About Me

Restoration was a part of my life even before I showed interest in it. I grew up around antique John Deere tractors, nothing newer than 1940s. My grandpa is a collector, and my dad likes to tinker on the collection. I grew up going to threshing exhibitions, driving tractors through parades, and helping my grandpa plow and plant his small field. My dad undertook a restoration of a Model H John Deere tractor when I was around 6 years old. I did not contribute much if at all to the restoration, but I was happy to drive it around town and be pulled behind it in a sled when it was finished.

Even though I had been surrounded by antique machines my whole life, and been around a couple restorations, I never really had much interest. This changed when I was around 13 years old. And it happened because of a Lego set. I was gifted a Lego Technic car set, a 1970 Dodge Charger R/T from Fast and Furious, with functioning steering and a moving engine. The moving gears and parts fascinated me, and watching the Fast and Furious franchise only fueled my curiosity more. I got a couple more Lego sets, one with a working suspension system and working gear box, along with the steering and moving engine. I also started doing research, watching YouTube videos, and pestering my dad for a project of my own. To my fathers dismay, a tractor showed up in our garage thanks to my grandpa. It was a late 1930s John Deere Model G un-styled tractor. It was already in pretty good shape, just needed a couple things replaced or worked on, which was plenty for me to enjoy tinkering with for a while. After the tractor ran good, I obviously had to add a chrome straight pipe exhaust. I still tinker with that tractor; I have plowed with it and taken it to many tractor shows and parades, and some day, when I have the money and space, I want to do a full restoration on the tractor.

At the end of my sophomore year in high school, I heard about a school in Kansas that offered a bachelors degree in automotive restoration. My junior year I convinced my dad to take me to to their annual car show and take a look around campus. I knew as soon as I was done with the day that I wanted to go to their program. I was excited to get a full bachelors degree instead of a tech trade certificate, and I could still be apart of band, theatre, and clubs. This program at McPherson College is fairly selective, only accepting 50 new students a year. There were many requirements for applying (a resume, letters of recommendation, and an interview) but the one that concerned me the most was the portfolio. I felt that nothing I had done thus far was “good enough” to get me in. After brainstorming with my dad, we decided the best route to go. He gave me his dis-assembled John Deere hit and miss engine that he had planned to restore but never got to it. I spent my whole summer before my senior year restoring the engine and working on my portfolio. (Click here to see the restoration)

At this point in time, I have not done a full restoration of a car. I have worked on many more tractors and hit and miss engines. I tinkered with a 1979 Camaro (Click here to see) but ran out of money quickly and had to sell it. I helped my brother pull the engine out of his Nissan 350Z. My current car is a 1993 corvette, but it is just a “for fun” car. For my spring semester of my freshman year I am enrolled in an Engine Rebuilding class that will teach me how to properly tear down and rebuild engines.