The Heart of GNRS 2026: Highlights from the ARP Booth
February 12, 2026
Re-Rigging For Aesthetics
The Boat Needed A Facelift
Author
Dan Duffin
Words & Photography
When someone buys a boat as a bare hull and finishes it themselves, the odds are that the boat won’t be nearly as sanitary as the original manufacturer rigged it. The original owner of this boat did a decent job but it was no way up to the usual Howard standards. The owner wanted the rigging cleaned up, spiffed up and colored up so he took it to Maveric Marine in Van Nuys, California where Dan Duffin straightened everything out and color-coordinated the powdercoating.
Before I start I have to say that Howard sold this boat as a bare hull. The previous owner of this boat did the rigging. It was not a bad job for a first-time rigger, but it does not come close to Howard standards. The current owner of the boat decided to have the entire boat re-done while he was waiting for the engine to get rebuilt. This is where he brought it to us at Maveric Marine. The big problem areas were the engine compartment and the dash wiring. There were a few things that the customer wanted added and a few things changed.
The first things that we changed were the brackets that hold the gauges in the dash. As a result of the angle that the gauges are at and the thickness of the dash, the original brackets that came with the gauges would not work. The brackets that were made for them did not all match so we made new ones. We started with a strip of aluminum and cut and bent each one to fit the individual gauge. After test fitting all of them, we had them powdercoated red to match all the pieces to be coated in the engine compartment. Then we had to re-wire the gauges with the proper color wires and of course, we had to make it look like a Howard wiring job.
The other thing about the dash setup that the customer didn’t like was how the ignition switch and other components seemed almost randomly placed. To remedy this problem we had a custom aluminum panel made that fit all of these components, and covered the holes that were left in the dash. Since we also added two new bilge pumps, this was the perfect time to add switches.
Next on the list was the engine compartment. The first step was to strip everything out. The carpet that was in there was oil soaked and was peeling. The customer wanted the carpet removed and have everything painted for a much cleaner look. Before painting we had to pull up the carpet, fill in a 6″ diameter hole and put an access hole on each side so we could install bilge pumps.
After stripping the engine compartment we prepped for paint. After cleaning all the surfaces with a special cleaner, everything was sanded to give it a texture. After sanding we cleaned it again, then primered. We ended up with two coats of primer before painting. The paint that we used is self-leveling so the end result looked almost like a gel coat finish.
There were also a lot of parts in the engine compartment that we decided to have powdercoated red. There were the sea strainers, oil cooler, power steering fluid cooler, battery trays and brackets for other accessories. The contrast between the bright white paint and the bright red powdercoating really gave the whole thing that finished look that it needed.
After the paint had completely cured, reassembly began. This was the fun part. The whole idea was to put everything back in a much more organized fashion that would not look so cluttered and out of order. In the end the customer was very happy with the results, and so were we.
THE AUTO BUILDER
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’80s FLASHBACK
Everyone is talking about old-school-this and old-school-that, but we here at The Auto Builder don’t really care about old school, true school or new school. What we do care about is bringing our readers the best damn cars from around the world. Whether we are featuring drift, show, street or drag cars, one thing is certain: we will bring you the best cars that are out there. And sometimes the best is simple and to the point, as if you built the whole car in your garage.
Interior Design
When Jorge Torres was young he would help his father around his shop. Named after the senior Torres, Armando’s Custom Upholstery in San Jacinto, California, opened in 1989 when Jorge was still in high school. In 1992, he began working full time with his father and brother, Armando Jr. He stared doing old cars and went to a few shows to promote their work. During this time he mentioned to his dad that he wanted to build a 1969 Chevy pickup. It turned out that his dad had a friend who owned one, but he was told that the truck was in pretty rough shape. All Jorge heard was that the price, at $1,500, was in his range.
SMOKIN’
Allen Cornelius wanted to make a statement that his shop, AC Customs in Shreve, Ohio, could blend old-school Ford muscle-car performance with a new style truck, giving it the performance and looks to match.
