My name is Bill Overton.   I am just an average guy that works for a living, but one of my passions is cars, especially the ones I have as projects.   I started this website in 2002 so friends can follow my projects.  I also have a Big Dog Garage group on Facebook.    Feel free to post your car projects on the Big Dog Garage Facebook Group!   I am also known as matchframe on several different forums.   Early in my career, I worked as a broadcast video editor and matchframe is a video editing term.   I call this site Big Dog Garage in honor of Annie, who we called Big Dog.   Annie was a South Carolina Yellow Dog who we adopted from my brother's family.   She died on Valentine's Day 2005 and is buried behind the garage.   We now have three dogs that keep me company while I work in the garage.   Zora is my Husky mix who I named after Zora Duntov, father of the V-8 Corvette.   Ginger is a Cocker Spaniel and is a ball of energy that never stops, who belongs to my wife.   Bella is my daughter's Black Lab.   I found Bella running along the freeway when she was just a pup.   These three carry on the tradition of Big Dog.

My projects are not like what you see on TV where they begin and finish in one episode..... mine progress as I save money to work on them.

I have three projects that I am working on;

1978 Corvette Resto-Rod.    I am building it the way I think it should have been built in the first place - Big Block!   The basic theme of the Vette project is Aircraft - specifically Fighter Aircraft.  I love anything aviation.  If I could do things in life over again, I would probably have been a pilot of some type.  I have some ideas I am working with over in my mind about how to create the Vette along this theme, but know I have to be extremely careful not to cross the line into something gaudy.   I have the interior sort of set in my mind on how I want to do.  Hard to explain, so you will just have to wait and see how it evolves.

1953 Chevy Wagon.    This wagon was bought new by my grandfather as a delivery wagon for his grocery store.    My Uncle and Cousin restored and drove it many years before it was handed down to me.  The goal for the '53 wagon is to build it in such a way that it can pull a car hauler with the Vette on it, then drive the Vette wherever we are.   Ideally I would love the wagon to have a Big Block and with all the safety and creature comforts of a daily driver, yet with the torque to pull trailers.   Most likely I will have to use the 350 small block and TH-350 trans that was original in my Vette.


1973 VW Beetle was my son's first car.  I am doing some body work on it.  The Beetle lost a High School parking lot confrontation with another car.  The passenger side rear fender, quarter panel and door need some work which I have almost completed.

Update on the Beetle:
The Bug has sat in our backyard for over a year and needed some work to get it back on the road.  Due to the escalating gasoline prices, I am prepping it to become my daily driver. I am keeping my 4 wheel drive Tahoe, but will drive it only when necessary since it only gets about 14 miles per gallon in town.  Since by my nature, I can't drive something that is totally stock, the Bug is getting some personal treatment.  First thing is completing the bodywork where it was hit in a parking lot.  I have replaced the passenger-side door, and will be replacing the quarter panel in the passenger-side.  I have a quarter panel ready for it so it will be my next project with the Bug.  The long range plan for the Bug is to paint it either Satin Black or Dark Blue.  Right now I am leaning to the satin black since that is what I want to paint the Vette.  I like the idea of "experimenting" with the black to  make sure that is what I want for the Vette.  Also, in the plans are to drop the suspension so that the Bug rides lower and handles better. Some minor mods to the engine are also in the plans, but I am not going overboard with that since the whole idea of reviving the Bug is to have an economical car to drive. I will post my progress on the new page called: The Bug Revived