MONTHLY CRUISIN’ with the Mass Cruisers Auto Club
We’re on the Web www.masscruisers.com And Facebook
“CRUISIN’ AT THE SPEED OF FUN” February 2015
Volume 25 Issue 2
Testing Banana Boat SPF 50
Zeke Sawayer 2014 Mass Cruiser of the Year
MONTHLY CRUISIN
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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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From the President’s Tail Pipe For sale—Cheap
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Guest speaker, Chuck Kaplan Neponset Valley Machine
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Club Officers President– John Buchanan Vice President—Diane Thornton
Guest speaker, Chuck Kaplan (continued)
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Monthly Calendar
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Car Shows & Events
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Webmaster—Steve Vining
24th Anniversary Banquet by John Buchanan
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Newsletter Editor—Paul Saulnier
24th Anniversary Banquet (continued)
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Facebook Admin. – Patrick Touhey
Remember When: -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Wrenchen’ n’ Coffee or How Gearheads Socialize.
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New Member Liaison—Dole Cole
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Sgts. at Arms—Rick Lawlor & John Sturniolo
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Advertising Rates Business card space…….$25.00/yr
To advertise in the Monthly Cruiser, please send a business card and a check for $25.00 to Mass Cruisers
Secretary—Patrick Touhey Treasurer—Wayne Lestan
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 – Marcia Silvestri
Monthly Cruisin
From the President’s Tailpipes
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An interesting thing happened at our January monthly meeting following the presentations on “Stroking an Engine” and the “Royal Purple Bearing Wear Challenge” video. We had new member Kevin Rushlow attending his first club meeting. Kevin did attend our first “Wrenchin’ n’ Coffee” session on the 10th where he signed up as a new member and, he and his wife attended our 24th Anniversary Party on the 18th which is not the typical new membership path. Another potential new member candidate, who expressed interest in joining the Mass Cruisers several months ago, finally showed up at our January 20 monthly meeting and sat with long time member Don Cole who is our new member coordinator. This is what we ask all interested new members to do, try us out first before paying any dues. Kevin was convinced following the “Wrenchin” session that this was the car club for him while our newest member candidate quietly informed Don following the meeting that he thought the club was too technical for his needs and thanked Don for inviting him. Why do I mention this at all? I remember several years back we had a club member who joined our club and stayed the course for a couple of years. He and his wife attended most all of our events including the Old Orchard Beach weekend cruises. He didn’t renew their membership for the third year because the club was not gearhead enough for him. Every year at this time we experience some members not renewing and Fred Tierney and Wayne Lestan work to sort out and finalize our official 2015 roster list. Reasons members do not renew vary all over the landscape, but in the end we always record a 5-10% drop in membership renewals followed by a steady but slow increase in memberships throughout the year. This happens every year going back from when the club was organized back in 1990. We will be looking through 2014 toward our 25th year in 2016 which we will celebrate with gusto and pride. The Mass Cruisers is no longer the small club I joined 20 years ago, but it is not the large club where only a small core group are the only recognizable faces. Kevin’s face is becoming known to everyone in less than a month now that he has immersed himself in club activities and that is the way it should be. Diane Thornton will also follow up on ideas and suggestions for the Lady Cruisers to enjoy some non wrenchin’ activities throughout 2014 so they can also share the enjoyment of the hobby with their hubby away from car related activities, so stay tuned. And on that note, if the Lady Cruisers will send their personal email address to Diane dianet5025@gmail.com she will keep them informed of what is being planned. John
For Sale—Cheap 1940 Philco floor radio model 205RX with wireless ( " Mystery Control " ) remote. In very good overall condition and operates well. $150. John D'Esopo 781-826-9013 ( 6PM - 8PM ).
