CLUTCH CHATTER JUNE, 2014

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com SPECIAL REMINDER: THE JUNE GENERAL MEETING WILL BE HELD DURING RUSS BROYLE S ANNUAL HOTDOG COOKOUT, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4 AT WILLIAM POND PARK, 5700 ARDEN WAY, STARTING AT 5:00PM.

1 THE The Newsletter of the Sacramento Regional Group Early Ford V8 Club of America JUNE 2014 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: SPECIAL REMINDER: THE JUNE GENERAL MEETING WILL BE HELD DURING RUSS BROYLE S ANNUAL HOTDOG COOKOUT, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4 AT WILLIAM POND PARK, 5700 ARDEN WAY, STARTING AT 5:00PM. PRESIDENT S MESSAGE By Steve Walker, President It s spring and with spring came the chance to have a beautiful tour in the Gold Country. John and Carol Asmus led us on a tour to Volcano for lunch and then on to a few wineries for wine tasting. It was a beautiful day for a tour in the foothills and it s safe to say everyone had a fabulous time. Thanks, John and Carol. enjoy a hot dog with your V- 8. Russ Broyles is hosting our annual meeting at William Pond Park which is Wednesday, June 4th. This is always a lot of fun, and it s so close. So come on down to the river and The Sacramento Regional Group will be the featured club in the CAM, California Auto Museum, Car Club Cavalcade in July. We ll have a spot near the entrance to display our cars for an entire month, for free. If you would like to display your car, please contact Bruce Woodward. Also in July, we re going to the State Fair. This is really a lot of fun. This will be our third year. We re going on Thursday, July 17th. We meet at the Century Theaters across Ethan Way from Cal Expo at 10:00am SHARP We will be led in together so if you are late you will be left out. We will display our cars, behind ropes, close to the kiddie rides and the livestock, on the way to the track. Hopefully it will be a race day, but the schedule hasn t been announced yet, so we don t know. You can bring as many people as will Vit in your car, and all the food and drinks you want. (Contd. next page) 1

2 (President s Message, contd.) Cal Expo provides a private shade tent for us, but you ought to bring a chair. We get in the fair for free. We park for free, in the fair We get to bring our ice chests and all our friends and family, for free. What a deal It feels so good to drink my own beer when I know I didn t just pay $12 for it. Our cars have to stay until 7:00, but are welcome to stay until closing. That s the only catch, if you can call it a catch. Your car has to stay until 7:00. If you want to bring another car so some people can leave early. That s Vine, but our cars stay until 7:00. Please RSVP with me, Steve Walker at steve@walkerrealty.net or We have a lot more planned for this summer. We ll be back to the Sheriff s Substation for our July meeting where Richard Heltzel will show us the movie A Day at The River Rogue Plant. That will be incredibly interesting and I really can t wait. The CAM Car Cruise is Saturday, August 9th. Many of us have been on it before, but this will be our Virst year cruising as a club. We ll get to cruise all together and then they ll give us a place where we can park our cars together. Save that date. There are so many incredible cars that show up from all over. This is a blast Then, the following week, is our annual Ice Cream Social. Richard and Marie Heltzel will be our gracious hosts. I could go on, and I will later, but obviously, we ve got a lot of fun planned. Attendance at everything has been great this year. Come and join in on the fun. 2

MY 1941 FORD 1/2 TON PICKUP By Russ Broyles In May, 1982 I was at our V8 Club meeting when one of our club members, Carlos Purvis, announced he had a 1941 Ford pickup for sale.

