Five years ago Michael was approached by close friend Jim Filipowski to help wire his cousin John Wilhelm''s 69 Nova which was being readied for NMCA action at the 1997 Shootout in Memphis. As the car was a pure racecar it needed all the lighting upgrades to legally run in NMCA trim. This first foray into racecar wiring brought interest from hot rodder George Bluga whose ''32 Ford street rod was rapidly approaching completion and was needing a full nose to tail wiring job. Michael took a look at it and the rest as they say is history.

Word of mouth referrals played a big part in Wires & Pliers early history and the big break was no different. George had a friend Kirk Ferris (a.k.a. Howdy) who knew Michigan racer Ross Stomp and as Ross needed his Pro Street Monte Carlo wired ASAP Michael got the call. This job introduced Michael to Steve Grebeck Racecraft Engineering where Ross'' Monte Carlo was in the final stages of an update from Pro Stock to Pro Street specs. Steve knew how he wanted the electrics laid out so Michael took Steve''s thoughts and built a clean, functional setup that impressed Steve so much, he is the only person that wires cars in Steve''s shop. This association with Steve meant Wires & Pliers was introduced to other players in the Fastest Streetcar arena and that led to more work. Today Wires & Pliers performs electrical work exclusively for Steve Grebeck Racecraft Engineering, Skinny Kid Race Cars, TRZ Race Cars, Pat Musi Performance and Pandes Performance. This means Michael gets to work on some of the meanest racecars on the planet. Among the racers who use Wires & Pliers services are Steve Halprin, Greg Blevins Jr, Bill Glidden, Josh McClelland, Erin Cheffer, Don Walsh Jr, Keith and Roger Szabo and Rob Golobo.

This does not mean all work and no play for Michael, he has a ''69 Camaro that is heading into Steve''s shop for updating to round tube back half with 25.1C chassis. Michael intends to use the Camaro in Outlaw 10.5 races that fit into his busy work schedule. Wires & Pliers would like to thank the following people for helping in the formative years, Jim Filipowski, John Wilhelm, George Bulga, Kirk Ferris and Ross Stomp. Extra special thanks goes to Steve Grebeck for referring us to customers and associates and without his help Wires & Pliers would not be what it is today.

SOURCE: None