I don't know what shows you guys watch, but I totally dig all of the random restoration and car building shows on discovery and velocity. My favorite happens to be FantomWorks on Velocity. It just so happens that their shop is located in Norfolk, VA which is about 2.5 hours south of where I live. My co-worker is from that area and he told me that he went to one of their tours that they do every Friday at 4pm and said that I REALLY should head down there to scope it out. So this past Friday afternoon, I picked up my son early from school and headed down there. My son is always stoked to take a ride in my truck so it turned into a fun adventure.

We ended up pulling up to FantomWorks right on time for the 4:00 tour. Dan Short (the owner and guy you see on TV) was there to kick off the tour. He discussed the history of the company, the TV production process and how he operates. Let me tell you all this though, Dan is EXACTLY like he portrays himself on TV! He's a no BS kind of guy, but a genuinely good person who is EXTREMELY passionate about what he does. I really respect that and it is good to know that there are still some REAL people on TV these days. He even went on to discuss how the Velocity production is actually an expense to his company and he doesn't get a dime from the TV show like the other shows do and that what we see on TV is seldom ever scripted at all. The guy is really into old Americana memorabilia (and about everything else under the sun) and has spent a tremendous amount of money on converting his facility into a restoration shop. To some his boosting about the maintenance and transformation might seem exaggerated or cocky, but I have an fairly good carpentry background and I have worked on historic buildings and I could tell that it was extremely evident that he has spent a lot of time and money on that building and continues to do so.

He had a few cars on site that he had completed and they were absolutely immaculate! No shortcuts taken on anything! We weren't allowed to take pictures of it because it has yet to air on TV, but wait until you see the '67 Mustang fastback he is wrapping up for SEMA (it actually is leaving his shop tomorrow for the show). This thing is a work of art! It's all metal fab (no fiberglass) and if I wasn't there to look at it personally, I would have NEVER believed it - You all will see soon.... on TV

After the tour, I talked to Dan one-on-one for about 30 minutes. That might not seem like a big deal, but that Mustang was no where near complete and it had to be loaded up and on it's way to Vegas in 4 days so it was really cool of him to take that time that I know he didn't have to chat with me. I show him my truck and he was digging on it. I told him that it was nothing like the work he does and he replied to that by saying:

"But YOU did it and most importantly you DRIVE it. Cars are meant to be driven, not rot away. There is absolutely nothing to be ashamed about in your work. Most people can't even begin to do the work that you did, not to mention the fact that you said you did all the work yourself; I have guys here that can't build a car from start to finish completely on their own. Everybody has to start somewhere and I'd say you have a pretty damn good start."

Those words will stick with me forever! I have always thought that I did a great job on my truck, but I was truly floored by his statement and it meant a lot coming from somebody like that. Seriously, if you are in the Norfolk, VA area on a Friday afternoon and have some time to kill, definitely stop by and scope out FantomWorks. You won't be disappointed!

Here are some pictures from the adventure...

My boy getting excited riding through the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel (Google it - it's a massive engineering feat!):


Arriving at FantomWorks (this is the typical outside shot that you see on TV)




The diner (filled with a very small fraction of the Americana memorabilia he has) and Dan Short himself kicking off the tour:


The Toyota Landcruiser FJ40 that I'm sure all of you guys always notice in the background of some of the shots on TV. This thing is in great shape and will be a future project on the show at some point.


Ironically, there was an Austin Cooper convertible next to the FJ40. Ironic because my wife wants me to build her a Cooper and I think I want to do a FJ40 for my next project. Our future garage could look something like this:


A shot of a few of the other cars on site. The place really isn't that big, but they definitely try to maximize their space:


This 1937 Volvo was probably the show stopper (other than the Mustang). This thing is just shy of Concours status, but has won a few worldwide awards for quality and originality. It may not look like much, but it was very well done.


Unfortunately, given the status of the show, I wasn't allowed to take a lot of photos on the tour. That's all the photos that I could get, which is probably only about 1/10th of the whole facility and excludes the majority of the "coolness" that is on site. It was truly unbelievably cool if you're into this kind of stuff.

 

BTW, my rear bumper should be here tomorrow! Woot woot!!

 

My rear bumper arrived today!! Nice and shiny and new!


