Howdy y'all,

It's been a while since I (Lurch) did any public speakin', but I just HAD to tell ya about the 30th Annual VCCA 4 Cylinder Tour in Porterville, CA. Man, what a blast! This is the FIRST VCCA National event that I've been to. Loved it!

First and foremost, this event was a tribute to Tom Meleo (VCCA member number 34), who started the Four Cylinder Tours 30 years ago as a call to action from a discussion he had with legendary Fred Upshaw. They wanted to get more of these era vehicles back on the road and Tom rose to the challenge. I want to thank Tom for having the vision and the courage to follow through on this idea. Here's a great photo of Tom courtesy of Seiber Photos: Photo of Tom Meleo

Dean, the poor schmoe, has been dreaming of getting me to one of these shindigs for years! In preparation for this momentous event, he's been working on me to get in shape (me, in shape?? Give me a tall drink of 10-30W and I'm in GREAT shape for anything!). Here's some info about my recent upgrades:

• Resurrecting a '28 4 banger: https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/467892/1.html
• Radiator and tire upgrades: https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/463136/lurch-is-cooler-than-he-was.html
• Brake work: https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/415134/brake-band-bending-technique.html

I decided that I wanted to get to Porterville one day early, so Dean loaded me up on my magic carpet ride (trailer) and we took off Saturday morning, 4/30/2022, from our house in San Leandro, CA (SF Bay Area). See pic number one below.

Our first stop was in Livermore to pick up a friend of Dean's, John Butterweck, who recklessly volunteered to ride shotgun on the tours. Hee hee, no seat belts, no windshield, no doors, just hang on for dear life! I'm gonna have some fun with him! ;-) At least he had enuf sense to bring a hat that buckles under his chin and a pair of goggles.

Our second stop was in Lathrop, CA, where a bunch of out-of-towners were having a convention. They were nice little fellers who needed some vittles for their trip. After we visited with them for a spell, they decided to form a Lurch Fan Club Chapter back home (where ever that is!). Now that's what I call diversity in action. They don't hold my looks agin me and I don't hold their looks agin them. ;-) Besides, we're both shades of green! See pic numbers two and three below.

Next we stopped to drop off a pair of running boards for a '27 Chevy one ton truck (Wilford) that John Thorpe is working on. He's re-creating his Great-Great-Grandfather's dry goods truck. John's in-laws live in Stockton, CA, which was not too much out of our way. Dean was happy to get rid of another couple of things that he won't ever use. John's story can be found here: https://thorpeandsons.wordpress.com/

OKAY, on to the real party! We turned south on Highway 99 and headed to Porterville! By the time we arrived, it was late afternoon and I was tired from all the excitement of the day (it doesn't take much to get a 95 year old excited and tired!). Dean and John covered me with a blankie (tarp) and I slipped off into dreamsville for the night. See pic number four below.

Monday morning, Dean woke me up and I got off the trailer. Boy oh boy! Old Chevys everywhere! Most of them looked like they could be in a museum. A few showed their wear and tear, but no rustbuckets like me! Hee hee. I always stick out in a crowd and love every minute of it! Here are a few pics of the arrivals. See pics five and six below.

Towards the late afternoon, I was wondering where Ed and Karen Archer were. They are Dean's friends that were driving their 1924 Chevy one ton truck to the meet (260 miles on side streets - a 6+ hour drive!!). Very adventurous souls! They drive their vehicles everywhere and wear period correct clothes to match! I like it! Here's a pic from a local car show of their truck with a 1915 Model T racer on it's back. See pic number eight below.

Dean called Ed and it turns out that they had a catastrophic transmission lockup around 30 miles from the hotel. ;-( They didn't get back home until 5am the next day! Major bummer!! More about them later.

After registering for the meet and ogling at all the wonderful old Chevys, we went on the first official tour that led to the Ice Cream Social at 6:30pm.

