Fall E-Town Swap Meet and Barrett Jackson

This weekend is the 35th Annual Fall Englishtown Swap Meet & Auto Show, so Tommy and I spent the day in the rain looking for good, wet deals. I was able to score 4 dollies to roll the Chevelle around for only $40...an excellent deal. I also picked up a bunch of parts for the 66 that I ordered from Ground Up.

It also is the Barrett Jackson auction live from Las Vegas. I'll see if I can find some time to watch and play along with the Hagerty Fantasy Bid, and maybe get lucky.

71 Chevelle Fixed

I fixed the 71 Chevelle's rocker arm last Sunday (it took a while to find a parts store that had a rocker arm), but the electric fan was bothering me. I felt it was vibrating too much, which is how it rubbed a hole in the radiator. So, I purchased a new 16" fan from Jegs, and it seems much smoother now. The car has plenty of power and drops down in passing gear and goes real nice now. I just made sure the cable was adjusted when I was under the hood installing the new rocker arm.

I stopped by Tommy's this evening, and he reminded me that this was Drag Week...how did I forget that? BangShift.com has been posting lots of videos, and I hear that Hot Rod will be posting live video. I did find this video I liked...

Broken 71

I came home from dinner with the family last night in the 71 Chevelle, to the sweet smell of coolant in the air. Seems my radiator and the fan shroud rubbed together and made a little hole.... so I spent most of today trying to find a radiator repair shop open on Saturday. Luckily, Jim's Radiator Service in Point Pleasant was able to fix me right up, and before long, I was back on the road. Thanks Jim!

But no, the story doesn't end there. We drive on down to Sonic for a victory dinner, and on the way home there comes this terrible sound, backfiring through the intake. I limp it home, and tear into it, only to discover a broken exhaust rocker arm, snapped in two. Seriously, and I was only doing like 30 mph. I can't seem to catch a break today...so I'm going to bed and will deal with this tomorrow.

Zach Works!

Here is actual proof that Zach was working on the Chevelle! Of course it was a staged photo, but he did help me align the quarter panel so that I could weld it in. Thanks Zach!

Depth of Speed...A Pinch of Salt

I found this video, Depth of Speed, and thought you might enjoy it. Josh Clason takes us to an American automotive mecca and the Bonneville Salt Flats. Land speed racing has gone hand in hand with Bonneville as many travel to Utah in hopes of setting the next great record. But beyond the competition has been a strong degree of camaraderie where the ultimate goal lies beyond the record books.

Driver's Quarter

So I finally got back out to work on the 66 today. Tommy stopped by and helped me mark off the quarter panel on the driver's side, and I was able to cut out all the rust. The new panel looks as if it will fit nicely, although I first have to create a few outer wheel house edges to replace the rusty original. I'm not buying a $85 panel that no one will ever see, when I can fab and weld in some new steel. I have most of it finished, and even POR-15'd it to protect it.

Zach and I went over some of the molding pieces, and determined that the rear window molding is good, the front has dents in 4 of the 5 pieces....damn. That's about $150 if I can't fix it. We also decided to fill in the holes on the rear valance instead of using the rear emblem and moldings....it just looks cleaner. See here...