I just sat it on the old bumper brackets that I left on the frame to see how it it is going to look and to check out the width fitment. I'm actually going to mount it about 6" higher than where it is in the photo below so that the license plate sits just above the dip in the bumper and the top of the bumper is about the same height as the bottom of the rubber tailgate bumpers on the rollpan. I held it up at that location and the contour of the bumper runs quite nicely with the corners of the bed.


Looks like I'll be making some bumper brackets tonight! So excited to finally get this long awaited bumper modification wrapped up!

 

NIce! Where did you end up finding it?

 

Found it on eBay. It seemed like the inventory was dried up but there were a few new old stock bumpers available; however I wasn't about to pay $500-600 for a bumper. Then this past week I was searching eBay again and POOF! Tons of aftermarket bumpers became available. Seems like they realized that the market may still be there so they stamped out a bunch of new ones.

Last night I started fabricating some bumper brackets. I grabbed some 1/2" grade 5 bolts from Tractor Supply and piece of 3/16" steel flat stock. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any sheets of 3/16" or 1/4" steel so I had to cut and weld two pieces of 3" wide flat stock together to make my design work. I forgot that I had ran out of shielding gas when I was making my seat brackets so I was stuck using flux core wire again... I hate that stuff! So sloppy and makes extra work grinding splatter off of everything remotely close to the weld. But it does the same job and will work for now:


I beveled the edges of the butt weld almost to a point to get really good penetration and laid down a nice solid weld so it is basically like using one piece of metal. After grinding down the welds, the brackets are ready to mocked up and drilled:


I'm hoping to get everything wrapped up tonight assuming that everything goes as planned. I'm a little skeptical of using 3/16" steel, but the way it will be mounted there shouldn't be any lateral flex. If there is then at least I'll have a solid template to use if I need to bump up to 1/4" or 5/16 steel. Obviously, this bumper isn't intended to be fully functional in terms of any considerable collision protection, but I at least want it to be able to hold my weight if I stand on it and be able to take a light bump so that my bed/paint doesn't get jacked up by some idiot at a stop light or if I decide to back into something like my trash can (did that a couple weeks ago...)

 

I see, awesome job!

 

This truck is an absolute beauty! I wish I had the time and money for a rebuild like this. You've done a fantastic job. I really like the red - really sharp!

 

Custom brackets drilled out and powdercoated:


And mounted to the bumper:


After a few adjustments, I got it fitted up to the truck:


I don't think there is a better fitting stock-looking bumper out there for these trucks. I'm highly satisfied with the fitment and overall look. Strength is there too - I can stand on the bumper and jump on it and it won't budge.

 

Looks meant to be! That side shot reminded me of those rear disk brakes behind those wheels...how do the brakes feel? I think I remember you saying they were a little spongy at first

 

Nah, they were stiff. Still a little on the stiff side, but I think it is just due to the increase volume of the MC. Eventually, I want to upgrade to a dual diaphragm booster, do a Toyota V6 front caliper conversion with vented rotors and swap out the rear discs and Calipers with Toyota discs and calipers.

 

love it Dave


.

 

I see, sounds like a good plan

 

I watch fandom works all the time with the father in-law I am so jealous of you and the truck haha. my 4Runner does more sitting than driving but she's getting there. Again thanks for all your help with my questions and congrats on the great meet up!

 

I started fabricating my passenger side seat bracket last night. It's so much easier the second time around, but I next time I build a vehicle I am definitely going to buy a metal brake! All this extra cutting, welding and grinding is really getting old! Obviously it gets the job done, but the job would have gotten done last night had I had a metal brake. Instead, I ended up running out of solid core wire so I'm going to have to run out today during lunch to get more so I can get it done this weekend. After a little welding and a quick test fit I'll remove both brackets, shoot them with some powder and install. Here's what I got done so far:


I have my carry permit too so I've even toyed with the idea of designing a seat bracket that has an integrated lock box so that I can lock my gun up safely in my truck. It would pretty much look exactly the same as what I have made so far, but I would completely box in the bottom of the bracket with steel and use some sort of hinge so that the front can flip open and securely lock. Best part about it (other than being safe) is that it would be completely concealed and nobody even know it is there (except for you all of course). After I get these brackets finished, I may work on that as my next little project.

 

Got some solid core wire and finished welding up the passenger side seat bracket tonight. Got the welds ground down and ready for mock up in the truck. Once everything gets fitted up properly I'll yank then out and shoot then with some powder before the final install.

