Projects

We always have way too many projects going on, and of course just like everyone else sometimes they just never get finished. Now, when it comes to car projects not being finished that's just the nature of the beast, they are never really finished. There's always something else that you want to do to them just to make it a little bit better.

Most of our stuff is related to motorsports, hence the name of this website: Rutherford Motorsports. But we also do some rather interesting home improvement projects around the house. My wife also has her decorating projects that keep her busy, so you just never know what you will see happening at our home.

HHO : With the recent gyrations in the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel, we have been looking into convertering a couple of our vehicles to Hybrids using the HHO position. HHO simply stands for using the hydrogen element from water to produce a gas that can supplement the fuel in our vehicles. Our first project with this is going to be our 2000 F-350 Ford Truck.

Dragster : this is a 2000 Racetech rear-engine dragster that has eventually ended up with most of the good stuff. We ordered the car as a basic bare chassis with tin-work and the rear end assembly completed. Pretty much like putting a model car kit together, but without the instructions. I spent a lot of time looking at other dragsters, taking pictures and just plain trying to figure out some items that have to go on a car of this sort. We finally finished the car last summer, but suffered a serious setback with engine bearing damage. We have not come to any conclusion yet as to what happened, but believe it might have been a cheap harmonic balancer that hurt us the most. A replacement engine is in the works and should have us back at the track this season.

Mazda Speed: this is one of my son's quick rides that has become a lethal weapon at the dragstrip. The car was pretty quick when purchased new, but the addition of some interesting hardware has really given this car a whole new personality.

Camaro RS: newest addition to the fleet of racing vehicles, this car will contend in the local bracket wars and run NHRA Super Street 10.90 class events. Starting with a complete running car purchased off eBay, you can follow this project along as it makes the transformation from the street to a full-on drag car.

Project '55: the latest addition to the fleet of vehicles, this car is a kick-back to my early days and for all intents and purposes is my final car build. I may assist with something else in the future for sure, but for myself this one is it.

Trailer Mods: you have to get all of the above stuff to the track somehow. We show you the modifications that we have done to our trailer.

RV: a few motorhomes started showing up at the local dragstrips about 14-15 years ago. And suddenly it seems like everyone had one, so why not us too?

64 Chevy: we take a friend's cruiser and fit it with a GM crate motor.