Thedeuceguy

MSRA Award Banquet

2012-01-30T18:17:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the big award banquet held in St Paul at the river center. Over 700 people attended. It was a good evening. As most of you know, two of our deuces were nominated, that right there was an awesome feat. We did not win the car of the year award with either car........but the 3 window was presented an AWESOME award!! The Twin Cities Roadsters club pick one car each year that they like, has to be driven, to be presented with the "Silver Hacksaw Award" you know, then cut off the top to make it a roadster like theirs. The roadster club is limited to just 25 members, a very elite club to be in. To have our car picked by them for their award is better, in my opinion, than winning the car of the year award.I don't mean to down play the car of the year award, but to have a group of real hot rod roadster drivers choose our car is just unreal. The award is a hand made engraved saw mounted on a wooden stand...very cool.
When a car is nominated for the MSRA car/custom of the year, it is presented with a very nice engraved brass and wood plaque with a image of your car on it and an outstanding full color matted ready to be framed picture of the car. The two new ones will hang right behind each car in the new Deuce Garage. They will look real nice there. During the ceremony each nominated car was on the big screen....neat.
It was a very fun evening, saw many friends, good food, good times.

New Deuce in the garage

2012-01-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

Well, I did it again, I found a deuce I could not live with out. It is a B400, convertible sedan, only 926 were made, mine is number 524. They are so rare and hard to find I had to buy it, there might not another chance to get one. I have always said I would like a B400 and a phaeton in my garage. The phaeton can wait.

The body is in very good shape, it does need some small patches in the cowl and rear quarters, and a rear floor. It is sitting on a real deuce frame that has been modified like the Rolling Bones do. It was done by the same guy that did Kieth's coupe. It is set up with Schroder cowl steering that was once owned by Parnelli Jones, that's kind of cool.It came with a junk flathead that was used as a mock up. I am going to use the modified flattie out of the lakester. It already has a 5 speed tranny and a Halibrand quick change rear. There are 40 Ford brakes on all four corners. The grille shell has been chrome plated many years ago, I'm going to use it too. I would never plate one, but its done now and I think will be cool to use.

My plans are to paint it a semigloss very dark blue, a tan convertible top, highboy style, no fenders, steelies with bis ply tires, a very bare interior, rubber mats, no carpet, using aircraft seats with buffalo leather cushions and well as the back seat. It will be a rough and ready hot rod. No radio, no heater, no AC.

The plans call for a completion date of April 2013. That gives me two winters to get it done, should be a lot of fun.

My friend Dave from Des Moines drove to New Jersey with me to pick it up. The day we loaded it into the trailer, Dave had to wear his "you gotta driv'em" shirt. His humor is a warped as mine, that's why we are good friends. It was a good trip but a long one,

Clock for the RPU horn button

2012-01-07T19:28:00.000-08:00

Two other deuces have clocks in the horn button of the steering wheel. It is very handy to just glance down and check the time. I have wanted to put one in the RPU since day one. The problem is to find a clock. The Harley shop carries them for $50 or so. I will not pay that. I have looked for one like the blue roadster has but could not find one. Finally one night I was searching on Ebay and found a little pewter dog with a little clock in his belly......and it was only $10 plus a couple dollars shipping...bingo. That's my price range. I bought it, drilled a hole in the horn button, a little dab of clear RTV on the back side and it is all done.

29 A gets new threads!

2011-11-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

The little 29 A pickup had a "well worn" interior. The back of the seat was a Mexican blanket, the cushion was black oil cloth vinyl that was crisp and starting to split at the seams. The wind lacing was worn and kind of shredded.I decided it was time to spruce it up.
I painted the garnish moldings green rattle can, also the top part of the dash. I made some ABS plastic panels that go below the map pockets on the B pillar, and made a speaker cover from the ABS and painted them green too. I had already added a AM/FM 8 track radio below the seat......yes, a 8 track. I bought a couple of Waylon and Willie 8 tracks from the swap meet for a dollar. Now I have cool tunes.
It had real nice green carpet on the floor, kick panels and door panels that Dan had put in. I thought a nice green pleated seat would look good. I tore the seat apart, the springs were really bad shape. I decided to make a new base of 3/4 inch plywood and have Al use webbing and new foam for the cushion. The back was already good foam. Al sewed up a beautiful pleated cover for the back and the cushion, looks and sits nice!
To finish it all off I added a flying eyeball third brake light and put a sending unit in the gas tank so now I have a working gas gauge! No more need to have a note with the mileage at last fill on the dash.

A little work on the "Deuce Delivery"

2011-11-19T19:47:00.000-08:00

The seat handles on the delivery have always been broken, I tried to glue them a couple of times and did not work.
This idea came up back when the interior was done. I finally decided to do it. I also replaced the passenger side door glass that had been cracked for a couple of years and had the chip in the windshield repaired, looks all better now.
You can see the broken handle. I made a new one from some tubing,, one end flattened and drilled to bolt onto the seat adjuster. I finally decided to paint them brown, I thought of chrome, nickel plate, powder coated black or silver.....it all seemed to stick out too much. Brown rattle can worked well! To fill the end of the tubing, I used a railroad date nail that had been chromed, a "32" of course. It fit perfectly in the tubing.I attached the handle with two little stainless button head bolts. I think they look good..much better than the broken plastic ones!
I had the front tires rebalanced and reset the toe, now the annoying little vibration that would occur at 50 to 55 mph is gone.
I wired the fog/driving lights up, (they were just decoration before)so now I can see at night better, cleaned it all up, touched up some paint underneath, cleaned the interior, re glued some carpet pieces..I think its all ready for the summer trip

My new "Deuce Garage"

2011-11-04T18:28:00.000-07:00

I needed more garage space, I was out of room. All last winter I used the empty house garage across the street to store four of my cars. I have had 13 cars crammed into my house garage. It is very hard to keep nicely finished cars in the work shop when I am grinding, sanding and painting there. The decision was made....build a new garage to park the finished cars in. This garage will house just 32's. The other rides will stay in the house garage.
I got the variance and the permits to build a 46x60, 2x6 stick built, cedar sided garage to match my house and shop building. There is a 12 ft wide door in the north wall, small windows up high on the ten foot high side walls. The light can shine in but you cannot see in. I don't need snoopy eyes looking in the windows.
There is floor heat and brick red epoxy floor coating. It is all drywalled, textured and painted two tone grey with a "Ford" blue stripe separating the colors. It is lit by old school house lights down the middle and two rows of aluminum dome lights from Ikea on each side. At the top of the long walls are two rows of blue neon tube lights and a large 48 inch diameter red neon "Open Tonight" sign. On the south wall under a red and white stripe canopy is a half of a deuce chassis, powder coated red, complete with the front and rear axle cut in half, a vega box, chrome brake pedal, chrome 4 bar and a 3/8" glass counter top. Rope lights under the canopy and two red bar stools finish it off. There are two high top bar tables and bar stools in the middle.
There are lighted show cases with die cast deuces and deuce pictures and posters on the walls. I added a glass top desk, dvd player and tv, security camera/tv, micro wave, coffee pot and fridge full of beer and water. This should be a cool place to hang out this winter between shop projects.

A little work on the #42 Deuce

2011-11-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

With no big projects on the plan for this year, I thought I would do all of the little lists that I have for each car. The first one up is the 42 car. I call it that because at one time I had two black hi boy deuce sedans. The first sedan I had painted on the door a big 42, that was to mean "four deuces", I had my son design a lady luck gal with 4 deuces to put on the front quarter. Anyway, the list for this car.
1. weld in new patch on passenger side rear quarter.(its all painted and looks good now)
2.straighten the exhaust pipes to be even and straight.
3.replace the ugly yellow plug wires, (see the before and after pics)
4. move the hoodlum plaque from the chain to the right taillight
5.clear coat the original 32 rear license plate
6.clean the interior
7. clean the engine
8. clean the tires and use rubber dressing on them
9. add a hand pressure pump to the eelco tank. (I bought a pump in 2007 at a swap meet in Colorado, finally got it mounted.)
The list is completed, not very big I know but sure helps the look of the car, now just drive it a few more times before it gets too cold and snowy.

The Scavengers come to visit

2011-10-24T18:47:00.000-07:00

Sunday the Scavengers Car Club from the cities came to St Cloud for a garage tour that I arranged. About 10 AM we all met at the Copper Lantern. There was around 20 cars from the club.
The first stop was at Mikes "toy Museum". They all enjoyed the many die cast, hot wheels, pedal cars and of course all of the St Cloud advertising things in the antique replica gas station.

Stop #2 was Terry's Rod Shop. There the group enjoyed the collection of red Chevys, the orange hot rod bus and spacious shop with the new chassis for the 35 Chevy.

The next stop was at Lumpy's place, the Divco beer truck was a big hit as well as the other rods and the cool collection of toys in the house garage turned into a car party room.

The last stop was at my place. The group were fed pulled pork sandwiches and other goodies in the newly decorated house garage and then toured the new "Deuce Garage.
Except for the short rain shower the day was a lot of fun. I think everyone enjoyed it.

Looking forward to summer 2012

2011-10-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

I am having "trip withdrawals" already. There are no more trips planned this year. I have been thinking about and planning the summer of 2012. The stars are all aligning with the moon or something because the show schedule seems to be working with the calendar for 2012.
The way I see it, I could leave about June 4th and head for Loveland, CO for the Goodguys Colorado Nationals being held on June 8th and 9th.
Monday morning it would be off for the LA Roadster show in Pomona CA on Fathers Day June 16-17.
Sunday after the show it will be going east to Vegas for the night and onto St Paul, MN for the Back to The Fifties.
After three days at home its off to Des Moines for the Goodguys show then onto Columbus Nationals on the official cruise.
I would be home for a week or so and then to Salina, KS to the Leadsled Spactacular the last week end of July. Driving the 50 Buick custom for this trip
That pretty much takes care of June and July don't you think?

Iowa and Hastings MSRA

2011-10-03T18:33:00.000-07:00

7AM we met Zannoths and headed south towards Kimball. There we picked up the Dicks in their 35 sedan. We stopped for breakfast in New Ulm. Just missed a deer on the highway, too close for comfort for me!
We arrived in Algona, IA about noon. Found Randy and Vicky's B&B, wow wnat a nice p;lace. Huge house built in 1913 or so, 25 rooms, all reubuilt by Randy in 9 short years.
They got their Lincoln Zephyr out of the garage and we all headed about 30 miles to take a tour of the Winnebago factory. That was very interesting. On the way home we found a neat antique store in an old barn. I think we all found something there to buy.
Saturday morning the gals went shopping and us guys went to see Randy's shop about 10 miles away. The next stop was a tree grove to check out an old bus that Randy had heard about. It was a 32 Dodge weged between two trees. He will need a chainsaw and a tractor to get it out!
About 2 PM we headed for Northifield, MN to our hotel and then onto Hastings for a cruise night. There was close to 1000 cars. One of the most impressive was a Peterbuilt V12 truck, all chrome or polished aluminum...pretty cool.
Sunday we had special parking by the newly relocated Porkys drive in. There were around a 1000 cars there. So many people that they ran out of food.
About 3 us and the Nystroms headed north to home. It was a 630 mile weekend. The car ran fine, we all had a good time.

