Buick-Olds-Pontiac car show

[electra225]

I am too tired to post pictures, so this will be the opening monologue for the show. I have pictures and will post them directly.

It was 64 miles round trip to the show and back. When I started out this morning at 6 am, it was 62 degrees, beautiful weather for a car show. It was very pleasant until about 1pm. I had 102 on my phone, which is pretty close. Time to head for the barn, driving a black Buick with leather seats and no air conditioning. I got along okay until I came upon the traditional wreck at Queen Creek road. Two citizens tried to be in the same place at the same time, a Honda and a Kia. They won't do that again, but I digress........

That pretty much made the rest of the trip home a warm one. I looked down at the gas gauge and it had disappeared into the dashboard. I stopped at the Circle K and got $25 worth, gave me almost a quarter of a tank...... Only $4.79 a gallon.....

My car cover fell off the roof of the Mini while it was in the storage locker. The car cover soaked up all the cobwebs and dust off the floor, so now I get to go to Coolidge and get the car covers laundered. Been needing to do that anyways.....

The show itself was a bust, compared to years past. Typically there would be over 300 Pontiacs there. Only 214 total this year. Only two big Buicks. Only one big Oldsmobile. The Cadillac guys were the strongest with big cars, including a nice '63 Coupe on juice. They didn't let hoppers hop and you couldn't have loud music. They let in GMC trucks this year, which I think is a mistake. I think the prospect of "dangerous" heat this year scared some off. Spectators were so-so, really more than I suspected would come. My buddy Eddie was there, good to see him again. He lost his Elini Mandell and his John Prince CD's so I'll make him a copy and get them to him. The oldest cars I saw were two 1933 Pontiacs, both street rods. Lots of metal radiator cooling fans being replaced by electric. Many GTO's are LS powered. Rebuilding Pontiac engines is too expensive. Aluminum radiators replace brass, again, brass is three times what aluminum costs. Buicks, Olds, and Cadillacs run their original drivetrains. Wonder why that is?

All in all, a dandy day. Being warm is the price we pay to live in paradise. At least we aren't shoveling snow.....

[electra225]

I tried posting pictures and they posted sideways, twice. I'll try later.....

[TC Chris]

Many GTO's are LS powered. Rebuilding Pontiac engines is too expensive. Aluminum radiators replace brass, again, brass is three times what aluminum costs. Buicks, Olds, and Cadillacs run their original drivetrains. Wonder why that is?

All in all, a dandy day. Being warm is the price we pay to live in paradise. At least we aren't shoveling snow.....

I'm not prepared to trade snow for temps over 100 at this time of year.... The morning news reports were on the effect of continued drought in the west on water usage in the region. And the big hydro dams are about to stop generating for lack of water. That said, I prefer to get my snow in regular steady doses, not vast dumps of it like we got last weekend.

But back to the question: how much more does it cost these days to restore an original engine than to buy a crate engine? I know I was lucky to have the Chevy 283 rebuilt--the engines are so common that parts are not an issue.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

There was a guy at a show I was at recently who told me that it cost almost ten grand to rebuild a 327. I find that hard to believe. I know a crate LS is around five grand. Another consideration is that the expertise to keep an old V-8 going is getting scarce. Setting timing, rebuilding a carburetor, working with breaker point ignition are skills rapidly disappearing. You can replace the old Chevy V-8 with an LS along with its computer. People can work on those. Lots of cars have fuel injection replacing the carburetor. I was talking to a man at the show today who told me he had been quoted $30,000 to repaint his GTO. There is no place in the Phoenix metro area that still does chrome plating. It has to be taken to Tucson. Restoration costs are commonly over $100,000. Cars of the 1930's and 1940's are essentially worthless except for street rods. The 1950's cars were hot ten years ago, now their market is soft. The cars of the 1960's are the hot property right now. The big cars that most were put into demolition derbies are the ones now worth the most. Like old radios, there is little interest by the youth. They can't afford an apartment or a transportation car, so why would they want a collector car. There is more interest in my Buick at car shows now than when it was first done. Car flippers work the car shows. I'll bet I had ten offers to buy my Buick today. Guys are using serpentine belt conversions on old cars. I'm not sure why that is, but I'm wondering if V-belts might be getting spendy, so buying the conversion hardware is cheaper than buying V-belts.

[William]

Glad you had a good time, 102 is a bit much but it is AZ. Looking forward to the photos, that was always one of my favorite shows.

Bill