Now I just need to find some time to mock it up soon.

 

Funny thing Dave, a friend at work (the one with the 1982 toyota igloo I posted before) posted 2 pics of your truck on his facebook wall, saying how nice it is, I thought it was pretty cool and funny, I let him know about this build thread and the story! cheers!

 

Wow.. just got done reading.. took over a month off and on. Very awesome! Love the 1st gen's, just sold mine, so reading your thread was a bit cathartic for me. Cool to see that nearly 3 years later you are still working on it.

Very cool!

 

I recently snagged an old go-kart off of my cousin that I want to get right for my oldest son. I forgot to take pictures of it when I first got it, but it was in pretty rough shape. The motor was seized up, a lot of the sheet metal was rusted out on it and it was overall not safe. My son loves riding the go-karts that they have down at the dirt track, but I hate paying $3 a pop for him to ride - which he does at least 10 times every time we are there and I have to drag him away kicking and screaming because he loves it so much. So I have decided to get this thing fixed up and safe for him to putt around on.

First things first, the original 5HP Briggs and Stratton motor was shot so I got a 6.5HP horizontal shaft Predator engine from Harbor Freight. It's a relatively cheap engine plus it'll give him a little more "go" power.

Engine specs:


The engine on the right is what I got him:


The shaft diameter and height is the same at the original engine so the torque converter needed no modifications, but I did have to make some slight adjustments to the engine mounts. Got it mocked up with minimal problems outside of having to trim out the tubing on the back rest.


Then it was on to replacing the sheet metal. The tubing is all good, but the old flimsy sheet metal was rusted out pretty bad. Plus I want build a full skid plate under the length of the seat for protection since he will be riding a lot through my buddy's corn field and woods. This will also help stiffen up the frame a bit so he can really romp on it.

Old back rest sheet metal cut out (and the upper portion of the back rest tubing):


New sheet metal tacked in:


Once I get the sheet metal done, I need to address the throttle and pedal issues. At some point somebody welded on shorter pedals with connecting rods to the original pedal - they stick really bad due to a poor design so I'm going to hack them off and re-design it. I also need to modify the throttle so that it returns to idle. Then new upholstery, bearings, wheels, tire and he'll be cruising around. This thing is far from done and I'll likely dump more money into it than I would if I just bought a new one, but we're having fun building it and I'll enjoy spending time with him and teaching him how to make things go! Stay tuned, this should be fun!

In other events... my friend was on his honeymoon with his wife and he asked me to house sit/goat sit/dog sit/cat sit last week. His family owns the land that I hunt so I took my son out for his first hunting experiences - he's only 3.5 years old so he can't shoot yet, but he hung out in the deer stand with me and I ended up shooting 4 deer last week! I think he is my good luck charm! I also took my truck on its first hunting experience too (perhaps that is my good luck charm too!). Either way, we had fun and my truck looks damn good in the woods and in the field!

 

Yes it does look awesome! haha cool setup with the go cart too

 

My son's go-kart build is still going. I got all of the new sheet metal welded in and added some extra welds here and there to help stiffen it up a bit. Since he's only 3.5 years old and is rather vertically challenged, I had to whip up some "short people" pedals. I just made some pedals out of some flat and angle stock and welded on a bracket further back on the frame for the shorty pedals to pivot on. Then made some linkage bars to connect the shorty pedals to the tall people pedals. Originally, somebody attempted to do this, but it was a very poor and unsafe attempt. The pedals would bind and had a lot of lateral play in them.

Here is Camden getting excited about his new ride while I get some measurements for the pedals:


Pretty much all the sheet metal work done, just have to clean up the welds:


Short people pedals are mocked up. I used some 1/4" round bar to make a template to get the general geometry of the linkages and then I made adjustable linkages out of some threaded rod and barrel connectors. Yes, I know the pedals look crooked - I didn't have the bronze bushings in them yet...


Just waiting on wheels and tires to come in and I can finish the mock up before I tear it down for paint.

Also, last Friday night, my Pop's friend (the one with the sick Orange '69 Camaro) had his annual oyster roast. It's a ridiculously fun event! About 250-300 people showed up this year - I look forward to going every year! Here are some shots from the shindig:

Mmmmm.... Oysters...