History
History - About the owner of Tuned Perfection
When I was about 14 years old I wanted a cool Radio Controlled Car. So after looking at the Tamiya line, I settled on the “Monster Beetle” because it was different. That got me interested in VW Beetles. My Aunt and Uncle bought me a book in Las Vegas and it was the History of the VW Beetle by Terry Shuler. Shortly after that, my cousin bought me an issue of VW Trends magazine. Those cool cars got me hooked! I bought my first beetle at age 15, a 1973 Super Beetle. I had big plans for it, but considering I couldn’t drive at all, let alone standard, I had to be content listening to my Van Halen cassette tapes in the Realistic radio in the driveway. This car turned out to be a disappointment as no body man would attempt to fix the rot on it. They said for a VW it wasn’t worth it. So I parted it out the best I could and gave the rest away to the local wrecking yard. I could not even take out the motor so the tow truck driver had it in his dune buggy that afternoon. Man, to know then what I know now!
I was still looking for a good project car through the summer that year, and my family went up to the Barrie Flea market in the fall to see what we could find. Back in the late 80’s there was no E-Bay or Samba to find a car! We saw a poster made up for a 1970 VW Beetle. The car was not there, so we drove up to Bracebridge the next weekend. It was a project car for a guy in his early 20’s and was already in primer. One piece windows in the box, Empi wheels, tons of other new parts in boxes, but the car was in pieces. No fenders, interior, glass, front beam was out, no engine. But supposedly it was all there, in the many boxes laying around. So we struck a deal and a couple of weeks later my dad and a buddy went up with a truck and garden trailer and brought it home. This was around Halloween of ’89 if I remember correctly. A lot of work, time, money and it was ready to show for the summer of 1991. I won a few awards that year, and then that winter it went through some changes. I believe the first upgrade was a 1776cc engine with dual Dells, then the stereo got done, new wheels, every winter something got updated. The next major overhaul was the winter of 2001 when Kaption Audio and I inked a deal to do up the stereo with Kaption product and show it on behalf of Kaption for the next 2 years. Fiberglass speaker enclosure, custom amp rack, in dash DVD, the works. You can still see it on the Kaption Audio website. That summer my 1776cc engine broke the end off of a valve and took out some internal stuff like the piston, put a hole through the case, and left me stranded on the side of the 407. My engine builder had a stock 1600cc built by the end of that weekend, and that got me to my Kaption obligations for the rest of the year. But in 2003 I installed a fresh, all new, 2110cc engine from CB Performance in California. What a difference! It has run strong with no problems since I put it in. Over 4000 miles on it now. The summer of 2003 also saw the air ride suspension added from Air Lift Company. At the time it was the way to go, but nowadays I believe the kit from Airkewld is the best route. The kit does work for all I need it to do, drop the car in the weeds for show, and raise it so I can drive it without clenching my jaw every time I hit a bump. I have since sold that car to a gentleman in Pembrooke who will keep good care of it, and my '56 was sold to a gentleman in Mississauga who is looking forward to cruising it on the streets. I am basically done the '59 vert and have advertised it for sale, but will continue to enjoy it if it does not sell. I am updating the '65 bus with a new interior next on the list, then will be starting on the '73 vert for my wife in a bit. Plus whatever other projects fall on my lap.
So, what now? Why Tuned Perfection?
Well, the time has come to give back to the VW community. I remember when I started out building my car the service I got. The shop picked up the car for me, worked on it, brought it back, was always there to answer my questions, and generally made me feel good about having an old VW. Now I’d be lying to say I’m only doing this because I’m a swell guy! But I am doing it in part because I don’t think there is a good VW shop around that is “grass roots”. I’m not doing this to take a run at any established shops in the area by any means. I am offering some product lines that I feel are lacking in this area, and good, old-fashioned service. If there is a show in the area I’ll let my customers know I’ll be there and maybe we can drive out to it together. If a customer has a car broken down and needs a tow, hopefully I can help out. If I can fix the problem I will. If I can’t do it myself, I know someone who can. Tuned Perfection is really a network of people and shops helping each other out and through it hopefully we can attract more people into the hobby and bring some who have left it, back.