Hello from Des Moines - checking in

Well the wife and I made it into Des Moines last night (thur). It took us about 21 hrs of driving and 1339 miles.. Two long nights. Left Charleston around 6pm and made it into Knoxville TN around midnight. Then left around 8:00am and made it into Des Moines at mid night again... dead tired

The trip went well but lots of rain along the way.. for those that live in MO.. your roads ****.. bounced all the way across the state... Had a guy in a 66 Fairlane Wagon break a rearend clip right in front of me and got to see lots of smoke as the tires moved outward and into the fenderwell lip.. tore it to treads.. but got it over to the side of the road safely.

First time to Des Moines, what a wonderful fairground, nicest the wife and I have seen. Worth the trip in itself. Have seen Bob K in his really clean 52 chevy vert and Trailer Ed in his orange Anglia hiboy and of course JimA in his golf cart.. Ran out of battery real early so I only got about 130 pics so far.. will be ready tomorrow for serious picture taking.

This show has the Contenders for 'Custom Rod of the Year' and I seen three that appears to be contenders. A orange/black 55 chevy vert, a red 57 chevy vert with 8 turbo. and a ***** red and slick 57 vette. (pics will be on my site soon). but since this is a traditional board here are a few from what I say.. (not many beaters here yet).

Here is a nice coupe

 

here is a cool Model A

 

and a tasty mild custom

 

and one last one for tonight, a neat roadster.. Lots more to come,, I will try to post a few as the week progress and I do the Cruise to Columbus...

 

Ken....that 36 coupe is one of our boys from KC....never misses the KCS&P and is a good friend of Ryan's....DAMN! I CAN"T WAIT TO GET THERE TOMORROW!

 

Boones, saw ya cruize by on the grounds but didn't get a chance to say hi. I'm sure I'll see ya tomorrow at the garage grown area. Glad you like the fairgrounds. They keep getting better every year. Hope the slight rain didn't put a damper in your day. Did ya see that guy with the plastic chain fence around his roadster? HA! Maybe I ought to get some for my PU, but instead of to keep people from scratching the paint, to keep them from getting tetnus! CF

 

Corn Fed did not see your wagon or PU but did look while I was out walking As for the rain, I am tired of it after driving in it all day but it was not bad except that late afternoon 10 min down pour... Where you wearing a HAMB drags shirt. I saw someone walk buy when I was talking to someone and it caught my eye but to far away to yell... make sure you stop by tomorrow

Ken aka Boones

 

And the #5 roadster is from there too...took this at KCS#P last year...it's Jeff's...

 

Nope, wasn't me. Only Hamb shirt I saw was on Bob K.

 

The#5 Deuce Roadster is John Swander's-[Desoto Ks].gl*** but definitely cool.

 

Corncob***...hey! I saw your poncho but didn't know it was you piloting it! Hiboy 32 and I were sitting on the curb, watching people leave the fairgrounds to go eat when I saw this looooong, loooooooow red bonneville with polished 5 spoke wheels slink past. I didn't even look to see who was driving or I'd have recognized you, Bob!
We had fun, hangin with Boones, Jim A, Cornfed, 4t6ford, Carkiller [vending at the swap meet] and Bob K who was quickly becoming Carkiller's best customer. Bob bought one of Carkiller's prized 60 Merc Grilles.
It rained all the way from Omaha to DesMoines and for about 4 hours after we got there. It cleared off just for our departure back to Omaha.
Cornfed took us for a ride around the fairgrounds in his 312, 4 speed ford powered Ex-fordor model A pickup. What a nice running and crisp sounding Y-block! Here's Jim A making sure we were comfortable....

 

R to L...got 4T64rd holding up the pole, Bob K, Hiboy 32 and Cornfed in the background. The 55 Buick Roadmasher in the photo belonged to a civilian [non HAMBer] and had a 455 buick, 400 turbo and chevelle rear axle...sounded real healthy.

 

Boones.....ready to be nominated "Best Gardening hat Wearer" .....I'm really glad I got the opportunity to meet this guy...lotta fun!

 

BTW, that's Mrs Boones in the lawnchair and Cornfed in the background.....
T-man, Boones had his Rockstars sticker in a prominent place, insuring everone knows of the club.......Man! The 327 in this wagon sound's downright mean!

 

I took very few photos at the event... many of the cars were not HAMBers would wanna see here but I did find this little T-bucket hidden at the outer fringes of the parking area. It was too cool to walk away from without a photo. Had a SBF with carbs.........big aluminum radiator was under the louvered aluminum bed floor.

