Early Bird - Santa Clara Valley Thunderbirds

 The Early
Bird
Fan
Published monthly by the Santa Clara Valley Thunderbirds
April 2014 Chapter 50 – Classic Thunderbird Club International Volume 42 No. 4
Bring a wrapped White
Elephant gift and get
a raffle ticket!
NEXT MEETING FRIDAY,
April 11, 2014, 7:30 PM
1
April 20
The Early Bird Fan is the monthly newsletter of the
Santa Clara Valley Thunderbirds, SCVT. SCVT is
dedicated to the enjoyment of the classic 1955, 1956, and
1957 Ford Thunderbirds.
Address:
Santa Clara Valley Thunderbirds
P.O. Box 26103 San Jose, CA 95159
Web Site: http://santaclaravalleytbirds.com
CTCI Site: http://www.ctci.org
Meetings: 7:30 p.m. meetings are held on the second
Friday of each month at West Valley College 14000
Fruitvale Ave. Saratoga, CA. in the college board room.
Events SCVT members participate in parades, displays,
homecomings, regional and national meets, local cars
shows, and driving events.
Membership Dues are $40.00 per year per family and
are due by January 31 of each year . SCVT is Chapter 50
of the Classic Thunderbird Club International, CTCI.
Membership in CTCI is mandatory to participate in
parades and displays sponsored by SCVT. See
http://www.ctci.org for CTCI membership requirements.
Newsletter Deadline: Turn in articles, ideas,
suggestions by 25th of each month. Send to:
Cliff Monroe: 1207 Minnesota Ave.,San Jose, CA. 95125
e-mail: cliffmm@aol.com, Phone: 408-998-5880
CAR‐toon corner
2013 SCVT Board Members
President
Vice
President
Secretary
Treasurer
Editor
Parades
Displays
Activities
Fundraising
Historian
CTCI Rep
Logo Sales
NM
Hospitality
Ray Delgado
rldelga@pacbell.net
Bill Croxton
wacroxton@gmail.com
Tina Ford
Bob Lawrence
Cliff Monroe
Kathy Kelley
Carl Epolite
Don Hamblin
Jill Schwab
Patti Lee Swigart
Joe Ryan
Bernie Epolite
Tinaford001@gmail.com
captndaddy@gmail.com
cliffmm@aol.com
Kelleys64@verizon.net
carl1@garlic.com
dhamblins@aol.com
justjillleo@hotmail.com
PattiLeeSwigart@aol.com
Scvt57@sbcglobal.net
brunina@garlic.com
Caravan tips
- Maintain your car.
- Gas up and check fluids/tires.
- Know who your leader is and follow.
- Turn CB to channel 22.
- Turn FRS to channel 7-11.
- Gas up at scheduled pit stops.
- Generic cars at the end of the caravan.
SCVT Items for sale contact Bernie Epolite brunina@garlic.com Parts Boxes
Box 1 - Doc Dockter
Box 2 - Gene Cox
Box 3 - Bill Mann
6-Volt- Mike Williams
Tents - Gene Cox
Banner - Don Reisinger
2
Magnetic sign
Visor
Baseball mesh cap
Baseball cotton cap
Summer jacket
Winter jacket
Large patch
Name badge
License plate frame
Personalized tote
Logo polo shirt
3 piece luggage set
SCVT Cooler
Antenna Flag
Earrings
Charm Bracelet
Charm Necklace
Key Chain
Mirrors
6 glass set
Mugs
Car Wash Kit
$5.00
$11.00
$15.00
$15.00
$21.00
$39.50
$10.00
$10.50
$12.00
$10.00
$15.00
$15.00
$35.00
$9.00
$12.00
$7.00
$7.00
$7.00
$6.50
$12.00
$2.50
$20.00
See web site for logo items.
