Above 1200 Sq/FT The Warthog Hidey Hole

[mybigwarwagon]

I thought he took the cobra oh well good looking car

 

[shortykorte]

JB

I wouldn’t waste my time asking law enforcement. (No offense) After numerous years as a firearms dealers, I was amazed that none of the Florida cops knew what the actual law was considering carrying in your vehicle. I’d assume they wouldn’t know how many bolts. For the hitch, I imagine bailing wire is fine as long as you are willing to accept both the civil and criminal liability if an accident occurs.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jbmatth]

My network of spys has caught him in the act in NC

Haha....not JB!

I follow the Power Tour updates looking for a picture his truck. So far he has not been spotted by me.

I thought he took the cobra oh well good looking car

War Wagon, Outlaw, and RealVC,
Thank you for trying to follow along with my adventures but Outlaw is correct, that is not my Cobra. I met the owner and talked to him, great guy and really weld built car. One big giveaway is the roll bar, mine only has the single drivers side hoop.

JB

I wouldn’t waste my time asking law enforcement. (No offense) After numerous years as a firearms dealers, I was amazed that none of the Florida cops knew what the actual law was considering carrying in your vehicle. I’d assume they wouldn’t know how many bolts. For the hitch, I imagine bailing wire is fine as long as you are willing to accept both the civil and criminal liability if an accident occurs.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Shorty,
I know what you mean, most officers know the majority of the laws they encounter but when getting down the the nitty gritty details it is very hit or miss. I had everything ready to use if needed but never had to pull anything with it. I will most likely add some more supports to it while I work on everything over winter and will just use it for moving my trailer around the yard in the mean time.

All,
Obviously I made it back and never had to work on my truck during the tour. I did keep an eye on fluids and temps as there is no better test outside of racing for testing your cooling system than sitting in idling traffic for an hour on asphalt with hundreds of other vehicles putting out tons of heat around you. I'll do a full recap soon but really need to try to catch up on everything for now. Here is one photo of part of our group just to hold you over in the mean time:

JB

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Glad you made the trip safely, looking forward to the recap!

 

[oldironfarmer]

Glad you're back!!

But "Obviously I didn't have any trouble" was a funny statement!

 

[jbmatth]

Glad you made the trip safely, looking forward to the recap!

Thank you Outlaw, I sure hope not to disappoint, I did take a few too many photos and can't share them all but I may as well try.

Glad you're back!!

But "Obviously I didn't have any trouble" was a funny statement!

Thank you Andy,
You are correct, I should have said obviously I didn't have any insurmountable trouble.

JB

 

[dchance]

Great to see you back. It appears that it helps to take an engine and transmission with you so that you do not have trouble. ( I know, it was only part way) How many tools did you take that was not needed?

Looks like a great trip.

Dwight

 

[jbmatth]

Dwight,
The only tool I needed for my vehicle was a roll of paper towels even though I could have used my shirt if needed. I did loan out a few small things but needed wiring stuff more than anything, a 30 amp inline fuse, and a small assortment of connectors. I could have packed 1/2 of that but then would have needed it and didn't have it.

Hopefully that engine and trans will be put to good use, I doubted I'd ever use them so rather sell cheap to a friend than as scrap. (I wouldn't have ever done that, but my children may have.)

JB

 

[jbmatth]

Brief recap, I left Thursday the 7th, made it to my parents house late that night, picked up a motorcycle (photos coming later), dropped it back off, went on to Bowling Green, Ky. on the 8th for two nights. Then the stops were Chattanooga, Tn., Hoover, Al., Atlanta Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway in S.C., Raleigh, N.C., and then finely zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C. All told I traveled 3,433 miles (~5,500 Km) but 1,200 miles (~1,900 Km) of that was in the last 26 hours away only stopping for 6 hours to visit my parents and attempt to pick up the bike. I'll tell more of the story as I load photos.

I don't really have a great way to share most of the photos I have so I'll just dump them here as attachments and make comments as needed.

First up are engine shots that didn't really fit in other photo groups:

This is a small block chevy being fed by not only a supercharger but also 8 small turbochargers. They are little Kubota chargers that pull air either from the scoop or the air filters, then to an inter-cooler, then into the supercharger. It sounded wicked but I didn't really get to talk to the owners at all.

Lastly my engine with the finishers plaque.

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

Here is the first of two post of famous cars I was lucky enough to see along the way:

This is one of the members of our group helping a Hot Rod staffer roll up the window on Project X of Hot Rod Magazine fame, it was been featured for 40? years and has been in a movie or two along with many online videos.

