Short blog today. I have to leave for the Superpower Show at the Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., this weekend. The show sponsored by Undercar Digest is for professionals who do suspension, brake, exhaust and "undercar" repairs. Sometimes Old Cars Weekly advertiser Fred Kanter (Packard Industries and Kanter Auto Products) will be giving a seminar on the old car repair market and I'm anxious to hear it.

Anyway, before I leave, I wanted to drop some advice that may save you money. I heat my shop with propane. This year we had a long winter and a lot of snow. The100 inches of snow pretty much buried my propane tank and I didn't even try reading it. I just thought the propane would last the full season like it did the past two years.

Tonight was woork-on-the-car night, so I went out in the afternoon to turn on the radiant heating system. No dice! Out of fuel. So, I call for a propane delivery and guess what . . . $70 extra to do a pressure check and light the pilot light. Ouch! I just blew 70 bucks by not checking the fuel level sooner. Maybe this will inspire a few of you who live where it's still chilly to check your tanks and not make the same mistake.

It never fails to amaze me that the old car hobby is big and small at the same time. If you have read this blog for a while, you know that the local car folks in the Iola area get together at a Burger King in Waupaca (13 miles away) every Wednesday night, all year round, to bench race.

I always think of this as a small, local gathering, but sometimes the national "reach" of the local scuttlebutt is just atonishing.

Last night Dennis and Kathy Bickford of Vintage Woodworks (a local shop that specializes in Chrysler Town & Countrys) were there and they started talking about another shop they had been to in Napannee, Ind. I immediately realized they were talking about Eric LeVine's shop, that I once wrote about many years ago. Hi Eric. Nice to know you're still at it.

After awhile, Ken Buttolph showed up and said that ring gear sales guru Al Suehring (notice the "ring" in his name) had just got back from the prewar swap in Chickashaw, Okla. Well, Ken said that Al had seen a 1940 Buick Century for sale out there and I realized that it was the same car I had seen at the end of February in Atlantic City, only for twice as much!

The hobby is big, Iola is small. Or, at least that's how I see it.

But . . . I may be wrong. 

Maybe it's just that I'm retired now, but I'm starting to wonder why we don't have old cars shows every day? Why are they just on Fridays and weekends?

John Armstrong of the POCI Oakland Chapter called today and wanted to know if I could attend their event on September 5. It's the 100th anniversary of the founding of Pontiac's parent, you know.

I could be there if that wasn't the same time as Auburn or if it didn't conflict with the MG club's annual gathering. Or there may be vintage racing that weekend or an antiquemotorcycle show.

Point is, there's always more than one thing going on.

Now, if we just freed up Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and spread things out a bit . . . Does anyone out there have any problems with doing old car stuff 365 days a year?

I didn't think so. 

Old Cars Weekly editor Angelo Van Bogart got pretty excited when I told him that I had been invited to bring my "boxcar" to the Chevy Vettefest http://chevyvettefestnewsletter.googlepages.com/home at the convention center in Rosemont, Ill., next weekend. "Boxcar" is the term that police car collectors use to describe Chevys like my '89 Caprice 9C1. The car is a former Wisconsin State Patrol "supervisor's" car, or at least so I've been told. It is burgundy, instead of dark blue, and has a camel colored "police" bucket seat interior. It has the full 9C1 package with 350 V-8, guages, certified speedo, ticket light, tranny cooler, Posi and other goodies, but it never had cop-car stuff like a cage, a push bumper or a light bar. So no extra holes were drilled anywhere but the dash, where a radio must have been. The car has 100,000 miles, but it's been repainted and looks very clean. I only drive it a few times a year, although I sometimes go halfway across the contry, like I did last month. It's pure luxury to cruise along in a vehicle that lets you stretch your 60-year-old legs out absolutely straight. It runs great and moves out if you need to. Sure it sucks gas, but the pluses outweigh the minuses. Automotive expert Matt Joseph calls it a "supercar" and says that Japanese cars never would have gained market share in America if GM and Ford had just built nothing but police cars. Others have described it as a 3/4-ton truck with a Caprice body. As we all know, Angelo loves full-size Chevys of this era and though a 9C1 isn't the fanciest model, it sure has "attitude." It will be fun showing it in Chicago, but it will be even more fun driving it down.

