The Stovebolt Site Forums The Side Lot Old Dominion Stovebolt Society (MD, VA, West VA, DC, DE and PA) Wrenchfest 2026

OK Guys... enough crickets.
Carl and I want to have Wrenchfest 2026 at my farm. Big farm shop. Plenty room. Two 30 amp camper hookups. Level spots for tents. Lodging 20 min away for those who need it. 12 miles east of 95, exit 31. Stony Creek.

Jethro's place is out in the sticks and is on the scenic Nottaway River. A great place for a rowdy bunch if one were to show up. Plenty of wrenching room in his shop.

What time of year are you thinking?

Don

End of April. We have usually had it on Carl and Jerry's birthday. Come on!
More precise... weekend of April 23-26.

That could be doable for me, but it is way too soon to commit. The wife and I are going to Townsend the end of May so we will just have to wait and see what the schedule is. Thanks for posting up the date well in advance.

Don

This sounds like great planning. 👍

Noted in by the stroke of the pencil. Sounds like a plan.

Thanks Jethro for taking this on!

You'll probably want to invite Jay (Lugnutz) so he can return The Ned to its rightful owners (The ODSS)

Knowing Jay he will be scheming some magic for the Ned trophy

Once we get The Ned back from Lugnutz with a complete T-5 attached to it, doesn't it then need to go to Hotrod Lincoln so that he can do something hotroddy to it?
If that is the case, we need to make sure that we can get Jerry to come on out.

Sounds like a plan. My daughter and her husband are expecting grandchild 3 and that would be the only thing I could think of right now keeping me from the festivities. Of course this pesky career can get in the way by I could control that easier.

Carl -- Jerry was the Ned Custodian prior to Jay. Jerry has some 'splainin' to do before the ODSS High Council...

Lugnutz can't make it but he will get The Ned to his sister's in Harrisonburg. I'm sure one of the western bolters could retrieve it.
Jerry said that Mary is stable and he will try to make it.
Haven't heard back from Hambone yet.

Jay just said there is a chance he could make it.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
The beaver stick bo staff of death will be at the ready sir.

Even *I* tremble at the mere mention of the beaver stick bo staff of death ... for I have seen it.... and wept.

Carl, your dedication to the art, in that you practice your BSBSOD kata daily, is commendable. Master Red Green is proud of you, no doubt.

I've got it penciled in!

Looking forward to it!

Mike B

Amtrakjoe was the first recipient of the...
Well, I'll let him tell the story, as I am certain that there is still an ongoing investigation on his charges upon which i do not intend to jeopardize.

Harumph, I guess.

Harumph indeed,

Better check with Billy -- I think harrumph has two r's in it.

Must be a Sussex County, Virginia thing. Harumph, Harrumph.
Interestingly enough, "harrumph" (or harumph for that matter) is specifically a description of a sound, such as clearing of the throat, a huff, grunt or snort uttered for the purpose of showing displeasure without saying much.
It is similar to when flatus is expressed in public. We observe the volume, duration, tonal quality, and olfactory properties, but choose a single word to describe all of these descriptive properties.
Winston Churchill was well known for harrumphing, but very likely seldom ever uttered the word "harrumph".
As far as Winston Churchill responding to he other topic, my bet is that he just laughed just as all real men do.

Carl,

Although the late Prime Minister is, indeed, an authoritative source, it might behoove you to consult *the* source for this conundrum you've drawn us into -- Governor William J. Le Petomane

Actually, my addition to Ned happened last year- - - -just before it got passed on to Lugnutz! I was very honored to receive that award!
Jerry

I can't wait to see what you added Jerry!

Jethro ... How amenable is your place to Class A Motorhomes? My red neck coach can probably deal with farm-like conditions, but for a real classy RV?

Asking for a friend ... You know him ...

I've got two 30 amp RV outlets. And a water hose.

Cool! How about roads, gates, etc?

He don't live down in Hillbilly Holler.
Ground's flat and hard.
Hoity toity and yank friendly, but if you camp too close to the river and start hearin banjo music, you best move back closer to camp.

If I hear banjo music ... I'll be joining in!!
If you hear good banjo playin, that'll be Brother NAPCOMan's son. If you hear bad banjo playin ... that'll be me. You'd think after 48 years of pickin' it, I'd be better than I am ....

Try the other nostril!
LOL!
Jerry

We need to get the band back together!
Anyone remember who all used to be in our band?

I’m sure that you all are aware that on the 23rd of April, that “2” great men made their entrance on this here planet many years ago! 1 of them was really many, many years ago!
Yes, I’m in!
Jim

“Gimme some lovin”. I’m in!

