Corvette Club OF Texas

The Corvetter Corvette Club OF Texas Volume 58 Issue 11 - November 2006 Corvette Club of Texas PO Box 36022 - Dallas TX, 75235-1002 www.corvettecluboftexas.org Sponsored by Friendly Chevrolet 2754 N. Stemmons Fry - Dallas TX, 75207

From the Editor Meeting Information Our Friendly Rep! Corvette Club of Texas (CCT) Monthly Membership Meeting Held every third Friday of the month, at 7:30 p.m. at Friendly Chevrolet, 2754 North Stemmons Freeway, Dallas. All members, visitors and Corvette owners are Welcome. Following each CCT monthly membership meeting, a CCT after club social event is hosted by a CCT Member, starting at approximately 8:30 p.m. Monthly Board Meeting Held on the Monday before the third Friday of the month at 7:30 p.m. at Friendly Chevrolet. All members are invited to attend. The October Membership Meeting was an interesting one for the Wagner family. After the meeting, heading to the restaurant, I entered the expressway and started accelerating to speed. As I was about to merge in something appeared right in front of me. It was the same color as the road and, in the darkness, I didn t see it until it was no more than 10 feet away. I still don t know what it was but I think it was part of a truck tire. In any event I ran over it with my left side tire. Terrible noises came from underneath the car and then an ominous hissing sound. I pulled over but couldn t see much and no liquids were dripping out so we continued on. It drove OK at least. Next day I got a look at the damage... The left side air dam was ripped off, the valence piece that the air dam attaches to was missing, 6 inches of the inner fender was shredded off causing the fender to be very loose and, worst, a mounting point for the front facia was cracked. Bottom line? Extimated $1750 (so far). $1200 of that the new fascia and painting. Expensive dinner... The hissing sound? It must have been the tire, or whatever, trapped under the car and dragging on the road because after we stopped and went on it was gone. Joe Wagner Friendly Chevrolet s representative to the Corvette Club of Texas is Gary Kubiak. When you need to replace your Corvette with a new C6 be sure and give Gary a call at 214-920-1950. Also don t forget to contact Gary when you are upgrading the family car for a new one! In addition to his regular work schedule, Gary is always at the dealership during our monthly Friday night membership meeting. Also, you can e-mail Gary at: intdir@friendlychevy.com On the Cover: Unusual view of a C5. The observant will find one flaw... The Corvetter Volume 58 Issue 11 The Corvetter, the official newsletter of the Corvette Club of Texas (CCT), is published monthly by The Corvette Club of Texas P.O. Box 36022, Dallas, Texas 75235-1022 for the exclusive use of its members and invited guests. Initial distribution is done electronically by e- mail. A small number of paper copies are delivered via First Class mail or by hand when necessary. The newsletter is also available on the CCT web site: www. corvettecluboftexas.org Subscriptions to The Corvetter are free to CCT members. 2006 Corvette Club of Texas. All rights reserved. Reprints of original material are available on a per article basis only with written permission of a CCT officer, the author or the Editor. Previously copyrighted material if any retains the original author s copyright. Please send all submissions via e- mail to the editor at joe@y2k7.com. All submissions become intellectual property of The Corvetter. 2006 OFFICERS, BOARD AND STAFF President Mitch Factor 817-329-0693 factorm@verizon.net Vice President Paul Wolter 817-478-6096 pwol1962@sbcglobal.net Treasurer Mel Roggenbuck 817-571-0284 rogge69@sbcglobal.net Secretary Jeanette Bradley 214-348-0775 k.bradley@sbcglobal.net NCCC Governor Joann Powdrill 972-625-6479 jopowdrill@direcway.com BOARD MEMBERS Bob Mischel Term ends 01-2007 972-596-2984 Bob-Mischel@comcast.net Ken Bradley Term ends 06-2007 214-348-0775 k.bradley@sbcglobal.net Russell Brundrett Term ends 08-2007 972-263-9047 rbrundrett@bonairservice.com Barry Marsh Term ends 03-2008 817-268-0388 bemarsh1@msn.com James Powdrill Term ends 06-2008 972-625-6479 jamespowdrill@direcway.com STAFF CHAIRPERSONS Activities TBA Charities Coordinator Mary Wolter 817-478-6096 mwol1990@sbcglobal.net Club Merchandise Mary Wolter 817-478-6096 mwol1990@sbcglobal.net Membership Mary Wolter 817-478-6096 mwol1990@sbcglobal.net Property Mary Wolter 817-478-6096 mwol1990@sbcglobal.net Historian Ken Bradley 214-348-0775 k.bradley@sbcglobal.net Newsletter Joe Wagner 817-282-1355 joe@y2k7.com Photographer Charles Whitaker 972-239-0485 whitaker@flash.net Raffle Paulette Wagner 817-282-1355 paulette@themoralefairy.com Webmaster Joe Wagner 817-282-1355 joe@y2k7.com NCM Ambassador Bob Stephens 972-235-9813 rdsj1@sbcglobal.net 2