SCVT President’s Message, Ray’s Reckonings
Spring has sprung and summers almost here, (what happened to winter ?) It's time to get your little birds ready for some great driving events coming up. Speaking of which, we have a great one coming up later this month. Thanks to Charlie Affrunti & Joe Ryan for putting this one on, its going to be fun seeing 34+ T'birds heading south on the freeway. Our club is well known for being very active and I think we are keeping up with this reputation with so many events planned this year. Check out our list of events in the Fan and put a star next to the ones which you want to participate. Have you gotten our new Membership Directory ?? Great Job, Carl & Bernie Epolite for putting it all together again. THANKS! Come by our next meeting and get yours. You don’t want to miss Aprils meeting, April 11th, we are doing a “white elephant” raffle. It’s always lots of fun and laughs. It’s time to look around the house for those special things to “re‐gift”, LOL. We also will discuss the pro’s and con’s on whether or not to change our meeting night times from 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM to 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM. The reason it was brought up was to, perhaps, keep folks from leaving at the break and to also not to have such a late night drive home. If you can’t make it to the meeting and want to throw in an opinion, shoot it to me via email or phone. Reminder, The Memorial Service for our friends Kathryn and Rodney Marconi will be on Saturday, April 5th, at 11:00 AM. It will be held at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 178 Clinton Street, Redwood City, CA. 94062. Everyone is invited to attend. I reckon that’s it for now… see ya at the meeting March 14th.
Ray
MEETING MINUTES March 14, 2014 PRESIDENT: Ray Delgado called the meeting to order at 7:35pm. Officers in attendance were President, Ray Delgado; Vice President, Bill Croxton; Treasurer, Bob Lawrence and Secretary, Tina Ford. VICE PRESIDENT: Bill Croxton welcomed Gus Gatto who has rejoined the Club. He brought 2 of his band mates to observe tonight. Currently, 88 members have renewed their memberships. Bill passed out the new member packets to the new members in attendance. Thank you to the Maness’ for the snacks tonight and the Citti’s for the drinks. FEBRUARY ANNIVERSARIES: Paul and Jo Ann Lynch 36 yrs, Ben and Denise Gage 6 yrs, Kenneth Schock 22 yrs, Chuck and Lani Korenko 3 yr, Michael and Valerie Williams 13 yrs. MARCH ANNIVERSARIES: Richard and Marianne Eichenbaum 40 yrs, Robert and Rhonda Hansen 9yrs, Neil Richmond 24 yrs, Alan and Sandie Brown 6 yrs, Jim Anderson 10 yrs, Lucy Clark 4 yrs, D. L. Mauriece and Dee Wilkinson 9 yrs, Gil and Laura Baumgartner 2 yrs. 3
 Ray shared that he got a note from Fred Meyers. Alice is home and progressing slowly.  Ray also received an email from Richard Marconi. The Memorial Service for Rod and Kathryn Marconi is set for Sat., April 5th. St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Redwood City, 11 am. Parking is tight so we will not be doing a car procession. Ray will be speaking for the Club.  Ray reported that the donation check for the CTCI Convention has been sent along with a letter. COMMITTEE REPORTS: SECRETARY: Tina Ford asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes. The minutes were accepted as posted. TREASURER: Bob Lawrence gave a detailed report of the checkbook balance and the money market account. ACTIVITIES: Don Hamblin reported. 1. Chinatown Tour (March 23) Russell Chinn reported. Walking tour with a luncheon. Information and parking instructions are on the flyer. 9:30 am. for the Shuttle Bus. Bring generic cars. (3‐4 hours) 2. Fabulous Fords Forever (April 26‐29) Charlie Affrunti reported. 31 cars are signed up. Don Hamblin, Joe Ryan and Charlie did a test run. Tickets for Disneyland/California Adventure are available for $85 per person. Checks should be made out to Joe Ryan by April 1st. Bev has made reservations at Carthay Circle Restaurant for lunch which will get you seating for the evening light show. Let Bev know if you are interested. Doc, Gene and Bill Mann have the parts boxes for the trip. 3. Gil’s Tech Session (May 3) Gene Cox spoke with Gil Baumgartner. There will be a BBQ for $7 for those that are interested. Will get an exact count for the trip and the BBQ, next meeting. 