24 West Street, Building # 4 - Middlefield, Connecticut 06455  Ph. 860-349-4570

"Smokin" Joe Gates

Master Technician

SUMMARY

Bringing in the best talent from the United States, E-Muscle welcomes Smokin Joe Gates!  As a Master Tech Joe brings over 35 years of Hot Roddin experience to the E-Muscle team with a wide variety  of skills in Restorations, Customization as well as Italian exotics.  Joe also has a degree in mechanical engineering so he knows what it takes to hold the heavy horsepower together!

AWARDS

Ÿ  SEMMA 2007 - Winner Hot Wheels Attitude Award - 37 Ford Coupe.

Ÿ  ATLANTA GOODGUYS 2008 - Winner Meguiars best paint and peoples choice - 68 Ford Mustang.

Ÿ   TEXAS HOT SUMMER NIGHTS  2008 - Winner best of show - 57 Chevy Truck.

Ÿ   SPRING FLING COCOA BEACH FL 2008  -   Winner best under hood - 69 Chevelle convertible.

Ÿ   ORLANDO GOODGUYS 2003 - Winner best Cadillac restoration - 67 Cadillac convertible.

ADDITIONAL AWARD WINNERS:

55 Chevy Pro Street    68 Mustang Convertible    41 Wills Coupe    51 Chevy Truck    67 Pontiac GTO   

27 Willys Coupe    65 Ferrari 330GTC 2+2    63 Ferrari 250GT Berlineta Lusso.

      PAST RESTORATION PROJECTS              

70 Mustang Conv.    63 MG Midget    68 Camaro (orange)    68 Camaro (black)    69 GTO    66 Austin Healy    53 1/2 Corvette   

67 Cadilac Conv.    63 Alpha Romeo    83 Lotis Espirit    72 Alpha Romeo Spider    73 Fiat Spyder    86 Jaguar XJ6    DeLorean   

66 Jaguar XKE    Avanti II    68 Impalla Conv.    65 Buick LeSabre    58 Mercedes 320SL    69 Chevy Nomad Wagon   

72 Olds Cutlass Conv.    55 Chevy Belair    71 Pantera    69 Camaro    76 Firebird    63 Ferrari    58 Jaguar    76 Camaro    83 camaro

PAST MODIFIED PROJECTS

63 Chevy Nova II    57 Chevy Pickup    67 Chevy Pickup    50 Chevy Pickup    71 Camaro   

65 Chevy Nova    65 Mustang    68 Mustang    69 Chevelle SS Conv.    37 Ford Coupe

           PAST PRO STREET CUSTOMS        

67 GTO    27 Willys    69 Mustang Conv    68 Mustand Conv. 5.0    70 Chevy Nova    Datsun 240z (blown 350)

VEHICLES OWNED

55 Pontiac Starchief        69 Dodge Coronet RT 500        68 Pontiac Firebird        65 Chevy Impala        69 Chevy Impala        65 Olds Cutlass Supreme

57 Ford Galaxie        61 Studebaker        62 Ford Fairlane        49 Plymouth Crankbrook        51 Chevy Business Coupe        57 Nash Metropolitan

63 MG Midget        69 MG Midget        71 VW Carmen gia        72 Triumph Spitfire    63 Mercedes        58 VW Van

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE SETS YOU APART FROM OTHER TECHS?

“I grew up around cars from the early 50's in my fathers Sinclair gas station. I studied manufacturing processes with an associates degree in Mechanical Engineering. I have over 35 years experience in the heavy collision industry and approximately 12 plus of those years devoted to show cars (sports, muscle, fat fender, bucket, etc). Most of my projects have won and continue to win awards at various shows around the country. (Due to the nature of these projects, I do not always receive the honorable mention I deserve, I therefore rely on pictures and technical analysis to tell the real story)”

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO JOIN THE E-MUSCLE TEAM?

“I decided to move to Connecticut because of my wife's job transfer and desire to be close to her family. My research led me to E-Muscle and I determined that this shop best exemplified the high level criteria of projects, organization, quality, processes and business acumen that I aspire to”

WHAT IS THE CRAZIEST THING YOU HAVE EVER DONE IN A MUSCLE CAR?

        “Building show cars for the last 10 years on the basis of time and material, placed me into very controlled work schedules, design elements, quality controls, and owners requirements, resulting in very little room for error or doing crazy things. So, digging deep into the archives, I will relay to you the scariest thing I have done in a muscle/sport car."

        "Years ago I had the pleasure to drive a friends DeTommasa Pantera from Naples Florida to Miami by way of Alligator Alley. Some of you know this is long and straight with swamp on both sides. It seemed only right (at the time) to stretch its legs past 150 mph, creating a tunnel with a focal point at the very end. I happened to notice a dot at that very focal point and it didn't take long for the dot to get bigger and I started to apply the brakes, realizing I was coming up on a semi tractor trailer. Hammering down on the brakes to scrub speed and avoid an accident they overheated, warped the discs and failed on me as I was forced to pass on the left being very fortunate no traffic was approaching the truck from the other direction."

        "First, I cleaned out my pants, then in the process of replacing new parts, I discovered that the calipers, pads, and rotors were not designed for heavy duty braking and were very small in comparison to American cars. To this day I recommend Pantera owners to upgrade their brake systems in addition to adding stiffeners between the control arms and swing axles for improved handling.” 

SMOKIN JOE'S WORK GALLERY - CLICK FOR FULL SIZE PICS