Rolling Bones '08 Bonneville Bash Pt 1.
By Dan Parker

The beginning;

John Jeffrey and myself, Dan Parker, flew into NY State on Thursday 7th August for what was to be three weeks of complete hot rod overload. Yes it was the start of the Rolling Bones '08 Bonneville bash.

John's journey took him from South Africa, to New York City and then onto Albany where he was collected by Ken Schmidt (one half of the Bones team) in Poteet's nearly finished wicked '34 coupe. This being the longest journey it had made to date on its own (round trip of about 90miles!). They made it back to base in sunny Greenfiled center NY, to the old barn that the Rolling Bones call home. I arrived via Philadelphia late that evening, by which time John had already hit the sack for the night.

Friday 8th August

The Bones had been thrashing for about two weeks or so to be ready to go and there was still a whole bunch of things to do. Due to my own old jalopy '39 sedan not being ready, Ken very kindly (!) offered us the use of his own 3-winda for the whole trip. The only downside? It hadn't turned a wheel in anger since the previous Bonneville thrash. Meaning it needed some attention. We managed to get her started and coaxed her the half hour from Ken's home to the shop. Once there John and I did a quick look around, made a list and got on with it; re-packing wheel bearings, bleeding and adjusting brakes, trying to get the 90,000 mile flathead to idle, new battery, re-wiring the lights etc, etc. By late afternoon it was deemed ready for a maiden voyage back to Ken's. All went well until we pulled into Ken's drive and noticed the rear wheel dragging. Once it had cooled from a lofty 750 deg we adjusted again and voila........... as ready as she's goin to be for a 5,000 mile journey!!!!

Saturday 9th August

Sorting out the trailer, packing tools and merchandise. In fact just about everything except the kitchen sink. Spares including trans, motor, powergens, starters, carbs. You name it we had it stashed somewhere. By late morning some of the other faithful had started to arrive... Here is a quick run down of who they are and some of there hot rodding history..........

Ok here we go with the people on the trip;

Ken Schmidt & Keith Cornell, both hot rodders from an early age with a great deal of East (and West!) coast history between them, they are Rolling Bones.

Paul Howard, aka AV8Paul on the HAMB, hails from Saginaw Beach, MA. Drives a flathead powered '31 A roadster. Has completed many cross country trips and is a huge fan and promoter of East coast rodding, Ty-Rods, Gathering of the Faithful etc, etc.

Jim Fleming (our engine and tuning Guru!!!). Jim comes from near to Orange County Choppers. Has built many cars over the years. His current cars are a 'T modified and his freshly completed '32 roadster with baby hemi and 5 speed. Has a nack for detail and is a man of few words!!

Russ Daly (nicknamed the professor) currently resides in Rhode Island and has an amazing history not only with hot rodding and Bonneville but for road trips in themselves. Watched Janis Joplin in the early 60's in Cal without knowing really who she was(!!). A big fan of cooking under the hood although he said spagetti was messy. Went to Bonneville first in '62, finally crewing on a team that went over 260mph with a 34 roadster......... Can tell stories all night long and eats like nobody on earth!! Russ joined us in his newly completed 26'T tub that was eight years in the building......

"Woody" who is a friend of Pauls, is in his late 60's, works as a full time truck driver. He drove our van and trailer with finesse for the whole trip and could park the thing with great ease. Very dry sense of humour and a dead pan face. Great comedian and gave Russ a run for his money on the eating steaks. Has a couple of Model A's in his stock pile and was a first timer to the salt.

Brian "Bronxter" Darwas, creator of the road trip to Bonneville movie, general all round top bloke and his girlfriend Jennifer made the scene from the Bronx, New York. Brian was hoping to have his '32 5 winda fresh out for the trip but alas didn't make the time schedule. So it was a rental and lots of filming for them. Brian was in a famous punk band for many years and generally doesn't like any other music!!

Jake "Jakester" Roberts and his wife Lou-ann from Glen Cove, NY. Jake probably has more miles on his fast and traditional '39 sedan than Ken and Keith due to the amount of cross country trips he makes. Jake's own '32 3 window has been in the build stage for over thirty years (he purchased the body and chassis when he was 15) and with a last minute thrash risked the 5,000 mile journey with 396 power and a 5-speed, you just couldn't wipe the smile off his face!!

Bart, street rodder from Vermont, who emailed and wanted to join the caravan out to the salt. We welcomed him along, veteran of many trips on the road in his '32 roadster.

John Jeffrey originally from Chichester, UK, now living in Capetown SA, came to see me one Sunday afternoon last year. Purchased a few T shirts. I asked him if he wanted to make the pilgrimage, he said "sure thing" and that was that. I knew he would do it. His '29 A roadster pick-up and '32 roadster have a very clean neat look, following the Doane Spencer style. He evoked his own 'bones style cars about 8-10 years back, alround top bloke.......... The only problem was trying to get the keys off him for Ken's '32 as he seemed to think it was his own after a while!!!!

Dan Parker (Limey boner), that's me. Lover of all things hot rod, especially long road trips where you become totally immersed in the speed and the car you are in. Salt addict, useless mechanic, beer drinker (and the sod never gets a hangover! - Editor). I'm sure people would say a lot worse!

Sunday 10th August, time for the big off..........

Due to the BNI/SCTA changing the Bonneville running this year, we decided to take a more "gentle" trip out to the salt. That plus the fact we had three un-tested cars plus the two racers and trailers as well. So we left bright and early on Sunday morning meeting for coffee and gas before hitting the road....

Part Two to follow shortly...