The Stovebolt Site Forums The Side Lot Midwest Bolters Association MBA 2026 Fall Roundup - Sept. 11th/12th

The MBA Roundup Executive Committee is pleased to announce that our 4th Annual MBA Roundup main event is scheduled for Saturday, September 12th, 2026 - Start time - 8AM. Thanks to his continued generous offer, the event will again be hosted by KCMongo at Mongo's Garage, 800 S. Delaware St., Independence, MO.

As we have done in our previous events, there will be an informal gathering beginning late afternoon on Friday the 11th for early arrivals and anyone that wants to just get together for a little food, meeting up with old friends or introducing new folks before the main event on Saturday. Additionally, in honor of 9/11 and all those we lost because of events that day, we will be doing a small ceremony to recognize them.

The main events schedule for Saturday will be added here once we have things fully lined up, so watch for updates! Like last year, the day will include an initial gathering, T-shirt pick-up and meet and greet, with multiple tech sessions on various Stovebolt topics, a 'Bolters Swap Meet for folks that have stuff to offer to others, plus great food and fun for everyone attending. Some preliminary Tech Session info can be found in our Tech Guru Shakey61's Thread.

Steve "KCMongo" will add a flyer to the post to provide more details as he can get to it, as well as details on the design and plan for T-shirts. As with previous years, the event is open to all Stovebolters near and far, and we again extend an invite to members of the Genuine Chevy/GMC Truck Club of Kansas City. For now, please post any questions about the event in this thread, or PM me and we'll answer as best we can. We look forward to another awesome event and hope we will have even more trucks this year!

Thanks Dan for getting this started.

Here's this year's design for the gathering. I've ordered some stickers already to give out with this design.
We will get another thread going for the T-shirts to get the list put together.

Thanks,
Steve (Mongo)

Thanks Steve for posting this years gathering design.

Looks fantastic!

As Steve mentioned, we’ll be getting a T-shirt ordering thread started soon.

As a heads up for anyone interested, we will again make ordering open to all ‘Bolters, even if you can’t attend the gathering. More details to come in the T-shirt post.

Looks great Steve! Can you do hats?

Don

I'll look into hats Don..

Steve, we have some blank hats that Vicki had left over from her days doing embroiding.
Don’t know how many there are, but it should about 20.
Trust me, the price is right,

Don

Need to check the family calendar. But I’d sure like to come if schedule allows.

We'd love to have you again Nathan!

Just a note to any and all 'Bolters that plan on or might be able to attend. We'd love to hear from you so we can start getting an idea on how many folks and trucks will be coming??? Gotta start thinking "logistics" hahaha! That includes getting an idea on how many folks are going to want T-shirts.

PS - On the possible question "are their spots for folks to bring a camper again this year?", that is a definite yes!

I second Dan on hoping you can make it Nathan.
For those that may not know, there will be some kind of feed Friday night and of course lunch on Saturday.

Don

As always Mongo, you have a great design. You should get a job as a graphics designer. LOL (Actually, how many jobs can one person have? )

What happened to Shakey's thread? Will there be any tech sessions?

By the way, I plan to be there, camper and all. Thank you Mongo for hosting this event.

Mark

Good question Mark!

Mark - That is a very good question and will see what I can scare up for info.

Great to hear your planning on attending again this year. Always enjoy seeing you arrive with your '59 pulling the camper, and look forward to catching up with you!

PS - PM sent to Kevin and the Roundup Committee.

Kevin is on my call list this afternoon and hope to have some info tonight.
There was also a question about lodging and food, that should be answered tonight.

Don

Mark - Just a follow up note to say YES, there are currently tech sessions planned for the event. I don't recall off the top of my head what they were , but Kevin assures that there will be sessions to learn and enjoy.

On a related note, Steve (Mongo) now has a 4-post lift in his shop and someone is going to get an opportunity to put their truck on the lift so we can take a look at things on the underside, without having to crawl around on the concrete floor! Woohoo!