Monthly Cruisin
Guest Speaker Chuck Kaplan Neponset Valley Machine
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by John Buchanan
If you look at the picture montage on the clubhouse wall you will find some pictures of Chuck Kaplan, Neponset Valley Machine owner and former Mass Cruiser member, working with fellow club members on Saturday mornings at his 475 West St. shop in Walpole teaching by doing, how to rebuild and blueprint a former Chrysler 440 marine V8 engine into a low-buck performance 440 that was destined to power a Wrentham little old lady’s 1972 slant 6 Dodge Dart. That was the club’s one and only attempt at building a streetable drag car that Rocky Silvestri proposed doing in 1995 after reading about a similar project documented in a Hot Rod magazine article. While the finished body & chassis work was completed and displayed at the World of Wheels in 1997, the finished engine project wasn’t completed until a year later (see archive photos). Since that time as a former club member, Chuck moved on to teach the Hot Rod Program at Universal Technical Institute in Norwood for a number of years before coming back full time building performance engines at his Walpole Shop. The topic of Chuck’s presentation was explaining the what, how and why stroking an engine is still remains a popular option to increase displacement and torque with today’s lighter and thinner walled engine blocks. In typical classroom fashion, Chuck dragged out a new green blackboard and fresh white chalk to diagram and explain what stroking an engine is and what the trade-offs are when you alter the length of the crankshaft’s rod journal arm, or stroke, for increased torque; followed by moving the piston rod pins into the piston ring area and modifying the piston skirt to clear the rods for the changed angle that results. (“and the wrist pin is connected to the elbow…”) A good example of early 1960’s stroked engines is the venerable 348 Chevy “W” block which Detroit, in 1961, bored the cylinders 0.1875 over and increased the stroke length of the crank rod arm from 3.25 to 3.50 inches to gain another 0.150 inches of stroke creating the immortalized Beach Boy’s “She’s Real Fine My 409”. GM then increased the stroke to 3.76 inches on the 409 block for GM’s Mystery Motor, an early Z-11 427 race engine, used in Junior Johnson’s 1963 Impala that won 7 NASCAR races and captured 10 pole positions. Chuck explained that with today’s thinner walled small block engines like the popular Gen 1 Chevy 350, which is a stroked 302 because they share the same block bore and rod length, you can only safely over-bore 0.030 inches or run into potential over-heating problems. The solution is to modify a 400 crankshaft to fit the 350 block, or buy a 383 stroker kit crank, which allows for increasing the total stroke length from 3.48 to 3.75 inches. As with all engine modifications there are tradeoffs which can weaken or affect piston stability and create a potential conflict with the crankshaft counterweights which means longer piston rods may be needed. All these performance improvements have to be weighed against affecting engine life and that’s where stroker kits packages, designed for the most popular engines, come into play and where an engine builder like Chuck can determine if it will meet your specific needs and then rebuild your engine to meet those requirements with the correct kit as well as make a number of other blueprint fit corrections during the build.
Monthly Cruisin
Guest Speaker Chuck Kaplan Neponset Valley Machine
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(cont.) by John Buchanan Chuck cited another problem in recent years is with the inconsistent quality prevalent with many of the kits that are available. Although there are a lot more stroker kit suppliers today because stroking engines has become more popular, the list of quality suppliers is becoming shorter. The bottom line is, if stroking your engine is on your wish list, it pays to work through an experienced builder first rather than ordering a kit blindly from one of the popular distributors or kit manufacturers and then looking for a builder to do the modifications. Following Chuck’s very informative lesson on stroked engines using old school technology, chalk & blackboard and adding his knowledge and experience, Bob Checker employed today’s latest communications technology with a laptop, wireless internet connection and high definition projection to show an informative YouTube video on testing synthetic engine oils by comparing improved bearing surface wear performance with Royal Purple HPS series, versus Mobil 1 and Joe Gibbs racing oil. Although Bobby C’s stock several brands of high performance motor oils, the Royal Purple brand is his most popular seller and club members get a 15% discount on the oil and oil changes for members in his shop are free. Thanks to Chuck and Bob for kicking off our 2015 monthly meetings with topics of interest that should complement the “Wrenchin’ n’ Coffee” Saturday morning work sessions at Robert’s Motors, with the next one bookmarked for February 14 and, don’t forget your Valentine. Our guest speaker for the Tuesday February 17 meeting is fellow club member Roy Rossman who’s electronic/electrical/mechanical topic "An Environmental Concern Gone Astray", he says, may be surprising to some.
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Monthly Cruisin
February 2015 Su 1 8 *
Mo 2 9
Tue We 3
4
10 * 11
15 * 16 * 17 * 18 22
23
24
25
Th 5 12 19 26
February 2015
Fri 6 *
Sat 7 *
13 * 14 * 20 27
21 * 28
March 2015 Su 1 * 8
Mo 2 9
Tue We 3
4
6—8, Northeast Int’l Auto Show, Providence Convention Center
10th, Business Meeting @ Clubhouse
13—16, USHRA Monster Jam, DCU Center, 50 foster St, Worcester
14th, Wrenching & Coffee @ Robert’s Automotive, 193 Pine St. 8 AM—Noon
17th, Members Meeting @ Clubhouse
21st, New England Model Engineering Show, Charles River Museum of Industry, Waltham
Social dinner at Eagle Brook Saloon, 258 Dedham Street, Norfolk, then pot luck desert @ the Malik’s in Norfolk
March 2015
Th 5
Fri 6 *
Sat 7
1st, MARCOM Model A Club Flea Market, 22 Myrtle St., Norfolk. 7:30 AM—11 AM
6th, Dancing with the cars, Larz Anderson Museum, Brookline, Mass. 7—10:30 PM
10th, Business Meeting @ Clubhouse
10 * 11
12
13
14 *
14th, Wrenchin’n’coffee, Robert’s Automotive, Attleboro, Mass. 8AM—Noon
15 * 16
17 * 18
19
20
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15, MASSCAR’s 26th Model Car Exhibition, Holiday Inn, Taunton, Mass. Exit 9 off rt 495
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24
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27 * 28 *
17th, Members Meeting @ Clubhouse
29 * 30
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27– 29th, ISCA World of Wheels, Boston Seaport World Trade Center
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24th Annual Anniversary Banquet by John Buchanan Lou Valentine & Fred Tierney took our 24th Annual Anniversary Banquet in a different direction for 2015 with a Sunday afternoon 2 pm matinee at the Norwood Theater followed by a 4:30 pm private party buffet at the Lewis Bar & Grill across the street. There we were, the Mass Cruisers Auto Club, 90 members & guests strong, sitting front and center for the “Lights Out” Tribute to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and it was a blast. Chad, the Frankie Valli voice of this quartet, rendered playful interpretations with the audience and with his fellow vocalists Dan, Rod & Chris while performing the Four Seasons early 60’s hits between songs and sets. They stared with the early Four Seasons 60’s and later 70’s disco era hits that were interspaced with Four Seasons inspired top hits from other artists from each decade up to present along with their own song “10 Years Later” from their "Just Sing" album. This made for a totally entertaining afternoon with many getting up and dancing in the aisles.
