Bill Clark

Macungie This year was the same great show as the last twenty I've attended. Its mix of cars on Saturday and the clubs on Sunday, the flea market, car corral, craft show, entertainment and opportunity to see old friends every year make it my favorite. Attendance was probably down, but there was still a good crowd and most of the people I wanted to see were there. Nice Mets You'll have trouble finding two nicer than Bob and Dennis's Car Show Attendance Although this group is partial to them, shows that cater to restored classics will fade away. Macungie and Hershey are some of the largest shows in the north east and get 1200 to 1500 cars while the street rod shows get 5,000 to 10,000 cars. There were far more tuners at last weekends local AACA show than there were prewar cars. Local clubs, and I think the AACA in general has to start to embrace aspects more of the collector car hobby to attract young people. Spending Its a matter of setting priorities and if there is not enough money for everything, something has to go or you need to get another job. (If you are spending money for kids orthodontia on your stock car or collector car you probably chose wrong) See you at Hershey Bill

My Brother and I and our Mom about 1955. Bill Clark

When I was a teenager it was great sport to get a car and destroy it. 40 years later I try to spend my hard earned time, money and skills more constructively and sometimes wish I had some cars back. Last weekend as I was walking through Macungie I noted this beautiful 40 Packard 110 and thought of what I'd done. Bill Clark

The concours web site explains the show. http://www.newportconcours.org/index.html AS I understand it, there was a team from the Concours that reviewed cars in shows and collections in the Northeast and sent invitations after selecting cars that fit with the objectives of the show. I was lucky enough to have my car noticed at the Studebaker Zone meet in Sturbridge last summer (where it won its class) and at Hershey last fall where it won a senior tab. The 53-55 Studebaker is considered somewhat significant as the 53 won more than a dozen art awards when it was announced. The Speedster was a 53 whose design was hijacked by marketing people in a futile effort to increase sales. I feel fortunate to have my car selected. Although, in my opinion, a 73 Ford is quite significant from a design, emissions, marketing, sales and its effect on the long term health of Ford, it was probably not of cutting edge fashion or design. A similar show 60 years from now might search out a running original 73 Ford. Bill

Sorry about the lack of labels. That would be a 1952 Muntz Jet Custom. The tri color Speedster is mine. Bill

I had the huge opportunity to show my Studebaker at the 2008 Newport Concours. Pictures are at this link. http://community.webshots.com/slideshow/563614427Xdbxyj?mediaPosition=1 Bill

Cardboard box with vacuum formed top and garden tractor battery inside. Bill http://www.rustyrestorations.org/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=12

We had a great time at the car show Saturday. The weather was great, there was a swarm of cars and I thought everything went fine. Although most of us are from the greatest place on earth, I gotta say that area is a real nice spot. I have posted some snapshots of the show here http://rides.webshots.com/album/563466839RxmmeR Two panoramas of the show are posted here, http://www.rustyrestorations.org/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=730 Full size versions are viewable if you click on number by full size in the top right of the screen. Be warned, the panoramas are about 2M each and may load slow. Enjoy Bill

First, its good to see someone younger than 30 (or 40 or 50) interested in old cars. I bought my first collector car when I was 27, about 20 years ago, and have developed some strong opinions about getting started. First, buy a first car that is a driver. You want to be out cruising and enjoying your first car, not piling junk on it in your garage. By having a beater driver you will get to know the car, get to love it, get some exposure thereby finding people with similar interests and you have a better chance of getting really hooked. Once you have the bug and have enjoyed cruising you'll be much more motivated to get it back together after you take it apart. And don't worry so much what the first car looks like. Its more important that it is safe and that you are driving it. Second, get a first car that you can get your arms around. An older 442 might be ok, but in my opinion any 70s car is too much to start with. I think the Plymouth Coupes would be a good choice. Third, join a support group. You need people that will help keep you running, help you get parts and provide support. Once a year or so Hemmings publishes a list of reasonable collector cars. Get a subscription to Classic Cars and spend some time picking a favorite. My personal favorite for a starter car is a Met or a Stdebaker Lark. There are cars for sale, there is an active National club with regional clubs, there are lots of parts, people think they are cute and you can actually drive them places (although not on the four lane without some modifications IMHO) Good luck in the military Bill 57 Met - bought in 76 and done 60 Met - done 55 Studebaker Speedster- almost done 51 Fiat - will not be restored 49 John Deere MC Crawler - done 5X Studebaker something - just followed me home.