President s Prerogative Nov. 2006 Thank you to ALL who came out to participate and give your support to insure that our CCT 2006 Roundup was a very successful and fun event. I appreciate all of you! A special thanks to Paul and Mary Wolter for the time and effort they contributed to coordinate all the aspects of making such an event happen! Special thanks and a word of appreciation go out to all those who helped with our event this year: Paul and Mary Wolter James and JoAnn Powdrill Russell and Kathy Brundrett Mel Roggenbuck Norm Worley Marvin and Donna Snyder, Barry and Annette Marsh Keith Amendson Chuck Kraut Charles Whitaker Ken and Jeanette Bradley It s election time for the club s 2007 officers and although I was not able to attend the October membership meeting, I understand that a motion was made to keep, as many of the present officers in place and that there was some discussion on this. JoAnn Powdrill has agreed to accept the Governor s position for 2007. Janette Bradley is hoping that someone will step up and volunteer to relieve her of the Secretary s position. Janette has been so gracious to accept this position for CCT how many times??? It s time for someone else to help out in this capacity! Carol Factor has accepted the nomination for Month January February March April May June July August September October November December 2006 AFTER CLUB MEETING DRIVE & EAT - SIGN UP Host Ken & Jeanette Bradley Mitch & Carol Factor TBA Barry and Annette Marsh James & Joanne Powdrill TBA TBA Barry and Annette Marsh Paulette Wagner Carol Factor Ben & Billie Loflin See you at the CCT Christmas Party! TROPHY CASE @ FRIENDLY CHEVROLET MAINTENANCE - SIGN UP Quarter January March April - June July - September October December Maintainer TBA Mary & Paul Wolter Joe & Paulette Wagner Mary & Paul Wolter 3 2007 Treasurer. Kudos and Thanks to Patti Bertwell!!! She has volunteered to be the Activities Chairperson. This means that although she will head up this important function for CCT, she will need your help and input to keep our activities fresh, fun, and happening. Let s not leave Patti to do it all. Looks like another year is fast drawing to a close. We have had several people in the club. as well as their family members, that have had some serious health issues this year. I pray for the continued recovery of each one and trust that the next year holds nothing but great health and lots of driving fun and camaraderie for all of us. Thank you for your continued support. Mitch Factor President, CCT and remember to Governor s Report The NCCC racing season is winding down with the final event being the last week-end in October. CCT needs to start thinking about making our bid for the weekend we would like to have our event next year. There are already 6 events on the calendar. THANKS!! To all the workers at our recent NCCC event in Sherman it was a success thanks to YOU! Out of 17 NCCC clubs in the Southwest region CCT is # 13. Joann