Well ... I can't readily conjure up the member list from our most active roster, but here's a shot from the car show in Clifton, VA (2007) when we formed the Old Dominion Stovebolt Society. Look how young Sweet looks! Billy never changes. I'm just a touch more gray... Sweet or Phil can probably ID most everyone in the photos.

John

I see 7 men in a row sporting Capri short pants. (Not that there anything wrong with that, of course.)
I believe that I have made a grievous error as to who was in my band man.

I thought the same thing Carl! They look like they should be on a golf course instead of driving old trucks.

Don

Now Now Gentlemen, those photos are almost 20 years old......

We are all WAY cooler now....

As for who is in the photos, using the first photo, I do not know the first person on the left, but then its Phil Sr., Sweet, Billy, Milliman, Pete C (Dr. Chrome), Phil Jr, and Jim McGinnis

Jethro, you will receive a Presidential Recognition for setting this up! I will pencil in the date!

Sweet... speaking of the "President"... Will you be draggin' him along with you?

Well, by the end of April if his truck isn't running on its own, then yes I will drag it down so we can bring it back to life.......

Hopefully we can meet near Richmond and convoy down. Or perhaps the Southern MD contingent can meet me here in FB and we all head down.

Well, by the end of April if his truck isn't running on its own, then yes I will drag it down so we can bring it back to life.......

Hopefully we can meet near Richmond and convoy down. Or perhaps the Southern MD contingent can meet me here in FB and we all head down.

Well, The Southern Maryland contingent consists of only one person. Me, I am the only person left in Southern Maryland.

Then SoMD is in good hands! Hopefully the NAST Chapter of the ODSS will be able to lay north for the event.

(Northern Alabama/Southern Tennessee)

We await one and all to make the venture to the SEVA Chapter sponsored WFAH.
(South East Virginia Chapter Wrench Fest and Hootenanny.)

Ahhhh a blast from the PAST! Back when you wore your Sunday best to show after spending the week working on your old truck. Even John had his shirt tucked in for the photo! That was a large car show in Clifton VA. They were surprised to see so many trucks at one time.

Sounds like a wonderful plan fellas. I miss seeing everyone! I'll plan to be there! I will strive to finally replace a tranny before then !

Well, thanks, Mike! I'm probably going to be here in Southern Maryland till I die, trying to get my truck back on the road!

S2

If you run out if time, throw the replacement transmission in the bed. Oh wait, ease transmission onto the bed with clean cardboard on it with a piece of plywood on top of the cardboard. (I almost forgot about you walnut bed,)
We can pull that old one out and slip that new one in no time. It is Wrenchfest after all.

Hell yes Jim, that's a project we can knock out in two days.

With beer

And three days without beer!!

Lugnutz checking in . . . .
I have THE NED ready for the event. I’ve been practicing some new magic tricks. Carl should bring a priest with him since he usually accuses me of dark powers.

The Honorable Reverend Jethro will have to do. He will surely need to dust off his preacher suit.

Gosh, I hope the snakes are out by then! If I'll be preaching then I gotta come up with a snake or two!

Once a snake handla, always a snake handla.

I can bring snakes ...

Well with a day of rain and the great snow melt of 2026 underway, I have put the skis down for the day - at least long enough to catch up on my administrative duties. Late April at Jethros? Maybe I should consider? On the calendar. Some other stuff should not get too much in the way so consider it mostly in ink.

If someone is shopping for a T5 transmission, I can bring it to the Wrenchfest. We need to discuss details ahead of time so you get what you want. I have a few that need a good home. However, none available with a cable speedo connection at this time.

We have a couple three projects lined up so far for the Wrenchfest. We welcome any others if you bring them.
1) Pull a 261 from a big Task Force truck.
2) Install a headliner in an AD.
3) Adjusting the front clip of an AD.

There will be a "Swap Meet table" for you to display any of you extra unneeded parts.
There will also be a free section on said table for getting rid of the parts which you are tired of tripping over.
A few years back, I bartered a '52 3 speed transmission with Hardshell for a handle J Beam. Skint him, I did.
I offered to even it up by helping him to finally install it in his truck. Hope he shows up so that my conscience can be eased.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend this glorious event this year!
Looks like it will be a great event and I’m bummed!

Unless there’s some significant changes in my health, I will also not be able to make it this year.

I always look forward to seeing you guys but guess it’s not in the cards this time

Have the fun I know you will and see you down the road.

Victor

Update! My parts order arrived. I have several T5s available and now ALL of them have cable speedometer capabilities. Let me know if you need one.

Lugnuts are these overdrive units?

