1994 BMW 325is Looks great but, had water in the oil, Took the head off, never confirmed source of coolant leak. It overheated quickly when driven. 120K miles on it. Got it back together and drove it. First major engine tear down. In way over our heads. March 2012.
Above valve covers off, Below whole head off. Got it back together and running somehow which was no small accomplishment. All Cameron.
1971 Datsun 240Z Found behind Park Motors in Palo Alto, Bought for $500. Front end and subframe damage from offroading. Radiator pushed into the fan. We fully restored this including carburetors, all suspension, rear end, body structure, custom headers and exhaust system, welding in a new front cross member and $2500 paint job 11/13. Drove this car in Napa for many years during restoration, putting 3000 miles on it. Sold it for $9500 on 6/14/2018. This was a fun car. Acquired March 8, 2012. Cameron was then a senior in high school just before his third aortic valve replacement. We never rebuilt the engine on it. It was one of the first dual overhead cam engines but, only a single overhead cam actuating both intake and exhaust valves.
There was lots of rust under the battery mount, enough that the frame there had been welded before. We welded another patch on top. The whole frame on that side was pushed back a couple inches. A body shop declined to straighten it for fear of tearing the frame apart.
Above you can see the damaged front cross member before replacement.
We replaced the exhaust manifold with full headers. The exhaust note of this car was exceptional. Note both intake and exhaust ports on the same side of this single overhead cam engine and the space under the hood making it easy to work on this straight 6 engine.
Body Work July 23,2012.
Running with new 17" wheels up from 13" wheels which brought the look up to date. May 12, 2012
Blown Differential while driving in Napa, June 19, 2012.
New bumper added and air dam added to 240Z.
Totota Scion TC, Manual transmission.First daily driver car acquired ~9/2012
Mitsubishi Evo 10 Post surgery 3 to look forward to. Crazy exotic performance, traction control, 4 wheel drive with transverse engine in front. 2 Liter turbo.
MG midget, Engine was seized, never ran. hauled it to junk yard.
Datsun 510 with unfinished Engine Swap, never got engine running, no controller
Aerial Atom custom copy built in Utah by a future Tesla engineer, Acura 2L engine. Fixed fuel pressure problem and ball joints and sold to a guy in Montana who came out and towed it home behind an RV. We bought it by leaving a note and waiting a year. Got it for $600.
Toyota Corolla AE86 Put an aftermarket custom engine controller on this and got it to run. This is where we learned how to control and monitor an engine from a laptop with real time graphics of the engine operating parameters, fuel to air ratio, timing, etc. We got it running well enough to sell it as a "runner". It had a fuel pressure problem which we fixed with a new regulator. It was fuel injected.
1994 Ford Mustang Notchback, 5L 3/21/2015
Start of an unnamed vehicle tubular frame contruction. 6/28/15.
He was an accomplished welder by age 28 and was about to get a more advanced dual mode welder for Christmas 2022. Working here in the Camalie Vineyards garage.
Cameron and Taso with Taso's VW engine in for diagnostics. ~11/15
Datsun 510 with engine swap DOHC. The guy had rebuilt the engine but, had never run it. The dash was all missing. Really this was a project car at the end of the line.
Nissan 350Z salvage, tore out all of the interior for lightening including dash except for instruments.
Stripped interior of the 350 Z intended to "reduce the weight of the car" for better acceleration. He did the same with his EVO but, put most of it back together to sell it to someone in Florida.
Nissan 240SX from out on the Delta. So low slung we had trouble getting it on the trailer. We didn't do much with this one. Soon Flipped.
Ford Ranger Pickup nice but, boring.
MG- Midget frozen engine. Took to Palo Alto High School Automotive class. disassembled some and hauled to Affinity Recyclers in East Palo Alto Eventually.
Datsun 510 parts car with a newly rebuilt swap engine that the builder gave up on. I think we flipped it for a small profit. We never got it running.
1968 Volkswagen Beetle, Bought from high school student in Antioch, June 4, 2016, Cameron built the engine and customized it, brought it up to 1923cc, dual webber carbs, MSD electronic ignition, 1 3/8" exhaust headers, high rise cam, extra tension valve springs for higher rev, special high torque starter, new spring free clutch, no smog needed, all parts still available. reupholstered seats. Repainted it with touch up paint. Goes like a bat out of hell. Fun to drive. Low ratio transmission for such a high torque engine makes it very fast off the line. I still have this car, put 4000 miles on it in 8 years and still runs like a top.
2017 Ford Focus ST, The first vehicle bought new. Although this is Ford's high performance version of the Focus he still went ahead and put in a Cobb tuner, special exhaust, speed shifter, ISC racing suspension lowered to 3" height and stiffest shock setting. This car has a big turbo on it so it is extremely fast. It handles like it is on rails but, the ride is so stiff you need the seat belt to keep from hitting your head on the roof when going over a bump. He put 42K miles on it. I paid off $8K debt left on it at his passing and took ownership of it 4/23. I still have this car.
Lexus is300 with engine swap, custom controller and big turbo, This was rocket ship, scary. Set up for drifting all day long. Smog impossible. Ugly short problem in wiring harness over the engine that took us a week and 8 fuse additions to track down.
1995 Chevrolet 2500 Pickup, Bought cheap, needed battery and alternator but, transmission was starting to go. Sold it quickly
2003 Dodge Neon. Replaced throw out bearing, Pulled the transmission off transverse engine to do so. Title problem due to prior owner having a ticket for loud muffler which then required full inspection of modifications which was hard to get. Needed stock ECU to pass inspection. Gave up and sold it. Engine ran great with Turbo. Very high performance.
