As the AMSOIL Road Tour was ending the Sherm’s Custom Plating Road Tour was just beginning. On Saturday morning we all found out that the words to that famous song are not true. It DOES rain in Southern California. Some hearty Road Tourians got up before dawn to attend the famous Saturday morning Donut Derelicts cruise.
We all got together for our drivers’ meeting back at the hotel at 9 a.m. We then headed to the United Pacific Industries facilities in Long Beach; when we drove into the parking lot we were all amazed at the size of the building. Our 1932 United Pacific–bodied pickup truck was sitting out front as planned. We were greeted inside by United Pacific’s marketing and creative director, Jai Beak, and his team, David Odegard who heads up the R&D department, and Cody Busch, the United Pacific account executive at the MotorTrend Group. We were treated to coffee, doughnuts, and pastries in the break room and given a tour of the facility by David Odegard. The warehouse and shipping area was mind-boggling in terms of size and the unbelievable amount of inventory that fills the shelves. United Pacific specializes in both street rod parts and heavy-duty truck parts and accessories. It was obvious that they are the leaders in both of those fields. We were also given a look at the assembly area for both their 1932 five-window coupe body and their 1932 Ford pickup body. At the end of the tour we all posed around the beautiful Roy Brizio–built five-window that is the centerpiece of the showroom. I also said goodbye to our 1932 Ford pickup truck as it was heading to Hot Rods by Dean to get a quick going-over before its appearance on the main floor of the SEMA Show in two weeks. Thanks to everyone at United Pacific for their support of the Road Tour all summer and our great Saturday morning at their facility.
From United Pacific we made the short drive to see the Queen Mary, which resides in Long Beach Harbor. Our tour of the boat really made us aware of just how massive and stately the boat is. Many of us took the Haunted Queen Mary Tour, which was perfect timing for the upcoming Halloween celebration. Most of us wrapped up our day watching the sunset from the Huntington Beach Pier. The skies had cleared just before sunset and Surf City looked just like we had hoped it would.
On Sunday morning we made a quick stop in Newport Beach and the Balbo Fun Zone Sunday morning cruise. Like the Donut Derelicts the participants are in place early. We arrived just as many of the cars started to pull out. We were able to catch STREET RODDER staff editor and Facebook live star John Gilbert who agreed to pose beside a very cool woodie wagon. Then our group headed in many different directions. Some folks headed to the Petersen Museum and others to Malibu. I traveled with Paul Defebo in his attention-grabbing 1948 Chevy Woodie and we headed to Pomona for what has to be the largest one day swap meet and car show in the world at the Fairplex.
It was a great first two days on the Sherm’s Plating Tour. We are going to spend the next two days in the Pomona area visiting shops and museums. Stay turned as we are just getting started.
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