Now, each Chevy owner received a booklet with info and directions for all the tours of the week. Dean and John were so excited to get on the road that they could not decipher the instructions to the location of the field where the Ice Cream Social was being held!! Yup, we got lost! We finally arrived close to 7pm and parked in the back of the pack. Then Dean, John, and a couple of other guys unpacked and set up my cattle cage and brought out the 'girls' so I could shine in all my glory! See pic number nine below.

Here's a photo of my cattle cage (and one of the girls!) sticking up over the crowd while getting ready for the group pic (courtesy of Seiber Photos): https://photos.smugmug.com/PORTERVILLE-Four-Tour-2022/i-mznS7gw/0/1345b88d/L/DSC_4828-L.jpg

Here's a photo of all the great old Chevys at the ice cream social (courtesy of Kaydene O'Day). You can see my cattle cage and the girls in the back row! Ice Cream Social at the VCCA 4 Cylinder Tour in Porterville - 2022. Also, here is Kaydene's home page in smugmug: https://kaydeneoday.smugmug.com/

When the crowd started going back to the hotel (and the sun was dipping below the horizon!), Dean decided it was time to take down the cattle cage and head back too. By the time the cage sides and girls were laid flat and strapped down, it was getting dark and Bud (Ray Morey's 1928 LP one ton truck) and me were the only ones left on the field!

Guess what? We got lost again!!! At one of the intersections where we were supposed to turn, there were NO street signs so we blasted through and keep going straight. Now it was dark and getting cold. The cooler weather is really great for helping me maintain my cool, but Dean and John were shivering by now. Dean was surprised how well my 32 candle power front lights actually lit up the road! He shoulda knowed better. I've always been a guiding light. ;-)

After a while, they had the sense to pull over and plug the hotel's address into John's phone. We were 14 miles too far south! We stopped at a gas station to fill up and the guys put on sweat shirts. We finally pulled into the hotel parking lot at 9:30pm. I was rarin' for more, but Dean was wupped. So I went to sleep under my blankie and he hit the sack.

End of day one of the tour!!

See ya in the next episode. Lurch

I feel sorry for Lurch getting towed around by a Dodge, nearly any younger Chev would have been a better choice.
Sounds like you had a good tour just the same.
Tony

Great story and pictures , Dean and Lurch !!! Thanks for sharing with us !!

Tony with all respect in my opinion being able to go to the dance even with the ugliest gal in your class is better than not going. Once there you can dance with other gals as well.

As a attendee at the Porterville dance I can assure you that having Lurch there lifted the spirits of everyone. You can see my butt in photo #6. Not my best side but at least I was there and made every official mile. As with Lurch added some extra miles, made numerous U-turns but that meant saw more sights than those that didn't deviate.

Howdy agin!

Monday, day two of the tour.

Early in the mornin', Jim Farris held the Driver's meeting. It was all good info and he said that the most important thing for everyone was to keep an eye on folks in the rear view mirror. There are newbies at this meet (Dean raised his hand at this point and said, "Guilty as charged!" - I'm so embarrassed). Then all the cars got going and shur 'nuf, those that could do 40+ mph took off, leaving a lot of us in their dust!

Here's a pic of John, Dean, and me leaving the hotel in the morning (courtesy of Seiber Photos): Dean, John, and Lurch - off to the races!

The first tour of the day was to go north from the hotel (elevation 355) and up into the hills above the Yokohl Valley (elevation around 2000+). It wasn't long before me and Bud (Ray Morey's truck) were long behind the group. But that's okay! As the booklet said, "You're not lost. You are having an adventure!!" By golly, we was cruising at 30+ mph most of the way and only had to drop into 3rd gear a few times going up and down the hills! Bud and I took turns playing the leader and the follower.

On one turn, I decided to create some chaos for Dean's friend John (remember, he's hangin' on for dear life in the shotgun seat!). I sped up a little in a left turn so John had to decide if he wanted to be ejected from his seat or let the clipboard fly. And fly it did! Earlier, Dean's fire extinguisher left me in a similar fashion. Hee hee! Luckily, Bud was behind us and they picked up the clipboard and returned it to John later on. Fun fun fun!

We stopped at a park in Lindsey and rested for a short while. Dean gave me a little drink of oil which was VERY refreshing. ;-) See pic number ten below.