Link to two car exemption for hobbiests. http://www.fedcenter.gov/Articles/index.cfm?id=8830&pge_id=1854 Bill

Either I have missed something and don't know whats going on, or this hobby has a HUGE problem. Other than the Hemmings editorial, I have not seen any facts about the EPA paint regulation. I heard here that the regulation had been favorably amended for hobbiests, but I have not been shown the facts, the EPA regulations. I have looked at Hemmings website, SEMA web site and searched the web and I can not find an update. I have asked here twice and noone has been able to respond with the facts. The regulation of paint for home hobby use will have a significant impact on this hobby. I'm trying to stay informed, but we need better access to information about what is going on. Bill Clark

re: A LAST MINUTE provision in the bill will allow hobbyists to paint up to TWO cars per year. Can someone please provide more information or a link related to this last minute two car provision. Thanks Bill Who has just declared his 49 JD crawler tractor done and is anxious to start cleaning and sanding and painting on something new.

re: A LAST MINUTE provision in the bill will allow hobbyists to paint up to TWO cars per year. It is my understanding that the bill asking for this action was passed a few years ago by our elected officials and what is now being released is a regulation with the authority of law that outlines the requirements of this legislation. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Please provide more information on this last minute provision. Thanks Bill Who has just declared his 49 JD crawler tractor done and is anxious to start cleaning and sanding and painting on something new.

Hemmings Sports and Exotics took pictures of my 51 Fiat at Goulds Micro Car Show this summer and had an article on it in their October issue. Bill http://www.hemmings.com/hsx/stories/2007/10/01/hmn_feature16.html

I think its a 1915 17 liter Van Blerck (At least thats what it said on the side of it) Bill

I think the problem that is being addressed here is what to do with a show car on Thursday or Friday while you are at the flea market. Unless you have an enclosed trailer, I know of nothing to do with a show car while you are walking the flea market. Life is heck. I drove 186 miles one way and did the flea market on Thursday and came back with a car on Saturday. I do not expect, with all the other problems this show has to deal with, that they would have day care for my car. Maybe they save 50 spots at the end of the car corral for cars that are registered for Saturday and give them a place to park Thursday and Friday. And yes, although I seldom do it, I saw two guys that drove from the Northeast to Denver for a Grand National show and did fine. You can drive, but you have to be prepared for a couple days of detailing. Bill

Thanks to the volunteers and those that put on this show. It is a major international classic that would not happen without them and I appreciate their considerable effort. Thursday was cold and miserable and the first time I ever attended on a non car show day and although I thought I'd die of hypothermia, I was able to relax, hike in the rain in my poncho and enjoy the flea market and visit with old friends. Thursday turned out to be a great day. I brought a car Saturday, enjoyed the show, and expect to come back next year with a car. Based on the fact that the purpose of AACA is the preservation of old cars, here are my comments on Saturday. 1. Parking cars close together (long rant) I showed cars in more than a dozen shows this summer between Gilmores and Larz Andersons and only one time, this last weekend, did I have to park so close the doors could bang on the car next to you. (even Macungie was acceptable this year) I understand its a long tradition and a part of Hershey that cars are so close that a judge can not do an interior inspection without someone holding the door and that spectators can not pass between cars and that there is no room for a wheel chair to pass between cars, and you only have so much room for cars, and "I need to pack them in to have room for everyone comming", blah blah blah... Its a tradition Hershey should do away with. All I'm asking for is 42 inches between cars or increase from an eight foot wide space to a ten feet wide. I saw plenty of open space around the show to make up that 25%. 2. Getting cars on the show field. You need to park about 1200 cars in two hours or one every six seconds. I did not study the bottleneck getting into the show, but I'll bet a contributor was the density of cars. Cars were held up by the car ahead of them backing up and pulling ahead and getting a little closer so you can be sure your doors bang because "I need to pack them in to have room for everyone comming". 3. The placement of cars. Splitting the classes up by the so called main street on the map looked good, but turns the show layout into a hodge podge. Keep the classes together so the show field does not look like a Walmart parking lot with people taking pictures. 4. Placement of vendors Instead of putting the soda fountain and hot dog vendors in the middle and the cars to the edges, move the vendors to the edges and keep the cars the focus. 5. Coffee. Although the food lines were long and slow, I enjoyed my hot dog with the toasted bun and the crab sandwich was great, but the one vendor selling coffee lost the technology on how to make it and could not give a time for having coffee done. I'll bring a thermos next year. 6. Grass. I liked the grass and understand there may be people that debate me on this one but the car show was probably a better use of the grass than golf. If it had rained we could have set up chairs watching the guys in the halftrack tow antiques through the mud. That would have been as entertaining as watching farm tractors tow Surburbans and car trailers a few years ago. Grass is fine for small shows with multiple ways in and out, but may not be right in the long term for Hershey. I think Hershey has been lucky for the last two years. 7. Problems with dust. Like a lot of people, I don't run my car much and work hard keeping it looking good, but I got no problems with a little dust. And believe me, it was a little dust. The ground got soaked Thursday. Imagine the dust if it had been dry. Its a car. Take it home and give it a bath. 8. Leaving. When I left the field I was sent to the right, to a road block manned by a cop asleep in his car and no signs. It was a chance to ride around Hershey a bit in my old car and as long as I kept within view of the roller coaster I knew I'd find my trailer. Hershey was lovely. See you next year. Bill

