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Rob:
Welcome to our podcast. All about the car brought to you by Schierl Tire and Service. I'm your host, Rob Hoffman an auto service specialist with over 44 years of industry experience and the ride with me today, our regular guest Brian call a 40 year veteran of the automotive industry. Hello Brian.
Brian:
Hey Rob. Great to be with you.
Thanks for being back with us and Bill Schierl, a guy that is no stranger to the open road and always has a lot of great questions. Welcome back Bill.
Bill:
Hi, Rob. Super glad to be Here.
Today we have very special guests with us today, or maybe we're their guests because we're on site at the Iola Car Show grounds and we have Joe and Larry right here with us of the Iola Old Car Show. Hey guys.
Joe:
Hey, thanks for having us. We really appreciate it.
Glad you had us come over to your place here and we're just loving this room we're sitting in right now.
Yeah, It's a unusual room. It looks really good. It's it's rolled back to the yesterday year and it's done up pretty nice.
Excellent.
We got the best table I've ever seen. It's a midrise hoist.
It's a car hoist. We're sitting on top of here with a nice big piece of glass.
Yeah, we used to be in an office downtown and this is really neat. We're sitting here in what was part of the Kruase Publications building, which we acquired a few years back and moved over here. We renovated this very small part of the building to fit our needs and it does exactly what we want. We didn't want a boring office with cubicles. Like you can find anywhere we wanted people to walk in the door and instantly make that connection. And, and so everywhere you go here, you're gonna see nods to the automobile, to service, to volunteerism and to the past, you know, we're in the business of memories. And as you describe, you're sitting at a very unique conference table right now. That's a vehicle lift with a clear piece of glass and the whole setting says shop
Well, speaking of memories, you know, I personally have attended this show for over 20 years and it's always been obvious to me that it didn't happen overnight. Obviously it just evolved over the years. And and I see that every year when I spend my extended weekend here.
Yeah.
So being the history buff that I claimed to be, I did a little research. And what I found is that it all began with the Lions Club.
Yep. Yep. It's a very neat history Chet Krause was a major entrepreneur in this area and he had gotten into publishing and really he was looking to diversify what they were doing. They were big in numismatics and collectibles and coins, and he wanted to get into cars and car collectibles. And so with the launch of what's known today, as old cars weekly came this invitation at the local lions club dinner festival for collectors to bring their cars. So the old saying is Chet offered to buy lunch for his buddies that would bring their collectors. And that was about 20 cars back in 1972. And the rest is kind of history it's.
Wow.
So was that the publication that came with the invitation,
It came on company letterhead, a letter from Chet, And this was kind of to be the introduction to the world of old cars weekly. And so it was just a hook attached to the lions club dinner, and it was great timing. It was the time of the hobby that really car shows were taking off. And so as a result, after a few years, it grew and grew and grew. And today we're approaching our 50th anniversary.
It's a big year for you this year.
It's a huge year. And as the history really goes, it, it really outgrew something that could be this small marketing tool for the publication. They had their own job to do as they were growing and as Krause was growing and, and adding other titles to what they did. And so the Lions and a lot of volunteer groups were really involved in the boots on the ground aspect of the show. And in the eighties, it really outgrew the ability to be just a part of something else. And it became its own nonprofit organization.
What's really amazing is what the Iola Old Car Show has done for the local economy. Not only during those three or four days or whatever it's been, but all the time surrounding that too. I mean, you go from 1300 people, Iola residents to over 120,000 people in the area in that period of time.
Yeah. When you look at the statistics of the show, it is really interesting. You've got well, it wasn't that long ago that we had 3000 volunteers, we still have about 2000, a little better than 2000 volunteers that participate in the show. And as you just said, the town is 1300. So that tells you a little bit about the reach of help that we receive. Also, there's about 130 groups that receive funding directly from the show. These are Lions Clubs. These are church groups. These are car clubs, all sorts of different things. Police organizations, fire departments, they donate their time. You know, these people do on behalf of those organizations and they receive a payment then when it's done. And so we're approaching $9 million of direct payments to those groups and their projects since incorporation. And that doesn't even begin to touch. As you mentioned, the local economy, we're getting ready to share a recent economic impact study that was done on the show and without giving anything away, it is staggering. The effect that this small show or small operation has on the six counties in central Wisconsin, hotels, gas stations, restaurants, and it's a very comprehensive study. We're really excited to share those numbers.
