Pumpkin Festival

[Karl Laustrup]

No woodworking today. Went to the pumpkin festival in Nekoosa, WI.

Thought I'd share some pix of some of the pumpkins and the winning watermelon. The winning pumpkin was 1042 lbs., although they had another that was over 1100 lbs., but it had a hole all the way through it.

The winning watermelon was 211 lbs. They also had cantaloupe. Winner there was around 40 lbs. as I recall.

[Karl Laustrup]

This festival has really turned into a car show over the last few years. The cars now take up more room than the craft booths and pumpkins. There were at least 200 cars on display. Every thing from 1924 Model T P/U on up. Lots of 50's, 60's 70's iron. The pix are of a custom 66 Riviera. I had one of these, but it was stock. Best damn car I ever owned. Wish I still had it. The other is of a Chevy Vega. The sign says 72 but I think they may have put a 76/77 nose piece on it. Sorry I didn't get more pix.

[Lee DeRaud]

The other is of a Chevy Vega. The sign says 72 but I think they may have put a 76/77 nose piece on it.Yup, the 72 had a rectangular grille, kinda like the Camaro of the same vintage. The back bumper is also '74 or later, near as I can tell from the picture. I had a 72 Vega "Kammback" wagon like that, but it certainly didn't have a 454 in it!:eek:

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Even for car guys, is it a good thing to know so much about the Chevy Vega? :confused: :p

KC

[Peter Stahl]

Thing that killed the Vega was the engines they put in them. Don't remember if they ever fixed that problem.

[Jim Becker]

Thing that killed the Vega was the engines they put in them. Don't remember if they ever fixed that problem.

Yes, they were aluminum engines, I believe...but I was a bit young at that point, but remember I "liked" the one my mother drove at the time.

[Lee DeRaud]

Thing that killed the Vega was the engines they put in them. Don't remember if they ever fixed that problem.For a very low value of "fix": they put that POS Pontiac "Iron Duke" four-cylinder in to replace it.

Main problem was that the aluminum engine had a cast-iron head and the head-gasket design couldn't handle the different expansion rates.

[Bill Lewis]

It thought the problem was that it had aluminum cylinders (no liners) that were "siliconized" and they just plain wore out (this could be in addition to the CI/Aluminum expansion problem).

Yes, this is way to much to know about Vega's

The 454 was a way better replacement motor than the iron duke.

Now ask me anything about Corvairs.

I like the Riviera, I had a friend who had one, he named it "Heraldo"

Did the guy in the white tee shirt place second?

[Karl Laustrup]

Did the guy in the white tee shirt place second?

I'm not sure where he finished. :confused: :eek:

I did forget to mention that the winning pumpkin garnered $2000 for its grower. I think the watermelon fetched $150 for its owner.

I had 2 Vega wagons [a 72 & 77] and never had a bit of problem with the standard motor. They were good little around town cars back when gas was only 60 cents/gallon.

The Riviera was a great car. 425 C.I., 425 HP, 16-18 MPG around town [if you could keep your foot out of it], got 21 MPG on one trip across country, and a top speed over 150 MPH [ I buried the 155 MPH speedo on a stretch in Texas in '68]. You could almost see the fuel guage going down during that run. :eek: :D