COMING IN FROM THE COLD
Self-taught DIYer restores classic cars in his well-equipped, spacious garage
Tired of taking the bus to high school, Shawn Britton bought an equally tired 1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle. It wasn’t a great vehicle, he admits, but he bought what he could afford. To that end, he taught himself how to keep it on the road so he wouldn’t be late for classes. Out of necessity, Britton became a keen do-it-yourselfer.
“It was mostly me and some books,” Britton says of his learning experiences that have led to an interest in working in the garage.
“My dad would fix a car to keep it going, and I learned a bit from him, but we never had a garage when I was growing up.
“I’d be on the driveway with ‘How to Fix Your VW’ in one hand and a wrench in the other, hoping I could get the job done so I could get to school the next day,” he says with a laugh.
“Working outside on a car motivates one to get a garage later in life.”
That happened in 2001 when Britton bought a house in Calgary that came with a 24- by 20-foot double garage. He worked in there for 12 years before adding 10 feet to one end, making it a 30-foot by 24-foot workspace.
In that garage, Britton has recently restored a 1968 Chevrolet Impala convertible for his wife, Adriana. He’s turned out a custom 1947 Chevy, and a Jeep that he drove to Mexico. As well, there have been a number of motorcycle projects roll out the door, including a custom rigid-frame Honda CM450 that Britton rode from Calgary to New York to Albuquerque, N.M., and back.
Here’s what we learned about Britton, his tools and his workspace.
Q: What tools are in your collection and where did they come from?
A: I’ve got a pretty extensive collection of hand tools — and I know where they are most of the time, which is nice. Early tools came from swap meets or Canadian Tire. I moved on to occasionally purchasing a more expensive tool such as a quality Snap-on ratchet — they’re worth every penny. I’ve got a MIG welder. I got a TIG welder from a group of friends for my 40th birthday. It’s an Eastwood and it’s a great little machine for what I need. I’ve had people give me tools, like the welder, but mostly I’ve collected stuff as needed. Tools have always been important to me, but my dad never really invested in top quality stuff. He fixed a leaky exhaust with tomato-paste cans. Seeing that when I was a kid — how to make things work with what’s on hand — also had an impact on me.
Q: Which tool or tools do you use most often?
A: The thing I use the most in the garage isn’t a tool, it’s a chair. I sit and think about what I’m going to do before I do it. As for as a hand tool, I guess what I end up using most often is a pair of channel lock pliers. I build chain link fence for a living and I use them at work. Every time I go on a road trip, I make sure I’ve got a pair of those pliers in the tool kit. I can fix just about anything with those pliers. There’s a certain intimacy and connection you get when you use something all the time. The pliers, I know how they feel, how they work, and what I can do with them. They’re comfortable.
Q: How did you learn to use the tools? Did you go to school, did someone teach you, or do you watch YouTube videos?
A: A big part of this is the people you surround yourself with can teach you the most. When I started fencing for my friend’s dad, if I got aggressive with a tool, he’d say, ‘You know, if you break the tool, it doesn’t mean you get to go home early, it just means you finish the day with a broken tool.’
I took that appreciation for tools into the garage, and always remembered that it’s important just to slow down. Not everything is a hammer.
I’ve also read a number of magazines. Before the internet, I’d get a Hot Rod how-to book on bodywork, for example, and stumble my way through the job.
And back to my first point: having a group of friends who are into the same thing really helps. You push each other to be better.
Q: What’s the most important project in the garage right now?
A: I’ve just been focused on a 1958 Beetle that I picked up in October 2017. It’s a new arrival and it immediately jumped to the head of the project list. I’d spent a lot of time working on the ’47 Chevy, there was lots of metal work on that. And then the Impala. That was a long and tortuous project at times. And there were always the motorcycles, too.
With the VW, it was time to get back to something familiar. It seemed like it was in really good shape when I bought it, but it was more intensive than I thought. It will be a complete restoration, right down to the nuts and bolts being cadmium plated.
I’ve probably owned 20 VWs in my life, and this ’58 allows me the opportunity to express all my abilities. In my younger years, I was learning just how to put the brakes together so I could get to school, but now I’m using all of my skills to the utmost of my abilities to turn out a good car.
Q: Is there anyone else in the house or in your life interested in working in the garage?
A: Not really. There used to be a couple of neighbourhood kids who would show up here and I’d show them around. I hope they took something away from that. They were always riding around the ’hood on bikes and fixing things. They were just a couple of kids doing what they could with what they’ve got, keeping their own wheels underneath them, and that’s cool.