September trip

2011-09-23T19:20:00.001-07:00

At the last minute we cancelled the Deuce Reunion trip to Bastrop, TX. With the fires going on there and the heat still there and we had a ton of things to get done here, we decided to skip the reunion this year. We will have it on the list for next year. I will give someone else a chance to win the "long distance" award!! LOL
This Tuesday we will be going to Des Moines, IA, I promised my good friend Dave that I would help him swap 5w bodies from the old to the new chassis. I figure Wed and Thursday will work. Need to move the body over, then shim it to get the doors to fit right.I will take some pics and post the progress.
Friday it off to Algona. IA to Randy's B&B. We will be meeting Yagers, Zannoths and Dicks there. Shop tours on Friday and Saturday, then its onto Lakeville for the night and over to Hastings for the MSRA Fall Foliage run. Many of the nominated cars will be there to check out in person. I hope to have someone drive the RPU there for me.
Check back soon for Des Moines updates.

"Cruise to the Quarry" MSRA event

2011-09-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the first ever MSRA "Cruise to the Quarry" hosted by the Hot Rod Hoodlums of Central Minnesota. Lumpy and Terry did a great job of organizing and planning the event. The weather was cloudy and cool, but fine. There were almost 300 cars attending, a great feat for the first time ever. Cars from all around, will be interesting to see where they all came from. Moliters is a really nice place for the event, I sure hope it continues for more years.
The real highlight of the event for me was being nominated for car of the year with the RPU. That's right, now we have both new deuces in the running for car of the year, not sure if that doubled our chances or "halfed" our chances.....LOL. It is just a great feeling to have them nominated....two in one year and the Buick last year....WOW. Maybe I do need a "new project: for this winter and try again next year!! Just kidding.
I had favorite son in law Le and Cooper drive the RPU, we drove the 3w. I think they had fun.If I put many more event stickers on the windshield I won't be able to see out of the right side.

MSRA Fall Campout

2011-09-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to the MSRA Fall Campout in Grand Rapids. There was six or seven of us that drove together. It was a nice drive, about 150 miles. The weekend event was very nice, two free meals, poker run, cruise thru the country, show and shine on Saturday, plenty of things to do. We saw several friends from the cities that also made the trip.
The highlight of the weekend for us was being nominated for MSRA Car of the Year !! That is a great honor. We are very happy and thsnkful. Prety cool to have had the Buick nominated last year and the 3w this year.

Minneapolis Messaround

2011-09-04T18:30:00.000-07:00

I left about 8AM this morning for the Minneapolis Messaroud, a tradtional hot rod and custom show at the Memory Lanes in Mpls. What a fun cool show. Beautiful weather, lots of cool cars, bands, food, vendors, pinstripers, a real neat show.
I drove my RPU, my neighbor Jerry in his 41 Chevy coupe, we stopped in Elk River and picked up his son and girlfriend in their 27 T coupe.It was a nice drive, about 75 miles.

49 in 7

2011-09-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

My friend Dave Schaub is at it again. Last year he drove his 32 roadster to 49 states in 8 days....this year it's 7 days. He is on his way right now driving to Maine from California, one minute past midnight on Sept 10 he will leave Maine and drive thru all 49 states, ending in Alaska....quite a feat. This is all done to raise money for the Ronald McDonald house, a very good cause. You can follow his trip and most of all donate to the cause by going to his web site www.49in7.com
Check it out.
He will be driving by St Cloud again this year and I plan to be on the highway to meet him and drive with him for a few miles, maybe all the way to North Dakota....who knows. Last year I drove with him for 60 miles or so.
He is 25% of the total funds he wishes to raise...please check his site, click on the donate button and give something...I did, its easy, goes right to your charge card....(you can get points on your card that way!!) He needs a lot more money to make it to the grand total of $150,000...open your wallets a give.

Off to meet the Rolling Bones

2011-08-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

We met at the Copper Lantern for breakfast Sunday morning at 6:30. After a great meal we left at 7:30, headed down Highway 10 to Monticello to meet 2 more cars.There was my black RPU, my blue roadster driven by Darrin, Terry Y and his 34 Chevy, Terry N with the 40 coupe and Lumpy in the Divco beer truck. The meeting place was Holiday station....news to me, there is one on each side of the highway and of course I stopped at the east side and they were waiting on the west side...after a few minutes of waiting, Lumpy called their cell and we found them. So it was off to the other station. We picked up Eugene in his deuce roadster and John in his 34 Ford delivery.
I was appointed the leader so off we went on I94, to 494 thru the city and south on I35....traffic was light, a cool Sunday morning so we were "rolling".... 80 to 85. The first gas stop was Lakeville, we all got gas and off again to Clear lake, IA for the next gas stop and to pick up Randy in his 41 Packard. I called Dave to let him know we were on time, in fact about 45 minutes early. Back onto I35 to Des Moines. We made it to Dave's shop about 12:45. There he made us a great pork sandwich. We toured his shop and looked at his toys. His buddy Matt with his 50's built Deuce 5 window came too.
We headed across town to the motel where we were to meet the "Bones". Checked in and set up camp in the back of the hotel lot, canopy, tapped the keg, set up a couple of grills and set back to enjoy.
The bones arrived about 6 PM with the last of them arriving about 7ish. I think there were 10 rods, two trucks/trailers with race cars and a race bike. There were about 6 other local rods that came to the party too.
Monday morning the Bones and the Hoodlums had breakfast at the cool diner next door. After breakfast we all got into our cars and headed out, the Hoodlums up state 65 and the Bones headed west on I80. It was a fun time.
We toured the auto museum in the little town of Williams, IA. They have a very nice display of many neat old cars. Then it was over to I35 and headed north towards home.
Just south of the cities we had a couple close encounters with a couple of state troopers but it all worked out fine.
I arrived home about 4:30. The GPS showed 700 miles exactly. The "fun meter" was pegged all the way.......a real fun time. Thanks to all the Hoodlums that came along with me, now they know how my summers go. Eight hot rods, eleven hoodlums, 700 miles, one keg of beer equals a fun weekend!!

Hot Rod Hoodlums meet up with the Rolling Bones of NY

2011-08-06T18:50:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning we are meeting at the Copper Lantern at 6:30 for breakfast. We will leave at 7:30 for Des Moines. There will be three 32's, a 34 Chevy, 40 Ford,55 Divco beer truck,I think John will be in his 34 Ford, in Clear Lake, IA we pick up a 30something Packard. That should make eight rods with 13 guys.
Plans are to meet at my friend Dave's shop for a great pork tenderloin sandwich lunch about 1:30 PM. After lunch and a tour of Dave's shop and toys we will all head over to Motel 6 in Altoona to meet with the Rolling Bones. There we will cook burgers in the lot, drink beer and tell stories.......fun!! Dave and his son Kevin will drive with us in their 409 powered Model A Ford, as well as another friend, Matt in his channeled deuce 5window.

When we return Monday night, I plan to post photos and update the weekend events. I am not taking the laptop with me. Check in after Monday night for the latest update.

Thursday/Sunday

2011-08-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

The open house party at Brite's was great. Pulled pork and all the fixins, some real cool projects in the shop. There were lots of cars and people.

Friday was a gorgeous day, cloudy and highs in the 80's. I walked the park over and over. Saw many friends from all over. Lots and lots of beautiful cars......all modified in some way, from mild to wild. I bought several pinstripe art work pieces. Did you ever see a pig fink?? a piggy bank painted like a rat fink!! cool !

Saturday.....it was HOT....107 I think it was...it was unreal. We left the park about 4;30 and went to eat and cool off. My shirt was wet all day. Saturday night was a great gathering in the hotel lot, cars cruising thru, flame throwers burning, like we needed more heat!! It was a fun day even tho it was so hot.

Sunday...hot again. The best thing Sunday was watching Steve collect all the awards for his Pontiac. He walked away with 5 of them!! Pretty cool. Congrats Steve. We spent the night in Salina, had one last dinner with several friends.

Monday.....We left about 9 AM drove to Sioux Falls. Arrived there about 7 PM. Kind of a long day. We are all tired from the weekend and the heat is still here. It was 100 all day driving thru Kansas and Nebraska and into South Dakota. Twice we were stuck on the roadside waiting for a pilot truck to guide us down a one lane construction road. We had to open the hood and turn off the engine. Sunday night we drove thru town about 9 miles, going 30 to 35 mph, AC on high and the temp gauge was stuck at 200.......not bad. Stopped on the highway, in the hot sun, even with all 3 fans on, it puked over......the hood was so hot I had to use a towel to open it. It still fired right up when it was our turn to go down the one laner.

Tuesday......Jerry needs to go to Dakota Digital to get something checked, so that is the plan at 9 AM, then off to drive the last 200+ miles to get home. The heat index is still 100 here at 10 PM. It will be good to get home.

This weekend (Sunday) will be the roadster trip to Des Moines to meet up with the Rolling Bones guys for a party in the parking lot. That should be lots of fun.....stay tuned.

Arrived in Salina !!

2011-07-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

We woke up to cloudy skies and a little rain. We just had another cup of coffee and waited for it to stop. The rain didn't seem to cool anything off. It was a good drive, uneventful. The Vintage Air works well. The two vents that I changed around really helped the cooling. The motor ran 195 to 200 all day, so she was cool too.

We arrived in Salina about 5:30. Steve and Deb had just pulled in a few minutes before. They drove 13 hours straight thru to get here, we stopped for lunch and a few breaks and drove about seven hours.

When we arrived the temp was 114 degrees, not heat index but the real deal....it was HOT !! Today, Thursday is to cool down to a 100. Its going to be hot, but all the cool cars will help us make it thru the heat.

Tonight is a shop party at Brite Built Hot Rods with "free food" and then a cruise up and down Santa Fe St. The street will be blocked off so only the show cars will be allowed to cruise. Should be fun.

Stay tuned for more details later.