4. Sacramento Music Festival (May 23‐26) Sandie Kay reported. The event takes place in Old Sacramento. Ten rooms have been set aside for SCVT at the Hilton Garden Inn. 5. Palo Alto Animal Services Fundraiser Event (Mar 15th) Jenny Jump reported. 6. Sunnyview Retirement Community, Cupertino Blvd. (May 17th) Jenny Jump. 7. Rosie the Riveter Museum, Richmond, CA (June 8th) hosted by Rick Deutsch. 8. Napa Wine Tasting (June 12‐13) Geoff Dye reported. River Pointe Napa Valley Resort. DISPLAYS: Carl Epolite reported. The Capital Mall Display will be Sat. June 14th. On May 4th there is a Cruising for a Cause event in Fremont.  Bill Croxton mentioned tonight would be the last night to pick up the Club Directories. PARADES AND HOMECOMINGS: Kathy Kelley asked if anyone knows of any parades to let her know. She will start the sign up sheet for the fall homecomings in June. EDITOR: Cliff Monroe was absent. LOGO SALES: Bernie Epolite had the Car Wash Kit on full display tonight. ($20) And all of the other logo items were on display (and are on the website). CTCI: Joe Ryan was absent. Watch for the next Early Bird Issue. Joe will have an article and he submitted a lot of pictures but doesn’t know how many will get in. HISTORIAN: Patti Lee Swigart reported. Happy St. Patricks’s Day! No album yet. She has received only one picture and history, so far. Please get a picture of your car and it’s history to her. The coffee can that Rich Eichenbaum was talking about that used to be at the meetings in the early days, in 1973, had $326.69 in it. WEBSITE: Larry Maness reported. There have been 309 views last month on our website. The calendar of all our events is on the site. You need the password to access the Directory, the Constitution and the By Laws. You do not need the password to just look around on the website. Membership renewal applications are on the site. Bill Croxton asked if we could also put the CTCI membership application on the website and Larry will look into it. FUND RAISING: Jill Schwab mentioned that Garvin Thomas, the man who did the piece about her on the TV program, Bay Area Proud, is looking for other interesting stories. His program showcases inspiring stories of people making a difference. 4
Jill reminded everyone who goes on an overnighter to collect the shampoos, lotions and soaps from the hotels for her bag stuffing. She mentioned how the people at the VA are very excited about the scarves they have received. BREAK OLD BUSINESS: Russell Chin will send out an email about his Chinatown Tour and please reply by Thursday. NEW BUSINESS: Ray discussed changing the start time of the meeting from 7:30 to 7:00. There will be something in the Fan and the pros and cons will be discussed at the next meeting. Bill Croxton suggested putting your thoughts and feelings into a Letter to the Editor.  Ray went over the details for the 2014 Budget. The Budget Committee members were Ray, Bill Croxton, Bob Lawrence, Chris Bergquist and Bobbi Miller. There is a handout with the budget details and it is available to anyone who wants it.  Ray went over the Operating Income, the Non‐Discretionary Expenses, the Discretionary Expenses and Other Income and Expenses. The budget was voted on and passed at the Board Meeting. If there are any issues with it or if you want to see the details, talk to Ray or email him. For next year, Ray welcomes anyone to sign up if you would like to be on the budget committee.  Ray added that we all need to be careful when we are doing mass emails and that we should be using blind copy. BUY/SELL: Bill read the Buy/Sell Sheet TECH SESSION: No Tech Discussion (What?)  RAFFLE: Thanks to Jill for the fun St. Patty’s Day and Giant’s themed gifts!!! Reminder: April is the White Elephant Raffle. Bring a wrapped gift to be apart of the Raffle! Dennis Kaye mentioned that the Hemmings Classic Car Magazine voted Ford Thunderbirds to be the most stylish cars of American manufacturers in history. Next Month: Snacks‐ Gene and Eddi Cox Drinks‐ Carl and Bernie Epolite Meeting adjourned at 9:45 Submitted, Tina Ford
SCVT Secretary 2014 SCVT Snacks and Beverage Signup
Thanks for signing up for meeting snacks and beverages. That is why some of the men show up!!!
