To All, A BIG THANKS to all of you who attended the Smoky Mountain Nationals and the 2023 Southern Bolter's Jamboree, I hope ya'll had as much fun as I did. I also want to say Thank You to Dave Hoque and his Family and crew for making us feel so welcome, they did an amazing job putting this show together. As this was just the second year of this show it still had over 100 AD trucks registered, that was twice as many as last year. All totaled there were 96 Trucks in attendance for 2023. Dave was extremely accommodating with our group, he gave us prime real-estate to set up the Stovebolt HQ. Originally I had planned for 5 or 6 trucks from our group, well that dwindled down to 1, thank you PaPa Joe "You The Man" !! There were some problems with getting all of our trucks to the show, Archie's '46 "Puked" as he said and Alvin had to reverse course because of transmission problems, he did manage to make the show in a barrowed Toyota (he'll here about that for a while). Either way we had a blast.
Linda and I met up with PaPa Joe and his Grandson Eli, Thursday morning in Maggie Valley NC at our now No. 1 stop the "Buttered Biscuit". I watched as Eli made short work of 6 pieces of French Toast, 2 scrambled eggs and a huge biscuit. Afterwards we followed Ol' Blue over the mountain to Townsend, don't let PaPa Joe tell you any different he had Ol' Blue in the wind. We meet up with the rest of our crew later that evening and had dinner at the Timberline Steak House, great service and food, they just didn't have Archie's brand of BEER.
Friday started off with everyone meeting up for breakfast at a the Townsend Pancake House restaurant and some good conversation. We heard the long version of Alvin's troubles, I still rubbed it in that he missed the "Buttered Biscuit". At the Show site we placed our canopies and set up Archie's and Eli's tables. Archie had his book for sale again and Eli was selling his plate toppers.
Dave took no time in recruiting "Voluntolds" from our bunch to assist in setting up operations, we were glad to help. Picture a "Stovebolt" version of an Erector Set, that would be us trying to setup a donated canopy with miss matched parts and no instructions and a language barrier (Tim has a bit of an accent), a few Zip Ties and some Painters Tape and BOOM there it is. Everything was in the name of fun. We were glad to join in where we were needed, Dave actually gave us Top Billing at this event with the "Stovebolt" logo on the event T Shirt. Thanks again Dave.
The show started out with Friday being a laid back meet and greet. With set up completed the focus turned to the Friday afternoon cruise over the Smoky Mountain Foothills Parkway and the Patrons pick show at the Peaceful Side Social afterwards. The line up of AD trucks rolled out of Townsend and snaked it way over the hills and around the curves, the route was just about 30 miles, and back into Townsend. My Wife Linda, Tim and I had a great vantage point riding in the back of PaPa Joe's 3100, the view of the trucks carving through the curves was a thing of beauty. PaPa Joe handled Ol' Blue and fought with his worn syncros a time or two but managed to give us a great ride. Once back at the Peaceful Side Social the trucks were lined up for a Patrons Choice judging and award. There were some outstanding trucks at the Smoky Mountain Nationals and the Patrons Choice was one of the very best.
We, the Southern Bolter's, retired to the campground pavilion and had a great evening telling stories and catching up with old friends and making some new one. We met Joseph (Jody) and Robin from Milledgeville Ga., this was their second time to the show. Jody and Robin fit right in and had a great time, as Alvin said "Our kind of Folks". I passed out a few door prizes (ask Alvin about his "Drill Bits in a Can") and a couple of unique gifts (Don and Tim, watch for their pictures). Some grilled Hotdogs and Burgers and some adult beverages, all was right with the world.
Saturday morning started with us again meeting for breakfast at the Townsend Pancake House, their service was great, I never had an empty coffee cup. The show was starting to go full bore once we were at our site, we sang the "Stovebolt Gospel" to the masses. Some where along the morning Archie received word the HotRod Lincoln, Jerry himself would be joining us. Jerry had been attending a graduation in Knoxville for his daughter and was going to make the trip over the mountain to join us. About that time we were introduced to Tom (Tom 54) who joined us in the HQ, Tom lives not more than an hour from Townsend, he drove his 3100 to the show and found our site. It was great to meet all of these members and be able to place a face with a name. The show had the addition of a Swap Meet as well, it was there that I crossed paths with another Bolter (I must apologize at this point as I don't remember his name), he had an entire table of parts and was willing to let it go for $100.00. I told him I'd be right back. Jerry had joined us by then, I told him about the parts and the deal was done, he even managed to add a fully rebuilt 216 to the mix.