100%. We feel it in Stevens Point that in every community where the old car, you just, if you may not be aware of the old car show, but all of a sudden the weekend when it happens, you go, oh, it's Iola Car Show because here's a string of old cars coming through my community, or you see a beautiful old car sitting out front of the restaurant that you're going to and you go, oh, I see... Iola Car Show.
Larry:
The show definitely has caught the interest of all of our local politicians to the state has been very supportive of anything that we wanted to do. I mean, they went and we got the bill 382 passed to put up the highway signs on our highways, to direct people to the grounds because it's national. And it's almost becoming global right now at this particular point. So you're probably gonna see a lot more cars. Our hope is you're gonna see a lot more cars go past those places years.
That's awesome. I mean, it's similar. I don't know what size wise to EAA, but I mean, that's that other draw in the summer? I mean, it's those two events that one's in the sky, one's in the ground.
When's that study gonna come out?
We'll be sharing it internally with the rest of our board next week. And after that, we'll be, we'll be ready to publish. So I would say in the next month or two, it'll be published and out for everybody, but I've seen the preview and I know what the numbers look like. It really is very cool.
Awesome.
And it, it's interesting that you mention EAA. We kind of look at them as a big brother in the way they operate certainly a different ballgame and a different scale, but they included them in the comparisons and kind of a check and balance of this impact study. And it really is incredible what we do as compared to such another global organization.
And the important thing in both of our cases are we're trying to preserve a certain amount of history for the new generations coming up too often in our lives. We tear down buildings that replicate, or that are from our past and our cars. Of course, we're always changing. We're going to electric and such, and we need to have this for a history, a history check. And, and that's what I love seeing. I love seeing the younger kids come up to my phone booth at my station and don't know what it is, and we have to explain it to them. but when they, but when they leave, they understand what it is and we gotta pay more interest to our history. Cuz if we don't, we're reliable to repeat it. So
Now you mentioned national and of course you mentioned possibly global at this point, but let's go back to national. How many states away? I mean, how many states are involved in the show that week? Do you have any numbers on that?
Yeah, it's all of them. I mean, we absolutely draw from every state in the union. We draw internationally. I would say a good 70% come from within the state, the, or the immediate surrounding, but we have vendors from every state. We've got folks that jump in their trailer and pull it here to be in the swap meet from California, Oregon, Florida. And we've got national companies that do the same thing. Our and our sponsors wrote a lot of those are west coast companies that pulled their, the travel rig over. And then they move on to the next show. After that,
What is specific about this show that makes it on the tour, a company that you're just saying they pull in the rig and then they go on to the next show. But what is it specific about this show that makes it that unique stop?
It's a few different things, but for a lot of 'em, it's our crowd. It's the fact that this is a group of people that they don't always get to interact with, but it's massive. I mean, when you have 120,000 guests here, there's an awful lot of consumer base here for them to educate, sell to. And we're really still getting a sense of just how powerful that crowd is. One of the things that Larry was very integral in is, is the growth of real sponsorship at the show, which started not that long ago, not nearly as long as you would expect for a 50 year old show. And the feedback we get from new sponsors is always, while we were not ready for this, this is much bigger, much more business than what we expected. And that really is a cool thing to continue to learn
What a great problem to have.
Yeah it definitely is And a way of looking at it is very similar to, I'm gonna use the NFL as an example, for instance, you can be a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but you know,
Or not, or not
Or not, but your life really isn't completed until you make a pilgrimage to the Lambau field.
Okay. I agree with that.
It's on everybody's bucket list okay. You can be a car fan and you can go to all different shows you want to, but until you attend Iola, you can't scratch off your bucket list.
It's a unique experience. That's for sure.
Right. And through the efforts of the team, the board and everybody that's been involved. And in recent years we have infected the fans and the people that love cars. And they've now come to that conclusion that they have to come and attend this. And it's just not an ordinary person that has a car, a collector car, but it's also celebrities. It's also the sponsors that Joe talks about. So we're really blessed and very fortunate that it has gone on and it's gonna continue to go on and it's getting better. The phone's ringing.
That's good. That's a good thing. Do you see the younger generations carrying this old car tradition on, do you see that interest there?
I do. I do. And I'm very hopeful for it too, because the generation of the cars that I'm accustomed to, and I think probably all of us here are more of the sixties, fifties and the seventies. And no, those cars were built for the most part. The muscle cars. Let's just say for kids. Well, we still have kids. We still have kids. They like a 1970 CUDA. Just like anybody else. Now of course it's a little more expensive, but more,
Oh heck yeah,
But you can help. Not, not fall in love with that. You can't be a art major and not fall in love with a 59 Cadillac fins. You just can't.
