ANTIGO — Three years ago, Ray Churchill, an automotive technology instructor at Antigo High School, led an unusual student project: restoring a 1985 Corvette.
Knowing that students in an advanced auto service class Churchill supervised ran a makeshift vehicle repair shop — Robins Automotive, it’s still called today — the vehicle’s owner, Carol Knapkavage, had inquired with him about the possibility of fixing it up. Happy to locate the unique job for his students, Churchill quickly agreed.
“The students sanded down the whole car,” Churchill said. “It had holes and cracks in the fiberglass. We had to fill all those, prime it, two stage paint, base coat, clear coat. And we had to completely wet sand the car, and then we buffed it with three different stages of buffing compound. So that’s the finish, but also, the shift linkage was out of adjustment, and there were actually some broken parts in there, so there was also mechanical work.”
Knapkavage was happy with the results, according to Churchill. He didn’t hear from her until last fall, when she asked if he could again help her, this time to sell the car.
“I said, ‘Well, I kind of want the car for the class and the school,’” Churchill laughed. “I thought it would be a great opportunity for the students to display their skills and just to have a good talking piece and to be able to take it to some shows.”
The problem, of course, was that Knapkavage couldn’t just give the collector piece away. The school district, similarly, likely hadn’t budgeted money for Corvettes that year. Then Churchill thought of John Quinlan, the owner of Quinlan’s Equipment whose son Tony had been heavily involved with mentoring students in his program already.
“I told him the story and said, ‘Would you be interested in purchasing this car for our program?’ He said absolutely. A couple phone conversations later and it was done,” Churchill said. “It was donated for $3,500, which is not a small amount at all. They so graciously made the donation, we paid the owner, and she handed over the title. So it was smooth as can be, and now we have this car that belongs to the school.”
Churchill said that among his students, the car has spurred considerable enthusiasm — as well as a small flurry of repair work.
“They walk in and they flock right to it — it’s a shiny Corvette, so they love it,” Churchill said. “We’ve got some fuel system issues that we’re working on right now. We just repainted the roof with Colten Davidson of Linear Blocking Tools in Birnamwood. The students took the roof to his shop last week and he donated his time to help paint the roof and used his facilities. So he’s another supporter. I’d like to have the students work on the interior — the interior is pretty grubby and torn up — and just do a slow restoration.”
Quinlan, who has now had several students from the high school’s auto program come work for him, said that to him, purchasing the car to spur local youth interested in auto work — and to encourage their interest in any trade — makes sense.
“My sons always said, ‘Anytime you see somebody driving a Corvette, it’s always an old guy,’” Quinlan laughed. “But having a Corvette gets kids excited. Obviously, we have a business that works in automotive and trucking equipment. Whether it’s for service technicians or electrical or plumbing, I think the trades courses are very important, and we all need people that can work on our cars, our trucks, our equipment, and it takes a skill to do that. It’s very important to have those types of classes and to get the students excited to be in them and to consider them for a future. They could make a very good living — whether it’s being a plumber, an electrician, or an auto mechanic. Today, all those trades are in short supply, and I think it’s very important to do that, to support it.”
Quinlan said that in the auto industry in particular, undergoing continuous training is now particularly important, but when enterprising young people commit to it, they stand to gain potentially lifelong job security.
“All the trucks, cars, farming equipment — everything is computerized now. Your electrical system is running your fuel system. If it’s a tractor, it’s got hydraulics. Everything is tied in to the computers. It takes a lot of skill. But in the skilled trades, you don’t read about mass layoffs with those types of people, because they’re needed 365 days a year. Someone saying, ‘We’re going to lay off a bunch of electricians,’ that doesn’t happen.”
Churchill said that through their semesters working for Robins Automotive, his advanced students have now accumulated just that kind of hands-on experience repairing a wide variety of cars, including newer models featuring largely computerized systems.
“Well over 100 people have brought cars to them this school year in the spring and fall,” he said Tuesday morning as students milled around inspecting cars in the high school auto shop. “As we speak right now, we’re doing wheel bearings and tires on that community member’s car. We’re doing a lift kit on a Toyota truck for a community member. And there is a wheel speed sensor getting changed, a customer’s car out in the parking lot that’s waiting to get in — I have the list on my desk, but we have four days of school left, and there’s like eight jobs on the list for this week alone. We’re busy. It’s nonstop.”
To prepare students to perform modern auto mechanical work, the auto program also is searching for funding sources to purchase an alignment lift rack, and already boasts another sophisticated tool.
“This past year, our school district invested in the absolute highest quality, best-of-the-best scan tool. It’s the Snap-on ZEUS+. It’s got a built in oscilloscope. Based on my experience, it’s the hands-down best diagnostic tool on the market, and our community supported that and our school district purchased that,” he said.
As for the Corvette, Churchill reiterated that he hopes students in future semesters will continue restoring it so that eventually, it might be fit to showcase at local car shows.
“We’re about learning and displaying our program,” Churchill said. “We’re not taking it to car shows to compete. We’re taking it to car shows to let the students show off their work, for the students to be proud, for them to say, ‘Look what we did,’ and for the community to know and think, ‘This happens at our high school? So you’re telling me Antigo High School students are painting Corvettes?’ I don’t know of any other high schools in the area that can say that.”
Note: In addition to John Quinlan and Colten Davidson, Churchill extended special thanks to Richie Zarda, owner of Zarda’s Auto in Mattoon, who allowed students use of his painting booth to re-coat the Corvette three years ago.
Most Popular
Comments / 0