On the road again......KKOA in the Buick

2011-07-26T19:32:00.000-07:00

We meet Doris and Jerry Johnson this morning to drive to Salina, KS to the KKOA Leadsled Spetacular.
As we got in and hit the keys, Jerry's car did nothing. We traced the neutral safety wires from the ignition to the switch, no juice, after wiggling the wire on the ignition plug, we got juice to the switch, but still no fire, next I stuck the test prob on the purple wire on the solenoid and hit the key, bingo it fired. At the first rest stop, the same thing, no fire, used the probe and bingo. Its like the solenoid sticks. From there on it has worked fine.
Other than that we had a great leisurely cruise down highway 23 to Sioux Falls, south on I29 to Vermillion, SD for the night. We arrived about 5PM, found a nice place to eat and have a cold beer.
In the morning we continue south and west to Highway 81. That will be a straight shot south to Salina. Today was a mere 300 miles, tomorrow about the same. Its been a good trip so far. It was hot and humid in SD and have severe thunder warnings tonight until 4AM.

Home again

2011-07-13T18:58:00.000-07:00

We got home yesterday about 3 PM. It was a good trip, almost 2200 miles and only a couple of hiccups. Not bad for a brand new car with only 200 miles on it when we left.
Sorry about no posts for few days, I could not get the laptop to connect after Wednesday. Not sure what the deal is, it works fine here at home.

The show was outstanding, 7000 cars, a nice indoor swap meet, large vendor building with AC and a ton of outdoor vendors. The car quality is outstanding. Pros pick area had so many beautiful cars.
This show runs autocross for 3 days, they really pound the cars around the course. The muscle car of the year is crowned here and they have to run the course, some go all out.
A new 3W by master builder Dave Lane won the street rod of the year, a beautiful car. Mustard yellow, it beat out several nice cars including the Dale Boesch built
5W that was at Des Moines, I would hate to choose between the two.
We won the "You Gotta Drive 'em" award...that was a way cool honor!! To drive thru the awards building at the Nats is a great time. We did it a couple of years ago with the Buick too, always nice.
The Ridler winning 56 Ford was there, the 59 Imperial Speedster was really neat to see in person, check this months Hot Rod mag for details, just so many knock out cars.
I was invited to tour the Richard Munz collection in Madison at noon on Monday, just could not get there by then without some real early starts and long days....darn!! That would be a real neat tour, maybe next time. He has many beautiful cars.

Today I cleaned the 3W inside and out, top and bottom, looks better now. I put a spacer under the carb so it will start when hot easier, adjusted the turn signals (had them hooked up backwards in the front!! LOL ). Replaced the coil wire with a red one, used a gray one for the roadside fix.
Tomorrow it is "get the Buick ready time" She is going to Salina,KS in a week or so. "KKOA Lead sled Spectacular"..... needs a oil change, repack the bearings, grease the joints, move the AC vents, and clean it real good.

more pics of the 50's town

2011-07-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

Such a neat place.....................

Wednesday

2011-07-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

We drove to Pontiac, Ill today. A very neat town, the Pontiac museum, lots of neat little shops and murals painted on the building sides. We got the grand tour of the museum, greeted by the mayor, the museum opens in two weeks, not even done yet asnd they still let us tour it.
We had a great lunch, took the scenic trolley ride around town, visited the war museum, Rte 66 museum, some antiques shops...fun time.
Next it was off to Indiana to visit a Private collection and an 50's style town built in this guys back yard, pretty cool. They served us burgers and fries and banana splits. wow! He had a very cool place and several neat old cars. Tonight we are in Gas City IN.Not any excitement today, no one broke down,but we had several detours and u turns to spice up the day. LOL
Some photos to enjoy....Pontiac museum, murals, 50's town

photos from Monday Tuesday

2011-07-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

Some photos of Yogis store and the collection in Peoria

Monday/Tuesday

2011-07-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 4th, we drove to Monticello, IA to visit Yogi's. He built a new building this past year, very nice. We had a great lunch (free food) and a nice tour of the new store and warehouse. He bought Tanks a few months ago, you ought to see the inventory of gas tanks....hundreds of them.
Monday nights stop was at Clinton, IA. The local Culvers and car club hosted a car show in our honor. Free drinks and 25% off of food....almost like free. It was a great day and a beautiful drive.

Tuesday was an easy short drive day. 115 miles. We left at 9:30 and headed for East Peoria, Ill. We were to visit a private collection of cars there. About 45 miles from Peoria, we hit a really bad bumpy road. My car was shaking with a bad case of "death wobble" That's when the front wheels start wobbling wildly out of control.
I finally found a place to pull over to check it out. After a quick check of the front suspension, we found the steering arm that bolts to the spindle was loose.
We borrowed a jack and went to work. Had it fixed in no time, the other side was coming loose also.Both sides tight and we were back on the road. Three cars stopped with me, the others went on, we caught up with the rest in about 30 minutes at the stop.
The collection was very nice, many Fords a couple of Chevys. Gary our host had a great BBQ lunch all prepared for us too....more free food!

I went for a quick oil change, the odometer has just shy off 1000 miles on it, time for some fresh oil. As I hit the key to start it and drive to the oil change place, there was nothing...no power at all, no lights, nothing. OK, start checking the system. Checked the battery...good, take the trunk panels out and check the cutoff switch....good. Next, under the dash to check the maxi fuse, as I opened the plastic case, I could hear the radio click on....found it....the maxi fuse connection had rattled loose. A quick tightening job on the nuts and it was fixed.
Hey, it's a new build, with a 1000 miles on it, things happen!!
After the oil change it was off to the Pair a Dice Casino to a big car show, again in our honor. Several hundred cars showed up at the casino...pretty cool. We all got tickets for buy one get one free buffet dinners......cool.

sorry...no photos tonight.

Thursday...off to Des Moines

2011-07-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

We left for the Goodguys show in Des Moines Thursday morning about 8 AM. Jerry and Doris Johnson drove with us. We took highway 15 south to Albert Lea, missed all of the traffic in the cities that way. We met Barb and Ralph in Albert Lea. We enjoyed a nice breakfast/lunch there as always.
About 9 miles north of Ames the little coupe quit running. I coasted to the side of the road, just a few dozen feet from the rest area but could not get there. I opened the hood and figured out there was no spark. I opened the right side of the hood and there it was....the coil had burned itself to death. The tower was gone, looked like charcoal, the coil wire was burnt too. I grabbed the cell and dialed AAA. Told Elvis to go with Jerry and Doris and Ralph and Barb and continue on to get us all registered.
The flatbed was there within 30 minutes, loaded her up and headed for Ames. The driver stopped at a O'Riley's to let me go in to find a new coil...... they had one. I needed a MSD Blaster2 #8202. He then drove us to his station, unloaded us in the shade (it was 100 degrees). I switched the coil, replaced the wire and was back on the road in less than 2 hours.

Friday................We were at the Fair grounds by 7:30 and found a place to park. It was HOT.....100 degrees again. I spent a lot of time inside the vendor building in the AC visiting with friends.

Saturday..................Back to the Fair grounds about 7:30 again. We had reserved parking in the Deuce Doins lot....nice. So many nice deuces. The most awesome one was a beautiful 5W just finished by Dale Boesch. He builds some spectacular cars. This one was an 8 year project. You cannot see any fender fasteners, has air bags and a straight axle, a wrap around dash, beautiful dark green paint...awesome. He won the "Deuce Pick" from the Midwest Deuce club....right choice. The weather was much cooler, high was 82 and low humidity...nice.

Sunday...........It was even cooler, a beautiful day....high 70's, very nice. Looked at more cars and saw more friends. Sunday night was the kick off party at Daves's shop. Twenty three cars were there. Dave served us all pork chop sandwiches cooked on his new Snap on grill.

Sunday....made it home

2011-06-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

I left Brookings about 7AM Sunday morning in thick fog. The more I drove the thicker it got. I finally drove out of it. I took 14 to state 23 into MN.It was a nice drive, little traffic. It had rained just before me, puddles in the road. In Granite Falls I stopped for gas and it started to rain a bit. The windshield and my goggles were very wet but I kept dry.
I arrived home about 11 AM......4499 miles..tons of fun.............a great trip

Thursday/Saturday

2011-06-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday I left the tour and headed to my hometown to visit my sister. It was a 500 mile ride. Going over the mountains west of Denver was exciting. Several miles of one lane construction. The elevation topped out at 11,000 feet, that's a long way up. The Johnson tunnel is about 5 miles long and all down hill, that was exciting. I hit Denver at noon, it was I70 to I76 across Denver, when I hit the far east side I stopped for gas and a quick lunch...and a breather. I was glad that part was over.
The remaining miles were uneventful, just cruised at 80 and clicked the miles off.

I arrived at my sisters at 4:30, she had planned a dinner for her family and me. Nephew Brad, wife Joan and their kids were all there. Nice to see them all. There was prime rib, salad, real mashed potatoes and a real tasty ice cream bar desert, those farm gals know how to cook! Oh yes there were never ending margaritas in my hand, thanks Joan!! She made that fabulous desert too.
Friday it was off to the car wash, time to get a million bugs off. Next I visited an old school buddy, Randy. He makes cowboy buckles, spurs and saddle decorations, real nice stuff.....but cowboy stuff.You can check him out at www.Randygarrettcustoms.com

Saturday morning I headed north and east. It was a nice day. It is 670 miles to home from there. I made it to Brookings, SD, about 470 miles, that's enough, found a good hotel with a bar and a cafe. In the morning I'll head for home...the last 200 miles.

My friend Dave from CA at speed in his 34 Phaeton
A few bugs
Mike, Dave and me in the Moab park
A chrome bumper buffalo in zgrand Junction

Wednesday

2011-06-22T19:30:00.002-07:00

Finally..... a new post. Monday night we were in Las Vegas, Internet was $15..no dice. Last night, besides getting to the hotel at 10 PM I could not get on the Internet.
We had a great trip to Vegas. We got to see Art Goldstrum's private collection, wow a great place. Three buildings of cars and neat stuff.Real nice people too.
Tuesday it was of to Richfield, UT. First we stopped at Las Vegas Speedway for a tour and then over to Shelby's factory. A nice time. Then it was off towards Vegas and onto Richfield. The only problem was that we left Vegas at 11 AM to drive across the desert...with no top. It was quite warm. Just outside of St George the guys that I was driving with in a neat 34 Phaeton had electric fuel pump problems...like it stopped! We messed with it for a bit then gave up, he had a spare, put that on on the roadside, drove 5 miles and it died, this time on a small shoulder part of the highway, going up a long hill, half way up. I drove to the top to park out of harms way. We jacked the car up, messed with it, could not get it to work. I walked up the hill to my car and got my spare pump, we mounted it on with some tie wraps that I had, it worked. It all sounds easy but took us a couple of hours.
We drove on and drove thru Zion Nat'l Park north on 89 and finally got to the hotel at 10 AM. I was tired and beat, it was 100 degrees on the road side, that is HOT !
Today it was off to Grand Junction by the way of Moab Utah by the arches...very pretty...warm but not as hot, maybe only 90.
In Grand Junction we visited Tammy Allen car collection, she is the blonde that sits in the front row of the BJ auction and buys cars. Nice place,loys of nice cars, no pictures allowed!!
The red 40 convert is my buddy Mike from Texas.

