Visit our website: WWW.SACTC.COM 2004 Officers: President: Carole Buss (210) 545-1237; Vice-President: Lou Maulden (210) 648-3881; Secretary: Cheryl Meynig (210) (210) -341-1057; Treasurer: Troy Rowe (210) 656-6458; Car Clinics: Andy Hoekstra (210) 690-8514; Tours: John Kennedy (210) 342-0344; Newsletter Editor: Neal Johnston (210) 824-1257; C.T.C.I. Advisor: Carole Buss
MEMBERSHIP MEETING: Saturday, September 11th, 9 A.M. at JIM’S COFFEE SHOP, 16101
San Pedro (Between Bitters and Thousand Oaks on West Feeder Road).
September Activities
Rosanky Swap Meet: September 9-11th, 13 miles South of Bastrop on highway 304 at Central
Texas Museum of Automotive History. 1300+ spaces last year. Full concessions. Parking $5.00. Information: Bo or Susan Franks 512-360-3562 or email: frankspromotions@ccms.net . A group will be leaving for this event after our membership meeting. Call Andy Hoekstra @ 690-8514 if you want to go.
WEEKLY TECH MEETINGS: 6 P.M. the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Wednesday
CHESTER’S. North Mall, 3711 Colony Drive
at the I.H. 10 Colonies
BIRDER’S NIGHT OUT: 4th Wednesday, September 22nd, Taste of China, Kruse Classic Car Auction: September 24-25th, Fredericksburg Airfield
Minutes – August 14th 2004
President, Carole Buss, called the meeting to order at 9:15a.m. With 26 members and welcomed R.B. Waldrep’s guest, Jessie Tant. George Kiobassa moved to accept minutes as written, with a second by Don Meynig. Troy Rowe provided Treasurer’s report indicating a balance of $XXXXXX. A letter of thanks from the Nebraskaland Thunderbird Club was read to members acknowledging our $200.00 donation to their convention fund. Letter to be filed in secretary’s binder. August birthdays and anniversaries were recognized. Cruise Director, John Kennedy shared the following information: th Attended AACOG meeting with Neal Johnston where the October 16 , Scenic Hill Cruise was discussed. He and Neal will make a dry run and suggest we plan to have BBQ at Carter’s around 12:30 – 1:00pm. Final plans should be available by the September club meeting. John and Neal suggest any member interested in attending AACOG meetings to please join them. The next meeting is scheduled th for September 9 at the old Tesoro building, next to Luby’s at Broadway and Nachodoches. Meeting starts at 7:00pm and usually ends around 8:30 – 9:00pm. th Cruise the Coast – October 3rd – 10 , 2004. The largest Classic Car Show in the Southeast. Activities include Drag racing, Top-named entertainment, CTC Swap Meet, Long Beach Parade, Car Corral. Norm Brinkmeyer shared information about a possible cruise to Galveston. If interested in looking at information available, please look at www.Galveston.com using the Alta Vista search engine. His daughter has offered to provide a hospitality suite at her home but would need help with the cost of food. She also has a secure space for drivers to leave their hard tops at her place if not needed during the weekend. Club members expressed interest and Norm is to provide further details at the September meeting. Pleasanton Cowboy Homecoming, August 21, 2004, Open Car Show at Pleasanton River Park. Begins at 1:00pm. POC: Roy or Margie Mendez (830) 569-2169.
60 Semi-Annual San Antonio/Austin Spring Hill Country Collector Car Auction. Friday, September th th 24 , 4:00pm, Saturday, September 25 , 10:00a.m. The Hangar Hotel and Conference Center, Fredericksburg, Texas. POC: (800) 968-4444, www.kruse.com Neal said a Friday night cruise would begin the middle of September at the Blanco Café on Austin Highway. th Jordan Ford is presenting the new GT350 and new sporty cars on August 18 . They would like old cars to come to the event from 3:00 – 8:00pm. They are located on I35. th October 24 – Mustang Show, 11:00am – 4:00pm. th October 30 , 31 local nursing homes are asking car clubs to bring their old cars for the resident’s enjoyment.
th
OLD BUSINESS Neal reported that after researching the copy machine issue, he decided it was a better use of club funds to purchase another drum for $180.00 than to buy a new copier. Thanks Neal for being such a conscientious club member and looking out for our pocketbook!! Discussion about returning to EZ’s on Friday nights is pending ACOG’s decision. Cheryl Meynig reported that due to schedule conflicts through the end of the year, she and Del would postpone their efforts for a club recipe book. Neal kindly offered to publish a monthly recipe in the newsletter. We appreciate the offer and ask anyone wishing to share a recipe to e-mail it to Neal. Carole Buss shared information regarding the Colorado Thunderbird Club hosting the Region 5 Convention in 2007 in Denver. A date has not been selected. Club members expressed interest in attending and Carole will provide information as it becomes available. NEW BUSINESS Congratulations to Betty Schwartz on the adoption of her new baby, a 2002 Thunderbird blue T-bird. They say folks resemble their pets but I do believe Betty is now dressing the color of her car! Also, congratulations to Don Meynig on the adoption of his 2003 desert sky blue T-bird. They now join the ranks with Sal and Ollie and their sassy red one. There is rumor that several other members having gotten the bug and imagine it is only a matter of time before we’ll have the 2fers group expanding. There being no further business, JoAnn Carter moved and Don Meynig seconded the adjournment of the meeting at 10:15a.m. Respectfully submitted by Cheryl Meynig Recording Secretary September Birthdays: Anniversaries: 18.Mary Lou Hoekstra 22. C. L. Hood 23. Marc Weiss 14. Gregory & Bettie Den Herder 17. Stan & Karen Steiger
Lifting Out Engines with a Seat Belt
By George Lang
There have been lots of good suggestions on how to lift the engine out of your car. I just haven't seen anyone suggest using a old seatbelt instead of chains or cables for lifting. I use an old Mustang seatbelt ('66 vintage) for most of my lifting jobs. If you do an extra loop on the lift hook, it won't slip and it won't scratch anything that it may get in contact with. I anchor the floor eyes to the engine, usually at the exhaust ports, one on each corner of the engine, (take off the manifolds) and can adjust the length of the strap at the buckle assembly. This way you can get the lift hook real close to the engine if needed. The advice of taking out the distributor should be used, they bend real easy. And doing the engine seperatly from the trans sure makes it a lot easier to avoid any paint chips or dents.