3 MY 1941 FORD 1/2 TON PICKUP By Russ Broyles In May, 1982 I was at our V8 Club meeting when one of our club members, Carlos Purvis, announced he had a 1941 Ford pickup for sale. The asking price was $1,800 and it was a driver. I told him that I would be out of town until Friday and would call him when I got back to see if he had sold it. I called him Friday evening and he said no one had called. He told me that he was the third owner and it was originally bought by Palm Iron Works of Sacramento for a delivery truck. It was ordered with a six cylinder engine and factory column shift because they put a pipe rack on the left side and the driver had to slide across the seat to get in and out. A Vloor shift would have been a knee banger. Somewhere along the line the truck was converted to a V8 frame and engine. The truck had been sitting in Carlos s yard for a while so I asked him what it would need to make it run. He said to bring my battery out of my 39 coupe and some gas. So my wife and I drove to Davis to look it over. It was sitting under a tree in his yard and the Washington Blue paint was oxidized to a purple hue, there was no rear bumper and only three hub caps and one tail light. I poured some gas in the tank, installed my battery, poured a few drops of gas in the carburetor and it Vired right up. I paid him his asking price and drove it home. To my surprise when I got home one of our club members, Bill McCauley dropped by and offered me twice what I had paid for the truck. It was hard to refuse, but I said no. I washed and waxed it, bought a new rear bumper, hub caps and rewired it. I drove it to our club meetings and tours until December of 2003 when I decided to restore it. After intense negotiations with the body shop it was agreed that I would pay them $1,500 a week as progress was made. I had all the parts needed including a new tail gate, bed Vloor, wood for the bed, cab mounting blocks and hardware. With the help of San Schwartz, Ted Johnson, and Bev Davis, we stripped the truck down to a rolling chassis and cab and off it went to the body shop. I got it back in April 2004 and began to put it back together with the help of the same crew. It made its maiden trip to the June picnic- in- the- park meeting. This was the fastest restoration any of our club members had seen. (Contd. next page) 3

(My 41 1/2 Ton Pickup, Contd.) Total cost of body and paint was $8,799.

EDITOR S RANTS AND RAVINGS By Richard Heltzel, Clutch Chatter Editor B.

A couple of weeks ago, Marie and I drove up to Baskin Robbins in Little Gray (our 35 5 Window) to get ice cream cones after dinner.

4 (My 41 1/2 Ton Pickup, Contd.) Total cost of body and paint was $8,799. Since July of 2004 until the present I have won 50 car show awards including 2 best of shows and one President s Award from the Mustangs and Fords in the Park. EDITOR S RANTS AND RAVINGS By Richard Heltzel, Clutch Chatter Editor B. Woodward Photo 74 For those of you who have never purposely (or otherwise) put your Early Ford V8 into a four wheel drift, you have yet to experience one of life s sublime experiences. A couple of weeks ago, Marie and I drove up to Baskin Robbins in Little Gray (our 35 5 Window) to get ice cream cones after dinner. What we didn t expect when we left the house, was that the big cloud overhead would open up and release a downpour. We Vinished our cones, got back in the car and headed home. It was pouring down rain. As we approached the corner of Eastern Avenue and Fair Oaks Blvd, I decided, having owned the car for almost a year, it was time to Vind out how it handled on slick surfaces. I entered the corner at least 20 mph faster than prudence would have dictated. To set the chassis up for the turn, I gave it some throttle, turned the wheel a bit too much for the radius of the curve to initiate the drift, followed by a slight counter- steer, and then used the throttle to (Contd. next page) corporate.ford.com 4

(Editor s Rants and Ravings, Contd.) control the resulting slide. Result? A beautiful, perfectly- controlled four wheel drift, and we were on our way down Fair Oaks Blvd. How could this be?

Well, let s not forget that Henry got his start in auto racing, where predictability of handling at the edge was essential. Many a modern wouldn t be capable of doing what our 35 did that night.

In fact, more than 40 years earlier I had learned the Viner points of vehicle dynamics on my 37 Ford pickup truck, affectionately known as Big Gray.

5 (Editor s Rants and Ravings, Contd.) control the resulting slide. Result? A beautiful, perfectly- controlled four wheel drift, and we were on our way down Fair Oaks Blvd. How could this be? How could a nearly eighty- year old vehicle exhibit such perfect handling characteristics? Well, let s not forget that Henry got his start in auto racing, where predictability of handling at the edge was essential. Many a modern wouldn t be capable of doing what our 35 did that night. How much of a risk was I taking? Not much. I pretty much knew what to expect, having driven thousands of miles in Early Fords in years gone by. In fact, more than 40 years earlier I had learned the Viner points of vehicle dynamics on my 37 Ford pickup truck, affectionately known as Big Gray. Paul Menz, Bruce Woodward and I used to go out to White Rock Road, which was then gravel, and practice cruiselinehistory.com four wheel drift turns (Paul called them L turns ) in our V8 s. We were amazed how stable the Fords were under such conditions. Of course, we were hardly the Virst to discover the genius of Henry s greatest creation let s not forget that NASCAR got its start with bootleggers who would take their Early Ford V8 delivery cars out to local dirt tracks on the weekends to see who was fastest. So, while I m not advocating such abandonment of good sense, the next time you are out driving your Early Ford V8, thinking it s an old car, so I have to drive it gently, just remember: your old Ford V8 has capabilities that are probably well beyond anything you will ever demand of it. So, go out and drive it DRIVE IT howstuffworks.com montanaron.com 5