Sad to say I got a message from Craig "TUTS 59" that he and Alvin "Achipmunk" aren't going to be able to make the Roundup this year. Your presence will be missed.

How about the rest of you MBA and other region 'Bolters? Anyone else planning on coming that hasn't chimed in yet???

Good Lord willing, the wife, myself, and my brother will be there

Caleb - Glad to hear you and family are planning on attending.

I've also heard from Chris "oldieoldie" who has confirmed he'll be at the Roundup.

The list grows -

I will be there Saturday and possibly Friday.
I'm looking forward to meeting everyone.

That's great to hear! Looking forward to seeing you!

Try and make it Friday Rock, I think we will be having a fry fest that evening and
BBQ Saturday. That is along with several tech sessions Saturday.

Don

I intend to make it, unless the '53 Frankentruck has other plans.

Mark me down for a large T-shirt. Thanks!

Was hoping you'd be able to make it.


For your T-shirt needs, please click on this thread 2026 MBA Roundup T-Shirt/Hat Orders and use the order form link there to place your order please and thanks.

Just the best way since there are multiple options for T-Shirts and you can request exactly what you want.

I've gotten word from Tim "57 Drifter" to confirm he will be attending the Roundup too.

Hi Dan
Danny and I plan to attend

Tom - Glad to hear you and Danny will be attending. Looking forward to seeing you again!

I'm planning on being there. Just booked at the comfort suites.

Looking forward to it.

Tim

Tim, Tom and Danny glad you all will be there!
I hope to post the weekend menu tomorrow when I really start getting ready.
Vicki and I should be at the garage midafternoon Friday.

Don

Tim - That's great news that you're coming up! Looking forward to seeing you again.

Don - You may need to up the ante on vittles quantities as our guest list seems to keep getting bigger.

Dan, yes I already have about a week ago. I guess it's time to post the menu though.

Friday evening will be a heart stopper!
Deep fried fish, hush puppies, fried cheeze triangles and sweet tator fries.

Saturday around noon will be a lot easier.
Smoked pulled pork on buns, smoked/grilled BBQ chicken legs and loaded baked beans. Also, whatever is left over from Friday evening?
Side dishes for lunch are welcome.

Don't know yet if Vicki is going to bake cookies for the event?
Don

Thanks for the menu update Don!

Y'all have fun this Weekend. I really do wish Alvin and I could have made it this year, we always have a great time...

Update, Vicki baked her made from scratch cookies today.
We should be at the garage by mid afternoon Friday and setting up for the fish fry.
We will miss you Tut’s and Alvin, but we will make due with what we have.

Don

Edit: No Alvin = more cookies to go around!

We are almost there - whew! Today we will finish setting up at Mongo's for tomorrows big event. We did get the flag pole re-erected yesterday to allow us to proudly display our Nations Colors today in remembrance of 9/11 and tomorrow at the event.

The newly provided from HQ Stovebolt Flag will also be hung up to greet folks tomorrow. Many thanks to John M and Miss Peggy for their generous donation of this new flag to the MBA!

For those curious still on tomorrows tech topics, Kevin "Shakey61" reminded me that we are going to get a chance to do an underside review of Steve's winch truck currently elevated on his new to him 4-post lift in the morning, followed by a presentation by Mark "59 fleet" on Ammeters vs Voltmeters. Then in the afternoon after some BBQ prepped by Don "2-Ton", Kevin will be presenting the following three classes:

How to Find Phantom Battery Drains

How to Use Engine Ignition Analyzers

12VDC Air Conditioners

I think our guest list is longer than last years.

See you all soon!

We had a fantastic time and we made it home safe! Stopped at a little Chinese restaurant in Clinton and they were having a cruise in on the square!

It was a GREAT day. Really enjoyed meeting folks and enjoyed the tech sessions. We made it home safe driving through rain most of the way. Thanks for all the work organizing the event.

