New member Eddie Sproles likes his cars

Monthly Newsletter of the Early Ford V8 Club of America
East Tennessee Regional Group
November 9, 2015
Russian factory
visit reveals new
Henry Ford story
Tom Conley, who in the 1990s,
after the fall of communism, was
sent to Russia to help the car companies transition to capitalism, reports that in the Volga company’s
museum he saw a picture of Henry Ford standing on the production
floor of the Volga car factory.
The docent told him that because
Ford was so convinced that automobiles would revolutionize the
world that he came to Russia to
help Volga by sharing his production techniques.
Conley later confirmed that fact
with the curator of the Ford Museum and was told that Ford had
also made a helping visit to Volkswagen in Germany, but that those
travels had not been documented
by Ford because the American people during the years prior to World
War II didn’t want to hear about
Henry Ford’s relationship with either Stalin or Hitler.
I submitted a story to a magazine in the late 1940s about
Russian manufacturing that
was illustrrated with a picture
of a primative trctor that had
the full cowl section of a Model
A Ford mounted for the fuel
tank. It was explained that
Henry had sold dies, jigs and
fixtures for the Model A to Russia when he moved on to build
V8s in 1932.
Meals for Wheels
John Seneker, Mike Gifford
and Brad Buchanan will serve
the meals for wheels next week.
New member
Eddie Sproles
likes his cars
Eddie Sproles 216 Arch Street,
Bristol, TN, was admitted to membership in the East Tennessee Regional Group by vote of the members at the meeting on October 8.
He is a serious about cars. He
Eddie sproles with Ford pickup
has six cars and a motorcycle. His
cars are a ‘67 Chevy pickup, an
Despite wet streets after a ‘85 Corvette, a ‘95 Ford pickup, a
morning of continuous rain, the 1992 MG Midget, a 2011 Mazda 6,
veterans’ Day parade went on as and a 2012 Mazda 6.
His motorcycle is a Honda Gull
scheduled. Gerald “Pop” Tart of
the Early Ford V8 Club braved Wing three wheeler The two Mazthe weather but when the parade das are used as daily drivers by
Sproles and his wife.
moved out his car wouldn’t start.
Sproles is property manager at
Club raffles materials
Southwest Virginia Higher Educafor complete paint job tion Center.
His family includes his wife,
The club is raffling materials for
a complete color-coat/clear-coat Kennetha, and a stepson Gerad
paint job, one and one half gal- Brice.
lons of primer, sealer, color coat Nominating Committee set
and clear finish, with choice of any
Jim Broyles, Mike Gifford and
color the winner wants.
Gerald “Pop” Tart were named to
The materials are the gift of the nominating committee to recO’Reilly’s Auto Parts, co-sponsor of ommend officers for next year. Jim
the club’s cruise-ins, valued at ap- will serve as chairman. Officers
proximately $1,000.
will be elected at the meeting on
Tickets are being sold at $5.00 November 12.
each. The winner will be drawn at
Nominations will also be acceptthe club’s Christmas banquet, 2:00 ed from the floor at the time of the
p.m. December 13.
election.
“Pop” Tart braves rain
in Veterans’ Day parade
Ford Words, November 9, 2015
Page 2
Ford’s “Halo” car, was the Mark II
Sixty years ago, October 6, 1955, Ford’s Lincoln Division introduced
what Bill Ford, manager of Ford’s special products division considered
the company’s “Halo Car,” the Mark II.
Although it succeeded the Continental, Edsel Ford’s tremendously successful vehicle produced from 1939 to 1948, and was produced by the
Lincoln Division, the company not only did not call it a Continental or a
Lincoln or give it a model year designation.
Jay Leno is back
Jay Leno’s
Garage is back
on NBC on
Wednesdays
at 10:00 p.m.
Eastern standard time.
Carter carburetor
factory demolished
The Carter Carburetor factory
building has been demolished and
the site cleaned up. It had stood
empty for thirty years, since the
adoption of electronic fuel injection
made carburetors obsolete and
drove Carter out of business.
Bill Ford with a 1956 Mark II
In 1952 Edsel’s son William, began establishing a “Continental” division to produce a competitor to luxury cars produced by Packard and
Cadillac.
Working not quite in secret, but away from other company stylists and
engineers, he assembled an outstanding team including: John Reinhart,
who had worked under Bill Mitchell at GM and later served as chief stylist at Packard; Harley Copp, who would later go on to engineer the Ford
Falcon, as chief engineer; and Gordon Buehrig, Cord 810 designer; as
chief body engineer, and put them to work in the recently vacated Ford
trade school building.
The Mark II emerged as a two-door, four-passenger coupe on October
6, 1955, at the Paris Auto Show. A convertible and a retractable hardtop
were seriously considered, but never got beyond the prototype stage.
