April is finally here, and for car guys in the Pacific Northwest, that means one thing: It's swap meet time — and you can meet us there.
The Portland Swap Meet, held at the Portland Expo Center, is the largest auto parts swap meet on the West Coast. More than 50,000 parts hunters roam the grounds over the course of three days, with over 3,500 vendor booths offering countless pre-1980 parts and project cars. And that's just one of the events - Another meet at Portland International Raceway, known as the Portland Auto Swap, is only about a half mile away, and shuttle buses run constantly between the two events. In short, if you're looking for something specific for your project, chances are you'll find it between these two events this weekend.
ACC will have a booth inside the Expo Center, so be sure to stop by and see us. We'll have special
subscription pricing for both ACC and SCM, and if you're already a subscriber, identify yourself as such and we'll give you an ACC window decal. We'd love to hear what
you think of the magazine.
There are always deals if you know where (and when) to look. Last year, I found a straight, non-rusty front fender for my ’72 Chevrolet K10 4x4 on Sunday for $20. The seller was tired of looking at it and didn't want to take it home. I couldn't believe my luck - until I realized that I had to carry it for the rest of the afternoon. About two hours later, I was wishing I'd bought a lighter-gauge reproduction.
This year, I'm looking for a Holley 750 double pumper for my Caprice - maybe something I can rebuild on the cheap and install in place of my 800 cfm Edelbrock, just to see if there are any quarter-mile gains to be had there. I'm also going to tempt Executive Editor Chester Allen with every ’67-’72 Chevy and GMC C10 pickup I can find, since he's been talking about buying one for over two years now and still hasn't pulled the trigger.
I'd also like to find a good vintage Ford pickup to turn into an ACC magazine hauler for this summer's cruise-ins and events. I think an F100 with original paint, a straight six, and a column-shifted manual would be perfect alongside our Hemi Dodge and ’64 Nova Wagon. What do you think? Know where we can find one?
