Here is the BB engine, finished up and running on the stand with a link below to see it on youtube. No leaks! Needs a little more tuning but this is the second start up and it ran very well. Since this video was taken, we dialed in the carburetors and it sounds amazing.

It was an unfortunate day when this beautiful BMW CSi was side swiped buy a tractor trailer backing into a loading dock. This is a spectacular car with a recent re-paint and an engine and engine management system from a late model 535 as well as many other subtle modifications. We are looking for door parts and a right front turn signal side marker but I believe we can salvage the fender and other sheet metal. The RH side of the car looked fine until I found a crack in the paint near the side marker from where the car made contact with a small trailer so we have to re-paint the whole front end.

BMW CSi

Even though this Porsche 911 has been in Colorado from new, it has some major rust issues that need to be addressed. We had to replace the front suspension pan and decided to prepare the car for a full paint job after finding rust in the doors, the fenders and in the RH rocker cover. Overall, the car is super solid and clean, making it a nice project to work on and, when it’s finished, a wonderful early 911 Targa. As anyone who has been reading this blog knows, early 911′s are some of my favorite sports cars and feel that they are becoming valuable enough to justify putting some money into.

911 Targa Paint Job

Suspension Pan 911 Porshce

911 Susp pan Porshce

Things are coming along nicely on the 1950 Ferrari 166 Touring Berlinetta, here you can see the dashboard lining up nicely with the upper door panels and the windshield glass fitted with new mahogany tack strips installed. All around the body openings are hand whittled wooden strips to jamb the glass into place while providing an area to tack the headliner and upholstery. Hidden under the painted aluminum trim on the top of the door is a tack strip to which the leather door panel upholstery is attached . Near the rear vent windows, the tack strips secure the headliner on the top half and the rear package shelf leather to the bottom half. Unfortunately these tack strips are in channels around the glass openings which means they are sitting in pools of water every time the car is washed or driven in the rain so all of the strips were rotten to dust.

Six tack strips secure the front windshield, two on top, two on the bottom and two on the sides. These dog bone strips were in decent shape because they are located on the sides and didn’t spend much time bathing/rotting in water but since they are so thin, the tacks securing the headliner caused them to splinter and blow apart. They are totally different pieces left to right and had to be hand shaped for 6 hours to make fit correctly. This is a lesson in how not to build a car!! They don’t make them like they used to… thank god!

Mahogany Tack strip

Lining up Dash Ferrari

166 rear glass

Side glass plastic

Side glass profile detail

Even though the original rear side glass for the 166 fit terribly, I used them as a rough outline to make new pieces from plexi-glass. It still took 4 hours of sanding per side to get it to fit tightly. These windows open at the rear for ventilation and the reason Touring made them from plastic is to allow them to bend outward without a hinge as the cam mechanism pushes it out. Crude. In the photo with the drawn outline you can see the original shape being so much smaller than what it needs to be in order to fit properly.

C/4 engine, 365

We are finishing up a C/4 engine, not sure when it will be done as we have a few missing parts but stay tuned for the progress and a video of it running on the test stand

Have a look at this killer ’33 Street Rod. My friend Tony is looking to sell it and I would like to help him find a new home the car. He had a blown Chevy big block in the car but decided to sell the car without an engine.

Interior tint

Tony Street Rod ’33

Here is a Porsche 356 C coupe that we just purchased from a friend in southern California. It is a totally legit “black plate” car with perfect original floors and an original battery box floor which in the world of 356′s, is huge.  The car is 100% complete and has what what I believe to be a matching numbers engine but I am going to apply for a Porsche Certificate of Authenticity so I can be certain of the numbers as well as learn what the original color was. I believe it was blue but not sure the exact shade.
Even thought the car needs everything rebuilt, overhauled or refinished,  it will be a wonderful car to restore because it is so complete and its rock solid integrity

356 California desert

Sometimes the shop can be a pretty nostalgic place, a pack of 60′s cars downstairs, tractors outside, and a Deusy upstairs – upon arrival, a visitor could feel like the result of a successful time-machine test.

This picture is more timeless than most and embodies the outside of the shop on a cold winter day. The wreaths have been put away now and the icicles have been replaced with rains’ drizzle. The tractor is, of course, an Oliver. A 1954 Super 55 diesel receiving a full overhaul, from the mains on up. At the time, the Super 55 was Oliver’s first compact tractor with enough muscle to do a good bit of work.

Bill took a few pictures from around the shop today that show both the range and the beauty of some of the cars that we are working on. Sometimes I fear that there is too much “range” and not enough beauty! Bill takes outstanding photos that look super pro. Have I written a post on Bill yet? Bill, can you write a post on yourself, introduce yourself?

Upstairs: the Osca, Whitehead Special, and a silver Ferrari

Downstairs: The rare green 330 GTC and a deep inventory of stored classics, projects, and restorations.

Ferrari 750 Monza at Restoration and Performance Motorcars in Vermont