Jan.-Feb. ‘98 ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHAPTER Issue 1& 2

January & February Activities

By D.J. Kazmierzak

The first RMB Board meeting was held at Corvette City, Englewood, CO on January 3^rd at 9:00AM. This meeting finalized the activities for ‘98 and initiates the new officers to the board. We will also reviewed the ’97 year and completed the reports for NCRS that are required for the Chapters operation.

The general meeting on Saturday January 17^th will be Erie to Bowtie Judge Kevin Murnane’s ’63 Z06 Roadster in Mike Bogan’s garage (303) 828-3711. The meeting will be one in our series of Bowtie Judging schools. Kevin’s car has been invited to the NCRS National Convention in St. Louis, July 5-9, and we will help him prepare the car for this event.

We will meet at the Cracker Barrel, I25 & 120^th Avenue at 7:30AM for the early risers for breakfast or 9:30AM for the not so hungry. We will leave the Cracker Barrel at 10:00AM to caravan to Erie. Sorry, if you’re not there for the caravan you’ll miss this event, as we do not want to publish the address or directions. So be prompt if you want to be at this Bowtie Judging School. If you are interested in ’63 Fuelie’s, you’ll be at this meeting.

January 31^st will be the Polar Bear Swap meet at the Adams county Fairgrounds. Last year we were very successful at this swap meet and we hope we are again this year. Our space is #94 in the main building. As we did last year, bring you parts to be sold to Corvette City the week before (Jan26-30). Make sure they are marked with your name and the price you want for the item. If we can not identify the owner and the item is sold, the proceeds go to the Chapter. The Chapter will collect a 10% fee for all items sold unless otherwise negotiated for higher cost items.

February 21^st will be the general meeting followed by an invitation only tech session at Jim Lennartz’s garage for the assembly of "JOE". "JOE": is the code name for Barry Morris’s engine. "JOE" will be assembled here and shipped to the UK for installation into Barry’s Corvette. Note; if the weather is bad the tech session will be the following Saturday, February 28^th.

The Year at a Glance

By Bill Bell Activities Chairman

Here is the tentative schedule for activities scheduled for 1998. This list is not etched in stone, and is subject to change with little or no notice. I would still encourage ANY RMC member who wishes to propose and coordinate a club activity to let me know so we can get it in the planned activities for the year.

January 17^th General Chapter Meeting.

January 22-25^th 20^th Annual Winter Regional, Cypress Gardens, FL.

January 31^st Adams County Polar Bear Swap
Meet Chair: Lori Lennartz 674-0295

February 21^st Jim Lennartz’s Garage: Rebuild of Joe (the motor for Englishman Barry)
Chair: Bill Bell 988-8501. Space is limited to about 20, so RSVP.

March 21^st Corvette City: How to buy/drive a trailer.
Chair: Chris Watson

April 2-4^th NCRS Western Regional Albuquerque
Chair: Dennis Kazmierzak 697-8428

April 18^th Detail class at a local Detailing Company
Chair: Joe Thompson 526-0741

April 30 May 3^rd Bowling Green, KY. Southern Regional.

May 16^th Clive Cusslers’ collection of cars
Chair: Bill Bell 988-8501

June: Dillon, Colorado Vette Net Southwest Show/Shine Chair: Bill Bell 988-8501

June 27-28^th Motorsport Vintage Races at Stapelton

July 4th  July 4th Party at Terri and Eckhard Pobudas’ home Chair: The Pobuda's (719) 488-1767

July 5-9^th 1998 NCRS 25^TH National Convention, Collinsville, Illinois

July 18^th Vettes to Vail Road Trip

August 1-2^nd Looking Glass Corvette Association Vettes on the Rockies
Chair: Bill Barcus

August 1-2^nd England Trip to see "Joe"
Chair: Jack Humphrey

August 18-22^nd Sun Valley, ID. Northwest Regional

August 29^th Carlisle, PA NCRS CARLISLE

September 19^th Jim Lennartz’ Garage-plating class
Chair: Jim Lennartz

October 17^th Echo Lake Road Trip and Picnic
Chair: Bill Bell

November 21^st Shelby Road trip to Boulder
Chair: Bob Davis

December 5^th Christmas Party

Any other ideas are graciously welcomed. If you have an activity, please call at your earliest opportunity.

