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Project Cars

1976 Mitsubishi Celeste 1600ST Part 2: Car Restorer’s Dilemma

In Part 1 of this Power Wheels Magazine Project Car series, we were approached by Aldous Rex Alingog who asked for our help to restore his father’s beloved 1976 Mitsubishi Celeste 1600ST after he saw our own restored yellow 1977 Celeste Project Car in the 2018 Manila International Auto Show (MIAS). Aldous hoped that restoring their Bone Red Celeste would be ...

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1976 Mitsubishi Celeste 1600ST Part 1: Too Far Gone?

During the 2018 Manila International Motor Show (MIAS), we displayed our 1977 Mitsubishi Celeste 1600ST Power Wheels project car at the JSK Custom Paint and Auto Works display pavilion. It took us 4 years and a lot of blood, sweat and tears to turn our tired-looking and rust-infected blue Celeste into this yellow show car, which was not entirely finished ...

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Made in the Philippines: 1959 Chevrolet Corvette Resto-Rod

Sometime in November 2015, I went to the farm of my friend, The Philippine STAR columnist and political satirist Cito Beltran, in Lipa, Batangas to help him sell some of the vintage project cars in his collection. After suffering some back problems, Cito decided to clean up the garage in his farm and finish some of his other project cars ...

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1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle 1303 S Part 3: Debugging our Super Bug

It has been a while since we tinkered with our project cars. For one thing, we’ve been quite busy for the last few months working on the realities of life as well as realizing our goal of coming up with Power Wheels TV, our motoring show with Pop Life TV that will soon be airing on SkyCable Channel 72, digital ...

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1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle 1303 S Part 1: Just Got Lucky

You’re the thing that makes me weak My heart knows of the beat I seek And I found it (just got lucky) Oh yes I found it (just got lucky) – From the 1983 hit song Just Got Lucky by Jo Boxers If you regularly read our Project Cars series, especially about the restoration of the cream 1973 Volkswagen Beetle 1300 ...

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1973 Volkswagen Beetle 1300 S Part 7: Baby’s Back Home

We were supposed to turn over our finished project car, a 1973 Volkswagen Beetle 1300 S, back to its owner, Ildefonso “Fons” Caluag, on Sunday, June 23, 2019 the day after the World Beetle Day. Unfortunately, the day before we were supposed to drive it out of the workshop of JSK Custom Paint and Auto Works in Marulas, Valenzuela City, their shop ...

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1973 Volkswagen Beetle 1300 S Part 6: Last Minute Thrashin’

Our 1973 Volkswagen Beetle 1300 S Project Car has been in the JSK Custom Paint and Auto Works garage workshop since February 10, 2019. Now, four and half months after we took the disassembled special Bug from the residence of its owner, Ildenfonso “Fons” Caluag, in Pandacan, Manila to the JSK workshop in Marulas, Valenzuela City, we are finally scheduled to drive ...

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1973 Volkswagen Beetle 1300 S Part 5: Some Assembly Required

When we last visited our 1973 Volkswagen Beetle 1300 S project car, its paint was being buffed and polished to perfection. Between now and then, the Beetle’s four fenders were painted and polished, and then installed along with the fender beads, or fender liners as they are more commonly known here in the Philippines. The mechanics at JSK Custom Paint ...

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1973 Volkswagen Beetle 1300 S Part 4: Come Together

Loyal followers of Power Wheels Magazine will notice that we changed the nomenclature of our 1973 Volkswagen Beetle from “1600” to “1300 S“. That’s because we finally found out what Beetle model our Project Car was after we found its original “VW 1300 S” emblem that goes on the rear engine cover. This is also significant because we now can put ...

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