These specialized four wheel drive military fire trucks were built for the air force. With only a few thousand miles on the clock these trucks can still be put to use in specialized private fire departments.
Category Archives: Restoration
Add the Plaid
Removing the racing seats and installing a set of plaid buckets into this 1980 Porsche 911 makes all the difference in the interior. It is now not only functional but stylish.
Before: 1948 MG TC Midget
The TC was the first post-war MG and probably the first to become popular in America. With extra interior space and a bigger engine than the TB that preceded it the TC is still very usable today.
1952 MG TD
In July of 1951 the MG TD2 pictured in white on the right was introduced which came with many upgrades over the standard TD. Although both of these TD are 1952 models the red car on the left is a “competition” version designated the TD/C Mark II which came factory will all of the competition equipment that MG offered such as dual shocks on each corner and a more powerful high compression engine.
Before: 1960 Austin Healey 3000
The BN7 model is a two seat six cylinder version of the 3000 as apposed to the BT7 which has four seats. This car has been painted at least once before and is currently in a non-original green color.
Paint Progress: 1965 MG Midget
The original Tartan Red color came out beautifully on the Midget. The wire wheels have been media blasted and powder coated the correct color with fresh set of Vredestein tires.
The Big Drums
The rear drum brakes on this 1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta are the famous Alfin style copied later by Datsun. The front however use these very wide aluminum drums with cooler fins that make it appear as if it is a large helical gear.
Before: 1959 Austin Healey Sprite
This Sprite arrived in typical fashion exactly as you see pictured here. The owner has decided to put on hold the 1958 Sprite we started and move the racing engine and suspension over to this car instead and then restore the other car to a more factory condition. This car has signs of being an old race car with the roll bar cut off near the mounts and when finished will be faster than ever.
Expats at Guard
Both of these Land Rovers are 1972 model Series III 88s but one is an original right hand drive and the other is a US spec with added reflectors and slightly different lighting configuration. After some testing on the dyno the advantage of the add-on overdrive units is clear and with the overdrive the trucks could travel at 80 mph if you were brave enough to do so.
Progress: 1952 Chevrolet 3100
With only a final sanding left on the five window truck cab the color will be put on this week. They style of these Chevrolet Advance Design trucks, which ran from 1947 through 1955, are among the most popular for Chevy enthusiasts and it is great to see another one saved.
1641cc Crate
The engine for the 1966 Volkswagen Beetle has finally arrived from GEX International and this extra power from the dual port heads should be a huge improvement. GEX offers a 36 month warranty on this engine and claim they have run them all on the bench before shipping.
Twin Cam Healey
The Lotus engine is rebuilt and sitting again now in the 1973 Jensen-Healey. Without the intake manifold and carburetors mounted the Lotus 907 engine looks tilted 45 degrees. This early Jensen-Healey is only a few hundred before they made the first big revisions to the model. The later Series II and JH-5 models seem more common at shows.
Truck in a Box
Thanks to LMC Truck for sending us these big beautiful boxes of panels to fix the 1952 Chevrolet truck project. After unpacking it looks like the panels fit as well as if they were made by the factory.
Before: 1973 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
Before: 1973 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. Ran when parked but that was 30 years ago! Although rust has taken hold of this car it is complete and has the very rare dealer installed air conditioning. Look for faster than normal progress on this one as we have a deadline.
MKUWANA Macubana
You may have already seen the 1955 International Metro around Iowa State the last two weeks and if this food truck Makes You Wanna some Macubana then you can find it on the Iowa State campus and around the Ames area throughout the week.
Progress: 1973 Triumph Stag
Originally brown this Stag came to us in red. The engine is in assembly and will soon be returning to the engine bay. Over the seven years of production the Triumph Stag was available in 25 different colors. Everyone agrees that brown looks great on this one.
Anglo American Hemi
Jensen used Chrysler V8 engines for the Interceptor with a 4-barrel carburetor 440 c.i. engine they produced 305 hp SAE net. Mated to an automatic transmission this car was a true GT that could cross continents effortlessly.
After: 1955 International Metro
This International Metro went from a smashed up rust bucket when it arrived to a classic looking food truck with modern amenities. Running on propane and electricity from a generator this truck also includes a digitally controlled hood fan system and full Ansul fire protection system.
Usually too Busy
With the fab shop shut down for the holiday it is a good time to share a glimpse of what we are doing in there. Media blasting, powder coating, metal forming, and welding all happen in this room. We stock around fifty colors of powder and will do from a single part for a walk-in customer to supply production parts for machine shops and manufacturers.
State of the Art Paint Booth
Our new state of the art semi-downdraft paint booth is up and running. With better light from the 64 color corrected lamps no spot will go unseen.
