Round 4 Louisvill Nat,Dearborn, Goodguys Madison

I made it to Rockford IL, tonight, 400 miles, everything ran well. I dropped Elvis off at MSP this morning to fly to see her folks, luckily the Northwest flight was flying. They have been canceling 100's of flights a day! The "buddies from up north" got a late start so we planned to meet at Rockford hotel. I had dinner with friends from here, good to see them again. Friend Don has a nice 32 pickup. His wife Carolyn has had several strokes so it is real hard for her to get out. They enjoyed the dinner very much, we went to their favorite place, while we were there, another Deuce friend came in...cool! Its neat to have friends all over the country.
Ralph, Barb, Eddie, and Reggie just called, they have arrived here, 8 PM not too bad. We will leave in the morning for Seymour, IN, for the "pre Nats" party at T&T body shop. Talk to you tomorrow night!

We worked on Ralph's oil leak from 7 to 9 AM, then left in some rain. We drove out of that in about 45 minutes. Stopped for lunch in Eau Claire, the oil leak is still there. Ralph and Barb went north on 53 toward Duluth, we came on into the cities on 94. My vibration is still there, and the clunk is a bit harder. We had dinner with the family at MOA and hit the house about 10 PM. We made it!
This morning I checked out the delivery on the lift and found the rear ujoint hammered. That was the noise and now to find the "why" for it. New ujoint is on order, will be ready this afternoon, I am going to adjust the pitman angle, it appears to be way off. That should fix the problem. I ordered 2 ujoints, one for a spare in the too bag. Oil change, check all the nuts amd bolts, clean her up good and get ready to leave for Louisville on the 30th.

Tonight we are in Rockford, IL. Ralph is having an oil leak problem, we stop at friends house this morning early and replaced the valve cover gaskets, tonight still leaking somewhere. We now think it is the oil sending unit, will tackle that in the morning. I have some strange noises coming from I think the trans, will check that when I get home at the trans shop. It rained for a while this afternoon. nothing else to report on this day, should be home tomorrow night. We are planning birthday dinner with Michelle in the cities tomorrow night, so will be at the house late. Will be god to be home for a few days. I have lots of things to do before I leave on the 30th!

A beautiful day on Saturday, mid 80's again no humidity, tons of great cars. Lots of deuces in the Deuces Wild parking. What a great day. We had dinner with Jake and Pearl from Columbus, Larry and Paula, Barb and Ralph and 6 other people, friends of Jakes. Good time. We sat on the street side and watched them all cruise by, not many burn outs, too many cops!!
Sunday we all went back to the fairgrounds, nice day but warmer and more humid. We left at 2 PM, drove to north of Indy for the night. We checked into a hotel and was going to dinner. Wes Rydel and his wife drove in also, driving their Foose built 54 Chevy...nice car. Had a nice steak dinner, time to hit the bed, tired...too much fun! We plan to leave in the morning for Madison, WI probably for the night.

A great day at the NATS over 5,000 so far, beautiful weather, mid 80's, no humidity, a nice breeze all day. I sold several key fobs and buckles today. Tomorrow is "Deuces Wild" special parking.....cool. A nice swap meet, I bought a new travel tool box, a little redo and it will be super. Back to the fairgrounds in the morning at 7 AM again.

Our friend Lonnie called home for a truck and trailer, he has given up and is going home. The rest of us drove to Cleveland to tour the Lincoln Welding plant. We were treated to coffee and cookies, an employee car show, a plant tour and a free lunch. The biker build off builder winner Scott Webster was there to sign autographs and show off his winning bike. We all then drove to Columbus about 150 miles away. After registering we all drove to Headquartes hotel to a free dinner and a special preferred parking area. This is going to be a big show, my number is 4545 and it is only Thursday!! We meet up with Massachusets friends Paula and Larry in their 32 roadster, they are at the same hotel. We will go to the fairgrounds at 7AM.....a fun weekend is beginning.

