The following is a collection of different pictures that I am fond of. Most are pictures of cars that I've owned over the years. I've also included some other pictures of things I enjoy. I hope you like them.
This first shot is a picture of my first car; a 1970 VW Beetle. When I got the car it was a nice, clean little yukon yellow Beetle with a factory sunroof. Here, as you can see, I primered the car following the body work I had done to remove the chrome trim, remove the front turn signals from on top of the fenders, and more.
At the time of this picture, I was running real Porsche Rivera rims with 135 Michelins in front and 195 Fuldas in the rear. I built an 82mm x 90.5mm (2110 cc) engine with Porsche 912 rods, an Engle 140 cam, welded 44 x 37.5 heads, 10 to 1 compression, new Italian Weber 48 IDA's, and more. The transmission I built for this car was a 3.80/2.06/1.48/1.125 close ratio gearbox with a 4.125 ring & pinion. The car was pretty quick, but tame by my standards today. My license plate read "LITLQIK".
The photo on the right shows my 1970 bug immediately after it came out of the paint booth. It was painted a bright yellow color.
Volvo Tulip Yellow.
It wasn't long before my yellow car was no longer a daily driver. I had to have a car that would get me to and from work, and to night school. I wanted a car that was quick, yet not noticeable to thieves or local police. So I bought this nice stock ruby red 1969 Beetle. It was a great little car! I could go anywhere, park it anywhere, and never had to worry about it. The only thing it was missing was a heater. Oh well, that's what jackets and gloves are for, right?
What a great little car this was! It originally came with an Auto-stick, but somewhere along its history a conversion over to a 4-sp was done. The speedometer had an idiot light for ATF fluid, and there were other signs of that it had been converted.
When I bought this car it had a red interior. Out came the red and in went a stock OEM style black interior. I also added a used Bugpack shifter, a Formula France 13" steering wheel, a rare VDO 10,000 rpm tachometer, and of course a stereo.
I replaced the tranmission with the stock IRS trans out of my 1970 Beetle. The original transmission sounded like it had several bad bearings and howled like crazy when I drove it. So with the new transmission in place, I of course went after the engine. The specs of this engine are below. This engine was definitely one of my favorites! It drove me everywhere I wanted to go, and could do it rather quickly when asked. With the stock gear ratios the Beetle cruised down the highway at better than 70 mph, and always running cool.
For a different look I found a pair of Porsche 914 steel sport rims and a set of matching late-model VW wheels. This rim combo gave me 5.5" in the rear and 4.5" in the front. I ran 145 Michelins in the front and 165's in the rear. It was a nice sporty look. The car was a total sleeper. In addition to the "go power", up front was a set of original Karman Ghia disc brakes and master cylinder. The car could stop and go very well. While I never raced it on at a track, I always felt that the car was a solid low 15/high 14 second car.
Web 109 cam with 108 lob centers (287 duration with .478 lift)
Weber 44 DCNF "Berg Special" carburators with 36mm venturis, race trim manifolds
Phoenix 1 1/2" Merged Header with Dual Quiet Pack Mufflers
2 quart Scat Deep Oil Sump
26mm HD Oil Pump, full flowed, HP1 Oil Filter
Stock OEM Oil Cooler (non-dog house) in the 40hp fan shroud
Rapid Cool 8-pass oil cooler mounted over the transmission.
German 009 Distributor with Bosch Blue Coil
In 1988 I decided the car needed a change in its appearance. So I sold the Rivera's and picked up a nice set of Empi style 8-spoke rims. At this time I also repainted the engine tin and redid the interior. I think this was the best the car looked over the time I owned it, and its the way it looked when I sold it in March of 1995. I had removed the engine and trans and replaced them with detailed stock units, however.
I think the 8-spokes really changed the look of the car for the better. Note the original German Lucas front turn signals (Cal Look originals!), t-bars and Hella H4 headlights. Shown in the background is the 1982 Chevy Malibu station wagon that I purchased to replace the 1969 Beetle. We had to have something bigger once we decided to start a family.
In this shot you can see the custom dash that I made. It was all steel and featured VDO cockpit gauges, a VDO Porsche 914 speedometer, Dino steering wheel, Pioneer stereo, and an AutoMeter tach with a Pro Light mounted on a custom aluminum stand. Also note the BugPack shifter and period cal-look seat covers (also from Bugpack). I swapped out the stock high-back seats for a set of original 1967 low back seats.
The shot (left) was taken in the summer of 1986 when I lived in Buena Park CA. I had reinstalled my Berg dual quiet pack mufflers (removed the custom turbo muffler) and remounted a HP1 filter on the traction bar for the "old school" Cal-Look look.
Tire combo at this point was Michelin 135 XZX's in front with Nitto 205's in the rear.
1970 Beetle ("LITLQIK"), factory sunroof, 2 owner car
Engine Details:
Although my engines changed over the years, most were questionable in terms of meeting the definition of a "street" engine. Pictured right is the last engine I ran in the car.
Combo: 82mm x 94mm (2276cc)
EDS welded stroker crank, Porsche journals
Wedgemated Berg 12.5 lbs flywheel
Berg GB316 cam (329 dur/.582" lift)
Magnum straight cut gears
Porsche 912 rods, 5.32" length
Welded 44 x 37.5 racing heads
12.8 to 1 compression
Italian Weber 48 IDA's w/42mm venturies
Berg GB933 Merged 1 5/8" header
Custom 2 1/2" Turbo Muffler that mounted
under the right side of the engine
O-Berg Tattletail Oil Filter
Transmission Details:
Back then I built my own gearboxes. I tried to gear them for a balance between city driving and racing. This last transmission built for the '70 contained the following:
Rhino transmission case
4.625 ring & pinion
Berg 3.78/2.06 mainshaft
Berg/Arrow 3rd and 4th gears 1.48/1.125.
