Many Many Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Phil Reed]

Thank you all sooooo much who came and supported my crazy idea about having a convention!!!!! You have all given me a lifetime of memories!!!!! I have a couple of days to wrap everything up and I'll be back on a regular basis.

A couple of observations before I go. I went up to the Embassy Suites to have breakfast with Hayden this morning and take him to the airport. The cook in the restaurant told Hayden, that of ALL the conventions and meetings that the Embasy has had....his favorite was this past week with all the hot rodders!!!!!!

As I told several who came......my overall feeling of those who were here is a smiley that Bob has put on here........ :hug :hug :hug :hug

As one participant told me...several times.....this was the most fun he had ever had with his clothes on!!!!!!!!

Every participant received a REAL DOT Interstate mile marker 348 or 409 sign. It was given to them at registration and were told to bring it to the banquet. "Why" they asked??? I said "you will find out at the banquet"!!! I'm standing in the lobby Friday evening waiting to take Hayden to the banquet. The Embassy is a very nice hotel including glass elevators. As I am standing in the lobby by myself, someone gets on the elevator on the 5th floor to come down to the lobby.....carrying his 409 mile marker sign!! As the elevator was coming down, I absolutely broke out in laughter!!!! Here all these grown men coming thru the lobby and then into the banquet...carrying their mile marker signs.....AND NOT KNOWING WHY THEY WERE DOING IT!!!! :rofl :rofl :rofl That was one of my personal MasterCard moments......it was PRICELESS!!!!!

Thank you again.....it's been an incredible ride for me!!!

Phil

[2obnxs]

Phil,

Once again, thank you for putting this all together. It was incredible.

[348NUT]

Thanks again Phil! Memories forever. What a great time! :clap
NUT

[SS425HP]

Phil, a week to remember ALWAYS. What a job you did. You and your crew are outstanding. Everything was GREAT. You have to be really proud of what you were able to accomplish. I know Candy had a big part in this, too. To both of you, my sincere thanks. And I'm sure I can say that for all. Not that I am, I'm sure they will do the same for them selves.
I wish Aubrey could have made it, as he does too.

Thanks again, Phil, Candy, and all the rest that had a hand in putting on the best convention I have ever attended.

Fred

[oil4kids]

Phil,

The 348/409 convention was a great, great show!!!! Where can you go and see beautiful rare cars, talk with famous 409 racing lengends, have a nice dinner and see some great drags. Given the short time Phil had to work with, he did a great job and I also want to thank the others who made it possible with there 409 Z11 collection. If Phil does a 2nd convention---dont miss it!! Also buy his dvd!!!! Its worth the price just to listen to Lamar Walden talk about 409s.

Also, Phil,,, thank you for helping me with the Dick Harrell signature book.

Ill post pictures at my site http://www.oil4kids.com/348409conv

[HOTROD HEI]

Phil,
Thanks to you and all who worked with you to give the rest of us more than we could have ever expected!!!! :clap :clap :clap
I am still trying to mount "The Worlds Biggest Dash Plaque" on the shop wall.

A special thanks to all of you who brought your 348's,409's and Z-11's, my Funmeter was on "MAX" all week.

Bob

[Loafer409]

I cried aLL week long...wife thanks it's cause I'm turning 60 this weekend...she just doesn't understand...

[MRHP]

All I can say is thank you Phil for the great time! I hope there is another show next year and my whole family can attend. P.S. I'm the one who kept his clothes on all weekend!!! :rofl

[4spd409]

Phil, Thanks again for a great convention. It was one of those things you just can't describe to someone you just had to be there. I think everyone that was there will be smiling for weeks.

[2obnxs]

P.S. I'm the one who kept his clothes on all weekend!!!

And for that, we're eternally thankful! :D

[gearhead409]

jimmy (1963 black belair named bustout) and me tag-a-long would like to thank you again for the great ride down memory lane. what a wild ride,will always remember it. i dont' talk much but jimmy couldn't keep me quiet all the way back to ohio. we sure did have fun! gearhead409 and jimmy

[Tom Kochtanek]

GearHead409, you and your friend Jimmy were the two fellas across from me at dinner, correct? It was TomO, myself, BJBurnout and his wife, JimsSS409 and his buddy Jim and you two guys. After a bit of discussion you whipped out a couple of pics from your wallet of previous Hot Rods, very impressive. And your buddy has a cadre of some 14 409 engines, plus a dozen or two 1962 SS cars.

You two guys are prime examples of the "reach" this Forum has in terms of impacting the hobby. According to Jimmy, these two read lots of our posts, but don't post a lot themselves. I had mentioned this to Bob in a private communication, telling him of how this site has fostered real comraderie across the nation (and apparently in Finland as well :)).

Thanks for Phil Reed and his team for pulling off a great venue. Thanks to Bob Johns for a great website. And congratulations to GearHead409 on his first (of perhaps many?) posts :)

Cheers!
TomK

[ed409chevy]

Phast Fill, you did a really fine job as stated above. The entire convention was very "magicial". It was a real pleasure to see all my old friends again and meet so many new friends from the website. What a beautiful collection of some of the finest Chevys in the nation!!! It's a real shame all the members couldn't make it. What a fine time you missed. Doug Marion took hundreds of pictures, many of which will be featured in CHEVY RUMBLE. Doug is a genuine supporter of our hobby and really one of us, having raced a 409 back when. Where else in the world could you meet so many legends in one place? Hayden, Doug, Tom Jacobson, Rusty Symes, Terry Prince, Lamar Walden, Donny Schaffer, Don Fezzel, and the list goes on. WOW!!
You left me with lots of good memories, Phil. Thanks much, Ed Pogue

[TomO]

Phil – Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for putting together the best event that I have ever attended. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I would see the collection on Z-11 cars under one roof like I did at the convention. Hayden and Doug treated me like they had known me forever. The mile marker is now hanging on the wall behind my 63’ as a reminder off the great times and great people that made the convention something I will always remember.