Assad Zogheib, right, his daughter and John Nunes enjoyed the night out.
Franki Valli (Chad) makes his move on Cathy Pasacane.
Chad and Lou Valentine
Frank Bryant, Laurie Touhey and Jean Waite are ready for the show to begin
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24th Annual Anniversary Banquet (continued) Following the performance “Lights Out” was invited to join us at our private 24th annual buffet banquet at Lewis’s after the show and, not only did they join us, they also sang a doo wop a cappella Happy Birthday for Bob Woods 70th Birthday. We kept speeches to a minimum, thanking our past officers Fred Tierney, Larry Nyborn & Bob Hines, car show Chairman Rich Armando, Cruise Director Steve Huntington and Treasurer for Life Wayne Lestan followed by the annual “Cruiser of the Year" award made by our 2013 “Cruiser of the Year” and newly elected Vice President Diane Thornton who announced her selection was Zeke Sawayer. Congratulations Zeke; your name plate will be added to the clubhouse plaque honor roll and you now have an opportunity to observe and select our “2015 Cruiser of the Year” next January. “Oh What a Night" it was; topped off with that great come-back-from-behind NFC Championship win by the Seahawks over the Packers followed Brady & the Patriots whuppin' the Indy Colts for the AFC Championship. It’s going to be tuff to top this year’s Anniversary Banquet, but I’m sure Lou will somehow come through and make it all happen for our 25th in 2016. You can listen to the Lights Out again on their website www.lightsoutvocals.com
2013 Cruiser of the Year, Diane Thornton, presents 2014 Cruiser of the Year Award to Zeke Sawayer.
President Buchanan yucks it up with Chad (aka Franki Valli)
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Remember When
Due to Werner Carlson’s death, there hasn’t been any word on what plans the family has for the monthly Amherst, N.H. flea market that normally begins in April.
Formula One Pit Stop 1950 vs. 2013: http://biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=47217
How NASCAR has Changed in 50 Years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly2vuzs1-As
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Monthly Cruisin
Wrenchin’ n’ Coffee Sessions By Pat Touhey The Mass Cruiser First Wrenchin’ n’ Coffee , held at
ROBERT’S AUTOMOTIVE
in Attleboro, was great success . Member Bob Hines was a gracious host and teacher. We had 15 members show up and take part in the activities. John Buchanan had his 62 Bubble top in for some steering work, new member John Guravage had his Chevy Chevelle in for some suspension work. Cliff Jewett brought his daily driver for a 4 tire swap and balance. And Mike Rabbitt brought daily driver dodge Stratus in for some check engine light work. I had a blast just being able to walk around the shop and learn about the tools used and Bob Hine’s infinite wisdom…….. and his donuts too! The next “Wrenchin n’ Coffee” morning session is scheduled for February 14 (Valentine’s Day). John Guarvage is planning on bring his ’68 Chevelle back to replace the front springs. Bob Woods will bring in his welder to teach members basic welding. Buchanan’s bubbletop will be back on the alignment machine to perform bump steer measurements before replacing the original leaking power steering setup & box with a new power steering box. Check with Bob so there won’t be a lift-jam. And Bob, what a great way to kick off the New Year with club activities where members can share their talents, help one another and learn some new tricks and tips in the process. Learning by doing and sharing the experience with fellow club members; what a great way to spend a Saturday morning followed by an afternoon Patriot win over the Ravens.
Monthly Cruisin
February 2015
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Member meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the Norfolk MA clubhouse.
A 1949 Chevrolet Styline Deluxe Convertible was the 22 millionth Chevy produced
P.O. Box 217 Wrentham, MA 02093