Also. Our club general meetings are the third (3^rd) Saturday of every month, at

Chairman’s Comments

By Dennis Kazmierzak

The Chapter activities for 1998 are off and running. As you can see by the planned activities in the preceding article. If you don’t have your calendar set early this year, you may want to look at it now.

The Chapter Board approved the appointment of Bob Davis as our new Communications Chairman. Bob is preparing our WEB site. As soon as this is completed, you’ll be able to find out everything we are planning, read the newsletter, join the Chapter, connect to the NCRS web sight and see what we’ve done. We hope you’ll enjoy this extension of our Chapter’s reaching out to the membership. The web address will be posted at a later date when it’s completed.

The Board also approved the removal of the Historian position on the Board. We have had no activity with this position and therefore replaced it with the Communications position. Dave Egander served this position for the past few years. The Chapter thanks Dave for his support in our decision.

Wounded & Limping....(Concluded)

By Jack Humphrey

So, my ‘71 is fresh from a major engine rebuild just in time for the Steamboat ‘97 Regional. My in-laws have come half way across the country to drive ‘er up so I can get haul my ‘65 Duntov display car and be in compliance with NCRS Founder’s Award rules (cars must be driven both ways to Chapter, Regional, National Meets by the owner or immediate family members).

We start our journey. I’m driving my ‘93 Suburban pulling an enclosed car hauler with my ‘65. My father-in-law is driving the "fresh" ‘71 SB, soft top up, A/C running. Things go O.K. until we’re on the Eisenhower Tunnel approach at the Continental Divide (+11,000 feet altitude) -- we’ll cross the Divide twice in our journey. I see Corvette headlights flashing in my rearview mirror. Oh, oh....

We caravan off onto the shoulder of the freeway. Stan, my father-in-law, a WW2 navy pilot says something’s "funny" under the hood. Car’s stumbling and engine runs erratically under load. He revs the power plant to show me. NOTHING! RPMs climb smoothly without a hiccup. Stan decides maybe he saw things that "ain’t" and we start out again.

We cross the Continental Divide through the Eisenhower tunnel and descend into the town of Dillon where we leave the freeway for the two-lane portion of our Steamboat trip. We’d agreed to pull off here and fuel up. I’m at the pump filling when Stan wheels the ‘71 in.

He motions to me, rolls down the window and says, "Listen". This time the engine revs REAL ROUGH, stumbling and bucking against motor mounts. We round up the "usual suspects" and start interrogation.

Loose plug wires? Nope. Loose/bad distributor cap? The show quality ignitions shields come off -- No, again. Loose coil wires? Nope. Loose distributor clamp? No luck. Flaky distributor vacuum advance? No obvious leaks.

There’s a small mountain town Chevy dealer down the road, and it’s a weekday morning. We pull in. Stan notes the car seems to drive OK if he accelerates SLOWLY. We find the service manager and talk.

He asks what we’d like to do. I want to throw on timing light to make sure the static advance is on and the vacuum advance is working. "No problem", he says. "Just leave the car and we’ll get to it tomorrow or the day after." BIG HELP, Mr. Goodwrench!

Stan and I caucus. We’re about half way there. We decide to press on and it easy. He’ll watch the temp gauge and keep an ear out.

From time to time the ‘71 loses ground in the rearview mirror, but does catch up on flat/downhill stretches. At Rabbit Ears pass (our second climb over the Continental Divide), the ‘71 drops WAY back. I can’t see ‘em anymore and pull over at the top of the pass.

After ten minutes, I panic. Better turn around. Heck, we DO have a car hauler -- push comes to shove, the ‘65 can drive to Steamboat and the ‘71 can ride. Just as I crank up the Suburban, the ‘71 limps up.

