderful friend through this deal and I plan to keep my promise not to publicly say what I gave for the engine and transmission.

Right before I left to pick up that engine, I won a 59 tripower Cadillac intake for $125, on eBay. Unheard of steal for a price. With that purchase I decided to step out of the normal Rochester or Stromberg or Holley 3 deuce carburetor combinations and went with 3 vintage carter wd-0 carburetors.

I’ve been slowly hand polishing them to a brilliant shine to help match up with a the chrome, copper, stainless and aluminum in my vision. With that the name Copperhead was born for this Cadillac. I plan to paint the body a copper/Orange color with a pearl white roof, and white interior and trunk.

Most all of my heater hoses, air lines, vacuum lines, will be polished copper.

I have polished stainless brake lines and will have custom steal braided brake hoses up front as well as Taylor steal braided spark plug wires. I did away with the factory tredlevac brake system and have acquired a chrome Corvette booster and master cylinder.

I custom fitted a snow white, pleated vinyl rear seat upholstery and have the same company ready to custom make me matching front seat covers for my 1990 Chevy pickup front bucket seats and console for $137 shipped.

Where is it now, in the rebuild stage?

Currently, I work a bit randomly on it.

I have patched up one front fender, the whole trunk floor, detailed and installed the drive train and gotten most of the air ride working.

It doesn’t run yet, but will soon. I plan to make it run off one of the 3 carbs and seal the other 2 for now.

I want to be able to start it and move it. It’s far from being drive able due to needing a water pump rebuild, a new radiator($206 on eBay) and all the brakes installed.

Take a look below at the photos of Shaun’s Cadillac.

 

 

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Customs N Classics is one year old!

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418e0d86eaa459eab3eb10bfa5d0f9d2--happy-birthday-for-him-male-birthdaySo, August 25 marks the 1 year mark for Customs N Classics. A milestone I wasn’t sure I would ever hit, let alone, hit it like we have.

I dreamed of this just being a place where I could write about some of the cars I saw, maybe share a few pictures and use it to justify going to some car shows. It has grown into so much more and I want to thank all of you, as, without you, it would never have grown.

So, 1 year later, I have published 81 posts. 1 was by a guest author, Tobias Mann.

I have had one small Facebook giveaway. A key chain piston that I got from Loud Pedal Marketing Grouppistons

I have published 9 videos

I have started 2 Facebook pages, one that is directly linked to this blog and another that is a group page to share posts.

While I am on the Facebook link, I was also able to become a part of and eventually, an admin of the Facebook group, Lean on Me, which is a group designed to actually help guys who have stalled out on their builds, mostly for financial reasons. It chooses a project and takes the month to raise some funds for it. A goal is set, but, even if $1 is raised, that is more than what was available prior. You may want to check it out.

Now, the blog itself has taken on a new look and is in the process of making more resources available to you. We wanted to have a list, throughout the USA and in as many 10991261_10205012527784809_5790515368737493039_ncountries as possible, of shops, fabricators and parts suppliers. 

Another resource we are slowly adding is also under the resources page, which is the page for Build Information.

Finally, we are also building a page for who and what we support. Why we do this and general information. I encourage you to see the available posts on them, as we will have the newer pages up, sometime this year.

Finally, I would like to take this time to thank each and every one of you who sidebar_01have subscribed to us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and here. You can get to each of these by going to my Contact page. Without you, I am just writing things down, for me to see.

I can’t wait to see what happens during the next year, I know that there is so much in store and I have a couple of really cool ideas for this site, so, stay tuned, check out all of the social media links and get ready, the Christmas Tree lights are turning green!

 

1990 S10 Rat Rod Build – Andrew Underwood

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OK, so, many of you are going to say that it cannot be a Rat Rod because it is too new, but others are going to say that it is what the owner says it is and that is that. Well, whatever your side, or, if you are somewhere in the middle, this article is not about that, it is about a man who chose to build something different.

He chose to define his build, his way.

Now, isn’t that the whole reason Rat Rods were built to begin with?

See our article on Rat Rods. No matter your thought on what a rat is, or is not, this build deserves respect. It is a labor of love and a well put together piece of machinery. Read down to see what Andrew built.

Make sure to check out the links throughout the article and to Check out his YouTube channel at Murdime Garage.

What type of vehicle?

It started life as a1990 Chevy S10, pick up truck.

Who is the first ow20160617_143812-1ner of the project and is it still their project?

Well, I bought it at the junk yard, so, I don’t know who had it first.

When was it purchased?

I purchased it in 2003, for $200.

Was this a father/son, Daughter project?

I have 3 children, 2 girls and a boy. They have all helped along with my father.

Now, the question everyone is dying to ask, why this vehicle? Why would you rat out a Chevy S10?20170517_142013

I wanted to be different.

Everyone does the same thing, builds the same builds.

I just wanted to be a little different.

20160711_192718

the door handles on the truck actually came from my father’s front door at his Homestead house that was built in the early 20s

Give me some backstory, some info about you.

Well I am disabled now. I became disabled 2 years ago I have Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease. (Link provided for anyone interested in what this disease is.) No it’s nothing to do with your teeth, it is a type of muscular dystrophy.

