The Monthly Newsletter of the Sacramento Regional Group Early Ford V8 Club APRIL 2015

Transcription

1 THE CLUTCH CHATTER The Monthly Newsletter of the Sacramento Regional Group Early Ford V8 Club APRIL 2015 Contact Information: online at or call Steve Walker, President, (916) To submit articles, letters to the editor, event announcements, and classidied ads for the Clutch Chatter: PRESIDENT S MESSAGE By Steve Walker, President Our %irst tour of the year was on March 21,a gloriously beautiful California spring day. For most of us it was a fabulous tour. However, there were a few who couldn t even make it out of the parking lot at the CAM. Our fearless leader, Bruce Woodward, ended up hitching a ride with me when his own car died. I didn t even %ind out til later but our editor, who had so graciously pointed out that I was three minutes late, didn t make it out of the parking lot either, his beloved 35 suffering from Rearendus Terminalis, otherwise known as a broken rear end. For the rest of us who did go on the tour, we had a great time. Bruce took us on some back roads that haven t changed since our cars were new. The weather was just right and all the hills are still green so everything is beautiful. We stopped by a little church our in the middle of nowhere where we stretched our legs a bit and then we cruised on to Woodland where we ate at Ludy s. We ll be touring the Delta in April. This should be a lot of fun. There are so many back roads and hidden places in the Delta and Richard and Bruce will surely show us some of the best of them. Maybe this time their V8 s will be in running condition. - ooo- Ford Trivia Question of the Month In what years did Ford Flathead- Powered V8 s serve as pace cars for the Indianapolis 500 race? For answer, see page 7, below.

2 Whiz Kids Brought Financial Expertise Henry Ford II realized the and Modern Management to Ford Motor talents needed to create Company in 1946 such a sophisticated management system would be invaluable to the revitalization of his The Whiz Kids, front row, left to right, Arjay Miller, Jack Reith, George Moore, James Wright, Tex Thornton, Andy Andreson, Charles Bosworth, Ben Mills, Edward Lundy and Robert S. McNamara As Ford Motor Company and the world struggled to recover from World War II, Henry Ford II hired 10 young former of%icers from the U.S. Army Air Force. As they began to apply their talents at the company, they were dubbed the Whiz Kids. The Whiz Kids had gained fame during World War II by creating a management information system that provided data on airplanes, personnel and munitions to aid top generals in making important decisions. company. Henry II hired the Whiz Kids, and the new recruits, whose average age was just 30, set to work. They visited one Ford department after another, asking so many questions Henry Ford II, 1946 that employees nicknamed them the "Quiz Kids," which later became the "Whiz Kids." During their fact- %inding mission, the Whiz Kids discovered that the company had no cost accounting and was estimating its expenses by weighing or measuring the sacks of invoices that arrived in the accounting department. There was no balance sheet, crude property records and scant bookkeeping. Only the banking slips, generated by the bank, provided any clues. Three of the Whiz Kids J. Edward "Ed" Lundy, Arjay R. Miller, and Robert S. McNamara prepared the %irst %inancial review and began the task of building a system of %inancial controls. Along with their fellow Whiz Kids, these three %inancial disciplinarians brought quantitative analysis and the science of modern management to Ford Motor Company. Besides Lundy, McNamara and Miller, the Whiz Kids included Charles Bates "Tex" Thornton, George Moore, Wilbur R. "Gene" Andreson, Charles E. Bosworth, Ben Davis Mills, Francis C. Reith and James O. Wright. The Whiz Kids helped Henry Ford II and his management team create a corporate structure with individual accounting systems throughout the company. Each division became a separate "pro%it center." That term passed into the corporate lexicon, and the Whiz Kids became famous worldwide for their role in the transformation of Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford, Clara Bryant Ford, Henry Ford II, From About Ford Motor Company, Ford Corporate Website

