The Choke Rod. Happy New Year. Upcoming Tours

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1 The Choke Rod preserving and restoring the Model A Ford since 1956 Volume 57, Issue 1 MAFCA Certificate of Merit 2005 through 2010 January 2013 San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Model A Ford Club of America Happy New Year Upcoming Tours Sunday January 27 - President s Brunch - Harding Park Golf Course, SF Saturday February 2 - Crab Feed - Monte Cristo Club, SF

2 The Choke Rod page 2 Official Publication of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter MAFCA TOUR CHAIR: EDITORS: TECH EDITOR: MEMBERSHIP: OFFICERS PRESIDENT Barry Kinney VICE PRESIDENTS Tom Escher Gunard Mahl Greg Martinez SECRETARY Joan Peterson TREASURER Jeanine Mahl PAST PRESIDENT Gary Barrango The Choke Rod is published once each month by the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Model A Ford Club of America. It is mailed free to each member in good standing and mailed to other antique car clubs in exchange for their publications. The Choke Rod takes no responsibility for the accuracy of materials, dates, places, prices, etc of its contents. Permission to reproduce is hereby granted provided credit is given to The Choke Rod. The Choke Rod welcomes articles, art work, ideas, suggestions, etc. Please submit any and all material to the editor by the last Monday of each month. Articles and photos may be submitted to: modela@pacbell.net or mailed to Walter Caplan at 157 Warren Drive, San Francisco, CA Gary Barrango Walter Caplan Scott Williams Steve Owsley Walter Caplan President s Message I am sorry I missed the Christmas Party and our last business meeting of the year. I heard everyone behaved themselves. Thanks to Gary and Walter for fi lling in for me. I am looking forward to another great year. We have the President s Brunch coming up in January followed by the Crab Feed in February. I have been told that the Crab Feed is sold out. I am not surprised. The Feed has become our signature event and without a doubt one of the best Crab Feeds around. Thanks to all of our offi cers who have agreed to do another year of service to the Club. We have some good people doing a great job. I can t thank them enough. My goal for 2013 is to sustain our forward momentum. Regular maintenance and a full tank should do the trick. See you at the January meeting. The San Francisco Model A Ford Club encourages membership in MAFCA, the National Model A Ford Club. Benefits include an excellent bi-monthly publication, The Restorer, providing technical information and free liability insurance when participating in Club Events. MAFCA Model A Ford Club of America, Inc. 250 South Cypress Street La Habra CA Barry Kinney MAFCA dues are $40 per year. Dues for new members may be paid at any time. Dues paid between November 1 and December 31 are valid for the remainder of the year paid plus the following year. Along with your check send in your name, spouse s name and complete address. An optional $10 initiation fee includes a club pin, decal, badge, windshield card and a back issue of The Restorer magazine. If you use Mastercard or Visa, include the expiration date and your signature. Membership includes a subscription to The Restorer.

3 The Choke Rod page 3 President s Brunch Sunday January 27 Our annual President s Brunch will be held Sunday January 27 at the Clubhouse of the Harding Park Golf Course, located at Lake Merced in San Francisco. Members who wish to tour with their Model A s will meet at 9:45 am at the Pacifi c Rod and Gun Club parking lot and will depart at 10:15 am. We will begin with a short yet interesting drive tour and then on to the Harding Park Clubhouse. Brunch will be served at 11:30 am. Tour Leader: Barry Kinney RSVP at Please RSVP Barry by Friday January 18 so we can have an accurate count for brunch. Harding Park Golf Course 99 Harding Road San Francisco, CA A Good Old Time! 2013 Model A Calendar The New Guy, Dan Bowermaster, has once again produced a Model A Calendar containing pictures of our club on tour. If we do say so ourself, this one turned out even better than last year s calendar. The 2013 calendar is available to club members for only $25. A Good Ole Time calendars can be purchased at the January meeting on Thursday January 10, and again at the President s Brunch on Sunday January 27. You ll want to be the fi rst on your block to have one of this very limited edition 2013 Model A calendar. Model A Ford Museum Grand Opening Hickory Corners, Michigan Saturday, May 18 The Grand Opening of the Model A Ford Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan will be on Saturday May 18. The ribbon cutting will be performed by Edsel Ford II and our very own fashion contributor Edie Jones, who with her husband Bill was an early member of the SF Bay Area Chapter and whose fashion articles are reprinted monthly in the Choke Rod. Edie was the founding president of the MAFFI Foundation. A group from northern California and Oregon are travelling by train to the dedication. If anyone is interested in joining the group, contact Walter Caplan at (415) at the Monte Cristo Club Saturday February 2, 2013 Doors open at 5 pm - Dinner Service at 6:30 pm Raffle - 50/50 Raffl e - No Host Bar antipasto, salad, pasta, crab, dessert $50 per person Items for the Crab Feed raffle should be brought to the January meeting and/or contact Joan Peterson at (650) Academy of Art University Car Collection Tour Saturday January 19 Come join us as we tour the Academy of Art University car collection with the Sonoma T s at 10:30 am on Saturday, January 19. The Academy has over 200 beautifully restored classic cars at their museum located at 1849 Washington Street at the corner of Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. The cost is $10 per person and children 18 and under are free. If interested RSVP to Jeanine Mahl at the January meeting or to: jeanine.l.mahl@gmail.com. Tour details will be available at the January meeting. Tour Leader: Greg Martinez Birthdays & Anniversaries Janelle Barrango Frueh January 5 Matthew Sullivan January 7 Terrence McGinnis January 9 Terry Machado January 16 Brittany Wrightson January 20 John Bettencourt January 23 Coragene Savio January 30 Gunard & Jeanine Mahl January 24 Dessert at the Christmas Banquet were provided by the Club John Zuffi will provide refreshments for the January meeting

