Mass Cruisers Auto Club Crusin’ at the speed of fun Dave Wilson helps us slow down (not that we drive too fast) with his talk “Give Me a Break” on page 4. This multiple award winning 1941 Custom Ford Business Coupe was Our November 3rd Cruise Night winner. Page 5 has all the facts. Cruisers sponsored Lesley Corda who ran the NYC Marathon for “Miles for Miracles”. Read her amazing story on page 6.
Kayla and me at the 'Today Show'
Just when you thought the elections were over, the Cruisers call on you to step up and be counted. Page 11. We’re on the Web
Celebrating 25 years of Cruisin’ December 2016
Volume 26 Issue 12
www.masscruisers.com And Facebook
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Contact us by snail mail: P.O. Box 217, Wrentham, MA 02093 Or by email: HO350@comcast.net
We’re on the Web! www.masscruisers.com
Our clubhouse is located at 124 Main Street, Norfolk, behind the Dunkin Donuts shop and across the street from the police station. For more information please call: 781 551-0520. Visitors, guests and those interested in joining the
Mass Cruisers Auto Club are welcome to attend one of our monthly meetings held on the third Tuesday of each month in Norfolk. Directory
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Presidential Emissions
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November 15th Guest speaker Dave Wilson says: “Give Me a Break”
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Club Officers President– John Buchanan Vice President—Diane Thornton Secretary—Patrick Touhey
November 3rdCruise winner: 1941 Custom Ford Business Coupe
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Treasurer—Wayne Lestan
NYC Marathoner Lesley Corda
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Webmaster—Steve Vining
Wrights Farm Cruise By John Buchanan
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Newsletter Editor—Paul Saulnier
Chamberlain School @ SEMA December Shows & Events
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Support our advertisers
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Newsleter Tech: Gel vs AGM Batteries. By John Buchanan ----------------The elections are Coming
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contact the newseditor@masscruicers.com for information about newsletter advertising options
Facebook Admin. – Patrick Touhey New Member Liaison—Don Cole Sgts. at Arms—Rick Lawlor & John Sturniolo Charity Coordination – Frank Bryant By-Laws – Roy Rossman MAAC Representative— John Buchanan
Special Events Cruise Night—Steve Huntington Car Show—Rich Armando Club Events Calendar – (open)
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Presidental Emissions
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MAAC Quarterly Meeting - OCT 20, 2016 The October 20 Quarterly Massachusetts Association of Auto Clubs meeting held at the Bass Pro Shops reviewed the status of 16 House and Senate Bills that have been of interest that have been followed during the 189th General Court of 2015 through 2016.Three bills of interest that MAAC had strongly supported and had hopes of moving through the legislative process ran into the Presidential campaign season which also included many state Representative and Senate seat holders fighting to retain so there was scant support on Beacon Hell oops, I meant Hill, to move bills along, although there is always a thin chance, now that the elections are over that there may be some movement for non-controversial bills to see the light of passage. The three Bills of interest are: House Bill 3018 would designate U.S. Routes 1, 6 & 20 as Historic Routes which would allow MADOT to erect historic route designation signs and maintain them. This Bill along with another HB 3088 which would establish a historic roadway commission was reported favorable out of the Joint Transportation Committee (JTC) was read, seconded and ordered to a third reading back on 4/28/2016 where it has been waiting to be sent to the House floor for a vote. House Bill 3782 would establish rules and regulations for vehicles 25 years and older based upon of the vehicle at the time of sale instead of the clean trade-in value based upon Black Book valuations as currently practiced for private vehicle sales. Despite being reported favorably out of the JTC back on 9/30/15 and sent to Ways and Means Committee, there is a perceived loss of sales tax revenue and the bill will probably die in committee without a positive cost analysis to support passage. Senate Bill 1830 which would allow the restoration and refurbishment of Year of Manufacture plates, currently considered altering under Chapter 90,was passed in the House back in 2014 but never made it to the Senate floor for a vote before the 188th General Court ended. There was hope that reintroducing it on the Senate side would move it through the process and get a quick move to the House for passage, but that it has been stuck in the Senate Rules Committee since 3/24/16. The consensus is that if these three bills may be unable to pass into law during the informal sessions before the 189th General Court ends in January. If that happens, they