My '64 convertible lives with me here in North Pole, Alaska and is my daily driver, (That's what I meant by "Pile's Driver" which is my attempt at humor.) Yes, North Pole is a real place and yes, I drive a '64 Chevy convertible way up here.

I want to start my story by saying that just because one is a grownup it doesn't mean you don't need encouragement from time to time. Sometimes I like to tinker around in the garage; however my mechanic skills occasionally fall short of the knowledge required for any given project. When that happens I take my project to Vern at Goldpanners Chevron in Fairbanks. He has cleaned up my attempts to "do-it-yourself" for the past twenty-five years. In fact, he has told my wife to take my tools away from me several times. Ok, that wasn't exactly encouraging to me, but that's what friends are for…right?

Years before my Chevy became a project car it had a few "mishaps." Once it made contact with a moose as John Junior was returning from a bonding experience with his friends at Denali National Park. On another occasion son, Mike, had a flat and in the process of repairing it the Chevy moved off the jack and the jack went through the left quarter panel. Then I, after stopping at a red light, watched a UPS truck make a left turn on Cushman Street and 5th Avenue in Fairbanks and without looking at the light, I assumed it was green and moved into the path of a large Dodge power wagon that made contact with the left rear quarter panel. In all of these mishaps no one was injured, which says a lot for the durability of the '64. I would discover later that the frame had been bent…just a little though. A few months after the mishap, I put the Impala down for a nap under a blue tarp and waited for the opportunity to wake her up again.

Several years later I reached under the tarp and could feel a weak pulse and decided it was time to revive the old '64. I contacted the fine people at Late Great Chevy to send me two quarter panels. They too found room under the blue tarp for a long nap. I started looking for professional help. I discovered it is not cheap to raise the dead. The experts all said that I was looking at a $15,000 project and assured me that it would be money well spent, because when the project was done I would be able to get my money back if I ever sold it. Experts…didn't they know that if I was going to sell it, it would have been sold years ago?

Well, I looked at the project this way: I'm retired. I have time. I needed a project. I could do no greater harm than had already been done and some folks said there is nothing to it. So I started the reconstruction with no skills, no knowledge, very little money, but with a strong desire.

First thing I needed to do was straighten the frame. No problem! I hooked one end of a chain to the front, the other to a birch tree and started backing up. Each time I ducked below the dash because I had heard the stories and have seen what a few people look like when a chain "gets away from you." In two weeks it looked "good enough."

The windshield was easy to purchase, but after unsuccessfully trying to adjust the frame to accept it by putting a jack on the dash and jacking up the window frame, I did seek the help of a body shop, which was $300 well spent. Then it was time to tackle the quarter panels.

Sears had a sale on air compressors and the deal came with a free air hammer and chisels. Now was the time for courage. This was a point of no return. It was amazing; the air chisels cut the metal like going through butter. I had both rear quarters off in an afternoon. I started looking for other things to cut, but decided I better put the air hammer away. Cutting was easy, but matching up the new quarter panels was tricky. I discovered the panels did not fit quite right. I think they were designed for a two-door not a convertible. Right off I discovered it is real easy to cut metal with an air chisel, but very difficult to cut it right. There was also the little lip that is designed to fit into the window well; cutting to fit the lip was a problem. After a while everything fit…"good enough" for me.

Now it was time to attach the quarters, but I didn't know how to weld. Still don't. However, there are some smart young fellows who work at my local auto paint store and they offered me some excellent advice. They told me to glue on the panels. Now I have been an elementary school principal for thirty-five years so I do know how to paste. I was encouraged. Soon, two quarter panels were attached. I used my school modeling clay experience and Bondo to cover up the seams and then started sanding. I discovered one never completes the sanding process, one just says, "That's good enough."

Next it was on to Home Depot to get eight plastic drop cloths and soon the garage was a plastic bubble, with an Impala in the middle. A $50 spray gun and $125 worth of auto enamel paint and I was done…except for hearing about the smell coming into the house for a week.

When it comes to body work on cars there seems to be a lot more critics than there are pats on the back. I didn't plan to show my car, I just wanted to enjoy it. Now that the car was finished I got a new registration sticker and proudly stuck the "07" over top of the "04" and hit the road.

Yes, there is a leak around the windshield, but it won't rain again in Alaska until May. Yes I could have sanded a little more. Yes, there is a drip below the door handle. Yes, I am a little concerned about the glue holding up at 50 below. Yes, those chrome eyebrows look a little battered and they are attached with sheet metal screws. Yes, I have a smile as I crank up CCR on the tape deck and head to Fairbanks. At 60mph in the heavy ice fog nothing looks better than my 1964 Chevy Impala SuperSport Convertible. It is "good enough" for me.

I did it all by myself with a little encouragement from my friends. You won't see me at another Chevy convention because the closest one will still be at least 2000 miles each way. However, my kids are nice to me these days because they know I have yet again put the "1964 Ragtop" in my will.