That's right.
So that era in the automotive time that was really geared to people's attraction is still attracting. One of our biggest growing things is the pinup competitions. Well, the pinups from 1940s during the war goes around, comes around and it's coming around again. So to answer your question, it's strong
And you're starting to get the styling back.
Yes.
With the newer cars coming out, we went through the late seventies, eighties,
Dark age.
Oh my God. Newer, ugly.
The dark age.
At least we're all in agreement.
I'll tell you, we really try to be proactive about that as an issue though, we don't sit here and rest on the crowd that is here today. We really wanna be inclusive. We're family friendly. Within the last couple years, we've added a new late model section. And there are a lot of other shows that are really, they've kind of picked their niche and that's where they are. They've got pretty strict cutoffs and we don't wanna do that. We have so much space. Larry says it all the time. We're big enough for everybody. We're not a show that we want one particular category to dominate. One of the awesome examples of this just within the last couple years is Toys for Trucks. Toys for Trucks has become a great sponsor. They put up a 224 foot building on our grounds this last year to serve as their booth space. And it was really, really cool as a person who goes out to attend SEMA and sees a lot of other shows that are really new, you know, aftermarket style shows to see that sort of commitment and that sort of group integrated in here because we've got people that are here to see stuff from the twenties and thirties. We've got people here that only care about modified or original, but honestly, we've seen our crowd be very accepting of kids bringing something totally different. The lifted trucks and imports of today are really no different than the muscle cars were in the seventies, those were not cars that were at car shows. Those were just, as Larry said, they were fun for the kids and look at them today. So we know that there's a pendulum that swings here and, and our crowd ages. And we wanna keep on offering something for everybody.
Speaking of that, you're not just a car show either. There's a lot of things like you mentioned going on, on the grounds here for all ages. I mean, you're a swap meet. That was my big draw in the way back in the beginning.
Now I got a car to bring, but campsites, there's camping collector toys. There's a toy barn. Pretty excited about that. That's full of kids during the show.
Yep. We wanna have something for everybody, no matter what, we've added a flea market area, because we know we've got people that are interested in shopping, but maybe aren't looking for fenders and wheels. So there's more important vendors out here of a variety, but quite honestly, you hit it on the head in the swap meet, I would say is really most responsible for the show turning into what it is today. Because in the seventies, eighties, nineties, even the two thousands before so many online marketplaces and aftermarket opportunities existed, if you were gonna find what you needed, you had to go to a big swap meet. And, and they did a wonderful job in the early years of promoting this and building this. And that still is true today. We were on the road yesterday and we're constantly talking about the treasures that exist out there. And there's really a resurgence right now in swap meets because as people are watching auctions online and seeing these crazy prices that stuff's out here and you just have to walk around and, and know what you're looking for.
Do you do any purchasing of those materials from Iola itself to have a presence at the swamp meet? I mean, you just, you just mentioned going around to shows and having access and all of a sudden you see this piece. It, I can't imagine it's gonna be difficult not to acquire that, to bring it and say, I know that there's buyers that would buy that at Iola.
Well, speaking for my own, I mean, when I was employed here full time, one of my biggest things I missed was I couldn't go out in the grounds because I was just so busy. So I really missed that, but we don't do that for the show because we know we have vendors that do that. And now that I'm semiretired are basically retired, I do have that opportunity going back out. And I do, if I do see something, I can purchase it for myself. But than that, the vendors are what brings it in. And there are true treasures out there. And sometimes what the smart buyer will do is anticipate the next move as far, as far as what's going to be hot. And some of the things that are really super hot right now, maybe three years ago, weren't and you could have went out there and you could have got 'em for nothing, and, and you wouldn't have found a bank account or a well, couple stocks maybe, but you won't find something that would be able to produce the income that those items would be worth today. So it's an exciting part of the whole purchasing in the vendors is that you have to think ahead the kids today or the next generation I can tell you right now is going to buy transformers. Remember the transformers? Well, that's that generation and I can guarantee you, those are gonna be hot. I'll give you another prophecy that's I know is gonna come true. And that is a Chevy avalanche is going to be a very collectible vehicle, 10, 20 years from now.
Interesting.
And people you've heard it here.
New Speaker:
First chapter,
I guarantee, I, I guarantee It.
Make your money,
But they didn't come from Wisconsin.
