Branham's Precious Metals

Some say your high school years are the best years of your life, and others say your college years are. That debate will probably never come to a conclusion. Having a haven of old American iron less than ten miles from your high school's gates changes everything, however. 

Branham's Precious Metals lies just inside the Fairfield-Richland county border in rural South Carolina. A 1931 Chevrolet coupe towers over the small property and brands it as publicly accessible, according to this article from The State. After reading the article, I was itching to walk through acres of rusted out relics. 

Mr. Roger Branham gave me permission to walk through as he wrenched on a Datsun 720 pickup truck out front. Upon entering, I quickly ran into a yard hand who told me that University of South Carolina students often frequent Branham's to take graduation photos, surprisingly. To them perhaps, the vehicles of Branham's are simply backgrounds. To an auto enthusiast, these paths are lined with potential — potential weekend warriors, road trippers, race cars, or rat rods. Luckily for car fanatics, this potential can be capitalized upon. Everything is for sale. This is a seemingly rare occurrence when it comes to older junkyards. 

Another special feature of Branham's Precious Metals is that the yard is somewhat artistic. There are vintage signs everywhere, vintage bicycles, and small displays of car grilles, lights, pulleys, and bumpers among other contraptions. 

While some who venture through Branham's Precious Metals may only see its contents as hunks of metal that are permanently out of commission, the next generation of car nuts sees promise. Their first project may be languishing in the weeds or even stacked on top of a bus in an old junkyard, waiting for a second chance at life. 

Branham's Precious Metals is located at 2007 US-21, Ridgeway, SC 29130. See all of my photos from Branham's Precious Metals on Flickr here. Subscribe on YouTube here. Follow me on Instagram @Dburger62. 

HOT ROD Power Tour 2018 Day 5 - Darlington Raceway

Back in June, I was finally able to check HOT ROD Power Tour off my bucket list — sort of. HOT ROD Power Tour is the world's largest traveling car show. Approximately 6,000 hot rods drive over one thousand miles over the course of one week while making daily stops along the way. Participants have the option of registering for each annual event as a "long hauler" (long haulers drive the entire tour) or registering for a single day to join the tour at any of the stops. Spectators can usually come free of charge apart from parking fees at some of the venues. Each year's HOT ROD Power Tour always begins where the previous year's tour ended. 

This year's tour kicked off at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky and concluded at ZMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. In other words, the hot rodders were cruising solely in the very hot and very humid southeastern United States. The tour came through South Carolina (where I live) and made a stop at Darlington Raceway, NASCAR's oldest major track. I arrived around noon. Upon parking my car, I immediately noticed Pilot Transport's trucks and happily remembered that I would get to see Roadkill vehicles and another famous magazine project car in person for the first time. The legendary Muscle Truck, General Mayhem, and Project X were on display for all to see at all of the 2018 Power Tour stops. Long hauler cars were just starting to trickle into the facility as I waited outside the oval to get on a small block Chevy powered shuttle and be taken to the infield of the track. 

After I got off the shuttle, I began to realize the beauty of HOT ROD Power Tour. There were hot rods in every direction. Chevys, Fords, Mopars, modern muscle, classic muscle, rat rods - everything. The whole spectacle was like a hot rod-themed city. I then walked around the infield to look at some of the early arrivals, like this Jeep rat rod and other beautiful cars.

Shortly after I finished looking around the infield, I stood along the main pathway that cars were using to enter the venue and began to photograph them. In retrospect, I wish I had spent more time walking around the grounds and getting up close and personal with the cars and their owners as opposed to shooting cars coming in. Without this experience however, I wouldn't have finally realized that I need even more practice with shooting (and panning) moving objects — the cars look like they're standing still even though they're actually moving. I need to work on not entirely freezing motion. 

I was able to see a lot of cars that I had previously only known through social media enter the track, like the Hot Rod Magazine Week to Wicked Chevy Apache stepside, the Whatever Hot Rods AMC Hornets, and Max Amick's LS swapped "Gutless Wagon" Chevy II Nova wagon.

