2015march newsletter(done)

MONTHLY CRUISIN’ with the Mass Cruisers Auto Club

We’re on the Web www.masscruisers.com And Facebook

“CRUISIN’ AT THE SPEED OF FUN” March 2015

Truly the Winter of Our Discontent

Volume 25 Issue 3

Frank Bryant and Sarojit Malik plot their takeover of the Cruisers at Eagle Brook. Page 9.

Diane Thornton gets down and dirty at our 2nd Wrenchin’ n ’ Coffee Session. Page 4.

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

2

From the President’s Tail Pipe Bob & June Smith in Florida

3

Wrenchen’ n’ Coffee or How Gearheads Socialize.

4

Club Officers President– John Buchanan Vice President—Diane Thornton

Wrenchen’ n’ Coffee or How Gearheads Socialize (cont.)

5

Secretary—Patrick Touhey

Monthly Calendar

6

Treasurer—Wayne Lestan

Car Shows & Events

7

Webmaster—Steve Vining

Lady Cruisers Page

by Marcia Silvestri and Diane Thornton

8

Newsletter Editor—Paul Saulnier

Eaglebrook Dinner Social

by Pat Touhey

9

Facebook Admin. – Patrick Touhey

HD 2796: Historic Routes 10 Designation -------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -11 Remember When:

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 Newsletter P.O. Box 217, Wrentham, MA. 02093

New Member Liaison—Dole 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 – Marcia Silvestri

Monthly Cruisin

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From the President’s Tailpipes

Problems with snow, ice & below freezing temperatures all of February are hitting us with unprecedented challenges. John & Nancy Bloom came home from the Cape to find their furnace was off and all the water in the pipes and toilets frozen. Bob & June Smith, who have been enjoying winter in Daytona, learned the tent roof collapsed on his lift and he had to hire 6 men to shovel off the flat roofs of his garages where his cars are stored. It is a chore taking care of one property this winter let alone multiples, particularly long distance. I bet each one of us will have a horror story to share before the next monthly social scheduled for the first day of spring on Saturday March 21 takes place.

Believe it or not the first swap meet of the season is March 1 at the Holmes Barn in Norfolk. And, this won’t be the first time parking there was tight due to piled up snow, only this year’s epic February snow total is one for the record books. The prediction is that winter will soon end and we’ll be prepping for the upcoming cruise season at Patriot Place, but will all the snow piles be melted by April 16?

John

The CRUZING season ain’t over for Bob & June Smith down in Florida. This was the photo greeting Bob sent back to us from Daytona with the following note; “Happy New Year. I am still cruzing here in Florida. This was at Bruce Rossmeyer's Harley Davison Shop on Saturday. Bob Smith” That’s Bob’s emerald green ’40 Ford on the right end in the photo. That bra must be a new addition; something she must have to wear when they go to the beach.

Monthly Cruisin

Wrenchin’ n’ Coffee Sessions

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by John Buchanan The second Wrenchin’ n’ Coffee session on February 14, Valentine’s morning at Bob Hines’s Robert’s Automotive in Attleboro, saw 16 members show up to experience and learn a few things or two.

The hefty morning project belonged to replacing the front springs on John Guravage’s ’68 Chevelle, left, to correct the car’s ride height. Thanks to the herculean assist and guidance by John Nunez and Bob, the job was completed that morning.

Above, Bob Wood also brought in his MIG welder and set it up in one of the empty bays so members could try their hand at learning how to weld. Some who tried it for the first time now have an appreciation that this is one job better left to professionals or, at least, well-practiced amateurs.

Meanwhile V.P. Diane Thornton, above, swapped out borrowed winter tire lugs on her daily driver and Mike Rabbitt brought in his Honda Odyssey to replace the front and rear brake rotors and pads..

My own Impala sat on the shop’s Hunter HawkEye Elite alignment machine waiting to do the bump steer measurements, but Bob was not able to free up his time to set up the machine’s wheel targets and calibrate the camera system. That was postponed for the following Monday late afternoon prior to replacing the old power assist steering system with a new Borgeson 567 power steering box setup later that week (photos attached). The toe-in measurements indicated some bump steer but not enough to account for much of the car’s high speed highway handling performance. The new power steering box should help.

The March 14 8 am – noon Wrenchin’ n’ Coffee session is on the calendar, so let Bob know if you are planning to bring your car in for a morning work session 508-223-3737.

Monthly Cruisin

Wrenchin’ n’ Coffee Sessions (cont.)

Page 5

by John Buchanan

Left. Jack Lane and Rich Armando wait their turn at the welder.

Below. Ralph and Rich set the table to do some welding.

Left. Rich Armando applies what he learned today. He and Ralph both made a little figurine to bring home.

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Monthly Cruisin

March 2015 Su 1 * 8

Mo 2 9

Tue We 3

4

March 2015

Th 5

Fri 6 *

Sat 7

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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 *

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14th, Wrenchin’n’coffee, Robert’s Automotive, Attleboro, Mass. 8AM—Noon

15 * 16

17 * 18

19

20

21 *

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15, MASSCAR’s 26th Model Car Exhibition, Holiday Inn, Taunton, Mass. Exit 9 off rt 495

22

23

24

26

27 * 28 *

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17th, Members Meeting @ Clubhouse

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29 * 30

31

21st, Red Wing Diner social with dessert at Diane Thornton’s home.

