About Me

Welcome to Real Life: Hot Rods. I’m glad you could stop by.

The idea behind this site is to chronicle being a car enthusiast and how that works in a real life where choices and sacrifices are made every day; how we balance family and friends with passions. This site is a forum for folks trying to find the time and the money to enjoy the hobby while keeping family, work, etc. in perspective. We’ll do a little how-to stuff, some garage tours, admire the cars and talk to people to learn how others have solved the balance question. Maybe we’ll motivate you to get out in the garage, maybe we’ll just help you with a good excuse not to.

About me,

A life time car enthusiast, I started reading the hot rod books, collecting Hot Wheels and building model cars as a little guy. A shop kid in high school, I worked pumping gas and changing oil at a local station. By the time I finished high school I had owned a dozen or so cars in various states of mad hot rod glory.

I went to tech school and was a body and paint guy for a couple years, then back to school for aircraft maintenance. I worked at a major airline as an aircraft mechanic and sheet metal tech for five years and then moved over to the ground equipment side of the business working on everything from heavy trucks to forklifts. Eventually I became a shop supervisor overseeing a 40 bay maintenance operation.

Along the way I got married, picked up a degree in advertising art, spent a little time on the railroad, did some retail management and raised two great kids.

I’ve done artwork on the side all along, was a founding leader of a Cub Scout pack, coached soccer and all the other stuff that comes with enjoying your kids.

I owned and worked on a lot of neat cars along the way but didn’t really do a complete restoration until the 65 Mustang we finished in 2015. I finally had the time and money to pull it off. Now we have a one year old son and I am trying all over again to find the right balance of my hot rod drive and real life.

So get in and buckle up. It’s going to be a fun ride.

I’d love to hear from you, what you think of the site, what you’re building and the struggles you go through to pull it off. If you like the site, follow us. Send me a note, leave a comment, follow me on Twitter, Pinterist. Say hi on Facebook. Check out the eBay page for collectibles, seller name outlawsoup. Most Wednesday nights this summer I’ll be at the Stillwater, MN cruise “Cruisin’ on the Croix”. Stop and say Hi.