A weekend of cars, cars, cars!

Drag cars on Saturday – Show cars on Sunday

The weekend was very busy!

Saturday

Saturday was a guy day out at Billetproof / Detroit Dragway Reunion. Steve, Liam and I loaded up the HHR and headed down to Milan Dragway. The spectator side was the Billetproof rat-rod show and then the pit side got you into the nostalgia dragsters of the Detroit Dragway Reunion.

Lots of drag racing was on hand and the pits seemed to go on forever. But wandering the pits got you up close and personal with all sorts of nostalgia race cars. And there were tons of the regular drag cars too. Between sitting in the stands and watching the drag racing action and strolling through the pits it was a full day.

And I want to acknowledge the guys with Great Lakes Gassers! The whole bunch of them were awesome. They were very cordial and were willing to show off their rides. They made sure Liam got an up close and personal look at the cars and let him try them on for size. They showed him the inner workings of the cockpits and what does what. Great job guys!

Sunday

Sunday was a great day for a car show! A clear sunny day and a temp around 90. This one was the SAAC – MCR All Ford Show. This annual show had an added attraction this year with the addition of the 50th Anniversity Celebration of the Cougar. Take a big Ford show and throw in about 300 Cougars from across the country and you have a winner. I made sure to stock up on water for the grueling sunny day ahead. I got there early to get situated before the placed packed up so I setup and started my stay by heading for the swap meet area. The rest of the day was spent browsing up and down the rows looking for cars and features. I found plenty of both.

So today is a day of recovery. Unfortunately it’s 90 out today. kind of a duplicate of yesterday. So I will hide in the AC till it cools down this afternoon. Gonna do some steaks once it cools down. Gotta eat, right!? See ya!

It’s Cruisin Time! Scarecrow Style!

Time for getting the cars ready for the new cruise season is upon us!

And some of us can’t wait for the fun to begin

And while I do a lot of the prep work it appears that the fever has hit my furry buddies too! After a day of cleaning and tuning my watchful buddy, Scarecrow, made it very clear that it was all good and that we needed to hit the streets!

It appears that while he may not be able to reach the pedals Scarecrow definitely has the window hang down solid! So the best I can say is “I’ll go grab the keys! We are heading out to cruise!”

Enjoy!

More Things To Do This Year!

I have updated my Bob’s Garage Calendars with a bunch of new events!

There are lots of stuff going on throughout the summer cruise months. So feel free to browse through and see what catches your eye! I am already making my check marks on the ones I want to attend. Maybe I will see you there!

Bob’s Garage site

So … take a look!  Thanx!

A day out at the Clinton Township Gratiot Cruise

Clinton Township Gratiot Cruise

Telegraph 2016

The last cruise before the silliness of the Woodward Dream Cruise turned out to be a great day! The weather was nice, clear and cool, perfect for a cruise. And Gratiot from 14 mile to 17 Mile was covered with cruisers and spectators starting att 9 AM. I headed out about 9ish and after stopping at the party store for some ice and then a stop for a fill-up on fuel I was on my way. Once I got to Gratiot I made  a quick circuit of the route. On my way back south I spotted some of my cruise buddies just south of 15 Mile. I was able to park with the group and “set up camp”.

From there it was an afternoon of catching up on all the latest stuff from all of us. The traffic grew as the day progressed and after it’s official kick-off  at 11 AM it was one big cruise party. I took time to make a circuit and along the way stopped for a lunch break at Kerby’s Coney Island for coneys and fries. what else?! Then it was back out on Gratiot for the remainder of the circuit and then back to our group. It was a super day out hanging with the guys and the cars.

Woodward Dream Cruise week unofficially starts on Sunday, Aug 13. And ends with the big event on Saturday Aug 20.

A day out on Telegraph

I spent Saturday afternoon july 27  Cruisin the Graph!