I use to be a mechanic before the disease. I can remember being 4 years old and helping my dad build hot rods and I feel in love with the car scene. So from there I started getting dirty. I love to make parts, weld etc. I enjoy every aspect of it.

I begin losing feeling in my extremities from the peripheral nephropathy, breaking bones in my foot causing me not being able to stand on my feet, or being able to walk very well. It then forced me to sit down and take more breaks and got worse and worse and finally my doctor told me if I keep going I won’t be able to walk any more.

So, how was the truck prior to starting the build?

I started with just the junk yard truck. It was in was rough condition.

The bed was damaged, so I said, “Let’s build a wild rat rod!” and went to town getting parts in line.

I am still no where close to being done.

What have you done to it so far?

I started with a  262 v6 out of an 86 full size Chevy. Same as 4.3. I went through it. Bored .30 over with flat top forged pistons, new rods and crank.

Comp cams made a mean mother thumper cam for it.

The heads have be worked over, with new valves and springs for the big cam.

Had to use 350 push rods because they are longer.

1.6 ratio roller rockers, Edelbrock rpm intake, with 675 cfm street demon carberator.

Msd ignition.

The trans is a turbo 350 with a stage 3 shift kit has 2300 stall converter by Summit Racing.

The drive shaft came from a 65 Chevy C10 short bed, the rear end from a 4×4 s10 blazer.

2″ drop spindles and coil springs up front, mini leaf and 3″ block in back with air shocks.

Where is it now, in the rebuild stage?

I would say it is 50 percent done.

Any special parts you have used?

it has a original 1927 model a grill shell s10 cab and a 38 international bed cut down to fit

On special parts I found a 1938 International bed in a field. I asked the old man who owned the field if I could have it and he told me if I wanted the bed that I was more than welcome to it.

I got the grill shell off the 1928 Model A at a swap meet.

My father has the same condition I do, also, he is a Vietnam veteran. I learned how to work on cars from him. Growing up as a child, we always had a hot rod, so it became instilled in me at an early age. Now, he’s always there to lend a hand or give me some advice.

See the pictures of the build below, but, to see the build as it happened and to keep up on what is going on, check out his YouTube Channel – Murdime Garage

 

 

My Heart and what we support at C-N-C

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Sometimes, you just have to put it out there. You have to be open and ready to answer the questions of what you believe and what you support.

b134cc51af5117af0a848905c454584a--heavenly-father-saviorIt should come as no surprise that I am a Christian, I haven’t hidden the fact, but, just in case you haven’t picked up on it, here it is, so no one can make a mistake.

I am a Christian, I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. If you want to know a little more about what this means, please see my article, called “Restoration”, here.salvation

Ok, so, now we have a foundation with which to build upon. A rolling frame where we can begin to add the engine and transmission, the body and the interior and finally, the finish coat. The bed has been made, the block has been laid, the engine has been built. Now what?

So, now I want to share with you what we, as Customs N Classics supports, financially, with time and in prayer. Yes, support is not always about taking out your checkbook, but about investing your time and effort. It is about lifting it up in prayer so that God has His way with it.

First, I support my church, in all 3 ways. Shore Christian Fellowship, of Queenstown, MD. Yes, this is my and my families church. Always open to guests and ready to meet with you, greet you and be there for you. Awesome place, you should consider going to it if you are in the area. There is a smaller ministry in the midst of the church, called, Food for Thought. It is a giving ministry, giving out non food items to those in the community.

I also support a ministry that serves people in other countries. My Pastor and my son have both went to Haiti under this ministry. It works to help people help themselves, so that they in turn, can help others. GoServ Global is an amazing ministry willing to help others. Check them out, they have a great testimony.

Back here, at home, I also support Making the Gospel Known Ministries.  With Chris & Linda Peeler. My son has attended their REACH program and they have taught in my church.

Now, as much as I strive to uphold ministries in my faith, there are some things that are not Christian that I support, because I feel their cause is a pretty noble and worthy one. I don’t feel that everything I support has to have the Christian label on it, but I do believe that everything I support either points to Christ, or can be used to point someone to Christ.

I support a new group on Facebook called, Lean on Me, that tries to help guys/gals who are trying to build their dream project car/truck. I know, on the surface, it is like, “Yeah, so what, aren’t we all?” and I would answer, yep, probably, but, these folk have run into a snag somehow and haven’t been able to get their build to the running position. They need help to get there. This is just people helping people. What a way to share how Jesus loves them.

Now, a big one that I support is the Wounded Warrior Project. As a Veteran, I am drawn to others who have served, they are family. This will always be true, it is something made. Saying that, I always want to try to support those who have paid a high price for this country. So, wounded soldiers will always get my support.

Now, if you would like to support me in continuing to create content and tell the stories of those cars we see, but generally never know, just send me an email at dfletcher072970@gmail.com, and let me know how much you want to support. Or, if you want to do it via PayPal, my PayPal account email is ahomespecialist@yahoo.com. I can send you an email invoice, so you can contribute. Just remember, I am not a non-profit, I just have never made a profit.

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