4 The Choke Rod page 4 The Lincoln Highway Centennial Tour San Francisco to Kearney Nebraska - June Leaving San Francisco: June 22 Arriving in Kearney, Nebraska: June 30 Space is limited Reservation deadline: May 1, 2013 Refund deadline: must be received by May 1, 2013 Join fellow historians and tourists for the Official Lincoln Highway Centennial Tours, headed for Kearney, Nebraska from each coast, for the centennial of America s first paved transcontinental road: the Lincoln Highway. Antique cars, Classics, muscle cars, 50s cars, trucks, motorcycles, street rods, and modern cars are welcome to participate. You will travel the original alignments of the Lincoln Highway covering many miles of two-lane history, four-lane progress, and even gravel scenic beauty. Travel from America s urban centers, through pastoral farm lands, over breathtaking mountains and rolling prairies. Travelers from the East will start at Times Square, the heart of America s most vibrant city. You will travel through ivy-covered college towns such as Princeton, New Jersey, and the Amish country of Pennsylvania. From Pittsburgh s steel and beer brewing industrial history, you will travel through Ohio s diverse agricultural and commercial mix. Indiana takes you through more Amish farm land, South Bend s Notre Dame and automotive history and on to Illinois. From Illinois you will travel to Iowa s farmland across the Mississippi River into the prairies of Nebraska and on to the Centennial celebration in Kearney at the Great Platte River Arch Museum. Western travelers enjoy beginning their journey in the urban centers of San Francisco and Oakland, California. After traveling through the state s agricultural Central Valley you are exposed to the magnificent Sierra Nevada Mountains and Donner Pass before dropping into the deserts of Nevada and the Great Salt Lake of Utah. Climbing the mountains out of Salt Lake City, you will enter the wide open spaces of Wyoming and on to historic Cheyenne for an overnight stop. This is followed by your easterly trek into Nebraska and eventually joining the rest of the travelers from the east for the grand parade of cars into Kearney on opening day. Entry fees have been kept low to permit participation for as much of the tour as you wish. Miles per day are kept to an average of 240 per day to permit time to stop for tourist attractions and the pace of the older cars. Discounted hotel rates and automated booking services will be provided by Holiday Inn and their parent company Intercontinental Hotels, the official Lincoln Highway hotel sponsor. Discounted vehicle shipping will be arranged for those who wish to ship cars home after the tour in Nebraska or from the opposite coast. Contact Bob Lichty for shipping information at (330) For tour information and booking, contact Rosemary Rubin at (330)

