It's Time is the only title i think fits this story. It's a rather weird story, that started when I was a young teen. My parents moved next door to this old man. His name was Kenny McDonald, nick named Trapper. He worked with his brother in law in a little tire shop in clarksburg wv. The shop recapped truck tires and sold them to coal hauling companys.
I was born a gearhead and was just realizing it at 12 years old. After a few lawnmower incidents and one with moms car I was grounded from working on anything at home. I knew it was in there I just had to refine it a little.
One evening I heard a lot of noise coming from Kenny's garage, so I wandered over there and peeked around the corner. the noise was a Jaguar xk 120 with the exhaust off of it and he was reving it to full song. I stood there for a while and it soon turned into music, then the neighbors hollared at him so he shut it down, then he saw me.
He must have hollared at me for a few minuits till I could hear again. I ask him what that beutiful machine was , and he comenced to tell me. So began a frienship that lasted all my teen years. I learned so much from that man, and most of it was on british or italian or german machines.
That frienship not only tought me alot ,but also set a bug in me for british cars . Then before I know it I'm in the military and living my life, and kenny and I got further apart and then he was gone, but the Bug was set.
I ended up being a serious gearhead,, working on Airplanes, cars, bikes, but i settled on Hotrods. I built many american cars old and new. I even worked for general motors for quite a few years in various dealerships. In '84 I caught blood poison from a s-10 p/u while putting in a transmission w/ just a small cut on my knuckle that just about killed me. I survived ,but ended up with Muscluar Dystrophy from it.
I've been disabled since. Except for doing some motorcycle restorations and such to keep from going crazy, I was out of the loop. One day a riding friend I had for years started bugging me to sell him these two basket case Triumph 650's. Every year he would come up with a pile to swap and I'd say not enough. then one year he had a 76 mgb roadster in the pile, and I went for it. The bug was back.
For the next couple years I would mess with it some. It ran good and was all there including a hardtop. Then the more I got into it the more I realized it was a rustbucket, it could be saved but not with my physical problems not to mention money, so I was on the back burner again.
My health was on a downslide with various breathing and medical problems, and I started to slide into depression. I couldn't ride my bike anymore to top it off. One day I was setting in the mg just smelling the distinctive british smell and wondering what to do. My wife came out and ask what was wreong. I told her ith was a lost cause so she said
maybe we should buy another one and use this one for parts," What A Woman".
Well a few months later I found #2 a 78 roadster w/ 45,xxx on the clock, a new top and tires and countless other parts. He had spent all he could and then had a rusty gas tank and couldn't keep it running. I checked it out and found some rust but not in the tub , it was just in the frontend. one front wing and the box around the dash. So I took it and had the tank lined and started driving it.
I had this friend that was after me to sell him this honda 750 that was like new . So after a few offers that I refused he offered to do all the bodywork and paint #2. I thought about it and realized I had most all he would need fron #1 so I went for it. In the middle of the job he got in a bike wreack and had a head injury, short story is he got hooked on the pills and never finished the car. The pic on my homepage is all the further he got. That was 5 years ago and here I am still depressed. but I'm gonna give it another try and it starts right now. so I'll be in touch with follow ups and pics of what happens.
Foxy 10/24/09