Nebraskaland Thunderbird Club Invites you to experience “Heartland Flight”
July 7-10, 2005 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Omaha Marriott, located in the beautiful tree lined Regency residential and office park near interstate access, will serve as the convention hotel. This luxurious site with its amenities and spacious parking facilities provides a relaxing and enjoyable setting for the convention and concours d’elegance. Several shopping centers and multiple restaurants, some within walking distance, surround the hotel. Borsheim’s Jewelry, the nation’s largest single jewelry store owned by Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett, is across the street from the hotel. In addition to the concours d’elegance the scheduled events include a judges’ seminar, Thursday night poolside welcome party, Friday buffet dinner with entertainment, and Saturday evening awards banquet. Bus tours to the historic Old Market area for shopping and lunch and to the Henry Doorly Zoo to visit its geodesic desert dome, the world’s largest indoor rain forest, and its unique aquarium and new gorilla valley are planned. The touring cars will caravan to tour nearby Father Flanagan’s th Boys Town. Come join us for the fun and help celebrate the 50 anniversary of the Thunderbird. Pre-register now! To pre-register send a check for $50 to: Nebraskaland Thunderbird Convention Account, c/o Martin Bierman, Event Chairman, 825 Branding Iron Drive, Elkhorn, NE 68022. For hotel registrations contact Omaha Marriott, 10220 Regency Circle, Omaha, NE 68114, phone: (402) 399-9000 or 1-800-228-9290 after July 6, 2004 and request the Thunderbird convention rate of $89 per night. For information contact Martin Bierman at 402-289-4516 or email: nefron1@cox.net Visit our club web site at www.nebraskalandtbirds.org
On The Agenda
Cruisin The Coast, October 3-10 AACOG Scenic Cruise October 16 Mustang Show October 24 Nursing Home Cruise October 30 The Pause that Refreshes Corrodes
The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in osteoporosis. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the hazardous material place cards reserved for Highly corrosive materials. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years! Now the question is, would you like a coke or a glass of water?
“My problem lies in trying to reconcile my bad habits with my gross income.” Errol Flynn
The Birdnest
The Thunderbird Becomes a Family Car Reprinted from Motor Life, September, 1957 Since the introduction of the Thunderbird in the fall of 1954 (1955 model), many potential sales have surely been lost due to the fact that seating is limited to two or three people. However, the top brass at Ford never intended the personal car to be an all purpose vehicle, so no provision was made, even as an option, for extra seating. Bill Colgan, an auto upholsterer in Burbank, California, felt something should be done about the situation. The Colgan rumble seat is now being marketed under the name “Birdnest” and at present is only available for the 1957 Thunderbird. Plans call for introduction of a kit for 1955-56 models at a later date. Almost coincidentaly with the announcement by Colgan of his new rumble seat, reliable word from Detroit is that the long awaited four-passenger Thunderboird would be introduced as the 1958 model. The seating arrangement of the 1958 Thunderbird is not known. It’s unlikely that it will be in the form of a rumble seat. It would appear, at first thought, that the introduction by Ford of a four-passenger model might spell the end of an accessory of this type before it gets started. And some Ford sales agencies will be quick to predict a loss of sales of their new four-passenger model because the owners of 1957 models can convert their present T’Bird into a four seater. All this is specualation, of course, because so much will depend on the appearance and cost of the new model. The advanced report indicates the body of the 1958 Thunderbird will be all new and may be of unit construction. If the designers come up with an attractive package, sales will be good; if they miss the boat, sales will be down, four seats or not. The quality of the “Birdnest” kit is excellent and to someone who didn’t know the difference, it could be mistaken for a factoryinstalled unit. Thus, sales should be good because it doesn’t look like something “just tacked on”. The novelty feature is present and no rumble seat has been seen in this country since 1939, a time span of some eighteen years. While not affording as much leg room for the passenger’s legs as might be desired, it will certainly be adequate, and for children, it is more than adequate. Wind, one of the most common faults of a rumble seat, or the back seat of a convertible for that matter, is not much worse than the wind disturbance in the front seat of a Thunderbird with the top down. And, for those who are really concerned about it, a wrap around windshield is offered for an extra $59.95. This rear windshield attaches to the holes which normally position the rear of the top. A rubber molding is attached to the lower edge of the windshield to prevent damage to the body panel. Photo captions: Seats are trimmed in white nauahyde to match the interior of the car. Other colors can be obtained on special order. A special windshield is also available as an extra for the rumble seat, for those who might have to much objection to the windy ride. The spare tire is remounted. It is strongly urged that safety belts be used for children in the back. No cutting, welding or defacing of the T’Bird is necessary to install the Birdnest. Installation time, one hour. Reprinted from the Classic Thunderbirds of San Diego newsletter, “The Bird’s Eye View, August 2004