CUSTOM CAR: A Nuts-and-Bolts Guide to Creating One

Two guys with a few tools and $5500 convert a junker Ford into a sleek street machine. ""Taking apart an engine is one of the easiest jobs imaginable."" Suspend your disbelief: as the author says, ""the people who build and repair engines aren't any smarter than you."" With casual confidence, he describes how he and Tom Walsh--a mechanic and the book's ""technical consultant""--breathed new, funky life into an old, rusty, fire-damaged car--rebuilding the engine, replacing much of the trim and interior, carefully shopping for bargains and ideas. Murphy has sound advice for prospective customizers (outline goals in advance: don't buy specialized tools that can be borrowed or rented; etc.), and plenty of b&w photos with chatty captions show the work in progress as well as sample-parts catalogs and specialty magazines. But this is not an instruction manual (neither text nor illustrations are specific) or even an ""insider's"" guide: Murphy doesn't go into how much time or room the project needed, and--except in cleaning the engine compartment--he barely mentions getting dirty. The ""can-do"" attitude is infectious, however, and readers will find the agenda, general suggest ions, and price and tool lists helpful. Despite the fairy-tale quality here--the car cost $75, the extensive bodywork and painting, including a hood scoop and racing strip, only $1800--this makes a breezy first book for both doers and dreamers. Index.