THE ADVENTURE OF THE CUT- AWAY V8, PART 2 By Bruce Woodward Over the many years I have worked on Henry s V- 8, I thought I had pretty much been exposed to the various sub- species of the genus.

6 THE ADVENTURE OF THE CUT- AWAY V8, PART 2 By Bruce Woodward Over the many years I have worked on Henry s V- 8, I thought I had pretty much been exposed to the various sub- species of the genus. But this block was something very different. Most of the bolt on accessories were consistent with a 1934 engine. But the block was devinitely a 1932 by the straight down drain plugs on front of the block. The mystery to me was the rear of the block around the area of the bell housing. It had extensions cast into the bell housing similar to those on a model A block that are used to mount the engine to the frame. My mind raced trying to guess what this meant. Could it be one of the experimental V- 8s that were Vitted into model A s as experimental road test mules while the V- 8 was in development? Boy, what a Vind that would be. When I got home I had to Vind out exactly what I had found. The best person I could think of to inquire about all things 32 was David G. Rehor, the author of the V- 8 Club Production Chronicle and Restoration Guide. This is a two- volume reference book that is amazing in the scope and amount of research that Mr. Rehor has done. The conversation was very interesting. It turns out that the block was not a one- off experiment but was a very early production engine. Approximately 12,000 of these blocks were made. To 32 students these blocks are called Vlange blocks. While not a unique artifact, Vlange blocks are still quite rare. As most V- 8 enthusiasts know, the Virst 32 engines were pretty much junk. In the rush to get a car to the market Ford sent out cars with engines that were far from being fully developed. The dealers replaced most of the early 32 blocks as improved engines were produced. Mr. Rehor and I discussed what the origins of the engine might be. We came to the hypothesis that since this was a super early V- 8 out of a display chassis, that it came from San Francisco, that it was fully detailed with lots of plating and polish, and that Hughson Ford was involved, this was probably the unit that was displayed in the San Francisco Civic Auditorium on the day that the 1932 Ford was introduced to the public. This was a big event in the midst of the gloom of the great depression. Some one hundred thousand people were said to have crowded into the hall of the Civic to see the new Ford. It was seen as a ray of hope that maybe the country might survive the depression, and that Ford, which was the world s largest enterprise, was back in business. (Contd. next page) 6

(The Adventure of the Cut- away V8, Contd.) OK, now what to do with the engine. Well, of course it had to be restored. This turned out to eat more time than I imagined.

The Virst thing I worked on was the oil pump. I pulled it out of the bucket it was in and took it apart. Only then did I realize the level of detail that all of the components had been treated to.

7 (The Adventure of the Cut- away V8, Contd.) OK, now what to do with the engine. Well, of course it had to be restored. This turned out to eat more time than I imagined. All of the parts were dirty, corroded, rusty, grimy, and in general ugly. The block had been stripped of all paint and had become covered in surface rust. I decided to do one part at a time. The Virst thing I worked on was the oil pump. I pulled it out of the bucket it was in and took it apart. Only then did I realize the level of detail that all of the components had been treated to. Lots of the small parts of the oil pump had been plated. Lots of polishing later the shiny parts were once again shiny. A survey of the other parts showed that there was much plating as well as detail painting on everything. The valves and lifters had been chromed. The Vlywheel Nickel- plated. Other parts were cadmium plated. All of the interior passageways that had been exposed in the cut- away process had been detail painted in many hues. So I polished. And polished. And polished some more. Amazingly the plating responded to my efforts and I was able to bring the parts to a state of reasonable attractiveness while maintaining a look of originality that would have been lost with new plating. Hours were spent polishing transmission gears, valve springs, carburetor parts etc. etc. More hours were spent cleaning the rust off of the painted parts. A color palate was made to show the various systems of the engine. Blue was use to paint the water passages. Red was used for the exhaust. Six or seven different colors were used to separate the various mechanical systems. Finally Richard Heltzel helped make a wooden display stand. (Contd. next page) 7

8 (The Adventure of the Cut- away V8, Contd.) Ray Zarik of the Model T Shop fabricated a metal cradle to mount the engine and transmission to the wooden stand. At last the project was Vinished. It is now on display at the California Auto Museum. Go see it, it is a piece of Ford history. 8

MAY TOUR TO VOLCANO AND AMADOR WINE COUNTRY By Dave Peterson, Tour Director On

to the ever- popular Volcano Union Hotel for lunch on their patio.

for a while. John and Carol Asmus graciously led the party again.

