If it isn't rain in the morning, you can bet on the fog! My ex partner, Merc Mylar and I were on the way there in '76, spotted a truck with swap meet stuff parked under an underpass on the way... We stopped and asked if he needed any help, he just said he was lost. We gave him directions, then Merc spotted the '34 5 window body & frame under the tarp...Made an offer, got it for $750. The man promised he'd hang on to it throughout the meet, and deliver it to our shop in Campbell for a fee. By Sunday he was cursing us...he'd been offered 3 times our price during Saturday and Sunday for the Coupe on the back of the flatbed. Good guy, didn't try and back out of the done deal. Delivered it Sunday evening as promised. He had a wrecking yard in Marin, Merc and I went up in March and spent $1600 or so on Desoto grilles, Olds and '50 Merc taillights, and '52 Ford headlight doors... Miss the '70s, prices and availability of STUFF!
Thanks! Stopped at the "factory outlet" of parts: Turners in Fresno This photo is the "rear end section"
Was there this morning...... was clear and a lil cloudy..... Sellers gate didn't open until 2;30/3 pm. Supposed to dump from 7pm until 3-4 am....... Bring your mud shoes!
bring lots of cash - likely find stuff that you never knew that you needed until you see it at this swap
My mother was Jerry Turners book keeper for years and I worked for Jerry many years ago pulling license plates and dating cars in the yard. His collection of old cars and Harley and Indian motorcycles is unbelievable. More collectable motorcycles than Ive ever seen in one place, literally hundreds of bikes, sidecars and bike related items.
I must be getting old. getting up at 5:00 to drive 2 hours to park a mile away and walk around in the cold buying more stuff I don't really need with money I should be saving seems to have lost its appeal.
Internet connection here terrible so posting pictures will have to wait. Three old guys did pretty well yesterday. With that being said, I really think we did OK. Some observations from a few east coasters: The sheet metal is surely better than what we find back home. Likewise, the array of vintage stuff for sale, I had not seen before. The event, after you get up early and walk a mile to get there, features tons of HAMB friendly parts and the event has not become overtaken by people selling weed wackers, lawn mowers and tag sale stuff. With respect to "need", well that's an interesting concept. Likely none of us "need" another hot rod but plenty of us want to engage the process. With that being said, in my mind's eye, I "needed" the pair of Y block ram horns I picked up, just like Alan "needed" the Nicson two carb flathead manifold he picked up. Nick "needed" the headlights and carbs he found too. On a related point, building a hot rod, in my limited experience, involves picking up some stuff you that seemed like a great idea at the time and you end up not using for one reason or another. I have some of this unneeded stuff too getting in the way that will have to get back out into the world some day. Having trolled several flea markets back east and having not found the parts I bought, it was a good day. Add in a few more pieces we each acquired along the way and it was a great day to be outside looking at a wonderful combined collection of parts and visiting with the vendors. The people were very friendly and helpful....but that has pretty much been my experience at these events. Equally impressive is the degrees of innovation you see out there. For example, one guy has figured a way to adapt a shifter to a T-5 transmission such that the shift lever is much closer to where it would be on a flathead 3 speed. Why I did not get his name and contact information along with a photo is bugging me big time. Too mission focused on finding what we were looking for? Either way--great to see this kind of ingenuity alive and well. All this being said, we spent 10 hours there and another hour and a half at the Fed Ex down the road making this a long day. Not bad for three guys ranging from 60 to 75 years old and rest assured we rested big time crashing as soon as we reached the hotel. Sorry for the lack of pics, I do have some and will try to post when I get to somewhere where my internet connection is better. Pete, Nick and Alan
Ron, Had a great time there touring the yard and visiting in the office. Jerry is a nice guy to visit with and has an amazing inventory. Speaking about motorcycles, we helped a woman likely in her later seventies pick up a a couple of motorcycle carbs. Happy to have picked up a 39 Ford pedal assembly, walk through an old bone yard and wonder about the possibilities laying around out there.
Avatar - great that you guys made the trek to this big swap, and found stuff to send home. for those that think that it was a cold Saturday missed some warm weather. with the "fear" pf rain people were slower getting there. so, at 7AM opening of gates parking was closer and line in shorter. sure, don't need to spend limited $ on "stuff" you do not really need. but, you might have found that one item that you have only dreamt of. if nothing else it is a lot more entertaining than doing your daily routine at home. I have a current thread going with pics: Nor Cal Swap - Turlock -
I don't know Jalopy Joker, my "daily routine" at home on the weekends can be and is extremely entertaining. And for Verde742 congratulations to winning an almost impossible fight.
It was a good Swapmeet for me too. T-shirt weather by noon , bought a 36 dropped axle from Joe and a pair of 97's along with a bunch of off topic stuff
The Jalopy Journal
