Additonal pictures from Aesthetic Finishers Open House in Piqua, OH

Ran across some additonal pictures from the AFI open house. It was a fantastic day and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to go next summer.

I'd like to personally thank the owner of AFI, Bill Coomer. I sent an email to AFI the other day with a request for some tee-shirts for a program for At-Risk students I run at the Middle School were I work. I was very grateful when an AFI employee named Crystal promptly answered my email and told me that Bill thought my program was great and they would be glad to donate some tee-shirts.

I drove to Piqua yesterday and picked up SIX middle school-sized tee-shirts in a variety of styles. THANKS BILL AND CRYSTAL!!! My students will love them!

My Friend Is At It Again!

O.k....my friend/neighbor is up to his old tricks again! I stopped in the other day to see his "latest" find.

It's a 1955 Chevrolet stepside pickup. The story is that a guy was building this himself. By the looks of things, he was doing it right. Anyway, due to health reasons, he was forced to sell it. My friend once again was in the right place at the right time.

The owner had begun a frame-off restoration. The frame has been powdercoated and the OEM cab-mounted gas tank has been replaced with a new tank mounted under the bed. Under the hood, the truck has a chromed-out 454 Big Block backed by a 400 automatic transmission.

The guy has smoothed the firewall and the dash. Most of the body work is also complete. My friend told me that everything to complete the truck came in the deal...including the stainless steel strips and oak flooring for the bed and all the glass and window kits to make the door glass a single piece. The truck is also set up for an aftermarket air conditioning unit that was also included.

My friend is going to have a local body shop paint the truck. Then he plans to take it south for to his winter home in Florida. There he plans to finish the truck out and cruise during the warm winter nights in the Sunshine State.

After returning from our trip to Fairmount and Gas City, I took my father and son over to see the truck. My friend hopped in and started it right up. The thing sounds pretty "wicked"...I have to chuckle when I imagine what all the "blue-haired snowbirds" will think when he rumbles through their Florida retirement communities. (ha, ha!)

Marion County Fairgrounds Swap Meet

Two weekends ago, I took my son and went with some friends to the Marion County Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana which was hosting a HUGE swap meet. The meet had LOTS of cars, parts, etc. for sale and/or trade.

I forgot my digital camera, but fortunately had my camera phone in my pocket. Unfortunately, I didn't think about my camera phone until late in the day and therefore only snapped these photos.

The car on the left was VERY interesting. It started its life as a 1940 4-door Chevrolet sedan. The owner has done some serious chopping and modifying to turn it into this cool rat rod.

The interior of this car was pretty simple. All metal floor was reworked and everything was painted green. Simple bucket seats that looked like they might have come from a 1965 Ford Mustang were the only "creature comforts."

I've always liked Divco and International bread/milk trucks. This International Metro sold for $3,000.00. It will make someone a really cool rod.

I've seen a couple of these and/or other bread trucks turned into some pretty cool rods. Airbags and oversized rims tucked inside the fenderwells make these things look way coooool!

You can do some pretty cool things with the LARGE interior space in these vehicles as well. I saw a Divco a few weeks ago that was tubbed. It had 2 flatscreens inside with comfortable seating for the entire family.

I told you I like milk trucks! This go kart was a promotional piece created for a dairy. It was for sale in the swap meet area. I had my son stand beside it to get a feel for its size.

This thing was really cool! (That is everything but the price tag!!) ..."Let's move on son!"