CORVETTE CLUB OF TEXAS, INC. OCTOBER 20, 2006, MEMBERSHIP MEETING FRIENDLY CHEVROLET, STEMMONS FREEWAY, DALLAS Paul Wolter called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM in the absence of Mitch Factor. The October Board minutes were read and approved with one exception by Paul. He said the novice driver should be the non-novice driver in the protest lodged during the Round-Up Autocross held last weekend. The September business meeting minutes were approved as printed in the newsletter. Mel s mom had taken a turn for the worse and he could not be here tonight, but gave the treasurer s report to Paul, which included the autocross figures that he had received so far. The split in profit for the autocross has not been made yet to North Texas Vettes because all the expenses have not been received. Joann, the NCCC Governor, said that the membership dues to NCCC are due and everyone should send their membership to Mary Wolter as soon as possible. Mary Wolter said that CCT and NCCC dues should be paid by November 1st so the NCCC dues can be sent in before the deadline. If you cannot give her the money tonight, please mail your renewals to Mary. Activities: Paul Wolter discussed the annual Cowtown Corvette Show in Fort Worth, Saturday, October 28th. We usually attend and meet at Paul and Mary s house about 9:00 AM to caravan to the show. Saturday, December 9th, will be the CCT Christmas Party at the TMS Club House. See the flyer in the newsletter for details. Paul discussed the Round-Up Autocross and recognized all the corner workers, tech inspection, staging, starters, timing helpers, registration, hospitality workers and last but not least, the photographer for their diligence in helping to make the autocross a success, despite the weather. Everyone was given a bottle of Meguires Cleaner, plus some cloths for applying the magic stuff. The following people were recognized: Ken and Jeanette Bradley; Annette and Barry Marsh and Annette s cousin; James and Joann Powdrill; Norm Worley; Charles and Jean Whitaker; Russell and Kathy Brundrett; Mary Wolter; and Mel Rogenbuck. Paul explained the protest lodged during the 5th autocross on Saturday and said that he had responded and sent the paperwork to the appropriate people in NCCC as specified in the bylaws. We should have an answer soon. Ken said he had a good response from people wanting to go on the 4th of July trip in 2007 to Angel Fire, New Mexico, and he would start putting together a schedule of fun events for the week. Paul said we need to elect a new NCCC Governor. Bob Micshel nominated Joann. We also need to elect new officers for the coming year. Nominations can be made tonight and also during the November meeting, with voting in December for January installation. We also need an activities director. After some discussion, Pattie Bertwell volunteered for Activities Director. Thank you Pattie! Mel sent word that he could not accept the responsibility of treasurer this coming year because of the failing health of his mother. Jeanette was nominated for secretary again and accepted, but would be willing to let someone else take over to get more participation from other club members. Carol Factor was nominated for treasurer and accepted. Mary Wolter explained the Gill Children s Charities and said the list of children would be ready about the first week in November. These are families who fall in the crack for charity but they do not make enough money to furnish their children gifts for Christmas. We will have between 12 to 15 families, who have several children. We ask that each member who would like to participate, pick out a child to furnish gifts to and bring them to our Christmas Party on December 9th with the child s name and family number on each wrapped gift. The child s Christmas wishes and clothing sizes will be on the list (don t forget underwear and socks). This is a sure way to know that your gifts go directly to a needy child without all the red tape expenses. Paulette Wagner conducted the raffle. Everyone was invited to caravan to Olive Garden on Northwest Highway, arranged by Carol Factor. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM. Respectfully submitted, Jeanette Bradley, Secretary 4

Upcoming CCT Events CCT & NTV CHRISTMAS PARTY DATE: Saturday, 9 December 2006 TIME: 7:00 P.M. PLACE: Texas Motor Speedway Club House Please bring a dish or dishes to share and BYOB (if you want hard alcoholic beverages). The club will furnish the meat and drinks. Chinese gift exchange ($20 minimum cost per person), will follow the dinner. If you have adopted a Gill s Children Child, please bring all of their gifts. We will also have KARAOKE BY RONNIE WALKER RSVP Paul and Mary Wolter at mwol1990@sbcglobal.net or 817-478-6096 by December 6 th if you plan to attend this years party. 5

