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Current Cars and Trucks

April's new baby - a 2002 Ford F250 Crewcab 4x4 with the Lariat package and the Powerstroke Diesel engine. Like the comedian Tim Alan says "More Power"

We've now installed new wheels and larger tires, and soon will be having the lift kit installed.  Click on the link below to see the latest photos and check on our progress on the other items we're doing to our BIG baby!
Ford Truck Modifications Page

And speaking of POWER, this is our 1965 Ford Falcon!

* Click here for the whole story on this car *

Dune Riding

The Banshee cooling off between flights!

Without a doubt my favorite outdoor activity (outside of just spending time with my family) is dune riding on my Banshee.  My favorite riding spot is in the Glamis sand dunes.  Because of my love of speed, I ride a Yamaha "Banshee".  In case you're not familiar with All Terrain Vehicle's (ATV's), or quads as they're referred to generically, they've come a long way since the old three wheelers of yesterday.  The best way to explain a Banshee is that it is an extremely high performance four wheeled motorcycle.  As a matter of fact, it's powered by a two stroke, 350 cc twin cylinder engine straight out of Yamaha's legendary "RZ350" road racing motorcycle.  Hands down it's the fastest quad ever made.   Straight out of the crate, the Banshee's high revving engine produces about 38 horsepower, but mine puts out approximately 50 - 55 H.P.  The biggest improvements I made were to the exhaust system and cylinder head.  I replaced the stock exhaust with FMF "High Rev" pipes and Toomey Racing's silencers. The cylinder head was then milled and re-chambered by CT Racing located in nearby Santa Fe Springs, Ca. I've also made numerous other external engine changes, as well as several modifications on the bike such as an extended rear swingarm to help keep the front end down when I'm racing and hill climbing.  Because I ride exclusively in the sand dunes, I've installed Skat Trak Hauler "paddle" tires on the rear which get much better traction than knobby treaded tires, and "Dune Runners" on the front which are basically smooth tires with a narrow ridge down the center which helps the bike steer in the soft sand.  Under hard acceleration my bike will throw a "rooster tail" of sand about 30 to 40 feet out of the rear tires!  As you can imagine, my riding buddies don't like to ride too close behind me!  It's a real adrenalin rush to ride one of these when you're flying across the sand dunes.  Two years ago I installed a digital speedometer on it, and so far the highest top speed I've reached while dune riding is 85 MPH, but most of our riding is done in the 30 to 50 MPH range.

The rear window on our last vehicle, the Expedition displayed our ASA sticker

Last year we joined forces with the American Sand Association (ASA). It's an organization that was created to help save the Glamis Dunes from almost certain closure.  We are doing what we can to promote responsible use of the area, and fighting for our rights to keep areas open for the public.

To see some photos of our most recent trips to Glamis, check out our Vacation Photos.

In our front yard after getting it ready for the Drag Races

A couple years ago I wanted to see just how quick the bike was capable of going, so I swapped my sand tires for my flat track dirt tires (the only set I had that would work on pavement), lowered the front end by installing struts that I fabricated, and took it to the Run Whatcha Brung 1/8 mile drag races in Rialto, Ca.  It ran a very respectable time of 9.66 seconds at over 68 MPH.  To compare, that's slightly quicker than my friend's late model Corvette ran that day!  Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed with the performance one bit.

At the starting line, getting ready to embarrass a Hot Rod Mustang!

It spun the tires for about 20 to 30 feet, then accelerated hard down the track.  I had so much fun, I plan to do it again when the opportunity arises.

Oh, and case you're wondering about my obsession with dune riding, check out the license plate and receiver plug on our Expedition. Both items are now at home on the back of our new truck.

Cars from the Past

April's '97 Ford Expedition

This is the Ford Expedition we bought soon after Karlie was born. It was a Eddie Bauer Edition with four wheel drive and leather interior.  It was a great vehicle and we really didn't want to sell it, but we needed a truck that would better pull our heavy travel trailer.  We replaced the stock tires and wheels with 16x8 polished aluminum wheels by Eagle, with taller and wider tires (In case you're wondering, they were 285/75-16's).

Our previous 1964 Ford Falcon

Here's our old 1964 Ford Falcon Futura.  I've always liked the body style, and ever since I was young, I've dreamt of building a Hot Rod out of one. In fact, many years ago I bought one just for that purpose, but never had the money to play with, so I sold it. We bought this car from a young lady in the neighborhood, and as you can see, it was really clean. It's all original, and had a six-cylinder engine in it, but like my current car, I had planned to replace it with a high performance V-8. I ended up selling it to a guy at work after I found the '65.

