Zayne Harris shows off his 1934 Chevy Master at Vigilance Memorial Park in front of Headquarters Air Intelligence Agency.

AIA member shares love for antique cars by Airman 1st Class Bob Clift 86th AW/PA Ramstein Air Base, Germany

While others see a scrap of useless metal and glass, he see potential beauty. He is an artist who melds feeling and technology. His medium is antique cars.

Zayne Harris, the Air Intelligence Agency video teleconference facilitator, said, "Old cars have been my fascination for many years." Smiling he added, "I can't say how many though, because it would tell my age."

After entering the Air Force in 1962, he met a master sergeant named Don Mace who sparked his interest in vintage automobiles. "That guy amazes me. He could match car parts I thought would never go together," Harris said. "After working with him, I knew I was hooked for life.

"He helped me almost every day for a year with my first car. Some days after a hard day of work he didn't want to get up the next morning to help, but he always did anyway."

Harris laughed as he said, "Actually, it was more like I pushed the old master sergeant out of bed."

After spending 20 years as an administration specialist with Security Service and the Electronic Security Command, Harris retired as a technical sergeant in 1982. He said he probably could have made more rank, but his mind was on his cars at the end of each duty day.

Two of his favorite assignments were Saigon, Vietnam, and Berlin, Germany. He was in Saigon from 1966-67 and Berlin from 1973-75.

"I liked those places the most because old cars were still running everywhere I looked," he said. "It seemed to me that the people in those countries valued their cars more than Americans do," he said.

"Many of the people were poor, but they were able to avoid the cost of new cars by taking great care of their old cars. I admired that." Harris continued, "My biggest regret is that I didn't speak either Vietnamese or German, so I wasn't able to talk to the locals about their cars."

Presently, he owns four cars, a truck and a motor home. In the stalls of his garage he has a Mercedes, a GMC pickup, a 41 Chevy Coupe, a 34 Chevy Master, and a 47 Austin of England. The automotive handyman uses his home garage for his hobby.

"The garage is mine and the inside of the house belongs to my wife," Harris said. "She is very understanding. I'm safe as long I leave her plenty of space to park her Mercedes."

Harris owns most of the tools he needs to restore cars, including a welder, grinders and engine hoist. Although he prefers to do engine work, Harris said he can do almost every part of a restoration at home.

"Electrical wiring is my least favorite thing to do on a car," he said. "If you mis-wire just one connection, you can burn up the car's engine in a minute or two.

"My favorite project car is the 41 Chevy Coup I am presently working on," he said. "I'm taking my time and working slower with this one. I wonder if the reason I'm slower is because I'm older." Harris goes to great lengths to ensure the quality of his work. His 34 Chevy, originally a taxi in Rio de Jeneiro, Brazil, was his first full restoration. When finished, it was fitted with late-model parts such as a Buick engine, a Nava drive line and a Cadillac steering column. The interior sported such features as tilt steering, AM/FM cassette stereo and air conditioning. Harris applied 12 coats of maroon paint to the body only after removing every rust spot and filling every hole. Zayne changed his mind about the color and repainted the automobile deep red.

Zayne Harris enjoys being in the drivers seat after all his hard work.

His efforts with the 34 paid off in 1981 when the Chevy won the Best Closed Award at a hot rod show in Austin, Texas. He has entered his cars in many contests, winning runner up awards, a best unfinished car award and people's and lady's choice awards.

One problem Harris said he had when driving one of his restored is keeping the older generation from opening the hood to look at the engine. "That was the thing back in their day. Some of them see an older car and don't think twice about popping the hood," he said. "When they slam it down, though, sometimes it dings up the paint and it could mess up the grill or the headlights."

Harris said he does some of his body work, but he has a friend who does his paint work. "You need to be awful careful on sending your car to a body shop. You never know what you're going to get and you never know what they're going to do. They might just slap some bondo on it, sand it down, and paint it."

His current project, the 41 Coupe, is his third complete restoration. Harris said, "I want this car to look slick. I took off the chrome and I'm going to paint it peach and white. Even the bumpers and the grill will be painted the color of the car."

He has installed a new, tuned port injection engine with a computer, an overdrive transmission, disk brakes, a Mustang II suspension, and a Chevy van steering column. He installed custom-built tail lights, a third brake light, and freched headlights.

When completed, Harris said the coupe will have power brakes, air conditioning, electric doors, an electric trunk and a light tan interior. Its value, he estimated, will be more than $30,000.

"If you have a lot of patience, a can do attitude, and no fear, you can restore an old car," Harris said. "Make up your mind what type of car you want and what you want to do to the car and go from there."

He smirked as he added, "Remember, when you cut off half the frame and the other frame doesn't fit, don't panic, just be patient.

"I get satisfaction from working on older cars because they've been around longer than me and they're still going strong."

The first car he restored was totaled in a head-on collision outside the Security Hill gate. His children, Alicia, 13, and Zayne Jr., 11, have been promised the 34 and the 41.

Zayne said, "Unfortunately, that decision wasn't mine. My children always ask, Daddy, when you die, will the 35 or the 41 belong to me?'"

"It seems like they're trying to tell me something, but I hope they're wrong," he added.

"There are still a lot of antique car out there waiting for me."

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