The Portland Swap Meet kicked my ASS

Spent all day Friday at the swap meet(s)...The Expo was jam packed, as usual, the track was only about half what it was in the heyday, but there was still a good amount of stuff there. I wound up with maybe the worst sunburn of my life, and by the end of the day, I could hardly walk to the gate. Bought about 200 bucks worth of small, misc. shit that I need to finish my A, met up with a few HAMBers, and drank a few 5 dollar beers. All in all, a good day....I have NEVER seen 70 degrees and sunny on swap weekend, man was it nice...

 

Did you get some of Badpats kill BBQ?....Shiny

 

No, missed out on the BBQ....I ran across Pat WAY to early in the day to be thinking about that......

 

There were lots of guys who really liked their stuff (shit) this year. Could you believe the white trash that wanted 35 large for the 34 five window project car?! How about the '37 Ford moredoor w/ a V8 60/C4 for just $14.5K?! I ended up getting a sunburn and buying some small stuff (tune up shit) for my flathead. Still all in all it was fun & the weather was great.

 

Yeah, there was the usual amount of overpriced shit, but there were some deals, too. 26-27 T coupe body WITH DOORS (!!!) for 850, and a decent 30-31 pickup project for 1500. Can you believe we're talking about sunburns at the Portland Swap?????

 

Yea, I sure liked that tall "T". Of cource it was being sold by a HAMBer @ the HOTROD-A-RAMA booth. He also had a great looking large IH dealership sign that I needed. I'm a closet Corn Binder lover (x-farm kid). However, I just couldn't pony up 4 "c" notes for a sign when I could by the "T" for $850. I just might pick up that "T" tomorrow if it's still there. How did Danny do @ PIR?

 

had a great time!!! sold a lot, but didn't buy much, had to be saving bux for vlv, (we leave tues.) but i couldn't pass up the '46 dash chrome, just rechromed all for $75. & a new pair of coker bias for the wife's car (so we can get to vlv), a solvent tank parts washer for $30 (from a certian well known company) saftey cl**n but THEY don't sell them to public oh well, it works good! a $40 pair of '36 rear radious rods, a steering wheel, shocks, & master cyl. for the kids sand rail, drank a lot, went to the slo-pokes alley night fri., drug skueak, & the rest of the kiwi's over there, (vlv warm up) danny did killer i think on his shot bags, b.s.'d with bad pat, had a mix up on prices with slazen, met flying eye, talked to zapato, & 48 old hemi glass guy, got sunburned,saw a bunch of other folks....had fun.....having a warm sunny pdx swap......priceless!!!!.chip

 

I walked as much as I could of PIR and the Expo center on friday before heading to work. All the shit I needed was way overpriced... Pair of edelbrock 500cfm carbs for $200 each... You can get the damn things from edelbrock rebuilt for 205 a piece... Passed on a set of corvette script valve covers. The price was right but they were pitted to shit. All the others I saw were way to spendy. And what the hell is with the price of early 5 spoke Americans / E.T.'s / ect. way to spendy for my blood when for a few more bucks I can get repops brand new... I did stop and chat with BadPat... nice guy and I love his Tee shirts....specially the Boyd one

 

Did anybody see this little model A pickup for sale? It's mine and was stolen from my dad's place in Tygh Valley, Oregon a year and a half ago...

 

Rocky, your truck wasn't there. Fleetmaster, Salcheeza and I hit the swap for the last two days. Bought some stuff for the kid's project. A set of window cranks and inner door handles, a steering column and a 4:11 posi pumpkin. I picked up some repop '54 bezels for my '53 wagon, some wiring stuff and a 3:50 posi pumpkin for the wayfarer. Sorry I didn't meet up with most of you, I forgot the list I had with booth numbers in the car. I did meet A/Fx comet to give him the bike I hauled down for tinbender. Great swap, pricy, but couldn't beat the weather.

 

No sign of Rocky's truck, but a buddy that went with me bought a 30 A pickup project...It came with an extra cab that I'll most likely wind up with, so I'll be looking for an A frame soon......

 

SOunds like great weather. Us East Coasters had our Portland equivalent in Charlotte NC. Huge show (bigger then what Portland was in its hey day) so it was impossible to see it all in one day. Great weather and we got the sun burns also. FlamedAbone and I (and another non-hamber) walked all day and spent more on beer then car stuff. Two really nice 32 5 W bodies if you had 13k each. Say Tudor while there, he was trying to sell his hotrod.

The legs were as sore as the back of my redneck.

 

My HAMB shirt got me more action than ever. Met Spooky, 48Hemi, and Lownwuf. Wayfarer brought down a bicycle that Tinbender sent. (thanks guys!!) I think it is a Murray. Here is one that looks really similar: http://www.bikeicons.com/1964%20Murray%20Sabre%20Flight%20Deluxe%20Boys.html . That is the Sabre Flight model and mine is the Solar Flight.

Also got a bunch of little books, and a mag wheel for my minibike.