It was a great day. A bit warm but still a great day. After a bit of cruising from Ford Road down to Northline and back I decided to hunt for a place to park. I ended up just south of the Ecorse Road over pass in the parking lot with a bunch of other cruisers. After taking some time to set up my canopy, chairs and coolers I went ahead and cranked up the stereo and settled in for a nice afternoon of cruise time. It turned out to be a great day out.

I took a break and took a walk over to a diner that was close by. And I had a killer Reuben sandwich and meal. A large glass of ice tea and it was nice. I love local cafes!

Telegraph 2016

Telegraph 2016

Telegraph 2016

Another cruise down and the Dream Cruise is quickly upon us! August 20! See ya there!

The “Roseville Cruise” is NOT a Cruise! It’s a car show!

Roseville Mi! What a bunch of tools! We will know better and not show up next year!

Here is where I find that the city of Roseville was a bunch of amateur cruise wanna be’s. They changed up the format with some poor communications and stealth advertising. I find this a perfect reason not to go there and the “free cruise” label was totally misleading. And then , to top it off, when cruisers did show up they, the Roseville Police Department, took advantage of the misinformation and were passing out $300 to those who chose to cruise Gratiot. What a bunch of asshats! But I guess you have to get your revenue enhancements somehow, Right!?

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Roseville’s Classics on Gratiot not a cruise

Roseville’s annual classic car event Saturday will not include any cruise whatsoever and instead will feature stationary car shows. The Roseville Heritage Foundation’s Classics on Gratiot from noon to 8 p.m. will have 25 locations along a four-mile stretch between 10 Mile and 14 Mile after the foundation decided not to hold a cruise because of poor turnout and high expenses for extra police and safety personnel in previous years. Detroit News – June 10

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Well, they kinda told ya but not really well!

After more than  a few years of not being able to get it right the city of Roseville, MI decided to have a “Cruise In” rather than a “Cruise”

Along the way they just kinda forgot to tell the major media that it was no longer a cruise but a car show with 25 locations in Roseville. The Roseville Gratiot Cruise page is still up on Facebook but hasn’t had any activity since March 3rd.

However, on April 4 the press release on Roseville Heritage Cruise site still touted the event as a car cruise. No mention of a car “show”

Roseville’s Gratiot Cruise will start off the cruise calendar

But it was immediately followed on the same day by this release –

For Immediate Release We’re Going Old School!

“We are excited to inform you of some changes in this year’s cruise event. The title of the 2016 event will be “Classics on Gratiot” hosted by the Roseville Heritage Foundation. Various participating events will be happening along Gratiot Ave between 10 Mile Rd & 14 Mile Rd. This will include several car shows, entertainment and venders. As it was many years ago, Gratiot Ave will have a good old fashion “Cruise In” (Open Cruise). Car enthusiasts will be able to show off the pride and joy of those beautiful classics, Hot Rods, and Customs as they “Cruise In” at various locations.”

On the Roseville Heritage Cruise site for May 5 they put up a small entry with a new poster

On June 10 the Macomb Daily posted

“Classics on Gratiot is the revised name for the Roseville Gratiot Cruise, but no cruising will be allowed. Instead, organizers have arranged a series of static car shows at bars, restaurants and shops featuring vintage vehicles, live entertainment and related events along Gratiot between 10 Mile to 14 Mile roads. Hours are noon to 8 p.m.  Macomb Daily

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Consider us totally informed now and the City of Roseville has given itself a black eye so that those that didn’t want to go there before just got a taste of why they don’t want to go there again. I know I won’t!

A day out at Sins of Steel

Sins of Steel

My son and I spent Saturday out wandering through at a premier rat rod show. Sins of Steel was once again at the 4H Fairgrounds in Davisburg, Mi just north of Detroit.It was a great gathering of rat rods, rat bikes and parts vendors. It was a way cool day out with my son. And a great prelude to this coming weekends all guy outing to Billerproof / Detroit Dragway Reunion.

I took some pics and they can be found on Flickr. Check them out.

