Cruisin' with Deerslayer

DEERSLAYER LINKS including vendor sites for parts and tools as well as sites for old truck and hot rod organizations

TINKERING WITH DEERSLAYER chronicles the day-by-day maintenance and improvements episodes for Deerslayer, a '37 Chevy farm truck hot rod.

CRUISIN' WITH DEERSLAYER Roadtrips, cruise-in's and truck show stories and tall tales.

TONY'S DUNGEON Tony Pascarella's forum entries at OldGMCtrucks.com regarding Deerslayer, particularly the 302 GMC engine build in his farmhouse basement.

DEERSLAYER MAINTENANCE Ever changing detailing, oil change, lube, etc. maintenance routines specifically developed for Deerslayer, including required tools, materials and procedures.

PROJECT NAILHEAD Chronicles the rebuild of a 1954 Buick Roadmaster 322 nailhead engine as a future replacement for Deerslayer's Jimmy 302.

3. Billetproof Florida 2010

When Paul O'Keefe, Sam Gagliano, Jon Carey and I came back from the Billetproof, Florida show last year, I knew I was going again this year if I could swing it.

I've re-insulated Deerslayer's cab since last year and it should be a more comfortable ride this time. If I don't freeze, that is. Billetproof is a month earlier and farther north this year and the forecast is for brisk temperatures. Spent the last couple of weeks getting ready with regular maintenance.

Sitrep

I'm up before dawn on departure day and I wuz cleaned up, packed and out the door before seven. Went up to the Krash Lab to pack up tools, spare parts and consumables in the roadtrip trunk. Did a last minute check on Deerslayer's fluid levels and headed to Dick's Sunoco to top off the tank by eight. Then headed down to the rendezvous point in Pompano at Paul O'keefe's warehouse.

PRE Check

1.	Date and Time	February 26, 2009 8:00 AM
2.	Odometer	101,461
3.	Emergency Supplies	Cellphone, AAA+ membership, reading glasses, fire extinguisher, my lucky WWII Army Air Corps mechanics cap
4.	Roadtrip Supplies	Tools; spare alternator, dizzy, water pump and belt; oil, atf, gear oil, coolant and brake fluid
5.	Prep	Mount navigator and sunpass transponder

Engage

On wednesday, I didn't know if I was making the run to Billetproof alone, or not. Paul and Sam had not made the last two Classic Diamonds cruise-ins and I hadn't talked to them. Paul called on thursday to tell me time and place to meet up. He gave some names but 'cept for Bill Carroll, I hadn't met the others we were convoying with. The three other rides showed up together, right on time. The white five window belongs to Rhett and is powered by a sweet Ford 302.

My Mark I memory didn't register everybody's last names so I be stickin' mostly with first names in this report. Bill's stunning '50 chevy had Bill piloting with Carl riding shotgun. This car won one of the coveted club-built trophies. Like last year, Paul and Sam were in Paul's '47 Ford, chopped and channeled ragtop.

This beautiful blown flathead highboy belongs to Hank and it won one of the club trophies too. If they had a trophy for most dramatic entrance, Hank would have won that also. Upon arrival at the host hotel and backing into a parking space, one of his radiator hoses blew off the chrome elbow and geysered mist over a few who were standing too close. Hank was running plain water and, thankfully, noone got burnt.

Told each other our tall tales for a few minutes and got underway. We stopped in Fort Pierce at a Cracker Barrel for breakfast and had two gas stops on the turnpike. I looked in the rear view mirror while we were running over the rough pavement road construction in Orlando to see Hank bouncin' along behind me at 65-70 mph on his big bias ply tires. Hank is in his eighties. In twenty-odd years if I catch up to his age, I hope I'm still jammin' it like he is.

Market Street Pub

The pre-party on friday nite was at the Market Street Pub. As of thursday nite, Alan (ChopTop) had not been able to strike a deal with the city to park in the valet lot across the street without the valets. Paul and Sam and I thought the hot rod parking in front of the place would be at a premium so we used the hotel shuttle to get there. Folks were parking in the valet lot and I didn't see a valet in sight, but not many rides showed up. The bone-chillin' cold may have had something to do with it too. The Market Street Pub is a great place. It's enormous, the food is cheap (college town) and they have a lot of different beers on tap including a few selections brewed on site like Bull Gator Pale Ale.

You can't take your beer out into the parking lot to look at the cars, alas, and we called the shuttle to take us back to the hotel after supper and a short stay. Had a few at the place next door to the hotel and turned in early.

Show Day

We woke up to 32 degree temps and rain. After breakfast at the place next door, we bundled up and the convoy headed for the fairgrounds. Some of us were pre-registered and some were not but, like last year, the Poor Boys club were doin' a helluva job at the registration tents and all five rides got to park side-by-side. I had no sooner turned off Deerslayer's engine when I saw Bartender Dave coming across the showfield to greet me. After I got squared away, I went over to where Dave had his '55 Chevy and tent. Dave's tent saved the day, not to mention his brats and beer.

I saw Dave last year for a few minutes at Billetproof '09, Florida but didn't have a chance to talk. First met him on the Hutchinson Roadtrip when I stayed at his place for a nite.

Between showers, Dave and I did a walkabout of the showfield. I didn't have my 'puter with me this trip to download my camera into so I mostly took pics of the field instead of individual cars since I had limited memory in the camera.