5 The Choke Rod page 5 In 1912, there were almost no good roads to speak of in the United States. The relatively few miles of improved road were only around towns and cities. A road was improved if it was graded; one was lucky to have gravel or brick. Asphalt and concrete were yet to come. Most of the 2.5 million miles of roads were just dirt: bumpy and dusty in dry weather, impassable in wet weather. Worse yet, the roads didn t really lead anywhere. They spread out aimlessly from the center of the settlement. To get from one settlement to another, it was much easier to take the train. Carl Fisher recognized this situation, and an idea started to take hold. Fisher was a man of ideas. As soon as he thought of a project and got it started, he would grow restless and start on another one. His Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a success, espcially after he paved it with brick and started the Indianapolis 500, and he would later turn a swamp into one of the greatest beach resorts: Miami Beach, Florida. However, in 1912, he dreamed of another grand idea: a highway spanning the continent, from coast to coast. He called his idea the Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway. The gravelled road would cost about ten million dollars, low even for Communities along the route would provide the equipment and in return would receive free materials and a place along America s first transcontinental highway. The highway would be finished in time for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition and would run from the exposition s host, San Francisco, to New York City. The Lincoln Highway Part 1 - Origins percent of their revenues. The public could become members of the highway organization for five dollars. Fisher knew that success of the ten-million dollar fund would depend on the support of Henry Ford. Unfortunately, even after many persuasive attempts by friends and close associates, Ford would not support the project. The public would never learn to fund good roads if private industry did it for them, he reasoned. This put the fund in jeopardy; there would not be enough time or money to finish the highway by the exposition in However, now that the country had become so enthusiastic about the highway, Fisher would not give up. Two men from the automobile industry who pledged money to Fisher s idea would later play major roles in the highway s development: Frank Seiberling, president of Goodyear, and Henry Joy, president of the Packard Motor Car Company. Henry Joy came up with the idea of naming the highway after Abraham Lincoln. He wrote Fisher urging him to write a letter of protest to Congress, which was considering spending $1.7 million on a marble memorial to Lincoln. Joy thought a good road across the country would be a better tribute to the president. The name Lincoln captured Fisher s fancy; he realized it would give great patriotic appeal to the highway. Fisher asked Joy if he wanted to be involved directly with the highway project. At first, Joy was hesitant, but soon he wholeheartedly supported the project and became the primary spokesman for the highway. Steve Owsley To fund this scheme, he asked for cash donations from auto manufacturers and accessory companies of 1 Reprinted from

6 The Choke Rod page 6 The New Guy I was fortunate enough to be born into a family of car lovers. Our great-grandpa was a service manager at a Chevy dealer, and after World War II, grandpa drove logging trucks and worked as a heavy-duty truck mechanic. Grandpa also had a few Model Ts (in parts) and a 1923 Chevrolet Touring Car. Our dad bought his 1930 Ford Model A pickup from the original owner in 1973 a house painter in Placerville who used the truck for his painting business. Dad did a frame-on restoration in our garage in 1974 and fi nished right before I was born. My brother, sister, and I each came home from the hospital as newborns in the Model A. Safety laws for kids in cars have defi nitely changed. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Mom and Dad were active members of Model A Clubs in the Sacramento and Eureka areas. My siblings and I have many fond memories of club activities, especially the food and great people. Mom and Dad s truck was a driver we used it in club events, parades, birthday parties, or just errands around town. Once my siblings and I entered high school, the Model A-related activities tapered off, but it still got driven, including to senior prom. Fast forward to November I purchased the Model A from my folks who were downsizing after purchasing a 1939 Buick Special. I hope to give the Model A a good home and create new memories as they did. I immediately joined the San Francisco Model A Club and am now doing some tinkering on the Model A. My first project is refinishing the oak wood strips in the bed. This column will follow my efforts. Folks, now you may wonder what I ll write about this month. Our Model A truck was sold more than six months ago to a kind buyer in Hawaii. Just last week, its new owners sent us a Christmas card with a picture of it. The pickup is used every day as a work truck for the owner s solar installation business in Hilo. Everyone loves it. I haven t tried any more soda blasting or learned how to do any welding. One of my crazy ideas is to take old broken and otherwise unrepairable car speedometers and turn them into clocks. You may remember the Model A clock I built out of old dashboard parts and a redwood board a few months back. I found a 1969 Volkswagen speedometer on ebay for a few dollars and thought I d give it a whirl. So this month and next I ll write a bit about the trials and tribulations of turning a 1969 VW Bug speedometer into a clock. First buy an old speedometer and a cheap clock from IKEA. The speedo arrived as advertised, dirty and a bit tarnished. It was cool to take it apart and find the 7/1969 stamp on it. Maybe some of you can remember back to what you were doing in July Have times changed since then? Anyway, I took a before picture of the speedo and then washed it with a bit of soap and warm water. The bezel is simple to remove all you do is lightly pry up a few of the tabs on the back of the assembly. Then you can remove the bezel, the rubber gasket and the glass face. The glass face and rubber gasket cleaned up readily with some glass cleaner and newspaper for the glass and warm water for the

