Early Aviation Activities

My father brought me a copy of Flying Magazine, a very thick special issue with photos and articles of U. S. Army Air Force airplanes and operations- January 1942,  actually on the news stands at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack.   I was four years old, learned to…

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1948 Studebaker – Skyline drivetrain

After driving my Skyline powered RX-7 for a year, I decided that I really like the RB20 turbo motor, and would consider doing another project using the same motor.  I have always done European or Japanese car projects, but never an American car except for my Ford truck.  I went…

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Red RX-7 Custom Convertible

In 1987 I purchased a wrecked 1984 RX-7, roof and rear body destroyed beyond repair, but very low mileage and like new interior.  After finishing my house and shop to the point of being usable, I decided to build a custom convertible.  My friend Robert had a 1979 RX-7 rear…

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The Stiletto Garage

When the Stiletto was finished, I  started worrying about having it in the shop with all the work going on, and suggested we should temporarily enclose the area under the deck over my kitchen windows.  Sean said “why not enclose it permanently?”  So we bagan looking at all the materials…

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Custom Bicycles

Years ago, in the early 1970s,  I cut up an old Schwinn Phantom that I had since it was new in the early 1950s and built a tandem bike.  It was crude, patched together with parts of two frames, and it was heavy.  When I sold my house in 1982…

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Custom Sport Bike

This bike is built on a Suzuki RGV250 chassis, which originally had a 250cc two stroke V-twin motor, sold mostly in England and Australia. I bought the bike without the engine, and installed a modified (ported) Yamaha 350 two-stroke motor from a Banshee quad, probably about 60-65 horsepower.  The engine…

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Ford Truck

In March of 1981 I went to a salvage auction and bought a 1980 Ford van which had been rolled over.  It had only 3,000 total miles, the roof was badly smashed, but there was no suspension or chassis damage. I cut it off behind the driver’s door and grafted…

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V8 Powered RX-7

After spending most of my adult life tinkering with foreign cars, and quite a few years with rotary powered cars, it occurred to me that I never owned an American muscle car or anything else with a high powered V8.  As much as anything, I think I just wanted to…

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RX-7 with Skyline Turbo Motor

I acquired this 1984 RX-7 GSL in 1997 with a dead motor and minor body damage, but with a very nice interior. I built a ported 12a motor and painted it with this red and silver paint scheme, lacquer with a lacquer clearcoat. After 15 years it still looks pretty…

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The Stiletto Project

For many years I was intrigued by the concept of a three wheeled sports-car type vehicle because of its light weight and potential to use a motorcycle type of engine and transmission. I knew that turnover stability is always a consideration with a three wheeler, and after much time spent…

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