Date Snacks Beverages Date Snacks Beverages Jan 10 Jerry & Jill Schwab Joan Peterson Jul 11 @ Harry's Hofbrau Feb 14 Kay's & Goldberg's Affrunti's Aug 8 @ Harry's Hofbrau Mar 14 Maness' Ralph & Holly Citti Sep 12 Monroe's Paul Lynch & Janette Adair Apr 11 Gene & Eddie Cox Epolite's Oct 10 Jenny J. & Al T. Jerry &Gail Dance May 9 Ford's Barbara @ Paul Perry Nov 14 Miller's Parker's Jun 13 Moore's Reisinger's See the May 2009 Fan for Snack & Beverage Helpful Hints. See our website: www.santaclaravalleytbirds.com 5
April 2014 Membership Anniversaries Member
Years
Member
Years
Bill Goldman
34
Jerre & Barbara Haynes
16
Bill & Diana Mann
34
Les & Bobbie Miller
15
Dan & Adela DiCanio
24
Larry Johnston
12
Barry & Irene Grenier
24
Jenny Jump & Al Thomas
10
Charlie Ryan
24
Joan Peterson
10
Beverly &Marty Handelman/ Gerbasi
21
2014 Santa Clara Valley Thunderbird Activities by Don Hamblin
650‐348‐0669 home, 650‐576‐6234 cell, dhamblins@aol.com White Elephant raffle April 11th meeting, Jill Schwab The April meeting will be the "White Elephant gets you a raffle ticket" and then you pick a prize (if you win). So look in your closets, garage and attic for something cool, funny, "valuable" and HAVE FUN! Wrap it up in a crazy wrapping and see who wins it. It is like Christmas in April. Oh, and theft of others "great gift" is an option... FUN! As we get ready for the driving season, we need to make sure our parts boxes are complete. Bill Mann has graciously agreed to review the boxes. If you have a parts box could you please drop it off at Bill's station in the next few weeks? Fabulous Fords Forever April 26 ‐ 29th, 2014, Charlie Affrunti & Joe Ryan The time is almost here. We will have 34 members at the car show, showing 32 cars. There will be 29 cars driving to Buena Park for the car show. We will split them into 2 groups, Charlie will lead the first group and I will lead the second group. The group assignments will be handed out when we meet. They are roughly divided into 55‐56 TBirds and Mustangs and the 2nd group is mostly 57 TBirds. Dennis Kay has volunteered to take the club banner. We need three 57 TBirds to take the parts boxes as the 2nd group should carry the parts boxes. Please let us know if you will take one of the boxes. The Northern group will meet at 6:15 am (sorry!) at the Edgewood Rd park and ride and leave at 6:30 am. We will meet the Southern group at 7:00 am at Scramblez, 5055 Almaden Ave, SJ (where Bogeys is). Charlie's group will leave at 7:30 am and my group 10 minutes later. Charlie and I will both have GPS units and we will set our speed at 65 mph. If you want the Disneyland or California Adventure discount tickets, I need to know no later then April 2 as the check has to be mailed on April 3. Please make the check out to me and mail to my home address. They are $85 each. 6
There will also be a cocktail party shortly after everyone gets checked in, etc. It is BYOB. We will have snacks and this time we will have glasses! (ask someone who went last time) Dinner will be on your own and we have a list of nearby restaurants that you can walk to. Dinner at the Hollingworths on Sunday, hosted by Sam, Bonnie and Lucy. Monday is Disneyland or California Adventure or a free day. Tuesday we will be stopping at the Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar on the way home. Further detailed information will be in your goody bag. If you have any questions let Charlie or I know. Joe & Charlie Redwood City Freindship Day May 18, 2014, Dennis & Sandie Kay Located at the Pacific Shores Center, 1300 Seaport Blvd, Redwood City. Seaport Blvd. is the eastern extension of Woodside Rd., East of Hwy 101. There is ample parking for 700 cars, trucks, trailer & motorcycles. There is a very large lawn area for picnicking ‐ lots of trees to sit under (bring a blanket).Bring your walking shoes to explore the great walkways. As usual, complimentary coffee and doughnuts to early participants. Food will be available from Canyon Inn. There will also be informational booths, goodie bags and door prizes. Gates open at 8 AM with the usual $15 gate fee. The first 500 entries will receive a goodie bag with dash plaque and door prize tickets. The Mid Peninsula Old Time Auto Club signature annual event is Friendship Day, which began in 1963 with an invitation issued to all northern California old car clubs to get together in one location for a picnic and day of fun. Friendship Day is a cherished tradition now for generations of old car people in the Bay Area, involving the noncompetitive gathering of hundreds of cars