The General Lee most famous by The Dukes of Hazard, this example is owned by Robert Kibbe who runs The Muscle Car Place website and podcast as well as the Kibbe and Finnegan Show where they review episode by episode of The Dukes of Hazard.

Mike Finnegan's Charger (He is one of the stars of Roadkill a YouTube show that if you haven't seen is worth a watch.)

Also Mikes Blasphemi (I think a 526 CID Hemi with a supercharger and a manual trans, I believe it ran 9's last year before blowing the engine.)

One of Richard Petty's Nascars:

Lee Petty's race car these were all seen at The Petty Garage along with many other examples I'll share shortly:

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

Here are more of Petty's cars and not seen but in the back of the line is Cole Trickle's car from Day's of Thunder staring Tom Cruise

Here is DatZen owned by Emily Williams who now has a show deal with her husband on one of the Discovery Channels:

More to come, but that'll have to wait for another day,
JB

 

[mybigwarwagon]

War Wagon, Outlaw, and RealVC,
Thank you for trying to follow along with my adventures but Outlaw is correct, that is not my Cobra. I met the owner and talked to him, great guy and really weld built car. One big giveaway is the roll bar, mine only has the single drivers side hoop.





JB

I took my spy out and spanked her for misinformation

 

[rmalkow2]

Great pics and looks like it was a good trip.

 

[oldironfarmer]

I took my spy out and spanked her for misinformation

You're getting too old for that. Call me next time, I'll help.

Great trip JB!

 

[BUGTHUG]

You're getting too old for that. Call me next time, I'll help.

Great trip JB!

now were getting the party started

 

[jbmatth]

Great pics and looks like it was a good trip.

rmalkow2,
All in all it was a great trip, I learned a few things about my truck, met some great people, and of course saw some amazing cars.

I took my spy out and spanked her for misinformation

You're getting too old for that. Call me next time, I'll help.

Great trip JB!

now were getting the party started

Wow,
I go away for a few hours and y'all start a party without me. Just let me know when and where, I'll bring the chips and dip.

JB

 

[jbmatth]

Also along the way I was lucky to meet a few famous people at least famous if you are into the car/hot rod hobby:

I showed you a couple photos of his cars earlier but I did get to meet Mike Finnegan and have an autographed shirt to boot:

While visiting Petty's Garage I'd hoped to get to meet him but never heard he was even there. So this will have to do, I didn't realize he was so tall.

Also while there I ran into Rutledge Wood probably most famous for being one of the three stars on American Top Gear:

However, the most famous person of all and one of the two closest to my heart is this little beauty:

While I was gone she kept telling me she wanted to go for a ride in my cobra when I returned so that is just what we did.

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

I'll start getting into some of our vehicles now, we ended up with I think 10 vehicles that tried to coordinate as best we could. The long distance award goes to this car:

He and his girl friend traveled from Saskatchewan in the Factory Five coupe he built. It was a nice and nasty car, it has a 6.0L LS engine with a good assortment of trick parts backed by a 4L70E auto trans with slap a shifter. He had trans issues while coming through Montana and had to have a new one delivered over night to still make the start of the tour. I think they will travel about 6,000 miles total by the time they make it home. I didn't mention earlier but they made the entire trip pulling a small camper with AC and camped every night, they built it themselves also. Oh and he wasn't affraid to drive it hard either:

This gentleman came from around the Tulsa Oklahoma area and drove his Ram Air Firebird, the AC worked great until the last couple of days when the blower fan stopped working, I narrowed it down to that but he didn't want to have me pull the fender to replace it. I wasn't complaining too much

He also has a cool license plate:

Next up was a couple we met last year from West Virginia, they are great people and drove their old wagon, nothing special and just has a worn out small block:

Interestingly he has a few really nice completed cars but says they don't get nearly the attention the wagon does. He mentioned it has been in Hot Rod magazine or on the website 8 times before this year. I rarely ever see him with the hood up unless he is checking oil level:

Next up is a repeat from last year, he and his wife made the trip from western Missouri in the beautiful '57 Chevy Nomad Belair he restored:

It is powered by a 5.3L LS engine and has AC, he has never had issues with his car as you'd expect from someone who owns his own hot rod shop.

