Glenn Harris tilted a heavy piece of pockmarked armor onto its edge.

The green veneer was gouged and dented with quarter- and dime-sized cavities. Next to each divot was a bit of writing, some in white, some in gray and black: "7.62 x39LC," "5.50," "AP 308."

"That one's armor piercing," said Harris, a 49-year-old champion off-road racer turned defense contractor. He owns Southern California Gold Products in Oxnard.

He pointed at another hole, where the caliber of the projectile was marked in white.

"That's a high-velocity round," he said while drifting his finger over it. "And that one's from an AK-47."

Harris' company began installing "up-armor kits" on Humvees, trucks, bulldozers, cranes and other military vehicles about three years ago.

On Harris' factory floor is an armored door with blast glass that's been tested with a simulated IED explosion. The fragments split open the metal covering on one hinge, cut the skin of the door in spots and knocked a big spider web of cracks into the window, but nothing blew all the way through.

Knowing that their work makes a difference has driven Harris and his employees to work harder.

"It's saved a lot of lives," he said of the company's first armoring effort in early 2004 — shields mounted around gun turrets on top of Humvees. "We got e-mails and photos from guys thanking us."

It's been an evolution for the Camarillo native, who went from competing in off-road races in Baja Mexico and the deserts of Nevada to running big-company racing teams before launching after-market add-ons for trucks.

In the 1990s, he landed a Humvee dealership in Japan. He later developed something called a "slant-back," a shell that snapped onto the back of older Hummers. Harris' business, which he operates with his wife, Gina, out of a new 13,000-square-foot warehouse in Oxnard, employs about 12 people. When factoring in subcontractors, he provides jobs for as many as 100 others.

Lucrative Navy contract

Last year, his $10 million-a-year company got a $7.3 million contract with the Navy to armor trucks used by Seabees.

The project is a small sample of the total economic effect of defense contracts in Ventura County. In 2006 — the most recent year for which data is available — more than half a billion dollars in prime Defense Department contracts went to area businesses.

Overall, Naval Base Ventura County estimates that the military injects about $1.7 billion into the local economy.

For Harris, his proximity to the base has resulted in steady work with the Naval Construction Battalion, the Seabees.

Harris' company has earned a reputation for its speed and efficiency in adding the beefy armor, said Capt. Kelly J. Schmader, commanding officer of the Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center at the base. More than 80 vehicles sent to Iraq by the Seabees have had armor added, many by Harris' company, said Schmader.

"The products that we have obtained from SCGP (Southern California Gold Products) are increasing the survivability of Seabees executing construction projects in hostile environments," he said. "The ownership and pride that SCGP takes in their work is evident in the high quality products that we have received from them."

Despite being just a few miles from the base, Harris' connection to the military started by chance and a few hundred miles to the south with something called the Gypsy Rack.

On his way to a race in Baja Mexico in 2002, Harris stopped at Camp Pendleton after getting a call from a Marine general with a logistics problem. It was during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. The Marines were worried about the range of Humvees, which are so integral to light infantry. Beyond that, the general was looking for a place to stow extra water and gear without eliminating space for ammunition.

Good idea leads to contract

Harris came up with a solution in three days — the Gypsy Rack, which holds six jerrycans of fuel or soldiers' gear. He ended up winning his biggest contract to that point, a $1.5 million deal to build 2,500 racks.

"We showed them we could do an excellent job, that we'd deliver on what we promised," Harris said.

In a letter to the company, Marine Lt. Gen. James Mattis said the "Gypsy Rack certainly came through for us" by "extending the Division's legs and giving more confidence to our lads, who knew they could press just a little farther toward their objectives each time the fuel needles began to get low. And in a fight, it's all about confidence."

The quick delivery and simple ingenuity of the design — the racks are made of steel tubing and easily installed — led to more work. In late 2003, the Marines asked if Harris could come up with armor plates to protect gunners on Humvees.

As always, Harris tapped into his racing contacts and young guys he knows who are skilled at tricking out cars.

"There's a lot of talented guys around here in their 20s that just know how to do this stuff," he said.

One of them, James McAvoy, describes it a bit more like a businessman.

"We're well-diversified, and because of his (Harris') racing background, we bring a different perspective," he said.

The Humvee gun turret is an example of how Harris' team tackles a challenge. The turret had an armor shield in front, but nothing on the sides and back, which meant Marines were getting killed or injured.

Harris' crew came up with a way to quickly and securely attach armor plates to all sides. They later even developed a way to shape the armor kits.

More military work

After an Army officer saw how well the armor protected Marine gunners, Gold Products got an Army order for 5,000 gunner shield kits.

"We delivered 5,000 kits in eight weeks," Harris said.

In 2005, the company made its first foray into complete armoring of military vehicles. Harris and his team also participated in a test at the military's proving grounds in Aberdeen, Md., installing prototype armor kits on trucks, bulldozers and other large military vehicles with a mobile workshop.

Harris' company was among dozens of companies from across the country that rallied to patch up the military's Achilles' heel in Iraq.

The competitive field is a bit cutthroat. Last year, Gold Products won a lawsuit against a defense contractor that didn't pay for work the company performed. But instead of getting paid, Harris' company was sued by the other company in federal court. The company alleged that Gold Products had taken its trade secrets for armoring military vehicles.

Harris denies taking anything.

"It's a pain," Harris said of the suit. "But you have to be ready for this kind of stuff when you go up against the big dogs."

The rush for armoring contracts came after the initial Iraq invasion because few of the 12,000 Humvees sent to the war were armored. Roadside bombs shredded the vehicles, resulting in deaths and injuries.

Marines and soldiers were forced to improvise, welding metal to their vehicles that had been scrounged from dumps and scavenged off wrecked Soviet-made vehicles, which had been part of Saddam Hussein's army. Soldiers and Marines referred to open-back Humvees as "suicide wagons." They jerry-rigged metal doors that lacked latches and had to be "chicken-winged," held into place by a soldier who had to hang an arm out the window.

Public airing triggers push

The idea of American servicemen scurrying for homemade quick-fix protection came to a head when a Tennessee National Guardsman asked then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld why soldiers had to forage through dumps for metal to armor their vehicles.

Soon thereafter, the Defense Department began a huge push to "armor up" its vehicles. That effort recently culminated with the purchase of much bigger MRAPs — Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles — such as the Cougar and Buffalo, massive armored fighting vehicles designed to survive roadside bombs.

The military has expanded its armoring program to include trucks and construction vehicles.

Among the innovations Harris' team of talented gearheads, custom car fabricators and metal workers have developed is a 5,000-pound armor cab, with thick, blast-resistant glass, heavy metal doors and door locks like those on bulldozers and big trucks.

Last week, Harris went to a meeting where the military discussed armor options, from light to heavy versions. He said he believes his company will have a shot at those contracts.

"There's just a lot of opportunity for growth," Harris said.