A local machine shop has been nationally recognized in Corvette Fever magazine for their highly detailed work in Corvette engine restorations. The engine work is completed here in Lake Havasu City. Then, the finished engine is transported to a business located in Tempe.

Jayne Hanson/News-Herald Photo Mike Dawson, right, owner of JD Machine in Lake Havasu City, looks over an engine in the machine shop at JD Machine with Breck Alvord, senior vice president of Corvette Restoration AZ in Tempe. The two businesses were nationally recognized in Corvette Fever magazine for their work.

JD Machine, a specialty machine shop in Lake Havasu City, works in conjunction with Corvette Restoration AZ, located in Tempe, to rebuild and restore Corvettes. Both businesses were recognized nationally last year during a high-profile project the two businesses embarked on together.

Corvette Fever magazine followed the process of rebuilding a 1964 Corvette Coupe through seven magazine articles. The radical, four-month restoration project restored the vehicle into the Timber Wolf C2 giveaway car, a process normally taking more than a year to complete. The ’64 coupe was one of six restored classics the Timber Wolf chewing-tobacco company used in a 2007 giveaway to promote their products.

The magazine articles began in Corvette Fever’s August 2007 issue and continued through their February 2008 issue; it was in that issue the fully restored Timber Wolf C2 was the feature car on the magazine’s cover.

Corvette Fever’s November 2008 issue has, again, featured a Corvette Restoration AZ car. This time, a 1967 Corvette Roadster was chosen for the cover. It was JD Machine who built the engine.

“It’s nice to see your name on a national level,” said Mike Dawson owner of JD Machine.

Dawson originally moved to Lake Havasu City in August of 1980.

His father set up the machine shop and Dawson traveled from southern California on weekends to help.

“Dad first opened the shop in 1980, he wanted a place to retire,” said Dawson, “but people really wanted a one-stop shop.”

Today, JD machine is a specialty engine shop and rebuilds between 10-12 Corvette engines each year for Corvette Restoration AZ. The two businesses have been working together for four years. The business owners, however, have known each other for more than 25 years.

The relationship between Dawson, Kim Madsen, and Breck Alvord, began in the early 1980’s through a common interest of cars.

“There is a bond there between us all. We have a goal amongst all of us. At JD Machine, we strive to do our part,” Dawson said.

Madsen, owner of Corvette Restoration AZ in Tempe, lives in Lake Havasu City and commutes to his Phoenix-area business each week. He said Corvette Restoration AZ is the largest Corvette shop in the state of Arizona.

“JD Machine is the only engine shop I trust with very expensive, very high dollar, irreplaceable Corvette engines. I can’t take any chances rebuilding the original engine block. If something happened and it’s damaged in the process, it severely decreases the value of the Corvette,” Madsen said.

Alvord, senior vice president of Corvette Restoration AZ in Tempe, also lives in Lake Havasu City and commutes to work in the Phoenix-area Corvette shop three or four days a week.

“He (Alvord) is one of the foremost fiberglass experts in the country,” Madsen said. “His knowledge of the product and how it should be put together is unsurpassed.”

It was in 1975 Alvord partnered Madsen and together they began rebuilding Corvettes. The two were kept quite busy and even traveled the United States fixing cars.

“When we were kids, there was a big call for us to travel around,” Alvord said.

After his college years, Alvord returned to Lake Havasu City and owned a local street rod and boat shop called Alvord Sports Marine. The business closed in the early 1980s.

Madsen said, the marine background of both Alvord and Dawson’s knowledge plays a major role in the durability of the rebuilt engines and structural soundness of his Corvette projects.

“The marine environment is more demanding than the automotive environment,” Madsen explained. “I believe that influence makes a difference in the durability of the engines and structure of the Corvettes.”

Aside from the exclusive relationship with Corvette Restoration AZ, Dawson said JD Machine rebuilds two or three engines a week for local customers. JD Machine rebuilds engines for local customers’ pick-ups, motor homes, hot rods, circle track cars, and racecars. The only type of engines JD Machine chooses not work with are diesel engines.

JD Machine stays active in the community in support of local events.

“We try to take part in the Run to the Sun with a sponsorship deal,” Dawson said.

This year was exceptionally surprising to him as the International Jet Sports Boating Association World Finals event generated some pleasantly unexpected business.

“The jet-skiers have been tremendous. We have done a lot of fabrication work and custom machine work for the jet-skiers,” Dawson said.

Even in the slow economy, JD Machine seems to be thriving.

“It’s nice to be able to do a variety of work in the shop,” Dawson said.