will be resubmitted for the 190th General Court. All the other 13 bills received study orders which, in effect, kills them for this General Court session. MAAC President William Ellis has reserved a space for the Audi Club at the March 31 - April 2 World of Wheels at the Seaport World Trade Center and will provide MAAC information to those that stop by. There was also discussion about taking advantage of the Bass Pro Shops to communicate the MAAC legislative agenda for the 190th General Court. William also went over the reports registration reports that he is getting from the RMV, noting that antique vehicle registration stop at 1918. Representative Steven Howitt (4th Bristol District - Seekonk, Rehoboth, Norton & Swansea), the ranking member of the Joint Transportation Committee, stopped by the MAAC meeting and went over suggestions on how bills should be submitted to gain support and maintain interest in their passage when they come to the floor for a vote. MAAC does have a registered lobbyist that has successfully help us pass bills in the past, such as allowing Agreed Value Insurance to be sold in Massachusetts, allowing Year of Manufacture plates to be issued for antique vehicles and excluding seat belts in antique vehicles not originally equipped with belts. Use of a lobbyist does cost money and MAAC does maintain a special projects account for that purpose which car clubs and interested hobbyists have made contributions to. The next Quarterly MAAC meeting is scheduled for April 13, 2017 where we will be able review bills of interest that have been submitted to the 190th General Court. All club MAAC representatives and interested auto enthusiasts are encouraged to attend. MAAC needs your support.
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November 15, 2016 Guest Speaker Dave Wilson ―Give Me a Break‖
ATTENTION CAR CLUBS! Are you looking for a guest speaker to open your eyes about a serious problem with most American, Japanese & South Korean hydraulic disc brake systems? Then, invite Dave Wilson, author of “GIVE ME A BRAKE!” to your meeting. And, don’t forget to add his name or forget the “!” when you Google his book. Club Secretary Patrick Touhey met Dave at the Waushakum Steamers open house that our club attended this past July. After talking to Dave about what he discovered with the design flaw in most American, Japanese and South Korean cars that experience soft pedal disc braking, he got really interested. And after taking Dave up on his offer to drive and test the brake pedal his 2013 Honda Accord which he had applied his brake system vacuum air removal technique on, he invited Dave to be a guest speaker at one of our fall meetings. Dave who is a MIT engineering grad and now retired Raytheon Research Engineer initially made this design flaw discovery on his 1997 Ford Expedition after repeated attempts to correct the vehicle’s soft pedal braking with the ABS braking system. The dealer insisted that’s the way they are. He also couldn’t understand why his Ford Contour daily driver didn’t have the same problem. After tracking down the problem and performing experiments to prove the design flaw begins with the use of Banjo bolts and trapped air in the threads, he got caught up in a mission to see how widespread this problem is. He quickly learned that the automotive industry has pretty much turned a blind eye to this blind air trapped problem in today’s hydraulic disc braking systems for more than 40 years. Many European car manufacturers, including pre-Ford owned and current Tata Motors owned Jaguar automobiles, do not use the Banjo bolt fluid line caliper design because they directly thread the hydraulic brake lines into the calipers. Dave also brought along a 2-stage vacuum pump, an unopened litter can of Prestone DOT 3/4 synthetic brake fluid and his own design vacuum degas setup to demonstrate the other problem of how much gas is entrapped in fresh out of the can brake fluid. He emphasized that entrained gas in brake fluid isn’t a problem at room or colder temperatures, but when any liquid is heated, as brake fluids are when they are repeatedly worked under loads, the entrained gasses come out of solution and will also contribute to fluid compressibility problems, or soft pedal braking, when most needed in emergency situations. Get Dave’s book “GIVE ME A BRAKE!”. Gearheads are going to love Dave’s approach to researching the problem and enthusiasts will appreciate his writing style. We want to thank Dave and his wife Celeste, who joined him for the long drive from Billerica and back home on a rainy Tuesday night, for a great eye opening presentation and awareness of problems we may have been experiencing with our modern ABS disc brake systems, and not really realizing what the problem is. Dave has also been fighting a losing battle with the automotive industry to address these design flaws, an industry which prides itself today with the following slogans: FORD “has a better idea”; DODGE “Different”; BUICK “it’s all good”; CHEVY “runs deep” and TOYOTA “Oh what a feeling”….as you slam your brake pedal all the way to the floor and pray there is no collision!