and clubs. Most of those who attend bring their old cars, but they do also welcome those without cars, but with a love of them. This is how people can learn about and be drawn into the hobby. Friendship Day has always been one of the most friendly, most carefree events around. They don't judge the cars, trucks, trailers, or motorcycles, they just love having them to look at and having their owners there to tell something about them. They don't even preregister. Questions? Contact the Chair of FSD 2014 at friendshipday14@aol.com. Sacramento Music Festival May 23‐26, 2014, Dennis & Sandie Kay Add this to your TBird Calendar of events!!! The "Memorial Day Weekend Sacramento Music Festival" will be held from Friday May 23 through Monday May 26th. There are "All Event Tickets" for $99 (youth at $50) or purchase day only entry for Fri/$39; Sat/$39; Sun/$39 Mon/$20. Several club members went last year and it was great....good music, nice weather, fun for all ages. This year there are already 5 members interested in attending for one or three days. The music ranges from Blues, Jazz, Zydeco,Swing, Western, Pop, etc. Most of the music is centered in venues around Old Town, with some in nearby hotels. If you have not attended one of these type events give it a try and you'll come again and again! The day begins at about 10am and runs until about 11pm. Each set is usually 45 minutes ‐ one hour and you can stay in one place or move from venue to venue. Try it for just one day or come for the whole weekend! We are working on a hotel, most likely the Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, or Springhill Suites. The sign up sheet will be circulated again at the March meeting but if you are interested or have questions please contact Dennis and Sandie Kay at 650‐341‐6868 or Sandie sgkay@yahoo.com. 7
Rosie the Riveter site June 8, 2014, Ricky & Diane Deutsch Depart Starbucks @ 880/Dixon Landing Road. We will convoy via 880/80/580 to the Rosie the Riveter National Historic facility in the safe part of Richmond, on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay. Richmond was the site of the Henry Kaiser ship building facility. Soon after Pearl Harbor and the Nazi push, Liberty Ships were built there. They carried US troops to Europe. Over 400 were constructed. The Jeremiah O’Brien in Alameda is one of two remaining Liberty’s. The site recalls the women who supported the war, welding and doing men’s traditional labor. There is a nice Visitor Center with the stories and photos of the era. We will get a ranger led docent tour. Next to the Visitor Center is the original Ford Assembly plant. Model A’s were built there. When the war began, it was converted to build tanks and tracked vehicles. In the 1950’s, operations were moved to Milpitas, (aka the San Jose plant) where Mustangs were built. After an on‐site lunch at the “Assembly,” we will tour the Red Oaks, a Victory ship; the larger and faster Liberty replacement. Ricky.deutsch@gmail.com RiverPointe Napa Valley Resort Art and Wine Event June 12‐13, 2014, Elaine & Geoff Dye Yes, June 12th is a Thursday (Thursday is an unhurried day for Napa vintners). For the past 7 years, RiverPointe Napa Valley Resort has hosted an art and wine event especially for RiverPointe guests at no charge. Local artists show their work while small wineries of Napa Valley pour wine at the resort. Marilynn, the head concierge, has once again asked SCVT to display our vintage vehicles (any vintage car) at the event. RiverPointe is the resort with the colorful tree‐lined cottages that accommodated us while we attended the Napa Valley car show in August in prior years. The wine pouring event is from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Last year, 17 small wineries participated in this event. And this year Riverpointe is providing music for dancing. After a couple of hours tasting wine, we can have dinner at the Mexican restaurant across the street and return to the resort for music and dancing. So, we can stroll along looking at artwork, taste wine, look at vintage cars, have dinner at a Mexican restaurant, listen to music and dance…all this without driving our cars. Care to join us? Accommodations are $125 (plus room tax and a resort fee). Call Elaine or Geoff at 1.408.262.1078 or email us at geoffdye@yahoo.com. We can then assign you a reservation number and provide further details. We Will Go!
Displaysby Carl Epolite
The Capital Mall
Display will be Sat.
June 14th. Need
about 20 cars.
8
No parades at
this time, but we
Parades by Kathy Kelley are working on it.