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

Here is another shot of his Nomad with the tear drop he built and finished minutes before his wife finished packing it for their trip:

This '57 Chevy truck was driven by the same guy who fixed the glass on Project X earlier, last year he drove his '66 Chevelle and was persuaded to trade it for this truck. He also built his camper just for this trip, also with AC:

Of our group his would have to be my favorite barely necking out the Coupe:

Next up was "Frank" as the driver of the Nomad called him last year when he joined up with us. It was a couple of days later we learned that wasn't his name. He drove solo in his '55 Chevy he rebuilt from western Missouri, he is a hot rod as well as his car, it is powered by a 383 Chevy and will lay some rubber:

He is retired from the Air Force and was a Vietnam Vet, a truly great person that would do anything for anyone:

Last up is our pace car, driven by my brother's in-laws from around the Tulsa Oklahoma area. '65 Mustang with a 289, and this year was their best yet for over heating thanks to some work they did over winter. The co-pilot is our fearless navigator and does an excelant job of keeping us in order, following the route, and not letting us get too lost:

They are the reason I started doing the tour 2 years ago and we have now completed 3 in a row. I refer to them as my road parents, but my road mom has a special place in all of our hearts:

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

I didn't get photos of one of the newer cars a Cadillac CTS, it wasn't really anything too special, it was a V6 car with some interesting badging but it was his plan B car because his 'Vette decided last minute not to make the trip.

There were also a couple of cars that dropped out early because the riders weren't really prepared for the heat so they left on day 2.

That brings me to my truck, I can't complain about it, nothing really broke, it was comfortable, stayed cool, and the AC worked flawlessly:

Here are a couple of cool shots my co-pilot and group photographer got for me:

I picked him up in Birmingham, Al. he was on orders from the Air Force until the previous day, flew down and joined for the rest of the trip. He is our photographer as I mentioned, designated medic if the need occurs, and comedic relief. Sadly he isn't much of a wrench but will have a cold beer when needed.

The morning we left Darlington I found something I'd been keeping an eye out for, a set of Corvette wheels and tires. I've discovered it is cheaper to buy a full "used" set than it is to just buy new tires. I needed a set of wheels anyway and these fell into my lap. 45 minutes the wrong direction and $300 later I now have a set of brand new rears and 50% fronts from a C6 Corvette. The rears are .8" (20mm) taller and 2" (50mm) wider:

They will fit perfect with my wider 8.5" 10 bolt axle to bring the tires out flush with the bed sides (I know for certain now but that will come later.)

Also while passing through my parents house I picked up a "new" bike:

It even fit in the bed of the truck with everything else. Sadly it ended up being too much weight so I had to take it back out to pick up next week when I head back to my parents house to drop off my girls for Girls Week and Grannie and Pa's house:

 

[jbmatth]

Now for some great group photos my co-pilot shot for us, the first is of us doing some roadside repairs on the '55, a part in the MSD distributor burned out, but like any good serviceman he had the parts on hand and we were on the road in 10 minutes:

Stopping for a coffee break:

These were taken at a mansion in S.C., sadly I didn't get much more info than that but it was built in the late 1800's:

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

This was a nice wake up view from one of the camp sites our campers stayed at in N.C.:

Even getting lost can be a quick photo op (This was the only time I noticed we were actually not on the right route thanks to the navigator.):

The wagons in our group met at Talladega for a photo op:

Be it gas or groceries every stop become a car show:

More to come,
JB

 

[jimgood]

Nice! Never thought I'd see a Factory Five '33 pulling a trailer.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Wow, what a trip! That Factory 5 is awesome. I'd like to do one of their new pickups. That red TF pickup is sharp with the big back window.

 

[oldironfarmer]

The gall of some people. Notice the coffee mug sitting on the hood of the classic station wagon?

That mansion looks more like late 1700's, antebellum at least.

 

[jbmatth]

Now just some random cars I saw along the way, these are all my photos I believe, if you couldn't tell many of the previous ones were not taken by me.

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

A few more:

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

I was surprised by this truck at a fuel stop, the interior was really well done:

Still more to come,
JB

 

[oldironfarmer]

Oh man! I saw a cabover Ford and Willys pickup! I need to get busy...

 

[jbmatth]

I think one more will do it,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

Okay last set of photos:

Well there you go, a sample of some of the photos from the trip this year.