Sins of Steel 2016 Flickr Album

A weekend out Swap Meeting

Two big swaps in one weekend

The Fowlerville Swap and Bearing Burners

Fowlerville

I went out to the Fowlerville swap with a friend on Saturday.  The weather was cool, overcast but dry. After picking him up we made the 40 mile run out to the Fowlerville Fairgrounds. This is a 3 day event sponsored by the VMCCA. And it is always a good meet. We spent about 4 hours wandering the vendors and found some “neat stuff”. It’s a good thing we took my shop wagon. It gets tough carrying all the goodies around, not including coats and drinks. Especially with two of us.

I found a cool small aluminum tool box, a utility Audiovox audio mount for a tractor or the like and the big prize was a 52/3/4 Ford Coronado kit! This is an unusual and prized item for this year vehicles. While a bit rough it was intact. And a bit of negotiating got it down to a good price. Basically it is a fake continental bump for the trunk lid. It is a piece that you either love or hate. I like it because it is unusual. A bit of cleanup and it is going on.

Coronado kit

BEARING BURNERS

This swap was on Sunday and the weather was cold, overcast and soggy. By soggy I mean no rain just mist all day long. Well I guess that is rain kinda sorta. I went out on my own to that one and it was a quick run out to 21 Mile Road in Shelby Township. The first discovery was that tennis shoes were a bad choice in footwear. They were squishy after only 10 minutes on the grounds. But I persevered on.

I did meet a few friends while I was there including Dana from CruiseNews. And I spent the next couple of hours strolling the aisles looking for stuff. Nothing in particular just neat stuff. I scoredonly a pair of items. A street rod fuse panel and a battery isolator.

That was it. It was a good meet but I didn’t hang around longer than I had to. So I was home by 11ish. And spent the rest of the day indoors warm and dry! All done it was a great weekend out and about!

 

2015 Autorama – Detroit Check out Stampede!

This one makes your mouth water!

Just frickin awesome!

Getting the details on the GM’s “Detailer”

Actually an inside look at a 53 Chevy Suburban “The Detailer”

This years Woodward Dream Cruise was different for me. For a variety of bad reasons I was a spectator. While it was somewhat distressing it did give me more time to explore all week without being with one of my beloved cars. This was one of my discoveries during one of these outings.

Taking a closer look

I have seen this vehicle before at a couple of events and other than a cursory look because it looked cool and neat it was not much more. But on Thursday I happened to see it again on display at 13 and Woodward in the GM Performance display compound. And I began a closer inspection.

After a quick loop around the vehicle the engine and some other basics were obvious. This is one bad ass truck! After looking at the interior I got a bit nosey to see what was between the second seat and the rear tailgate.  It appeared to be an elevated deck with rub strips and a small streetrod style bung marked water. A further peak just inside the tailgate revealed what appeared to be a cabinet face with a flock of 50’s style door handles and a stainless door. Since the lower section of the tailgate was up I couldn’t really tell what all this was. But they peaked my interest.

The secrets are revealed

So being the inquisitive guy I am I corned a pair of the GM Performance guys and asked what all this was. And they were more than gracious to reveal the lower section by lowering the tailgate. It turns out that repurposed door handles were simply drawer pulls for the drawers of detailing supplies. [ Hence the name Detailer ] And the trap door was a garage for a small steam cleaner. The water bung was for an enclosed water tank for use with the steam cleaner that sits on its’ own glides.. And yes it is used to detail the show cars!

Because the tail gate lower section drops down it is a bit awkward to reach this cabinet by leaning into the vehicle. No problemo! A flick of a switch and the complete unit motivates out over the lowered tailgate! Sweet! Another small nifty neato was a lever at the top of the center cutout that when thrown locks all the drawers from sliding when stowed! Way Kool!

Creative solutions

Another cool feature is solving the problem of getting access to the back seat. Being a two door presents an interesting problem. They made a simple solution by using the second row fold and flip seats from an Escalade and repurposed them for both front seats! And subsequently they used the Escalade third seat as the second seat for this vehicle. Killer!

See it for yourself

You can check out a couple of vids to see what I am talking about. Enjoy!