We moved to the stage area for the judging awards, PaPa Joe's truck was the only one we had registered. Dave thanked "The Stovebolt Group" for all their help and support, and then had Tim join him on stage just to have him say hello. PaPa Joe's number was called twice for door prizes, an LMC hat and a hat from the local antique tractor club. The show was judged by Peoples Choice, the top ten was an great selection of trucks covering every version of the hobby. The Best of Show was absolutely perfect. After the awards the trucks were again lined up for a cruise, this was a longer route going over the parkway to the Dragons Tail Harley Davidson store and back. Being the great "Stovebolter's" we were we elected to stay behind and drink Beer.
We met up later at a local walk up burger spot the "Burger Master", great burgers! We sat around and talked up the weekend events, a good time for all. Later we said our "So Longs" and posed for a picture with Jerry's new found 216. Thank you to all of my friends, old and new for making this Jamboree a great time, until next year "Keep On Truckin". TUT.
Last edited by TUTS 59; Wed Jun 07 2023 01:52 AM.
Craig "Living life in the SLOW lane" Come, Bleed or Blister something has got to give!!! '59 Apache 31, 327 V8 (0.030 over), Muncie M20 4 Speed, GM 10 Bolt Rear... long term project (30 years and counting) '58 Viking 4400, 235, 4 Speed (Thor)
Great writeup- - - - - -and Archie's rig got some major surgery on Sunday afternoon. His cylinder head followed me home to middle Tennessee, where it's going to get a full rehab, along with a new head gasket once the rebuild is finished. That engine was rebuilt around 50 years ago, so the idea that 216's are fragile and unreliable has been proved to be false once again! There was about a half inch gap blown in the gasket between the #2 and #3 cylinders which caused the miss and compression loss on those cylinders. 46 Texaco will be back on the road soon!
I'm glad things worked out so I could attend the show and see my stovebolter friends again! Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Sir. A great write-up that peaked my interest quite a bit, to include "over 100 AD trucks registered". How many of those trucks would you say had stovebolt sixes in them, either 216s 235s, or 261s? Why? 100 ADs at an event in TN is impressive but 80%, or even 50% having vintage powerplants would even be more impressive. Please tell us? Thanks TUT. V/r, Nick
Loved this write up on the event, TUTS 59! Only wished we could of attended! Thanks again for the email invitation. Hopefully we can go next year and with “Georgia”, our ‘49 AD Chevy PU. Steve is planning on retiring soon which will give us more time to work on her rebuild. As it is now, we only get a day or two every now and then. But we are slowly making progress. Jerry helped us a lot to get the engine firing after several patient evening phonecalls and at least one video call - thanks again Jerry. A big thanks to Everyone on this forum who’s contributed a response to our novice (and sometimes downright stupid) questions! We are looking forward to someday meeting you and thanking you all in person!! 😊 Speaking of meeting Stovebolters…Steve and I had the distinct pleasure of actually meeting Jerry when he stopped by our house on his way to Tupelo, MS. What a great guy! We felt like we knew him already but it was so nice to put a face to the name. He’s even nicer in person! 😊 We throughly enjoyed his visit and shop talk, but only wish it had been longer! (These are pics taken with Jerry March, 2023.) Anyway, enjoy your weekend everyone, I sure am! 😁 - SuziQ
We need a “Like” 👍 button! All good posts and a “great” write up by TUTS 59!
The AD truck community is awesome, but even they can’t beat the great group of folks who are the Southern Stovebolters! Thank you TUT for once again organizing an awesome Jamboree! I am both blessed and proud to be a part of this awesome group!
Last edited by PaPa Joe; Thu Jun 15 2023 07:47 PM. Reason: Removed necessary info.
Sir. A great write-up that peaked my interest quite a bit, to include "over 100 AD trucks registered". How many of those trucks would you say had stovebolt sixes in them, either 216s 235s, or 261s? Why? 100 ADs at an event in TN is impressive but 80%, or even 50% having vintage powerplants would even be more impressive. Please tell us? Thanks TUT. V/r, Nick
Well Nick, first off thanks for the interest , I would love to tell you that 80 or 90 of the trucks had the old in line sixes, that would of course be an outright lie. As of my last count on Saturday there were 7 trucks with Stovebolt's still under the hoods. There were only a few that didn't have many modifications to the motors and drive train, it seems to be the norm that the first thing changed is the engine. Many of the trucks were swapped to LS engines while more than a few had the old standby SBC. What I did find encouraging was that most of the trucks were driven to the show, very few Trailer Queens.
Either way it was a great show. I'm already working with Dave on next years event.
Craig "Living life in the SLOW lane" Come, Bleed or Blister something has got to give!!! '59 Apache 31, 327 V8 (0.030 over), Muncie M20 4 Speed, GM 10 Bolt Rear... long term project (30 years and counting) '58 Viking 4400, 235, 4 Speed (Thor)
