Jeff Bork's first car was a 1964 Chevrolet Impala.
When he owned that car some 30 years ago, he could find a solution to any problem his car had.
"Back in the day, that was a car that I could fix anything on," he said. "In high school, if something broke, I could fix it."
Now, Bork, an Oslo, Minn., native, is going about restoring the same car he had back in the day.
Bork, who works in the parts department at Dahlstrom Motors in Oslo, has loved cars for most of his life, beginning when he was in high school. He and his friends were always around cars, tearing things apart to see how they worked and then putting them back together.
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He couldn't afford to buy a nice car for himself at that time, so he said he worked all summer to earn the $400 he needed to buy the Impala he wanted.
"I worked the entire summer, working for farmers and mowing lawns so I could pay for that car," he said.
Because the motor of the car was shot, Bork also had to search for parts to make his new ride driveable.
"That's kind of the first time I did anything like this," Bork said.
Restoring cars
In the past, Bork has redone a 1971 Triumph TR6, which took five years. He found the car in a field when it was nothing but a shell.
"It was a fun little car," he said.
He had been on the lookout for that particular car because it was the same car his brother had when he got back from Vietnam.
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"He gave me a ride in that thing, and I thought it was the neatest thing ever," he said. "So as soon as I saw that, I said, 'I want that.' "
He is currently restoring two cars - the Impala and a 1976 Nissan Datsun. The Datsun only needs minor repairs in comparison to the Impala, which needs a complete overhaul, he said.
He hopes to have the Impala done in about five years, which he said is always his goal with these projects.
Bork said he tries to work on the cars a couple hours a week, but time can sometimes be the biggest issue, especially with people who have jobs and families.
"If you miss a week, then all of a sudden that turns into two or three weeks," he said. "Then you aren't actively working on the car anymore and ... it will take you forever.
"Even when you hit points where you think, 'This is overwhelming,' you have to keep going."
Bork said he searches around for the best deals on parts, with the Internet making it easier than it's ever been to look for parts and search for prices.
For people looking to restore their cars, Bork suggests they do their research so they're fully aware of what they're getting themselves into and to plan for the project to take longer than they anticipate.
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"Doing this is very rewarding," he said. "There's nothing quite like seeing the finishing product and driving away in it."