Stan’s visibly upset. Things are gettin’ worse! Anything beyond first gear and 20-30 MPH is a definite problem. There’s no cooling problem and no threatening engine sounds (metal screeching). I tell Stan it’s all downhill to "Da Boat". He musters a weak grin, gives a thumbs up, and we push on. WE MAKE IT!

Lots to do setting up the judging field, getting registration open and helping out with the reception party setup. The ‘71 sits in the parking lot cooling.

The next morning, I get help volunteered from more than a few RMC members. The "usual suspects" are again rounded up and again no obvious problems are found. The next step is to pull the valve covers and delve deeper into the engine. I reject the help.

I don’t think there’s time for anything major before the Founder’s Operation Check. All the test calls for is start/idle and it’s obvious she does that. We let "sleeping dogs" lie and wheel her onto the judging field. Maybe I’ll make history -- be the first NCRS member to flunk a Founder’s Operation Check at a Regional....

Judging Day dawns and eventually it’s my turn "in the barrel" for a Founder’s Operation Check. I’m thinking it’s a good thing I brought along a fire extinguisher for those bonus points....

Terry McManmon, 1970-72 National Team Leader, has flown in from Chicago. He’s got his judging face on and we start down the checklist. Other than a cockpit error here/there (I’m nervous about that old initial startup I know is coming), the ‘71 does what she’s supposed to do. Doors open, close, lock, unlock. Keys are correct fit and work.

Now we’re at the moment of truth. Terry says, "Depress the accelerator pedal to the floor once and tap the key". VARROOMM --hooray!

We check this and that. Does the ignition inter-lock work? Yes. Windshield wipers/washers? Yep. Radio, interior, exterior lights, air-conditioning? Yep, yep, yes! O.K., let’s rev ‘er up and see her drop off high idle....

One squeamish "touch" on the accelerator and no luck. Terry says, "Kick it higher and hold it a little longer." Gulp, here goes....

Above 2200 RPM, she starts bucking. I see judges looking into the engine compartment like RCA Victor dogs. I let off and so does my high idle cam. The car snaps into engine hot/curb idle mode and purrs. Terry and the "pirates" fade away for a private conference momentarily.

Shut ‘er down, check for A/C compressor engine-off clutch engagement. Yep, just like the book says. A few more miscellaneous checks are made (oil leaks, radiator puke, Etc.) -- all OK. Mr. McManmon walks up score sheet in hand.

"Well, Jack, all a car’s gotta do here is idle and that she did. But, the rules call for driving to AND from these meets. I’m going to score a full pass, but I’ve got to tell you in case you don’t already know, you’ve got a SERIOUS valve train problem. I’d be REAL CAREFUL driving this puppy home."

Whew! I made it! The judging is over, we push paper to tally scores, hold the Awards Banquet, and have two days to enjoy the vintage races. Now I’ll take that RMC help, "dig" inside and see what’s what.

The next day, volunteer RMC experts (thanks Jim Lennartz) assemble, tools in hand. Valve covers come off -- yuk! The number two cylinder rocker stake pins have lifted. Push rods are bent. The boys pull ‘em and hike over to the race pits. The refrain of, "Anyone got Chevy smallblock parts?" is returned with numerous grunts of positive acknowledgment from various camps.

A tidy selection of push rods appears magically. Stock and high performance rods in various lengths sally forth. Amazing! Sure is nice to be at the track....

Back at the Old Judging Field, the ‘71 is getting a minor valve train re-rebuild. We hope it’s enough to get her home safely where heads can be pulled and set back to the machine shop under warranty.

The boys at Corvette City are "tickled to death" to see my car again! When the autopsy is complete, we find: (1) it was the machine shop’s replacement head that let go, (2) both valves on the number two cylinder are history, (3) all rocker stake pins had been press fit into place as factory original (some rebuilders thread or pin these as insurance), (4) there’s no major collateral damage to the engine, and (5) one month later "Red Riding Hood" lives again!

Treasurers Report

By Joe Orecchio

The books are to be audited after the closing of the December billings. As of the last posting we looked like this;
 

A more detailed report will appear in the next newsletter.

