Billetproof Florida The Michiganders amazing tale

We made it home safely, but not without incident. We are missing 2 vehicles....and a wallet.......and a gas cap......and a shock.....and our sanity. But we are all home and safe.

Here is our amazing tale......

We started our adventure in Grand Rapids, MI at 1:00pm on Thursday and were heading south. All was going great with an eta of 8:00am Friday. Well, karma had other plans for our trip. At about 11:00pm Thursday just east of Nashville we noticed the headlights and gauges were getting dim in the 54 Chevy. Since parts would not be available at that time we decided to just keep going and hope for the best. Not a half hour later heading up Mount Eagle the tranny on the dually, hauling 4 bikes and a hot rod in an enclosed trailer, went south. Luckily, we nursed it to the top. We then were forced to stay the night. We decided to just sleep on it and deal with it in the morning. Friday morning at about the time we should have been in Florida we were still trying to come up with a plan to get there. The first order of business was putting an alternator on the 54, so that problem was solved. We decided to just leave the dually and deal with that after the weekend. The next problem was how do you get 8 people, 4 bikes, a hot rod and a 54 Chevy all to Florida. Keep in mind the temperature was 23 degrees, so riding the bikes was not really an option at this point. We came up with a brilliant idea of hauling the enclosed trailer with 3 of the 4 bikes in it with the 54 Chevy. Which meant one bike and the 34 pickup had to be driven to accommodate the 8 people. So down the mountain went the Chevy 5 people deep with the trailer in tow, a bike, and the hot rod seating 2 people. Now, when we say mountain we mean 6% grade for 7 miles. Really it felt like 107 miles. Needless to say the 54 didn't like pulling the trailer down the mountain, we used up every lane available. We made it Chattanooga and peeled my white knuckles off the wheel and decided that idea wasn't a good one. So the next option was that the bikes were going to have to be ridden. By this time it was a whopping 38 degrees, but being from Michigan our guys could handle it. So off we go again with an empty trailer, the bikes, and the hot rod heading South. Unfortunately, 2 of the bikes decided that north was the new south when they got on the highway. The Chevy didn't like the empty trailer any better than the full one, but we had no choice but to keep going. After we sat in rush hour traffic in Atlanta FOREVER we finally made it as far as Jackson, GA where we met up with a suburban that we arranged to pull the trailer the rest on the way. We also had to wait for the directionally challenged idiots that went North. So we were back on the road AGAIN. With no more troubles we finally hit the state line at 10PM Friday night. We missed out on a beautiful day but we were happy to be there. We had a great time at the show and were nicely surprised with the best kustom award. So with the terrible trip there one would think that the trip home would have to go smoothly. Well......think again. Unfortunately, we could not figure out a way to get the hot rod home. So she is still there waiting to come home. We pulled the bikes with the suburban we borrowed and drove the 54. On the way home we lost a wallet in Georgia, a shock from the 54 in Kentucky, and a gas cap in Indiana. The one good thing about all of our travels was that the weather was clear and the roads were dry the whole time. We met a lot of nice people and had a good time despite all of our troubles. When can we do it again!

 

And Yes there will be pictures to prove it!

 

it was great hanging wit you guys in the parking lot at the hotel, you guys are hardcore

 

Absolutely amazing tale!!!

The pics of the trailer hitched up to the 54 are priceless ( I got a sneak peak of them at the show). Glad to hear ya'll made it home safe.

 

Thanks, back at ya. We definately made the best of it.

PS. Jake only wrote the condensed version. The 34 PICKUP HOTROD IS STILL IN FLORIDA IF ANYONE WANTS TO BUY IT!

 

WOW!!! that whole story reminds of the trip to Billetproof here...when we had to use the trailer ramp as a pry bar to get the breather tube off of Mikeys #13 anyway glad you guys made it back ok

Crafty

 

never a dull moment aye Jake! what an adventure.

 

First, congratulations on the Best Custom award for the Chevy. It is well deserved as it's a beautifully done car.

I'm glad you all made it home safely. After taking a few days to relax, the whole ordeal will seem like a great adventure.

Sorry about the lost wallet. That will be quite a hassle, I guess.

It was great to meet you folks.

 

There are some honest people still in this world and the lost wallet was found with the money still in it and is on its way home minus the cost of shipping.

 

Wow what an adventure but it sounds like it wasworth the trip. Love that car!!

 

Deserved the Best Kustom award made by the Salvagerz

 

wheres the picts?

and by the way your '54 is amazing and has inspired me to build one of my own..I probably have 50+ picts of your car and had to go out and buy the magazine with it on the cover

 

Glad you all made it back ok...you all are some hard core hot rods and bikers...i hope you will make the trip agian next year....thats a bitchin 54

 

HARD FUCKIN CORE!!!
Sorry, i didnt go this year to help pick your car for the best custom award.

 

Hardcore man....Glad you guys are home safe. What a trip to remember. As for the guys on the bike going the wrong way, I believe you because I saw them go waaay past the road the hotel was on coming back from the show. Oh yeah, one was standing up on the bike too!

Glad you liked your trophy. Maybe next year we'll let the dogs out. Only you guys know it means.LOL

 

WOW. Takes a pair to drive that car down to FLA in Feb from Michigan. Good to see you made it in one piece

 

Kool story, reminds me of me everytime i take the highway! no kiddin!
Would love to c pics!

 

You guys rule! What an amazing tale you told us. Can't wait to see some pics. Thanks for coming down and congrats on a much-deserved win. Hope we see again. Mike

 

o/t but someone asked for it

 

Yep...I can see how the 54 would have been unhappy with that load behind it. Glad to hear it all worked out in the end for you guys.

 

Jake,

Great road-trip story - glad to hear everyone made it back in one piece.

Hey, is that still the Kosmic Khrome paint on the front of the '54 in the pics above? If so, Looks great - How's it holding up??? Thinking of using some on my '54 ford mild custom.

 

yea the front is still the same we redid the back bumper with the new system and it turned out great

 

Just damn! Great story and great car! I think it's fitting that your well deserved trophy is a belt.

 

glad to have met your guy.we did have a good time hanging out in the parking lot,cold as fuck, for me anyway.I am the crazy cuban we the fuck up neighbors.jaja!!!anyway happy you all made it back in one piece.

 

Just a question! why did you leave the hot rod behind? and any pics of it?

 

That's a whole other story. We had 4 bikes and the hot rod to get home. The plan was to put all 4 bikes in the trailer and haul the hot rod on a dolly behind the 54. After we spent 2 hours rigging up the dolly we tried pulling it and it was way to squirrley to pull all the way back to Michigan. The trailer would only fit the hot rod and 3 bikes or just 4 bikes. We decided the load would be better with the 4 bikes. So the hot rod stayed there. We tried to sell it while we were there but no takers.

 

The picture of the 54 with the trailer in tow should be dedicated to all the guys that haul their car to the show on a trailor , thats so badass !!!!

 

I would of liked to be drivin down the road and see that set up go by!! Hah.. Maybe ill put a hitch on mine!! Great story, congrats on the award, your car is awesome!

 

Jake, sorry dude, i dont mean to be a smart ass im just curious at this point, if you had no problems riding the car all those miles and your pals had no problems ridin standing on the bikes why the hell no one drove the lil truck home? or is it not road worthy/registered yet?
Thanx again 4 the great story anyway, makes it all worthwhile doesnt it?

 

That chevy makes me want to turn my cadillac into a 'Kustom'. You need to stay away, you are a bad influence.

Charles