Always in April Swap Meet - Portland

Tomorrow we head to Portland for the "Always in April" Swap meet. This is the largest swap meet I have ever been to. From what I hear it is one of the largest in the country. It takes the entire Expo center to hold this event. Not just the buildings, but all the parking lots as well. You can't even park there! You park a few miles away and then ride school buses to the event.
If that isn't enough auto parts, the Portland International Raceway holds a swap meet at the same time. That is miles and miles of parts.
So, if there is something you are after, come to Portland Friday, Sat, or Sun (bring your walking shoes and an umbrella).
Brian and Kari will be at the D & L Truck Parts booth, numbers 8080 and 8081 at the Expo center.

July Meet

The July meet went well today. Halsey has a nice little park, free to use and much easier to talk at than Roaring Rapids. Today we all got to meet one of our newest members Ben and his lovely other half Jenn. We also had Roger, Robert, Arnold, and Bud.

We know Travis and John wanted to be there, but the hay season is grueling and work has to be done.

A little introduction for Ben: He has a 1966 F100 with a 352 V8. It is a great start for his project. Somehow he managed to get one that doesn't have the front wall of the bed rotten out! Hopefully they felt welcome and we will see them again soon.

I am still amazed at the wide variety of people that like these old trucks. We even managed to attract a neighbor over to look at our trucks. He had a early '70's Chevy, but hey, not everyone is perfect.

Check out the rest of the pictures from today.

Crow Car Show

Bobby had an awesome idea and mentioned it at the Function 4 Junction. He wanted to put studs in the holes where trim used to be. When we met up at the Show in Crow, he had done it! It is the different ideas that make each truck unique and frankly, pretty cool!

The show was small, with rain expected and a lot of other events that weeked but a few of us still made it to check out the rigs. Of the club, only Bobby had a truck in the show, but it was still worth the trip.

It was great to see the members that made it to the show, great to see a member in the show.

Besides the slick pictures above, one other item really caught our eye. Check it out on The Slicks Photobucket site.

Function 4 Junction

The Function 4 Junction was a great event. This was the first time Bud and I have been a part of the show and not just a spectator. The truth of it was, we knew we were never in the running but thought it was a great way to meet other slick owners and recruit more to our new little club. So, armed with some business cards with our info we set out to meet as many people as we could.

It was a beautiful day. We had 4 of us in the show (Ross, Bobby, Arnold, Bud) and a 5th slick that wasn't affiliated. We met some great people and the cruise was fantastic too.

We counted in all about 12 slicks between the show and the cruise. Click here to see the pictures that I snapped. If you happen to know the name of an owner and I don't have it listed, let me know! All in all, a great day.

Next year I say we all meet early for breakfast and then drive in together. It would be awesome to have all of our group parked together in the show.


I would also like to welcome our 3 newest members, Bill, Ben, and Travis. Hopefully they be able to join us in July.

Our First Meet

It was a beautiful day, couldn’t have asked for better weather to meet with friends and hang out. The first meet for The Slicks took place at Roaring Rapids, we had a better turn out than I had feared, with such a busy weekend. But in all a dozen people came, most of them slick owners, the rest support staff. We even had a brief run in with Johnny Law - what a way to christen a new club!
Roger and Alice and their nephews (both boys have helped Roger with his Uni), Arnold and Gerrie (Beautiful ‘65 teal) , Robert and Susie (‘65 Flat bed 4x4), Bud and Kari (Blue ‘65), John and his daughter Page (who has a slick of her own in the build process). It was nice to get together, I think almost everyone met someone new.
Gerrie made a comment that I thought was so very true. We had so many different types and ages of people, but as Gerrie noted we all have a common bond that brings us together. It was great fun even if the meeting place was a bit noisy.
Our next get together will be the Function 4 Junction. We will try to coordinate as best as possible before the event. Since you can’t pre register we will try to get together so maybe we can park near each other in the show. How neat would it be to have a group of slicks all together! As Ross has pointed out, even if you aren’t in it to show your truck , by paying to get into the show and shine, you are guaranteed a parking place and can sit with the cooler or walk around and see the other vehicles. You can’t lose!
We hope to see you there. If not, we will meet again in Mid July. This time I think we will meet at a park and barbeque up some hotdogs. Better place to talk.

Check out all the pictures here.

Beginner Builder

My husband is a Ford man. Has been all his life. To be specific, Ford trucks. I knew this when I met him but I am not sure I fully understood his Ford Fever until we got our first slick.
It was free, always the best price, and a little bit rough around the edges. But he said it could be my truck and that we would build it together. I had been wanting things that we could do together, and loved that I could learn something new, and spend time with my husband all while enjoying one of his favorite hobbies.
I had no idea how easy ‘slickitis’ was to catch. As soon as we brought home that first one, I started noticing them on the road, then in fields. Then I started looking for them, spotting a for sale sign here and there and wondering if we could find another so we would each have one.
Today there are 4 at our house. 1 that is my hubby’s daily driver, a short bed ‘65. He made a '66 into a short bed although it began its life as a long bed. Another '65 came by way of a trade with the neighbor for some work on his home, and we still have that first one that was brought home for me.
About that first truck, well that is where this story really begins. But I still don’t know where it will go. After a few years of that first truck sitting with no movement, we are finally ready to start the build project. I plan to take pictures throughout the project and share what I learn. I am NOT a mechanic, or a builder. Everything I know I have learned from either the basics my Dad taught me to make it through owning a car, or what my husband has so patiently helped me to learn.
I hope to give you a newbie’s perspective and hopefully we will see this project complete at some point down the road. (Let it be a short road!)
Starting Point:
1966 Twin I Beam F250
Custom Cab
padded dash
V-8 352 (ran on gravity fed gas from a soda bottle when we brought it home)
manual 4 speed 435 (new venture? This is leaving anyway)
Full interior and exterior trim package
a rare rust free front bed wall
The typical front fender dent. Mine was from the former owner’s drunk driving incident at Rut-N-Cutters mini mart 18th & Main Springfield. The reinforced concrete wall lost.
extra special window decals - Since they are not youth appropriate they will have to go.

Keep watching for more on this build and others from the group.

Kari

How about a Meet?

We would like to get together, shoot the breeze and maybe plan something for the Junction City Cruise (Function 4 Junction). Everyone buys their own pizza and drinks.

Saturday May 16th. 6:00PM in the parking lot (look for the slicks) then head inside for food.
Roaring Rapids Pizza
4006 Franklin Blvd Eugene
Here is their website
http://www.rapidpizza.net/

Let us know if you would like to come so we can try to plan the number of people.