After the park, we got lost agin!! This time, lunch was on the line. We were supposed to show up at Tom Meleo's Ranch to see his collections and have lunch, but none of the fools driving could get us there! Geez! Finally, Dean suggested that John plug Tom's address (from the booklet) into his phone and let the new tech guide us. Welllll, that didn't go so good. The address listed in the booklet took us down a dirt road and into the middle of an orchard with nothing else around. BTW, Ray did not see us turn down the dirt road so they went straight and we were alone in the orchard. Beautiful place, but no lunch! See pic number 11 below.

Uh oh! Dean noticed that I was 'spraying' some kind of liquid out the left hood louvers. Upon further inspection, he realized that when he gave me that drink of oil in the park, the dang fool forgot to put the oil tube cap back on. So, not only was some oil spray coming out of the tube, the cap was laying somewhere on the road behind us. What a dolt! He dug a neoprene glove out of my toolbox and used a rubber band to keep it on the top of the oil filler tube. (Modern versions of duct tape and bailing wire!). See pic number 12a below.

After a few phone calls, we connected with someone that was actually at the Meleo Ranch. Yay! They sent their coordinates to us (we were 8 miles away) and we headed to lunch. Not only was the food great and the collections awesome, Dean was able to snag a swatch of aluminum foil to replace the neoprene glove as my oil filler cap. He'll just have to find me another one when we get home. See pic numbers 12b, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 below.

We hung out at the Meleo Ranch for the afternoon and then headed back to the hotel. What a great day!!

Remember Ed and Karen's story from Sunday? Well after they got home early Monday morning and got some shuteye, they put their 1915 Model T racer in the trailer and arrived in Porterville in the afternoon for the rest of the meet! Bravo!! The Chevy folks cut them some slack for driving a Ford the rest of the week, knowing that they tried to get the Chevy truck to join in the fun. At least the racer had 4 cylinders!

After having dinner with Ed, Karen, and some other folks at the Black Bear Diner, we drove back to the hotel and Dean covered me with my blankie (tarp) for the night. I counted old Chevys driving past until I finally dipped into my beauty sleep to get ready for the next day!

Lurch

I love your pictures. Looks like you were in excellent company with all of those Chevrolets. Thank you for sharing.

Tuesday, day three of the tour.

The first stop on Tuesday was a private antique race car collection. The place, the cars and the people were great!

One poor fellow, however, has been stranded there long enuf for a giant tree to grown up through him! I parked next to him and sent some rusty love his way. See pic number 19 below.

Lunch was provided (tacos and a root beer float!) and then we took off for the International Agri Center in Tulare, CA. They have a GREAT exhibit of antique agricultural equipment. I felt right at home! ;-) See pic numbers 20 through 26 below.

On the way back to the hotel after visiting the AG Center, I developed an intermittent strange sound (like a chirp or squeal) from the u-joint or clutch area. Not good. ;-(

After Dean had dinner, he did some research about the next day's drive and he became VERY worried for my safety (and his!). The group was going to drive from the hotel to Sequoia National Park, some 60 or so miles away. That would be fine, except the winding road that went to the park also climbed some 6000 feet in elevation! Between the strange chrip noise and the thought of 6000 feet of gravity pulling my big bulk downhill on the way back, Dean decided I needed to rest for the day so he covered me with my blankie again and I drifted off dreaming of driving with my newly found family and friends.

Lurch

Wednesday, day four of the tour

Since Lurch slept through Wednesday (old guys nap a lot), he didn't know about the day's events so I'll (Dean) jump in to tell the tale.

I drove my 3/4 ton pickup with my empty trailer on this day's drive. This way, I can enjoy the drive, feel totally safe, and be available to help someone if they break down. I should point out that for the whole week Richard Johnston followed the train of old Chevys with his truck and trailer to help folks who needed a ride back to the hotel. Thank you Richard! So for Wednesday, I provided a second trouble truck. Good thing! Both trailers were needed.

