Abingdon Rough Rider Review September 2014 Vol. LVI no. 9 President - Brian Sonner Vice President - Barry Swackhamer Activities Director Linda Chalmers/Eliz.Taylor Secty/Treas/Newsletter Editor- Allan Chalmers Eminence Gris Bill Traill Web Master Rick Storms Sunday, September 21 A Sonoma County tour Just a little warm-up run before the Conclave in Sonora We will meet at Spencer ave turnoff to Sausalito first at 9:30 then head up to the parking lot at Larkspur landing to pick up East Bayers and Marinites about 10. We will pay a call on Andy Avellar at the Scribe Winery in Sonoma to check on his restoration progress and then head off for some lunch nearby. We will look for an interesting road or two to navigate afterwards. Check the web site: www.scribewinery.com if you are meeting there, Go up Dresel Rd from Napa Rd to the large barn on the left,where the car will be. Please note the instructions for the Conclave herein! Our web site www.abingdonroughriders.org An advisory from our webmaster For those receiving the web version, remember, you can contact your esteemed officers by clicking the About Us link and clicking on the name of the officer. This protects us from malefactors! On the Events page, each month's event includes three icons. One is to email the host, one is a link to a Google map that shows the starting point of the run, and finally, one to show weather conditions. Rick If you d like to drop the printed version and read this on the web site let your editor know
Coming Events September 21 - note: this date was changed from the 14 th due to your leader s unavailability Sonoma County tour hosted by the Chalmers October 3-4-5 58 th Annual Conclave ARR / TCMG in Sonora (CA, not Mexico!) See further November 8 Dinner in San Francisco or? Linda Chalmers/ Cindy Weiss December 14/15 Holiday Party Healdsburg at the Taylor s Other Events September 13,14 - British Fall Classic, Morgan Hill Missive from the desk of your president. The dog days of summer should be passing soon. September will be better for country drives. We will be heading up to Sonoma on the 21 st. Jane and I have friends in Napa who were given a hell of a shake during the 6.1 earthquake. Their house escaped major damage but their wine collection did not. I wonder if the price of Napa wine will go up as a result of the losses. Brian School is back in session and hopefully everyone is back from summer vacation. I am looking forward to a good turnout for the September event.
GoF I only know of Lawrie Alexander heading to San Diego for this year s GoF. He will be giving a preview of the Santa Rosa GoF next year. He will give me a little update of this year s when he gets back. Top of the world tour 1956 Bob Winkelmann, one of our three founders, sent these pics, along with negatives. I took the negs to a lab and asked for Jpegs. WOW! 58 year old pictures look like yesterday That s Lucien Remy in front, Jack Vandermale second and Bob Winkelmann fourth That sure looks like Bill Tantau s with red underfenders, but it s not an EXU. Winkelmann s has Colorado plates next to it. Bob wrote an article about his trip back to California, I ll run it in the future.
You like the fender treatment? How about Lucien s whitewalls? This is the photo I have in the club album, of the gathering at the Top of the World restaurant, now long gone. Not the same quality of the previous pictures cuz no negative. On the left is Bob Winkelmann, head of the table is Lucien and Jack and Helen Vandermale to Lucien s right. Neither Bob nor I can identify any others. Any guesses? Some awfully young looking folks there!
A former member pops up So there I was, three blocks from my house, at the new Green Apple Used Bookstore on Ninth ave with friends. I look out and there before my eyes, the most gorgeous DS19 Citroen convertible. I go out and the chap says, don t remember me do you? Nope. I guess wrong. It is in fact former member Mark Rodriguez, from Auburn, who bought George Miller s TC and subsequently sold it to current member Ed Dail. Mark s back couldn t take the ride of the TC or the 29 Indian that came from Don Wasserman s collection. Ed Garbutt now has the Indian. Phil May writes from Williamsburg, VA: Phil has a little advice on dealing with the little plate on the back of the head, the one that usually leaks: You might put a small tip in the newsletter that others may not have thought of. I had a small leak out of the plate on back of the head. The one with the four large screws and not a lot of room to maneuver a thick bladed screwdriver. Last week I had a brilliant thought to use the tool I have for adjusting tappets? It's an old one made by MAC. Has a handle about five inches long. Then a large knurled knob connecting through to where a 1/2 inch socket would fit with a screwdriver blade running through it. It was perfect for taking the screws out. Cars & Coffee Dan Shockey writes to tell me about the San Francisco version of Cars & Coffee. I have been to the one in Irvine and it was a kick. All kinds of cars show up on the first Saturday of the month 8 to 11 AM on Pier 32. We might try that soon. Not October cuz we re going to Sonora, but maybe November?
Classic MG The latest issue of Classic MG has an interview with Joe Troise about his and Phil Frank s timeless character, Nigel Shiftright. It s well worth the subscription price www.mgmagazine.com ARR Member makes USA Today Here s a treat from USA Today about member Eric Baker and his entry in a Beverly Hills Concours click for the interview Just Cool Cars: Driving a '36 MG PB is 'frightening' Bill Traill writes: Interesting article from Doug on St. Christopher; the Patron Saint of Travellers. Back in ~1975 I was part of a consortium to buy-out all the remaining 'obsolete' British car parts from a Kansas City BMC dealer who was switching brands. There were three of us: a Healey guy, a Triumph guy and me for the MG parts. Lots of TC, some TD/TF and a few MGA bits. BMC bought-back the MG B items as they were still current parts. One item that ended up in my pile was an 'Acme' Cloisonné shift-knob. It is heavy enough to be solid brass under the chrome. I almost sold it at a Brit car swap meet at Tanforan race track; asking $7. A man kept returning throughout the day to haggle me down; I didn't budge, so it returned home with me. Only then did I take a close look at the knob and realized the mis-spelling. So, now it is sort of a keep-sake.