if your e-brake lever is between 45 degrees and 55 degrees. If your e-brake is out further than that the e-brake will not auto adjust. C5 Parking Brake Adjustment by: Bill Matera (via CorvetteForum) I posted this fix several years ago, but it was lost in the software upgrade. When my C5 was new the e-brake barely worked. I took it to the dealer, and was told that brakes are a wear item and that I would have to pay for new shoes. The car had less than 1000 miles on it. The e-brake only engages when the car is stopped so how could they be worn? Anyway I decided to take a look and see if I could do anything. I was not crazy about the dealer touching my car anyway. OK. Here we go. The e-brake works similar to the e- brake on most cars with rear drum brakes. With that in mind: AUTOADJUST feature: Roll the car backwards on a hill, or in reverse @ 5 mph, and pull up on the e brake lever. This will slam your car to an abrupt stop. The engagement of the shoes to the drum while the car is moving backwards will cause the shoe assembly to flex. It is the flex that causes the blade to click the adjusting star one click. Do this three or four times and it will expand your shoes. You can not over tighten these shoes. If it needs two clicks to get to max and you do four clicks, it will only adjust the star two clicks. Also remember to use Loctite on the brackets and caliper bolts. Jack up the rear of the car. Remove the wheels. Then remove the bolts for the calipers. Then remove the calipers and pads. You will see the caliper bracket. It has two bolts that hold this to the brake backing plate. The bolts are very very tight but they will come off; ( They are 125 ft. pounds with Loctite). Once the bracket is off you can remove the rotor. (Make sure the e-brake is not engaged ). Next you will see how the system works. It has a set of shoe brakes and the rotor has an internal drum. In the last few years I have found that many, many C5s come from the factory with poorly adjusted e-brakes. Now locate the star adjuster. Turn it out to make the shoes grow in diameter. (Mine were out 33 clicks). I did ten clicks at a time and then slid the rotor back on. I did three sets of ten before I could feel any drag. I then clicked five more and could not get the rotor on. I then backed off two clicks and got the rotor on. It was tight when I started it on the shoes but when I finally seated it it was perfect. I then did the other side. It was out exactly the same amount. I then put everything back. Now for the test. When I engaged the e-brake it locked up the brakes at a point about 45 degrees. 90 degrees being straight up. The lock up was so positive. I knew I did it right. Next to check the release. I took the car to a hill. Set the e-brake car in neutral and it stayed there. Then to check on the release. I slowly disengaged the e-brake and found that the shoes were totally retracted after only an inch of lever release. Not So Corvette News November, 2006 Have a self-contained RV? Did you know that Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart also had one? You can enjoy free parking at any Wal-Mart lot where it s permitted. The advantages: they re usually easy to find, many sell diesel fuel, convenience, security (usually with security cameras), and the lots are welllit. You can restock your supplies while you re there. The online RV Bookstore (www.rvbookstore.com) sells a book that lists all of the Wal-Marts and includes the ones where RV parking is NOT allowed. Current price - $19.83. (Source: Dallas Morning News) One couple has traveled all over the United States, starting in 1970 in a Chevrolet Suburban, checking out food in restaurants and truck stops along the way. Jane and Michael Stern have written books about their experiences. Roadfood, their first book, was published in 1978 and recently their 31st book, Two for the Road, was released. Check out their website www. roadfood.com A young woman is the creative force behind the Pontiac Solstice and the Saturn Skye. Vicki Vlachakis, from Pasadena CA, fell in love with automotive design at the Art Center College of Design in that city. After studying at the school s Switzerland campus she interned with Audi in Germany. She joined GM s advance design studio in California in 2000 and worked on the team that developed the Solstice. Her focus was the interior. The car debuted as a concept car in 2002 and appeared in car showrooms late in 2005. The Skye followed in 2006 and sold out for the calendar year. Not bad for a 34 year-old! See her picture and read a short article about her at http://www. successmagazine.com/article.php?article_id=11 After this fix I could stop the car using only the e-brake with the car doing ten miles an hour. The e-brake also has an auto adjust feature but it will only work 6

CCT Annual Roundup Pictures All pictures by Charles Whitaker 7

CCT Annual Roundup Pictures (Cont.) 8

CCT Annual Roundup Pictures (Cont.) Many, Many MANY more pictures on the CCT web site! 9

