May 2017 Mass Cruisers Newsletter

Mass Cruisers Auto Club Crusin’ at the speed of fun

Forget shotgun. I’m riding on the hood with the Flying Goddess Inside this month’s edition, Big Monkey takes over the monthly members meeting (pages 4 & 5), Diane Thornton reveals what it really takes to put on the greatest cruise night in New England on pages 6 & 7 and The Flying Goddess takes home the April 13th honors (page 10). Weekend shows and weekly cruise night schedules on pages 8 and 11 will keep us away from yard work.

We’re on the Web

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April 2017

Celebrating 25 Years of Cruisin Volume 27

May 2017

Issue 5

www.masscruisers.com And Facebook

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.

Club Officers

Directory

2

Presidential Emissions Cruise Night Schedule

3

Big Monkey Wraps

4

Vice President—Diane Thornton

5

Secretary—Patrick Touhey Asst. Lesley Corda

Big monkey Wraps (continued)

President– Ed Beatty

Cruise Season “Magic”

By Diane Thornton

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Treasurer—Wayne Lestan Asst. Kevin Rushlow

Cruise Season “Magic” (continued)

7

Webmaster—Steve Vining

May Shows & Events

8

Support our Advertisers

9

April Cruise Winner 1955 Nash Ambassador ----------------MayCruis‟n Northeast

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contact the newseditor@masscruicers.com for information about newsletter advertising options

Newsletter Editor—Paul Saulnier Facebook Admin. – Patrick Touhey New Member Liaison—Don Cole SSgts. at Arms—Rick Lawlor & John Sturniolo Charity Coordination – Frank Bryant By-Laws – Roy Rossman MAAC Rep — John Buchanan

Special Events Cruise Night—Steve Huntington Car Show—Rich Armando Club Events Calendar – (open)

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Presidential Emissions

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We had our first cruise night this month. It was a great turnout and the weather was good too. That Nash picked as the cruise winner was very impressive. At the membership meeting this past month we had Big Monkey car wraps do a demonstration and talk about wrapping cars trucks motorcycles and boats. It was surprising how many finishes they have. 20 years ago they started epoxy and bonding body panels together on cars, now it's a common practice. Is the future going to be wrap cars instead of painting?. I have 3 projects going now and one of them I‟d like to be wrapped.

I was asked about some of the cars I‟ve owned over the years. I‟ve been into hot rods and muscle cars since high school. My favorite car back in the seventies was my Ford boss mustang ram air. I didn't sell it. It was stolen Easter weekend in Norwood. You always remember what the insurance company does to you with that first stolen car. Next, I built a „49 Ford F1 w. a 289 motor. And, after going to California when they started tubing cars and seeing these big wheels on the back, I came home and tubbed the truck but couldn't find tires for it for 6 months. Drove the truck for a few years then sold it. I wish I never sold the truck; the new owner never put it back on the road. My next favorite was a Cobra small block that was totaled. Technically I still own the car and I have the VIN, plates and the title. Those are the three that really stand out over the many hot rods & muscle cars I‟ve owned.

But, I always come back to my favorite motor, the Flathead Ford, which is one of my three current projects.

I've been talking to a few manufacturers of high performance parts to come in and give a talk or demonstration on their product line in the fall. Also, we used to have members talk about their projects or if they needed help and I‟d like to see that start again at the monthly member meetings. I‟d like to see the club do some different cruise events like the New Hampshire Speedway Vintage Festival or a weekend that I‟m racing there. Hope to see everybody at the cruise nights.

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Big Monkey Wraps

by John Buchanan

The April guest speakers were brothers Travis & Steve from Big Monkey Wraps in Lynn courtesy of Lou Valentine who met them at the New England Boat Show and invited them to be guest speakers. If you went to the 2017 World of Wheels, you probably came across their display showing their craft, high quality vinyl wraps for commercial, marine, automotive applications. The brothers, originally from Florida, noted that automotive wraps are more popular down South than here in New England where it is mostly done on commercial vehicles.