I saw a truck I thought I recognized from a forum avatar. I thought it might be "TOW" from the OldGMCtrucks.com site and it was. I was glad to find him 'cause he had a question about headers on a Jimmy 302. I looked around and I had lost Dave so I led TOW over to Deerslayer and slowed him Tony's ("Truckedup") solution. Fired up Deerslayer so TOW could appreciate what it sounds like. I had a senior moment and missed gettin' a pic of TOW with his '40 Jimmy. After TOW and I parted, I went back over to the Bartender Dave tent. It was rainin' again.

Dave was waitin' for a couple of his friends to show up, Bruce and Steve ("Cobra" and "White Monster" on the Bangshift.com forum). They brought 'nother cooler of beer with 'em. Had a good time getting to know everybody while Dave cooked up some tasty brats. When the skies finally started clearing a bit, Dave decided to replace the rear shock that broke on the way to the show. He did the lion's share of the grunting under the car with an assist by Bruce. Steve and I supervised and kept little kids away from the jack. Dave is grumblin' here "Yeah, it's all glamor when you're cookin' brats . . ."

Between showers, I hiked over to the exhibition building to unload some of the beer and make room for more. Saw this Ferd COE and chopped tall tee on the way back. Sam came by and I called him over to the tent to introduce him to Dave, Bruce and Steve and enjoy a beer. When he and Paul returned later, Dave forced brats on them. It wasn't a hard sell. They are tasty and drove the chill away.

At one point, the sun actually appeared. the ground started to dry some and the bands started playing in the pole structure. We were close enuf that we could hear the bands just fine from Dave's tent.

There are a lot of fine rides here that I didn't take the hike to see. I was only wearin' sandals and socks (no, not white socks) and the ground was too sloppy for a lotta trekkin'. Some of the cars I hadn't seen yet passed by as they were leaving, like this cherry five window.

Near the end of the show, the trophy winners drove by on their way to the pole barn where the awards were announced. We were too comfortable where we were at to follow them and, if we had, we would have missed this cute gal posin' for pinups.

It was still pretty cold and she was a trooper, goosebumps and all. This last shot in front of the fine Apache (There's a truck in the pic. You have to look for it) broke the camera or, I probably just ran out of memory.

Show Aftermath

We started packing up. We each grabbed a leg of Dave's tent to take it down. I had trouble finding the buttons and, when I did, they didn't cooperate with me. I forget whether it was Bruce or Steve who said I had the female leg, and came over and played it like a fiddle for me. During the show, a fella came by and handed out flyers for a local hole-in-the-wall restaurant called the Kickin' Devil Cafe. We decided to go there and Bruce and Steve headed off for their car. My other friends had already left for the hotel so Dave was going to follow me to the place in his '55. I would call Paul and Sam when we got there.

The road out of the fairgrounds is four-lane divided highway, straight and level, woods on each side with no access roads on either side for about a mile. It's very tempting to race a bit and we had been hearing the rods all afternoon as they left the show. When Dave and I hit the road, I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed he wasn't following me and was coming up fast in the other lane. Okay, let's have some fun. We were the only cars on the road. I was in second and buried my foot just enuf not to break the wheels loose. I didn't release the Hayes clutch enough for the third gear shift and there was some teeth-knashin' protest from the T5 tranny. when I did get it in gear and released the clutch, the rear end bumped to the right a bit, maybe six inches. Looked in the mirror again to see where Dave wuz at and saw the '55 backing off. I wondered why. Dave had a good chance of catching me. I'm not that agressive in my drivin' and I don't like breaking parts, especially 300 miles from home. I slowed down too.

When we were parked at the Kickin' Devil and walking into the joint, I asked Dave about it. Dave said "Didn't you see the cop in the grass along side the road?" Damnation! I completely missed the LEO in plain sight! Lucky for me, he was probably just there for traffic calming purposes.

There were rods and customs from the show parked all around this place. We got a table in the back next to another bunch from the show. They had Cajun dishes here and, since I never get enuf Cajun, I ordered Beans and rice with crawfish. Dave started a contest with the other table for our server's attentions and it got pretty funny at times. We were all good friends at the end and the waitress made out like a bandit. Bruce and Steve headed out and Dave and I headed back to the hotel. Paul and Sam just missed us at the Kickin' Devil. They went on up the street to Sonny's BBQ. Dave and I had a couple more at the place next to the hotel and called it a nite. It was still early but we were out on our feet.

In the morning, we met in the hotel lobby. Bill and Carl and Hank and Rett were making other stops and they headed out. Paul and Sam and Dave and I ate at the Mickey-D's down the block before parting ways. Dave headed out for his 200 mile drive to Sopchoppy while I followed Paul and Sam home to south Florida. the weather was better and it was a good drive.

Billetproof Run POST Check

I got back to the Krash Lab at 2:30 in the afternoon on sunday. I had an hour to tidy up and unload Deerslayer, record my mileage and head out for the sunday nite cruise-in to meet my buddies, Anthony and Lou and some others.

1.	Date and Time	February 28, 2010 2:30 PM
2.	Odometer	102,164
3.	Odo Mileage	703
4.	Elapsed Time	54 hours 30 minutes
5.	Navigator Stats	625.0 mi Overall Avg 57.8 mph Moving Avg 63.2 mph Max Speed 83.1 mph

The difference between the odo mileage and navigator mileage above is because the navigator was not turned on all the time (when we were just "running around town" and not on a roadtrip leg). The speedo gear is also not a perfect match and runs a bit fast.

Despite the weather, I had a great time again and am planning to go back next year. Many thanx to all involved especially the Billetproof folks and the Tampa Chapter of Poor Boys. You knocked it out of the park again, fellas.

You can email me at  webmaster@laroke.com

Issued Tuesday March 2, 2010

Updated Tuesday June 26, 2018

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