PAST EVENT REPORTS
Past Events Chinatown, San Francisco Tour March 23, 2014, Russell Chinn Russell met the 45 person SCVT contingent at the Golden Gateway Garage at 9:30 AM where we boarded a shuttle bus that took us up the hill to the Cable Car Museum. Following a self‐guided tour of the museum we began the Russell Chinn guided tour of Chinatown San Francisco. Russell related to his life‐long neighborhood while he pointed out historical and social points of interest along the way. We saw a church that survived the 1906 earthquake and fire, we experienced, and tasted, the local fortune cookie "factory", we weaved our way through local shops and markets on our way to a wonderful Chinese luncheon. All participants enjoyed the sights, smells and tastes of Russell's tour. 2014 Activities Calendar
Date
Event
Host
Information
Jan 11 Candlestick Park Stadium Tour Hamblin See above for details Jan 25 2013 Awards Banquet Cox Feb 15 SCVT Pacific Coast Highway Drive Croxton TBA Fabulous Fords Forever/Disney Calif Affrunti/Ryan See above, Rooms at the Knott's Hotel Oroville Car Show See the March Fan for details Rosie th Riveter site TBA Dennis & Sandie Kay Deutsch Riverpoint wine and art show Geoff & Elaine Dye
See the March Fan for details July 20 Hillsborough Concours D'Elegance TBA July 26 Burlingame Cars in the Park TBA Hot August Nights Reno/Sparks TBA Register now San Mateo Car Show and BBQ TBA Birds on the Wharf TBA Monterey Bay TBird Club posted 1/2/2014 Dec Senior Bag Filling & Distribution Schwab TBA Dec Holiday/Christmas/Festivus party Delgado’s TBA, except we will have fun Apr.26‐29 May 9 May 23‐26 June 8 June 12‐13 July 29‐Aug 3 Aug 9 Sept 27 Sacramento Music Festival 9
5:30 PM Three Flames Restaurant 1547 Meridian Avenue, San Jose, $42 per person See April Fan for details BUY AND SELL
BUY 1) Pins from Hot August Nights for years 1994, 1995,1996 and 1999. Dennis Kay denkay4adr@yahoo.com 2) 57 TBird stock wheels ‐ Paul Lynch 408‐206‐6796 3) Vinyl Records (rock, punk and heavy metal) ‐ James Croxton (408) 472‐2641 or jwcroxton@gmail.com 4) Early 55, one piece, stainless trim over door on hard top ‐ Barry Moore 650‐591‐9295 5) 56 Trunk lid, Jim Sisneros 510‐378‐1163 SELL 1) '56 License Plate for '56 or '57 Good condition $100 Paul Perry 408‐353‐1930 2) 2004 Mustang Mach One, Best offer, Paul Lynch 408‐206‐6796 3) 2001 Grand Marquis car cover, brand new, $120, Paul Lynch 408‐206‐6796 4) 1957 original, re‐cored, brass, TBird Radiator. $250 Ben Gage 1‐650‐579‐6100 5) No‐Mar Deck Protector for all years. $9.99 SCVT members only. Don Reisinger 650‐823‐8577 DREISINGER@earthlink.net 6) 56 TBird oil bath air cleaner w/ new cork $225 Gerry Nelson 650‐851‐3546 7) 55‐57 15” reverse chrome rims w/ small Ford caps (4) $275 Gerry Nelson 650‐851‐3546 8) 2 stock 15” rims for 55/56 Ford $100 need cleaning Gerry Nelson 650‐851‐3546 9) 56‐57 Horn Ring, very good condition, $30, Joe Ryan, 650‐483‐6256 10) Battery Tender ‐ 6 volt $20 Dennis Kay 650‐341‐6868* 11) Mini Charger‐ 12 volt $20 Dennis Kay 650‐341‐6868* *all 3 for $50 12) Sure Charger ‐ 12 volt $20 Dennis Kay 650‐341‐6868* 13) 2 Steinbach Nutcrackers, $95‐$225 Sandra Kay 650‐341‐6868 (one w/music box) 14) Richard Marconi is selling 2002 T‐Bird: $14,500 richanddi@yahoo.com 15) Allen Brown is selling ’94 Mustang GT Convertible: $4,000 831‐688‐0926 16) 12 volt '57 generator, works well, $25 Dick Osgood 650‐968‐2349 The Travel Corner
The Travel Corner is a new column that Geoff Dye recommended when Kathy and I returned from our vacation to Ireland for others who might want to know more about the trip. Members can briefly describe a travel experience for the benefit of club members planning their own vacation. Going somewhere? Tell us about it when you get back. Send a short description to the Fan Editor. Kathy and I recently toured Ireland and had a wonderful experience. We booked our 9 day tour with Collette Vacations whom we had a great experience with on our Italian tour 3 years ago. March can be rainy in Ireland but we were "Leprechaun lucky" with good weather. The coach vacation started in Dublin, then to Waterford, Killarney, Limerick, Galway and the Ring of Kerry. We visited castles, the Blarney Stone, crystal factory, the Cliffs of Moher and a typical Irish family farm. The Irish are wonderful people, the country is beautiful, the food is good, the Guinness beer and Tullamore Whiskey are tasty. We highly recommend Ireland but book your own flights direct to avoid multiple airport layovers. Cliff & Kathy Monroe 10
Fuel Pump Replacement
By Scott McGilvray, published in the March 2014 Bird Thunder newsletter,
Big "D" Little Birds, Texas "Everyone should be able to replace a fuel pump. It is one of the most failureprone parts on our cars and when it goes bad the car will not run. Whether it
is in your garage or on the side of the road the procedure is the same.