Well, no, they didn't come from Wisconsin. But see, that's all part of the mystique what's next. And the real buyer out in that vendor spot is thinking ahead, he's not thinking like everybody else he's thinking ahead. What's the next hot thing. He's not, he's buying transformer for pennies on the dollars getting put in a way, cuz he knows it's gonna be something someday. And it repeats itself. It constantly repeats itself.
Well 72 Bronco.
5, 7, 8 years ago. You could buy it for scrap.
Yep.
Now It's 30, $40,000
Speaker5?:
And it can be rusted too.
Yeah. It can be rusted
Earlier. We talked about the dark ages and here's a great example of that. Late seventies and eighties and early nineties cars that were really ugly. You know, universally believed to be zero styling. There is such a movement out there and the group calls themselves the malaise motors. Okay. And these guys have an absolute obsession with these cars and they understand about themselves that this is a quirky, funny thing to love, but they love it. And it's because it takes 'em back to their childhood. We were talking about this late model stuff yesterday and how we make selections of these nine, you know, 1990s and newer vehicles, cuz we only have so much room and we don't want all of the same thing. I would love to find a cherry 91 Camry because that was the first car I had to drive when I was 16. Nobody on the planet thinks that's an awesome car, but I would love to find one. And so if it is funny, this just speaks to Larry's point. People want what takes 'em back to their own childhood. And so a lot of these cars that we think today are really ugly. They will have their season and that's for sure.
Well, you did say it earlier, you talked about memories. This is what it's about. It's all memories.
This past year you had a 73 Chevelle out there. You never see them.
Right.
?:
That was my first car.
And what's really important for your listeners to know is that I can't speak for other car shows and events, but the Iowa Car Show and the people that are involved with it, like myself, we really believe in this. This is why we're here. This is why it's a passion. Absolutely. It's a burning passion. And for people that don't understand that they have to just look at what they love. If it's funny, I mean they sit in a tree all morning when it's 10, 10 degrees out and they think it's perfectly fine and that's okay. But see it's a passion and we love it. And as life goes on and you become successful and you sort of get done with the kids going to college and everything is pretty well under control. What do we do.
And you have money again?
What do we, yeah. Yeah. And you've got a few dollars. What do you do? You, you grasp? And what I try to tell people is if you really want to understand about how the car show works and the people that attended it, the best movie to watch is Citizen Cane, because that tells the true story about what the car show's about and what's important in life. And I won't give out the buzz on it, but it really is true. And it's Rosebud is the buzzword, are you familiar with it?
Oh yeah. Is that the first movie everyone has to study at some point in English and then right. We just watched it over the holidays.
Yep. That's what it's all about with the car show. And we really believe in that here. So everything that Joe and the team and myself are involved with and the board we believe in this, we really believe in what this is about and the memories. So we try to create that if you go out here and you see the directional signs or the towers on top, that's all done for a reason, everything has a meaning behind it. And that's what the gas station that I'm building right now means to me is that's all about memories.
So you had mentioned earlier that this is a very special year. It's a 50th anniversary. This has been going strong since 1972 and we're in 2022. Now there was a special moment recently with governor Evers as well. What was that all about?
Yeah, this is really cool. And this is something that we'll brag about a little bit because of what it means for all of those involved, a, a official state proclamation was signed by the governor with some bipartisan help to proclaim the week of the car show this year, officially as Iola Car Show Week in the state of Wisconsin.
That's awesome.
That went through all branches of state government and was signed by the governor. And it really is a Testament to a lot of generations of hard work and meaning. And it's really something we're proud of Joe and I are going to probably become consultants on bipartisan, getting along in, in the state government. We both have testified in front of the ways and means committee at the state of Wisconsin and it's bipartisan thing that they can do down there. And they're very, very happy and it's actually very enjoyable to be part of it.
Can I give you some other topics then I'd like to work on next?
We can send you there with all kinds of stuff.
Well it really is easy from the position we're in because how do you not get behind what this show represents? It's
I'm sure for I'm non bipartisan approach. They can find something.
It's a no brainer. Let's say
Just to the state.
That's awesome, that's great.
As with every all about the car podcast, we always break away for a road trip, Wisconsin, and we're gonna break away from the Iola car grounds right now. And we're gonna head to Door County from what I understand, this is one of Joe's favorite destination, at least a quick getaway and one of mine as well. As a matter of fact, if our listeners don't know where Door County is, it's a little peninsula stuck up in the upper right hand corner. So that would be Northeast part of the state. And it's kind of a world all its own. It's a matter of fact, it's been called the Cape Cod of the Midwest.
