15th Annual
Stockton Swap Meet & Car Show
Apr. 1, 2007
Penny on display Sunday at the Stockton car show.
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Lynn locks the keys inside Penny at the pre-event registration on Saturday, Mar. 31. Oh, my!
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Lynn's been itching to go to a car show and he spots a show in Stockton (which is close to his home in
Livermore) on April 1.
He decides to go and check it out.
This will further test Penny's road worthiness as Stockton is about 40 miles from Livermore.
While there is probably a reasonable way to take local roads to get there, the obvious route is
via the Interstate Highway.
This will be Penny's longest high-speed trip since Lynn acquired the car last October.
There is pre-event registration on Saturday, so Lynn makes a shake-down cruise to Stockton.
To his delight, the car behaves itself and he finds that Penny will cruise comfortably at
55-65 MPH.
The car will go faster, but the engine sounds stained to Lynn's ears.
Those familiar with California highway driving will recognize that while 55-65 MPH is often
the legal speed limit, but no one travels that slow.
So Lynn spends the time on the highway in the right most
lane being passed by practically everyone else on the road.
Maybe Lynn is a little excited when he finally arrives at the San Joaquine County Fairgrounds
in Stockton for registration.
He locks the car with the keys in the ignition.
Oh, dang! What's he going to do now?
Lynn remembers that he didn't lock the truck so he decides to tunnel into the car from the back.
In spite of multiple people coming up to talk with him about the car, Lynn calmly empties the trunk
then removes the panel separating the trunk for the passenger compartment.
It's then a simple matter to reach up and pop open one of the door locks.
None of the visitors appear to be wise to what has happened and Lynn resolves the problem without
public humiliation.
Whew! Lynn dodges another bullet.
Lynn carefully watches the temperature gauge on the Saturday drive to Stockton.
He's surprised to see it gradually creep up to over 180°F.
On the drive back to Livermore, the engine temperature peaks at about 190°F
while climbing over the Altamont Pass at 65 MPH.
The outside air temperature is about 80°F and this rise in engine temperature concerns Lynn.
Lynn hops down to his local auto parts store and buys some
Redline Water Wetter
which he adds to the radiator.
On the next day's round trip to Stockton, Lynn again monitors the temperature gauge.
While the outside temperature is similar to the day before, the temperature gauge never gets over
about 180°F.
Apparently this stuff reduces the running temperature of Penny by about 10°F.
This agrees well with the 8°F reduction advertised on the bottle for use with a
50/50 mixture of water and antifreeze.
Yahoo!
Lynn finds this 1924 Durant Star parked in his first choice spot.
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Lynn arrives at the show by about 6:30 AM and finds a long line of vendors and contestants waiting
to get through the gate.
When he finally gains access, Lynn finds his first choice for a parking spot occupied by a
wonderful 1924 Durant Star.
So he goes to the backup spot that he had selected the day before.
Lynn wanders the grounds looking at the cars and the items for sale.
He buys a couple of tools and some costume jewelry for Jeanne.
Penny on display at the show on Sunday in Lynn's "Plan B" parking location.
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It surprising how long the day seems when you get up at 4 AM.
By about 9 AM Lynn is looking at his watch.
It seems that a whole day has passed, but Lynn realizes that the people coming through
the gate think that the day is still young.
By about 11 AM Lynn settles into his chair and takes a nap.
Lynn would have liked to earn one of these trophies.
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Before the show Lynn harbored a secret fantasy that he might be able to win one of the more than
20 trophies that were up for grabs.
Once he has a look at the competition, it becames painfully obvious that this is out of the question.
While Lynn was not embarrassed to be in the show with Penny, his entry is eclipsed by many of the other
vehicles being displayed.
Lynn can point to a number of items that would prevent a first place win for Penny.
But even if these items were corrected, there were scores of other cars that are more unique,
in better condition, and much brighter and more showy that Penny. Here are a few that caught Lynn's
eye.
This is the one that Lynn cast his ballot for as the People's Choice Award.
This is a 1954 Hudson Hornet that was in spectacular shape.
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If Lynn were given a chance to vote for two vehicles, his second choice was this 1950 Chevy
called "Mr. Blue." Look at how straight everything is, the result of a three-year body-off-frame
restoration effort.
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More examples of extraordinary craftsmanship on a 1941 Willys, a 1948 Chevy, a 1951 Chevy, and a 1955 Ford.
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This 1952 Chevy Fleetline showed a kind of customization that Lynn is not fond of, but he
really admires the level of effort and quality of workmanship.
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There were some cars at the show that Penny could easily beat.
Look how far someone will need to go to be competitive with this 1942 Pontiac that was for sale.
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Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Lynn Kissel
Last updated: May 24, 2009
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