Merchandise For Sale

By Fred Koenig

As the New Year starts, so do I as your new merchandise coordinator. Reed Merritt is turning over the job to me and I hope to follow the fine example he has set. As you know we now keep all inventories at Corvette City but if there is anything you need, please call my house and I will send it to you if it is in stock. My home phone and fax # (970) 669-4299. The Mason Jars are a true Collectors item, a for limited time - $1.00.

Current club merchandise is:
 

All shirts and jackets add $2.00 for XXL. All new members get a cap and nametag at no cost with payment of the initial $30.00 membership fee.

UK CHAPTER MEET

Preliminary plans are being made for the trip by several of our members to England for this UK Chapter Judging Meet. Jack Humphrey is checking on the flights and fairs. Anyone interested in going should contact Jack.

Initially the plans call for the following:

As ideas are collected from our friends in England regarding other activities, we will announce them in meetings and the newsletter.

Idea, my company has 4 plants in the UK. Do you want to tour an automotive bearing and steering column plant? Or a large industrial bearing factory.

What do you want to do?

 FOR SALE

For Sale or Trade 1958-60 rt. Frt. Bumper $100.00, T3 headlights $15.00 each, ’65 radiator 315091 (65F) trade for (61 June build), ‘58-60 rear Plexiglas $75. ’76 dealer album $200.00, Corvette news, GM Corvette color ads. Wanted for ’61 ; 022 master brake cyl., headlamp buckets, 3 step oil pan, ignition shielding, jack, dealer promo postcards, for ’54, ’58, ’59, ’61, ’62 &’64. ’65 cards to swap. Corvette news Vol1 &2 will buy others. Weldon Montgomery (303) 530-1372

For Sale..4 orginal Goodyear Redlines F70-15 ($150.00/OBO). McCleod 64109014 dual disk clutch, pressure plate & flywheel (168 tooth) $750 new sell $300 OBO, Small block intakes 3746829 (A228), 3844457 (F44) $15 each. Custom-built work bench $45.00 . Rick Landeira (303) 530-2455 e-mail landeira@colorado.edu

1968 Corvette L-88. Restoration started. Disassembled. All unique and rare parts included. Soft documentation. Sell as is $28,000.00 Contact: D.J. Kazmierzak (303) 697-8428 e-mail DJKazmierzak@worldnet.att.net

396 CID. Std. bore 3855962, 4 bolt mains, K2465 code $650.00. 3872702 Heads I85 & J85, Bare $225.00. Contact Jim Lennartz (303) 674-0295

63-4 Repo K.O. wheels w/ tires & all mounting hardware $900.00. 63 new repo tan leather seat covers $200.00/pair. 63 starter (242) w/ correct solenoid $70.00. 63 alternator $30.00. 63 Non-frosted wheel covers, good condition $45.00/pair. Gas door latch type w/ retaining ring $50.00. Misc. console pcs. Call. New G.M. F.I. drive cable ass’y 63-65 $75.00. 63 windshield wiper switch $45.00 Vance Davis Days (800) 237-6792 Evenings (719) 520-3219

Paid Advertisement 10% DISCOUNT FOR ALL NCRS MEMBERS FRONTIER LIQUORS & WINE 1981 South Wadsworth Comer of Wadsworth & Jewell Lakewood, Colorado 80227 (303) 985-4906 Marcia Humphrey Owner Large Selection of Import & Micro Beers, Fine Wine, Liquor, & cigars Open Monday-Saturday, 8:00 a m - Midnight Major credit cards Accepted To obtain this discount, present your NCRS name badge, membership card, or hat.   

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHAPTER

MEMBERSHIP IN THE NCRS IS OPEN TO PERSONS INTERESTED IN THE RESTORATION, PRESERVATION AND HISTORY OF THE CORVETTE PRODUCED BY THE CHEVROLET MOTOR DIVISION OF GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION FROM 1953 THROUGH 1982. NCRS IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH CHEVROLET OR GENERAL MOTORS.

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