One man's junk is another man's treasure. That proved to be the case in the latest Muscle Up Performance and Hot Rod Shop custom creation - a 1931 Ford open air sedan.

"When I first saw the car, it was in a field with the rear quarterpanels, back panel and the cowl laying in a pile," said Rich Bickle, owner of Muscle Up Performance, a Janesville, WI. classic, muscle car and hot rod restoration business . "I paid $100 for it and when I brought it back to the shop and told the guys I was going to make a car out of it, they said I was crazy."

Crazy turned into classic within six weeks as Bickle and the Muscle Up Performance team of restoration experts quickly took the new design of the car well beyond its original concept.

 "We cut the top off of it and I bought two front doors off a four-door Model A and shortened up the body about four inches using those instead of the longer sedan doors, said Bickle. "We also bought a 1932 Ford radiator shell and insert and we used an old radiator that we had laying around the shop here. Finally, my dad and I copied the frame from a 1932 Ford and handmade the frame rails in the shop from scratch."

Now an open cockpit car instead of the original enclosed sedan, Bickle turned his attention to the engine and drive train. Given Bickle's father, Rich Sr., is considered to be one of the premiere builders of old Ford Flat Head V-8 engines in the country today, that proved to be a simple exercise.

"Dad worked his Flat Head magic and built a nice little engine for the car," said Bickle. "We put a crank, cam, and a couple of carburetors on it and it goes right down the road like nobody's business. It's really a fun car to drive and has plenty of power."

Consistent with the 'look what I found' theme of the car, Bickle pieced together the suspension and drive train of the vehicle out of a variety of parts.

"We had an old Ford front axle laying out back and we got a rear end out of a Ford Bronco so we'd have the five and a half inch bolt pattern all the way around the car," said Bickle. "That way, we were able to use the stock wheels. Then we mounted Coker tires on them all the way that look like the old style tires but are actually radials. That makes it drive a lot better."

Bickle and the Muscle Up team finished off the car's interior with - you guessed it - refugees from another vehicle.

"We installed some Dodge Dakota pickup truck seats in it where the right seat folds forward so you can get in the back really easy," said Bickle. "The seats in the back also fold down so if you need room for luggage, groceries or whatever, you have it. Finally, we also put a side shift transmission in it so we could get the shifter up on the steering column and off the floor to give you more legroom."

The final step was to send the car to the body shop where it was treated to several coats of PPG appliance white paint. The car was then detailed with gold and black accents on the wheels and engine to match the interior.

"It was an inexpensive car to build with not a lot of money in it and I think it shows what we can do for someone who wants a cool, inexpensive hot rod in their garage," said Bickle. "We can pretty much turn not much of anything into something that is fun to drive and is great to own. I think it also shows that we're a lot more than just a full-frame, chassis replacement shop. I think we can build just about anything we - and the customer - put our minds to."

Muscle Up Performance is located at 4100 Newville Road in Janesville, WI and is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Central Time (closed weekends and holidays).

For more information, please visit www.muscleupperformance.com or call 608-754-4545.