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2016 November 3rd Cruise Winner 1941 Custom Ford Business Coupe The threat of rain didn’t stop Glenn Brayman from driving his beautifully customized 1941 Ford business coupe from Plymouth to Foxborough, more than 50 miles. Glenn purchased his coupe - the 2015 PPG Syracuse Nationals winner for best use of color - at this year’s July Syracuse Nationals from the original builder Dick Lynch.. Color is what first grabbed Glenn’s attention with its base copper finish being set off with hot white and orange flames in the front flowing back onto the hood, fenders and doors.
But Glenn was looking for a 1933 to 1938 sedan street rod to complement his 1987 Corvette that he drove to the Syracuse Nationals and also normally brings to our cruise. The ’41 has numerous custom body work features that harken back to the 1950’s & ‘60’s when customizing giants like West Coast Barris Brothers’ creations became benchmark works of art that body shops across America started to emulate. The Lynch brothers from Syracuse N.Y. applied their skills to Glenn’s ’41 back in 1971, first as a red & black custom and then followed up again in 2004 with another total transformation into its current style that included an updated 350/350 engine tranny combo coupled to a Camaro rear end and Mustang front end suspension with Boyd Codington wheels. The new custom tan leather interior surrounds Lexus bucket seats for highway cruising comfort. VDO instruments fill the dash and an under-dash Mustang A/C makes for cool cruising in the summertime up to the Syracuse Nats with the gang from Walpole, the Old Koots Car Club. Glenn’s ’41 stood out among the cars in Lot 14 for our final season Vintage Motor Sports sponsored cruise award plaque and we’ll look forward to seeing this piece of rolling custom art pulling into the Bass Pro Shops cruise entrance road at Patriot Place next year.
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NYC Marathoner Lesley Corda
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bridges, five boroughs and more than two million spectators make the TCS New York City Marathon a race like none other. Mass Cruisers member Lesley Corda, also a member of the Boston Children’s Hospital “MILES FOR MIRACLES” team of 104 marathon runners, participated in the Nov. 9 race as one of the fundraising sponsoring runners. This was Lesley’s 11th marathon, but her first NYC marathon. She was partnered with a 14 year old girl named Kayla who was diagnosed with a rare chromosome disorder that was first diagnosed as autism at age 2. Recently doctors discovered Kayla has a heart and brain condition due to medical complications that resulted in her having to stop playing sports and is currently waiting to hear if she will need surgery. Kayla and her family were able to make a family trip to NYC to see the race and, as the photos show, Lesley embracing Kayla at the 17 mile mark of the race and when they both appeared on the “Today Show” where they were able to meet the morning news anchors; they had a blast, and the friendship bond that she an Kayla formed made this her most memorable experience that day. Lesley says she still has a few
more marathons left in her tank, but until then will enjoy a few more road races and half – marathons with free beer at the end =). She also credits her fiancé and running mate Katie who pushed her to complete the very difficult training program required to become a “MILES FOR MIRACLES” team member. Lesley’s finish time was 4 hours: 23 minutes: 23 seconds, including the stop to get a supporting hug from Kayla at the 17 mile mark. The Mass Cruisers were one of Lesley’s many sponsors that helped her exceed her runner participant $3,000 fund raising goal. The BCH “MILES FOR MIRACLES” team total fund raising goal for 2016 is $400,000 and they were still slightly short by about $6,000 at this writing so there is still time to donate and put the team over the top http://fundraise.childrenshospital.org/ site/TR/ActiveEvents/ActiveEvents? px=1182113&pg=personal&fr_id=1470 Donations to the MILES FOR MIRACLES program supports the essentials and extras often not covered by insurance, strengthening programs that let kids be kids, help families in need and deliver care locally and around the globe that includes everything from celebrating birthdays to assisting researchers working on cures until every child is well. Congratulations to Lesley for taking on this challenge for Kayla and the other children that are under Boston Children’s Hospital care.
