The July Newsletter - Corvettes of Buffalo

VETTE NEW S
Volume 30, Issue 07
July 2011
President’s Corner
Wha t’s Happening
As I write this article the June Crusin season
is almost over. Two weeks ago a group of COB
members headed West to Chicago, Illinois for the
NCCC convention. Some cars arrived on Thursday,
the others on Friday and Saturday. Travel time from
WNY is a little over 8 hours. The convention was
held at the Tinley Park Convention Center about
one hour south of downtown Chicago.
Tinley Park went all out to make us feel
welcome. One of my favorite events was the car
cruise down their main drag to the commuter train
station where we parked our cars and met other
clubs from around the county. Dave & Kathy
Huber won an award with proceeds from the show
going to charity. Speaking of winners, the club was
well
represented
throughout
the
week. Congratulations to Patti, Lee and Rose for
their Club table top display at our 3 COB dinner
tables, and received a third place award. Rich
Kirkland won a certificate for four tires from
Kumho valued at $1300. Skip & Maureen finished
second in the Funkhana (ask Skip and Maureen to
explain this fun event). Ray & Debbie Schafer won
first place in their Concurs car show class. Marianne
won a $50 gift certificate to Corvette America,
Nicolet Brett also won a door prize and I believe Jim
Brett won an award for his class in the low speed
event. I won a $100 gift certificate to Zip products
and $189 in one of the daily 50/50 drawings.
During the week, many of us split up into
small groups and traveled via a tour bus to
downtown Chicago which was available for 3 midweek days. Everyone has plenty of interesting
stories to share.
 July 3 Tri Five Car Show- Clarence Pumpkin
Farm Main St. - (8am- 5pm)
 July 8 Paddock Chevy Car Show Kenmore NY (4:30pm - 9pm)
July 9
COB Club Meeting – Clarence Church
(7pm- 9pm)
 July 10 Geneseo Air Show Car CruiseGeneseo, NY (10am – 4pm)
July 13
COB Salvatore’s Super Cruise – Transit Rd.
(5pm – 9pm
 July 16 Burgerfest Car Show – Main St.
Hamburg, NY (12pm-4pm)
 July 18 Alice’s Super Cruise – Sheridan
Drive – (5 pm – 9 pm)
 July 19 Fairgrounds Super Cruise –
Hamburg, NY (5pm -9pm)
 July 21 Charcoal Corral Super Cruise –
Perry, NY (5pm-9pm)
 July 22-St. John Vianney Cruise –
2950 Southwestern Blvd. Orchard Park, NY
(5pm- ?)
 July 27 American Classics Cruise –
Beechwood Homes, 2235 Millersport Hwy –
Getzville (6pm-?)
 July 29 Medina Cruise – Canal Basin
Medina, NY 5:30pm - 8pm)
 July 31 Sylvan Beach All Corvette Show
 July 31 Dick Pendleton Car Show – Grand
Island, NY – (10am -4pm)
Continued on pg 3
OFFICAL PUBLICATION OF
www.corvettesofbuffalo.com
CORVETTES of BUFFALO
pg 1
Officers
President
Frank Pastore
716-694-9024
COB Birthda y s
Vice President Rich Zahner
716-225-1188
Secretary
Skip Polowy
716-741-7677
Treasurer
Larry Ienco
716-570-7110
1st
11th
13th
21st
22nd
25th
29th
30th
Boa rd of Directors
Bruce Mussehl
Jim Bonus
Mike Buccilli
Ron Giovino
Mel Skeide
Sam Iraci
Grant Violino
716-864-8459
716-695-7643
716-648-2037
716-691-8684
716-876-1194
716-837-8623
716-812-6528
Mike Erdey
Donna Petro
Carl Balmas
Roberta Strychalski
Steve Dworzack
Jim Zelasko
John Heffernan
Jim Bonus
COB Anniversa ries
24th
25th
26th
Patti & Rich Kirkland
Kathy & Dave Huber
Donna & Larry Petro
Committees
Membership
Barbra Lipome
716-691-8845
Newsletter
Jim & Linda Bonus
716-695-7643
Phone Comm.
Donna Biggie
585-492-2927
Sunshine Comm. Karen Rothenberger
716-675-9467
Webmaster
Jim Bonus
Activities Dir
I never leave
home without it
Frank Pastore
Club Photographer Dan Krakowski
Meeting every second Saturday of the month at
First Presbyterian Church
9675 Main St. Clarence, NY
Meeting starts 7:00 p.m.