Wednesday

2011-06-22T19:30:00.001-07:00

more photos

2011-06-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

More photos from the show..................

Saturday/ Sunday

2011-06-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

Two beautiful days at the roadster show. The weather was great, cloudy in the morning, sunny in the PM. Highs about 75, wonderful!! So many beautiful cars, tons of neat stuff at the swap, and many many vendors.
This year was a totally different layout, the vendors were inside the building, the roadsters were parked beside the building and in the main lot. A total different look, but a real nice change.
I saw so many friends, and made some more new ones. I just love doing this!
I had so many great comments about the RPU, really makes me happy that someone else likes it too. I always say, "I build them to make me happy, if someone else likes it too, its a bonus" There were lots of bonuses this week.
I had Dave Bell autograph one of his posters, nice to visit with him again. Gary from Cornhuskers (the guy that did the basis of the rpu) had some nice comments to share. I met a guy that was trying to buy it from Gary before I made the deal....lucky for me he thought too long. I am so happy I pulled the trigger while he was debating about it.
Hollywood Hot Rods, Old Crow Speed...two fabulous places. Too much fun!!
SoCal open house was awesome on Friday, had reserved parking in their lot....thanks Jim Landree. That is so cool. We visited the Early Ford store in San Dimas, unreal all the neat old Ford parts he has piled up. At noon it was over to Thumper's and Flo's for a BBQ at their house.......great people....and free food. BBQ, pop, water, margaritas and a delicious lemon cake...wow!!
Last night it was more free BBQ from the LA Roadsters, very nice.
Tonight I am in Chatsworth, CA with the Street Rodder tour guys, this will be a very fun next week.

Wednesday

2011-06-15T21:28:00.000-07:00

Right after breakfast this morning we headed to Fred's Wiring and Custom Hot Rods. I called Frfed the night before, he is going to help figure out the gas problem. We got the car on the lift and started checking the gas line from the tank forward. Bingo! we found it. The rubber line from the tank runs thru tghe bed floor and connects to the mounted hard line. The vibration and gravity pulled the line down farther and when if hit the hard line, it looped a bit and then kinked it, there was the obstruction, it was kinked so much the hose was almost shut off. I just pushed it back up and then secured it so it could not slip down anymore. That should fix that.
We also noticed that one of the insulators on the exhaust had cut in half, replaced that and then added two more exhaust hangers, now it is even better.
The next stop was Marcel's metal Works. Foose was there planning Ron Brown's new car with Marcel and Luke. He was tapping the full size drawing to the wall as we walked in. After a nice visit with them, Foose wanted to go outside to see the RPU.....cool.
Next was Barry Whites shop and then a ride south to Foose's. Scandavian Street Rods, Wheelers, West Coast Street Rods, Squeek's and Art Chrisman's shop. Pretty full day.
We headed for home about 4 PM in the traffic. Using the commuter lane was great until we hit 91 and had to have a pass card to get in. Then it was 12 miles of 20 feet at a time, that was long.
We got to the hotel about 5:30. We all walked across the street to dinner and BS, always fun.

Monday/Tuesday

2011-06-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

After 13 hours and 693 miles we arrived in St George, UT. It was a good day. We arrived at Rocky Mtn Street rods at 6:30, I used their jack and adjusted my brakes a couple of clicks. We all left at 7:15, plans were to meet Vern on the freeway, he had some last minute problems and did not show, so a quick stop and we were off. It was a beautiful drive down I70, thru Eisenhower tunnel, wow...snow at the entrance, it is a couple of miles long and goes downhill all the way. Lots of snow in the mountains. Lots of water in the rivers, almost overflowing.
Lunch was in Frisco where we picked up one more guy. After Grand Junction, it was Utah. Some big steep uphill grades, my RPU did not like the heat, elevation and the steep grades. It felt like a giant hand holding me back. We pulled over and everyone agreed it was vapor lock. Down the road somewhere we stopped at a NAPA, I bought some 1 inch heater hose, split it a covered the fuel line for insulation, did not help. I kept on going, struggling up the hills, I figured out if I let off on the gas, the fuel would catch up and it would run better for a bit. Made for a long day.
We got to the hotel about 8:30, checked into the room. I was tired.
This morning it was off again. At the gas stop in Vegas I decided I would buy a new fuel pump just in case mine was weak and might crap out in the middle of the desert.
It did not, but it still ran like crap. I also bought some insulation wrap, wrapped the fuel line over the heater line wrap,....no help. Somewhere in the desert, we stopped, I removed the hood side for more air flow...no help. The last 50 miles is downhill, I could run at 80 and ran well. Today's trip was 250 miles, the desert in the middle of the day is HOT, I think it was 95 degrees.
I bought an electric pump tonight and am going to Fred's Wiring to use his lift to install it in the morning. Nice to know people!! Fred builds some awesome cars and is only 15 minutes from the hotel.
Last night I lost both headlights, luckily it was in the hotel lot. I fixed them here tonight, the bulbs were loose in the sockets, they are tight now!!
The trip so far is 1968 miles, just a little aggrevation, no real troubles, real troubles are when you are on a flatbed. LOL
Vern got fixed and meet up at the hotel tonight. Tomorrows plan is to fix the car and then tour some shops.

Sunday

2011-06-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

We left Lusk this morning to clear skies and only a sweatshirt on. It was 50 or so degrees. We took a different from usual 2 lane south and west rte 270, to finally get to I25. Nice smooth road hardly any traffic, a good choice. Then it was I25 south to Cheyenne and onto Denver. Lots of traffic and all rolling at 80 or so. Speed limit is 75. We arrived at the hotel about 1PM, checked in and Rodney called his friend to meet for lunch. After lunch we cleaned the car and chilled.
We meet the other rods in the morning about 7AM, not far from here and off to St George, Utah for the night. Maxine, (my new GPS) says it is almost 700 miles, so a longer day for sure.
Check the photo, we are "official tourists" now!! LOL

Saturday

2011-06-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

We left Pierre this morning, had to get as, was welcomed by "full service at self service prices", this cute little chick came over to pump the gas. A real South Dakota gal, had her can of snuff in the back pocket of her jeans, I didn't look, Rodney told me.
We drove by McDonalds all sand bagged like the other stores. Even Dino the dinosaur had a life vest on, a little humor in a bad situation.
We headed down hwy 14 towards Wall to visit the famous Wall Drug, the road was great, 2 lane but really smooth, caught myself several times going over 80. We parked in front of Wall Drug for a photo op, went inside a got a bumper sticker and looked around quickly.
Mt Rushmore was next, then to Crazy Horse, Sylvan Lake and onto Lusk WY for the night. A good day, chilly until afternoon, we had our sweatshirts and jackets on.
We found a car wash and a motel in Lusk, had a good dinner. A short 330 miles but a fun day.

Friday part two

2011-06-11T05:20:00.000-07:00

Forgot some things.............We left Friday morning, it was 48 degrees, it was chilly. A sweatshirt and our "Vintique car show" jackets and we hit the seat heater buttons, then it was cozy.
At the stop light in Clara City, MN, I saw this guy in my rear view mirror running up to the car, it was my friend Ken, aka Gus, Gustafson from Litchfield. We were stopping to check for gas so we had a nice visit for a bit. He did not expect to see me in the car, that was a fun time.
In Pierre most of the businesses have sand bags all around there stores, a strange sight. We had to walk over a wooded bridge over the sand bags so we could get inside to eat.

Friday

2011-06-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

Got the car home from Wally's shop at 9 PM last night. Trans gone thru, fixed a couple of things , re installed the trans, heat shield by the exhaust and the slave cylinder, new bearing instead of a bushing on the main shaft to the engine crank, fixed a leak in a heater hose, and now all is ready to go.
I changed oil this morning at 7AM, repacked the trunk (bed) took out the lawn chairs to make our stuff fit. Rodney and I left at 9 AM. Tonight we are in Pierre, SD as planned, just a short 400 miles. An easy day to start with, need to get back in the "roadster mode", my rear is tired tonight.!! The car ran great, we hit a couple of light showers in SD, but nothing bad.
We got a room at the Super 8, next door to a Mexican place, so we had tacos and margaritas to night!! Tasted good.
In the morning we will wash the car and head for the Black Hills, see Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse and stay in Lusk, WY.
A great first day of the 2 week trip.

Almost time to leave

2011-06-08T15:14:00.000-07:00

Today is Wednesday, the plan is to leave for LA Friday morning. Right now the RPU is at Walts Rod and Custom on jack stands and the 5 speed is at the tranny shop. I could not get it to shift into reverse when it was hot. Also wanted to "crunch" into 2cd. After we readjusted the clutch several times, we decided to jack the body back up and remove the tranny. In our conversion, I mentioned the oillite bushing that I put in the crank end, Wally says it is supposed to be a bearing on a T5. That was part of the decision to pull the tranny also. The bushing fit a little loose, that might be part of the problem, the tranny shop says heat from the exhaust could also causing the slave not to work right, that could be part of the problem too. Since the tranny was out, it was decided to have them look inside. Wally pulled some strings and got it in the shop right away, like at noon today. I am waiting for a phone call with an update. Hopefully it will go back to Wally's tonight and we can put it back in tomorrow morning.
Last year, the blue roadster's 350 automatic came out about 4 days before we left too, Lumpy and I did that, and the shop squeezed us in at once too. Different shop, but both guys are great. This shop does only manual gearboxes and are real good at it. The bearing is to be at O'Rileys this afternoon. stay tuned for updates. We'll make it yet!!