1980 Triumph TR7 rare convertible, 2L SOHC, found in a Palo Alto Neighborhood. Bought by leaving a note, $500. Call back a month later. 69K miles, parked in 1988 for 30 years. Whole fuel system rusted or gummed up. Ignition and electrical working but, getting it to smog will be tough. Surprisingly parts are available. Drove the car and decided it was as doggy as they say. Not worth fully restoring. Sold to a farmer in Modesto $2200, put in $2900 + labor. This was mostly my Dad's project.
2000 Nissan Frontier Dessert Runner SE Pick up bought from co-worker 6/20 to haul motocycles. V6, high mileage but, well kept. Keeping this for a while
8/25/20 moved to Modesto.
Cameron's first ride at age 2. 1996.
Same bike as above 1977 Honda 80 XL75 Grandpa Herb's weekend sport machine where Cameron first learned to ride motocycle. Still have this but, engine modified and new ignition and charging systems added. Cameron's sister Natalie is riding it below. We still have this.
125cc National ATV bought from Ramon Pulido for $400. Engine wouldn't idle, worn out, probably bad valves. . Eventually took it apart and junked.
KTM Duke 690 Bought used from dealer. Didn't keep very long.
Yamaha YZ125 Dirt Bike 2 cycle. Scary power for a small engine.
Tore this one down to the bare bones and was going to use the engine for a go cart. Changed mind and put it back together.
Suzuki DR350 No electric start, almost impossible to kick start even with compression release feature.
1996 Yamaha FZR600, air box refitting to carbs was a nightmare. Broke the air box trying to get it on. Needed a new battery installed. Painted the faring Yamaha Metallic Blue helped sell it. Ran fine. This was a Frankenstein bike cobbled together from parts from 2 different bikes. Never registered or tracked. No title.
2001 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R , turned this one into a track bike, run at Thunder Hill a couple times. Needed some significant carburetor tuning but, now runs well. Right side fairing ripped off at 115mph on one track day, bought and installed new fairings.
2008 BMW R1200GS Road Touring bike, 42K miles, put in a new transmission. Had the wrong clutch fluid causing problems with clutch slippage. Drove it to L.A and back, 10/19.
2004 KTM 950 Adventure replaced carbs with accelerator pump racing carbs. Did some repainting 122,000 miles on it and a South Dakota title made it hard to sell still we got $2500 for it.
2017 BMW S1000R Salvage but newest technology. Needed new dash/headlamps. Put on farings and took it to the track.
2007 Vespa LX150 registered 12/10/20Missing parts but, since all restored, Needed new carburetor, tires, turn signals, headlamp. I got my M1 license to ride this around town once in a while on Sunday Mornings and think about Cameron.
2001 Suzuki GSXR1000 1000cc Sport bike, 7800 miles, was raced, ridden hard, painted yellow to indicate rookie status, AMA upgrades for racing. Not the prettiest bike but, fuel injected and 160HP. Very high RPM capable, 12K. paid $900 for it. Messed with the wiring and bricked the ECU. Sold it for $600, 8/20.
2006 Honda CBR600RR Bought this from the neighbor kid around the corner, $1500. It wouldn't stay in 4th or 5th gear. Had to split case to do transmission rebuild. Sold for $4000.
2012 KTM Duke 990 50,000 miles on it. Looked good, but, dead battery didn't let us see it had no oil pressure and lots of metal in the oil. Seller hid the fact it had a salvage title. paid $2000 for it. Not the best buy.
2017 BMW R1200 GSA Dream bike 8/22/20 purchased with the proceeds of the 4 other bikes and Neon sale.
2015 BMW S1000RR salvage Super Bike got in a swap with Tad. Tad said it has one of the highest power to weight ratios of any commercial bike something like 220HP/500lbs. This was a project that never got finished. It went back to Tad for $1000 and all the help he provided selling 4 of Cameron's other bikes. Registered 5/17/21.
2009 BMW GS1200 This is the bike he was riding when he crashed into a truck tire in the roadway and was thrown under a truck and killed. 12/13/22. Registered 10/16/22.
1987 Yamaha vintage bike, big fairings and mirrors and headlights. He bought it just for the look of it. Never registered.
2009 Honda Sport Bike, pretty beat up, looks like a bargain purchase, never registered.
2010 Kawasaki KZ1000, Registered. 10/6/22.
2022 Ducati Multi Strada purchased new, $5K down, $25K financed. Purchased two months before his death. He rode it 1000 miles in that time but, didn't ride it the day of his crash. A&S motorcycles, his employer, helped me sell it for $17K. He got to ride his dream bike. He had tried to buy a Triumph Speed Triple and had completed the purchase but defects in two bikes and parts delays prevented delivery in a reasonable timeframe so he abandoned that idea and bought the Ducati. It was a lot of debt but, it was absolutely the right thing to do in retrospect.
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He owned and rode a lot of vehicles as if he knew his time was limited. I'm glad he did. I helped him sell many of the vehicles on Craigslist. He seldom kept the proceeds of a sale in his pocket for long. All good.
Scooters
High performance BZM engine $700 Christmas present added to this Big Boy scooter. This is where is all started.
Couple Trevor Simpson Engines.
Scooter gang of 3. Sergio, Taso, Cameron. You could hear them coming a mile away.
Big Boy with RM65 engine and 6 speed transmission, sold for $1000.
Last Edited 4/12/24 M.H.