Plan B.  I pulled our ‘64 GTO out of the garage, loaded the trunk with a couple change of clothes and 2:30 am we were rolling north. Once again, I remembered why I wanted to change the 390 gears as 60 mph had the 389 turning over 3,000 rpm.  As the day broke, it revealed a cloudy, cool day that seemed to promise rain, sure was glad I had flushed out the heater core.  The meet was, as I had mentioned, held in Flemmings junk yard, in Egg Harbor Twp. NJ, which was such a natural backdrop for a hot rod meet, I wondered why more shows aren’t done this way.  Of course, it would be hard to duplicate THIS yard!

As you entered the yard a $15 fee was collected and you wound back though the trees, past an old gas station and parked pretty much where you liked.  We were off and running, taking pictures and talking to other participants. The pictures can tell a better story than I ever could, so I’ll let them do the talking. The rain started around 1:30pm and got heavy about 2:00 which started to thin out the crowd and left us diehards to trudge on. The rain didn’t seem to deter the small tractor pulls but really put a hurting on the swap meet. We stayed ‘til what was supposed to be the end (about 4:00), and headed out.

Continues

There was an old roadside attraction in Northwest New Jersey that I used to go to when I was a little kid and we decided to see what was left of it. (See the Roadside Oddities)  We then had to shoot up to Wilkes-Barre, PA to take care of some family business and I stopped by an old friend’s house in NJ to say Hi.  When leaving, for reasons unknown, I did a burnout and soon after, the noise in the rear started, getting louder as we drove.  We made it through the Poconos to Wilkes-Barre and the next morning found Jack Willams Auto Center who had two gearhead mechanics named JJ and Dave. They pulled the cover off the rear and found ... nothing. Pulling the rear wheels revealed a disintergrated axle bearing.  They had one sent in from Scranton and we were back on the road by 3:00 pm. This is one of the reasons that we want you to send in the names of reputable places that will work on old stuff.  We were lucky, I had asked someone who directed us to Jack Williams Tire & Auto Center.

The trip home was uneventful other than meeting a deputy on Rt. 15 in VA who informed me (not too politely) that I had no taillights. Under the dash I found a connection that was loose and taillights were restored.  Mr. Deputy still wasn’t pleased and proceeded to discuss my antique plates.  No paper was issued though, so all’s well that ends well.  Got home around midnight and decided that the 390 gears really need to be changed.  Like the burnout, they seemed like a good idea at the time.

Keep em’ Runnin
Big John