Yeah. It is one of my favorite destinations. I love taking just maybe a one or two day road trip with a night over. It is like its own environment. As soon as you get out on the peninsula, there's a lot of different parks to check out. There's some awesome restaurants. It's just a charming getaway. And it seems like there are always a lot of people there and yet it somehow doesn't feel like it, it really is a neat spot.
And the, and they say the shoulder seasons of fall and spring and the winter is a fantastic time.
Just you have to call ahead cuz I've tried to go a little bit too late in the winter at times. Some things are closed out.
Sure.
But they'll fall shoulder things. If you don't like people, it's still a great time to be able to Get there.
Absolutely.
And they're known for their apple and plum and cherry orchards. Now the plum part I heard was more of a history thing, but there's plum orchards out there too. So it's, it's really interesting. Beautiful countryside.
There's wine making
There's wine.
There's distillery.
Breweries...
There's there's wine tasting tours by trolley and done that
Done the trolley tours, not the tasting tasting interesting tours, but yeah, the Bluffs, the scenery, I mean, you get a little bit of everything up there
And the best is to go all the way to the north and cross over to Washington island.
Yep. That's an upcoming plan for me.
And if you're hungry, plenty of places to eat up there, Wild Tomato Pizza's one of my favorites along with Al Johnson's, Swedish restaurant. And what's so unique, Brian, about Al Johnson's.
brian:
The goats on The roof, .
The goats on the roof. They actually have the goats up there in the summertime keeping the grass and the roof short.
And you actually remember the Lingen berries,
The Lingen berries. Absolutely.
And they got the goat cams to watch 'em while you're eating.
So what are year those GTOs that got on the roof up their Brian?
Different kind of goat.
Goat. We know how you think.
That's what I wanna see. I drive all that way. I'd be disappointed after it. Wasn't one there.
The four wheel drive goats.
What's another interesting thing too. And Joe, I don't know if you've been there, but the Newport state park it's up towards the point of the peninsula and it's one of the 48 dark sky viewing sites in the world is actually the first dark sky designation in Wisconsin, which is amazing. So that means that there's very little artificial light if any, in that park. And you can see just about anything you wanna see in the sky. Absolutely amazing peninsula state park. Have you ever spent any time there?
Yep. I've camped there. That's an awesome lookout cool area. Just in general,
They got a new eagle lookout up there, which is just great,
Which reminds me of that, of Peninsula Players. The theatrical...
The Peninsula Players. Absolutely. That's an open air,
Artistic endeavors. Mm-Hmm
Absolutely a lot of things to see and you can easily spend. Yeah. You could spend a week up there. We spend a lot of weekends there, but it's always nice to come back.
Yeah, absolutely. That was kind of the question posed is about destinations and the more I think about it, I love these trips, but as I get a little bit older, I really love the trip back. The closer I get to home to Iola, the more I start seeing farmer's fields and it just beautiful scenery that takes me back to my childhood. And that's what I imagine a lot of our customers experience that maybe only come up here once a year. This is just you, you get that sense of familiarity. You start seeing some of the same landmarks and silos and farms and fields. And it's a special feeling. It's a special place.
Always good to come back home right Joe?
It's true. No place like home. I think that it was famous by somebody
Well, we're back home or at least we're back close to home for me, but we're back at the Iowa old car grounds right now. And we're gonna kind of get into the nitty gritty of these classic cars. And Larry, we're probably talking more along your lines here when we're talking about the workings of a car and how you take care of those things.
Well, it all depends on the owner and when it comes to collector cars, there's so many different tiers and I've had 'em all right. Now, most of my cars, I consider drivers. Okay. They're not the pristine show cars. Although I have restored cars to that level very successfully. And so there's all different ways of maintaining those kind of cars and depending what they are, of course the trailer Queens are just what, what it says, they're trailer Queens. You don't really drive 'em you trailer. 'em Where they're going. And if you're kind of person that went like I was that wants to restore 'em back to originality. You put thousands of hours, literally researching every little screw and every little clip, every little whatever. Because when you're judged, if you are in a judging situation, all that kind of stuff comes into play. But the majority of us like myself now have drivers and the drivers are cars that if you all remember when we were back in the days, if you had a car that got a hundred thousand miles, it was pretty well done.
It was shot.
That was a tough birthday right there.
Right. Right. And it had a lot to do with the way they build em, the machining, the oils, the bearings, everything that involves in an engine and such, and that has all changed. Well, now, now a hundred thousand miles. You're not even broke in yet.
Broke in.