2006 Event Calendar Before attending any event listed in this calendar please double check with the organizers for any last minute changes. CCT is not responsible for the accuracy of any listing except of CCT organized events. For NCCC events November 4 Cruise (every 1st Saturday) 4 Cruise (every 1st Saturday) Extreme Corvettes Cruise Night 5 9 PM North Texas Mustang Club Cruise 5:00 8:30 PM Ezs Brick Oven, NW corner 190 & Coit, Plano see www.extremecorvettes.com for more info Cracker Barrel, 35E @ Fox Avenue Exit, 889 South Stemmons Freeway, West Side Frontage Rd,, Lewisville 4 Show (every 1st Hooter s Car Show 1711 Cross Roads Dr. Grapevine. Call Roger 214- Saturday) 908-2924 for info 5 Autocross Challenge Cup Autocross Monthly Feb. to Nov. Equipe Rapide Sports Car Club Mineral Wells Airpark. autocross.com/er 5/19 Show (every 1st Hot Rods & Hoggs Car Show Cruiser s location at 2750 Preston Rd @ Hwy 121 & 3rd Sunday) across from the Stone Brier Mall in Frisco 10-11 Meeting NCCC National Meeting Sheraton Westport, St. Louis, MO 11 Show 1st Annual Cruising Parker Square for Cystic Fibrosis Entry $20 donation to the CF Foundation Parker Square at 800 Main Street, Flower Mound Steve Durbin 214-529-0479 11 Show (every 2nd Saturday) 11 Cruise (every 2nd Saturday) The Camaro and Firebird Car Club registration 5-7 PM, awards 8:30PM Late Great Chevy Club Cruise - 1955-1972 Chevys, but all cars welcome. 4:30pm registration (April-Oct.) Chuck s Lewisville location, 2267 I-35, north of Vista Ridge Mall, $10 entry fee Rick s Famous BBQ on the northwest corner of Old Denton Road and the President George Bush Turnpike Call Richard (817) 690-1334, Email: rlcaviness@yahoo.com 12/24 Show (every 2nd Sunday & 4th Friday) Cruisers Club of Cedar Hill Car Show Cruiser s location at 2750 Preston Rd @ Hwy 121 across from the Stone Brier Mall in Frisco 13 Meeting CCT Board Meeting Friendly Chevrolet 17 Meeting CCT Membership Meeting Friendly Chevrolet 18 Drive/Show (every 3rd Saturday) Christian Classic Cruisers car show. (Mar. - Oct.) Birdville ISD Athletic facility located at the corner of Mid-Cities Blvd. and Precinct Line Rd 18-19 Race Texas Shootout Regional Race. SCCA Texas World Speedway 23 Holiday Happy Thansgiving 24 Deadline Last day to submit articles and pictures to Send to joe@y2k7.com December Newsletter 25 Show every 4th Sunday December Gasoline Alley Car Shows T.G.I. FRIDAY S Location at Beltline and the Toll Road call Jeff @ (972)-289-4360 2-3 Race School Super School - SCCA Motorsports Ranch, Cresson 9 Party CCT Christmas Party (See Flyer) Fort Worth, TX. (Texas Motor Speedway) 10

2007 Event Calendar April 26-28 Gathering C5/C6 Bash National Corvette Museum May 3-5 Gathering ZR-1/C4 Gathering National Corvette Museum 24-26 Gathering Corvette Forum Cruise-In National Corvette Museum June 18-30 Cruise Mediterranean/Europe Cruise Sponsored by National Corvette Museum August 30- Sep 2 Gathering Anniversary Celebration/ Hall of Fame National Corvette Museum September 27-29 Gathering Pace Car Reunion National Corvette Museum October 11-13 Gathering Classic Corvette Extravaganza National Corvette Museum 25-27 Gathering Z06 Fest National Corvette Museum C6Rs at Road America Rumor has it that Chevrolete will drop out of ALMS next year because of all the restrictions. 11