Made a stop at a place call Port-A-Chopper (www.portachopper.com) in Elkhart, Indiana to visit some fellows I met at a motorcycle trade show in Indianapolis. They work for an outfit called QC Metal Fab that may have made the hinges for the hood of your RV/ The product they're involved with the Port-A-Chopper trailer. This little rig breaks down in 15 min. and stores in back of a minivan. It can haul a motorcycle, a jet ski or even your swap meet purchases if you add their cycle, watercraft or utility kit. The kits adapt one trailer into three options, all using the same license plate! And if you live in a townhouse or condo where trailers outside are verboten, you can haul goods or vehicles home, take apart the trailer and store the pieces in the garage. If you're pulling a bike or a boat, you can do it with a 35-mpg Honda Civic and cut your hauling costs. Their newest product is a bigger double trailer that hauls up to 2,000 lb. loads. My MG TD won't quite ride that one safely, but a Vespa 400 or Berkley might.

If you want to get into car collecting for the first time or build up the car collection you already have, this is the year to do it. There are some great bargains around, especially if you like late-1930s cars and 1940s cars like I do.

Here are a few examples from the recent Atlantic City Classic Car Auction, How about a "barn find" 1941 Lincoln Zephyr with its original, smooth-running V-12 for $11,000? The solid original car had bee n stored in a barn in Maine for 50 years and even had new brakes, new brake lines and new fuel lines.

Another very nice car was a 1940 Buick Century trunk sedan with dual sidemounts. Ron Kowalke rated it #3. It didn't seem to need much of anything other than a few taps on the carb bowl to help it start. It sold for $15,700. What a bargain.

Sellers may not like the fact that the prices are leveling off, but it's the ups and downs of any market that drive commerce. When prices drop, people buy cars. When people buy cars, vendors sell parts, books and tires. Then, the vendors go to the food stand and buy hot dogs. That's how the economy works.

Another good thing - the people who buy now are buying low and will probably make money when the market cycles back up. That means they'll stay in the hobby longer.

Tell that food stand to heat up a few more franks!

No wonder I don't go to the movies! While I was working on my MG Magnette last night, John Marks of Barrington, Ill. called. Of late, John has been helping Wayne Lensing of the Historic Auto Attractions Museum. It was not long ago that I blogged about the museum and remarked that the folks shooting a movie called "Public Enemy" ought to visit Wayne's museum. The movie is about John Dillinger and Wayne has a real John Dillinger car in his collection. I thought it would be nice to see the car in the movie because of the historical accuracy.

It turns out that John Marks did invite the movie people to come see the car and they decided to rent it for the film. They even fixed a bullet hole in the trunk (that shouldn't have been there). And they took the car all the way up to Columbus, Wis., where the filming was being done. But director Micheal Mann didn't like the way the car looked and sent it home without using it.

Is that dumb or what? The car was the REAL THING. It would have made the silly movie a lot more authentic. It could even have been used to hype the degree of realism in the film. But it wasn't the right color or something! Could you imagine old Public Enemy No. 1 turning down a hot '32 Studebaker getaway car because the pinstripe was the wrong shade?

 Oh well. That's Hollywood for you. I think I'll wait until it comes on TV. Oops. I can't do that because I don't watch television either. 

Here's a real challenge for you. I just finished writing about the Model T Assembly competition that's going to be part of the Model T Ford 2008 Centennial Party in Richmond, Ind. on July 21-28 (www.mtfca.com)

On the 23rd and 24th Model T Assembly competitions will be held from 2-4 pm. On the 25th, the finals will be held during the same hours. The idea is to build a Model T, from parts to running car, in 15 to 30 minutes. The fastest team wins.

