How to modify or restore your car, for beginners.

Read more:
About me
The Plan
Picking your Project
Your Workspace

My name is Jeff Darling, I'm 26, self employed and I have run this website full time since the start of 2005. I have lived in England, America and Scotland although at the moment I live in Spain. This movement has given me the opportunity to work on both European and American cars.

I did most of my schooling in England but I completed High School in America, after I went to Central Lakes College in Minnesota and studied autobody repair. I never completed the course. After the first year I realised that I wanted to do this as a hobby, not a job.

In 2003 I moved back to the UK where I did a BTEC in Transport Design at Coventry University, and gained a distinction. I intended to continue onto a degree in Automotive design. Unfortunately because I was an 'International student' that BTEC cost around £20,000 all said and done. This wiped out all funds for further education.

To cut a long story short I started diseno-art.com as a hobby but its success has meant that it is now my job.

The projects I have been involved in include my own vehicles and paid work for others.
My own projects include:
- Custom 1991 Chevrolet Camaro
- Restored and mildly custom 1971 Ford Mustang
- Restored 1970 Triumph Spitfire
- Restored 1975 MGB (see below)
- Custom widebody 1976 Datsun 280Z (see below)
- 16 ft Bayliner Capri open bow speed boat fibreglass repair
- 18 ft Crestliner aluminium runabout full restoration

I have also fitted a full bodykit to a 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse a racing spoiler to a 1999 Eclipse, a widebody kit to a 1995 Eagle Talon and repaired minor front end crash damage on a 1994 Corvette.

During the summer of 2005 I was contracted to design and build the fiberglass casing for the worlds first mobile fiberglass wood fired oven, an oven currently working all over the UK at shows and events.

Here are some pictures of the Datsun 280Z widebody project. Unfortunately I had to sell the car when I moved back to England to help pay for University and I never finished it, something I deeply regret.

When I bought the car it had only had one previous owner, a doctor, but the car had sat for 14 years and rust had really messed with the thin metal wings and rear arches, the rest was solid however so I decided to have a go at a wild custom and began building the enormous arches you see here.
The car if I remember correctly was 80.5 inches wide across the rear arches. This made it wider than a Lamborghini Diablo GT, The worlds widest
production car.

Here is also a picture of a 1975 MGB I restored. When I bought the car the front wing on the side that is shown was completely crushed due to a low speed accident. After a lot of heating, panel beating and shrinking with a hammer I got it so close to its original shape that I was able to apply a thin coat of filler and then paint.

The cars are both painted in the same color because I wanted to get a lick of paint on the Datsun before winter set in just to seal it, It's not because I'm obsessed with green!

If you would like to learn a little more on how to pick a car to restore or customise on a budget please read on.