7 The Choke Rod page 7 rubber. The bezel was easily cleaned with two common household products: aluminum foil and vinegar. You can see from the after picture that aluminum foil, vinegar, and elbow grease worked well to remove some of the rust and other tarnish. tool made quick work of the plastic clock housing. In fact the plastic melted in a few places. Then I mounted the speedometer in a vise and attacked the back of it with the Dremel s cutting tool where the odometer assembly mounted up. Sparks flew. After removing the odometer mounting assembly, I used a deburring attachment on the Dremel to smooth out the sharp edges. As you likely already know, the Dremel is a handy tool. The next challenge was how to mount the IKEA clock to the speedometer face as the odometer assembly and needle mechanism both interfered. Also the gas gauge also interfered. (Quick trivia question: does anyone know why German cars often have an R instead of an E to indicate an empty gas tank? Answer at the end of this month s column). After some measuring and sketching, I concluded that lengthening the clock shaft would be a poor choice. Instead, I chose to remove the offending areas of the speedo. So to attack the interference issues, I borrowed a Dremel from my dad and learned how to use it. First step: wear proper eye protection and gloves. Note: as the manual warns, the Dremel works too well on plastic. The cut-off Next up: starting to cut, shape, sand, and stain the cedar wood base. I wanted to make a desk clock and have a smooth design from all angles (imagine a desk clock facing someone behind the desk, yet it remains visible to someone entering the room from the other side). After more measuring and sketching, I decided to go with a 2 thick piece of cedar and to drill/route/dremel out the area for the speedometer housing. Stay tuned for more next month. Answer to the trivia question Why do German cars often have an R instead of an E to indicate an empty gas tank? R means reserve as the early VWs had no gas gauge, but did have a reserve tank in addition to the main one. When the main gas tank ran dry and the car started sputtering, the driver could switch over to the reserve tank and head straight to a gas station to refuel. Dan Bowermaster

8 The Choke Rod page 8 Christmas Banquet The Basque Cultural Center worked with John Zuffi, our food and beverage coordinator, and their joint efforts once again resulted in an enjoyable evening. Prior to dinner we were treated to platters of appetizers served by very gracious waiters. Following the appetizers we enjoyed a very satisfying Christmas dinner. Our private room was large enough to accommodate four large tables. Following dinner we had a short meeting to introduce the members of our Board of Directors and to give an honorable mention to those Club members who led tours during the year. We also honored our newsletter staff including Steve Owsley, Walter Caplan, and Scott Williams. Under Meeting Notes: We are planning a small limited regional roundup next spring. Look for details in upcoming issues of The Choke Rod. Happy New Year to one and all. Walter Caplan The Club Donates to the Make-A-Wish Foundation At the San Francisco Cable Car Pull on Saturday December 1, 2012, SF Model A Club Vice-President Gunard Mahl presented the Make-A- Wish Foundation with our donation of nearly two thousand dollars. Gunard is shown in the photo at the fund-raising breakfast at the Buena Vista Café which proceeded the Cable Car Pull, a fun event held annually at San Francisco s Aquatic Park. Walter Caplan

9 The Choke Rod page 9 With Fall comes thoughts of Back to School fashions... and a flashback to styles of the Model A era. (Right) A group of school children hurry across the street to begin a new day in the class of All the young ladies are wearing cotton frocks. The two boys are in completely different outfi ts. One is wearing short cotton pants while the other chap is wearing tapered trousers. Notice the variety of foot wear, including special details on the girl s socks. (Below) The fresh young faces of a typical Southern California eighth grade class in For the boys, anything went so long as you showed up for the annual picture in white shirt and tie. Silk stockings were a must for the girls. The photo is as much a study of character as it is the fashions of the 1930 s and, appropriately, Dick Whittington the photographer arrived with his camera in a 1929 Model A Roadster. Dick Whittington photos Reprinted from The Restorer, May-June 1976, Volume 21, Issue 1

