bill pritchett

Has anyone had a definitive answer on whether the new engine oils will hurt our engines with the flat tappets? There are a lot of articles on the lack of phosphate in the new SM oils.

My son, Brian, who will be 28 in a few days has just joined our chapter and attended his first annual meeting with me. He had a great time and is planning on coming back next year. I think he was pleasantly surprised at what went on. He enjoyed the seminars and interaction with other members. The auction is always fun as you never know what will be there. We always eat at Rex's for dinner Friday night as it is a lot cheaper and close to the hotel. For lunches I bring cold cuts, drinks, potato chips, cookies, etc. and split it with members from my region. There were 15 of us this time, and it only cost us $8 for two lunches. We get to know each other a little bit better as the room gets a little crowded with all the people in it. Also, Peter Gariepy gets a free lunch from me each year for the DF luncheon. Little does he know that I will be spending a few weeks next winter at his house as soon as I invite myself (what are friends for??), just kidding about a few weeks.

Will you be ordering the snow ski kit for the Model As that they use in the Northeast. At least then you will be able to get around.

You will take what I bring in the choices or else. I will take your request under advisement however. My son is planning on coming this year so I have to keep him in mind as this will be his first year. Are we having a room for the Forum members again this year? Bill

My goal is to make Peter pay for a sandwich at either Philadelphia or Hershey. Peter, see you at Phildelphia and I will be bringing the usual goodies. Bill

Interesting reply from Prestone. It kind of makes me wonder why they make it. We might as well use the regular fluid and save the money although it is not very much about $7-8 for a quart if I remember correctly.

Prestone now has fully synthetic brakes fluids out now. I saw them in Walmart and had my mechanic use 3 in my 61 Olds as I had to do the master cylinder. It feels the same and Prestone said 3, at least, is fully compatible with normal DOT 3 brake fluid. Has anyone used the new fluids yet?

Just to let everyone know. Prestone now has a DOT 3 and 4 fully synthetic brake fluids out. The 3 is compatible with regular 3 per my conversation with Prestone.

Hi Wayne, My 1961 Olds also has a green light for when the engine is cold. It goes off after it warms up. It has the red light for when it overheats. It must be that GM had that for a while although I do not know how long. I like the idea of a light but also would like to have a gauge also. I think some of the new cars have that now. My 1991 Plymouth Voyager offers both a gauge and idiot light so other vehicles must offer it. Bill Pritchett

http://local.aaca.org/njaaca/ is the correct URL. Sorry for incorrect web address.

Pictures of the winners and cars from our 55th annual judged Spring Meet can be found at www.aaca.org/njaaca. From what we understand, our meet is one of the few that are still judged at a local level. We had approximately 215 cars with several vendors, a car corral, etc. All vehicles had to be AACA eligible so it was quite a lot to judge.

Great to hear from you. We have a meeting tomorrow night if you can make it. It is in Morris Plains and you are most welcome. Details can be found at the web site or you can call me. Judges will be called at the show around 12:00. At the main meeting area, by the loudspeakers and memberhsip table, you can sign up there. I will be there so please look me up. I am also a member of VCCA so I am looking forward to meeting you.

I just wanted to let everyone in the northern NJ area that our 55th annual show will be held Sunday, May 7. We expect 250 cars if the weather is good. It is a judged show limited to AACA eligible cars. There is a flea market and car corral. Day of show registration is $15.00 with general admission only a $1. More details and directions can be found at http://local.aaca.org/njaaca. It will be held at Automatic Switch, 50 Hanover Road, Florham Park, NJ If you are in the area, please stop in and join the fun. If you have any questions, you can call me at 908-534-9069. Hope to see you there. Bill Pritchett, webmaster and membership chairman NJ Region AACA

Also a few of them had V-8s put in them at the factory, especially in England. I was on an MG tour (I have a TF) a couple of years ago and one was on it. They were a very small V-8, a Rover motor if I remember correctly. Also, a few American V-8 were put in them. The MGCs had a 6 but the suspension was not beefed up and caused a lot of problems so they were not sold very long. I have been told that when the suspension was improved, they were quite a joy to drive as long as it was in daylight and the Lucas Prince of Darkness could not get a hold of you.

I have read a few articles where your question came up. I have a 50 Olds. The articles said that GM said the AT fluid was compatible back to 49 so you should be ok.

Talk about rare occurrences, you forgot to mention that you and I finally met in person. Since you decided not to attend the DF meeting on Saturday at the last Hershey, I was wondering if you were even there. I received such a bad sunburn that Saturday that I could hardly drive home because I burned myself so badly. See you soon and talk with in the Forums much sooner. Bill

A 1968 Corvette stolen when it was brand new in New York 37 years ago has been recovered in California and will be returned to its rightful owner in New York. The Times article said it was never registered. This shows that you can never give up hope. I wonder what the car is worth now, probably quite a bit being a Corvette convertible. I often wonder what the outcome is of all the stolen cars that are listed in the back of Hemmings. The link to the article is: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17848875-23109,00.html. It is also in the New York Times but requires free registration to see it.

Did anyone see the letter on Saturday to Dear Abby about a wife who had moved her husband's antique car and had a fender bender with it? She said that he had threatened to divorce her. She was writing Dear Abby about what to do. She said that he had probably cooled off by the time she replied and everything would be fine. I usually agree with Dear Abby but have some reservations on this one. Sorry I do not have the text of the column but it can be found at http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/?uc_full_date=20060114.

Does it make FrontPage work any better?

To all of you, I proudly have a 61 98 Sport Sedan with the beautiful light lavender color. Some of may have seen it at Hershey over the years. As a matter of fact, I actually have two shades of lavender on the car as I had to do some rear third end repairs and have not had time to do the remainder. Olds actually did a survey a few years ago and found out that people who drive cars of this color are much happier than most drivers. However, you have to drive a 61 98 Sport Sedan, otherwise you are just an averge happy person. Also, the same survey showed that you actually increased your gas mileage by 20 MPG using that color as it makes the car more streamlined. I understand Oldsmobile will be offering it standard on the new 2007 models but only on the 97 models.

Having a 61 Olds, I know the fun of obtaining the parts.

Perhaps they could add an extra day to Hershey so we could have more time. I vote for moving it from November to October.

I was there with 4 other guys. We arrived on Wednesday and did the car corral and part of the chocolate field. Thursday, we did the white and other parts of the chocolate field. Friday, due to the heavy rain predicted, we did the Harley Davidson factory tour and sort of took it easy the remainder of the day. Saturday, I took my car to the show but left around 12:00 due to the heavy rain.

I will be there from Wednesday to Saturday having a lot of fun with 5 other guys including my son. I hear there are a few parts for sale so I may purchase something.

Wayne, If you want to see what the NJAACA region looks like, go to http://local.aaca.org/njaaca/Road%20Map.htm Bill