Yes. These are 5 speed floor shift transmissions with an overdrive gear. They were widely used in Chevy S10 and GMC Sonoma pickup truck trucks in the 1980s through the mid 1990s and are capable of bolting to a Chevy bell housing with a Muncie bolt pattern. The main appeal is that they’re fully synchronized and have an overdrive gear. The other nice thing is that you can keep your original floor stomp starter, and original clutch package. You can also keep your cable operated speedometer!!! I have these transmissions in both of my half ton pick ups. I have been rebuilding them for about 10 years and have a surplus at this time. I fully inspect, service, and rebuild these transmissions, depending on what they need. Some need a full rebuild. Others just need cleaning and are fit for immediate service without the need for a rebuild.

Lugnutz,
I recently purchased a T5 but it came with a digital speedo. I am fine with that but can it be converted to a cable?
Thanks in advance,
Jim

Jim,
I grew up in Montgomery County, PA. Ever hear of Souderton?
Yes, you can convert your T5 with the VSS style speedometer connection to a cable speedometer connection. I will assume you have an S10 T5, but the necessary modification is also possible with the Camaro T5.
Allstate Gear is a vendor that sells an aftermarket S10 T5 tail housing that has the cable speedometer style connection. The tail housing costs $250 plus shipping. You will also need a TH350 speedometer housing and the correct driven gear and drive gear. The tooth count on the drive gear and driven gear will depend on your rear axle gear and tire diameter. There are calculators on the Internet that can help you figure that out.
You will need to make a metal shim for the transmission main shaft so that the drive gear fits properly on the main shaft at the right location. A piece of 20 gauge steel is usually the correct thickness for the shim.
We did this modification on Papa Joe’s AD truck. Here’s a video from the day he came to my shop. It’s not an instructional video. However, it does show the basics of what we did.VIDEO LINK
Let me know if you need more details.

Yes Lugnutz, I worked in Souderton for 20 years. I appreciate you sharing that information with me!
Take care!
Jim

All of you are missing out!Pic

pic

We have cruised this 600 acre farm. Enjoyed the gorgeous views and had a magic show that was purely unbelievable!

Met a new bolter this evening as well

Looks beautiful there. More pictures!!

Lugnutz and Al Hill arrived in style. 1963 C10.
Plenty of stories told.

Thanks for the pics. Wish I could have joined you! Have fun and be safe!

Me too.

Well, a good time was had by all.
I took the cover off of the tranny that Hardshell got from Carl and found gnarly teeth on the counter gear where it mates with the the slider in first gear. Nooooo.... I'm not putting THIS transmission in there. I had a spare transmission that I got from Carl last year and it was good, so we used mine instead. Now I have two bad trannys that I can mix 'n match a good one from.
His offshore brand throwout bearing spun wobbly off-center and Hardshell thought maybe that was the cause for the vibration he had been feeling. I had a lightly used vintage original equipment New Dimention bearing that I had cleaned and repacked... we put that in. Finally we discovered he had a seriously worn bell crank shifter linkage. Oh well, after some adjustment tweaking it would shift satisfactorily. Couldn't fix that. We all took a 40 mile cruise to get groceries and "refreshments" and shake-down the trans swap with no issues.
BUT... my 54 started to sputter and the fuel pump lasted long enough to get us home and quit.
Then the rain came. Carl pulled into the shop and adjusted his clutch while supper was cooked. We changed out my fuel pump Sunday morning.

All ended well. Wish you were here. Jethro.

Thanks for the report Jethro. Glad all went well and I hope to make the next gathering.

Durnit... they left the Ned in the shop.

Jethro -- Thanks for the report. And congrats on the Ned!

Jethro, will we get to see a picture of it, please?

This is the unofficial ODSS Wrenchfest 2026 video. Plus a few pictures. VIDEO LINK

Great video Jay and commentary.

Great job and awesome photo's and video!

Well, Peggy... The Ned, as delivered by Lugnutz, left in my shop.

Wow, it's huge!! Thanks for the pix and congrats!

Congratulations Jethro!

The Ned has grown since the last time I seen it. Jerry must have added the Mic?

Congratulations!
Don

Right above the micrometer, Hotrod added a nicely done brass tag which reads:
MEASURE WITH A MICROMETER, MARK IT WITH A PIECE OF CHALK, AND CUT IT WITH AN AXE.

Before we all forget, I guess I'd better write up a history of the Ned and who the recipients have been. Y'all know that the base of The Ned (what it started as) was one of Peggy's Dad's bowling trophies ... The winged goddess hurling a bowling bowl that originally adorned the trophy base ended up as a hood ornament on our Hoopty Van (the '88 G-20 Chevy van I got for $200 at the Government surplus auction at Ft Meade, MD ... I gave the van to a kid from Fredericksburg who wanted it for his garage punk band. Just couldn't say no to that!)