Hello from NW Indiana

[J Lingenfelter]

Hello my name is Jeff Lingenfelter, I'm 51, a journeyman millwright by trade and have a small business where I design and manufacture aluminum parts for drag cars. I am currently on chapter 35 of unscripted . I started making my parts in 2014 after a year of researching the best method to produce aluminum bumper brackets for muscle era race cars. I should back up a little and explain why I even started making something like this for such a nitch market. I would often read on these enthusiasts forums, " who makes aluminum bumper brackets?". Most racers just wanted to buy the part and bolt it on. I thought to myself " why is nobody offering this?". I had already made a set for my car several years before after purchasing a fiberglass bumper for weight reduction. I made the individual parts and a friend tig welded them together for me. I reduced the weight off of the front end of my race car by 25 lbs total with the bumper and brackets. So with the research I discovered a water jet company a mile from my home in rural Laporte, Indiana and convinced the owner to cut some parts for me. I was ecstatic upon receiving the first parts I designed. I quickly realized I had to work on the design. All design work was being done on a CAD program which I had no idea how to operate. The water jet owner, Rudy, said " look dude, I dont have all day to sit around drawing your stuff you're going to have to learn to do this (autocad) yourself. So I did. I taught myself autocad and bought a yearly subscription. With some trial and error with design I now was making front aluminum bumper brackets for my 70 Plymouth Duster race car and 71 Dodge dart race cars. I shared my product with people on the race forums of a few brand specific enthusiast websites and became very busy. I have added many new models and brands to my product lineup and continue to do so. I typically connect with a consumer wanting a certain model bracket that I currently do not make. The customer loans me his difficult to find factory steel(heavy) brackets and I make a fixture from them. I reverse engineer for the mounting points and develop my part from there. I return the factory brackets to the customer along with a set of aluminum brackets for free. It has been a well received practice.
I created a company logo and had a banner and decals made to distribute at trade shows, races and swap meets. I have a website published on wordpress but still adding content.
I do all of the design, fixtures, prototypes, testing, distribution and advertising myself.

While listening to Unscripted during my 50 mile commute to work in East Chicago, Indiana I found myself saying, "Yes! That's exactly what I think!" or "That's how I handle my business".

Thank you Mr. DeMarco for your insight and knowledge.

 

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