Corvettes of Buffalo is open to all Corvette
owners and enthusiasts over the age of 21
Visit us at http://www.corvettesofbuffalo.com/
Send Articles To:
Jim Bonus,
1012 Castlebar Drive
North Tonawanda, NY 14120
E-Mail : mailto:jwbonus@roadrunner.com
Submissions must be in by 24th
CORVETTES of BUFFALO
pg 2
On the highway we averaged over 30
miles per gallon. Which helps on a 1500 mile
week trip
Thanks to everyone in our group that
made this event a week we will never forget. A
special thank you to all the drivers who led us to
and from the Chicago area and to the passengers
for putting up with our occasional rants.
Continued from pg1
After returning for the evening we changed
and attended a nightly party with live
music, nightly door prizes and 50/50 drawing.
All the cars attending the event were in a
secure parking area and the police checked your
registration name/number against your vehicle
with 24 hour coverage. The COB banner was
proudly displayed all week in the main banquet
room. Thursday evening after Bloomington we
headed to a restaurant dinner show called Tommy
Guns for a great meal and show arranged by Mel.
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday in small
groups we headed to St Charles, Illinois (one hour
trip) to attend the Bloomington Gold Corvette
event located on a golf course. The club had its
own parking area which was a major advantage
over public parking. Some phases of this event are
similar to Carlisle. The Mecum Auction was fun
to attend. On Friday most of the cars crossing the
stage were C3, C4, C5 with an occasional C1 or
C2. A lot of the cars did not hit the reserve and
did not sell. Of course Mecum saves the best of
the C1 and C2 for Saturday.
On Friday Rich Zahner and I had our cars
detailed by Richard Kashinsky and staff at the
Adams Car Care Products Tent. Richard is the
North Carolina distributor and was very helpful in
explaining the Adams line of products and was a
great technical resource on improving the
appearance of our cars. Richard says if we wish we
can purchase products directly from him and
volunteered to help with technical questions
regarding the use of Adams products. His phone
number is 800-366-9674 and e-mail address is
Richardk@skybest.com.
COB members started heading home at
various times on Saturday and Sunday. Rich &
Carole, Mel & Diane, and Marianne & I headed
North to Dearborn, Michigan and a visited the
Henry Ford Museum and then Greenfield Village
on Sunday June 26 before heading home through
Canada via the Port Huron Bridge. We crossed
back into the US via the Lewiston bridge and NO
cars in front of us a 7:00 PM. Naturally, we
stopped for one more dinner meal at the Jet Port
restaurant before arriving home.
You can't beat the new C5 and C6 Vettes
for comfort and gas mileage.
CORVETTES of BUFFALO
Frank
Attention C6 Owners
If you have a C6 you should be aware that you
have gathered some small stones and gravel inside of
the rear rocker panels just in front of the rear wheels.
Since 2005 I was aware of them but couldn’t get them
out from between the seams of the panels. I suggest
you get down and look at yours to count how many
stones you have inside the seams. The small gravel &
dirt can be rinsed out of the seam but many are too
large and will not come out of the seam.
This past week while at the NCCC
Convention I talked with many C6 owners and each
had the stones. Yes, even a brand new 2011 ZR-1 that
was entered into the NCCC Concours Show had 9
large stones in the gap. If you slide a thin playing card
into the gap the stones usually move and you can slide
them back & forth. But you can’t get them out without
scratching or chipping the paint along the seam. I
talked with more C6 owners while at the Bloomington
Show in St. Charles, Illinois last week and some knew
about the stones but most didn’t.
The general consensus was that the only way
to remove them without damage is to remove one of
the panels to open the gap and clean them out. But
how do they get inside and how can we prevent more
of them from entering? The answer is that GM
designed an opening inside the wheel well along the
rear quarter panel. Why they did this is unknown. But
one way to keep out the gravel, stones and rocks is to
cover/fill the opening with a soft black sponge that
you can pull out of the opening when cleaning your
C6. The opening is large enough to fit your finger into
so use a large enough piece of sponge or possibly
cover with black tape.
After looking at your C6 maybe you can come
up with an idea how to remove the stones or a better
way to keep them out. If you do, please share it with
our COB members.
Thanks!
Skip Polowy
pg 3
There are a lot of parts that are assembled
into their units . I could send out to have them
refurbished , at the cost of $750 a side plus
shipping but my cost was $55.00 for bearings and
seals .It takes about 8-10 hours a side to complete
this part of the project so they will look and run like
factory new .
72 Vette Restoration
Pa rt V
This month I will start to rebuild and
refurbish the Rear control Arms and Spindle
assembles.
The last owner did change the bearings and
spindles, but didn't set the proper side clearance. This
would cause bearing failure and a breakdown .The
right side had a rusted out control arm that needed
replacement.
