On the Road to Tennessee
I met up with Dan, Gary, Jason & his brother Adam at the Hustler Farm mid-afternoon on Tuesday troubled by an acrid burning smell I couldn’t locate despite 3 pit stops; I thought some wires I’d disturbed may have been touching the headers but that was not the case. At the farm I mentioned the smell briefly to those assembled but a brief inspection revealed nothing obviously wrong. Despite this, I was excited to be on the road for my first trip to the SuperNats in My Own Truck! Jason hopped in and the 2006 Supercruise was underway! We scooted down the 401, in and out of rain and sunshine with spirits and hopes high for a few days in the sun at the 27th annual Ford Family assembly of Gearheads with some good buddies.
At the Ingersol Service Centre we stopped so Gary could fill up & quench his thirsty motor before we rendezvoused with Allan Wood at his Ranch. I opened my hood again to check out this pesky smell and inspect things once again. I touched my battery and found it was boiling! On closer inspection I could see the closed cell vents were spewing battery acid vapour. The whole crew gathered around and we gradually put together an ugly picture of serious wire harness damage from the starter solenoid back to the alternator as well as the fuse panel. Both the fusible links and the fuse panel fuses had failed. The 12 gauge main lead from the panel to the starter was completely bare and a portion of the fuse panel was melted at the back! This was serious and I was so close to having an all-out fire. After a couple of furtive attempts to cobble a temporary fix, I realized this was a bigger problem than a road trip pit stop could safely address. Dan asked, “Do you have CAA?” A disappointing plan took form that turned out to be the best solution. After a quick phone call and a brief wait for the CAA Flatbed during which we chowed down with Wendy, my ’53 Merc was headed back to T.O alone. We continued down the road to our first scheduled stop at the home of long-time Benchracer advertiser, Alan Wood of Woody’s Hot Rods in Komoka, ON. Alan has a beautiful home, farm and lots of work space for his many projects. After a short tour we were on our way this time headed for the border, beer and Michigan Rick & Pam’s! As always they were great hosts and put the crew of us up for the night.
A short sleep Tuesday night, a quick stop at Tim’s early Wednesday morning and we were on our way to a busy day of touring. Our first official stop of the day was Bowling Green, OH and the fun car & automobilia collection at Snook’s Emporium. There just wasn’t enough time to take in all the sights and delights! With about 30 cars including some rare vintage race cars, it was an eclectic collection of vehicles.
Down the road a little farther, we stopped in on Don’s Hot Rods in Germantown for donuts, coffee, and some very fine automobiles and craftsmanship. Don Pilkington runs a top end shop out of a complex of storage units and it was certainly a surprise to find that they have probably built more contenders for the coveted Ridler award than any other shop. The vehicles in progress at the shop included a 39 Lincoln Zephyr, 40 Ford Coupe, and a wild Tuner with one of a kind custom body package : It looks like Ridler traditions may continue from this shop!
Before we turned in for the night in Florence KY, we reprised our Cruise Night shenanigans at Shady O’Grady’s Roadhouse and Bar with a BBQ hosted by Dennis Arnold and arranged by our friends at Tri State F100s. A good feed and a good time were had by all, just ask Robby and Pam.
On The Road…
Thursday got off to a slow start when Gene blew a rad hose and belt. Quick thinking on the Amigos’ part got him back on the road in no time and before you could say, “Where’s your Sombrero Hombre” 3 times, they were ahead of the pack once again. It was a long drive to Bobby Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop outside Knoxville back in the rolling hills of Tennessee, but what a hidden treasure of a Home and Shop it was. Alloway’s is yet another high end shop building complete vehicles on site. Alloways
is also the company that produces the awesome “Rat’s Glass” line of fiberglass bodies. Several of that cars we saw are headed for magazine covers and Ridler contention as well. After ogling the projects and getting a first class tour of his design & fabrication shop we hiked back to our trucks and saddled up for the last short leg of our convoy to the promised land of fat-fendered ford trucks.