Now for the bad news, remember when I said I didn't break anything, well that is correct, but I didn't escape unscathed. I discovered the transmission is starting to not like me. I'm getting funny looking and smelling trans fluid and it is getting harder and harder to accelerate from 35-55mph (that is the 2nd into 3rd gear range). That means I'm looking into a rebuild of the trans and some extra parts while I'm in there. It works for now so I'm just going to keep driving it carefully but rarely until I can build up some coin for the needed repairs/upgrades.

Thank you,

JB

 

[jbmatth]

Nice! Never thought I'd see a Factory Five '33 pulling a trailer.

And he pulled it with ease, the only issue he had after the trans issue was fuel boiling, the external pump was getting extremely hot and flashing the fuel before it made it to the injectors

Wow, what a trip! That Factory 5 is awesome. I'd like to do one of their new pickups. That red TF pickup is sharp with the big back window.

Outlaw,
I had a great time and almost felt bad that by the end of the week even the coolest car could barely get my attention. Back to reality now and even a charger with flashing red and blues will get me to pull over and stare.

The gall of some people. Notice the coffee mug sitting on the hood of the classic station wagon?

That mansion looks more like late 1700's, antebellum at least.

Andy,
I know right, I'm sure the owner would have been upset if it weren't his.

I dug into it a bit and was able to find this information LINK, here is a quick excerpt:
Historic, Antebellum home (1845) which is located in the Plaza Historic District, Eatonton Ga. It is located along the Antebellum Trail tourism area of Georgia.

Oh man! I saw a cabover Ford and Willys pickup! I need to get busy...

Interesting how I was able to sneak those in there.

 

[rmalkow2]

Just WOW!! Some very cool rides. I think I need to put the power tour on the old bucket list.
It looks like a really fun time.

 

[1/2 Cup]

JB that's just awesome.

Thank you for sharing

 

[BUGTHUG]

what do you mean "too much weight", it fits in the bed don't it?

this is reference to the motorcycle and tires you had loaded

On the mansion, I'm surprised its still standing. They made a movie called "Gone with the wind", and they did some burning on that show

 

[jbmatth]

Just WOW!! Some very cool rides. I think I need to put the power tour on the old bucket list.
It looks like a really fun time.

rmalkow2,
That is just a taste of what you will see, there were many more cool rides I didn't get a shot of and some that were there one day and gone the next. Hot Rod hasn't released the stops for next year yet but I wouldn't be surprised if they came up your direction again in 2019.

JB that's just awesome.

Thank you for sharing

Not a problem 1/2, I just wish I could have seen more and talked to more people that built them. Some truly inspirational stories as well as lots of blood, sweat, and tears.

what do you mean "too much weight", it fits in the bed don't it?

this is reference to the motorcycle and tires you had loaded

On the mansion, I'm surprised its still standing. They made a movie called "Gone with the wind", and they did some burning on that show

Herb,
It did fit but I was already on the bump stops before we even got in the truck. I'm going back this weekend anyway so no real reason I had to bring it home then.

I don't remember much of anything about the movie, I wasn't very old when it came out in 1939. I looked at some of the interior photos of the home and it is very nice! As it should be after a several hundred thousand dollar renovation.

JB

 

[mefast]

Looks like an awesome time JB and thanks for the photos. Some really cool rides there. Also glad to hear nothing major slowed you down, at least so far.

 

[oldironfarmer]

Sherman's march to the sea through central Georgia decimated a wide swath of Georgia, ten miles width of destruction probably. When you think about it, that is a very narrow corridor (although it was three or four separate paths by different units) so there was lots of Georgia even untouched. Lot's of the Confederacy survived the war pretty much untouched.

 

[jbmatth]

Looks like an awesome time JB and thanks for the photos. Some really cool rides there. Also glad to hear nothing major slowed you down, at least so far.

It was a good time mefast, I plan to do it again but am unsure in what vehicle it'll be in at this point. Everything I have could use some work or upgrading at the very least. Well not the Green Dragon, I'll only fix stuff on it when absolutely necessary.

Sherman's march to the sea through central Georgia decimated a wide swath of Georgia, ten miles width of destruction probably. When you think about it, that is a very narrow corridor (although it was three or four separate paths by different units) so there was lots of Georgia even untouched. Lot's of the Confederacy survived the war pretty much untouched.

Interesting info on the March to the Sea, I'll try to do some more reading on it when I get a chance. I was talking with Alex (Co-Pilot) about the wars that had taken place there and assuming the terrain hadn't change much there are places where there isn't much cover and others where you couldn't find your nose on your face it was so thick.

JB

 

[jon72vega]

JB,
Looks like you had a great time!