Countdown for LARS trip

2011-05-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

My son Rodney and I leave for the LARS in CA on June 10th. As of now I have less than 20 miles on the RPU. I spent the better part of two days last week at Walt's Rod & Custom fixing little things. Thanks Wally for the help!! The big thing was the wrong throw out bearing, the clutch was slipping like crazy. Easy to fix....except we could not get the tranny out without raising the body up 3 inches or pulling the engine. We opted to raise the body. After removal of the floorboards, all the body bolts,and steering column, the body could be raised up enough to move the tranny back. After a few adjustments on the linkage and walaa............the thing shifts and drives like new. We fixed a few more brake leaks, a steering shaft adjustment, re shimmed the body to get the doors to fit again, added a vac advance to the dizzy, replaced the dizzy with a new one, reset the timing, modified the shifter (because it broke off), replaced the exhaust manifold gaskets with some new super ones......thanks again Wally FOR ALL THE HELP!!
Now the plan is to get some miles on it.....like a few hundred in the next 10 days. Oh yea, gotta program the speedo too. So far I have used the GPS to check speed. At 70 the tach shows 2000 in 5th gear, that's good. The 4.11's should be just fine. I have been wondering about the gears.
Tomorrow I am going to drive it to the show at Jack and Jims, a few miles there. Tuesday it will just be cruising everywhere.
Tune in again soon.....June 10, it is off to CA. We will be driving across SD on state 14, into the Black Hills, then onto Denver, visit a friend of Rodney's and Monday meet with 8 other rods at Rocky Mtn Street Rods for the drive. I can't believe its almost time to go. I'm getting excited.

tonneau covers done

2011-04-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

Took the RPU back to Rapids Upholstery for the tonneau covers. They came out great. Should keep the luggage safe and dry. The cockpit covers zips down the middle, so when I am alone half can stay snapped on. It snaps to a tube frame I made and attaches to the door with heavy magnets. Al did another great job sewing them up out of Haartz cloth.

another fun weekend

2011-04-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

Took the new RPU to the GSTA show in St Paul this past weekend.It is always a great show. This year was the 55th. I had the 5w at the 50th. This year again was a nonjudged show. The sixteen clubs in the Association picked there "favorite" car. I was luckily enough to score the "Scavengers Care Club Pick" That was a great honor and a wonderful surprise.
I really enjoyed the whole weekend. Friday I saw so many friends from the cities that i don't get to see and visit with very often. It was a very fun day, actually a very fun weekend.
The trophy was a Hemi valve coves lettered and pinstriped., mounted on a very heavy marble vase.It is a vey cool trophy.

Fun weekend in Fargo

2011-04-04T18:25:00.001-07:00

Had a fun weekend in Fargo. The weather was good,no snow or floods, the show was a great time. There was 100 entries in the show, about 25 or so were "Hoodlums" from MN. We took home 5 of the Top Ten awards and best club display. We were pleased receiving one of the top 10 awards with the new 3W coupe. The 29 A Model pickup had a ton a great comments. It was one of the crowd pleasers for sure. The new wheel color, new headlights really looked good.

Interior is done !!

2011-04-04T18:18:00.000-07:00

The interior is done. The seat, door panels and rear panel came out great, just how I envisioned them. The seat feels real good. The seat heaters are all wired in for those chilly mornings in the mountains. I have just a couple of little things to do before it goes to the GSTA Rod and Custom Spectacular this weekend. It should be a fun weekend, lots of friends to visit with, cool hot rods to look at and a new hot rod to show off.

at the interior shop!!

2011-03-31T18:54:00.000-07:00

Finally got it done...............hauled it to the interior shop this week. The seat is done, looks great, can't wait to sit in it in the car. Today Al was making the door panels. I will pick it up next week and then it's off to the GSTA show in St Paul for its officiall debut.

forgot one picture

2011-03-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

I missed the trans tunnel, one of the coolest designs, should really set off the interior look.

the Pinstriper came by today

2011-03-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

Cliff Anderson from Bloomington, MN came over today to pinstripe both of the new Deuces. He did a real nice job. Apple green on the RPU and red on the 3w. The green matches the pinstripe design that will be sewed into the seat back next week. I had him do the trans tunnel, tailgate,headlights,valve covers and the grey scallop.
On the 3w, just a twin stripe on the body lines and a neat little "v8" below the deck lid, done in grey and black. Check the photos.

more RPU progress

2011-03-07T19:53:00.000-08:00

Every day I make more progress. Its seems for the time I put in at the shop I would get more done, some days I work all day and it looks as if nothing was done.
I installed the heater hoses today, went to town for the shop to crimp the ends, found out their crimper would not fit on my ends, I decided to cut the ferrules off and use the Gates heat shrink clamps. You know they look better than the crimped ones would have. The problem was the trip and the time at the shop was a wasted almost 2 hours.
The bed is on, bolted down, tail lights in and wired, I installed the bed "filler" pieces. I decided to glue stainless mesh behind the holes, I think it looks good.The speakers are in and wired, as is the third brake light.
I woke up last night remembering that there was not a thermostat in the manifold, I had already sealed and bolted the water neck on, so off it came. I'm not sure why I woke up thinking that.
I powder coated the brackets for the bed fillers and also the valve cover hold downs, so they are now bolted in place.
It has to be done by March 20 for the interior shop appointment, I figure it should be done by this weekend.

new 29A pickup

2011-02-28T18:58:00.000-08:00

I bought a new 29 model A pickup. It is so cool. Powered by a 231 Buick v6, 350 trans, 8 inch rear. Its running a Heidts super ride front coil overs in the rear. Drives so great. The frame is all new rectangular tubing fabbed to Model specs. It was built about 3 years ago, a friend of mine built. He is very ill and had to sell it. I know its not a Deuce, but it is my next favorite Ford model year. I guess I Will do like NSRA did when they added the new years to their association.....they call it "NSRA Plus". I guess my new name will be "the deuceguy plus" or maybe it should be "the deuceguy minus" since the 29 is older than 32........get my strange humor?? It is still in the Ford family, the sickness of "Deuce Fever" has turned into "Ford Fever" Just thought I would share the new ride with you all.

RPU progress pictures

2011-02-28T18:53:00.000-08:00

RPU update

2011-02-28T18:38:00.000-08:00

Is been a while since I blogged on the RPU. I have been busy...making progress. Ben got the body all painted, did an outstanding job. I painted the frame and reassembled the running gear while he was finishing the body.All ot the chrome is back and the powder coated front axle and spindles are home now too. The motor is back in, brake lines back on, clutch hooked up, almost all wired, body is on. I mounted the electric fan and radiator this afternoon. I have about 2 weeks to get it all together and to the upholstery shop appointment. I have to make real progress each day or I will never make it.

Fine Wine Buick

2011-01-18T18:57:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the MSRA Award banquet. We did not make the final choice, but we are very proud and happy anyway. Check the beautiful drawing of our car and the very nice plaque. We are very pleased and proud to be nominated. There were only 6 customs picked for this award, being one of the six is a great honor.

3w is Finished !

2011-01-18T18:44:00.000-08:00

The 3w came home last night from the upholstery shop..all done. I like it, looks great. Al did another outstanding job. Check the pics and see for yourself.

more progress

2011-01-06T19:26:00.000-08:00

The seat for the 3 window is done, looks good. The top insert is also done. Monday we took the RPU to Westside Welding for the exhaust. Clark did a great job, I finally got some Porters!
Today I blew the RPU apart, the body goes to Ben's on Sunday for body work and paint. I now have many little parts all bagged up and waiting for reassembly time. He has the box, grille shell and hood ready for paint, will be in color in a few days.
Most all of the holes are drilled, brackets made etc. Just need to get the frame primed and painted and the front suspension powder coated.
I will pull the engine and trans in a couple of days and start working on the frame.

RPU progress

2010-12-11T16:20:00.001-08:00

Well the 3W went to the interior shop, so I got busy on the RPU. Dropped the engine in,fitted the steering column, mocked up the steering shaft with a wood dowel. Made an electric fan bracket out of some flat stock, sawed it out on the band saw, it fits and I like the look. I will powder coat it black next.
I got one side of the tonneau cover frame made, now I have to match it on the other side. The third brake light is in, a "flying eyeball" with red leds in the eye, its pretty bright too.
Tomorrow I hope to make the driver side tonneau frame. I have ordered the steering shaft from Speedway. It will be here Monday evening. I need to make a 1/4 inch spacer for the column drop, drill the dash for the bolts, install the 14 inch steering shaft and tighten the joints.
I need to get the exhaust system made, Central Welding in Foley is closed up, so I think I will go to West Side Welding in Mound...home of the "Porters" mufflers. I have always wanted to run Porters on something. I met Clark Babler and his wife in LA a couple of years ago, they own Porters, real nice people. We laughed that I had to drive 2500 miles to met people that live an hour from me. Check out there stuff at www.portermufflers.com

more progress

2010-12-01T18:24:00.000-08:00

Finally got the passenger glass in today for the last time. I ended up buying a new regulator, the new glass and after several installs, its in.
There is still a pinon leak, I replaced the seal, helped but not dry, in the morning its off to my machinists to have him modify the yoke. Its very pitted, so it will not seal. He will turn it down and press on a new correct size sleeve to cover the pitted area.
Lumpy is coming over at 10 to help bleed the brakes and install the windshield with the newest rubber seal.....the third one! Bob Drakes seals do not fit, I have a Dennis Carpenter one know, sent the Drake back for a refund, I ruined the first one trying to make it fit. At least they will take the second one back....$50, oh yea, Carpenter's is only $27 and it fits.
I am a few days late to the interior shop..............sorry Al. Hopefully by Monday.
I hope I have all the brake fittings tight no, I had to redo almost every one, leaks every where. When I do the RPU, I'm bleeding the brakes BEFORE the body goes back on.
check out the dark glass

more 3w info

2010-11-18T20:03:00.000-08:00

I got the rear and driver side glass installed. The door glass is a bitch to get in, and to get in the right exact place to roll up and down. The regulator has to be unbolted and lowered to hook onto the glass, I did that at least 6 times to try to get it just right......finally got it. I was starting the passenger side when I broke the glass,so off the the glass shop for a replacement, hope to be ready for pickup on Friday.
I connected the battery cables and started turning things on..........they all work except the horn. I think the horn itself is dead. I will take care of that Friday or Saturday. The radio plays tunes, without any antenna at all, the AC blows lots of air, lights, signals, fan all work with no extra smoke leaking from the wires!! The neutral safety switch needs adjusting, I will add shims tomorrow to fix that. Now just bleed the brakes, add ATF and antifreeze.
Check out the cool embroidered "V8" design for the interior....will be on black not the brown in the photo.

3W update

2010-11-14T13:00:00.000-08:00

I have been busy on the 3W coupe. It is just about done. I have to put the glass in, arriving tomorrow, paint and install the new drive shaft and add some fluids. I picked up the new Gates power band radiator hose clamps Saturday, I will get them on Monday. It is all wired, just need to attach the ground cable and check the circuits for " smoke leaks" hopefully won't be any.
I am very p;eased on how it is looking, I like the stance and the look. The paint is awesome, All that is lacking there now is the thin red pinstripe down the belt line, that will come soon.
The interior is ready to be sewen and installed, it will be going to Rapid Upholstery shop in a week or so. The new wheel looks great and I am pleased with the black dash and garnish. The seats and panels will be black with thin red piping and some red top stitching. In the back of the seat and in the rear trunk panel there will be a "v8" design embroidered in red and silver grey, the sample we did looks great.
The RPU is waiting for her turn...........I am anxious to start on that. It is set up for a trip to the paint and body shop about Christmas, so I have to get rolling on it.
I will add some photos of the 3W progress.