We made a quick pit stop at the hotel and then we were back on the road to Bob’s Mountaineer to meet up with the trucks from California and the SuperTour which included truckers from Mexico and Australia. An all you can eat buffet and an aperitif of burnouts was followed by a quick cruise through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg for old-times sake.
Friday was the first peek at the New Home of the F100 SuperNats in Knoxville for many of us and most were pleasantly surprised by the new set up. Despite a thinner group of vendors, the setting allowed for a more relaxed and leisurely atmosphere for shopping as well as checking out the trucks. A nice feature of this location is that it allows one to drive their truck to and from the show without fear of losing a place to park. The trees, shade, green grass and water provided much needed space to cool down in the early summer heat of Tennessee.
The highlights of the show for me were seeing Ohio Mike’s buddy, Willy and his barn-fresh ’52 and seeing the People’s Choice winner, F157. Despite the rain at night we enjoyed largely good weather throughout our stay. To top it all off we garnered some trophy hardware. Best of Class honours were picked up by 3 of our own, –Rat Rod went to Mike Bragg for his Satin Black Primered ‘56 , Custom ’61-’66 to Gary Pratt & Best Panel to Larry & Pam Hill.
And congratulations SOCP for a strong showing. We saw: Dan, Jason & Adam, Graham Pollock buying out Sy, Rick & Pam, Larry, Pam, Ryan & Kendall, Mike & Cheryl + good friend Willie and wife, Steve & Barb in Rick’s seafoam green panel van, Ritchie & Brenda, Dave Graham and his Dad, John Pul, Jim and Sharon, Steve, Dianna, Daniel and Alex, Gary, Gerry & Allan as well as former SOCPer from NY state, Anthony Greco in his farm fresh, Viper drivetrained ’56 1 ton. Anthony actually drove it all the way to Phoenix to start on the SuperTour, then back to Tennessee. Last time we heard from him, he was discussing following them to California again!
On Saturday afternoon at the show, we visited the Pro’s Pick booth and checked out their great products while waiting for the tour giveaway prize. Our SuperCruise participation grand prize of $500 in Pro’s Pick Money was raffled and won by our very own Daniel T.! Congrats again DT and a big thanks to Pro’s Pick for their support!!
The cruise home saw several groups making different plans and sidetrips. One went to visit old friends in By God, West Virginia, another went off to Summit Racing for some heavy duty parts shopping and yet another stopped at home in Canton, Ohio. Mike and Cheryl Bragg in conjunction with their local car club, hosted a fabulous BBQ at their home where we scoped out their fine collection of rides including their fab ’56, their in progress rat rod Model A, and Mike’s classic 40 Chevy Convertible resto rod! Thanks to the Braggs and friends for yet another great memory.
2007-05-30 - Update - New Club Award
2007-05-05 - Upcoming Events and New Club Award!!!
2007-05-05 - 2007 SOCP Raffle
2007-03-05 - Poor Boy's Run
2007-03-05 - March Official SOCP Meeting
2006-10-16 - President's Dinner year end Roundup
2006-10-16 - Compressor and Tools Draw
2006-10-16 - Autofest
2006-10-16 - Thank You from Bruce's Family
2006-08-14 - Arthur Ford & Mercury Truck Nationals
2006-08-14 - Keep on Truckin' Bruce
2006-08-14 - Club picnic report
2006-08-14 - Club Raffle: Final days!!!
2006-08-14 - Autofest 2006
2006-08-14 - On the Road to Tennessee
2006-04-14 - Calling All Gear Heads!
2006-04-14 - SuperCruise 2006
2006-04-14 - Early Bird Run
2006-04-14 - Panelfest/Truckfest/Vanfest 2006
2006-04-14 - Goodguys Columbus,OH
2006-04-14 - 17th Canadian All Truck Nationals
2006-04-14 - Syracuse Right Coast Nationals
2006-04-14 - SOCP Summer Warm-up Run
