MOPAR NATIONALS...Looking ahead, now that Carlisle is over.

[Burdar]

Had a good first day. The weather was pretty nice in the low 80"s.  Tomorrow it should be in the upper 70's...perfect. The rain held off until 6:30 or so.  I found most of the parts I was looking for.

I stopped by 68Bfan's booth this morning and picked up a couple little clips I needed. I wanted to pick up some gaskets for the side glass while I was there but they are only sold in a kit  I didn't need the kit so he let me trace the gaskets on a piece of paper so I can make them myself at home.  He didn't have to let me do that. He actually suggested it. I really appreciate him letting me do that.

[Burdar]

Here are two of my favorite cars so far. I've said it before...I like looking at things that are different then what you normally see. 72 Satellite wagon.  I'm normally not a fan of 70' custom paint but this one is really understated and not in your face. The blue interior was all brand new. That had to have cost a small fortune to complete. The F-body was a really nicely put together custom. It's nice to see these cars getting some attention.  It still retains the stock tan/brown plaid interior which surprisingly mates perfectly with the custom exterior.

[Roadman]

I really like station wagons, going to look for one when I re :rebelflag"locate.   

[76orangewagon]

Here's a few pictures I took. The swap meet area was reduced at the last minute and some of the vendors were not too happy. I was talking to Bill Rolik and he was suppose to have 4 spaces in Row Q and he ended up getting 2 spaces in Row O, 1 space in Row P and this trailer was in another Row. Friday was busy but not crowded and I thought maybe everybody did give up on the Nat's...... but Saturday was packed, cars and people everywhere.
       

[76orangewagon]

Here's a few more.

[Burdar]

Possibly the very last unassembled "kit car" left. It's about 90% complete.  The street version was about $6500 new.  These unassembled kits were $10,000 back in 78.

[Burdar]

A few more of my favorites. I didn't bring a camera. These were taken by my friend Paul. It's kind of hard to see but the big C-body is tubbed.  The truck is Indy Hemi powered.

[Burdar]

The Nat's is alive and well.  Great show this year.  Better than it has been in awhile.  Weather was perfect.  The race track and staging lanes have all been repaved.  More improvements are coming. They took the old asphalt and spread it around in certain spots.  It was a good idea on paper but didn't work out very well in practice.  They didn't grind it up enough which led to some larger chunks that weren't easy to walk over.  Hopefully this was just a transition year and things like that will be fixed next year.

I had a list of parts I wanted to get.  I found all but one thing on my list.  I stopped by Josh's Muscle Car Parts Friday morning.  He had two new tuff wheel adapters sitting there and had them priced at $125.(normally $150 for new reproductions)  A member posted about an original adapter he had for sale last week so I passed on the new one and went looking for the used one.  Hopefully he sold it early on because I didn't see it anywhere.    So at the end of the day I figured I could try and find another used one for $100 or a brand new one for $125.  I went back to Josh's and bought the last new one he had.  He only brought 2 to the show. 

I also had a look and "feel" at the reproduction tuff wheels.  Like others have said, I wasn't impressed.  They are extremely hard feeling with matte finish spokes.  I'll be saving up for a leather wheel from PG Classics.  I did find a brand new horn button for sale at another swap spot.  I've got a used horn mechanism already so the wheel itself is all I need.

A few months ago I bought some new headlights with LED halos around the outside.  The halo wiring interferes with the headlight bucket.  Instead of hacking up my nice original ones, I went looking for some replacements to modify.  I found a pair of buckets and stainless headlight rings for $10.  That was a decent buy.  I also found a pair of A-body dash vents for $5.  They are pretty beat up but I'm thinking about modifying them and adding a custom insert so they should work fine.  The best score from the show was a little Mopar onesie for Nora. 


We were almost in a bad accident on the way home.  Just before crossing the bridge from Illinois to Iowa, traffic slowed way down.  We came to a stop and heard screeching tires and loud banging sounds.  My friend who was driving his car looked in the mirror to see a semi bouncing along the concrete center barriers right behind us.  My friend hit the gas and drove onto the shoulder, right along side of the car in front of us.  Quick thinking on his part.  We would have been hit if he hadn't gunned it.

[750-h2]

Sounds like it was a great show!

[Cuda Cody]

Thanks for the photos.     Love that van!

Glad you were not involved in the accident.

[Pentastarnut]

It WAS a great show this year the facility has a new owner from last years event so i'm sure things will constantly improve. the weather was perfect, the show side was had more cars ( prob. because of the weather ) , the racing was awesome, and the swap section had tons to offer. my bud found a 70 340 air cleaner assembly for his 70 340 'Cuda,  i bought wheels from year one and got a great deal, and a show board at a nice show discounted rate with freebie's included, now i just need to finish my car to submit pictures. sunday was a ghost town compared to saturday but the racing made the day. monday we had a late flight so we saw the AMA motorcycle museum, then went to the Historical Aircraft Museum just to see the facility cuz it was closed 
if you drive there and have the ability to bring a pit bike or golf cart it makes it easier to see everything, or rent a golf cart there. hopefully i'll be back next year 

[Spikedog08]

Hmmm I may give it a try next year with all this positive feedback . . . . 

[Burdar]

The Saturday cruise has moved south from where it was previously. It now goes from the Chrysler dealer in Heath, down to Buckeye Lake south of I-70. We were at the Chrysler dealer but I hear the burnouts in Buckeye Lake were reminiscent of the old Brice Road days.

[Bartman]

I really had a good time.  I will go back next year.

[Bartman]

Here is a picture