Next month I will work on 1/2 shafts, rear tie rods,
bar bushing, and the rest of the rear suspension after
the NCCC convention in Chicago
This car came with 2 new control arms so I
could transfer and reset the spindle assembles in new
arms .To get the spindles out I have a special press
that pushes the spindle out ( pictures) , and it took a
lot of pressure to get them out . I have another tool
called a Loader that simulates a spindle so I could
stack the bearings and spacers to assemble in spindle
housing . The Clearance is .002 to .008 of a inch . I
shoot for .003 for the best results.
CORVETTES of BUFFALO
Pete
pg 4
Memorial Da y Pa rade
Thirty One COB Corvettes signed up to participate in the 73nd Amherst Township, Williamsville,
Memorial Day Parade, May 30. This was our second consecutive year in the parade and again were a crowd
pleaser. There was a pre parade brunch and after parade party at the Lamm American Legion Post. A good time
was had by all.
Parading were: Dan & Debbie Wroblewski,Frank & Marianne Pastore, Rich Zahner, Carol Rotando,Dave &
Kathy Huber, Sam Iraci,Joe & Alice Greco, Barb Lapome, Rich & Patti Kirkland, Mike & Lee Buccilli, Lowell &
Karen Rothenberger, Bob & Carol Blandford, Mel & Diane Skeide, Ron & Connie Giovino, Reas & Nancy
Graber, Bruce & Ruth Mussehl, Pamm Seifert, Skip & Maureen Polowy, Grant Violino, Nancy Conroy, Bob &
Joan Meegan, Larry & Donna Petro, John & Donna Biggie, Pete, & Rose Ricigliano, Mike & Janet Whittaker,
John Meyerhoff, Lee & Barb Singer, George & Roslyn Hirsch, Marty & Pat Nowak, Dave & Carol Hall, Mike &
Cindy Erdey, Holly Wyse.
CORVETTES of BUFFALO
pg 5
GM Ca r S how
S cenes from the NCCC
Convention
Kenny Kaczica was our 'shutterbug' at
the GM Car Show - hosted by WNY Olds Club
and sponsored by Glen Campbell Chevrolet on
Sunday June 5th; our '63 Fuel Injected
S/W Coupe did just fine in the Corvette
competition and 'brought-home-the-gold'.
COB had several award winners, including
Sets of Tires, 50/50, Gift Certificates and Trophies.
Also a fun night at Tommy Guns Speak Easy, see
Reas & Roxy on the stage
I took a Corvette class award and my good friend
who always wins in our COB club with that
beautiful black '02 ZO6 should have won this time
when compared to the competition. Many
disgruntled car buffs; I'm sure this one will get
"The Press".
They even had my class registered
incorrectly as 1978 -up Muscle Cars (Modified).
Did not notice same on my car window sheet, as
mass confusion was at the registration table; but
they somehow got the message somewhere along
the line of judging that my entry was a 1963
Corvette stock and re-entered it in Corvette class
1963-1967.
All-in-all the weather was grand for a
memorable car show as we had never attended this
show in the past. Later Kenny and I skipped over
to the 22nd Annual WNY Regional CadillacLaSalle Club Int'l. Car Show at Keyser Cadillac for
some 'eye-ball candy' and a hot dog and a pop as
well, to polish-off the day.
Gene
CORVETTES of BUFFALO
pg 6
La dies Luncheon Update
The Glen Ca mpbell Cruise
Novel Tea has a new name "Gerties"
Parking is available on street only.
6010 Goodrich Rd.,
Clarence Center, NY
This annual cruise All Corvette cruise was well
attended by the club. It was a very nice day after a rain start
to cruising season. Mel and Skip won awards for the rides.
Our reservations have been confirmed, and
Debbie, our hostess, is looking forward to
serving us on Thurs., July 21st @ 1 p.m.
Please look over the following menu on pg 8
and make your choice in advance. This will help
Debbie ensure our choice will be available.
The sign up menu will be at the July meeting.
Thank you, and see you at the July meeting or
at the luncheon.
Any questions can be directed to
Sue Brownlee or Mary Mangan.
COB S ummer Picnic
Sunday August 7th, 11:00 to 6:00
Sunset Park 4085 Harris Hill rd. and
Wherle Dr.
The Sunset Pavilion
The sign up sheet will be available at the July
meeting. Anyone unable to sign up can contact
John and Donna Biggie @ 585 492-2927 or by
email @ jdbig@roadrunner.com
Thanks Jim.
CORVETTES of BUFFALO
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CORVETTES of BUFFALO
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COB S PONS ORS
CORVETTES of BUFFALO
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COB S PONS ORS
CORVETTES of BUFFALO
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COB S PONS ORS
CORVETTES of BUFFALO
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CORVETTES of BUFFALO
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P. O. Box 161
West Seneca, NY 14224
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
CORVETTES of BUFFALO
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