47-55.1 Getting ready for a car (truck) show

[TX3100Guy]

For those of you that have read my posting thread on eliminating the draft tube and or chasing a coolant leak, the truck is getting close to finally being done. This past weekend my sons helped me re-install the hood that has been off for nearly two years. Both inner fenders are mounted and this weekend the two outer fenders will get installed. I have signed up to take the truck to three different car shows (May 17th, 24th, and 31st) here in the North Dallas area.

My oldest son has been in the advertising business for 20 years as an Art Director told me I needed a sign to display along with the truck. He designed it with little input from me and its off being printed now. It will be a 2 foot by 3 foot sandwich board (A-Frame). Here are the two sides that he designed.

Despite never having given any of the nearly 50 cars I've owned in my life a name, this truck is special enough to me that I had to give it a name. The paint is called Jungle Green and the name of the guy who passed away and started this project was Jim, thus "Jungle Jim"

[vintovka]

Nice. My mods hardly fit in 2 3" thick folders!!

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by vintovka

Nice. My mods hardly fit in 2 3" thick folders!!

Trust me, I understand. These were the highlights that can be seen. I too have one 3” binder of receipts and another 3” with all the install instruction sheets. LOL

[vintovka]

Isn't it amazing how the folders grow so fast. Mine dates to May 1967!! I never want to add up all the costs -- too scary!!. Nice display BTW and easy to read!!!

[57tailgater]

I see you have 6 hole slots on your truck. What brand are those?

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by 57tailgater

I see you have 6 hole slots on your truck. What brand are those?

You must be looking at an old photo, here is a side view of the truck now.



They were a mis matched set of American Dragmaster that I sold.

[mr48chev]

Nice for a display for and indoor show but I have never been a fan of show boards at out door events unless the vehicle is one with historical significance that is on special display.

[vintovka]

Some boards are interesting - others not. Think one listing current price/cost of each upgrade with a running total might get some attention!!

[caseyjones]

Love the "shop manual" design, and the collection of parts on the truck is impressive. The police speedometer is awesome!

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by vintovka

Some boards are interesting - others not. Think one listing current price/cost of each upgrade with a running total might get some attention!!

Does that come with gold chains and matching monogramed lawn chairs with the rigs name on it and a crew of three to deliver the vehicle to the show and set it up so the owners can stroll in and hold court?

I think it was in 1988 that I was at Goodguys in Puyallup and had my camp trailer set up out in the parking lot that served as the camp grounds during the show and a couple of guys rolled in with a high dollar tow rig and trailer and parked next to me and rolled out a pretty well known show rod that had been featured in a couple of magazines and began to prep it for the show and told me that they worked for the guy who owned it and their job was to haul it to shows and set it up so he could fly in and play street rodder for the weekend.

My worry with showboards at out door shows just like dining canopies and other accessories is that if the wind catches them and blows them around they usually damage someone else's car I have seen a show board blown into the car next to it in a gust of wind. I've seen canopies picked up by the wind and blown 50 feet and land on someone elses car. I take a beach umbrella and if we aren't actually sitting under it BEHIND the truck or off out of the way we fold it down and secure it so it won't blow around.

From a guy who takes thousands of car show photos every year a bit of advice if you want people to want to take photos of your vehicle.

1. do not set your lawn chairs in front of it and block the view of the front of the rig.

2. just as important do not have trash or clutter around the vehicle, keep you AO clean and picked up.

3. do not let family members camp/lay on blankets or what not around the vehicle, I don't care if you have the most world famous truck in the world if someone is laying on a blanket next to it I will not take photos of it.

4 If someone is sleeping in the car or your kid or grandkid is playing in it I won't take photos of it. On the other hand if you are standing there letting a child sit in the seat of the truck and I know you are the owner I will take a photo and add the comment that the owner let the child sit in the truck.

Another reason for not taking photos with showboards in them and not posting photos of the event sticker with the owner's name on them is that I don't want some clown contacting you out of the blue asking if your truck is for sale because he got the info from one of my photos.

Probably the best thing a show board does at an outdoor show is impress the judges and help you get a dust collector that your wife may or may not let you set on the mantle.

[vintovka]

Anyone every have a large screen laptop with a frame by frame video of the build from start to finish?? Many folks would rather watch a screen than read.

