And the Winner Is.....

We are! 1st place in Trailered Custom '57! Wow. We felt we had the best car in the class, but you never know how the judges are going to see it. We were up against the winner of the class from many past years, a full custom chassis '57 convertible, another gorgeous '57 convertible and many other super-nice cars.

The one surprise was that we didn't get best paint. But that's OK, the car that got it was a mega-sweet '55 Nomad. It had orange peel in the top coat. You won't find that on Dad's car.

Dad seemed very pleased, as he should be. This was no small-town show and the competition was very tough. Our paint and body guys were at the show as well. I could tell they were very proud of their work and the results from the show.

After nine years, three body shops and countless hours, its beyond cool to win this show!

I'll post up some pictures in the coming days.

Another Update From Pigeon Forge

The skies started out dark today with some sprinkles, but that gave way to sun and humidity. That's OK, we had plenty of time to prep the car for judging once the weather dried up.

I spent a good portion of the morning under the car, giving it a good going over. Sure is nice to be under a car and not come out greasy! Foreign territory. LOL

Judging seemed to go well, best I can tell. From what I overheard, I think we've got a good chance at a nice award. But we'll see in the morning.

It was also another day full of extremely positive comments from the spectators and fellow show car owners. Its really fun to stand back and listen to what people have to say.

Angella took tons of pictures, so we'll have a lot to share. Some of you have asked for interior shots, so we have those now. She got some cool reflection shots as well.

Tonight is all about go-carts! Let the battles begin!

More to come after awards in the morning.

Rain

Rain has set in for the evening, so the car is all tucked away. Hopefully the rain will clear out before morning. Not sure what they'll do about judging if its still pouring tomorrow.

But all was not lost for the evening...we had a nice dinner at the Peddler in Gatlinburg. Yum.

We've made it to Pigeon Forge

One blown tire on the trailer and 3 hours of engine work on the truck and we finally made it. So the 4 hour drive turned into around 8 :-( At least I had 4 spare tires for the trailer and we were able to limp the truck to the next exit and find a parts store. It was missing like crazy and detonating badly under a load. I couldn't find a dead cylinder or any valvetrain problems, so we put in new plugs. That helped a little, but didn't cure it. So next was new wires. Better again, but still missing badly. Finally, a new cap and rotor did the trick. Doesn't sound like any big deal, but working on a hot engine, while having to squat on top of the motor isn't fun. That distributor cap was tough to get at.

We've got the car at the show and done our first round of cleaning. Still more to do before judging tomorrow, but the bulk of its done.

I think we've got a good shot at some award. Not sure what, but I think we've got the best paint of the show. Other cars might be a little better on the under side and our interior is all stock (got put in the custom class, which I think is a bad call).

The response from other show car owners has been extremely positive. So that's worth a ton right there.

Check back later for more news from the Smokey Mountain Round-Up.

Getting Ready for the First Big Show

The time is almost here to take Dad's '57 to the Smokey Mountain '55, '56, '57 Chevy Show in Pigeon Forge, TN. Its next weekend as a matter of fact.

We've been doing little items to the car to get it ready. Little paint touch-ups on the undercarriage, lots of cleaning under there, a couple custom items that I've made to give it a little flair, addressing a few exhaust leaks, etc. Nothing major, but all time consuming. Luckily we've still got the help of the Jackson brothers (our paint guys), who will be attending the show with us.

I'm off to NC the first part of this week. I'll be driving the Firehawk and enjoying seat time in it. Fun car. Needs a bigger rearend so that I can really thrash it at the track :-)

Dad's '57 Makes Its Debut

Last Saturday saw our 9-year '57 Chevy project see the light of day. We took Dad's car to the first Somernites Cruise of '09 in Somerset, KY. The response to the car was unbelievable. The cruise attendees were incredibly complimentary and the Somernites Cruise team saw fit to park us right on the town square, in the middle of the action. That's a big compliment in itself.

The car behaved itself wonderfully. No leaks, ran cool, started quickly, drove smoothly, etc. So that was a nice bon

In two weeks, we'll take the car to the Smokey Mountain '55, '56, '57 show in Pigeon Forge, TN. We feel the car will show very well, but we'll have fun even if we don't bring home any awards. This car was built to cruise after all.

Hope you enjoy these pictures and a short video of it driving away.