June 2015 - Gold Rush Car Show

Calendar
July
15- Board Meeting at
Holiday Inn Express
2:30pm
16- General Meeting FRSC
7pm
17-Blueberry Twist Car
Show 5PM
18/19-Redding National
Drag Challenge
25-Woodland Shaver Lake
Car Show
July 2015 NEWSLETTER
PREZ SEZ
Well the heat keeps on hitting and the party keeps on going… We have
had a jam packed month with the First Friday Celebration kicking off the
month, and our great Fourth of July Celebration on the dam. The month
rocketed into action and the firework rockets burst in the air as we
celebrated our country’s 239th birthday! We had a great turn out at the
First Friday event, many of you showed in all your patriotic glory and we
showed Discovery Channel a great view of what Oroville stands for…
Thank you all who participated and Happy 4th!
25/26-Twain Harte 12th
Annual Car Show
August
1-Sacramento 7th Annual
CAM Car Show
8-Twain Harte Rods
14-Denny’s Car Show 6PM
21-Blueberry Twist 5PM
22-Paradise Concours
European Car Show
29-Chico Concours
September
5-Placerville
11-Denny’s Car Show 6PM
11/13 Grass Valley
Roamin’Angels Car Show
MEMBER PROFILE:
Mark and Debbie Anderson
To say that Mark and Debbie are collectors is like saying that Mickey Mantle
played baseball. You name it, Mark and Debbie either have it or have had it and
sold it. Since Mark’s job as a machinist ended when the company fell apart, he
and Debbie have found a niche that suits them perfectly: they buy abandoned
storage units at auction and sell the contents either at garage sales or online. Of
course, items that fit into their personal collections find their way into the
museum that occupies the second story of the house that Mark and Debbie built
themselves. Growing up near Disney World, Mark has a love of all things Mickey
Mouse, so his collection includes several rare items.
Mark also has an extensive stein collection that occupies one wall of the large
upstairs room which also contains a full-size pool table currently used as a display
counter.
Downstairs, Debbie has displayed her collection
is special rooms. The one shown here is
furnished with antiques, many of which –
including the family photo on the wall – are
family heirlooms.
One wall of another room is decorated with
Debbie’s silver spoon collection.
Debbie also decorated the bathroom with
collectible items, including this lavatory, which
Mark installed in an antique dresser.
The mirror above the lavatory needs special
mention.
Adjacent to the home is the mancave that Mark
built to house his complete machine shop and
the many car projects that Mark has going.
Standing guard outside the mancave is a
Chevron gas pump rescued from the Oroville
Taxicab Company.
The frame for the mirror originally housed a
print – now framed in another room. The
framed print was brought from Germany by
Mark’s maternal grandparents in 1918.
Before leaving the collectible items found in the
three-bedroom house that Mark and Debbie
took 18 months to build, one item deserves
special attention. This wash stand and wringer,
built in 1898 has two fold-out shelves, one for
the wet wash and the other – on the opposite
side – for the wash ready for the clothesline.
The first thing you see upon entering the
mancave is the 1926 Model T roadster that Mark
got from Jim Stevens in a straight swap for his
1935 Chevrolet Master Sedan.
The flathead four-banger runs and drives great,
although above about 20 MPH, the front end
starts to shimmy…didn’t they all?
In keeping with the collection theme, the rafters
are strewn with assorted parts awaiting return
to service.
Just outside the mancave, we find the enclosed
trailer that Mark uses as a garage for his special
car, a chopped, tubbed 1940 Chevy 4-door that
Mark bought from an Arizona owner.
Continuing to the adjacent room, we find the allimportant machine shop where Mark custommakes parts, including shortened and resplined
axles.
The gorgeous four-door wasn’t always so
gorgeous. There’s a story behind that.
trailer was hauled to the Chevy and the latter
was strapped down inside. On the way home, an
abrupt stop at a traffic light caused the straps to
fail, allowing the Chevy to roll forward, caving in
the front end and moving it back an inch.
Restrapped in place, the wounded Chevy was
hauled home, but unloading was no less
traumatic that the rest of the day. The winch
cable parted as the car was being eased out of
the trailer, and to keep it from running into some
solid objects, Mark cranked the steering wheel,
causing the left front fender to encounter the
trailer frame catastrophically, well, at least
disastrously. When the car finally settle, the
complete front, the left front fender, and the left
rear fender all needed considerable massaging.
The insurance company sent a hefty check, and
Brian Dowdy in Orland repaired the car so that
only Mark can tell where the repair and original
meet.
The Chevy is only one of the vehicles on the
property – at one time there were 28 – including
Debbie’s first car, a 1966 Mustang coupe.
