Local car restoration guy featured on ‘Overhaulin’

Local classic performance car enthusiasts can watch one of their own in action on July 4. An episode of The Learning Channel’s Overhaulin’ program will air that evening; Ed Johnson of Sisters was part of the team that restored the featured car.

The car had languished in its owner’s mother’s yard for years. The owner, Jamie, tooled around his southern California neighborhoods in it during his high school days, but was unable to get it going again when it conked out. Jamie’s girlfriend and his mother contacted the Overhaulin’ crew in secret and Jamie was suckered into believing the car had been sold.

Strung along for a week by the production crew and several other cohorts, Jamie searched fruitlessly for his beloved car. Meanwhile, a team that included Johnson worked tirelessly to restore the vehicle. The reunion between Jamie and his car was... well, you’ll have to watch the show for details.

Overhaulin’, starring Chip Foose, is the car nut’s version of Extreme Home Makeover. Foose has a state-of-the-art workshop/sound-stage in Irvine, California. The crew is filmed endlessly during the restoration which must make for some interesting shots. After all, much of car restoration takes place in cramped, dark spaces.

Foose picked up his love of cars from his father. He went on to art school and combines the two passions in his show. Foose draws a conceptual sketch of the restored car while he’s talking to the person responsible for the car’s arrival on the show. By the time he’s found out details of the owner’s love affair with the vehicle, he has a color sketch ready that the restoration crew works from.

Johnson’s involvement in the show came from his dealings with a Bend firm, Dearborn Classics. The company manufactures and distributes classic Ford parts. Johnson’s personal restoration projects are Fords and he uses Dearborn for parts. Since his retirement, he’s done some consulting and development work for them.

When Dearborn invited him and a friend, Jim Beatie from the Tacoma area, to represent the company on the show and be a part of the restoration team, both men jumped at the chance. Johnson was in charge of getting the brand new engine and drive train installed, and he said that by the end of the arduous week, “This old man was tired.”

The show was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Johnson, and he looks forward to a summer of tinkering with his 1967 Ford Fairlane convertible and watching his son race their 1966 Ford Fairlane drag race car.

“I’ve been around cars most of my life,” he said. “Like most car people, I have a preference for a certain type; mine is Fords.”

With all those connections to Ford, it’s a pretty sure bet that you’ll see one unveiled on the Overhaulin’ show.