My old '97 Dodge Dakota

My '97 Dakota was an extended cab Sport model with the 318 c.i. Magnum V8 engine.  I replaced the stock tires with wide low profile tires the same day I brought it home from the dealer. The rear were 275 60-15's.  I also had the exhaust system modified, and I added a K&N air filter and a "Ram Air" intake, all within weeks of purchasing it.  Next, I lowered the truck nearly four inches to give it a more aggressive stance. I then had a very mild graphic stripe applied to the side of the truck, but it's almost impossible to see in the photo because it was so subtle.  It was a fun truck to drive, and it actually got lots of looks!  As you undoubtedly can tell by now, I just love cars in general, and anything that moves under it's own power.

My old '86 Toyota 4x4

"Rock Crawling" near Big Bear Lake

Thsi is the 1986 Toyota 4x4 that I had for 11 years.  The truck started out pretty tame, but after many years of playing with it, it turned out to be a pretty extreme ride.  It was lifted 5 inches,  had a "Detroit Locker" differential along with lower gearing (4:88 to 1) for better off road and rock climbing ability.  It also had 33/12.50-15 BFGoodrich All Terrain tires, dual front shocks, a full interior roll cage, a grill guard, towing and recovery accessories, off road lights and many, many other items.  It would climb almost anything. At the time I owned it I was a member of the California Association of Four Wheel Drive Clubs.

The infamous '66 Fairlane
This is me warming up the tires at the old Orange County International Raceway

This '66 Fairlane has been in our family since day one.  My dad bought it new for approximately $3,500.  In the early '70's my brother, Ed, bought it from my dad.  About ten years later, I bought it from Ed, and eventually gave it back to him because I kept blowing up the transmission and didn't have the money to fix it once again.

When I had it back in the early 80's, I replaced the original 289 cubic inch engine with a heavily modified 428 c.i. "Cobra" motor that my old friend Tom Walters helped me build.  It had 11.5:1 compression, a radical racing camshaft (308 duration, .540 lift), an Edlebrock Street Master intake manifold and many other items that I won't bore you with here.  With these modifications, people in the know said that it was putting out over 500 horsepower! As you can probably guess, it was very fast - in fact I never lost a street race.  I took it to the Drag Races once at the old Orange County International Raceway (OCIR), but it didn't do as well as I had hoped.  Even with the rather tall 3.08 rearend gearing, it ran a 14.01 E.T., at just over 100 MPH in the quarter mile. The car was capable of much better times. The problem was it had so much wheel spin, it was ridiculous. When I punched the throttle it just sat there for nearly two full seconds with smoke pouring out from under the rear wheel wells.  I started pumping the gas peddle like a Top Fuel Dragster does when traction is lost, but it was all over by then. Once the tires started to spin, it was too late. They would smoke all the way through first gear, and well into second.  With lower gearing and better traction the car would probably have run well into the 11 second quarter mile times.  When street racing, I almost always started from a roll.  If you jumped on the gas from about 20 MPH, it would push you back in the seat so hard you couldn't lean forward if you tried!  After blowing up two transmissions in the first two years, I sold the engine, and gave the car back to my brother Ed.  In fact, he still has the car, and has restored to better than new condition. He's now running a healthy 351W motor, and he enters it in car shows regularly.  In fact, he has won several trophies for his efforts.

Former Play Toys

Jumping on my old Honda 250X ("Thumper")

The second sand toy I owned was a 1997 Honda FourTrax 250X (the first being a Yamaha 225DX three wheeler).  Soon after buying the Honda, I added a Cobra pipe, modified the carburetor, added a trick ignition system and several other items to make it faster in the dunes.  It ran pretty respectably on the hills, but was no match for the big boys, so I decided to move up to the Banshee that I ride today.

My Obsessions

I love to play with cars, so much in fact I don't think I could ever buy a car or truck and leave it stock for very long.  They just cry out to me and say things like "lower me" or "change my wheels, I need fatter tires".  I guess it comes from my earlier days of model car building - I could never build a car model with the parts they came with!  Every car I've owned, I've lowered or raised, changed tires and wheels modified the engine, exhaust or something.

My favorite sport is Drag Racing, National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to be specific.  What other motor sport can you see two cars racing side by side that can cover a quarter mile from a standing start in 4.5 seconds, at speeds reaching 330 MPH?  According to the latest information from the experts, the Top Fuel cars of today produce well over 6,000 horsepower!  During one run down the track, they will burn 15 gallons of nitro methane fuel (They say that's the equivalent of 8 shower heads running at full blast!).  My favorite drivers are Bob Glidden, who is a retired Pro Stock driver, John Force, for Funny Car and Eddie Hill (also currently retired), for Top Fuel Dragster.  I also love watching the Pro category motorcycles (Pro Stock Bike's), and the Sportsman cars.  The other motor sports I like to watch are the open wheeled Indy cars (known as CART now), any type of boat racing (Drag Boats, Offshore, Unlimited Hydroplanes or Formula One), and anything else that goes fast, including planes.  To make it simple, I love all forms of racing.  In case you're wondering, I don't watch football (except maybe the Super Bowl), baseball or basketball.  I guess I'm just a gear head!

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Last Update:  October 01, 2002