I first saw it at a local car show in the summer of 2000 and not being a Studebaker kook I did some research and bought it later that fall. My log shows I started the tear down in Nov 2002, a couple years later. I put about 700 hours into it before taking the body to the paint shop in Oct 2005 and did about 200 hours more work on trim, wiring, trim buffing, door guides, trim buffing, dash etc. while it was in the shop. In June 2006 the paint shop was flooded and the primer coats had to be stripped and redone. It left the paint shop in March 2007 and I retired from my day job a week later. After a total of 1200 hrs of my time, I first drove it on the road in May and got my First Jr in June. In August I made a triumphant return to the show where seven years earlier where I first saw it and took the best of show. Bill

Before and after pix of my Speedster engine are attached. More pictures are at http://rides.webshots.com/album/92356105klDnPG?start=0 Bill

1951 Fiat 500C 497cc 16 hp 1955 Studebaker Speedster 259 ci Bill Clark

The Hemmings New England Concours had some great cars that I had not seen and cars and people that I had seen in Kalamazoo and at the Micro Car Show the week before in Boston. I was a great day. Pix are at this link. http://rides.webshots.com/album/559992998ikwYHD Bill

Where can we find a new or clean used vented gas tank for a 65 Bonneville? Thanks Bill

Thanks to the judges for donating their time and to the people that spent small fortunes on museum pieces for the Dover show. Grand Nationals are always grand and this one was no exception. For the first time in a long time, the team captain asked about the correctness of a feature on my car, in this case the bumper bolts. It was a fair question and I'm glad he asked, but I could not come up with the documentation. AACA judges are trained to look for things that match, but in this case the bolts do not and they should not be the same. Since the show, I have found original parts book documentation that shows the correct bolt configuration. All the front bolts and the rear outside bolts should be round chrome plated carriage bolts. The rear inside bolts should be chrome hex head bolts with a fat chrome washer. In the case of a Met with a trunk, you can see how the bolt screws into a captured nut in the trunk, but on an older car with no trunk lid, you can not see whats going on. When I reviewed old judging sheets that have been returned to me indicating areas I've lost points on, I expect that I've lost points and that every Met shown is at risk for losing points for mismatched rear bumper bolts. My question is on the advice that I should give to Met owners that are showing their car in an AACA show. Certainly they should take showroom lit, an original service manual and an original parts book, to the show with them. My mom told me to be quiet until I'm asked to speak, but should the owner, with documentation in hand, risk being quite and losing points or point this feature out to the judge before they judge the car, or should they wait until the team captain asks about it. Bill Clark 60 Met Grand Nat Sr Dover 2006 ! 57 Met First Grand National 51 Fiat, anything but grand

I'm looking for a source for rod bearing inserts for a 51 Fiat Topolino model 500C. Either a club that I can join for help, a vendor that will sell inserts based on measurements, someone who can make them or where to get them. My first go around at this went very bad ($) and I'm looking for a second source. Thanks and Merry Christmas Bill Clark Endicott, NY 57 Met GN First Jr 04 60 Met Sr 03 55 Studebaker Speedster all apart 51 Fiat in Boxes

Thanks for the Address Peter. Now I can ask what I already know. We'll fix it up and try again. See you in Denver in 2005. Bill