NCO pours heart and soul into rebuilding cars

By Jordan Chapman, 1st Infantry Division Public AffairsJanuary 21, 2010

NCO pours heart and soul into rebuilding cars
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Turning over the ignition and hearing an engine come to life means more to Sgt. Edward Pacola than to most. Not because he owns it, but because he built it.

Helping to restore and build cars with his father since the age of two before he took on his first car rebuild, a 1964 and half Ford Mustang in 1996. Pacola enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2004 as a mechanic before joining the Commanding General's Mounted Color Guard at Fort Riley in May 2008.

It's safe to say that Pacola is a master when it comes to cars.

"It's a hobby that keeps me away from everything," Pacola said, describing his time building cars as a way to escape. "I'm really fascinated by old cars, and I like to preserve the times when those cars came out."

Doing all of the work himself with builds lasting from one to three years, a lot of money, sweat and patience is poured into the garage housing his passion.

"I like to take my time and do it right," the automotive specialty equipment assessment and Master Certified mechanic said.

But bringing a car back past years of rust and neglect is not easy.

The process starts at salvage and junk yards. After purchasing the vehicle, normally for about $3,000 to $4,000, the car is taken back to be stripped down to get a good "base" to build off of.

"You salvage all of the good parts you can use," Pacola said, explaining that finding parts that are no longer in production can be a very difficult task but a fun challenge.

"The part I like the most is building the engine. It's the heart of the car and is what's going to make it go. It's the most fun to do, to get in to the guts of everything and see how it works," he said, noting cars older than 1975 as the most enjoyable to work on.

"It's the raw power of them. They're simple, point A to point B," he said. "When it's done you receive a sense of fulfillment. You hear it start up and you know that you put that together."

Taking apart and rebuilding engines is not the only thing to be done when refurbishing a classic car. Pacola also paints and focuses on the interior of the vehicles, though his most recent success, a 1969 Dodge Coronet, had an interior that barely needed any work done.

"The interior was all original. All I had to do was clean it up ... the only thing I replaced was the dash pad and that was it," he said, adding that after taking the car to a detailer to be professionally cleaned, the inside of the car was ready to go. "Interiors are hard to find like that, but with this one the windows were up and in a shaded spot so the sun couldn't come down and eat everything up. It was well preserved, well kept and forgotten about."

"The guy I bought it from ... didn't even know it was there for the longest time, and it was on his land. He said, 'Take it,' but when I saw what it was, I kind of felt guilty," Pacola said, explaining that the car was one of 3,200 ever made.

Pacola ended up offering and paying $3,000 for the car before putting in another $20,000 to make it pretty.

After Pacola finished the hotrod, he started taking it to drag races simply because he put a "little too much" into the engine and wanted to show it off.

"People laughed at me because I had a four door on the drag strip but whatever," he said with a grin.

"It has 685 horsepower so I figured I would see what it would do," he said, happy about the few races he did win.

Pacola sold the car for $27,000 and put the remaining profit into his next project, which he is hoping to be an older 1930s truck.

"It's a disease. Once you start you can't stop," he laughed, hoping to someday get the chance to rebuild his dream car, a 1972 Ford Torino. "I wouldn't let go of that one if I had it."

Pacola has now rebuilt a total of five cars by himself: a 1964 A,A1/2 Ford Mustang, a 1971 F-100 Ford Pick-Up, a 1975 Ford F-250 Highboy, a 1983 Pontiac Firebird, the 1969 Dodge Coronet and a 1971 Mach 1 Mustang he helped his father build.

"It's fun for me to do," he said.

Pacola hopes to have his own car shop after he completes his service in the Army.