If you think you're a real restorer, here's the chance to prove it. Only 6 teams are currently entered. There's room for more. Get yourself a Model T, get five other restorers, practice up and prove your skills in Indiana.

It's a chance to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience - as well as some real old-car fun.

Here's a hot tip for those who like prewar cars and '50s-'60s models. Bob Marx of Marx Parts LLC in Arpin, Wis., (bob@marxparts.com) recently purchased 59 skids of ignition and electrical parts from Egge Machine Co. Nels Egge, the founder of the California parts house, socked these parts away back in the '70s. He loved obsolete parts and bought all he could.

Egge, one of the largest companies in the hobby, now focuses on engine rebuilding, engine parts, water pumps, fuel pumps and flathead Ford speed equipment. After finding the old electrical parts, the company decided it would cost too many man hours to sort and identify them. Selling them seemed best and Bob Marx came along at the right time.

This treasure trove of parts was buried so deep that Egge originally offered Bob 36 skids. This increased to 40 and then 19 additional skids were found inside semi trailers.

Most parts fit '30s-'40s cars. Bob showed us some at the Fondy Swap Meet last weekend. Need a new Zephyr V-12 rotor? He has them - now!

People ask "What's wrong with shows?" They feel attendence is off and participation down. Why? Bad economy! Unemployment! Mortgage crisis! Stock market! Election! Ebay! Graying of the hobby! Rising gas prices!

The answer is NONE OF THE ABOVE! If the shows are down, it's because you and I are staying home and that's bad news! And it's silly, too!

When the economy is sluggish, prices drop and it's a good time to buy. I saw tremendous bargains at the Atlantic City Auction last month. I saw terriffic buying opportunities at the Fondy Swap Meet last weekend.

Vendors who are complaining about eBay are probably selling on eBay and seeing an overall INCREASE.  Don't expect hobbyists to buy on eBay and  buy the same stuff at a show? Ebay is a selling tool, but so is a show, so figure out how to use both wisely.

Smart hobbyists make money at shows. So if they are unemployed or need mortgage money, they will go to the show to buy stuff to resell.

What is really needed is for promoters and vendors to pump new excitement into shows. Don't put on the same show this year that you did last year! People get bored very easily. When you advertise dates, location and awards, advertise specials froim the vendors, too. Give the folks a real reason to travel to your show.

On Thursday afternoon I bought a truck and I bought it in a really cool place. Up until a few weeks ago, one of the 11 vehicles in my fleet was a full-size '88 Chevy pickup that was my everyday run around truck. It was a rusty beast, but it had been mostly rebuilt mechanically, so it ran very well. It lacked a few amenitities like a heater and a working radio, but so what? Then, my middle son overheated his car and ruined the engine. Since he was not in the position to rush out and buy another vehicle, I gave him my truck. Then, I began looking for a replacement. Last week I happened across a white Ranger pickup sitting on a car lot in Waupaca, Wis., 13 miles south of Iola. I did not really want a small truck, but it was a very clean 2003 Ranger and I was able to get it for just the price I had in mind. Considering where gas prices are going, I admitted to myself thar a small truck wasn't such a bad idea and I bought it. Picking it up was a pleasure. It turned out that the used car lot - Hansen's Auto - started as a pre-1920s Oldsmobile and Oakland dealership. The inside of the building is like a museum. It is loaded with Oldsmobile automobilia, models of old cars and old gas pumps and candy machines. The place used to be called the Yellowstone Garage because, in the old days, Waupaca was on the Yellowstone Trail. Folks heading in the direction of Old Faithful would stop at the Yellowstone Garage to get their buggies serviced. I enjoyed sitting in the old building filling out the paperwork on the truck. It made me feel like there was an old-car connection to the deal, even though I was buying the newest vehicle I have ever owned.