Heavy Rebel Weekender 2005

This was the 5th year for the Heavy Rebel Weekender music, art, and car show at the Millenium Center in downtown Winston-Salem, NC. I've been trying to get to this show for years, but something always came up. This year I actually made it! The show was a total blast, but for me, the roadtrip there and back was equally enjoyable. This was the first REAL long distance cruise for the '53 at ~220 miles roundtrip.

The fastest route from Raleigh to Winston-Salem is I-40, but an enclosed drive-line and 4.11:1 gears makes the truck's top-speed in the 50-55 mph range. I had three main concerns going into the trip. 1) Would I get my doors blown off by passing motorists (or worse rear-ended). 2) would there be mechanical troubles on a trip that long and 3) would there be mechanical troubles due to the high-speed/high-rev nature of the route.

Well, I'm happy to report that the truck performed flawlessly. It's been hot as hell here lately and the humidity has put the heat index through the roof. To offset some of this effect, I rolled out of Raleigh by 7:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. I packed as many tools as would fit in my larger toolbox, 2 gallons of fuel, a gallon of water, a quart of oil, and a cooler of beverages suitable for a hot day at a car show. I also took a boombox for tunes on the road.

Although the motor was winding higher than I prefer, I never really pushed it. The speedo is currently inop, but I believe I was travelling somewhere right around 50 mph. I base this solely on seat-of-the-pants comparisons with test runs I made the previous night, with my wife following the truck in our daily driver. On one run down the highway, I found what I thought was a "comfortable" speed for the truck. This was in the 45-50 mph range. On another run, I pushed it "slightly beyond comfortable" and this speed was between 52-55 mph. I tried to keep the speed/effort right at the start of the beyond comfortable point. This gave me a little extra top-end if needed to get out of someone's way, or accelerate for some strategic reason.

This seemed to work out great. The engine temp never climbed above 180, although I am not sure how accurate the gauge is. I do know that it has read higher in stop and go traffic, so the ram air effect must have been doing a great job dissipating heat from the radiator. The truck's road manners were pretty impressive, even with the bias-ply tires. The only real issue was a few bridges, where the transition to/from the roadbed caused the suspension to bottom out. This is defintely one of the areas I'd like to improve over time.

So, I rolled into the show by 9:15, registered, and hung out with some folks from the HAMB. I recognized a number of their cars first, and then figured out who their owners were. Talk about a great group of traditional car enthusiasts.

Folks drove from all over the
Southeast in vintage tin that looked like it rolled straight outta the 50's or early 60's. I don't have an exact count, but I think there were ~50 cars in attendance.

To call it a car show is really a bit of a stretch. Yes, there are cars parked along a closed off section of downtown. Yes, there are people walking around checking em out. Yes, there are a few awards to recognize stand-out cars/paint/interior/etc. But it's really more of a party atmosphere.

People are busy catching up on latest projects, playing "what if?" with body lines, colors, and customization possibilities. That doesn't leave too much time to clean bugs of off windshields or break out the California car dusters.

Most/all of the cars in attendance are daily-drivers for the participants, so "the show" part of it all, is really for spectators coming downtown to see what all the fuss (and pipe rapping) is about.














The "awards ceremony" was at 4:00, after which time the mud wrestling started. You gotta love the idea of hot chicks in 95 degree heat throwing down in a huge mud pit. Did I mention there was a guy with a waterhose squirting em down?

A few guys jumped into the pit, but fortunately they were outnumbered and did not clutter the otherwise enjoyable action. And it got pretty intense at times too. I was back with the rest of the crowd and still managed to get mud flung on my clothes and shoes. The price to pay for getting a few good shots.

Afterwards it was time to head home. The local police wanted all the cars off of Trade Street by 5:00, which worked out fine for me, since I wanted to head out early enough to get home comfortably before dark.

I gassed up at a local station and proceeded to spray fuel all over the interior of the truck. A shaved filler cap looks cool, but it kinda sucks for practicality. I do plan to relocate the tank beneath the bed. Not so much for additional room in the cab (which will create some nice storage space), but to avoid dealing with fumes, fuel spills, and the possible KABOOM sound that might happen when I hit the (to be intalled one day) solenoids to pop a door open.

The truck ran as well going home as it did getting there. Because I already had one leg of the journey under my belt, I was able to relax a little more. Even with heavier traffic and hotter temps outside, the truck proved itself reliable and comfortable, even while slightly pushing the speeds it was designed to operate at.

With the slick paint job and lowering, it's hard to keep in mind that it was once a farm or utility truck of some sort in it's past life. There's even a white serial number stenciled on the still blue firewall, indicating that it was part of a fleet of vehicles. It appears that the '53 was well-cared for, but many of these trucks were worked hard and put up wet. Hopefully after all those years, the '53 won't mind shuttling me to/from work, the home/car/parts store, and the occasional show or cruise-night. Geez, sounds like the type of retirement I'd like to have.

For additional pictures, event coverage, and list of bands from this year's Heavy Rebel Weekender, check out: http://www.heavyrebel.net . Be sure to bookmark the site, because HRW 2006 is sure to be even bigger and better.

-murph