We went to the National auto and truck museum and the Auburn Museum this morning. A short trip to Calles crankshaft factory for a free catered lunch.....tons of food. After lunch the plan was to drive 150 miles to Flaming River for a tour and a dinner tonight. We got about 70 miles from there and then Lonnie from IA car decided to die in the one lane construction zone right in front of me. I threw mine into park and jumped out to push him out of the way, then moved my car into the middle, by that time about 50 cars were stacked up behind us. Two more of our cars stopped, the rest were all in front of us. We spent the next 6 hours, yes 6 trying to get it to run. Finally at 7:30 we called a flatbed to take her away. We got his bags and stuff and went onto the motel 70 miles away. It is an ignition problem, will hardly run. Now the decision, go back and work some more or have his dad bring the trailer. You know my vote...no trailer! It will be up to him. It is 1:45 AM, I am going to bed.

We all went to Gary McCormick's garage this morning for coffee and donuts. Saw his collection, 32 vicky, 3 window, 20,000 mile 5window with original mohair interior, 50 woodie, 29 roadster, an extra 32 chassis, 2 new Ford motors on stands, a 34 woodie under construction.......cool! While we were there I used his lift to change an exhaust gasket, check u joints, and check the front wheel bearings. With all that we were about 2 hours behind of the group. We caught up at 6PM at the Kruse/James Dean/WWII/Carl Casper car museum, what a great place. There was a buffet dinner for us there. Tonight we are at the Auburn Hotel, a neat 1930's style hotel, all car decorated. Tomorrow its off to the National auto and truck museum and then onto Flaming River. I am tired, time to sleep.

A great 3 days at Goodguys Des Moines , record number of 3524 entries, hot but it is July!! We all had a great time. I helped park the Deuces at the Deuce Doins Saturday morning. We were at the groujnds at 6:15. Friday night was the meeting and dinner for the deuce club. I came in second place for "favorite Deuce" at the Saturday show.....damn! I would have made alot od "shiney" paint guys upset. We had lots of good comments about the delivery

We had a photo shoot for the delivery for Street Rodder Mag Sunday evening. That was a fun time, now if they print it!!

We left Monday morning with the cruise, 40 cars, about 12 were repeats from years past. We toured and were fed (free food) at Chassis Engineering Monday noon,saw Lewis' Bonneville car, got his photo and autograph, tonight we are in East Peoria IL. There was a local cruise of about 100 cars...cool. We were given goodie, bags, gift cards for dinner $30.00 worth, (free food) what a deal. We ate at the oyster bar overlooking the cars and the river, band, several vendors, hot rods all over, lots of fun.
In the morning we leave at 7:30 for Gary McCormicks garage, he is a "Deuce Friend" with several killer deuces, for coffee and donuts and then on down the road. Will write more tomorrow.

July 5th.................first day of the Goodguys trip. We met Ralph and Barb in Lakeville at 10:30, stopped in Albert Lea for lunch. Had a good drive, it was warm so had the AC on most of the way. This car sure runs nice!! Ralph's valve covers are leaking at the adapter seal, he ordered a new set of o rings, will arrive here in the morning, should fix that. We registerd and went to the hotel, saw many deuce friends. The Wahls and the Blacks and us had dinner then went to the kick off party at the hdq's hotel, nice turnout, saw many more friends. We headed back to the hotel at about 10:30, time for bed. Weather says tomorrow will be HOT...always is, nothing new there. A good day, very uneventful...good deal.

I left this morning at 7:30.....450 miles later I got home at 4:15. Good trip all worked well, nice temps, I saw 80 on one corner, a little windy in MN, but a good ride. Be sure to check in Thursday night, I should be in Des Moines if all goes well. I have to download about 500 + photos, get some prints and cd's made at WAGS, change oil in the delivery, do some laundry, pack the car and away we go!! See Ya..............................