Eckler Industries

A finished restoration worth the wait.

As we all know, the interior carpet is subject to some of the most brutal and constant abuse your car will ever see. How many times have you launched a full soda or cup of coffee into your floorboard only to let it sit there as you watch the carpet soak it up? If you’re lucky, you have a dark colored interior that will help mask the ever-popular blunder and minimize the spill area (except for the stench and stickiness, that is)

My Ford Falcon was a fleet car built in Kansas City, Missouri on 2/13/67. The car was sold at Bradshaw Ford Mercury in St. George, Utah on 2/27/67. To who, or what fleet I am unsure. It was well used in southern Utah, and as far as I know sat in Hurricane, Utah of a number of years under a tree. Southern Utah is a dry desert area and the car was virtually rust free, except for some small holes in the floor pans where water had leaked in through the cowl.

I’ve been a car guy since I was 11 and have owned several muscle cars…never a Corvette though. So, it made sense to buy a Vette so I could better understand our customers, the community, and hobby/lifestyle. After hours of research, I decided on a 2001 C5.

One of the most common questions in classic Chevy car circles is: “Why don’t they make this part for my car?” As a supplier and manufacturer to the aftermarket for many years, we will attempt to answer this question and shed some light on manufacturing parts for the aftermarket and classic car market.

In school, a couple of buddies and I caught the car bug and realized we were becoming “Car Guys”. Not sure how we got this sickness. We all grew up on farms and had to help fix whatever was broken (or we messed up). Maybe it was all the car magazines we read. We all wanted something old, cool and fast for our first cars! Plus, they would be easier to fix than the modern 1980’s cars.

I have owned my 1974 Z/28 Type LT since 1989 or 1990, depending on what part of it you are talking about. I have only owned one other car longer. My attraction to it started in high school when a friend bought a beautiful, low-mileage ’73 Z/28 with a 4-speed.  He took me for a ride and I was impressed at how docile it was to drive normally, but it was an animal when he got on it. That stuck with me, so when in 1989 a co-worker announced he was selling his ’74 Z/28 4-speed, I was interested. Beautiful it was not, but I bought it for about what the engine and transmission were worth. It was originally from New Jersey, then was brought to Florida to live on the beach. As you can imagine, this meant there was rust everywhere

It’s that time of year again – summer! These are the times we look so forward to all winter long - warm summer days that blend seamlessly into the night, giving us plenty of time for those classic car get-togethers.