I was born in Wenatchee Washington in 1973. From the time I was just a wee lad, I have been fascinated with cars and motorcycles. 90% of my toys growing up had to have wheels on them. I had massive collections of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, as well as a huge assortments of models I built. Even back then, one of my favorite things to do was paint and repaint all my models and little toy cars. If I wasn't painting toys I was out riding bikes or building go carts with friends. I even had one of those Radio Shack Realistic handlebar mount bicycle radios- an early sign of my future in car audio. I didn't read the Hardy Boy books and such growing up, I had my nose stuffed in a car magazine or book learning specs and stats and by the time I hit my pre-teen years I could identify most makes by the sound of their engines and starters, and I could identify most makes just by their headlights or tailights at night.

Small sports cars always got me excited, so at 13 I was thrilled when my dad brought home a 1986 Mitsubishi Starion (same thing as a Chrysler Conquest). Being a teenage sports car lover, these "Starquests", as they are sometimes called, were the coolest thing I had ever seen. Small, sleek and sporty with RWD and a turbocharged and intercooled 4 cyl that would give V8's a run for their money. Those cars left an impression on me that would become an addiction later on in life.

Once I began driving, I was hell on wheels. Luckily, my schooling and career paths took me in directions that allowed me to grow my knowledge, love and talent with cars. I didn't always have the money to have the coolest or nicest car, but my car , no matter waht it was, was always as cool, clean and nice as it could be given it's condition and my budget. In lean times, I could take a $600 car and put $200 and some time into it and have it looking like a $1500 car. Granted, a $1500 car wasn't much to write home about, but it's better than rolling around in something that looks like a $600 car LOL

I've owned a large number of cars- 20 or so in my 20 years of driving. Many were nice, some not so much, but I always made them as nice as I could and tried to care for them the best I could.

By my mid to late 20's I had calmed down quite a bit and gotten myself very financially stable. I finally had the resources I needed to be able to really grow my hobby and start making a little side cash in the process. I also refound my love of the Starquests. I got my first one on 02 and have owned a half dozen or more since then.

My love of cars and motorsports never seemed to mix well with my relationships with women. However, my wait was worthwile, as I met my soulmate, Kate, who not only puts up with my addiction, but jumps right in and gets her hands dirty too. We've been married since 2004.

Cold weather and poor economy eventually drove us away from MI and to Seguin, TX where we are enjoying our fresh start and warm weather.

My background:

My Auto related career began in 1989 in Grand Rapids, MI when I did a tech school/co-op program in high school that allowed you to go to the local career/tech center for the first half of the school day. I chose autobody mainly because my car looked like shit and I knew if I was going there I could fix my own car for materials cost only. As it turned out, I ended up being fairly good at it. I was not what you’d call an academically smart kid, but I managed to make honor roll my last 2 years of school due to the 3 A’s I got every semester from Skill Center. Myself and a friend of mine ended up trading “student of the month” every other month, and the teacher used us almost like assistants for some of the kid’s easier questions if he was busy.

After High School, I had planned on being a cop, but I enjoyed bodywork quite a bit and had also found I was pretty talented at it. I decided to go to Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI, which at the time (early 90’s) was top 3 in the nation for their 4 year Auto Body Management degree. I ended up just staying for their 2 year Auto Body Repair program. Looking back, I should have stayed all 4 years, but hindsight is always 20/20.

I got into the body shop of the Mitsubishi/Nissan/VW dealership I had been working at detailing cars since I was 17. I liked it there, but got what I thought was a better opportunity at another shop, but ended up being very wrong. By the time I finally left that place I couldn’t get back into the dealership, and I had a bad taste in my mouth about autobody in general.

From there I got into car audio installation. I was an installer at a well known car audio chain in MI for 3 years. I was involved in a number of award winning system builds and found great enjoyment in the custom fabrication end of things. I even got into competing in stereo shows with my own car, taking home a few trophies along the way.

Sadly, car audio wasn't paying what I wanted to make, so it was once again time to move on to another carreer. I nearly went back into auto body repair, but was able to get into a tool and die shop that a family friend owned. Here, I became a CNC machinist cutting cavity on plastic injection molds. This job allowed me to learn about molds and models, as well as ways to apply that towards body mods. I was also able to learn a great deal about other types of fabrication and metalworking. Even though I wasn't exaxctly working on cars, I was working in the automotive field as most of our molds were for the auto industry. I also never lost the enjoyment of tinkering with cars. I would do some minor repairs, detailing, car audio and paint for myself and friends, when I had access to a place to do the work. In 2001 I got my own house and garage and started doing it a little more frequently. For most of 2006 and 2007 I was turning out quite a few cars on the side and really getting back into practice hardcore.

Unfortunately, the economy put a serious hurt on the tool and die trade where we lived, so we decided it was time to move south towards better weather and more jobs. I had machinist jobs lined up when we got down here, but instead was able to get in at a local custom/hot rod/restoration shop in the body shop. Most of what we did were full show car restorations with some of our full body makeovers and paintjobs going for $20,000-30,000. I was amazed how much I had to learn. I had been pretty pleased with my work I had done previously but soon realized while it was good, it could be improved on. I’ve had the chance to learn more and refine my talents. Of course, I continue to try and learn even more and do even better every day.