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The Alfa Romeo TZ2 Restoration
Two years in the life of a team of craftsmenAugust 12, 2009: The Alfa Romeo TZ2 restoration was finished on this day, a few days after my 40th birthday. This team portrait includes, from left to right, Tom Smith, Ivan Zaremba, me, Chuck Mathewson and Rolly Boorman. Others worked to complete this project too; I think Phil Reilly & Co had around 12 or…
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Merry Christmas
2023 is almost over! Many thanks to my customers for trusting me to take care of some really special cars this year and to help keep them rolling down the road. The variety of projects I’m able to work on is what keeps this job so interesting and stimulating. I’m looking forward to another great…
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The Talbot Lago Makes it to Pebble Beach
Overcoming challenges to finish the T26 engineI started working on this project back in 2016 in Colorado, the start of a long and circuitous path. In a previous post, I explained some of the issues that helped make it a five year engine build… One of the few upsides of a worldwide pandemic is that some events get postponed, which gives…
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Get to Work Ya Bum!
There has been a notable drop in the rate of new content being posted here at travelingwithtools. That’s because I’ve been back at work for a few weeks, and despite thinking I would be able to do two things at once, I have not. I’ve landed at the same Northern California shop that I worked…
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A Note From the Desert
I’ve been parked out in the Nevada desert for a few days now, since finishing my look-back series on our trip to Africa in 2016. I’ve been poking through my photo archives and infrequent journal entries, looking for the path forward for the blog. I have a pretty good idea what I want to do,…
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Making Your Mark
This will go down on your permanent recordI worked for a long time in one location, almost ten years, taking apart cars and putting them back together. Any old car shop has shelving storing parts, and some shops have bits from jobs that were done twenty or thirty years ago. Parts may sit for a week before going back together, and some…
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Back to Work
After spending the last year gallivanting around the country, it’s time to get back to work. I’ve landed in Reno, Nevada for a stretch to clear up some unfinished business… the Austin Healey that’s had a happy home in Mom’s garage needs to move on. It’s always the last few percent of a job that…