Been slowly working on this '53 Buick Special for a while. I did the first engine rebuild in the parking spot you see in the first picture (didn't have a garage at the time) due to a hole in one of the cylinders. I dropped the crank and redid the bearings and took the head to a machine shop to be resurfaced. Left the block in the car and rehoned the cylinders by hand.

Right now I'm dealing with a carburetor issue and I'm trying to build up the motivation to do my first carb rebuild, but I'm a bit intimidated to be honest.

The thing that's been the biggest headache isn't the wrenching — it's finding specialists. Not general mechanics, actual people who know old iron. I've burned hours searching for a machine shop that would take a worn straight 8 seriously, or a body guy who does real metal work and not just filler.

That frustration turned into a small project: I started building a directory specifically for classic car specialists — repair shops, restoration shops, machine shops, detailers, appraisers. It's called PoppedHood (poppedhood.com). Still early, currently seeded in LA, Phoenix, Detroit, Dallas, and Denver, but adding more cities soon.

Posting here partly to share the car, partly because you're exactly the people I'd want feedback from:

• Is a searchable directory of classic/project car specialists something you'd actually use? Or do you find shops fine through word of mouth/club networks?
• What's missing from the way you currently find specialists?
• If you search your area on the site and find the coverage thin, that's useful to know too.

Happy to answer questions about the Buick or the site.