A GDYNETS® PUBLICATION © 2015, G. DAVID YAROS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Car Collector Chronicles ®
Volume VIII, Issue 12
Exploring:
Ca
Car Collecting Today
High RPMs
Classic Rides Reports From the Field Oldsmobile (1897-2004) Cadillac (1902- ) Allanté (1987-1993)
Corvair (1960-1969)
◄ = Clickable Link
IN THIS ISSUE: High RPMs
1
Car Expense Software
2
Sadly I Report
4
What’s Old is New Again
4
We have had our first snow of the winter, followed by temps in the low-to-mid teens. I trust all who have to do so, did get their rides ready for winter storage. On that point, Hemmings® Daily advised: Treating fuel with isopropyl alcohol to prevent condensation forming in the tank. I have never heard of this. Does not STA-BIL™ marine formula accomplish this? It also recommends the use of a fogging solution sprayed into the throat of the carb For further protection. Does anyone do that? I did find an MSDS for fogging oil to be of interest Hydrotreated heavy napthenic distillates (petroleum) (highly refined) 67.5%
Hydrotreated light napthenic distillates (petroleum) (highly refined) 1.6%
Find GDYNets on the web:
CCC® Forum EMail:
◄
OldsD88@gmail.com ◄
5
Propane 8.7%, Butane 22.2%
My limited research seems to show a consensus that use of fogging oil for shortterm, indoor storage is a bit of overkill. Your thoughts? December Automotive Milestones 12/2/1927 Model A Ford goes on sale 12/7/1931 Last Model A produced 12/7/1950 Buick builds its six-millionth car 12/8/1861 Wm. Durant born, Boston, MA 12/9/1963 Studebaker ceases production 12/13/1939 1st production Lincoln Continental 12/15/1861 Charles Duryea born, Canton, IL 12/17/1791 NYC creates 1st one-way street 12/20/1868 Harvey Firestone born, Columbia County, OH 12/20/1892 Pneumatic automobile tire patented 12/20/1951 Sears, Roebuck
& Co. debuts Kaiser-built Allstate 12/22/1900 1st car bearing "Mercedes" name is delivered to buyer, Emil Jellinek 12/29/1800 Charles Goodyear born, New Haven, CT 12/30/1936 UAW strike at Fisher Body Plant
- Merry Xmas, Happy New Year!
GDYNets® on the Web ®
‘Tis the Season
December 2015
s
CCC -THE FORUM ◄-A web site to discuss the newsletter, the hobby and our cars. Car Collector Chronicles® ◄ Saved 62 ◄-Our 1962 Olds convertible, Ransom Eli Olds and things Oldsmobile related web site. The Gray Lady ◄-1955 Cadillac Coupé de Ville web site.
SAVED 62: A website devoted
to our 1962 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 convertible. The site also has a lot of information on Oldsmobile cars and the company founder, Ransom Eli Olds.
THE GRAY LADY: This website features our 1955 Cadillac Coupé de Ville, lots of Caddy information and an extensive repair library.
DAVE’S DEN: ◄-A site devoted to a myriad of interests. Foremost is extensive information on the “Steel City” of Gary, IN. There are also offerings on steel making, U.S. Steel-Gary Works, U.S. Marine Corps, M14 assault rifle, of course Oldsmobile, and the tragic story of the murder of Gary, IN Police Lt. George Yaros.
Car Collector Chronicles
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Car Expense Software
“[W]hen it comes to computing I prefer to be on the trailing edge, instead of the leading. Believe me, it is far less frustrating and far more safer!”
I have recently gone to different hardware for all my computing activity. I cannot say new, because I have had this “different” computer for more than a few years. It is a Dell Inspiron laptop. I just did not make a lot of use of it. The switch over became vital due to the slowness of my Dell desktop, running a Windows XP operating system. It was taking the XP ‘puter forever and a day to accomplish anything online, and I do spend a whole lot (too much!) of time online. I found it necessary to get an auxiliary keyboard for the laptop. The built-in keyboard is not canted, did not feel right and caused me to trip on the keys. The new keyboard and wireless mouse make the transition to the laptop a whole lot easer for an old curmudgeon like me! The laptop runs on a Windows 7 operating system. Of course, I can upgrade it to a Windows 10 operating system for free. I have not done so yet. That is because when it comes to computing I prefer to be on the “trailing” edge, instead of the leading. Believe me, it is far less frustrating and far more safer! By the time you read this the Mrs. shall be using a brand new Dell laptop with the Windows 10 operating system. I will see whether or not I like it enough to cross over? All this is but a way of getting to the point of discussing car expense software. On my XP OS ‘puter I used a commercial program named ► Vehicle Record System (VRS Plus). It was not expensive ($25-Home Edition), allowed tracking of 7 cars, and permitted me to record repairs, routine maintenance, auto related purchases of all types; every expense be it license plate fees, insurance premiums, whatever; and gas mileage. I liked it and used it faithfully for all our vehicles. The program is no longer supported, the author is nowhere to be found (he may have moved on to that car barn in the sky for all I know?) and most troubling is the fact the program does not run in Windows 7-Home Premium. It may work with a higher grade of Windows 7, like Pro, but that would entail an expense far greater than the cost of the VRS Plus program. So, I am in search of replacement software to track all my car related activities and expenses. If you are OCD like me in this regard, and have a favorite program for this purpose, I would love to hear about it. Send me an email! In my quest I have looked at, and tried, a number of programs. Some are freeware. Others are commercial products. Maybe I am a bit picky, but I do have what I feel are a few simple requirements. The program must compute and track gas mileage. Since the car records mileage in tenths, the program must also do so. Since every gas receipt lists the gallons purchased out to three decimal points, I would expect the program to have this capability. Automatically computing the cost per gallon of the fuel purchased is a plus, but not a necessity. When it comes to services, repairs, purchases, etc. I want to be able to select the vendor/supplier from a dropdown list that I am able to create. This eliminates having to type in the name of the vendor/supplier every time. Likewise with respect to the nature or category of repair, maintenance or purchase. Is it for the engine, brake system, ignition, exhaust or what? What data needs be entered where should be intuitive. The program should then display the stored data in an easy to grasp format. I do not want to spend a whole lot of time figuring out where to go to enter info or what information to enter once I get there. Once I have entered the information I want it spit back to me in a meaningful manner. What I don’t need is to for the program to tell me when I need to change my oil or an air filter. Nor do I need it to tell me a) what transmission fluid is or b) how to change my thermostat. I am not a big fan of gauges or dials telling me the health or condition of my car(s). They are about as useful as instrument panel idiot lights. Is that asking or expecting too much? I did not think so, until I started searching for a replacement for the now non-functioning Vehicle Record System Plus from K-Jon Software.