The Mark II was hand built in a dedicated manufacturing facility in
Dearborn with each bolt individually torqued. Bodies were supplied by
Mitchell-Bentley of Ionia, Michigan,
Power came from Lincoln’s 285hp overhead-valve 368-cu.in. V-8
backed by Lincoln’s three-speed automatic transmission, leather seats
and power accessories were standard. The only option was air conditioning for $595 which brought the sales price above $10,000. (A Ford Fairlane could be purchased for less than $2,500.)
First-year production totaled 2,550; for 1957, production tailed off to
444. Even at $10,000 Continental lost money on every Mark II sold.
That didn’t sit well with stockholders. The far less expensive unibody
Mark III, built alongside the Thunderbird on the Wixom assembly line,
replaced the Mark II for 1958. It was produced until the 2002 model
year.
A Mark II Identified as 1956 is being offered by a private seller in
Santa Barbara, Calif. for $39,000. Five more are offered in Hemmingsfor prices ranging up to $108,000.
William Carter began his carburetor development in 1902, at
the age of 18, and in 1909 founded Carter Carburetor, claiming to
provide the most accurate carburetors—thanks to his precision molding techniques—at a time when
the practice of mixing air and fuel
more resembled magic than science. He has been credited with
developing the choke valve for carburetors and the downdraft carburetor design.
The factory came six years later,
in 1915. Designed by renowned St.
Louis architect Hugo K. Graf—
who would also later design the
Carter Carburetor office building
and whose other buildings have
gone on to inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places—the
four-story,
480,000-square-foot
factory on the 10-acre site on North
Spring Avenue in North St. Louis,
just across the street from the stadium where the St. Louis Browns
played, illustrated just how important a supplier Carter had become
to the automobile.
The Carter 97 was used on many
flathed Ford models.
Ford Words, November 9, 2015
Page 3
Hagerty
team builds pickup at Hershey
It is not uncommon to hear browsers of the vendor
fields at the AACA swap meet at Hershey comment,
“You could build a whole vehicle from parts on sale
at Hershey.” Four Hagerty Insurance employees
decided to see if they really could gather enough parts
at Hershey to build a vehicle and drive it home.
The team (from left)Davin Reckow, Matt
Lewis, Tara Hurlin and Brad Phillips.
Parts Finder Davin Reckow, Social Media Analyst
Matt Lewis, Staff Writer Tara Hurlin and Client
Relations Manager Brad Phillips purchased the
chassis of a ‘46 Ford pickup before going to Hershey
because they would need to have it registered and
insured for the road, if they were to drive it home,
and they needed to
plan ahead for the
four-day build.
Despite
its
wheels
being
buried 6 inches in
the soil they pulled
the chassis out
from behind a barn
in northern Michigan, and did what was necessary for
safety. Axles were checked. Brakes were rebuilt and
all bearings replaced before it was loaded onto the
trailer for Hershey. It had no engine, and though it
had been sitting outside for decades, the cab was solid
except for the floor pan.
Once at Hershey, the team spent a good deal of time
tracking down some big parts on the show field. They
found a correct 1946 Ford pickup bench seat, a bed
and rear bumper from a 1952 Ford, rear fenders, leaf
springs, battery box, engine mounts, transmission
mounts, rearview door mirror, inside door handles,
and taillights.
Vendors displayed several flathead engines, but
none appeared ready to be made running immediately.
A man stopped by and told the group he had a V-8 for
sale – at his home in Virginia. Team members made
a late-night run to scope it out, and returned with a
running 1953 flathead V-8 engine and transmission
at 2:30 a.m.
Davin finished patching the floor pan and Matt got
a good deal of the wiring completed. Tara installed
water pumps on the engine, and the team worked to
install the bed.
Corky Corker of Corker tires delivered a set of
white wall, steel belted tires and POSIES Rods and
Customs delivered wood for the bed. Matt tracked
down the necessary electrical components except for
the wiper motor.
Other Hagerty workers pitched in to help. Magazine
Publisher Jonathan Stein and Marketing VP Doug
Clark went way out to the Red Field and returned
with horns, hood springs and hinges. The oil pan on the engine, which had come out
of a ‘53 passenger car didn’t quite fit in the earlier
‘46 pickup frame, but longtime Hershey Swap Meet
supporter Robert “Redneck” Readnack donated a
truck pan in memory of a friend.
The truck builders got the wood down in the bed and
completed much of the wiring. They put the flathead
and transmission in and fired it up for a single, loud,
fantastic moment, about 10:45 p.m.
The need for clutch linkage moved to the top of
the priority list, but the afternoon rain reduced the
team’s chances of finding what was needed. Many
vendors on their side of the Swap Meet had already
packed up and left. So the parts runners went looking
for a ’46 Ford pickup that was seen in the car corral,
slid underneath and took photos of what was needed.
Davin sketched the part, which was quickly fabricated
by Worm Inc.