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27– 29th, ISCA World of Wheels, Boston Seaport World Trade Center



29th, Winter Blas Parts Swap, Maynard Elks

25

April 2015 Su

5

Mo

6

Tue We

7

Th

Fri

Sat

1

2

3

4

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11th, Wrenchin’n’coffee, Robert’s Automotive, Attleboro, Mass. 8AM—Noon

8

9

10

11 *



12th, Ty-Rods Spring Auto Swap Meet, Stafford Speedway

April 2015

12 * 13

14 * 15

16

17

18

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14th, Business Meeting @ Clubhouse

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21st, Members Meeting @ Clubhouse

19

21 * 22

23

24

25

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16th & 30th, Bass Pro Cruise Season begins

28

30

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26, Early ford VB Club Swap Meet, Fitchburg Airport

20

26 * 27

29

Monthly Cruisin

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Monthly Cruisin

Lady Cruisers Page

by Marcia Silvestri & Diane Thornton

Monthly Cruisin

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Eagle Brook Dinner Social

By Pat Touhey

The February dinner social at the Eagle brook restaurant in Norfolk hosted

by member Sarojit Malik was slightly interrupted by our continued winter weather.

There was a hardy 13 members who braved the slippery roads to have some fun and dinner with their fellow members and friends.

I was unable to attend the dessert part at Sarojit’s home, but I’m sure it was a lovely time. As Sarojit has some nice pieces of Indian Art and a great men den in the lower level.

Above. The faithful gather to break bread and share libations.

Right. John crooning “Put Your Head On My Shoulder”

Monthly Cruisin

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HD2796 Historic Route Signage

By John Buchanan

Historic U .S. Route 1 begins in Fort Kent, Maine ending at the tip of the Florida Keys at Key West for 2,450 miles. U.S. Route 6 begins at the tip of Cape Cod in Provincetown traveling west through 14 states ending in Bishop California for 3, 205 miles http:// www.route6tour.com/ and U.S. Route 20 begins in Kenmore Square Boston traveling west for 3,365 miles ending at the junction of the Pacific Coast Highway U.S. 101 in Newport Oregon http://historicus20.com/index.html The Mass Cruisers, unique among Massachusetts Car Clubs, conducts annual automotive events on these three iconic U.S. Highways, U.S. Routes 1, 6 & 20 which is why I have been actively supporting efforts that promote awareness and recognition of these vital links to our automotive, travel and economic past. Of course our biggest events are the 14 bi-weekly Thursday Bass Pro Shops Cruise-In Car Shows at Patriot place on U.S. Route 1. Interestingly, there is a new Historic U.S. Route 1 group out of Virginia http:// www.historicrouteone.com/ in the early stages of pulling together the 14 states and D.C. much like the Historic U.S. Route 6 & 20 groups have been doing these past few years. On U.S. Route 6, we conduct the annual opening race weekend car show at Seekonk Speedway along with assist in organizing the annual October Seekonk to Provincetown U.S. Route 6 cruise weekend with eight other car clubs and organizations that conduct car show and cruise events along that iconic highway. We also are the host car club for the annual Goodguys East Coast Nationals off U.S. Route 20 at the Big E in W. Springfield.

Fortunately we have an auto hobbyist friend, Rep. Steven Howitt (R) Seekonk who submitted HD2796 for the 189th Massachusetts General Court which states as follows: Historic Routes Designations SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, Route1, Route 20 and Route 6 in the Commonwealth shall be designated and known as historic United States Routes. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation shall erect and maintain suitable markers bearing that designation in compliance with standards of the department.

At the appropriate time when this bill is scheduled to come before the Joint Transportation Committee we will be asking for your support by contacting your Representative and Senator asking for their positive support and assistance to pass this legislation. Towns will be able to use this as leverage to locate and erect historic route signage that will aid travelers and promote local economic tourism.

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Monthly Cruisin

Remember When

Q: What U S production car has the quickest 0-60 mph time?

A: The 1962 Chevrolet Impala SS 409 did it in 4.0 seconds *************************************************************** ***

Mass Cruiser Member anniversaries: Active Members Mark Lite David Nicholson

Spouse-Cp Since Holly Mar, 2010 Cara Mar, 2010

**************************************************** Ladies have always been involved with cars: http://www.tvraaca.org/women1937i.htm http://www.tvraaca.org/chevrolet1953i.htm http://www.tvraaca.org/ford1957i.htm

Route 6 Tourist Assoc. photo contest prize, a California Historic U.S. Route 6 sign, arrived in the mail and was immediately tacked up on the clubhouse wall under our incorrect time clock next to its Massachusetts sister sign. We’ve only got to collect 12 more signs for a complete set.

Monthly Cruisin

March 2015

Last Page

Member meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the Norfolk MA clubhouse.

P.O. Box 217 Wrentham, MA 02093