Car Collector Chronicles
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Car Expense Software—Cont’d I did look at a number of offerings. A package called Car Collector Companion ◄is a program I was given for review a few years ago. It has a multitude of capabilities. However, it is geared to tracking restoration of cars, not simple repair/maintenance/mileage. I am not a restorer of cars. I am a preserver, maintainer and user. Automotive Wolf ◄ from Lone Software looked to have potential, at first glance. You are able to download and use the full program for free, for 30 days. If it meets your needs it is able to be purchased for $29.95. I downloaded the trial package. When I attempted to create an entry for my wife’s daily driver, a 2013 Toyota Avalon XLE Touring, it could not find such a car in its “extensive” database? I was only allowed to enter miles driven as whole numbers; no decimal points. Gas purchases were required to be entered only up to two decimal points. A lot of disk and screen space was taken up with telling what needed to be done, and when. It also had the ever present vehicle health gauge. There is one program which almost meets all my criteria. It is Car Care ◄ from SCB Consulting. It is simple, intuitive and permits me to track gas mileage, repairs, purchases and all other expenses. Yes, it does have those stupid idiot gauges, but I just try to ignore
“[M]y wife’s daily driver, a 2013 Toyota Avalon XLE Touring, it could not find such a car in its ‘extensive’ database?”
them. What it does lack is the capabilites of recording miles in tenths and gallons in thousandths. If it had those abilitiies I would buy this software. I do have a letter of inquiry in to the author to see if the program may be modified to incorporate these features. We shall see? I am also seriously considering a free program from Tamas Csörgö. Tamas is in Hungary. Luckily for me, he speaks english! His program is mcAutoTrack ver. 5.1.0.205 ◄. It pretty much meets all my criteria. I have been testing each module. When I find a problem I send Tamas an email. He debugs it and sends me the update. This process is necessary right now as the program only went live the last week of November. I am down to the last major problem,on which Tamas is working. If he gets it resolved, I believe I shall go live with his software. In the interim, I say again should you have any suggestions for an auto expense tracker, do pass it on!
Car Collector Chronicles
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Sadly I Report
WHIO-TV reported on 17 Nov of a fire at the America’s Packard Museum. The fire was not at the exhibit building in Dayton, OH, but rather at a combined warehouse and restoration facility close by. It appears the fire may have been caused by an arsonist, but that has not yet been conclusively determined. Several vintage Packard cars were destroyed in the fire. “We never could count. We just knew there’s a ton of cars in the building,” said Fire Battalion Chief Darrin Wiseman. What is known is that a number of irreplaceable vehicles were lost. The museum put a dollar value on the loss of at least a million dollars.
What’s Old is New Again FROM: MyClassicGarage® 07/07/15
A new day may be dawning in America for the classic car market. A bill in Congress is poised to allow manufacturers to reproduce classic cars under new government specs. H.R. 2675 (The Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act) would give more people the experience of driving and owning classic cars,. It would “establish a program allowing low volume vehicle manufacturers to produce a limited number of cars annually that address the unique safety and financial issues associated with limited production, and direct the EPA to allow low volume vehicle manufacturers to install engines from cars that have been issued certificates of conformity.” Each manufacturer would be allowed to produce up to 500 of these ‘limited vehicles.’ The cars must be drawn from a pool that qualify as ‘classic’ which is 25 years and older. This bill has a few people buzzing around the internet. Some are tickled at the thought of seeing a first generation Challenger with all modern equipment, or even better, a Daytona powered by the Hellcat drive train. Just the thought itself makes one a little giggly! Flip that coin over. Some worry this will kill the classic market. Will more cars pumped into production decrease the value of ‘originals?’ The all original Mustang someone has been holding onto as their retirement fund just got a lot more affordable to everyone else. The premium goes down. Suddenly the market crashes. This could also negatively affect businesses. Barrett-Jackson, Leake, and specialty shops around the country suddenly find they have to compete with low volume manufacturers for market space. It’s like going from Mom & Pop Hardware to the brand new Home Depot. There will always be nostalgic value, but if you can save more at Home Depot why spend more?. Either way this coin gets flipped there are benefits and deficits, but at the end of the day it would be great to see more people behind the wheel of cool cars.
Car Collector Chronicles
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‘Tis the Season
– Ok, I’ve had my say for the month. Now it’s your turn! I invite/encourage submission of your comments, opinions and article contributions. I also ask that you please help spread the word about our publication. Everything sent shall indeed be reviewed by me. Submissions should be sent to CCC® at OldsD88@gmail.com. –– Now that you have finished reading this month’s issue of the newsletter, if so inclined, like CCC® on Facebook® by going here _______________________________________
-- RESTORE 'EM, AND DRIVE 'EM! COMING NEXT ISSUE: TBD