Yeah. Yeah. You're just you're I see a car, a hundred thousand miles and I thought, oh wow. But it's nothing. So the cars, if they're just drivers that you drive you're show and enjoy and you have to maintain 'em correctly and doing so you have to sort of go back to those days. It's not a 9,000 mile oil change. It's still 3000 miles, 2000 miles. You have to be really careful of what's in your engine, how your valve guides, everything else that might be affected by the gas you put in. Do you put an additive in? Are they ready to go front? Let it, my God keep out the Ethanol.
The ethanol.
The ethanol,
Keep the ethanol out. I, I run nothing but premium in mine and I try to find non-ethanol gas. So you have to look at some of those things while you're maintaining 'em and believe it or not, it's really becoming hard to find mechanics that understand these cars too, because mechanics have been replaced by techs and techs do everything by codes and they replace the parts. As, as prescribed were years ago, the old cars and I'll use my 67 GTO asan example, you have to have a mechanic that can actually diagnose that mechanic of the past. When I look at 'em now, as they're like doctors, they look at stuff and they can diagnose it. They are the computer, they are your code reader, your scanner. So it's not always easy to find people like that. And then being at the it's a car that you love, you truly love. And it's got to do with what we talked about with memories and everything else. You just don't want that in anybody's hands. I always told people that get into this business, if you're good at what you're doing and you're sincere. And you're honest, you will have cars in line from here all the way to another county because we as car people really appreciate and love those people. So in maintaining them, you just gotta sort of think back the way your dad used to think, or maybe do some research because it's not the same car you have out there today.
Yeah. Dialing in a six pack or door quads. Nobody can do that anymore.
Adjusting the lifters.
And that's. Yep, yep. And some of that dialing that stuff in that's the next level even as an old mechanic. A lot of old mechanics couldn't even do that either. And unfortunately like everything else, those guys are sort of moving on and passing off and believe it or not, we got a lot of gals out there that can hold their own too. When it comes to that kind of stuff too. I'm not just saying guys, there's some really sharp gals out there that I'm, I'm really impressed with when it comes to this. And we got, we got a few around here that I'm, I'm impressed,
The printed materials and the information in order to be able to do all that still available these days. Or do you have to find that old mechanic?
No, there's a lot of reprint. You can educate yourself. That's the, probably one of the best things. Another thing that I tell people is go to YouTube. Say you wanna rebuild a carburetor?
You can find all that stuff on YouTube.
A lot of guys have documented it it's on YouTube. Believe it or not. If you restore a car, I'm a GM guy. So I'm gonna speak for GM, but they have what's called an assembly guide back on cars from the sixties. And literally it's a coloring book when you look at it. And, and one thing about when you restore a car, the car talks to you. It literally talks to you. So if you put this bolt in this bracket, but you put it in, in a different sequence, I guarantee you that car's gonna tell you that in about two more steps and you know what you're gonna do, you're gonna go back,.
Undo it all.
Yes. I read, I read a yes. And I read a lot of articles and the best restoration person will tell you that you will not put together one thing car, without taking parts of it apart again,
I can attest to that. Absolutely.
That's called labor of love, right?
Yeah. What if it's but they talk now I get it. Now I know why that's set up that way. Yep. Now I know why that tab is there and it's great. Cuz the educates, another thing I try to tell people, maintain it. Restoring don't be intimidated by it either. It isn't today's standards, power from the sixties and seventies is actually enjoyable. It's very simple in comparison with the wirings and things like that. Unless you get into like a Hemi or rebuild cars or whatever else, engines, but don't be intimidated by it. Don't let it scare you. Enjoy it.
I had to replace a U joint on a mid thirties. I don't remember what model it was, but I had the solid shaft from the front to the back and it's like, holy cow, how do I get that u joint out of there.?
You tinker with it long enough you figure it out.
Yeah. They built some of these cars back in those days for the average person to maintain
Because mechanics weren't everywhere.
That's right. Then that's right.
You didn't have the money to be able to pay somebody to do it.
You had to go in and adjust your own valves.
Right? And what are some things that everyone should do just on an annual basis? You know, just good, best practice every year?
Again, if it's a driver that you enjoy changing oil and going through it, nut and bolts, your tires. One thing you don't have to really worry about is too much rust because again, you're not fighting. You're not in the snow with it. And when you put it away, my biggest thing I try to tell people is try to put it on a dry floor. If you're forced to put it in a barn or a garage, go to a Menards and get yourself a cheap tarp, lay that down, park it on top of that tarp don't allow that moisture to migrate to that frame. It's just not a good situation. Remember something, those cars when they're in those, in the barns and such as they capture the weather, the cold, and then you get a hot muggy day and there's condensation and stuff. So you have to do that. Now you have to be aware of that. Now the trailer Queens, of course they're in climate control. They don't get out, but that's a whole nother thing, I guess. You have to look at your wallet and see what your budgets can afford.
