Renegade Issue 35

8-9 / 100

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WOW! I can’t believe this year is almost over. There are
so many things going on in my part of the world. First and
foremost, I got my ‘73 Rallye Challenger back, painted flat
black! I have been driving it everywhere and loving the crap
out of it. It is the first time I have ever had a car that I can just
wash with a rag, using
Dawn dish soap, rinse
off and GO! I am really
digging it. I may never
paint another car with
clear-coat again.
Even though my Chall., is back and is drive-able, it still lacks
a lot! I have never owned a car before that didn’t have a posi
in it, and now I know why. The car can barely make it up my
driveway. Plus it has a big block 440 in it with small block
torsion bars, so the next order of business is installing the
posi I bought and the big block torsion bars that just came in
today. Unfortunately when we had the car apart, we found
out it has super high gears in it so I refuse to put a posi in with
those gears, so another $300 out of my wallet for some 3.55
gears are on the way.
It has been super-hot here in Arkansas and when it isn’t, it is
RAINING! It has been the rainiest year that I can recall. So
in between weather bursts, the time that I have had on my
Panhead has been minimal. Each time I rode it father and
each time it was a miracle that I got it back home. We kept
changing parts on it to no avail until finally I had to cough up
$1100 for aftermarket heads. Luckily that seems to have
fixed the problem. Gabe had told me that eventually I would
have to buy aftermarket heads, as the heads on a Panhead
are always the weak link. I was hoping that that would be
5-10 years down the road though.
After selling the Iron-
head, I ordered an-
other Tech Cycle
starter kit and have it
sitting here waiting on
my Knucklehead as it
gets closer. We are currently working on it and have made
some progress. I am a little overwhelmed right now as I went
from nothing to drive to three new toys, all painted and run-
ning. My original goal was to have these two cars and two
bikes and I would be DONE, but alas I don’t think I can do
that, so the search is always on for the next project.
After riding and enjoying the enduros that we bought, we
have sold both of them. After careful consideration, I just
didn’t feel comfortable with having $5000 tied up in a dual-
sport bike, not when I love vintage Harleys so much. They
are fun but I don’t think I can tie a bunch of money up in one
again.
After months of planning, shopping and fighting with the
“I may never paint another
car with clear-coat again.”
I am currently working on an idea, similar to the Hot Rod
Power Tour, but that would only be a weekend trip. The Hot
Rod Power Tour has always been a dream of mine, but once
you factor in the cost of being off work, gas, food, motels, etc.
the trip is not suited to poor people. So I am thinking about
calling it “Poor Man’s Safari”, or PMS for short. Gold Eagle is
willing to work with me on this but as of right now, I only have
the idea and not any of the logistics figured out.
We have met some people during the “Throwback Thurs-
days” event that we have started cruising with. They are also
child-free and have a couple of old Mopars. For the last two
weekends, we have started cruising my local town of Har-
rison. We are trying to revive what has been lost. We also
attended a local Cruise-In, but all it seems to be is a clique of
rich old people who want nothing to do with the younger gen -
eration. We are not 20somethings, smoking and drinking our
lives away. We are 40+ year old adults, who don’t smoke,
don’t drink, don’t party, who have NO kids but yet whose
entire existence is based on cars and motorcycles. I don’t
understand what is so
wrong about that. And
it’s not like we just went
and bought a couple of
cars, Gabe and I have
BOTH been into this “scene” since before we could drive.
We didn’t raise our kids, and then wait 20 years before build-
ing a car. WE HAVE NEVER LEFT THE SCENE!!!!!!
I sometimes wonder if they feel threatened by our presence.
I can understand the generation gap to a very small degree,
but the man I met at the Drive-In, Bill McEntire is well into his
70’s and he’s cool as hell! He has NO trouble communicat-
ing with younger people and is funny as shit. So what’s the
problem with these other people?
We are ALL about getting our cars and bikes out and USING
them the way they were intended, not just looking at them.
We’ve got several other road trips in the works with some
of these people we just met. While cruising town the other
night and hanging out ‘til midnight in a vacant parking lot, we
did meet several people who stopped to look at my Chal-
lenger, Gabe’s 1969 AMC Javelin and the 1973 Plymouth
Duster that our friends were in. A few of the people were
excited and said they would bring their old hot rods out as
well. I think we can really get this going. If not, we
will move the cruising to a different town
and see what happens.
Gabe and I went to a huge
swap meet about two
weeks ago, the larg-
est antique auto swap
meet in Missouri. We
have both been going
to it for over 20 years.
It’s cool to see the trends
that change year to year
and see what the vendors are
selling. It is also way different to be
weather, the first “Throwback Thursdays” is officially over
(see full article in this issue). What a great time it was. If the
old adage is true, “time flies when you’re having fun”, maybe
I am having too much fun and should slow down. When I
asked my chiropractor who I should use when he dies, he
promptly told me that HE is going to outlive me! Maybe he
knows something I don’t...
A couple of months ago I finally made the decision to have
my first tattoo, my blue Chevy bowtie covered with a Mopar
tattoo. I went to my local artist, Dessa Blackthorn, owner
of Tattooz by Sassy and came out super pleased!!!! A lot
of people told me that I shouldn’t have it covered, that it is
part of my history. Well, it is definitely part of my history but
I have moved on so I wanted to move on in all areas of my
life. Moving on always seems to bring great tides of change
and sometimes obstacles that I have to get past. Those ob-
stacles then always seem to bring opportunities with them.
The response to my ‘74 Charger has been great as it re-
ceived a two page
feature in Tony Co-
lombini’s “Blacktop
Magazine”, an issue
that was focused on
“That 70’s Style”. I just got word that Muscle Car Review is
going to run my story of the Charger in their November issue
as well. My 78 Z-28 was in their Readers Rides section last
year. Last month “Easyriders” ran not only a photo of me rid -
ing my Panhead, but also of Gabe riding his Flathead. Beat-
nik was AWESOME enough to send me five copies of the
issue and a hand written note, stating “Old Stationary Never
Dies”! I so appreciate all of the media coverage that I get and
am happy to keep submitting.
Since I have been a CRO Champ/Gold Eagle representative,
things have been exciting to say the least. They purchased
10 shirts for me with the CRO logo on them, in the colors
that I selected. I am SO glad to work with a company who
respects and appreciates my initiative and wants to reward
that, in any way they can. They also sent me credit to use
in their store and I got an item that I have ALWAYS wanted
but was always too cheap to buy- a NEON clock. It is AWE-
SOME!!! Every time I would go to a swap meet I would drool
over the neon clocks that were on display. Since money is
always so tight and it is better spent on car and motorcycle
parts, I decided that I could live without neon in my life. Well,
thanks to CRO and Gold Eagle I don’t have to!!!!
Gold Eagle has also partnered with True Value and I had the
opportunity to meet with local stores and take photos. My
photo was chosen to be used in some of their advertising!
I went down to Searcy County, where I have been having
“Throwback Thursdays” and shot with two of their employ-
ees. I am also super excited that the Searcy County Cham-
ber of Commerce is so willing to work with and help promote
any events or media coverage that I am involved in, pertain-
ing to their county.
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“time flies when you’re having fun”