3 APRIL GENERAL MEETING The April general meeting will be held on Thursday, April 2nd, at the Arden Park Community Center, 1000 La Sierra Drive. Following the business portion of the meeting, there will be a showing of the 1950 Ford- produced %ilm entitled How to Sell a Ford. It s a fascinating glimpse into the techniques, approaches, and tricks used by car salesmen in the 1950 s to put customers in the buying mood. WOODLAND TOUR By Bruce Woodward, Roving Reporter Saturday March 21 was a perfect day to go for a drive in our old Fords. The destination of our %irst tour of the year was to Woodland. Now, going from Sacramento to Woodland is not a big deal. You just leave Sacramento on I- 5 and in a few minutes you have arrived. But, as I was putting on the tour, it could not be a simple, quick, direct route. I promised that we would travel on the backroads and go down byways that would be new to all but the most avid sojourner. We met at the California Auto Museum. As we lined up to head for the open road my engine faltered and quit. It would not start. We pushed my usually trusty 32 Coupe out of the way. I hitched a ride with Steve Walker in his nice old 35 pickup. Off we went. We skirted Davis. Out into the orchards we went, down narrow farm roads that see little use. We entered the small town of Winters. A short four block zig zag 3

4 allowed us to see the highlights of the town. We headed out again to the countryside. We made a brief stop in Esparto to bunch the cars up before setting off again. Crossing the empty and very dry %loodplain of Cache Creek made us aware of how severe the shortage of rain is. We then entered the rolling hills east of Zamora and wound over one of my favorite short stretches of forgotten country roads. We made a brief stop at St. Mary Church. This is a sweet little one room church out in the middle of the farm %ields. Back in the V8s we made the short run to Woodland. In Woodland we stopped for lunch at Ludy's Bar- B- Q. We chose to eat outside on a nice covered patio. It was there that it was discovered that there was a water feature %illed with beautiful koi. Soon we learned why they were so big and healthy. They love french fries. After lunch we headed off on our own to home. APRIL DELTA TOUR Be sure and join us on April 25th for our next tour. We will once again travel roads that are fun and rarely used, as we cruise the through the beautiful Sacramento River Delta. It is always amazing that such areas are so close to all of the major population centers. Of course, as this is the delta, we will be driving for extended periods on winding, narrow, levee roads. What fun! We ll meet at Sacramento Executive Airport at 9:30am and promptly begin the tour at 10:00am. Hope to see you there! 4

5 2015 ARCO SWAP MEET Don t miss the 2015 Arco Swap Meet, to be held at the Sleep Train Arena parking lot on April 18th, 6:00am to 4:00pm. Admission is $10.00, but there is lots of free parking available. For more details, see the %lyer, below, in the Events Section MY FIRST V8 By Fred Hultin At age 15 in 1956, when my mother remarried, we moved from the Oregon Coast to Tigard, Oregon. My mother was the proverbial push over. I had saved my money from mowing lawns and other jobs and answered an advertisement in the paper for a 1940 Ford Convertible. I begged and sniveled until she caved in, but with the stipulation that my stepdad would make the decision whether it was a good car or not. Smittys that sounded like heaven to me. The seller turned out to be a young guy who was trying to put together money to go to college. The only problem I remember was the driver s door sagged enough that you had to lift it while closing. He had put dual pipes on it with I was sold, but my new stepdad was dubious of it being a convertible. Oregon winters and so much rain are not great for convertibles. He %inally relented, however, and agreed I could buy it for $125. The money changed hands and off we went. All the way home I literally could not keep from grinning. I tried to stop because I started feeling sort of foolish, but that ear- to- ear grin would automatically come back. When I look back on my life I think of that ride home as one of the happiest times of my life. To be cool, the %irst thing was to clean the engine, followed by a fresh coat of paint. What color? Well, of course, red what other engine color would do? Next came chrome acorn nut covers on the head bolts and a chrome air cleaner. But what about that strip of trim and latch handle on the hood? The Bull Nose craze was in full swing and the stock trim and latch handle just wouldn t do. Off came the trim and latch handle. Removing the trim, of course, left an unsightly strip down the length of the hood where two pieces of metal came together. Now what? A trip to the auto parts store for Quick Metal answered that problem. For those too young to remember, Quick Metal was a forerunner to stuff like J.B. Weld, a material for %illing gaps in metal. Now came the big challenge: how to keep the hood securely closed without a handle to work the latch. I pondered the problem and %inally came up with what I thought was an ingenious idea. There was a hole under the driver s side trim to which I attached a length of speedometer cable. One end was buried in Quick Metal. The other end attached to the latch. I found that if I left the trim bolts loose, I could operate the latch by pulling trim back and forth. This was probably my %irst feat of engineering. It 5