Thanks,

TomO

[bobs409]

Just how many Z-11 cars were there? Can we prove or disprove the "7 left in existance" theory?

[2obnxs]

Bob,

I thought that there were 7 and a chasis there at the convention. I tried to count from the photo I posted, but the angle of the picture doesn't show it very well. I'll be someone has a more head on photo that will show exactly how many were there.

[bluescreamer]

Phil
I want to thank you again for your sincere dedication on orchestrating this
memorably gathering of 348 and 409's.
It was GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :clap :love :love :clap :clap :hug

[MRHP]

I heard somewhere between 11 and 15 still exist in various stages of repair. The fellas that were talking about them seemed quite knowledgeable.

[62BA409]

There were seven Z-11's on display plus one rolling chassis. 4 63's and 3 62's and the chassis. Colors were 3 white, 2 red, one green and one blue. There was a 63 honduras maroon on the lot that had "don't touch aluminum" decals on the fenders but I don't remember if it was a true Z-11. Owner was Ralph Dehne.

[gearhead409]

yes,we were at your table friday night. thank you for your good company. loren bowers and jimmy stephens

[bjburnout]

Thanx Phil............you rock!!! :bow
What a great event........the cars, the people, the cars, the banquet, the cars, the dyno runs, the cars, the hotel's free happy 2hour, the cars, the show in the lot, the cars, the hotel's free breakfast, the cars, the people, the cars, the mile 348/409 signs, the cars, and oh yes did I mention the cars..... :clap :clap

Imagine an event where some people fly in from Finland, take a bus from Syracuse NY, drive from Washington state and some other far away places and you've got our convention.

Let's see I got to meet and talk with Hayden Proffitt, was on the bus that got lost on the way to Day Automotive, talked to Tony Shaeffer (btw he likes Champions) watched DQ blast off from the same stoplight twice and both times he let up cause he thought Iwas a cop........DQ that '62 really leaves in a hurry.
Met some great, great people and a couple (Al&Brenda) that live about 45 mins from us.
Met Jim and his buddy from Barrie, Ontario (also about 45 mins from us)....really really nice 62 rag top Jim.
Out table at the banquet had TomK and Tom O.......nice to meet you guys, Jim and his buddy that looked like Martin Sheen from Barrie Ontario, hope to see you two at a local cruise sometime and gearhead409 and his buddy Jim ('63 Bust Out) who owns the car that inspired me to build a 63 BelAir........saw it at GoodGuys in Columbus....thanx Jim............what a great bunch. :hug
Did I mention the cars........... :cheers :cheers :cheers

Bob, we just got in, I'll be sending you a bunch of shots via email as I'm sure many others will.....you can pick and choose to make up a great album of the convention.

To all the people my wife (Lynda) and I met.......a great big 348/409 hello from Ontario and let's hope we get everyone (including you Bob) at Phil's next big go.

BJ :cheers

[jim_ss409]

I'm still not home yet but there are several people I need to thank. I took my car to Kansas City International Raceways on Wednesday night for the test and tune and busted one axle and twisted the other badly. :doh I know... I need to upgrade to a set of Aubrey's axles :takethat Anyway, we changed the axles in the parking lot during the car show. We got plenty of help and the job actually turned out to be alot of fun. Ray, (fatride) let us use his jack and stands. Other guys lent us stuff like a carpet to lay on etc. and Don (DOND) came up with a few helpful hints. :clap By the way we managed to do the entire job without spilling any oil onto the pavement. And yes, we had to drop the centre section and pull it apart in order to drive the broken chunk of axle out. I'll post some pictures when I get home.
The biggest THANK YOU has to go to Phil and his right hand man Brad. :beerbang Despite being extremely busy running the convention they took the time to dig up a set of axles and drop them off.
I also gotta thank DQ for lending me a helmet so that I could go racing in the first place and Fred and his racing partner Dean brought some really cool movies that we watched on the bus on the way to Tony Shafers shop. These were there old home movies that were taken in the sixties and copied onto DVD. This was a great event and as they say... "A good time was had by all"

[dq409]

Yeh BJ,,,,, The stains are still in my seat !!?? :eek:

That white Buick sure looks like a cop car in the rear view mirror just after launch !!!

And Jim,,,,, I`m still working on getting that rear grease out of my helmet !! :rofl

Jim`s convert is WAY faster then it looks and wait till he gets tires that stick !!!

The kodak moment was all the people sitting in lawn chairs behind his car watching him work !!

Another extremly nice car is Rays (fatride) `60 Impala. What a gorgeous ride !!,,dq

[JimKwiatkowski]

dq,here's your Kodak moment ( oil4kids ) captured that moment these photo's came out of his convention photos,also he got a good photo ot fatride's 60 :cool:

Great work Jim and Ray outstanding looking vehicle's :clap