The Valve Clad-d-der

Transcription

1 San Jacinto Region Vintage Chevrolet Club of America February 2015 Volume 26 Issue 2 Meetings: First Monday Night except as noted. 6:30PM Eat and Socialize 7:30 Meeting. The next meeting will be February 2 nd at Hickory Hollow, 101 Heights Blvd. Houston, TX. Phone # Director s Corner February 2015 Clint Allred Members, it s time to step up and volunteer. We need a chairman for the Swap meet and a chairman for gates and trailer parking, etc. Anything or area you can help with. And you get fed! We also need a few cars to display. We need some ideas on places to have our meetings starting in April. We have changed meetings from Monday nights to weekends. Member input needed!!!! Member input needed!!!! A motion has been made that we may want to change our meeting day. Many members travel many miles and find the traffic a hindrance on Monday. Please let Phil know by of any suggestions on this subject. Thank you Clint Allred clintallred@outlook.com Wanted!!! Looking for vendors or members with special skills. I would like to add presentations or shop talk section to our meetings. This would take place at the close of the meeting. Presentations should not last more than 30 minutes. Secretary s Report (Sheila Bradford) Clint Allred, Director, opened the January 5, 2015 meeting of the San Jacinto Region VCCA by welcoming everyone A motion to approve the minutes of the November meeting, printed in the Valve Clad-dder, was made by James Blanton and seconded by Kathy Allred. The motion passed unanimously. The Treasurer s Report was presented by Chip Sweet, with expenses for Auto Rama and the Attendance Award being mentioned specifically. A motion to approve the Treasurer s Report was made by Patrick Lindquist and seconded by Paul DeShazo. This motion also passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Sheila Bradford, Region Secretary [Type text] Page 1

2 Upcoming Events and Tours (Bryan Felt) Feb28 Trip to John Prestwood Auto collection and eats in Richmond. Details to follow. March th Annual Swap Meet at Traders Village Market,7979 N. Eldridge Road. Contact Cathy Sweet at or April 11,2015 The Conroy Fish Fry in Onalaska, TX. 18 th National VCCA Southern Spring 2015Tour Historic Brazoria & Galveston Counties, TX - April 20 to April 25, and 6 Cylinder Chevrolets ( ) VCCA members only Dear VCCA Member, The 18th Annual National Southern Spring Touris full but has a short waiting list. For Registration & Tour information contact: Sheila or Bill Bradford at: (281) or wtb@swbell.net Mid-America Tour, May 18-23, 2015 We are pleased to announce that Dan & Jerri Chase of Kingston, AR have agreed to put together a fantastic tour for pre 29 Chevrolets in Mountain View, Arkansas, May 18-23, I have sent the Sanctioned Event Request form to our recently appointed Area 6 Board Member for approval. I am confident enough in its approval that I am sending out this notice. If at all interested in the tour put it on your 2015 Calendar now. Inform family and friends to not dare schedule any events in conflict. That includes: graduations, weddings, funerals, hospital stays, family reunions, or any other event that might cause a person to consider not attending this event. Don t sell the 4 banger, if you don t currently have one hurry out and get one so you have time to road test it prior to the tour. Mechanics with tools will be available but might leave that critical part home. We held a Southern Fall Tour in Mountain View several years back and at that time thought that it was a perfect place for a 4 cylinder tour. I am sure you will agree with us. Mark those dates (May 18-23, 2015)! More later, Dan & Jerri Chase Chip & Cathy Sweet May 2015 Mercer Arboretum June 2015 Gullo Auto Collection Page 2

