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SILVER LAKE — Chuck Barham and his 1964 Plymouth Sport Fury didn’t come to Westech Automotive by accident.

“We found out about Westech through the Chicagoland Mopar Connection, and the Fox Lake Chapter is what we belong to,” said Chuck, 38, a Crystal Lake, Ill., resident and broadcast marketing consultant, referring to himself and wife Lisa. “When we bought the car, my goal and my wife’s goal was to learn as much as we could about the Mopar world.”

His father-in-law, John Riska, had just restored a ’64 Sport Fury and spotted another for sale in McHenry, Ill., where it had been kept garaged for 15 years. The paint was faded, but the car appeared to be in good shape overall, except for a relatively minor spot of rust, according to Chuck, who wound up buying it for around $12,000.

“They’re a rare animal,” he said. “I kind of got to watch from the outside looking in when he (Riska) restored his. He probably collected parts for 15 years before he started restoring his. What brought us to Westech was my wife went to the first chapter meeting and met Jim. About a month-and-a-half, two months later, I set up a tour of the place because I wasn’t going to take it to any dog-and-pony show.”

That’s understandable considering before he brought it to Westech, Chuck already had sunk an estimated $25,000 into the meticulous exterior paint finish, trim work and interior restoration done by Jose Pineda, a Crystal Lake autobody specialist, who wanted the Fury to be a show stopper. While it took a top award its first time out after Pineda completed his handiwork, the Fury tended to belch smoke when Chuck wheeled it into shows.

Enter Jim Daley, whom Lisa met at the aforementioned Fox Lake Chapter meeting. Daley, the chapter treasurer, also is Westech’s shop manager, senior mechanic and project leader. Chuck calls him “Professor Jim.” After touring the shop at 418 S. Cogswell Drive, observing the skills at work there and noting the high-tech equipment employed to build high-performance machines, Chuck met with Daley and Westech owner Norm Brandes.

“It was almost like planning a wedding when I sat down with Jim and Norm. They talked with me about wants and needs,” Chuck said. “I was working on a budget when we first brought the car in. I felt it looked like it should sound meaner, and it blew a little smoke now and then. I wanted this car to be perfect because I drive it to the shows. It does not go on a trailer.”

Brandes even invited Chuck and his father, John Barham, to get their hands dirty working on the Fury with Westech mechanics.

“Norm said, ‘You should be involved with it.’ He calls it ‘sweat equity,’” Chuck said.

“The thing I’ve learned is the stereotype people have of mechanics who work in muscle-car garages is wrong,” he said. “It’s a smart man’s job, not a job of last resort. They don’t just change or replace parts. They’re true professionals.”

So far, according to Brandes, Chuck has spent about $15,000 at Westech on engine and transmission work geared to improve performance, as well as on updates such as converting the brakes from the original drum type to more modern disc brakes. Had Chuck and his father not pitched in, and pitched in heavily, Chuck easily could have been looking at a small mortgage to finance the work.

“When Chuck first came in, he told us he couldn’t afford to get the work done. I told him not to worry about it, that we can work with you,” Brandes said.

John Barham, 61, a resident of Urbana, Ill., retired in September after 40 years as an electrician. A car buff and self-professed gear head, he recalled hanging out in garages as a 10-year-old kid and acting as a go-fer for older boys tooling their rides in his childhood neighborhood. At home, he currently has a ’37 Chevy coupe that he restored. When Chuck asked if he could help with the Fury at Westech, he came to lend a hand.

“It is unusual to have a shop let you come in and work with them,” John said. Helping not only saved his son more than a few bucks, but it gave John the opportunity to pick up additional mechanical skills and knowledge. “My labor is free. They took the engine out, and I’m taking the engine apart, overhauling the whole motor,” John said.

While Chuck stripped the engine and transmission casing of paint, grit, grease and grime, and helped with the tear down, John helped overhaul the motor. He also bead-blasted various engine parts (the process is like sand blasting but with glass beads) and learned how to port the heads, which entails grinding/polishing the valve ports to create smoother and more optimal air flow for better engine performance.