6 worked great until one day I forgot to slide the trim forward to engage the latch after closing the hood. Probably was thinking about a girl at the time. Down the road I went. When I reached about 40 miles per hour, the hood popped up, blocking my view of the road ahead. I panicked and slammed on the brakes, which caused the wrecked hood to slam back down. Fortunately it had not caused any damage to the windshield. The obvious answer was to remove the hood. Heck, I didn t need a hood anyway when I had that beautiful engine to show off. I drove the 40 Convertible for about a year and then sold it to a buddy who put a hot 296 cubic inch %lathead with 3 carbs in it. He ran it off the road the %irst night he drove it, hitting a stump and pushing the right front wheel back under the cowl. We retrieved it, but it was beyond our budget or ability to %ix. After pulling the engine, transmission, and rear end out of the wrecked car, we rolled it up on its side and tossed some gas and a match on it. Once the %ire died out and the remains cooled down, we hauled the carcass to the scrap yard. Sure wish I could make that decision again! - ooo- V8 SNAPSHOTS-IN-TIME Hey, it s a Ford V8 Catch Me if You Can Cassie Peruch, age 7, Richard and Marie Heltzel s Granddaughter 6

7 1935 and 1953 Fords The Only Two Flathead V8-Powered Ford Indianapolis 500 Pace Cars 7

8 EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS 8

9 CLUTCH CHATTER APRIL 2015 CLASSIFIED ADS FOR SALE: Stud Engine and transmission. This is a good running engine which came out of my 35 Five- Window.; has approximately 8,300 miles on it since complete rebuild in the 1990 s; sold as long block. Transmission is quiet and shifts good. Engine: $2,000; transmission: $300. Contact SRG4 member Richard Heltzel, to: rgheltzel@gmail.com WANTED: 1936 Deluxe Steering Wheel. Contact SRG4 member Marshall Kraus; to: marshallkraus@gmail.com WANTED: 1935/1935 Rear end assembly for rebuilding; prefer 3.78 gears. Contact SRG4 member Richard Heltzel, to: rgheltzel@gmail.com Sacramento Hydrographics Trade Center Drive, #325, Rancho Cordova, CA

10 WHEN WHERE WHAT April 2 April 18 Sacramento - Sleep Train (Arco) Arena Parking Lot Monthly General Meeting; refreshments by Krieg Swap Meet April 25 Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta Tour and Lunch May 7 Annual Russ Broyles Hot Dog Potluck; Monthly General Meeting May 30 Volcano/Amador Wine Country Tour, Lunch, and Wine Tasting June 4 Monthly General Meeting; refreshments by Krieg June (6, 13, or 20, TBD) Meeting Place TBD Alma Thompson July 2 Monthly General Meeting; refreshments by Bev Davis July 10-16, exact day TBD Cal Expo Classic Car Show August 6 September 3 Monthly General Meeting; VP to preside Monthly General Meeting with Pizza supplied by Alma Thompson September 5, 12, 19, or 26 TBD Lodi Area Tour and Wine Tasting October 1 Sacramento Vintage Ford Monthly General Meeting November 5 Monthly General Meeting November 29 (Tentative) California Auto Museum CAM Tree Decorating Party December 12 Aviator s Restaurant 2015 Christmas Party 10