Another item from Bill, who is, after all, our grey eminence! A few weeks ago, after rebuilding one of my TC wheels, I decided to restore the J2 wheels. Off the chassis they came, tires removed, nipples loosened, bead-blasted. Only then did I realize the wheels have to be painted the color of the interior of the car! And that means I have to decide on the exterior too. Snow-balling circumstances... Well, doggonit, the car is 100% complete, even the chrome-work is done. Chassis done, instruments new. All accoutrements have been in boxes the past 39 years. Engine is apart ready for the billet crank and con-rods. That leaves some body-work, then paint, interior and top. And Joe Crisafulli has shown me the painting isn't so hard to do. So, here I am pictured working on the J2 wheels. This is the method I was told works just about 100% from a man who rebuilt wire wheels before retiring to draught horse training and exhibiting. I have been using this method for several years since. All five wheels from my J2 had about 90% of their nipples frozen solid...sounds awful! Now 100% loose. Heat the nipple to red-heat rapidly, hold for a couple seconds, then quench completely with water (no more sizzle). My Map-gas / oxy set works great (couple hundred degrees cooler than acetylene / oxy). "Map gas" is much safer than pure acetylene; it is an acetylene-methane molecule combination. Some nipples need a repeat performance and a very few thrice. Then a pinch of penetrating oil after the wheel is a little cooler. The final cooling will draw-in the oil. A 50% Acetone mix with Auto Trans Fluid is claimed to be the best among the tractor restorers. As soon as the new set of spokes arrive I will be able to easily remove the old. The nipples are in good condition and I am debating on re-using many of them. TC search I have been asked to do a search for a TC project. The searcher is looking for an unrestored heap, or what have you. Let me know if you might know of something. This person has been a TC owner and restorer and has the desire to be one again. The car will be restored to top notch condition. Let me know of any possibilities.
The 2014 58th Annual Conclave Oct 3-5 The Annual Abingdon Rough Riders/TC Motoring Guild Conclave this year will be set in the exciting, historic area of Sonora, CA, October 3rd through 5th, 2014. Time is getting closer for our annual romp in the mountains. The town of Sonora awaits with something for everyone. Wonderful restaurants and shops for those who do not want to drive much. Many roads and adventures with stops at wineries and limestone caverns for the more adventurous. Mining towns to walk the streets the miners walked 150 years ago. All within a few miles of this little town. Friday we will have our welcome cocktail party at the Gunn House. Bring your libation of choice and any food items to add to the party. It will be poolside at the hotel. Saturday, enjoy a wonderful breakfast with many selections including a gluten free choice if necessary. Saturday, there will be maps provided with some of the local highlights for your driving enjoyment. Saturday night there will be a banquet at the Sonora Inn in the Rose Room. Dinner options will be a Pork Tenderloin, Chicken (not sure about the prep at this time) and a vegetarian option of a Portobello Mushroom over risotto. The price will be $34 per person, and please make your selection when you send in your payment so we can let the kitchen prepare for our group. Wine is available for purchase, or if you want to bring you own, there will be no corkage fee. For those staying at the Gunn House, and that will be most of you, please include $50 per room to repay the ARR treasury since we paid the deposit on all the rooms to hold the hotel reservation in the spring. There are a couple who are in the Sonora Inn. You are welcome to walk up the block and a half to the Gunn House for breakfast both mornings. There will be no charge and the breakfasts are much better than those available at the Sonora Inn. Also, you are welcome to park at the Gunn House since the parking is more secure. Please send your checks and menu selections to Allan Chalmers, 1231 12th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94122. Deadline for payment is September 15th. Looking forward to seeing everyone for some fun times. Thanks, Howard Shempp. An effective turn light solution Norman Tuck came up with a nice turn light set that look age appropriate. They are 32 Ford tail lights and you can get them either with several small LEDs built in or ones that can take LED light bulbs - or regular ones. The bracket is made from 2 by 1/8 aluminium and is 6 ¾ inches long
1932 Ford Glass Tail light right Side hot rod classic $30 each These are on Ebay. You need two from the right side, without the license light. These take bulbs. They come black also. These are stainless and have two bulb holders for brake and turn. I have tried to print a correctly sized template to cut out. While we are on lights, I also installed a new third brake light for the TC. This item is cheap at Harbor Freight - $15. You will need to fabricate a bracket for it. I put mine on low because of the luggage rack I use.
q2 A blast from the past
The previous article came out of Abingdon Classics mag from 1985, 29 years ago. The couple in costume are Verna and Skip Kelsey, who reveled in getting all gussied up. Skip had a full set of kilts as I recall. They would also do a Fourth of July get-up that would definitely catch the eye. Mike still has the boat tailed TD. Well ostensibly a TD, as I recall it has a furrin engine. But really, the reason for running this report is Rod s interesting take on TC folk. Does this sound like anyone we know? Trailering everywhere? Brian? Comment? Rod, old buddy, we love ya, but could this have been anything but TC envy? San Simeon 1961 Everyone set for the Conclave??? Clarence Weiss cartoon Sure Fit Seat Covers Jim Silva (510) 357-4355 13922 E 14th St, San Leandro, CA 94578 Cross Streets: Between 139th Ave and 138th Ave Member Businesses Support your TC vendors!