(Words and photos by Doug Gregory) – This was one of the best events ever in terms of the diversity and quality of cars although the event started off with a bit of bummer.  There was a traffic backup on the Interstate and we rolled up on a wreck involving a 39 Chevy sedan and a 70 Mach 1.   This wasn’t the cause of the backup.  Instead the backup caused this one as the driver of the ’39 wasn’t able to get the car slowed enough to avoid the stopped traffic.  We stopped to see if we could assist (no one was hurt) then got back in line to wait another 2 hours in the overheating car as we slowly passed the incident causing the delay.  A semi had crashed through a guardrail and plunged down an embankment.  Not good.

This was the first year we chose to attend more than two days and it didn’t help our situation much.  I was looking to score a carb and perhaps leaf springs at the swap meet.  The one 750 Holley I wanted someone else was already reaching into their wallet as I got to the table.  No springs.  The upside – I scored a couple handfuls of old magazines in great shape with awesome articles.  We also have this problem of spotting rides cruising that we want to look at closer and take a photo and can’t find them while wandering around.  The unicorn this year….a white Jeep Honcho wrecker.  We saw it twice from far away and never managed to find it parked.  Happens every year.  Lots of cool stuff to see and we were more than pleased with the turnout.  All around the event seemed better than 2013 which appeared down on cars, vendors, and swap meet selection.  To end our weekend we had stopped for supper on the way home and walking out of the restaurant as we headed in was none other than Corky Coker.  I’m not an autograph hog and I don’t like to bother folks outside of the arena we share so we didn’t bother him.  It had been a long day and most folks just want to get a good meal and rest.

The car did good.  Oil leak is 95% resolved and muscle cars are supposed to leak some so its good.  We had a cooling issue that on Sunday I resolved.  With the motor redo I had purchased new pulleys, but didn’t pay attention to the sizes.  I had reversed the ratio and was actually under-driving the fan and water pump.  I slapped the old pulleys back on and the problem seems gone.

Overall I took a bit more than 550 photos so the pictures that will appear in several galleries.  Be sure to look for your car and those of folks you know.

CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO SEE DOUG’S FIRST OF FIVE GALLERIES FROM THE SHOW!

button” text=”Click HERE to see our first collection of photos from the 2014 NSRA Street Rod Nationals”]