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Wright’s Farm Cruise Every 1st Sunday in November when the clocks are turned back one hour and we get to roll back and enjoy that extra hour of sleep, car club members all over southern New England are hopping in their Model T’s, A’s, B’s, classic Packard’s, Cadillacs and other marques for one last cruise to the Wright’s Farm Restaurant in Harrisville, R.I. Rather than fight the noontime seating with more than 300 auto enthusiasts for Wright’s famous family style chicken dinner, the Mass Cruisers started a different tradition last year by kicking off this annual migration with a Winery tasting tour followed by an antique shop crawl in the historic village of Chepachet, R.I. before landLining up at the Wrentham American Legion for the cruise. ing at Wright’s Farm in mid-afternoon. Last year Diane Thornton coordinated the cruise to the Verde winery in Johnston, R.I. with 18 cars and 40 members and guests participating. This year, under threat of off and on sprinkles and overcast skies, we had 12 cars with 30 members and guests participate in the cruise that departed the American Legion parking lot on route 1A in Wrentham at 10 am sharp. Heading over the back roads through picturesque Sheldonville with late fall oak foliage still providing ample color we struck across Rhode Island to the Taylor Brooke Vineyard on Rte. CT171 in Woodstock, Connecticut, our first stop wine tasting destination. Vineyard owner Linda Auger set up the tasting area in their enclosed patio area to sample up to 15 of their wines and Bob & June Smith sitting outside the Chepachet “Old Post 2 of their estate grown brandies. Office” antique store. Two complimentary samples were provided for all over age 21 or 8 samples could be purchased for $5.50 or all 15 for $8.50 plus tax. There was an additional $3 tasting fee for their two limited edition brandies that knocked my socks off but did a great job cleansing my palette. My favorite wine purchase from the 2 complimentary tastings was their 100% estate grown Cayuga white grapes called “Wine Dog 1” with which, for every bottle sold, they donate $1 to the Worcester Animal Rescue League. This charity has benefited from $8,510 of donations since 2013 with sales of this semi-dry wine. Following the tasting it was a half hour drive back East on Route 44 to One of the Taylor Brooke Vineyard’s white’s being served to Chepachet Village in Rhode Island for over an hour of antique John Ricker store browsing before heading up Route RI-102 to Wright’s Farm Restaurant and our reserved 3 pm seating in the Carriage House banquet hall. We passed many Model A’s and classics heading back from their noontime meals and there were still a number of the old timers left in the back parking lot which had been filled to capacity earlier. The family style seating is quite an experience for the uninitiated. Nearby tables celebrating birthdays would suddenly break out with everyone nearby also joining in to sing Happy Birthday to the celebrant. The food as always was plentiful and excellent as was the camaraderie with everyone. Is this new tradition something we, as a club, want to continue each year? There are at least a dozen wineries within cruising distance that can be sampled after each fall grape harvest but not all can accommodate large tasting groups as the Verde & Taylor Brooke wineries were able to do.
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Chamberlain School @ SEMA December Shows & Events Joe Kingsland and his Chamberlain School students met up Pete Brock, designer of the Shelby Daytona Coupe and helped style the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray, at SEMA.
