This is one in a series of special 91原创 Advance Times stories about what to expect at this year鈥檚 91原创 Good Times Cruise-In, happening this Saturday, Sept. 7, in Aldergrove. You can also check out this series in our special keepsake edition, which hit the streets on Wednesday and available in limited quantity at the car show.
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91原创 Good Times Cruise-In regulars Brian and Mindy Chudik discovered a mutual love of cars and a talent for restoring them when they were newlyweds.
"I painted my first car in my mom's garage when I was 23 years old," Brian recalled.
"I had no money. It was a '57 Chev that was in a pretty bad car accident."
Mindy suggested he fix it up and she would try to sell it so they could get some money out of the car.
"I just picked up a few books, started reading," Brian said.
After the self-taught car restorer welded on a section of another '57 to the damaged car and refinished it, the results were good enough to win "best paint" at a PNE car show.
Ever since, cars have been a big part of their life.
"What we did, when we finally bought a house, I had a separate garage to do body and paint, and we built show cars," said Brian. "It's been our lifestyle for 40 years now."
Currently, the Chilliwack residents have seven collector cars and shelves packed with trophies.
It takes determination and patience to resurrect cool old cars, especially when holding down a full-time aircraft maintenance job at Air Canada, Brian noted.
"Imagine working a regular job, plus it takes me two years working on a car every day to finally do a frame-off restoration, about 2,000 hours, 2,400 hours. So you have to be driven. You have to have the time," he explained.
"If you're missing one of those, a car will never get done. Every day you take a day off, it's a day [longer to completion]. And that's why I think a lot of car projects never get done. They're either lacking time, the money, or the talent."
Over those 40 years, Mindy has occasionally picked up tools to work on cars with her husband.
"A little bit. Not that much," she specified.
"Sometimes when he has a car to bleed the brakes, I do that."
For her the high point is the car shows, like Cruise-In, which they are planning to attend, and bring one of their cars. .
"The best part for me is attending all these car events all over, and meeting people with same interest and the social aspect of it," Mindy told the 91原创 Advance Times "That's what I enjoy."
After they both retired, Brian has been spending more time with Mindy, and less working on cars.
"Even though she enjoys the cars and everything, it's time to give back to her," he said.
"It's a nice time in our life now."
However, while it may have been about seven years since his last body-off restoration, a '69 Camaro pace car, Brian doesn't lack for projects.
"I still got that urge to do something, but just small things," he said.
"I got a '57 Corvette I bought from Arizona, and it needed a hardtop restored for it. So I just set up something in my double garage here, and I was just trying to do the bodywork on it again. It still comes back. It's like riding a bike."
Their daughter, Cheryl, who is now a pharmacy manager in Seattle, "grew up in the hobby," Brian remarked.
"She was in the garage a lot with me growing up. We used to tour through the US to the big conventions down there
And Cheryl's daughter, Winter, is also showing an interest in cars.
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