One person had problems with his vacuum tank on the way up. He said that he had problems with it before the tour, so he had a rebuilt spare with him!! He installed the 'new' one by the side of the road and got going again. ;-)

The view was breath taking on the drive to the park and there were a couple of rest stops along the way. See pic numbers 27 and 28 below.

Another excellent lunch was provided at the Hume Lake Welcome Center. The view around the Welcome Center was fabulous! See pic number 29 below.

John and I had lunch with Ed Archer and he told us about a problem he had with one of the tires on his 1915 racer. A large chunk of rubber came off a few miles away from the Welcome Center. Mr. Murphy was definitely messing with Ed this week!

Dan O'Day came to the rescue with a rag and strap patch! Ed drove on this patch the last 10 miles or so to the Welcome Center. See pic numbers 30 and 31 below.

We all agreed that it would be best to trailer the racer back to the hotel, so after lunch, we loaded it up and headed back. See pic number 32 below.

Now, Ed is a guy who knows a lot of people and he had an idea of who might have a tire for him, so we headed to that place and the gracious friend pulled a NOS tire (60 years old!) out of a shed and even mounted it on the racer while still on the trailer! That tire was super thick and super stiff!! After fighting it for over an hour (clincher rim), Ed's racer was ready to go on the next tour! See pic numbers 33 and 34 below.

Another exciting day with a happy ending!! ;-) Now, back to Lurch's account of the events.

Cheers, Dean

Thursday, last day of the tour

What a great night's sleep I had! But when Dean took my blankie off, I realized that I missed a WHOLE DAY!! Dag nab it!! That boy is gonna pay dearly for that! Harumph!!@$%!

We went back to Tom Meleo's Ranch for breakfast, and yup, we got lost again! Ray Morey made it to the ranch okay so a phone call to him got us on the right track. They had a big breakfast laid out for us that was organized by Herb Sullivan. Thanks to the Meleo family for sharing their place with us again and thanks to Herb for the breakfast! See pic number 35 below.

From the Meleo Ranch, we drove to the historic Zalud house built in 1891. This is an amazing place that is truly a capsule in time. It has the original furnishings, pictures on the wall and knickknacks from the Zalud family. They were (and are!) very prominent citizens of the area. See pic number 36 below.

The next stop was the Porterville Historical Museum. A wonderful place filled with a whole lotta local historic items. They also have a bunch of antique carriages, equipment, and an old Chevy truck!! Yeah!! See pic numbers 38, 39, and 40 below.

The day ended with the big banquet dinner (Mexican food!!) where announcements were made and good food was consumed. Friends (new and old) said their goodbyes and gave vows to meet again at the next great VCCA 4 Cylinder tour!

All day, the strange little sound from my u-joint or clutch area chirped along. I felt Dean squirming and wondering what it is. Hee-hee. Unfortunately, that means that I'll probably experience exploratory surgery back at home. Sigh. But, on the whole, the week was fantastic and I am so glad to have met, mingled, and drove with my distant Chevy cousins and their caretakers. A GREAT bunch of vehicles and folks!

Friday, homeward bound.

On the road again! On the way back home, we stopped at a roadside tourist attraction in Goshen, CA. It was a good place to walk around, make a pit stop, and stretch a bit. They had a petting zoo in the back and a killer tree house for kids to climb in. See pic number 41 below.

That's it from this reporter!

Take care y'all and respect the rust! Lurch

Certainly looks like a good tour and lots of fun.
Tony

thanks for sharing Dean & Lurch, I enjoyed the journey

Howdy,

Glad you liked my rendition of what happened in Porterville.

I just wanted to relay that I did indeed go under the knife this past summer and Dean fixed the squeal! There were a number of things that needed addressing, but the smoking gun was mis-matched parts in the u-joint.

Here's a link to the whole story about the tear down, the replacement (or refurbishing) of parts, and the reassembly: Squealgate: a sad story with a happy ending!

BTW, since the story lives on the Stovebolt website, you'll need to be registered and logged in to see the pics. It don't cost nuttin' , but dat's the way it is!

Happy trails to y'all! Lurch