The fuel pump is operated by the lever that extends from the pump into the
engine thru the timing chain cover.(Fig.#1).
It is much easier to remove and install if the eccentric that pushes on the lever
is in the rest position. Since you can-not see the lever or the eccentric take my
word for it that the rest position occurs when the distributor is in position to fire
on the #1 spark plug wire. Remove the distributor cap and rotate the engine
until the rotor points to the 7 o'clock position. Once the engine is in this
position the pump can be removed following these steps.
Tech corner
Fig.#1
1- For cars with power steering, remove the pump stabilizer bracket. Use a 9/16" end wrench to remove
the nut behind the pump and a 9/16" socket for the bolt holding the bracket to the exhaust manifold.
Remove the belt by loosening the 9/16" head adjusting bolt between the pump bracket and the cast iron
mounting bracket. Remove that bolt and also the pivot bolt which is just outboard from the adjustment bolt.
This separates the pump from its mount and it can now be set aside. Do not remove the hoses, they will
allow plenty of room to get the pump out of the way.
2- Use a 1/2" end wrench and a 9/16" end wrench to separate the flexible fuel inlet line from the steel line
coming from the gas tank.
3- Use the same two wrenches to disconnect the steel line between the pump and the fuel filter.
4- Pull the vacuum lines off the top of the pump.
5- Use a 9/16" socket with a 3/8" drive along with a short extension to remove the two bolts that hold the
fuel pump to the timing chain cover.
6- The pump will now pull out of the timing chain cover. Clean the old gasket from the mounting surface of
the timing chain cover if it has torn during removal of the pump. If it has not torn leave it in place and use it
again.
The new or rebuilt pump will be clean making the installation much easier than the removal.
7- Transfer the brass fittings from the old pump to the new one. There may or may not be a 90 degree inlet
fitting. If there is not don't worry about it the hose can hook directly to the pump. There will definitely be an
adapter fitting on the outlet port to transition from the pump to the steel line.
NOTE: Inspect the flexible fuel line while it is handy. They often deteriorate and rather than leak gas they
actually suck air into the line because they are on the suction side of the pump.
8- This is where positioning the engine with the fuel pump eccentric out of the way pays off. The new fuel
pump will push into place with no interference. Be sure to use a new gasket if the old one didn't survive.
Install and tighten the mounting bolts. Reattach the fuel lines and replace the vacuum lines. The vacuum
line for the wipers goes closest to the engine, the vacuum source is outboard. Remount the power steering
pump and tension the belt before tightening the stabilizer bracket.
Start the engine and check for leaks. Be aware that the failure of the fuel pump ran the carburetor dry and
the engine will need to crank some to draw gas from the tank and get it thru the filter and into the
carburetor. This may take as much as 20 seconds at normal cranking speed."
11
Chinatown San Francisco Tour - March 13
Boy, they are
... and in two
a hungry
hours we will
group!
have lunch.
And with 8 you
get egg rolls.
Man, that was
a good lunch.
12