Thursday

2010-09-30T16:35:00.001-07:00

400 miles today and made it home. The trip was 2990 miles, I will just round that off to 3000 miles. The drive today was good. I35 to 494 to I94. I94 from Plymouth to Rogers is about like Oklahoma....rough ! After Rogers it was nice again.
We stopped by Fat Joe's to check the RPU, it looks good. Now there is room for a gas pedal and the tranny hump is a hump and not looking like a console. I hated that look ! The shocks worked out great and the new headlight bar is perfect. Good Job Joe !
I will add some RPU pics and of the award we won for Long Distance.
I will continue to blog at least once a week updating the build on the 3w and on the RPU.

Wednesday

2010-09-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

We left this morning to drive the 40 miles or so of windy roads again to Rogers, then hit 71 north to Joplin, a short 120 miles.I dropped Elvis off at a large antique store and headed for Bob's I arrived at Bob Massey's "Metal Werks" shop about 11AM. He has some real nice projects in the works there.
A short time after my arrival, My Omaha friends, Doug and Karen showed up in their 32 5W coupe, they were on the way home also from Lost Pines.
I borrowed Bob's spanner wrench and adjusted my rear shocks about 2 turns, that really help the bottoming out problem. The last 300 miles was much better.
I checked out Wally's new 3w that Bob has been building, it was looking good. He is from Houston. I got a couple of ideas from that.
Then it was on the road towards home. Got as far as Bethany, MO, stayed there on the way down. Tomorrow will be another 400 miles to Rice.
FatJoe called today, I left the RPU with him last week for some work. He says it is all done. A new cab floor and tranny hump, installed the friction shocks and built the headlight stands that I wanted. I am excited to get home and check it out. He does such nice work. I will post some pics of it as soon as I can.

Monday/Tuesday

2010-09-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

Monday morning we left Texarkana and headed for Hot Springs Village. We were going to visit a good friend of mine and his wife. He was my boss in the early 70's for a few years in New Mexico and again in the early 80's in Wisconsin. We had a great visit, talked about old Walgreen times for several hours. They fed us a fantastic meal. it was a real treat to spend the night at their beautiful home.
Tuesday morning it was off to Eureka Springs. We planned to drive rte 7, I'm not sure what we did but we got on rte 23 instead. It is also known as "the pig trail" because it is like s pig's tail.....windy is not even a close name. It was 20 mph to a high of 35 for miles and miles, about half way we found a road that headed straight west to the freeway, took that north and then rte 62 back east. We finally made it to Eureka Springs...what a trip!
I parked the deuce, got on the trolley and took that to the downtown area for lunch and some shopping. The whole town is built on sides of rocky mountains, windy, rough roads, twisting up and down.....pretty cool.
Found a hotel for the night. Tomorrow its off to Joplin. I will visit a friend's rod shop there. He has a 3w that is almost done for another friend of mine, need to check that out.

Deuce Reunion

2010-09-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

It was a great weekend at the Deuce Reunion. The Hyatt Lost Pines Resort is beautiful. We all parked on the grass by the rooms, next to the lake. There were 120 Deuces registered. The weather was hot and so humid......like 85% and 95 degrees.
It was great to see my old deuce friends. There were cars there from CO, NE, FL,TX,and of course MN. I did manage to win the long distance award again, 1450 miles the way I went, 1325 according to mapquest.
The AMBR contender deuce pickup of Don Smith was there, sedans 2 and 4 doors,3w,
5w,roadsters,closed pickups, phaetons, roadster pickup...all types and colors !
We left Sunday midmorning for Texarkansas, AR for the night, tomorrow it is off to Hot Springs Village.

Thursday...San Antonio

2010-09-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

The first order of the day was to catch the trolley and go see the Alamo. We were there in the late 70's, that time we drove to the front of it, jumped out and snapped a photo with the "Wild Turkey" and took off. This time we walked thru it and the grounds, very interesting. My plan was to drive the vicky to the front and do another "drive by shooting", but the street right in front has been all blocked off....darn !
We rode the trolley to Market Square, looked around the shops, had lunch and then walked back to the hotel.
We headed for Austin, a short 85 miles back north. Found our new La Quinta and checked in. Tonight we had dinner with sister-in-law at a Texas BBQ called Salt Lick. Good food.
Found a great bumper sticker in a parking lot..............I honked as I went by !

Wednesday............San Antonio

2010-09-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

After a quick breakfast in the Happy Days Motel breakfast room, we headed south on the now famous ROUGH Hwy69, OK still held up to their history of America's roughest roads. Finally as we arrived in Texas near Dennison, the road smoothed out.
South of Temple, TX we blended into I 35. That was a breeze to drive on. We took a picture of the entrance to Texas, a large brick monument, not just a sign.
As I said last year, Texans have such great pride in their state. The flag of Texas is every where, small, big, and giant size...like Perkins' American flags.
We drove across Dallas and suburbs, that was just shy of 60 miles, a big city. We hit Austin at 4PM rush hour, that took a while. We arrived in San Antonio about 5:30 found the La Quinta hotel downtown, checked in and caught the bus to the famous downtown river walk for dinner. A couple of margaritas and a Mexican dinner on the river walk while feeding the ducks at our feet......fun. A boat ride thru downtown, hearing about all the history and the buildings was fun too. 440 miles today brings the total to 1350 so far, now we will head back to Austin and then east to Lost Pines, TX for the reunion.

Tuesday .....Mcalester, OK

2010-09-21T18:02:00.000-07:00

We left Bethany, MO this morning and headed south on I 35 to Kansas City. I 435 around the west side of town and picked up 71 south. The first planned stop was Pete & Jakes in Peculiar, MO. I picked up a couple of posters and the front spring plate that I needed for the RPU. Then it was south on 71 again to Joplin, MO. Lunch at Steak and Shake in Joplin. I44 out of Joplin to OK.
Plans were to stop at Starbirds Rod & Custom museum in Afton OK, I checked the Internet and it shows closed on Tuesday,darn..... we would have been pressed for time anyway, so maybe on the way home. From I44 it was hwy 69 south to Mcalester.
Boy, Oklahoma gets the award for the roughest highways...except for I44 the toll road. Hwy 69 was so rough! Every 20 ft they had sawed a stripe for a patch, not one of the patches were even with the road surface, they were either higher or lower. It was like driving on a washboard. The the wind was still with us all day too, from the south. So it was a strong headwind, felt like driving with the brakes on, when going west, it was a cross wind, tried to blow me off of the road. Finally the last 40 miles or so, the wind slowed down and the road smoothed out.
We are staying at the "Happy Days" motel, (Rodney and I stayed here a few years back on the roadster trip). Now there is a new diner out front called "Angel's Diner". The food was good, (not free) but we did get 2 coupons from the motel for "Free Beer"....that works!!
Tomorrow its another 400+ mile day to San Antonio, TX.......Alamo, here we come!

OT but great news

2010-09-20T18:37:00.000-07:00

Friday night we attended the MSRA Friday Night Picnic in New Brighton, MN. There were a lot people there, probably 400 rods and customs. The event is a "voting event" for car of the year nominees. The good news is the "Fine Wine" Buick was nominated for Custom of the year ! Wow, what an honor ! We are both on cloud 9 yet.
It is so exciting. The awards banquet is January 15 in Hinkley, MN and for the first time is several years it is not during the GNRS show in California...we can attend both events.

On the road again.....Monday 9/20

2010-09-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

We left this morning, cloudy skies and drizzle until we stopped for lunch in Mason City, Iowa. Then the skies cleared and it got hot. It was 52 when we left Rice, 87 in Iowa. From sweatshirt to AC.
We took hwy 15 out of St Cloud all the way to Albert Lea and then hwy 65 south. 65 had good and bad areas, finally I got tired of the headwind and bumps in the road pulling me all over the road,I headed west toward I 35, We hit I 35 north of Des Moines about 60 miles and stayed on it until we stopped tonight in Bethany, MO. The days travels were 420 miles. Mileage was all over the board, it was 18 in MN doing 60mph on 15, dropped to 14 in the strong headwinds in Iowa. The car is running fine. Hopefully the winds will be less tomorrow.I have to decide the route tomorrow, I 35 to KC or try hwy 65 again.
I plan to stop at Pete & Jakes to pick up a couple of things I need, then on south to OK.

Home for a few weeks!

2010-08-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

I left Brookings SD about 6:30 Monday morning. It was a good drive, nice road, cool, no wind. I arrived home 10:15, just minutes before the insurance adjuster arrived....good timing. It is good to be home.
I will leave again Sept 20 for the Deuce Reunion in Bastrop, TX, by Austin. This trip will be in the 32 Vicky.

missing pics

2010-08-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

pictures did not load.let's try again.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday

2010-08-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

Friday morning I took Rodney to the airport and headed for Casper, WY. I called friend Rick in Casper and found out he was going to Douglas, WY for the weekend. The State Fair was on, and a bunch of street rods were going to be in the parade. I got him to get me a room in Douglas, stopped at his house and drove with them to Douglas.
Just before I got to Casper, I saw a pickup and a trailer on the side of the road, the trailer was on fire. I hit the brakes, turned onto the side of the road, ran back with my fire extinguisher to help. Just as I got to the trailer, the tire blew up, boom!, boy was that loud! It was still on fire. I gave my extinguisher to the young guy, he sprayed the tire, and contents and got the fire out. They, 2 young kids about 25 had been pouring drinking water on it to try to kill the flames. There was a dozen or so bottles on the ground. The one kid was on the trailer, slipped and fell and hurt his shoulder. He was on the cell calling 911. The trooper and a fire rescue truck arrived after the fire was out. They were going to South Carolina, the trailer had everything they owned. A drum set, big speakers, mattress head board, TV stand all the things young kids have. When the trooper arrived, I wished them luck and left. The trailer was loaded so heavy that the tire was rubbing on the wooden fender humps in the trailer floor. The friction had started the tire and the wood fender humps on fire. I don't think they even had a spare.
Saturday morning about noon I left for Rapid City. I had breakfast with Rick and some street rodders. It was a short drive to Rapid, it was very hot. I was glad to stop in Rapid. This morning I left Rapid City about 8 AM. It got hot fast. It was a hot, windy hard drive. The wind was about 30 MPH blowing side ways against the car, it was 98 degrees......it was hot! I hit Brooking, SD about 5:30 PM and decided to call it quits! I found a Days Inn, cashed in my points for a free room, had a couple of cold beers and a burger at a sports bar and am going to crash in bed real soon. I plan to leave about 6AM and finish the trip home, before the heat. I will arrive a couple of days earlier than planned, but still have work to do at home with the storm damage. Oh yea, the speedo hit 50,000 miles just out of Casper, WY

Thursday

2010-08-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

This morning we headed out to visit Salt Flats Speed Shop. It is owned and ran by a 27 year old master craftsman named Chris Davenport. I traded Chris some 32 Ford parts for a couple of his aluminum blisters to be used on my RPU project. I was really excited to meet him in person. He is working on a killer chopped tudor, flattie powered, chopped 5 inches, pinched and bobbed frame, an awesome rod.

