Cars
A labor of love.
Hobby
Overview
I've always been around cars. As a kid, I helped my dad rebuild 1600cc Volkswagen engines in the garage. The excitement of cruising around town in something you brought back to life, or even just a driving experience that not a lot of people get anymore, is just an unbeatable feeling.
My personal affection for working on cars started with the Land Cruiser, but now that I know enough to be dangerous, the biggest victim is my lack of driveway space.
1982 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60
I fell in love with Land Cruisers before I could even drive, enthralled by the ability to go anywhere. Over 2020, I spent months scouring Facebook Marketplace for deals, and eventually found the Land Cruiser. It had a blown engine with 'good bones', diagnosed with rod-knock, I did my research and decided I could fix it. Over the course of a year and a half, I disassembled the engine, sent parts out for machining, and slowly began reconstructing the beating heart of the car.
In Summer 2022, I got things back together and started it up for the first time. It was an incredibly enjoyable car, taking you wherever you'd like to go at a slightly slower pace than you might expect to get there otherwise. It had it's fair share of issues, and over time, I worked my way through a few of them. First rebuilding the steering, then the sound system, and finally the suspension. In Summer 2025, however, it caught up to me. I planned to drive it across the country, and made it as far as the fateful city of Danville, IL, where I blew two pistons. Now, I'm working my way through Engine Rebuild Pt.2, this time thankfully a smaller scoped one. It's my reminder that I'll make plenty of stupid mistakes early on, but that I have the ability to keep learning and correct them eventually.
.JPEG)
1973 Volkswagen Thing
The Thing is a joint project between myself and my Dad. It started as a killer deal on a car we've both always loved, a quick 'lets get it and sell it once you graduate', but slowly we fell so deeply in love that it became our first adventure into full-blown restoration. After one long day of complete disassembly into every individual nut, bolt, and washer, we took it to undergo the long process of acid-dipping and bodywork. We're looking forward to starting the slow process of reconstruction this year.
A peppy, passionate car, The Thing is unlike any other car I've ever driven. In my eyes, it's a testament to the excitement that an engineer can create, simply with a little bit of whimsy and weirdness in the design process. It inspires me in everything I do.