Unfortunately, a while back her daughter got
into a fender-bender-on-steroids that took out
most of the right side of the car. It is slowly
getting back to normal.
Mark bought the car in 2002 and rebuilt the
Chevy 402 big block to the tune of about $13K,
learning about running production changes in
cam bearings in the process – he’ll tell you about
it.
Power is transmitted through a
Turbohydramatic 400 to a Strange rear end with
a 3.72 posi and 32-spline axles. So far, Mark has
broken three axles and one of those events set
off a chain reaction that left the car less than
pristine.
On the fateful day, the broken axle allowed the
huge slick to exit the left rear fender, changing
its shape considerably and nearly turning the
car on its side. When things settled, Mark called
his son to ask him to bring the enclosed trailer
to pick the car up. As you might expect, the
trailer was already loaded with items obtained
at a storage-unit auction. Once emptied, the
You’ve already learned that Mark is a collector,
so it should be no surprise to you to learn that
he has collected projects, as well as antiques.
Among his various projects are a partially
disassembled 1967 Camaro, a 1929 Chevy 1-1/2
ton flatbed truck, and a 1931 Model A fivewindow coupe that may eventually be powered
by a Ford Taurus SHO (nee Yamaha) engine
driving through a 1989 Ford Aerostar five-speed
transmission.
Oro Dam Cruisers Summer 2015
Picnic
The 2015 Oro Dam Cruisers Picnic at its new
venue in the Oroville Rotary Park was fun for all.
The weather cooperated and the food was good
and plentiful. No one went home hungry.
Mark and Debbie have been active in the club
since about 2001 or 2002, when Bob Buskirk
suggested that they join. Mark had been on the
Board of Directors ever since the board was
established, and for many years was the parking
coordinator for the car show. He has also been
a team leader for most of his tenure with the
club. Last year he took on a new task as
Chairman of Judging for the car show. Whatever
the event, you will find Mark there pitching in to
make it better.
This being the first year that the picnic was in
Oroville rather than in Durham, the club
expected that more members would show up
because of the shorter drive. However, the
turnout was a bit less than expected, despite all
of John Bramlage’s efforts.
But those of us that attended can tell the others
that they missed a good show. The pavilion
provided adequate shade and more than
adequate room for eating and socializing. After
chowing down, the kids especially enjoyed the
playground adjacent to the pavilion where they
could use the slides and swings. They were
even called into service to assist in retrieving
an errant Hillbilly Golf slinger (or whatever it is
called) that somehow wound up in a tree.
For those who would forego the tournament,
there was always time for car talk.
And there was Hillbilly Golf – the socially
acceptable term is Mountain William Golfaplenty, as the usual tournament was held. Also,
as usual, Mark got chided for having won the
tournament last year.
And. Of course, there was always some goodnatured discussion about the rules.
The youngster on the right looks like he doesn’t
believe the story.
(Would you buy a used car from him???)
There were some new members at the picnic.
Well, not really new members yet, but we are
hopeful that Grandpa Hubler will get the little
one interested in cars. I’m betting it’s a sure
thing.
Moving the picnic to Oroville was a good idea. It
is certainly more convenient than driving to
Durham, although we are all about driving. Still,
the number of people attending was a bit
disappointing, but probably not due to the new
location. No location has been selected for next
year’s picnic, but if I had to guess, I would say we
are staying in Oroville. See you next year.
Dennys Car Shows!
Here’s the
latest: Denny’s Car Shows will be held on the
second Friday of the month at
6PM. The reason for the change is that the
triple-digit temperature has caused cruisers to
stay away in droves. Look at the pitiful turnout
on June 26, when only a few of the faithful
showed up.
NOTE THAT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE,
SHOWTIME WILL BE AT 6PM. The response
for club members and other car enthusiasts was
overwhelming. Just look at the attendance of the
July 10th Car Show.
Larry was there, but Donna was ailing. We wish
her well. We ate early and went home early to
get out of the heat.
Four trophies were awarded:
Judge’s Choice went to Mike Saville’s rat rod and
rat trailer.
Most unique was Eddie Plaster’s Mercruiserengined coupe.
So, the management at Denny’s acted decisively
to reschedule shows for the second Friday of
each month from 7 to 9 PM.
People’s Choice was awarded to Dale Hinkle’s
2009 Pontiac Solstice.
Hunting (Conclusion)
by
Tom Piantanida
After another cup of coffee, Kenny
completed the job, and this time when he started
the engine, it didn’t sound like a stockcar. It was
Best of Show went to David Hayward’s 1967
Dodge Coronet.
still a little raucous, what with the straight pipe,
but Kenny thought that he could live with it. If,
after a couple of weeks the Merc’ was still too raw
sounding, he’d buy another muffler, probably a
glass pack, but maybe a steel pack like the pair
that sounded so good on Fritzie’s Jimmy motor.