As for potential liability being used as an excuse to keep dedicated car enthusiasts like the Barhams out of the service areas, Brandes, who opened Westech in May 1979, sees the issue differently. It’s not that the shop is a DIY haven. But Brandes serves on the automotive advisory committee for the Gateway Technical College Horizon Center for Transportation Technology in Sturtevant, and he said giving patrons the opportunity to work with Westech mechanics helps educate them in a number of ways that are mutually beneficial to his business and the car owners. For one thing, it alleviates the owners’ suspicions that the shop is trying to sell them a bill of goods when recommending work or parts that could cost big bucks.

“Chuck came down pretty much every day after work and got his hands dirty doing all the heavy-duty, greasy work. We were able to work with Chuck to get the car to be what it’s become. He really dug in. He’s one of the few customers we’ve worked with who took it to that level,” Daley said.

Brandes added: “You don’t leave their side. We’re not doing anything dangerous here. What I try to do with customers like Chuck and John is live their dream with them, get them involved with their car. Instead of saying ‘they’ did it, it’s ‘we’ did it. For them, it’s more attention to detail and helps them piece together the logic.”

In the process, Daley and Al Hanus, lead mechanic on the second phase of the Fury project, became addicted to Lisa’s homemade brownies, which she insisted Chuck bring to them at the shop during the three weeks he went there daily after work and on weekends.

For Chuck, from start to finish, the whole endeavor has been a family affair from his father-in-law finding the Fury, to his wife finding Westech and now having his dad here to help.

“The reason I asked him to come in was because he took me around a lot to car shows when I was young. The big thing was to say my dad helped with the engine and transmission. That was important to me,” Chuck said. “I can’t even put a dollar figure on it. That wasn’t the big factor. The money part wasn’t even secondary. I just wanted him to be proud of it.”

Below, left: Under the direction of Westech Automotive lead mechanic Al Hanus, left, John Barham, of Urbana, Ill., helps with the restoration of his son\'s Plymouth Sport Fury. At right, Barham works on the engine. ( KENOSHA NEWS PHOTO BY KEVIN POIRIER )

Jim Barham, of Urbana, Ill., was enlisted to help work on son Chuck Barham\'s \'64 Plymouth Sport Fury under the direction of mechanics at Norm Brandes\' Westech Automotive in Silver Lake. ( KENOSHA NEWS PHOTO BY KEVIN POIRIER )

At right, top: John Barham labels engine and transmission bolts removed from son Chuck Barham\'s \'64 Plymouth Sport Fury on the lift behind him at Westech Automotive in Silver Lake, where owner Norm Brandes invited Jim and Chuck to get involved with the shop mechanics in overhauling the classic car. ( KENOSHA NEWS PHOTO BY KEVIN POIRIER )

Jim Barham, of Urbana, Ill., right, helps work on son Chuck Barham\'s \'64 Plymouth Sport Fury with lead mechanic Al Hanus at Westech Automotive in Silver Lake. ( KENOSHA NEWS PHOTO BY KEVIN POIRIER )

The dashboard instrument panel of Chuck Barham\'s \'64 Plymouth Sport Fury -- where the odometer reads 50,675 original miles -- was as meticulously restored as the rest of the interior. ( KENOSHA NEWS PHOTO BY BILL SIEL )

Jim Barham, of Urbana, Ill., disengages the exhaust pipes so the shop mechanics can remove the engine and transmission from son Chuck Barham\'s \'64 Plymouth Sport Fury at Westech Automotive in Silver Lake. Westech owner Norm Brandes encouraged Chuck to get involved hands-on with Westech mechanics in overhauling the classic car. Chuck, in turn, asked his father if he would pitch in. ( KENOSHA NEWS PHOTO BY KEVIN POIRIER )

Jim Barham, of Urbana, Ill., works on son Chuck Barham\'s \'64 Plymouth Sport Fury at Westech Automotive in Silver Lake. Westech owner Norm Brandes encouraged Chuck to get involved with Westech mechanics in overhauling the classic car. Chuck, in turn, asked his father if he would pitch in. ( KENOSHA NEWS PHOTO BY KEVIN POIRIER )