When you consider that a complete quality custom vehicle wrap can be done starting around $2,000 compared to a quality $10,000 or more custom paint job, it becomes an attractive cost effective way to make your vehicle stand out from the crowd and offer protection of the original painted finish for up to five years.

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Big Monkey Wraps (continued)

Above John Ricker, Don Cole watch Travis doing the wrap and Kevin Rushlow’s grandson Casyn (age 8) who was mesmerized by the whole demonstration.

After passing around samples of the different types of vinyl ranging from highly reflective chrome to faux carbon fiber Travis demonstrated how a beautiful pearlescent white wrap is applied. He then followed that with laying down black vinyl cut lettering and then laid out some lines to add a decorative red flame element, all in the matter of minutes, not hours or days as would be typical with paint.

There are a couple of caveats though, the underlying finish should be smooth so the vinyl wrap won’t mirror any underlying defects. The surface also has to be very clean and free of waxes so there is some prep required. However, a big benefit is that your imagination can run wild and just about any design you can dream up can be created and applied to the vinyl, something that would be prohibitively expensive and time consuming with paint. Of course, there is another hidden benefit, the wrap protects the original finish and can be easily removed without damaging the original finish when you want to change the color or a different decorative scheme. Because Big Monkey provides a full service of wrap design, printing, installing and removal, they include a one year guarantee for their premium cast vinyl wraps against cracking, peeling, bubbling and fading. They also emphasize that they are not a restoration or repair shop so that work, if required, is best done at a traditional body shop. The best way to see the extent of what they offer is to visit their website at www.bigmonkeywraps.com or their Facebook page.

Thanks Travis & Steve for an enlightening and informative presentation. It had a number of club members rethinking their strategy for considering the wraps for their show cars or campers.

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Cruise Season ―Magic‖ Happens Early

By Diane Thornton The first night of the Mass Cruisers Cruise Night season kicked off on April 13 with a practically perfect night and an almost full lot! It seemed like the cars that were arriving were driven by owners filled with high excitement that the season was starting! Seemed like a buzz was everywhere.

Left to right Ann and Bob Hines, Steve and Annie Huntington and John Ricker relaxing after folding a record number of t-shirts and sweatshirts to sell at our cruise nights!

Besides seeing a lot of familiar faces in the crowd, I noticed a lot of families walking around and people walking dogs, too. John Buchanan alerted me to the coincidence of Easter Bunny pictures being offered at our host, Bass Pro Shops that same night! That explained it!

It was also nice to see some Mass Cruisers‟ members that hadn‟t seen each other in a while chatting and visiting. The winter has been good to most of our club members and it‟s great to see the season begin with such enthusiasm.

It is easy to overlook how some of the day-to-day pieces of our club appear. What happens and who helps get the club ready for the new “season”?

Over “the winter” a lot of magic goes on behind the scenes. Actually, all year long “magic” happens, but to prepare for our cruise season, a quick list of what I know of deserves to be broadcast.

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Cruise Season ―Magic‖ Happens Early (continued)

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Fred Tierney and John B sell advertisement space in the Cruise flyer and Car Show booklet. Then they work to get the flyer laid out and printed in time for distribution to early car events. One event was World of Wheels, where Daz Alberti‟s show car was displayed – and it was practically dripping with our cruise night flyers – for a while, before they were all gone!!

Wayne Lestan and Kevin Rushlow have been paying the bills and all the expenses as quickly as the expenses come in!

Dave Sareault and Steve Huntington work with our t-shirt vendor in designing that awesome artwork for our t-shirts that are sold at the cruise nights. Then the tees are ordered!

The T-Shirt Girls, Lorna Rabbitt, Jean Waite, Amy Nunez and Marie Armando worked to include an expanded line of t-shirts this year. New this year are children‟s sizes and some sweatshirts!

Someone has to fold those shirts! T-shirt folding included Bob and Ann Hines, Steve and Annie Huntington, and John Ricker. Steve made several DIY t-shirt folding templates and the shirts were folded, put in bags, and tagged in quick time!