What is that to do list that you do before you put it away in storage? Let's say you do have that dry floor space and in a garage, out of the elements, what other things should be done?
Well, first of all, I would check my tire pressure. I'd start with that. Fuel is a big thing. And there's a big controversy about fuel that it's all you spend. Of course, we go with a hundred percent. We stay away from the 10% in a lot of places. When you store a car in the wintertime, the fire local fire departments don't want you to have more than a half a tank of gas in their car. That's understandable. And I'm sort of the opinion that I don't know. Some guys like to fill their tank all the way up. They say it prevents condensating. But then I think to myself now I hear a car sat for the last five months and I got this old gas and it, you know, it's and now gas really expires quick. And so I personally store with hardly, any gas in, I get fresh gas put in. So you have to determine what you want. We're on the that particular thing you, on what side? I personally drain it down to nothing. I know there's this condensating idea, but.
Rust in the tank.
Right. Right. But also gas isn't what it used to be even a hundred percent octane or 90, 91% octane. So you gotta do that. And of course there's stabilizers out there too. That does help. I'm just one that I go with, but I try to keep my cars in climate control. One, if they're in climate control, then you have nothing to worry about.
Yeah. It's way better environment.
Yeah. Then you're done. The other thing that'd like to have you do too, is they recommend all the guys in the fields and the gals is that change oil before you put it away.
Yep. I agree.
So there's another thing you can do. I, you know, in my crazy days I used to change it before I'd put it away and I changed it after I got it out because.
I do that.
That's real good.
I'm not sure why. That's why I'm here.
I thought I was nuts, you know, by myself, it's always nice have a company. I don't know if I'm doing it right.
But there's sediments in the pure clean oil. Right?
That's the purpose.
Right. Just might have a sediment.
Condensation gets in there, down the oil.
Okay.
That's how we're splitting hairs. But that comment right there indicates what we feel about our cars.
I feel I'm being good to my car. Right?
How many guys clean their gun after deer hunting? How many guys clean it? When, when they pull it out and go do it.
Good point.
Done.
You know, everybody or fishing rods put new line on. I mean, it always gives a sense of control. And so that's why you do that.
Do you fog your engines?
I don't fog my engines again because I'm in climate control. I guess that's something again. You have to determine if you think that's the best thing.
What is that Brian?
It's an additive that you put down through the carburetor that leaves an oily deposit on all the internal parts of the engine.
So it doesn't rust.
So it smokes pretty good in the spring?
It smokes really good when you finish it. Cause you finish it. Just killing the engine and then in the spring, yeah. You get a lot of smoke.
some guys will say don't do that, but put Marvel mystery oil and a little bit in your gas and let it run. And I know mechanics that recommend doing that too, because that's another thing they they'll do. Everybody's sort of got their own little cocktail, you know, but whatever makes you feel good, you know, that's what you do.
Jacking the tires off the ground.
So they don't get flat spots.
Well the batteries, yeah. I pull all my batteries out. I always disconnected pull my batteries out. And again, when you store at a different location, like you're renting a spot. Most places want that done too. The batteries taken out and I put mine in the basement and I charge it up throughout the year and just keep it fresh.
Keep it off the concrete.
Yep. Keep it off concrete. That's a big one. A lot of people don't realize that, but you gotta keep it off that concrete. So you don't draw that ground down. So that's important too.
A battery. Tenderer that's a good idea to?. Or same type of idea?
Battery tenders are okay. There's nothing wrong with 'em I, again, that's a personal opinion. I like seeing my battery in my basement where it's 70 degrees or 60 degrees and it's okay. It's not, it's got a little blanket on it. Yeah. It's in
You go down and visit once in a while.
Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. It's like, whatever makes you feel good, Whatever. Yeah. That's right.
True guys. You got car guys. You gotta love them.
Yep. Yeah. It's it's what it's all about.
So speaking of covers or covering, should you be covering your car? Put a cover over the top of it.
I do cover all my cars. Okay. And again, no matter what the situation is, as far as where you're storing it. I mean, in some cases, if you got birds that can get in there, some of the, what they leave behind can be actually harmful for your paint.