I photographed these cars for a good hour or two before I forced myself to go into the garage area of the track where the vendors were. I only had a few hours left and I wanted to see (and photograph) everything there was to offer at the venue. Various automotive companies like Mothers Polishes, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Continental Tire, Pilot Transport, and Edelbrock have booths set up where participants or spectators can view or buy their merchandise. There's also a main stage in this area where awards are given out. 

As I was walking through the vendor booths, suddenly, a bellowing voice over the P.A. system asked for people to clear a pathway through the lot. Chevrolet Performance, the presenting sponsor of HOT ROD Power Tour, was (slowly) coming through with a caravan of official Chevrolet owned and built vehicles, both new and old. A few of them were SEMA Show builds, including the mobile detailing kit-containing '53 Chevy Suburban, the LS3 powered '88 Monte Carlo SS (my personal favorite), the '78 K10, and the '67 C10 built for the 100th anniversary of Chevrolet trucks. Chevrolet Performance also brought out the Corvette ZR1 pace car from this year's Indianapolis 500 race and had its own booth amongst the others. 

As I left the vendor area, I took a look at Jimi Day's 1969 AMC AMX with LS3 power. This unusual pro-touring build cleans up well. 

This 1975 Camaro also caught my eye. The "street machine" trend from the '70s has enjoyed a recent resurgence with the help of social media — panel paint, velour interiors, fat rear tires, and jacked up rear ends are more popular than ever before. 

Following my trip into the vendor area, I ventured back into the fields of parked cars to take more photos and talk to some of the owners. Initially, the plumbing in the engine bay of this G-body Grand Prix stood out. I then learned that GM F-body power lives under the hood, in the form of a turbocharged and electronically fuel injected 3800 Buick V6, unlike the carbureted 231 Buick V6s that were factory installed in G-bodies. The known-to-be durable 3800 had been running like a top since its installation, even with the added boost. 

Before I knew it, the sun had begun to set. I took the last hour of my visit to walk on the race track, see Rutledge Wood's "Fundra" Toyota Tundra, and ogle the Big Fish Garage GMC Jimmy, another SEMA Show build. I finally got a bite to eat just as participants started to leave the venue and head to their hotels for the night. I took a few more photos as I wrapped up my trip and hitched a ride back to the spectator parking lot on the shuttle — after forgetting where it picked up. 

All in all, I had an amazing time at the Darlington stop of the 2018 HOT ROD Power Tour. I got to see hot rods everywhere at a historic venue, talk to people about their beloved cars, and get a look at the latest performance products to come out of the automotive industry. They say that "everyone knows each other" in this industry and apart from the SEMA Show maybe, there's no better place to realize this than Power Tour. Everyone was checking out cars, meeting up with old friends, or making new ones — and that's what it's all about. 

Recall that at the top of this post, I mentioned that I only "sort of" checked HRPT off my bucket list. Despite my enjoyment of the Darlington stop, I really didn't get the whole Power Tour experience. A large, if not larger part of the experience is actually driving the routes between stops, filling up at the makeshift car shows that gas station lots turn into during Power Tour, and actually cruising with other old cars. Perhaps I'll get to experience that aspect of the tour someday, but going to a Power Tour stop for my first time ever was an experience that I'll never forget. 

Thanks for reading!

Find me on Instagram (@Dburger62) and YouTube - Dburger62.

Temples Auto Parts: Part Two

Temples Auto Parts: Part Two

By February 2017, it had been several months since I'd last been to Temples Auto Parts, or “Temples” as we like to call it around here. Since my first visit, I had become a full time college student and hadn’t had any time to return.

I met a man named Cameron through Instagram a while back, and it turned out that he lived semi-near me in the North Augusta, South Carolina area. Cameron owns a 1969 Ford F100 and a 1967 Mercury Cougar XR-7, along with a 1968 Mercury Cougar base model that is his daily driver. Cameron is one year younger than I am and was a senior in high school at the time. His father has been a friend of the yard's management for about thirty years.

On a Wednesday, Cameron sent me a text saying that he was going to Temples to get some small Cougar parts. He offered to pick me up and take me to the yard with him. Despite the fact that I didn’t have my DSLR handy, I agreed to go, against my better judgement. I did not have a car on campus during my freshman year. I knew that Cameron would be driving his ‘68 Cougar to my college campus, to the yard, back to my college, and back to his house (almost 250 miles). I also knew that I’d have a lot of explaining to do if anything went wrong, considering that it was the middle of the school week. Despite the circumstances, I couldn't resist. I was eager to enter the candy store that is Temples again. This was also my very first time meeting Cameron in person.