9 MAY TOUR TO VOLCANO AND AMADOR WINE COUNTRY By Dave Peterson, Tour Director On May 10th, on a lovely foothills Saturday, a large crowd of over 20 V8ers, went to the ever- popular Volcano Union Hotel for lunch on their patio. This was almost twice the group from last year and we overwhelmed the kitchen for a while. John and Carol Asmus graciously led the party again. After lunch we went over the mountain to the backroads of Amador county to wine taste. (Contd. next page) 9

10 (May Tour, Contd.) Only one had to return early for failure to Vill the gas tank (no names) which is essential in the gas station deprived backcounty. All others mechanically made it without incident. The V8s are holding up well. 10

11 V - 8 SNAPSHOTS* - IN - TIME *Featuring vintage photos of Sacramento Regional Group No. 4 members, their families, and their Ford V8 s. If you would like to have a family photo included in a future Clutch Chatter, send a photo in JPEG format to the editor at: rgheltzel@gmail.com. G. Heltzel Photo Washing the 41 in the Capon River, Wardensville, WV July, 1946 Virginia G. Heltzel on left, John B Heltzel on right (Richard Heltzel s mother and uncle). 11

12 POWER AND OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 239 CID FORD V8 12

13 SACRAMENTO REGIONAL GROUP 2014 EVENTS CALENDAR WHEN WHERE WHAT June 5:00pm William Pond Park 5700 Arden Way Carmichael, CA Regular Meeting Annual Hot Dog Cookout Sponsored by Russ Broyles June 27 Sacramento Vintage Ford Sacramento Vintage Ford Friday Car Show July 7:00pm Sheriff s Substation Regular Meeting Special Topic: Film: A Day at the River Rouge Plant, presented by Richard Heltzel July 5 through August 2 California Auto Museum Car Club Calvalcade - Sacramento Regional Group Cars on Display July 17 Cal Expo State Fair Sac Regional Group Display of Early Ford V8 s July 25 Sacramento Vintage Ford Sacramento Vintage Ford Friday Car Show July 30 - August 3 Reno, NV Hot August Nights August 9 Sacramento August Tour CAM Car Cruise August 16 Home of Richard and Marie Heltzel Annual Ice Cream Social September 2-5 Thousand Oaks, CA Western National Meet of EFV8 Club October (Day TBD TBD Regular Meeting Special Activity: Poker Run/Kane Hanger Dessert and Coffee Party October Lodi, CA 2014 Trailer Fest Vintage Trailer Rally and Show October 25 Sacramento Vintage Ford Sacramento Vintage Ford Friday Car Show November (Day TBD) California Auto Museum Regular Meeting November 30 California Auto Museum Christmas Tree Decoration Party and Potluck December 13 Aviator s Restaurant, Sacramento Executive Airport Annual Christmas Party 13

net Parts wanted for 1940 Mercury Convertible 09A- 76: Original door and window crank handles, Original mufvler, Original

14 CLASSIFIEDS Mechanical brake parts for sale for 1938 Ford: cables, rods, backing plates, brake shoes and pedal assembly. Contact Bill Cox Parts wanted for 1940 Mercury Convertible 09A- 76: Original door and window crank handles, Original mufvler, Original horn relay, Original voltage regulator, Rear bumper guards - pair. All above in good working order and/or restorable for Dearborn concourse showing. Contact Jerry Luthin (916) or jerandbee@yahoo.com EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS 14

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A West coast Light Delivery Emerges Published by Lee Thevenet September 2014 HORSELESS CARRIAGE REPLICA NEWSLETTER A Publication dedicated to the reporting of news, events, articles, photos, items for sale, etc, having to do with replica