We met up with Jim's Hot Rod Tours there, and was going to follow them to the next stop. As we hit the freeway northbound the skies were really scary, black, boiling, we could see the rain just a few miles ahead. We hit the next exit to look for cover. As luck would have it, we found a car wash, empty of course and took cover in the bay. We got the top on and it was raining, blowing like a bitch! After several minutes we spotted a Mexican cafe across the street, got the umbrella out and ran. We had a good lunch and within another hour the storm blew over. They received the entire months average rainfall in about 30 minutes.

I called Jim, found where they were and took off for the next stop. "Customs & Classics" about 20 miles away. An outstanding shop, over 20 projects going on, he gave us a grand tour and a tshirt.
Next was a private individual that someone told Jim about. He is 74, still has the car he learned to drive in, but now it is a channeled, fenderless, 6 banger Chevy sedan.It was featured in Street Rodder mag last year. Next he let us in the garage to see his 58 Chevy, and then two buildings in the backyard. He was woodgraining a dash for a guy I know here in town...cool. His name is Glen, had story to tell about each car there. Had to be over 30 cars of all kinds. One that was really cool, a 58 Caddy stainless steel top Eldorado.
Jim and the guys headed for the airport, Rodney and I went to the hotel. In the morning, I take Rodney to the airport and I head to Casper, WY. I plan to spend the night with friend Rick there.

Salt Lake tourists

2010-08-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

Today we played tourists. Rodney got to pick out where to go. The first stop was the Salt Lake Art Center. There was a great photo exhibit there and an indoor miniature golf coures that was made by several artists. Each hole was done by someone, all works of modern artists.very interesting and fun.
Just a couple of blocks away was the Mormon Temple, we had to check that out. Wow, a neat place, huge temple, beautiful yards, trees and buildings. We were approached a couple of times by Mormons, starting conversations with us, and asking if we would like more info on their religion, I guess we looked like we needed to be saved!
The next stop was the Kennicot copper mine. Worlds largest open pit mine. It the only man made crater that can be seen from outer space. It started as a mountain in 1900 and now is a hole several hundred feet deep. We took a picture of the roadster next to a big truck tire. Huge tire.
The aquarium in the town of Sandy was next, saw all kinds of exotic fish and marine life, very interesting.
Tonight we visited with Stanley Wanlass, his wife and daughter, Brandy. Stanley is a world renown artist and sculptress. His bronzes sculptures of autos are out of this world. If you don't know about him, just google his name. He owns three steel 32 roadsters that are masterpieces also. One of his coolest sculptures is the 4 foot long "Dago Deuce", boy how I would like one of those! I could by 3 or 4 real nice real deuces for what they sell for, so I don't see one at my home very soon.
Tomorrow are hot rod shop tours.

Tuesday

2010-08-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

We got up this morning, said our goodbyes to Hotrod Joe, headed to the car wash to get the salt off of the roadster. It was a short drive to Salt Lake City, 130 miles. I got a little sun/wind burn, look a bit like Rudolph!
We found our favorite hotel, the La Quinta, checked in and decided to go downtown to see the Planetarium, Rodney read about it somewhere. It was a neat place. We drove back to the hotel during rush hour, thank goodness for the HOV lane. It was hot today, high 90's. Funny, the car could idle all around the salt flats and never go over 185 degrees, in the traffic on I15 at 5 PM it was running at 210. That is not a problem but one would think the flats would be hotter. I guess all the concrete around us here holds the heat.
Tomorrow is more sight seeing, Rodney has picked out some things, then we will visit friend Stan Wanlass at 7 PM, that will be a good time.

Monday

2010-08-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

A couple of days back, I met up with friend "Hotrod Joe" from Caifornia. He had come ahead of the rest of the race team. The problem came up that he was to sleed in the RV of the team, they were still in CA with race car troubles. He needed a place to sleep. I offered our floor in our room, he took me up on it. When Rodney and I was going to our room, Rodney the supply room door was wide open and there was a rollaway bed there.....in about 2 minutes it was in our room! The maids don't know any better. The mattress was so bad that Joe used his sleeping bag and the air mattress on top of it....but sure beats the floor. He spent the last three nights here, has been great company. He bought us dinner the first night. Last night he took us to the "inliners" club BBQ, free BBQ and Margaritas there. Tonight was the Hop Up magazine BBQ.....free beer and BBQ. This noon we ate with Jim's Hot Rod tours guys...more free food!
Today we stopped in the pits to see Billy O from CT, he has a deuce roadster that they race, he is the "high Speed division" of the Rolling Bones from NY. He blew the first motor Sunday and the back up today...not a good week for Billy O!
We saw a cool streamliner...."City of Salt Lake" it crashed in the 60's killing the driver, it has been rebuilt and the son is driving it this year, he is probably late 50's. Lets all hope he will be safe.
It was another great day, beautiful day, high 90's but a light breeze, no humidity at all, you don't even sweat a drop. Beautiful!
Tomorrow it off to the car wash and then head to Salt Lake City.

2010-08-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

salt pics

2010-08-15T20:14:00.001-07:00

Jack and Gail from Hawaii, radical flyer, salt to salt stude from MN

Another awesome day at the flats

2010-08-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

We slept in and got to the flats about 10AM. Met up with Jack and Gail from Hawaii, good to see them again. We spent most of the day at the starting lines, all 3 of them, watching the cars and bikes.
Jack was driving his 34 coupe this year on the Street Rodder tour. He hit a rock slide in AZ and tore the front suspension out. Had to be flat bedded back 150 miles, order all new axle,spring and etc to fix it. But he is back on the road!
We watched a friend from NE, the SOB racers, (South Omaha Boys), he did a spin right in front of us doing about 150 MPH, I don't know how he kept it on four wheels!
I will attach a few pictures.

missing pics!!

2010-08-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

Didn't work try again.....................

Update pics of the storm

2010-08-14T21:21:00.001-07:00

Mother Nature trying to ruin my trip!

2010-08-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

There was a terrible wind and rain storm to hit Rice Friday afternoon. It really did a number on our yard. Ten trees broke off or ripped out by the roots. I don't know how many limbs and branches came down. The power is still off Saturday night, probably will be until Monday sometime. Some of the trees were two feet or more in diameter. The big one behind the shop pulled out by the roots and landed on top of the shop going thru the roof and ceiling! A big tree in the north yard knocked down and took out the power line as well as a couple in front of the house. One landed on top of the wrought iron fence, bending it up. Its a real mess. The tree service boom truck got stuck in the grass so its all torn up.
The last week,Elvis has been pruning the shrubs, fixing the water bubbler bird bath and getting ready for the "Completion Celebration" on the 29th and now this.....its a mess. My son-in-law, and three grandsons, some friends and neighbors are all helping out. The tree service has been there for two days and will be for several more. Thanks to all of them it will get cleaned up

Made it to Wendover

2010-08-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

We had a great drive to Wendover. Highway 50 is a great road, scenic (if you like desert), smooth and fun. We stopped at the old Pony Express stop for a picture, then the shoe tree. We had lunch in Austin in a neat little cafe. Even stopped at a car show in the park in Ely. We arrived in Wendover about 6:30, checked into the hotel and then headed to the Nugget Casino for the car show/party in the lot.
This morning we headed to the salt. Got our pit passes and wrist bands so we can go anywhere. After touring the pits we headed to the start line.So cool to stand right there when they take off. Such a mixture of engines, everything from four banger to flatties to big v8's and a mixture of vehicles too.

Bonneville 2010 begins

2010-08-12T18:58:00.000-07:00

We (my son Rodney and me) arrived in Reno about 2 PM, caught a ride to friend Jim's body shop. He drove us to Stead airport to pickup the roadster. It was still there, all covered up and waiting for me. The battery was dead, I forgot to shut off the kill switch last June. We jumped it and it fired right up. A quick dinner and we are back to the hotel. It will be an early to bed night, 4:30 was very early this morning. I am not used to that. I am tired.
In the morning we will head to Wendover, on the 2 lane. Highway 50, its called "America's Loneliest Highway" 440 miles of desert beauty.........very few little towns.The other option is I80, probably 60 miles shorter, but no fun. It is a great drive. We will stop at the hanging tree, a big tree covered with hanging shoes, I forget the "why" of it, but always cool to see. I'll attach a picture of it tomorrow. About half way a neat little bar, an old pony express stop, has dollar bills stapled all over the low ceiling with names of places and people on them. That's always a good stopping place for a cool drink and a short rest.

Home again

2010-07-29T18:07:00.000-07:00

Well last night was fun at the Stillwater car show. About 200 cars parked by the river, right by the draw bridge. You could sit on the grass, watch the boats on the river, watch the draw bridge go up and down and look at cool cars.....cool place. Every Wednesday this happens.
I met a young kid that is an awesome artist. He does pencil sketches of your car for $10. He was booked up for the night, so he took a photo of the Buick and will mail the sketch to me.
The B&B was a very nice place. The only problem was that I could not get on the Internet there.
This morning it was a little more shopping and then we headed for home. It is good to be home. I will only be here for about 2 weeks and then its off to Bonneville with Rodney.
The trip was just shy of 1800 miles. The car ran great. It is really nice to get that power steering leak fixed.....finally. The AC really worked well...good thing with the hot days that we had.
I will post a couple of photos of the show and the artist.
This will be the last post until August 12th, from Reno, NV, the first night of the Topless Tour return trip.

pics

2010-07-27T17:35:00.001-07:00

Tuesday...Red Wing, MN

2010-07-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

We made it to Red Wing today. Shopped at several antique stores along the way. Bought nothing.
Boy was it hot, in fact, it's still hot. 95 wih an heat index of 105 someone said. Now for the storm warnings...I hope there is no hail, the car has been wet before, it won't melt, but hail??
The speedo turned 10,000 miles as we droe into Red Wing, pretty cool.
Johnsone left this morning for home, it sure was nice traveling with them. Tomarrow its Stillwater for the Wednesday night car show.

More KKOA pics

2010-07-26T19:33:00.001-07:00

Johnsons trophy winner
John's ElCamino from Mpls
54 Chevy
VooDoo Larry (not shooting flames)
Nice Caddy

KKOA pictures

2010-07-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

here are a few pictures
Larry from TX
Denise & Megan
Flames
Milner & 55 Chevy
Pinups!