 

me and a buddy drove up from down here in cali we were at the hotrodorama booth most of the time we filled our truck with goodies i got a sweet cal custom oil pan for $40 a 39 banjo with the horn button for $60 a 36 ford dash for $20 with gauges those are just a small taste we filled the whole back of a full sized p/u my buddy got a complete trail 70 in great cond for $40 and a set of kelseys for $27 what a great swap but 3 days of rooting and i am beat just got home at 2am last night

 

Jesus, I just got back in, first time ive turned my computer on since thursday! I think Flyin Eye and myself got the worst sun burns of anyone, we were looking pretty choice, and that was just friday! Talked with Scott, Charlie, Danny and Marty(with north west customs) and few others. I walked away with a little over 300 bills in my pocket, so that was a good meet.

Its weird, the swapmeets go in waves from one year to the next. this year there was hardly any customs, like two 49-51 fords and not a lot of old whole tin, and no nova parts to speak of. The year before last, had piles of nova stuff, no chevelle, lots of whole tin projects and a number of customs, and too many 49-51 fords to count it seemed like.

Could you possibly believe youd see so many 67-72 chevy pick-ups at one meet??? from farm fresh to better than new. it seemed like in every direction you looked you could easily count 5-8 of them in a short distance.

Anyone see that ice-blue 1960 buick le sabre on bags with shaved handles? what a dreamboat, that car was supper clean and beautiful!

plenty of complete, running, workable projects tho at very reasonable prices.

You guys see the 27 tall top T body, with deck lid and BOTH doors. only small rust at the back lower wheel wells and no dents for $600 ?!?! shit if i had the cash and the space... it was a bitchin buy.

Ever notice while you sit at your booth, the people walking buy are smiling, laughing and drinking coffe, bull shitting with their buddy and walking like 1 mph in the morning, taking their time. and starting from 2 hours till close you see these guys speed walking whipping their heads from left to right as they cruise down each aisle to try and see as much as they can. Cracks me up every damn year!! haha

 

man i am bushed- it was great meetin folks, didn't do a lot of shoppin, stuff seemed to be more pricey this year. had a hoot hangin out . thanks to all who bought t shirts and hung out at the track with us- hope to see ya at monroe

 

Great freakin swap! I scored exactly what I wanted and filled the bed of the truck for $200. Got to Portland Fri night, ate some awesome food, hit a few titty bars, slept a couple hours and soaked up the rays all day on Sat. That traffic heading north at 4:30 sucked big time but those mental images of Eva from the Magic Garden helped me through it.

 

well now my version is a bit different. I started 6 am thursday, loaded up a trailer with 75 50's & 6o's windshields and over 800 NOS 50's-70's tempered parts. took four trips to set up, then friday, saturday and sunday I started at 3:30 am. I was tied to my stall and did't get out to check the meet. talked with hudreds of people passed out a whole box of business cards. met some HAMBERS but was way to busy to talk for long. Sold 6 pieces of glass had to load and haul everything home. Woke up this morning with sore feet and back, have my Blazer and two car trailers full of glass and have an 8 hour day scheduled after I get everything unloaded and put away. can't wait till next year

 

Sounds like a good time was had by all not to mention new parts or old parts new to you. Nice bike a/fx good talkin with ya. Did'nt make the track just got to busy at the booth glad its over but can't wait till next yr.

 

Had a blast met up with a bunch of HAMB Mooks. Chip is right the bags did great. Left Slazzen at the swap when Molly called and said she needed help with the baby, Sorry Johnny .
For me the track was where to be, at one point I just got wiped out had to got to the can, hopped in my coupe cruized to the Honey Bucket then drove around on the swap and didnt yelled at or kicked out, No Swap NAZIS like at the Expo. I can tell you that next year it will be bigger at the track and we put a deposit on 3 big stalls at the track. Expo swap meet runners can kiss my butt.I spoke with a lot of sellers at the Expo that said they will be selling at the track next year...Danny

 

I can second that. For as many years as ive been going to the swap meet, theyve never figured it out. the rules change every year, its too far of journey from one place to the next and too many restrictions. No beers, no pets, no more than one t-shirt design unless you sign up for a special permit, no driving around at the expo.

It was way more layed back at the track. you know on friday, the expo closes at 7, tarp your crap up and scoot to the bus stop. come to find out, we got on the last bus of the night, it was only 7:10.

I like the idea of sitting right on one of the corners of the track anyways, sounds more fun to me.

despite all the confusion the management seems to have every year, i always look forward to it, great fun!

 

Great Weekend! Had a great time hangin' in the HOTROD-A-RAMA booth and passin' out flyers and misc. bull. Iceberg, We still got that T-coupe everyone is gabbing about.(Step right up)Thanks to all the great Hambers that stopped by and said howdy. Interest is extremely high for this years show. Looking forward to next years shindig. Danny,(Dondanno) I may just arrange to have a booth with all you folks next year. Get tired of being hassled for having a few beers. Don't know how many times the swap meet Nazi's told me to get rid of it. What the fuck? Back off and get a life! Johnny!(Slazzen) What a kick having you there. You have such a great attitude. Looking forward to seing all the Nor Cal gang at the HOTROD-A-RAMA in August. Are you coming to the Monroe swapmeet? Wish I could have got out of the booth more to see everyone. Dale

 

Johnny, Dave, etc. Had alot of fun my first time out in portland! I think all of us in the hrrm booth for the most part picked up a shit load of deals. This swap beats the hell outta pomona...thank Jimmy once again for my "passes" look forward to hangin out again.ps. Thanks for the book Terry!!!
Andre