Kenny let the Merc’ heat up the entire
The underhood area was every bit as clean as
the exterior.
exhaust system, and for a few minutes, the
headers, and especially the flexpipe emitted
escalating amounts of smoke as motor oil and
preservative burned off. At about the point where
Kenny – and his dad – began to worry about the
smoke, it started to dissipate, and in just a few
more minutes, it had completely stopped smoking.
Both he and his dad were relieved.
The last step in the installation was to cut
By all measures, the change in the show time
was a success. See you on August 14th at 6PM.
off both tail pipes to the right length and clamp on
the echo cans. When Kenny had installed the
reflection, he was certain that this was the bus
three-inch chrome exhaust extensions, not only the
where he’d put the head yesterday.
look of the Merc’, but its sound were perfect. He
Finally, in disgust, he slammed the hood
let the car down and blipped the throttle a few
on the school bus and started back towards his car.
times just to savor the exhaust note.
As he passed the office/home, Frenchy called out
Now what he needed was a pair of
to him. “Hey, kid, I found the other head.”
Offenhauser high-compression heads. He had
one, and he knew where to find the other.
Late in the afternoon, he drove to Spring
Startled, Kenny turned to see Frenchy
watching him from the darkened shack. Kenny
walked into the office, and the first thing that
Valley and went straight to the train tracks that
confronted him was a left Offenhauser high-
flanked Frenchy’s Junk Yard. He was on a roll
compression aluminum head for a ’49-’53 Ford or
and he wanted that feeling to continue. Parking
Mercury suspended from the wall right next to the
down the tracks from Frenchy’s, Kenny walked
cluttered counter. Attached to the head was a
cautiously into the yard, and seeing no one around,
large price tag that said “$50.”
made straight for the green and red Peter Brega
“See, kid, I told you I had the other head.”
school bus. He wondered briefly why Peter Brega
“Okay,” Kenny sputtered. “I’ll just take it
hadn’t painted their busses yellow like every other
school-bus company, but quickly dismissed the
question from his mind.
He opened the hood of the bus and peered
in. No cylinder head! Perhaps it had fallen to the
ground. Looking under the bus, Kenny was
growing increasingly concerned by the absence of
the head. He eyed the other busses, thinking that
perhaps he had stashed the head in one of them
instead of this one, but after a moment’s
then,”
Frenchy was smiling; Kenny could never
remember Frenchy ever smiling. “What do you
mean ‘You’ll take it then’? Do you have the fifty
bucks?”
“But I already paid you for a pair of
heads,” Kenny protested.
“That’s not quite right, kid. You paid me
the price of a pair of heads for just one head.
Remember, you told me you’d take your chances
on finding another one?”
“Yeah, but fifty bucks is way too much for
just one head.”
“Maybe so,” Frenchy’s smile broadened
even further, revealing rat-like yellow teeth, “But
it doesn’t matter what I ask for it because I already
got the price of a pair of heads for the one that I
sold you.”
Kenny turned to go, knowing that he’d
been had. Frenchy, with his smile completely
filling his face, called after him, “It’ll be here
whenever you’ve got fifty bucks.”
Frenchy’s raucous laugh ended in a
hacking cough.
Trivia
Which of the following did Raymond Loewy’s studio NOT design?
a.
The 1953 Studebaker
b.
The Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Locomotive
c.
The New York Central Hudson Locomotive
d.
The Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 Locomotive
e.
The Studebaker Avanti
2.
The P39 Bell Aerocobra and the Detomaso Pantera have what in common?
a.
Both have 8 cylinder engines
b.
Both are mid-engine
c.
Both were designed by Italians
d.
Both use ZF transmission
e.
Both use Ford engines
3.
What feature did later examples of Porsche 911 Targas eliminate?
a.
Zip in back window
b.
Zenith carburetors
c.
Weber carburetors
d.
Cookie-cutter wheels
e.
rear window defroster
4.
What did the Porsche 912 NOT share with the Porsche 911?
a.
Disc brakes
b.
6-cylinder engine
c.
Head rests
d.
Tiptronic transmission
e.
Fuel injection
5.
How many vertical slots does the definitive Jeep grille have?
a.
Five
b.
Six
c.
Seven
d.
Eight
e.
Nine
ANSWERS:
1.
1c, 2b, 3a, 4b, 5c.