Monday in Windom, MN

2010-07-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

We left Lincoln late (on purpose) and headed north. Today was a hard day.we are all tired. Stopped at an Antique store somewhere at lunch time for a break. I scored a tin hot rod toy car. While the rest were shopping I took a nap on the front porch.
Tomarrow the Johnson's will head north, Elvis and I will drive east towards Rochester and Red Wing. We hope to find some antiques stores. Wednesday night is a car show in Stillwater, MN. We have a bed & breakfast reserved there. It is a very neat old big mansion. We stayed there last spring and thought it would be fun to go back....and there is a car show...win win deal.
That's it for the night.............oh, maybe I will get a couple of pictures on here.

KKOA Leadslead Spactacular

2010-07-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

Well its over, an awesome show. No blogs because of the WiFi at the hotel sucks. I got on two times for about 5 minutes only.
Anyway, hot weather on Friday, hot like 105 degrees, but a cool show and cool customs. The final count was over 1500, that's 500 over last year!!
We all went to a great steak house for dinner Friday, all meaning 14 of us, a bunch of friends from Witchita. When we got back to the hotel, we barely got a place to park. All night is crusing and parking lot partying. A real fun place.
Saturday was back to the park for a cooler day, the high was 85, felt real good. Plenty of vendors, a swap meet, pinup contest, music, rockabilly bands, pinstripers and over 1500 cool cars. It was back to the steak house again and then the hotel party. Saturday was even a fuller house. Several flame throwers in the lot. VooDo Larry and his 47 Lincoln custom blew them all away. Talk about flames, he went on for at least 20 minutes, a neat sight. I will post some photos tomorrow.
We saw lots friends this weekend, TX, CA, NE, CO, PA, KS, MN, I think that about covers it. Sure was good to see them all.
Jerry and Doris won a "top 25 award" congrats to them! Needless to say, we stayed for the award show then it was on the road to Lincoln for the night.We arrived there about 7 PM.

Made it to Salina

2010-07-22T09:20:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Salina about 2 PM yesterday. A good drive, great road. I80 to York, NE then south on 81 to Salina. Four lane but not interstate.
I figured out the magic speed/mileage deal. Cruise at 60 to 65 and turn out 20MPG with that big Caddy engine.
We had the AC on, blowing ice cubes...that Vintage Air unit really works nice. Elvis had to cover her legs, she was cold.
Temp in Salina was 95 and dew point was 65. Today is to be 100. We drove to the park last night to check it out, a new park this year. Lots of grass, trees, a really beautiful park.There were Over 900 preregs this year, last year just over 600. Looks as if this year will be an even nicer show.
The power steering fittings are holding tight so far. It seems to take 300 miles or so to loosen up. I did zip tie the hoses to a bracket, I thought maybe they were flexing and loosening the fittings, so far so good.
The customs are starting to roll into the Hdqs hotel, I will send some photos tonight.

Salina!!

2010-07-22T09:19:00.001-07:00

Salina!!

2010-07-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

Tuesday...Lincoln, NE

2010-07-20T19:58:00.000-07:00

We left the hotel about 9 AM, after a quick repair to the power steering fittings. The %#$@%&%$ thing started to leak again. We got to Lincoln about 11:30, I called Deuce buddy Roger for a tire shop so Jerry could get his tire swapped back to the good wheel. He advised us where to go. The guy fixed him up quickly. Then it was off to lunch and to the Speedway Museum. That was a 3 hour guided tour. This was my third trip to the museum, but this time the tour guide was really good. He had stories about every car and engine there.
After the tour, I went to the parts department to buy some new fittings for the power steering. The new ones I think will work better.
Attached are some photos of the Worthington collection and some from Speedway Mueseum.
Tomorrow it is off to Salina, KS.

Monday...Sioux City, IA

2010-07-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

We left Johnson's house this morning at 9 AM. We drove south west on Hwy 23, then onto 71 towards Worthington, MN. As we were getting gas in Worthington, a nice lady came over to talk to me about the Buick. Then she asked if I had ever been to Spomer's. She said it was an old dealership in town with cars and many signs. It sounded very interesting. She gave me the mans name and I headed for the phone book. I found his number and called him and asked if we could come by. He said sure! Away we went.
Wow what a neat place. About 2 dozen cars and 100's of neon signs, all porcelain type. Most were car brands, but a few hotel, tractor brands and the like thrown in. They were all restored. He gave us the grand tour for about 1 1/2 hours, could have spent more time. Every sign had a story about where it came from. Clocks, signs, dealer stuff, pedal cars, scooters..............cool stuff.
I took photos but the camera cord is in the car and I don't want to go get it, I will post them tomorrow.
We took off on Hwy 60 towards Sioux City...85 miles to go. I heard a pop and saw rubber blowing off of Jerry's rear tire. He had a blowout. Boy did it destroy the tire. We changed to the spare and was back on the road in a few minutes.
Next stop was in Lamar, at the World Famous Blue Bunny ice cream shop and museum. The ice cream was great.
We arrived in Sioux City about 6:30, had a beer and went to dinner. A good day, maybe Jerry doesn't agree, with the blow out, but overall a good day.
Wat5ch for photos tomorrow.

2010-07-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention last night, the total drive was right at 2400 miles. It was a good time. Saw so many friends and neat cars and shops. Had some special menories like the Roadster Shop, the Chicago Skyline Drive at rush hour, Troy's Shop, just to name a couple. I might have found a better room for Bonneville thru a friend of a friend that I saw in Columbus and might have picked up a co-pilot for the trip home from Bonneville, Rodney will be copilot for the trip to B'ville, so the whole two weeks really paid off.

Made it home!

2010-07-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

We left Madison this morning after watching the weather to see that most of Minnesota was in a severe storm watch...oh good!
We stopped in Osseo, WI for an early lunch (Doris Johnson recommended it) the Norsk Nook...speciality is homemade pies. The big problem was which pie to order. Boy do they make awesome pie there.
At Eau Claire we headed north on 52 towards Cameron, WI and then was going to go left towards Cambridge, MN on 95. As we were driving towards Cameron the sky got darker and darker...lightning stikes in the sky.....I decided to make a UTurn in one of those "No Uturn" lanes and headed back to 29 and over to I94...will go thru the twin cities after all, the sky was lighter that way.
Just north of the cities on Hy 10 we stopped at a red light and the car died....and would not start. I jumped out and pushed it off to the side, thankfully a guy behind ran up and helped me push. The battery was dead. I emptied the back seat, removed the back cushion to get to the battery, I had a new spare battery in the trailer and a set of jumpers, hooked it all up, fired it up and drove home. I worried about the battery before I left, had it checked at CarQuest and they said it was good. I still put the spare in the trailer just in case. Glad I did. It would not start in the drive way either, but now in the garage and all cooled down it starts with the old battery ?????
We got home just in time to hear the tornado warning for Rice. That storm soon blew over...we were home safe and sound.
Monday morning it is off to Salina KS in the Buick.more fun.

Tuesday

2010-07-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

We should be home tonight but are still in Madison, WI. The vicky had a problem. It sheared two bolts in the rear that connects the lower control arm to the center section. When I discovered the problem, I called an old friend (we used to live here), he called a friend that now lives in Denver and they got a hold of another friend that runs a shop in Madison. Sure is nice to know people. The shop called me at 8 AM this morning, told me to come in and they would help. The shop was about 20 miles away. I told Nystroms and Johnsons to go on home and we took off for the shop. Archer Automotive, real nice guy. we got the car on one of his lifts and surveyed the problem. Had to dissemble the complete right side suspension to get to the bolts to drill them out. One was a real bugger, but he finally got it. Now, find new bolts...7/16-14 about 2 inches long...with a tapered head, that was the problem. Joe from Archer called several places, even a Toyota place because they use something similar, no one has any! I suggested using a tapered cone washer, he could not locate them either.
Elvis and I decided to go to lunch, a couple of blocks away, next door to the CarQuest that he called. After lunch we went to CarQuest I asked about the washers and the counter guy said no......the other counter guy overheard and said yes we do! and they did have. I bought two ($3) and walked them back to the shop. Dumb counter guy!! He must have answered the phone too.
Joe and I finally got it all back together, its a bitch to put together, you need at least four hands and two jacks.
I paid the bill, $300.00, not bad for that many hours.We drove out of there at about 5PM, headed back to my favorite hotel (LaQuinta) and got a room. No reason to drive in the late afternoon hot weather. We will head out early in the morning, 350 miles to go. The joys of "ya gotta drive'm!" but it sure beats trailering any day.

I have to get home to finish the Buick's brakes so we can leave Monday morning for the 30th annual "KKOA Leadsled Spactacular" in Salina KS. We will be driving with Doris and Jerry Johnson, will be another fun trip.

Saturday/Sunday

2010-07-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a beautiful day. We arrived at the fairgrounds about 8AM, we had "special parking" with the cruisers that drove over 300 miles. I checked out the swap meet, the pros pick area, some terrific cars there, millions of dollars worth. I also spent some time in the big vendor building.
Saturday night we went to Columbus Fish Market, a wonderful place to eat dinner. We have been going there for years. My good friend Jake and his wife Pearl, Jake's brother and wife, and the four Ruh's and Lonnie and his wife Michelle from Iowa, we had a great time and a great meal.
We went back to the fairgrounds Sunday morning about 9AM. Another nice day. Doris Johnson won a juke box in the women's world drawing. Congrats Doris! We had to figure out how that was going to get home. Luckily friend Tom Wahl was there with his truck. We loaded it on a golf cart and went off to find Tom's truck. He was in the parade to the awards ceremony so could not guide us there. (He won a top 10 pick.) Can you imagine how many white Chevy trucks and white trailers are parked in the trailer lot?? Well we did find it loaded it into the truck and then we all took off for the start of the trip home.
Tonight we are in Lafayette, IN. We always stay there and have dinner at Cactus Jacks, another Columbus trip tradition. It was only 240 miles here.
tomorrow we will head to Madison, WI. The women are planning some shopping along the way. It will be a short 300 or so miles.

Ed's truck, misc pics

2010-07-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

Friday/Thursday

2010-07-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post a picture of Ed's blue Chevy truck, so I will tonight.

On Thursday I needed to be at registration by 4PM to meet a guy named Larry from Canada. He has a Cadillac two fours manifold with him that he sold to some guy in Mpls named Igor. I told them that I would transport it. I met them on the HAMB internet site. I found him, stuffed it into the trailer and headed for the big party at the hdqs hotel. We had special parking, a t shirt and free BBQ and beer.

Friday morning we headed for the fairgrounds (one exit down the road) under cloudy skies. By 10 AM the skies opened up and it poured for several hours. We spent most of the dasy in the vendor building, and the swap meet building. I think I dried the car 3 times. I found several things at the vendors that I needed, and some neat pedal pads in the swap meet...a good day. I sold a few key chains too.
Our hotel puts on a BBQ for us, so more free food tonight. Burgers, dogs, salads, pop, cool deal. I saw many friends from all over, always so fun to see everyone.
The weather says cooler and less humid and no rain for the next few days.