. With the radiator installed and fluids poured in, a
small water pump leak was discovered, but Brad and
Tara quickly made some adjustments and fixed the
issue just in time.
The truck started up spiting and sputtering, but
the proud team drove it around Hershey’s Chocolate
Field for the first
time. After a few
more adjustments
to the timing, the
truck was driven
for another round
around the lot,
still sputtering and
popping, but they drove it back to the hotel, to rest up
for their journey home early in the morning.
The trip home wasn’t without problems; fuel pump
failure and other minor issues caused considerable
time to be spent on the side of the road or in parking
lots, but it was driven every mile home. Although it
may have been pushed a few feet down the road, it
was never towed or trailered.
Page 4
EARLY FORD V8 CLUB OF AMERICA
East Tennessee Regional Group
Minutes of meeting held October 8, 2015
The meeting was convened at 7:18 p.m. by
President Phil Vinson who apologized for being
a little late as he completed doing the dishes and
righting up after the evening meal.
Minutes of the meeting of October 1 were read
by Secretary Murv Perry who also read the minutes of the meeting of September 10 which he had
reported from his notes at the meeting on Oct.
1. Both reports were approved as read on motion by Ron Freeman seconded by Justin Parks.
Treasurer’s report presented by John Seneker
was approved on motion by Fred Lord, seconded
by Jim Broyles.
Using the ballot box with black and white balls,
members voted to admit Eddie Sproles, of Bristol
as a member of the Regional Group.
A motion of appreciation for the evening meal
provided by Bob Scales, Gary Williams and the
club was approved by applause.
Sky Farrell was acknowledged as a guest.
Phil reported that he was ready to begin serving breakfast on Sunday.
Mark Helms won the $15 Ford Fund drawing.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Murv Perry
Rewound coil makes
speedo adapter work
Murv Perry reports
I’m happy to report that we have repaired the
adapter that shifts the speedometer on my old “Ford
to match the change in gear ratio when the Columbia
is in overdrive.
When I acquired the Columbia, several years ago,
the controls and speedometer adapter were not with
it. I obtained a reproduction of the control that activated the vacuum shift but the word was that there
was no hope of finding a speedo adapter. I was advised that an adapter for a later model Ford Truck
with two speed axle could be used if mounted backward since on the truck it operated in underdrive instead of overdrive as the Columbia did.
I bought one from a salvage yard in Bluff City and
installed it. An internal solenoid shifted it from direct to overdrive, and although designed for 12 volt
systems, it worked well on six volts for several years.
‘When the car was garaged sometime ago the Columbia was left in overdrive with the circuit that sifted the adapter energized; overnight it burned out the
coil that operated the solenoid.
Responses to calls and e-mails to those who advertized parts for the Columbia were that there were no
replacements for the adapter. I futilely searched e-
Ford Words, November 9, 2015
.EARLY FORD V8 CLIB OF AMERICA
East Tennessee Regional Group
Minutes of the meeting held Nov. 5, 2015
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by
President Phil Vinson.
Minutes of the meeting of October 8 were read
by Secretary Murv Perry and approved as read
on motion by T Brown, seconded by Ron Freeman.
Treasurer’s report presented by Phil Vinson
was accepted on motion by Ron Freeman, seconded by Fred Lord.
Phil read a request from a New England club
member who is looking for a Wilson distributor
timing tool.
Phil announced a car show at East High School
on Saturday, November 14 with proceeds going
to help a student with a brain tumor.
Phil reported that the Veterans Day parade is
scheduled for Saturday, November 7.
Materials for a complete paint job, primer, color and clear, $1,000 worth, donated by O’Reilly’s
, are being raffled. Tickets are $5.oo each. Drawing will be at Christmas dinner.
Sunday, December 13 was approved for for the
Christmas dinner at 2:00 p.m. on motion by T
Brown, seconded by Ron Freeman.
Work party to prepare for Christmas dinner
will be scheduled for Saturday, December 12.
Jim Broyles was named chairman of the committee to nominate officers for next year. He will
be assisted by Mike Gifford and Pop Tart.
Rob Leonard was introduced as a guest.
It was announced that Fred Lord is scheduled
for surgery during the coming week.
John Seneker, Mike Gifford and Brad Buchanan will serve the meals for wheels next week.
Mike Henty’s number was drawn for the Ford
Fund. Since he was not present, $16.00 was deposited in the Building Maintenance Fund.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Murv Perry
bay for either a replacement for the unit I had used
or a replacement for the coil in the solenoid. John
Bostik of Marionville, MO, responded that his company wound coils for producers of several kinds of
equipment it wasn’t in position to do a repair job,
but that he might be able to wind such a coil on his
own time if he had the specifics for size if wire and
number of windings. I sent him the damaged coil and
pictures of the adapter and later the housing in which
the solenoid operated. He returned it with a new coil
installed.
We gave it a trial last week and it works just like it
used to. John says he can replace the coils for others
who have a similar problem for $50.