3 Member News The Valve Clad-d-der The Black Widow Caretakers Story By Clay Perrine Back in the day (1957), Mr. Harold Sells was working in his service station in Mansfield, Texas when he looked up and saw a 1927 Chevrolet Touring Car going down the road on a trailer. He jumped in his vehicle and chased them until he could get them to stop. He bought that 27 touring car on the spot. His wife said it was rough and rusty and his son says they had to put a board over the front seat springs so they could drive it off the trailer. Harold loved it on sight. After fixing it up it became a part of the family and was a familiar sight in the community for over 40 years. Harold drove it in the Mansfield parades and in some Fort Worth parades. It was usually parked at his service station and to this day you find photos of it in the Mansfield High School Annuals of the time. It seems that every year some of the graduating seniors had their pictures made while sitting in it. Mr. Sells son told the story that Mr. Sells also used the car regularly as a daily driver and one evening after closing the service station he and a friend drove to Fort Worth to buy a pint of liquor since Mansfield was a dry town. They bought their pint and started back home, carefully placing the bottle between the top and the top pads so it would be out of sight if they were stopped. On the way back, a sharp turn was made and the bottle slid out the side and crashed to the ground, breaking the glass. As Mr. Sells was telling this story, he was asked what he did then. His reply was they just turned around and went back to buy another one. After Mr. Sells death the family stopped using it and finally decided to sell it. The man who bought the car had wanted the car for about 40 years. His story goes that In the early 60s when he was going to college at North Texas each weekend he drove home and on his trip he would go through Mansfield, TX where he would see the car parked at the Sells Service Station. He told himself that someday he would buy that car. In 2001 he bought the car from the Sells family. He took it home and there it sat in front of his travel trailer business for about a year and a half. In October 2002 I was looking for a four cylinder Chevrolet and I heard about it by word of mouth someone knew someone who said the car was for sale. I took my wife with me to the travel trailer business where it was housed. I looked it over carefully and my wife just looked. When I asked her what she thought, she said that though it was rough there was a beautiful Chevy underneath and she loved it already. He had mixed emotions about selling it but it seems that after all the years of wanting it, when he finally got it, it was too late and he found it was no longer something he wanted, so In a few days it was ours. When I bought it from him the owner had not filed the title for transfer so the title I received was from the 1957 purchase made by Harold Sells. A good clean up and some basic fix-ups and we were in a western state driving it on a four cylinder tour. Page 3

4 After restoration, at the original owners garage. Photo by Judy Perrine Over a period of time we have restored it to what it is today. We call it the Black Widow because of the black widow spiders, their eggs and nests that we found in every nook and cranny when we started the restoration. What I had to do to make it the way it is now, was to carefully go through all the mechanicals and replace the wire harness to make sure everything was working correctly. I left the beer can patch on the hot air tube in the engine just for old- time sake. A new paint job, top, tonneau cover, side curtains and seat reupholstering took care of the soft parts. I switched the re-chromed parts from a 27 Landau I had previously been restoring to the touring car. My final act was to take the 27 Landau to a swap meet and sold it. My wife says it is everything she visualized when she first saw it and she still absolutely loves it. After restoring it, we drove it back to Mansfield to show Mrs. Sells and her son. They told us many fun stories about when her husband owned it and they were very happy that it was being used again. In turn, we were very happy to hear the first hand story of the history of the car from some of the people who lived it. It is not a show car but it has given us eleven years of driving pleasure.. It is not suitable for judging but it is an outstanding driving car and drive it we did!. It has been Page 4

5 all over the Rocky Mountains on four cylinder tours as well as many four/six tours, local parades and car shows. In 2013 we drove in the Mansfield TX St. Patricks Day Pickle 27 Landau in the Pickle Parade in its hometown. Parade and many locals remembered the car from the Sells era. After eleven years, I still do not consider myself the owner of this car, but a caretaker. We will use it and enjoy it and when the time comes hopefully it will pass to a new caretaker. New Member from AutoRama Craig Clark 1053 Dr. Neal Rd. New Ulm, TX Members in the News Bob Kelly s 54 in classic car corral at GRB auto show. Page 5

6 Photo by Carolyn Couch Editor s Epilog Thank you Clay and Judy Perrine for the great story about a beautiful car. Officers, Board Members, and Committee Chairs for 2015 VCCA-SJR Director: Clint Allred (713) <clintallred@outlook.com> Asst. Dir: Ray Pierson (281) <rjpierson2002@yahoo.com> Secretary: Sheila Bradford (281) <sheilabradford@swbell.net> Treasurer: Chip Sweet (979) <sweet.chip@yahoo.com> Membership: Carolyn Couch ( ) <ccnana42@yahoo.com> Activities: Bryan Felt ( ) <b.felt@sbcglobal.net> Editor: Phil McGraw ( ) <philip7306@att.net> Website: Bob Kelly ( ) < bobkelly1948@gmail.com> Facebook Malcolm Crawford ( ) <mcrawford001@gmail.com> Board Members: 2015 Brad Boyer (bboyer@lonestarprestress.com) 2016 Gary Groschke (garychevelle396@gmail.com) 2017 Mike Howard (Howard_l_michael@yahoo.com) Committee Chairs: Swap Meet:. Auto Rama: Gary Groschke Christmas Party Trish Felt Page 6