The trailer had to be dusted off for the season, too! Mark Crichton brought the trailer out of winter storage and a hardy crew of over a dozen members arrived at Mark‟s to clean it out and reorganize (and make room for all those t-shirts!).

The golf cart maintenance and cleaning was performed by the hardy crew as well.

The valve cover track was upgraded over the winter by Zeke Sawayer and Michael Rabbitt, wait till you see the new addition to the racing fun!

Zeke is also the creator of the new EXIT signs!

The artwork for the shirts is also used on the award for Cruiser of the Night. How does that happen?

Steve H. walked that artwork to our usual awards maker and we had the plaques ready and in time for one to be given to an awesome car chosen on the first cruise.

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Patrick zapped Facebook more and more as the days to the opening got closer. He stirred up excitement and kept the postings fun!

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Steve Vining worked the website and posted flyers and info for the dates of our season!

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Believe me, I know I am probably missing mentioning someone!

I know more than this goes on and on and on! Mass Cruisers is a busy, prominent, successful car club. We are respected and accomplished because of the efforts of our members. We don‟t always have the opportunities to coordinate and work together all the time, but we are all involved in our club for the betterment of the club and the hobby! Thank you everyone! Good job!

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Support Our Advertisers

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2017 April 13th Cruise Winner 1955 Nash Ambassador Custom The berm area of lot 16 was seeing a lot of spectator interest after Jim & Cheryl Drew from Leominster parked their 1955 Nash Ambassador Custom in the back row. If the beautiful Bermuda Green and Snowberry White paint or that unique Pina farina styling didn’t grab your attention, the open hood revealing the car’s special optioned and impeccably detailed LeMans dual JetFire 6 cylinder engine was the frosting on this pastel finished cake. Jim and Cheryl are the second family owners of this Nash and both worked tirelessly for four years to bring it back to life in showroom condition.

Jim has a body shop and was looking for a car to restore that Cheryl’s, now 93 year old, dad and mom drove on their honeymoon.

He bought it 5 years ago from the original Kansas owner’s son who had parked it in their farm’s pig pen where it sat for 40 years after his dad died.. There was a picture booklet showing all the restoration work that was done and the quality of his workmanship displayed well in the April sun. Walk around the back of the car where the open trunk revealed a wicker picnic basket filled and ready to go and your imagination goes back to a time when taking Sunday drives in one of these magnificent cars to picnic along some picturesque road in the countryside instead of stopping at a McDonalds or Burger King.

Never heard of a Nash before? 1955 was the first year of the merged Nash and Hudson motor car companies into what became American motors and, although both marques for the full sized lineup would be continued in the merged company in 1955, the Hudson nameplate was put on the Nash body. 1955 was also when they introduced the V8 engine, although apparently the optional LeMans dual JetFire 6 cylinder which had been the base engine for the Nash Healey sports car, was is what Jim & Cheryl’s car had. When asked why there was a For Sale sign in the back seat. Jim explains that because of all the work he and Cheryl put into restoring the car, he won’t drive it in the rain and panics when they get caught in bad weather. He wants something that is more weather tolerant than a show car.

This was the first outing for this Pina Farina styled Ambassador and because of the fit, finish and life story of this beautiful car, it attracted the attention of the Mass Cruisers President Ed Beatty and Vice President Diane Thorton who agreed that it was deserving of the season’s first Vintage Motor Sports sponsored Cruiser of the night Award plaque. Normally one of the Bass Pro Shops managers makes these selections but they were heavily consumed with their annual inventory and the free photo event with the Easter Bunny which accounted for the unusually large numbers of children and parents attending our cruise this early in the season ahead of Good Friday and the upcoming spring school Easter vacation week.

For a video of our first cruise of 2017, click 2017 April 13 Bass Pro Shops Cruise or https://vimeo.com/213718403

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May 2017

Last Page

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

P.O. Box 217 Wrentham, MA 02093