10 The Choke Rod page SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA MAFCA TOURS IT S THE JOURNEY! NOT THE DESTINATION! MONTH DAY TOUR LEADER TOUR JAN 27 BARRY KINNEY PRESIDENT S BRUNCH FEBRUARY 2 SATURDAY SF MODEL A FORD CLUB CRAB FEED - MONTE CRISTO CLUB MARCH TBA KINNEY GREEK CULTURAL FESTIVAL APRIL SF MODEL A FORD CLUB DREAM MACHINES - HALF MOON BAY MAY 3-5 KINNEY SPRING SPEED WEEKEND - AUBURN, CA MAY 19 KINNEY FRIENDSHIP DAY - REDWOOD CITY MAY 27 MONDAY CAPLAN MEMORIAL DAY OBSERVANCE - PRESIDIO JUNE 15 SATURDAY CAPLAN / OWSLEY ST. ANNE S HOME - FATHER S DAY WEEKEND JUNE 30 CAPLAN / OWSLEY PRIDE PARADE - SAN FRANCISCO JULY TBA TBA TBA AUG TBA TBA TBA SEPT 8 KINNEY ANTIQUE AUTOS HISTORY PARK - SAN JOSE SEPT TBA MARIN A S ANNUAL OKTOBERFEST CELEBRATION SEPT CAPLAN / OWSLEY / MACHADO OVERNIGHTER MURPHYS-IRONSTONE CONCOURS SEPT TBA CAPLAN / OWSLEY JIMMY S OLD CAR PICNIC IN GOLDEN GATE PARK OCT 13 BARRANGO COLUMBUS DAY PARADE OCT TBA MAHL 38 TH ANNUAL 28 TH AVENUE BLOCK PARTY NOV 11 CAPLAN / KINNEY VETERANS DAY PARADE ON MARKET STREET DEC TBA CAPLAN / KINNEY SFPD ANNUAL CABLE CAR PULL - AQUATIC PARK DEC 14 SATURDAY SF MODEL A CLUB CHRISTMAS BANQUET - BASQUE CULTURAL CTR. If you would like to lead a tour, please call Gary Barrango at We encourage Club Members to plan additional driving tours throughout the year. There is room for more than one activity or tour per month. Jan Jan 27 Feb 2 Mar Apr-May TBA May 3-5 May Sep 3-8 Dec TBA Schedule of Events 2013 Turlock Swap Meet SF Model A Club President s Brunch SF Model A Club Annual Crab Feed Model A s are to be Seen in Laughlin NV, Pomona Valley Model A Club SF Model A Club Hosted Regional Picnic for area clubs Lake County A s Back to our Teens in th Annual Spring Opener NCRG Roundup hosted by the Acorn A s in Pleasanton - Northwest Regional Group Meet - Bend Oregon Idaho MAFCA Annual Membership Meeting & Awards Banquet

11 The Choke Rod page 11 San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Model A Ford Club of America December 8, 2012 The December meeting was held at the Basque Cultural Center in South San Francisco. The meeting was called to order following the Club Annual Christmas Banquet on Saturday December 8 at 8 pm by Walter Caplan, substituting for President Barry Kinney who was home ill with the fl u. Ceremonies following the Banquet included the introduction of the Club Board of Directors for the year 2013, and recognition of the dedication and good work of the 2012 Board, all of whom agreed to continue in office for the 2013 year. In addition, the Tour Leaders and Board Members were each acknowledged for their individual contributions during the year. Additionally, the Marin A s were thanked for their Oktoberfest tour, and Walter Caplan, Scott Williams, and Steve Owsley were recognized for their outstanding efforts publishing our monthly newsletter, The Choke Rod. Club members brought a large number of children s toys that the club transported to the San Francisco Fire fi ghters Toy Program for distribution to disadvantaged children. The Club again thanks John Zuffi for arranging the Christmas Banquet and Jeanine Mahl for handling Reservations. Many thanks to both John and Jeanine for all their hard work and for their considerable contributions, all of which resulted in the success of the event. For the Good of the Order: The Club in year 2012 again increased in size, sponsored major annual events, contributed substantially to charity, and provided its members with enjoyable tours and monthly meetings. This could not have been possible without the dedication and support of all the members of the San Francisco Model A Club family. Happy New Year! Respectfully submitted by Joan Peterson, Secretary SF Model A Club Monthly Meetings: The meetings continue to be held monthly, the second Thursday of each month at 7:30 pm. The location is the Monte Cristo Club at 136 Missouri Street in San Francisco. The meeting place is located in a safe neighborhood and parking is convenient. If you have questions or need directions, call Gary at (415) (daytime) The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, January 10, 2013 A number of club members gather together for dinner before the monthly meeting at 6 pm. Please feel free to join us dinner location will be at Goat Hill Pizza at 18th & Connecticut.

12 The Choke Rod is available online in color at in this Choke Rod President s Message page 2 Club News page 3 Lincoln Highway Centennial Tour page 4 Lincoln Highway - Origins page 5 The New Guy pages 6-7 Chistmas Banquet page 8 Make-A-Wish page 8 Fashion page 9 Tours & Schedule of Events page 10 Meeting Minutes page 11 Inserts: SF Model A Club Membership Renewal 2013 Annual Crab Feed Crab Feed - Saturday February 2 Benefiting local charities San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Model A Ford Club of America PO Box San Francisco, CA JANUARY MEETING Thursday January 10, :30 pm - Monte Cristo Club 136 Missouri Street (Potrero Hill) San Francisco Items for the Crab Feed raffle should be brought to the January meeting and/or contact Joan Peterson (see page 3). RENEW NOW see Insert for 2013 Membership Form Deadline: January 31