Lou Carney shows one of his favorite projects he restored an old fuel pump and installed a television that replays 1950s car commercials. (Photo by Clinton Lewis)

If you want to watch television in Lou Carneys garage, you have to pull up to the pump. Thats because Carney, the retired owner of Bowling Green Transmission Center, installed a TV, VCR and FM radio in a cast-off gas pump. I just like anything thats unusual, Carney said. That includes other peoples cast offs. The garage beside Carneys White Quarry Road home boasts restored antique childrens pedal cars, an old emergency telephone box that now is home to a cordless phone and countless other modern projects. Ive become a pedal-car widow, Carneys wife, Teresa, said with a laugh. … If hes not down there in the garage til 12 or 1 (a.m.), hes in bed by 8:30 (p.m.) or 9.But Teresa Carney doesnt really mind her husbands hobby. Thanks to his restoration efforts, Teresa Carney now washes her rugs and towels for the family swimming pool in a ringer washing machine, and Lou Carney also is fixing up a gasoline-powered washer from the turn of the century. Now we wont have to worry about the electricity going out, Teresa Carney said. While Lou Carney always has enjoyed working with his hands, he first became interested in fixing up things such as old cars when he was a young man, he said. I bet Ive had five 55 Chevys, he said. He became more interested in restoring antique pedal cars when he stumbled onto a rusted out version at a flea market a few years ago, he said. My wife said, What in the world are you going to do with that thing? he said. What he did was transform a dilapidated miniature Murray tractor, valued at around $100, into a treasure now worth about $500. He got a junked pedal police car in a trade and restored it into a Good Humor Ice Cream vehicle now worth $2,500.I thought that one was too far gone to fix, Lou Carney said. He refuses to sell the projects. Money is not his motivation. I worked for an old guy in New York one time and he had a lot of money and antiques and I said, Why dont you sell it? Lou Carney said And he said, Well, what would I get for it? Just money. Instead, the man wanted to leave his things to his children. Thats now what Lou Carney plans to do with his restored antiques. A son in Texas said, Why do you fool around with this old junk? Lou Carney said. And I said, I like it. But if I ever die, you can sell it. And he said, Oh, I would never do that. While Lou Carney counts on passing on his works, none of his five grown children share his love of restoration, he said. Instead, the Carney clan stays close by cross-stitching together. Teresa Carney taught her children to cross-stitch when they were young, she said. Lou Carney learned the craft after he broke his hand in 1989.I picked him up from work one day in January 1989, Teresa Carney said. I had some cross-stitch stuff with me and he saw, in a book, a picture that said, To My Sister. It was for twins and he has a twin sister. He said, I bet I could do that. Lou Carney planned to complete the project by the time he and his sister celebrated their birthday that October. Instead, he was done in about a month. His sister was elated. She cried and cried, Teresa Carney said. She just thought that was the most special thing in the world. Lou Carney continued to cross-stitch while his hand healed. I was working for a transmission shop in Nashville (Tenn.) and I really couldnt work, he said. My son (Ben) was working there, too, so I would sit on the stool beside him and tell him what to do and Id cross-stitch. When Lou Carney opened Bowling Green Transmission Center nine years ago, his cross-stitch pieces adorned the walls. It wasnt long before little old ladies were coming to the business to look at the cross-stitch, he said. We even had old women coming over (to our home) to look at his cross-stitch, Teresa Carney said. Lou Carneys cross-stitched pictures are still abundant in his home. The grandfather of nine has cross-stitched sayings, poems and Bible verses, but his most impressive works are outdoor scenes of barns and scenic vistas. One piece has more than 36,000 stitches, he said. And hes better at it than me now, Teresa Carney said. The back of mine are all knotted. The back of his (work) looks just like the front. Lou Carney said he enjoys precise work, both in his restoration efforts and in his cross-stitch. My wife says Im a perfectionist, he said. If I dont do it right, I do it over. Carney also likes transforming something old into something nice. I just like the end result, he said. I like seeing what it looks like afterward.