Cameron drove to my college, we exchanged pleasantries, and then left for Temples. We didn’t get there until about 4:15, which only left us with about 45 minutes to actually look around. Despite this, I was satisfied. There were still cars everywhere and I saw many that I hadn’t seen on my first trip to Temples. Time flies when you’re having fun, and before I knew it, 4:55 had come and it was time to rush back to the main office and leave. To my relief, Cameron's car made it back to my college and back to his house without a single problem.

We made the trek to Temples again about ten days later and thankfully, on a weekend. We made the plans a few days prior and because of this, I had my DSLR and was ready to shoot. I was also ready to go early and really explore the place.

Cameron and I walked all around the main yard. There were Chevelles, C10s, old '70s boogie vans, two door Impalas, second generation Trans Ams and Firebirds, Mustang coupes and fastbacks, and other well known classic car models. There were also numerous two door tri-five Chevys in the yard, along with many four doors, a few four door wagons, and one absolutely roached ‘55 Chevy 2 door hardtop.

We then walked into the very back of the main yard, deep into the trees along the fence. With prickly plants poking our legs, we came across a 1970 Dodge Charger and a 1968 Dodge Charger sitting near each other, along with some 1968 and 1969 Dodge Coronet two doors. An ominous looking ‘73 Cadillac hearse was also sitting in the distance. It was obvious that both Chargers had been dormant for a long time and were used for parts back in the day.

The ‘70 Charger had been hit hard in its right side and the other side had been mostly chopped off and salvaged. Not much was left of the '68 Charger. Almost everything of value had already been taken from both cars, but I was still utterly flabbergasted. We had found two 1968-70 Chargers sitting in the trees at an old junkyard. At the time, these were my greatest finds to date. The Coronets seemed to still be in decent shape.

After Cameron tore me away from those Mopar relics, we came across the remains of a real 1967 Pontiac GTO and then ventured to “Ute Row” (a line of El Caminos and Rancheros along one of the fences) as I like to call it. Across the path, a roofless 1968 Cougar and a badly wrecked 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 were sitting next to each other. Cameron quickly discovered that this particular Cougar still had its OEM clock in it, so he pulled that and a few other odds and ends while I photographed him and the Mach 1. Following this, Cameron wanted to pay for the parts he had pulled, so we went back to the office.

This wasn’t the end of our trip, though. Across the road, there are two other yards that are part of Temples. One is closed to the public, but the other is open. This is where the actual car crushing, weighing, and metal recycling gets done. Past all of this is another vast expanse of old cars sitting around. This section of the yard seemed to have a lot more cars from the late ‘70s through the ‘90s, along with numerous vintage tractors. There were a multitude of GM G-bodies, Datsun/Nissan 720 trucks, Foxbody Mustangs (including one SVO), Datsun S30s, and third generation GM F-bodies. This section still had its fair share of old American iron, however. Some particular standouts were a ‘79 Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel, a ‘77 or ‘78 Toyota pickup truck, a 1964 Impala SS, a ‘67 Firebird, and a ‘68 Firebird among other cars. We walked around this part of the yard for a while before coming across another 1968 Dodge Charger, much to my amazement. This Charger was also in bad shape, but it wasn’t wrecked and the main body was still mostly in one piece. That was the highlight of the trip. We went to Temples again following this trip and scrutinized the yard's vehicles even more closely.

After the heat and humidity die down, I'll go back to Temples again. There's just so much stuff in every nook and cranny of the place that it's almost impossible to survey everything in even multiple visits - but there's nothing wrong with that.

If you want to see all of the photos I took on these trips, they are on my Flickr page here.

I am on Instagram (@Dburger62) and Cameron is on Instagram (@patrioticcammm). My YouTube channel is Dburger62.  

Temples Auto Parts is located at 7303 Two Notch Road, Batesburg, SC 29006. The junkyard is open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM on weekdays, and from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Saturdays. The yard is closed on Sundays.

Thanks for reading!