Knowledge and Skills Being Passed On

Welcome!!

So, this post is a little different. There hasn't been much progress to the truck - so instead of skipping a week, I asked Rich if he would author a blog - and he did. So here is some insight into Rich. Thanks for checking in!

Adam

Hello, my name is Richard Zellner. I am Adam’s father in law. I am a retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant, a combat veteran with many deployments, and I love cars!

As far back as I can remember I was fascinated with anything that had wheels. I started with model cars when I was very young. I would modify them and make them my own. From models, I moved up to bicycles, mini bikes, go carts, ATV’s and motorcycles. All the while, fixing, maintaining and rebuilding them.

I started driving full sized cars when I was ten. My brother and I had trails and a small racetrack in our back yard. We demolished a lot of cars that would be great to have today, but it was worth it to get me moving. My first street legal car was a 1972 ford pinto. It was slow and not that good looking, but I was sixteen and it got me anywhere I wanted to go. At least until the transmission blew up, because of all the abuse (worth it!).

My next vehicle was one of the two non-fords I have owned in my lifetime. It was a 1973 dodge power wagon four wheel drive. I am not a mopar fan but this truck took all the punishment I could give it, and was still running good when I traded it in for a 1966 ford bronco. That bronco had 31” mud tires and a six cylinder motor. I loved that truck and I will build a similar one before I am gone. I sold my bronco when I left for the Air Force in 1981 to become an aircraft mechanic.

I have worked on C-130’s, C-141’s, C-5’s, HH-3 and H-60 helicopters. My favorite was, and always will be, the C-130 herk.

I spent nearly twenty years in a combat rescue squadron living in Alaska. My love of cars had been with me through my career, and I have owned many, many vehicles (all fords except for one dodge power wagon, and a Toyota pickup).

Around 1999 I finally had enough room and money to start building cars for me. My very first project was a 1934 ford pickup. I stripped every single part off of that truck, and replaced or rebuilt every single one of them. It took two and a half years of late nights, and some weekends but it came out just the way I wanted. I took third place for best street rod at the midnight sun car show in Eagle River, Alaska. I drove that truck for the next three years and then sold it when I retired from the Air Force in 2007. My wife Rayanne, and I moved to a small village in New York where we had our house built and my first full size shop. The shop was Thirty feet by forty-five feet, three bays and had a lift. I began buying, rebuilding and selling pre-1973 cars for my retirement hobby. In those seven years I have finished one – 1965 Mustang, one – 1967 mustang, one – 1968 mustang, one – 1972 ranchero, one – 1964 ranchero gasser, one – 1923 T-bucket, one – 1963 F-100, one – 1987 corvette (a friends) and one – 1972 chevelle (a friends).

I do everything except upholstery, complete motor builds, and transmission rebuilds. I love putting old cars back on the road. I only sell them for what I have invested plus a grand for my labor. I like to keep my prices low, and get more classic cars on the road.

Also, during this time my brother Dan, Cousin Mark and I built and drove race cars. I had a 2003 ford escort ZX2, and a 1993 mustang that I raced on dirt at Ransomville speedway and raceway 5 in New York. I also built a 1961 ford star-liner into an awesome vintage race car that I raced all over New York and Canada. I won features with that car and even ran it in the US open at elegant builders (Lancaster) speedway in 2014. My Star-liner had a ford small block 347 stroker motor and a C-4 transmission that held up awesome even after being flogged every weekend.

We moved to the Northwest in late 2014 to be with family. We bought a house that didn’t have a shop. We shipped three vehicles, drove two, and towed one from New York to Washington. It took until late 2015 for my shop to be built and all moved in. for the first year in Washington I only had my driveway to work on cars. This was a terrible year for me, I looked at more cars than I touched; and it drove me nuts! Even though I drove my wife insane during this time it also made her somewhat happy because I painted, fixed or built anything she wanted, and some stuff I thought we could use. As soon as my shop was done I move in my 1963 F-100 to install power brakes and finish up a couple loose ends. Once the brakes were finished, we brought in Adams truck and my 1973 Mach 1, which I just started. I finished the Mach 1 interior and decided to put it on a side burner and work on it occasionally so I could put more time into Adams’ truck and get it back on the road.

I am excited that Adam is showing a lot of interest in all the fabrication, and he is working very hard on his truck. He comes up with a lot of ideas and gets my brain working trying to figure out how to do it. It’s nice having someone around to teach, and help, and to keep me company. My grandsons come to the shop once in a while and I hope they take an interest too, so all of these skills and knowledge will be passed on.

If anyone has any questions for me, you can get in touch with me through the contact tab at the top of the page.