Thought I'd say "Kudos" on the food prep and smoking, good stuff!

I had a good time, learned a lot and enjoyed seeing the trucks.

Pictures Please...

Hello MBA friends!

The '47 and I made it home safe and sound about 3:30 this afternoon. That old iron never missed a beat in my 670 mile round trip!! I ran into rain shortly after I crossed back into Iowa, heavy at times. The vacuum wipers and defroster did me proud...

Special thanks to Steve (hosting, facilities, camping), Don & Vicki (delicious food & cookies), Dan (event organization & everything else), and Kevin and Mark (fantastic tech sessions). I certainly learned a lot and I'm sure the other attendees did too. This was an excellent opportunity for me to connect with my Bolter friends and make some new friends for sure!!!

THANKS again for an awesome weekend!!!!

Until we meet again,

Sorry for the delayed response here folks. Kinda spent last night and most of today recovering from what was a GREAT event IMHO!

Pictures will be coming (at least from me) in the next couple of days. I need to get them transferred from my phone, cleaned up and titled before posting. Perhaps Steve or Don can post a few in the meantime?

Thanks for the notes to let us know you got home safely and the kind words about the event.

Anyhow, details from the event go something like this:

Friday final setup and informal gathering was busy but a good time. We had several of our more distant travelers arrive, including Don "2-Ton" and his wife Vicki, Mark "59 fleet", Tim "57 Drifter and Andy "HandyAndy". Plus local folks Chris "Rock 49" and Mike "32Fordpuchoptop", as well lending a hand to finish setup and share in the evening. Don cooked up a mess of fried fish, cheese curds and sweet potato fries and we topped off dinner with some of Vicki's cookies. Followed that with just mostly sitting around gabbing and chatting about anything/everything Stovebolt, as well as catching up with old friends and getting to know more about some folks meeting for the first time.

Saturday started off kinda sketchy, with a brief rain shower, but that quickly cleared off, warming up with bright sunshine throughout the majority of the day. 8:00 am the registration table and T-shirt/hat distribution opened for business, with Stovebolter's and guests trickling in over the morning hours. The Swap Meet area also opened for business. 'Bolters that brought their trucks all got a chance to do a show-n-tell session with folks to learn about their trucks and a bit of their stories.

I know at one point there was a gab session going on inside Steve's '54 Bus that includes at least 8 folks, several separate discussions about technical questions on some of the trucks, hand off of new parts for a 261 engine rebuild that's in-progress (my own), as well as some wheeling and dealing in the Swap Meet area. We were also pleased to have Jim Carter come and participate with us. He generously provided discount certificates for anyone present and a pile of catalogs for anyone to grab.

We had a display table for folks to peruse inside which included several Chevy and GMC Master Parts catalogs/illustrations books, original dealer new truck pamphlets for both Chevy's and GMC's, some technical repair/rebuild booklets and several of Steve's 3d printed replacement parts he has done. Folks also got a chance to see one of Steve's unique shop trucks on his 4 post lift as well as all the other cool stuff he has displayed throughout the shop. Last thing of the morning before lunch was an interesting and well presented Tech Session by Mark "59 fleet" on the differences between an ammeter and a voltmeter and things related with how each should be correctly wired in Stovebolt's for either 6V or 12V systems.

You've already seen the primary lunch menu, so I won't rehash that list. Several folks brought extra sides to enhance the feast with home made potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw, a delicious chocolate cake and some home brewed tea to supplement our other beverages. As far as I know, no one went away from lunch hungry - hahaha!

After lunch we had some super well prepared and presented Tech Sessions (also mentioned in detail above) by Kevin "Shakey61". As always, Kevin's presentations had hands on components and demonstration things that really helped everyone grasp the topics. I know I learned many things and want to offer a big thanks to both Kevin and Mark for their Tech Session presentations!