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Newsletter Tech: Gel vs AGM Batteries By John Buchanan My ’31 Dodge hot rod’s lead acid wet cell battery was deader than a doornail back in June of 2009 so I replaced it with one of the newer DieHard Platinum AGM (absorbed glass mat) sealed batteries that can be mounted anywhere and not leak. The battery box for the ’31 is under the passenger side floor, out of sight and, out of mind, which is a risky location for traditional lead acid batteries. The Sears 34/78 Die Hard Platinum AGM battery had 880 cca (cold cranking amps) and came with a 4 year free replacement guarantee ($199 incl. tax) and its specs and appearance seemed strikingly similar to North Star’s Drakon 34/78 AGM which retails for $300, so the Sears battery and guarantee was a good deal. 29 months later the Die Hard Platinum battery failed when one of the internal cells shorted so I removed it and brought it back to Sears and got a new replacement under warrantee. The replacement has performed fine for 4 years and 9 months except that I recently noticed that when the engine is started it sounds initially like it ain’t gonna’ turn over and the voltage meter reads at 11 volts. But, once running, the voltage meter reads 13 volts. Because the battery location under the floor requires a ½ hour project to remove it or even get access to hook up my trickle charger, I wanted to replace it with a new Die Hard Platinum knowing the old one is almost 5 years old. To my surprise, the Die Hard Platinum series is no longer available. So it was back to Google search this time because it’s been over 7 years since I made that initial decision to go with an AGM battery type. Here is what I learned from the www.BatteryStuff.com website and what I really didn’t fully understand back when I went with the AGM battery. AGM (absorbed glass mat) is a special design glass mat designed to wick the battery electrolyte between very thin high purity lead battery plates. AGM batteries contain only enough liquid to keep the mat wet with the electrolyte and if the battery is broken no free liquid is available to leak out. Gel Cell batteries contain a silica type gel that the battery electrolyte is suspended in. This thick paste like material allows electrons to flow between plates but will not leak from the battery if the case is broken. More often than not AGM Batteries are mistakenly identified as Gel Cell Batteries. I know I did because it was sealed and both batteries have similar traits; such as being non spillable, deep cycle, may be mounted in any position, low self-discharge to prevent overheating, safe for use in limited ventilation areas, and may be transported or shipped safely without special handling. AGM Batteries outsell Gel Cell by at least a 100 to 1. AGM is preferred when a high burst of amps may be required (starting my hot rodded 360 V8 engine for instance). In most cases recharge can be accomplished by using a good quality standard battery charger or the engine’s alternator. The life expectancy; measured as cycle life or years remains excellent in most AGM batteries if the batteries are not discharged more than 60% between recharge. There are some AGM batteries sold that offer excellent 80%+ deep cycle abilities. Gel Cell Batteries are typically a bit more costly and do not offer the same power capacity as do the same physical size AGM battery. The Gel Cell Battery excels in slow discharge rates and operates at slightly higher ambient operating temperatures. One big issue with Gel Batteries is the GEL CHARGE PROFILE. Gel Cell Batteries must be recharged correctly at a lower recharge voltage to fully charge, or the battery will suffer premature failure. Smart battery chargers used to recharge Gel Cell batteries are designed to be adjustable and will have information on the unit, or in the manual, about Gel Cell compatibility. If you are using an alternator to recharge a true Gel Cell, a special regulator may be needed to keep the battery properly charged if the float voltage per cell is higher than the regulated output voltage. In addition to Sears, Interstate also makes an AGM MT7 series, Advance Auto Parts has their Auto Craft Platinum AGM and ACDelco provides their Professional AGM series. Then there are the Optima AGM series that look like stacked soup cans topped with either YELLOW or RED covers. YELLOW, by the way, signifies dual purpose for starting and deep charging while RED are starting batteries popular with hot rodders. I settled on replacing the Die Hard Platinum with Sears Die Hard Advanced Gold AGM which has lower 775 cca and shorter 3 year free replacement guarantee for the same amount of money. I now keep the old Platinum AGM as a back -up on the shelf running on my CTEK smart trickle charger. It should have another 2 or 3 years of useful life left in it if properly maintained.
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Elections are Coming Up Hear ye, Hear ye. Your duty as a Cruiser is coming. Run for office or support the candidate you believe will lead the club through maze of automotive politics. Since the club’s first president, Rocco Guargnagia, steered us in the right direction, eleven more presidents continued to drive the club to new heights. We are all grateful to the entire board of directors for their efforts on our behalf over the last 25 years. Here is the newest cast: Elected: Pres – Edward Beatty; VP – Diane Thornton (Bly-Laws will be voted to allow the VP to serve a 3rd term); Treasurer – Wayne Lestan; Secretary – Patrick Touhey. Appointed (2 new positions): Asst. Treasurer – Kevin Rushlow; Asst Secretary – Lesley Corda Reappointed: Steve Huntington as the Club Member Rep. to the 2017 Board of Directors
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December 2016
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Member meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the Norfolk MA clubhouse.
P.O. Box 217 Wrentham, MA 02093