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Craig Burda
"My name is Craig Burda; I am 35 years old and live
in Peoria, IL. My father bought this car from Mopar Mel in May of 1987 and
drove it back here to Peoria. He used it as a daily driver until my mother
divorced him, and got the car in a divorce settlement; this all happened in
1993. She promptly resigned it to the back yard with the top down and let
it sit there for about six months until I persuaded her to sell it back to
my dad. But by then the weather did some extensive damage to the interior
of the car. My father took it to an interior specialist in Peoria IL. He got
the interior cleaned up and replaced as needed. He then drove it until 1995.
Rust was starting to creep into the quarter panels. He asked me to find a
storage facility for the car until he could get the car back to a body shop."
"My dad recently gave it to me because he can no longer
afford to keep it, let alone restore it, and he doesn't have the energy to
do much on the car anymore. He moved it to his house and that is where I picked
it up, and now have it in my garage."
"It was killing him to know his baby was turning into
a pile of junk, and he knew I would do my best to bring it back to its former
glory. He called me last week and told me come over; he had a gift for me.
What a surprise, it was the car. I had no idea that was what he was doing.
I did try to talk him out of it, but he had made up his mind. He told me if
I did not take it he was going to sell it for $500; so I took it."
"When I got the tow truck over my dad came out to watch,
he cried a little as they put it on the tow bed. Then he slapped me on the
back and told me good luck and when I finish it, to let him drive it just
once more. I said that he could drive it when ever he wanted to. Unfortunately
we both knew he won’t as he does not drive anymore, I drive him everywhere
now..."
A little bit about Craig, and what he does:
"I work for Caterpillar in the foundry. We make all
the engine castings for the CAT equipment. I am a Ladle Repairman. That means
I fix the ladles that transfer 48,000 lbs of molten iron, I also repair the
pouring ladles that hold 5000-6500 lbs of iron. But my biggest duty is to
keep the meltors running (they melt the iron at 2600 degrees)."
"I and one other guy tear them down and rebuild them
every 3 months. We have 3 induction meltors and 1 arc meltor. Two induction
meltors hold 110,000 lbs of iron and the medium frequency induction meltor
holds 78,000 lbs of iron. The arc holds 48,000 lbs of iron. The arc meltor
is just a giant welder. I also have the iron holders to work on too; we rebuild
them about every 2 years; they hold 170,000 lbs of iron. There are 7 of those.
I have a cool job, and I love it."