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by vintovka

Anyone every have a large screen laptop with a frame by frame video of the build from start to finish?? Many folks would rather watch a screen than read.

I've been at it for three years, it would be a very long photo slideshow. LOL

[Rickysnickers]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

Does that come with gold chains and matching monogramed lawn chairs with the rigs name on it and a crew of three to deliver the vehicle to the show and set it up so the owners can stroll in and hold court?

I think it was in 1988 that I was at Goodguys in Puyallup and had my camp trailer set up out in the parking lot that served as the camp grounds during the show and a couple of guys rolled in with a high dollar tow rig and trailer and parked next to me and rolled out a pretty well known show rod that had been featured in a couple of magazines and began to prep it for the show and told me that they worked for the guy who owned it and their job was to haul it to shows and set it up so he could fly in and play street rodder for the weekend.

My worry with showboards at out door shows just like dining canopies and other accessories is that if the wind catches them and blows them around they usually damage someone else's car I have seen a show board blown into the car next to it in a gust of wind. I've seen canopies picked up by the wind and blown 50 feet and land on someone elses car. I take a beach umbrella and if we aren't actually sitting under it BEHIND the truck or off out of the way we fold it down and secure it so it won't blow around.

From a guy who takes thousands of car show photos every year a bit of advice if you want people to want to take photos of your vehicle.

1. do not set your lawn chairs in front of it and block the view of the front of the rig.

2. just as important do not have trash or clutter around the vehicle, keep you AO clean and picked up.

3. do not let family members camp/lay on blankets or what not around the vehicle, I don't care if you have the most world famous truck in the world if someone is laying on a blanket next to it I will not take photos of it.

4 If someone is sleeping in the car or your kid or grandkid is playing in it I won't take photos of it. On the other hand if you are standing there letting a child sit in the seat of the truck and I know you are the owner I will take a photo and add the comment that the owner let the child sit in the truck.

Another reason for not taking photos with showboards in them and not posting photos of the event sticker with the owner's name on them is that I don't want some clown contacting you out of the blue asking if your truck is for sale because he got the info from one of my photos.

Probably the best thing a show board does at an outdoor show is impress the judges and help you get a dust collector that your wife may or may not let you set on the mantle.

mr48, remember the whole smackdown thing? You are skirting that with the first sentence in your reply . Let's keep that type of commentary to ourselves.

[Second Series]

That is a nice menu of items for you to display. I had thought about something similar. I like it when there is some info about a vehicle I'm interested in looking at. I suppose I'm getting ready for a car show too, a Spring Opener next week. It's first come first serve though, so no registering in advance. I’ve been driving my truck for a year and finally feel comfortable enough to drive it to a show it although it is not finished. Yesterday I installed the glovebox and I might put the speaker/ashtray panel in place to cover up the empty dash. I have to give credit to you for committing to a car show with your truck still in pieces and not much road time to sus out the bugs, Kudos.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

mr48, remember the whole smackdown thing? You are skirting that with the first sentence in your reply . Let's keep that type of commentary to ourselves.

1`````


`That had nothing to do with TX3100guys show board that I think is a beautiful piece of work that tells judges and those interested the story of the truck. The value at outdoor shows is letting folks that it isn't just another restored Forester Green AD truck but that it has a lot of really cool stuff up it's sleeve. That's worth packing along a couple of sandbags and string to keep the boards from blowing away to let folks know that hey dude, there is more to look at here than just another restored truck. That also gets a lot more photos of it taken rather than the one or two most stock restored trucks get. .


The Gold chain thing was because of the individuals who place so much emphasis on what money is spent and what their rig is worth at resale rather than what actual enjoyment they get from it. in the early 2000s I completely bailed from the car/truck scene and bought a 21 foot sailboat and went off cruising on Puget sound with a group of boat friends who had boats of all sizes and values but the one redeaming thing about the folks in that group was that it didn't matter to them if you had a little 21 footer you paid 252 dollars for off Ebay or you had a 500K boat your friendship was what was valued.

One main reason I bailed out was all the individuals who would walk up and ask "what's it worth"? rather than ask details about the truck. I don't care if you have a 1000 dollar truck or a 200K truck as long as it is safely built so that it isn't a hazard to others. If it doesn't have a for sale sign on it no one should be worried about it's value or what was spent on it.

