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Another great show in Louisville this year, but you won’t see any booth pictures! For the first time in a LONG time, we decided not to display this summer. Paul and Dorothy decided… well, I’ll quote what I said a few months ago:
Posted June 19th, 2012
For the past umpteen years, we’ve been attending two shows with our display: the Syracuse Nationals (in Syracuse), and the NSRA Street Rod Nationals Plus in Louisville. This year, we’ll also attend those two shows. If you stop by our usual booth location though, you will notice something different. No, Paul didn’t dye his hair. Guess again. Nope- we didn’t get one of those tractor trailers with the “not for hire” sticker on the window. The only thing that’s changed is whose display is in that spot- it’s not ours! After a lot of discussion, we’ve decided to relinquish our vendor spots and attend the shows in the ’32 as participants.
Maintaining the display will take away a lot of production and shipping time (we are, after all, in the hot rod chassis parts business), and Paul and Dorothy are getting to the point that they no longer want to stand in the same place for a few days. Since his name is on the door, if he wants to walk, let the man walk. I benefit as well, since my wife and children will probably come to Louisville with me to hang out and participate. We’ll get to roam and check out cars together!
All three of us enjoy talking with everyone who stops in to the booth, so that’s definitely a down side. Even though we won’t have a display, we’ll still enjoy talking with people around the fairgrounds. I’ll be updating our Facebook page from the show as well.
I realize I didn’t need to explain all that, but I wanted to convey the point that business is going well and this is a decision which we didn’t make lightly. For a family business, deciding how you spend your time is key. We want to keep our business sharply focused on getting high quality parts out the door quickly, and this is one way we feel we’re deliberately maintaining that focus.
Anyways, since I was uploading pictures to Facebook while I was there, it’s probably easier to just check them out on Facebook.
What the heck… Here are a few pictures from the NSRA Nationals in 2008, just because people like pictures.
John Jackson (http://www.notstockphotography.com/)took a few more pictures than anyone else there (combined) and was kind enough to share them!
Check out the fun time riding little bicycles:
 That kid is gaining on you, Tim!  Tim Strange, DW Horton, and Dave Neale go over race strategy. “I’m going to stay on the bike this year, and since there are only three people in my race I’ll make the podium.”  Dave Tucci wondering if he can hire the guy who welded that BMX frame.  Dave Tucci and Carrie Strange in turn two.  Tim painted these bowling pins for trophies.  The Hot Rod BMX group, missing the boys from Star Kustom Shop.  John Jackson’s Corvair and the Welder Series ’32 on the infield. Hot Rod BMX Race in Louisville… more pics
If you need any info on the Bonneville salt flats, or have to research just in case there’s a trivia question some day, here’s the place to go:
Bonneville Salt Flats
Craig has put together an exhaustive collection of tidbits, videos, pictures, and more. Check it out!
See what I saw!
Again, feel free to comment and leave a link to more Louisville pics.
 Now guess that rear end…  Slick ’32!  Guess that spindle…  Guess that spindle…  Tim @ Pro’s Pick  Pro’s Pick  Camper trunk. Huge! Nicely upholstered.  This was a really neat color.  “Honey, can you take the truck and pick up some sand for the kids?” “no.”  Sway bar on a front axle. Didn’t get an underneath shot – interested in how it is attached to the frame. I think you can see the bolts in the C notch picture.  Hidden hardware for the front spreader bar.  Tapered C notch for the spring…  Another one of those “I should take a picture of this” and now I can’t remember why…  I like the black wrapped transmission cooler lines.  I’ve got to get some of this twine.  Be still… twine wrapped cloth covered wires??!  I like the weatherstrip around the top of the radiator – fills that gap nicely.  Hokey Doodle  I spent a long time checking out all the neat pieces on this Model A pickup.  Wow: love the heater line bulkhead, and every bolt has a ball milled “divet” in the head.  Enough room for the kids!  Flush roof insert on the same ’32.  Everything was just right on this ’32 full fendered coupe.  Wrinkle finish *anything* gets a thumbs up from me!  Not sure why I took this… but the tri-five is a reflection!  Clean spline drive wheel bolts.  Love the soldered fuel line junctions!  Really clean Model A in the Pro’s Pick area.  Sweet safety glass!  Tim gets some protein for the walk back to the vendor building.  1935 Deuce Sedan? Never seen this done before…  Big & low in the circle
I managed to get out of the booth a few times to walk around and take some pictures at this years Syracuse Nationals. I think I heard numbers in the 7200 range. I don’t mind at all that there were 4×4 trucks there – not the first things I ran out to see, but hey, lots of people are into them. Hope you enjoy the pictures!
 Speedometer cable on a Model T.  Love early Ford design – function and finesse.  If anyone knows what the key is for, please share.  I love early chrome trim! “hmmm… where else can we dress up this truck? How about the front of the bed! Brilliant!”  Part of the big & low fetish I find myself in.  Cool little torsion rod setup on a roadster in the Roundup.  The passenger side torsion arm is attached with a heim joint, which serves to keep the axle from moving left to right.  A simple way to dress up a bracket – weld some bar stock to the edges of the plate! Neat!  Cool transition between a tubular rear frame and rectangular side rails.  Although not our brackets, this is a great example of modifying the bracket to fit the frame.  On the road home…
 “I stayed home from Knoxville to look after the shop and all they brought me back was this picture.” OK, that’s not entirely accurate… I took the picture myself, this morning. OK, OK, there are some pictures of the actual safety inspection too.
Apparently it was quite a trip! The route to Knoxville was a bit roundabout since they stopped in Virginia on the way. I was hoping to see some pictures of the ’32 carving out the mountain switchbacks, but there was nowhere convenient to pull over, especially with four cars trailing.
At the hotel on the way to VA, there was some light rain overnight and the ZZ4 swallowed a bit too much water somehow. The parking lot was dry, as was the air cleaner element, so we’re not exactly sure how so much water made its way into the cylinders but the amazing thing is that no rods were bent.
Here are some photos from the event. The whole duct-tape-on-the-hubcap thing is the result of a lost hubcap, a hubcap purchased at Knoxville which didn’t exactly fit the wheels but it was the only one they had, and duct tape to snug up the buttons holding the cap in place.
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