J
uan Alvarado has lived in Maricopa since 1955. As a
hobby, he’s been working on cars all his life—professionally,
Alvarado was also a diesel mechanic supervisor that
worked at Asarco, one of the largest mining companies in
Arizona.
“I have had a lot of cars in my years, ones that I would buy
at $150 and get rid of it in a week or two, and a few I should
have kept,” Alvarado said.
Alvarado says he’s had a lot of restoration projects in his
time, and his latest project, is a ‘53 Chevy Bel Air was
nothing but a shell when he bought it two years ago in Casa
Grande. Alvarado had been
looking at it for a couple of months before he
decided to go for it, again.
“I like fooling with cars,” Alvarado said.
Everything in it is original. The most difficult part for
Alavardo was rebuilding the transmission. He says that
alone took 6 months, and had to go to different shops to get
it done right. There are a few items still remaining to finish,
including installation of a radio, but once the weather cools
off, Alvarado will get back to work on it and is “pretty much
done”. He will also start working on a ‘72 VW Van that has
been sitting in the driveway.
The outcome of this Bel Air will be different from his previous ones, luckily, Alavarado plans to keep it and pass it
down to his son.
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