Truth be if it weren't for the guys on here who don't care how much you spend on your truck as long as you build a safe to drive truck and the guys on the HAMB that reminded me that I didn't constantly have to be making changes every season to keep my truck "up to date with the trends" I probably would not be into old rigs at all now. Part of that burn out was the constant thing of being blasted with the concept that you had to have the newest and most trick item on your hot rod or truck or it just wasn't cool.

I found out that I didn't need to upgrade my wheels every year to keep up or do a lot of other things to keep up, I just need to build a nice safe an fun truck to go have fun with and hopefully have others admire.

[nvrdone]

I understand how some people go overboard with their displays. Personally I like the vehicles that you can tell are driven & enjoyed. Rocks in the tire tread, small paint chips etc.
As far as a description of the vehicle and what went into it, I like a sheet similar to a dealer invoice. I printed up a poster that I hang in the side window or the windshield on my truck.
The nice thing is it's easy to update as I do work. Also, I don't have my name or where I live on it.
Just my personal thoughts.

[vintovka]

I think what the OP has will be fine. Most folks always ask basic questions like year, model and engine. The sandwich board sign answers these and more.

[67swb72klb]

Cool truck along with the board I think will be a hit with the people that have interest in that era of the truck.
Great job

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by nvrdone

I understand how some people go overboard with their displays. Personally I like the vehicles that you can tell are driven & enjoyed. Rocks in the tire tread, small paint chips etc.
As far as a description of the vehicle and what went into it, I like a sheet similar to a dealer invoice. I printed up a poster that I hang in the side window or the windshield on my truck.
The nice thing is it's easy to update as I do work. Also, I don't have my name or where I live on it.
Just my personal thoughts.

As you see the same cars and trucks that I do, there are a few people around our area who feel that they have to set up a display to draw attention to the car. One really doesn't need to drag an old drive in theater speaker stand and car hop days window stand and fake burger and fries to out door car shows. Same as the clown with the open headers on his car firing up the car every half hour on the half hour and gunning the engine four or five times and shutting it off to draw a group of mouth breathers over to an otherwise nice but rather ordinary car because he thinks it isn't getting enough attention.

In the past I have seen small engraved tags attached to the panel in front of the radiator that the latch fastens to with the info on the engine and trans on it. Simple and discrete but it tells those interested in things what it has for and engine and trans.

Still the more I think of it those showboards work for TX3100Guy's truck that while one of the nicest trucks around might be passed by by some as just another nice restored truck rather than a truck with some real tricks going on. Sometimes you have to promote your best features.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by caseyjones

Love the "shop manual" design, and the collection of parts on the truck is impressive. The police speedometer is awesome!

Me too. The style, font and color choice are outstanding IMHO.

K

[TX3100Guy]

A few little bugs (and oil drips) to resolve before I bolt on the fenders and grill.

First time out of shop in three years

First time on public streets

Return home to fix all the bugs and final drips

[dsraven]

hopefully small stuff for drips etc. gotta feel good to drive it after the whole schlamoz

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by dsraven

hopefully small stuff for drips etc. gotta feel good to drive it after the whole schlamoz

It feels amazing. Fenders bolted in place after the test drive (with the assist from my son). Grille goes on tomorrow, final shakedown over the rest of this week.

[hogfarm]

My truck took me years to build, it's not to bad. But I have never received a trophy, been to a lot of shows. I just go for the fun ,not a trophy

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by hogfarm

My truck took me years to build, it's not to bad. But I have never received a trophy, been to a lot of shows. I just go for the fun ,not a trophy

Couldn't agree more. I'm a car guy and like being around other car guys and their cars/trucks. If the truck ever wins anything, it'll just go up on a shelf in the shop, but I have seen much nicer trucks at the shows I go to. The difference is, most if not all, of those trucks have $30,000 paints jobs done by somebody else, along with fancy chrome doo dads that the owner had someone else install.

I have touched nearly every nut and bolt on this truck. While I spent more than I originally expected to, it wasn't to have someone else install the part. Other than the cost of the engine rebuild(s) I've done all the work. The truck bed was in primer when I acquired the truck, but I traded a four-speed Jaguar XKE transmission to a friend to paint the bed for me with paint that was in the truck bed when I bought it.

The part that I am most proud of, is the fact that in the three years I've owned it, I have put over 2,000 hours of "free" labor in this project and have loved every minute of it, even the times I used every bad word known to modern man.