Berg GB643 front yoke trans mount
1969 Beetle - Daily Driver
Engine Specs: 1776cc
More changes to the '70....
1964 Chevy El Camino "TOWS LQ"
This was my first "second car". I bought this after my '70 began to no longer be a practical daily driver. Plus I was getting into drag racing and wanted a tow vehicle. This car was very rough when I got it, but it was cheap and I knew I could work on the car to make it decent. It was powered by an older 327 small block chevy and backed up to a powerglide transmission. All things considered, it was a great car for me. As I recall I paid $600 for it and sold it for $2,400.
The Impala's were only offered in black, Dark Cherry and this color, Dark Gray-Green Metallic. This was considered the rarest of the colors. Only 10,676 were produced. The '96 Impala SS was the last of the model year and GM killed the car off just when they got it right! This car had a center counsel shifter, full analog instrumentation, and every option available including the block heater.
I joined a Northern IL Impala SS club and entered the car in a few car shows. At a club sponsored show I won "Most Impressive" Impala.
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Several NEW images added!
This page was last updated on: September 1, 2009
Here's a picture of my Cocker Spaniel Maggie. She doesn't like to have her picture taken.
I swapped out a set of original American Racing 5-spokes for these Chevelle SS rims. Yeah, I know... But at the time nobody wanted those American 5-spoke rims. The car sounded decent with its glasspack mufflers dumped at the differential. As I look at these pics I remember all the hard work that I put into this car. Lots of hours....
1993 Mustang LX 5.0
Out of all the cars I've had the one that I miss the most is my '93 Mustang. It was white LX 5.0 with a 5-speed. A simple bump of the timing and these car really came alive. I added BBK 1 5/8" shorty headers, a DynoMax cat-back exhaust and a set of BBK lowering springs. It was fast, handled great, and sounded bitchin. I sold it after buying the Impala (below) and bought my Single Cab soon thereafter.
This picture was taken one fall afternoon in old downtown Geneva, IL in 1996.
This picture was taken on the driveway of our Batavia, IL home in 1996.
Soon after we moved to IL it became clear that I needed a different car to drive in the winter. The Mustang proved to be a handful anytime the roads were wet, so it was silly to think of driving it in the snow and ice. I figured a front-wheel drive car was the best way to go and I stumbled across a nice low mileage '91 Taurus SHO. This car was fun to drive and was great in the snow. It was powered by the Yamaha-made 260-hp V6 engine and backed by to a 5-speed manual transmission. It was loaded with all the options.
It was cool to have two white high performance Ford cars; one for winter and the other for pleasure.
1996 DGGM Impala SS
At the end of the 1996 model year I decided that I needed to own one of the last Impala SS cars produced. Going against my better judgement I traded in the Taurus SHO for the Impala SS pictured below. It was a very nice car, and pretty quick too. However, my Impala was plauged by the same problems experienced by other Impala owners; heater cores getting clogged from the clay tablets the factory put in the coolant to prevent leaks in the plastic radiators. After a couple of years driving with poor heat I sold the Impala and bought my first truck.
I did a few modifications to the car including replacing the rear control arms with heavy duty lengthened units which centered the rear axle in the fender wells and helped plant the rear tires on launch. The engine had bolt on stuff including a "Team SS" cold air intake system. I also purchased a
set of long-tube ceramic coated headers and
bolted on a DynoMax cat-back exhaust system.
At a club outing at a local drag strip I managed
to run several high 14 second passes in the car.
Not bad for a 4200 lbs 4-door cop car, huh?
The club that I was in was known as "The Herd". Originally a Northern IL club, it became the Tri-State Impala club.
Curtis goes riding!
My youngest son Curtis became obsessed with dirt bikes in late 2005. By his 10th birthday in 2006 we bought him his first dirtbike. Its a Kawasaki KLX110. It didn't take long for him to master it and by his 11th birthday he was ready for something bigger. Earlier this year we took delivery of a 2008 Kawasaki KX85. This thing is a rocket and is a full-on motocross racer.
This shot was taken on Curtis' 10th birthday in 2006. He was thrilled with his 2006 KLX110.
Within the first few times up and down the street he was trying to do wheelies.
Curtis likes to go riding at a motocross track in Chilton, WI called Gravity Park USA.
In this picture Curtis is shown riding his KLX110 while coming off one of the many jumps at Greavity Park. Photo was taken in 2006.
Curtis was a very happy young man on the evening of August 3, 2007 when we brough his new KX85 home. He's standing on his KLX110 to show the difference in height of the newer KX85.
These two picture were taken on November 3, 2007 at one of the last open days at Gravity Park. It was only 52 degrees out! This was Curtis' second time riding the KX85 out on the dirt track and he did very well. He was
was Curtis' third
very comfortable
riding and as the day
wore on and more
riders arrived, Curtis
continued to do well
even in heavy traffic.
The picture on the
right shows just how
high and far he was
jumping.
He's already bugging
me to take him back
in the spring!
Thanks for checking out my pictures! Here's one more...
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