Folks Of Interest A trip to see Hamber BCR and I came home with goodies

Once again I had the pleasant experience to visit my pal Mike Keller (BCR) at his shop Big Creek Restorations in Ellis, KS on this fine Sunday. My favorite brother in law Lawrence and I took his pickup and a borrowed extra large trailer and our pal Ron from Salina rode along as well.
I had agreed to buy a 2 ton GMC deluxe 5 window cab farm truck with sideboards and a 2 speed rear end that Mike had bought from a local farm family and we were on a mission to bring it home. It runs and drives good and has only 57,000 miles on it. And the real cool part is----it has a the rare and sought after 302 six cylinder engine in it.
I already have a replacement engine to put back in the truck which is a less valuable 248 cubic inch engine. Then I will keep using the truck around here for hauling junk and tree limbs and perhaps dirt and gravel from time to time.
Here is me on the left and Mike on the right.

 

looks like some gold chainer trailer queen , lol , that looks fantastic.

 

Here is Lawrence, MIke and Ron inside the shop.

 

I could have driven it home but it was a 2.5 hour trip one way and I don't like to do that with a new purchase.

 

Mike was kind enough to send me home with a tub full of NOS parts like coils and regulators and all kinds of goodies here:

 

I also brought home a Desoto 276 hemi engine that is apart and needs to be checked out. Here is the block.
Thank you Mike for treating us so good.
You are a very generous guy.
He gave us a ton of tires and stuff as he was cleaning and reorganizing his shop.

 

It was a good way to spend a Sunday and this photo shows Mike in front of the customer owned 40 Chevy coupe that he built and recently won "America's Most Beautiful Street Rod" at the Good Guys Pleasanton show in CA.

 

Nice old truck. does it have a hoist?

 

Last photo shows us leaving with his white shop ( a former Ford dealership) on the background.

 

my daydream is to purchase an old dealership building someday....probably as far as I'll get....dreaming

I like your truck - those XLarge ADs are awesome, and the 302 is a definite bonus

 

Nice, your gonna love that

Handy unit, you will be looking for stuff to take to the dump

 

he has a key he needs no coaxing

 

Paul, you left too soon, I found a few other items....ha ha!

It was good to see you and the boys today. Glad you made it home safe with that G****s of Wrath load.

 

Kinda of a funny story on the truck, the original owner switched out the engine in the 60's. He was tire of not having enough power to keep up with the v8 trucks. I have driven it around a bit with the 302 and it is more spirited than any Chevy AD 1/2 ton pickup with a 235....this truck is heavy.
So even wheat trucks can be Hot Rodded!!!

Side note... when I was a kid there was another hot rodded wheat truck running around. I have tried to track it down with no success. It was a hot rodded 302 with some wayne speed parts and split headers. He use to drive by the farm I lived on and let off of the gas to slow down for the intersection...no noise on earth like a GMC cacklin throught the split headers.

 

that is way cool story!

 

Restoration in progress of the best looking Chevy in stock form that you could imagine...
who knew bland colors could look so good but they do and this is a much better than factory paint job------

 

PovertyFlats,

If the weather is good this weekend I plan on driving my '63 Falcon up to Gypsum for their festival. Do you give out shop tours? I graduated from SES in '80 and will have my letter jacket laying in my car at the show.

Phillip

 

nice score. it looks like that sooper duty is sqautted down onto the bump stops.

 

Always fun to ride along vicariously with you and your favorite brother in law Lawrence on your whirlwind excursions.

Really a cool old truck. HRP

 

Wow!! Nice score, but..... five hours on the road and not a single shot from the HAMB's best food photographer?? You workin' on your "summer body"?

Finally met Travis at the Iron Invasion Saturday, he speaks very highly of you.

 

Now that is one NICE truck !!
What you gonna do with the 302 engine ???
Cheers,

 

By popular demand, here is a photo of the "light snack" me and my pals had last weekend...

 

Phillip, I don't have a shop in Gypsum...just my home.
I have a storage building in Salina for cars and engines.
We use my helper Blake's shop in Salina for my sideline engine business.
I will look forward to meeting you Saturday.

 

Now we just have to hope the rain is finished by Saturday.

 

HOTRODPRIMER<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> vbmenu_register("postmenu_8237345", true); </SCRIPT>

I agree with you 100 % on your statement .
I too enjoy riding along,
it always feels like you are right their with the guys in any of povertyflats<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> vbmenu_register("postmenu_8237237", true); </SCRIPT>
adventures...

 

Paul, always enjoy seeing your travels. You are the true "Robin Leech" of the hot rodders.

 

I miss Kansas .....

 

Poverty Flats travel dialogues are some of the best on the HAMB. Automotive entertainment at its best. Thank you.

 

Wow !!!! >>>>.