The Florence car show

[electra225]

The one with the $50 entry fee. The show is tomorrow. I have to be THERE by 6 am. I need to be at the storage locker to get the car by 4 am. We are going to "pack a bucket" a thermos of coffee, some sodas, and Bentley's little car show bed and his water bowl. I don't eat off food trucks, and there are no brick and mortar places to eat close to the car show. Bentley can assume his "guard dog" position under the radiator of the Buick. I will request a spot where we can leave if we need to. I'm not going to wait for their endless trophy presentation and preening by the local politicos. We'll probably leave by 2pm or so. There should be a massive amount of cars there. The show got too big for the locals to handle, so this year they have pros doing it. This is one of our favorite shows. The weather should be nice and we are looking forward to it. I'll go down, get the car out, drive around a bit, give it a lick and a promise, then store the car covers in the Tahoe so I won't have to mess with those day of the show. I'll take the camera and snap a few pictures.

[William]

I like that car show, and I wish I was there to enjoy it with you. Just a suggestion, but couldn't you bring the Buick to the house, put it in the garage and leave the Mini out for one night? It would save getting up so early to go to the storage place.

Bill

[electra225]

The Mini, the Bentley Buggy, the kitty litter boxes, the freezer, we'd probably have to take the cabinets down to put the Buick in the garage. We can't move the Tahoe and put it on that side because the water heater is in the way. This house is not built to house a big old Buick. We've done this way before and it works out just fine. Drive the Tahoe to the storage shed, get the Buick, put the Tahoe in the shed, reverse the process when the show is over......

[William]

I kind of forgot that you added things to your garage which kind of made it a tad smaller in length. I am remembering it when the Buick was stored in the LH stall.

Bill

[electra225]

We survived the Florence car show. I was told they had 331 cars on Main Street at $50 a pop. I won't swear to that number, but Main Street was nine blocks long. Those who chose to pay less, (or just show up and mooch) were parked on side streets and in every parking lot that was not protected by armed guards in the entire town. By 9 am, there were so many spectators walking around, you could barely see the cars. I got some pictures, but my phone won't let me download them for some reason. I'll get that situation sorted and get some posted. I saw a genuine '62 Impala SS, red, riding on its original 14" wheels and with original spinner hubcaps, a 409, 4-speed car. It didn't have hydraulics, either. There was the ubiquitous hop cars, this time a couple of '50's Chevys were equipped with juice. There was a amateur-restored Rambler American there. There was an Austin Cooper early version of the Mini there, right hand drive. That thing is LITTLE! Upside my Mini, mine would look like a commercial chassis Cadillac. There was a '63 Ford Galaxie XL convertible with a 2-barrel 352, air and spinner wire hubcaps. There was a '58 Ford Retractable hardtop that had been repowered by a flat-valve cover four barrel 390 (a Mercury engine?) and a C-6 automatic. The paint and chrome were nice, but the interior appeared original and in the process of restoration. There were three 409 Chevys there, lots of big block cars and trucks as well. Everything has an aluminum radiator anymore. Don't they fix the old radiators? What is the big deal with aluminum, except maybe they are cheaper? There were very few cars there powered by an original engine. Lots of crate motors and junkyard pulls.

[maxidyne]

Pictures....

[TC Chris]

Note the downward curve on the one-wheel trailer attachments in that photos. That's a newer, streamlined version, too.

And the Chevy.... my '61 would be jealous. But I'm not so find of the unnatural gloss on those tires. No new tire ever left a tire shop looking like that.

Chris Campbell

[walyfd]

Yeah... what IS that??? Lard??? Tires are more reflective than the paint.

WORST THING EVER CREATED was Armor All!!! It was cooked into the vinyl in my car and turned brown...

[TC Chris]

When the stuff was first peddled, we were told that it would preserve the dash pads, etc. by protecting them from UV. There was a UV problem back then; my Chevy's dash pads are cracked. Now the plastics are more durable. And to get whatever protection ArmorAll gave, you had to put up with the gloss. I tried it once or twice and figured the cure was worse than the disease. They did come out with a low-gloss version. But the stuff never lasted long on tires, so I figured "why bother."

Chris Campbell

[maxidyne]

I was tinkering with my phone and double posted. It has been a long time since I last saw a Chevy SS with the original wheels and hubcaps. A real, red, 409 four speed car...

OK, Chris, a 1961 SS with a 409...

[TC Chris]

Geez, who put that godawful red stripe on it? White, "deleted", and it looks so nice....

The '61 was available with a 348.

Chris Campbell

[maxidyne]

I had a, shall we say, "intense" discussion with the owner of the '61. I thought that Impala SS's all had engine turned side trim. I have only seen one other one, many years ago. It was a 4 barrel 283 and Powerglide car. I would bet this one is a fake.....

[maxidyne]

A few more pictures....I hate cellphones. Sorry for the double posts. The Rambler American has air. Three on the dash transmission. I don't remember seeing a '63 Ford XL convertible before.

[TC Chris]

The sequence of the photos--first, under hood, yeah, the same flathead 6 that my '60 American had. But wait--the master cylinder is on the firewall, where you can actually check it, not under the floormat through a hole. Ad then I saw the photo of a modern American, updated.

Mine had the 3-speed Flash-O-Matic transmission, the one that allowed you to select starting in second gear. It was billed as an economy option, but here in Michigan it had the special virtue of allowing low-torque starts in slippery winter conditions. Of course, I never drove mine in MI winters. It was a CA car and was rust-free.

Chris Campbell

[Ken Doyle]

I had six or more 1964-1969 Rambler Americans over the years, and all of them served me well. My 1965 had the flathead "Flying Scot" engine, a bullet-proof little engine that they built from 1941 to 1965. I could no longer source the proper spark plug wire set for it, so I'd buy a wire set for a Chevy 350 and cut them down to size.

[Dr. Radio]

Thank you for posting pictures.

[William]

Chris, the Metropolitans master brake cylinder along with the clutch master cylinder is under the driver's feet too.

Around my neck of the woods there is a 1963 Galaxie 500 XL convertible. Every once in a while, I will see it go through town and it has been at the car show once or twice.

Bill

[maxidyne]

More pictures....

[maxidyne]

The 1958 Ford retractable hardtop in the next to the last picture has a flat valve cover 390 and C6 recovery. The owner said it is a Mercury engine. The paint and chrome were nice, but the interior was not done.....

[William]

Good looking cars, Greg. Did you happen to get a photo of the 58 Ford engine?

Bill