 

Oops, here's the actual photo I took of this thang..

 

Oops! here's that photo...

 

This thing had a whole bag-o-tricks! One was the power operated top to allow entry/egress. Another was the 1/2 rack and pinion steering ***y, mounted front to back that operated the drag link.. Axle appeared to be an old Wlllys car item with it's original drum brakes...

 

The roadster belongs to a friend of mine - Joe Senn from K-ville IA, this T is low!

Great to put the HAMB names with faces...Rockie, I'm FORDY 6.

 

What was that Dooligan (4T64RD) doin' way over THERE???

Ha Ha...hey, Boones...I just went to Missouri last weekend, and thought the roads were GREAT...you oughtta try drivin' through south-eatern MICHIGAN sometime!!!

(If ya ain't runnin' at least 38" mudders, articulated rock crawling suspension, and RS7000 shocks...stay off of Michigan roads...the dirt and gr*** is smoother by far!!!)

 

Sorry Steve...Fordy 6 it is. But now that you own your cherry pie model A, are ya gonna change your HAMB name?

 

Ah! Name trouble...I didn't think tey'd let Mikey outta Florida for a rainy Midwestern car show...no chrome smoothies in sight!

 

Hello guys, I'm about half way home now! Stoppped off at gradparents place. Great meeting new HAMBers and sayiny hello to the ones I've met before. Have a safe trip Boones, and congrats to you guys on the awards. Untill next time or the drags, Later, Rusty.

 

Nice to meet Boones and trailer-Ed at Goodguys...My wife Sue really got a kick out of this show...She liked cruzing around looking at the cars instead of walking! Never met up with Fordy 6 and we only live 5 miles from each other. Hope he has his A-bone there next year...Maybe my 52 Ford Customline will be ready too...Tom - restorit

 

as usual, there were many cars and projects for sale at the event but the prices have escalated to ungodly heights! Like the gray primer 48 Pontiac in the forground of Restorit's photo. I walked around it and got a good look at it.....had a big block chevy in it [minus points] but the interior was almost non-existant and the body was R-O-U-G-H!
Somebody had scabbed a pair of late corvette tailights in the back, which was really lumpy and wavy from some collision/rust repair.. They were asking like $8900 for this car! Maybe I'm still stuck in the 90s' prices but that was no 9 grand car!
Swapmeet parts were priced equally high. I saw one scruffy 4 deuce SBC intake with no carbs for over $600!!! Come on! These boys must be from outa the midwest or I've lost touch with hot rod parts and cars....
There, I feel better...

 

Well guys, what a weekend. Met some great HAMBers, (all mentioned above).. Spent alot of time with Bob K including dinner tonight. There may not be a nicer guy... he bought dinner for me and Mrs Boones. Rocky.. that is not a gardeners hat, is a safari hat.. man dont you know the difference... Great meeting you thou I wish we would have more time to chat.... but the sun came out and I had pics to take

As for the show, not much HAMB stuff but I did take abouy 700 pics, lots of detail shots of the big guys cars. For those that were there the orange/black 55 won the big spot..
Final 5 included, the 55 vert, a super nice 55 Nomad (similar to Newmad) a 56 vert, a 62 chevy wagon and a 49 caddy vert.

BobK, Cornfed and myself all won an award in the Garage GrownArea. Bob K for killer Kustom, Cornfed for Chopped and hopped and myself for the Garage Grown award.. Cornfed and I were the only ratty rides in the area.. It was great.. Got to give a jump start to a 80k vette parked next to me because it could not hold a charge... here a POS saving the nice shiny car.. It was fun.

Tomorrow we head off on the Organized Cruise to Columbus.. More feedback from the road will come along with pics..

Here is the Custom Rod of the Year Winner

 

another shot

 

and the interior

 

It was great meeting a bunch of you and catching up with a few others. Bob K, you were EVERYWHERE! I couldn't turn around with out bumping into you. How can you know so many of the same people as me and we never met? The cruise thru the grounds with Hiboy32 & Rocky was fun, as well as chewing the fat with Jim A. (Hope ya get thru the airport metal detector ok with those Model A parts). Laughed my tail off watching Boones jump start that Vette in the award winner parking lot. Hopefully you'll have better roads and dry weather for the rest of your week. Keep the shiney side up!! CF