Yeah paint.
Yep. I definitely cover it. Now. I use a cloth type. I want it to breathe a little again. We're talking about cars.
we're all looking at you like, okay.
That steel really needs that oxygen.
Some tells, something tells me I'm thrown off by some normal. Some people that think the same way feels so bad.
We're good. You want that to breathe so you don't have that condensation sticking out.
Exactly.
So you to get it out.
There's some reason behind insanity. Yeah.
Say what about a heating blanket? Have you considered a heating blanket?
I have never gone that far.
I Have used heated blankets when I sleep with the car at night. Yes .
Oh, that's too good. So we've got it all tucked away and we go out and we look at it a lot, but what happens in the spring? Do we just reverse that to-do list? Or are there a few things to do that are different
In the spring? You bring it out and of course you go through the process of putting a battery in and checking things out. I, before I reset the battery, I look at the bay where it goes in, make sure there's no rust, corrosion, any kind of thing going on underneath the, the pan where, where it sits in, you go through your terminals, clean those up. And you basically start the process over. Now me, I don't have a full tank of gas. So first thing I get is that really fresh gas. And I tell you, it makes and you fire that thing up and it really makes it all right. One thing I failed to say, too, that I try to do is before I put the car away, I'm sorry. We're gonna go back a minute. But before you put the car away too, you don't want to just start it up and drive it to your spot. That's maybe 500 yards away or even a mile away because what happens is you're creating condensate. It's getting your muffler system. It'll sit there all winter. So take it for a nice little long ride before you park it, get it warmed up. Get that condensate out that outta that muffler. So it's, it's got a good winter ahead of it.
What about that? It's a good idea.
So along with that, as you get the car out, you go through it. Biggest thing is tire pressures. You have to check your tire pressures, make sure you're good to go there and then go through and basically start the car out. Make sure there's nothing really weird going on. Prior to that, of course, you know, you do your visuals, your belts. I don't drive in the rain. So don't worry about the windshield wiper blades but general things again, you're going back in time when things were built, not to last for 300,000 miles, but for a hundred thousand miles. So you gotta keep that and where you can wash it, you wax it. I go around, I spray the lock sets. Just good general maintenance. I mean, if you have any other problems which you do again, before you put it away is you note those and stick it into cars. So you, because you forget. So you need to put yourself a note because as we get older, we forget things.
Absolutely
Makes total sense.
A lot of good ideas there, for sure. When it comes to let's say ongoing beautification maintenance or the pretty parts, the convertible tops, the padded dashes, things like that. How do you keep those things looking new?
Well, that's a experiment and I don't really go into products names, cuz we don't endorse any product over another, but you have to be careful sometimes what you use because some of those chemicals are not the best for what you think they are. So be real cautious, do a little research on it with the collector cars, being what they are and the market they are. They're always coming out with more and more new products for those kinds of vinyls and convertable tops. So be careful in what you do. But I have gone as far as cleaning vinyl tops off with a toothbrush the whole top from start to finish,
That's love.
Oh I loved every minute of it.
You gotta get down into those pockets and
Really you're gonna clean that whole thing.
But that's what you do because it gives you control over what you're doing. You don't wanna spray a chemical on that. When you get over to that last part of that chemical, all of a sudden something happened to your top because it sat too long. So when you got your baby in front of you like that, and you're doing a vinyl top, let's don't get too carried away because if you get too carried away and you get ahead of yourself, your chemicals react differently. Given the time that they're on surface. So that's why I use the toothbrush cuz I would just do an area of five by five and then I clean it and I moved to the next area and continue on until I knew I was satisfied. Cuz chemicals can do some really weird things. You have to be very, very careful. Well let's the name of the game?
Well, some of your cheap or some of your knockoff, it could be pure kerosene in there. Well, and that had just ruined everything.
I bought a pair of yellow toe socks thinking I was gonna get yellow toe socks while they were, they were knockoffs from China. And you wouldn't know looking at the package. There's a lot of that chemicals work the same way. That's why you have to be very careful and you have a vinyl, original, vinyl top. Like I have on my GTO. You don't get a second chance at that. If all sudden you fade it,
Who can put a vinyl top on anymore?
Well, yeah. And the thing is, it's not original. Yes. That's like a headliner.
Then how do you, how do you test the product on that? I mean even....
You start out small.
Even a small corner though, it's too much,
You help your buddy out
Again. We don't endorse one product over the other, but I'm also available to tell you what I'd use as people just talk to me. But I mean, as far as from a perspective of
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