Not long after the Tech Sessions concluded, we had inclement weather come rolling in, which caused a bit of a scramble for folks to pack up/load, but all managed to do that without getting soaked. From that point, many folks headed home leaving a few of us hanging around to wrap things up and just enjoy a little more time together hanging out before calling it an evening.

All total we had 24 folks at our gathering, including Stovebolter's, some spouses and various guests/Stovebolter friends. Many thanks to all who helped/attended to make the Roundup the a very fun/enjoyable event IMHO! Looking forward to doing again next year!

Hey Guy's Such a great weekend!!
Here's my pics from the weekend, I'll add others pics as they come in.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/eed4mUV5YsTAbFEe7

Thanks to all that made it!
~Mongo

Got the feeling still looking for the doodle bug picture

Great job on the photos! And I didn't even break the camera!

That was a pretty good turnout. Great to see so many smiling faces, some great pictures too.... I love Don's Custom Shirt, now I'm jealous...

Don't worry Tuts, I'll let you touch it one time at Townsend next year.
It is a really cool shirt and Thanks Steve for letting me own and wear a piece of your art!

Don

Which one did you want to see pics of?
~Mongo

Hello again all!

After some tutoring by Steve, I managed to figure out how to create a one link gallery to my pictures from this years event. Thanks buddy! Saved me a tremendous amount of time trying to do this the old way.

Here's the link to my pictures from the event for everyone to see/enjoy. Dan's 2026 MBA Roundup Pictures

I did put captions on each of the pictures, but for some reason the captions don't show when viewed through this public link. Also for some reason it sorted the pictures in reverse, last first etc. To view them in the right order, just click on the up/down blue arrows in the upper left corner of the page and tell it to sort by "Oldest First". Guess I still have some learning to do - hahaha!

BTW - Tim from "Down Under", there is a pic of the "Doodlebug" and "Ralph" in here just for you sir!

Hope you all enjoy!

Dan, I’m still trying out how to post a link like yours and Steve.
Can I send them to you so you can get some more practice?

Don

Great job Dan! Picture quality is really good.

Don - Your attempt to text me all 46 pictures in one swoop kinda failed my friend - Oops. If you text them to me in batches of 10 or fewer pictures at a time, I should be able to capture them and add to the album. No hurry, just send them when you can, or go ahead and post them here through the attachment manager.

Thanks Mike! Somehow none of us managed to break the cameras - LOL! Although we have yet to see Don's pictures, so...

I might have found got a way to post my Roundup pictures in a link.
So bear with me.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...eGQ5cm5DOVgtLTdoNUkxTkhyZy1QMHpnZEx3UUtn

If this don’t work I’m jumping in he lake all afternoon.
Don

Edit: Well, like you Dan, they are in reverse order. I think I will still be jumping in the lake on this 95+ degree day.

Don,
If you collect the pictures in an Album then there is a "Share" icon at the top of the album (Looks like a V laying on it's side <)
That will open the share options. Click "Copy Link"
Then 'Copy Link" again in the bottom left corner.
And Click "Copy" and paste that link in the thread.
~Mongo

Let’s try it again.
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...eGQ5cm5DOVgtLTdoNUkxTkhyZy1QMHpnZEx3UUtn

Winner, winner chicken dinner.

You all have some good pictures there. Too bad we can't string them together. At the very least get, a few posted here with the Attachment Manager. That will help folks who can't or prefer not to use Google.

Don - Glad you figured it out and thanks for posting your pics link.

Peggy - I'll see about posting some selections through the Attachment Manager, possibly on Sunday.

Thanks....

I consolidated, Dan and Don's pics in my gallery.. Here https://photos.app.goo.gl/eed4mUV5YsTAbFEe7
Why wouldn't people want to use Google Photo's? You shouldn't need to log in to see the photo's.
~Mongo

Thanks Steve!

A one stop shop. Funny how none of us took any pictures of the meals/food. Could it be we were too busy enjoying it - hahaha!!!

This years meal made last years look lame. Hope to do better next year!
Pictures are from last year.

Don