When summer hits and the weather is fine outside, no matter where you
are on Long Island, you can hear the musical sound of exhaust notes and
thundering V8s go roaring by!
It
IS the most wonderful time of the year. (Well, maybe just behind Christmas)
Every
once in while there is a decent sounding six that passes, but the rice engine
fours just sound like giant mosquitos buzzing past. No offense to all you
small-engine drivers, but nothing rivals the deep throbbing sound of an eight!
You
see, the allure of a bright sunny day and a cool car just go hand in hand. As
far back as I can remember I have always loved driving a car on a warm day.
Doesn’t matter where I am going, in fact, when I am going nowhere its the best!
Just resting the ol’ left forearm on the drivers door atop the open window,
radio blaring, 440 Magnum rumbling just in front of me! YEAH MAN!!
Hit
the road! Jericho Turnpike from NHP to Mineola. That was my regular lap. Head
down Denton Avenue, then east on Hillside, south on Herricks Road, east again
on Jericho. Stop in at AutoBarn, ATV, or B&R Auto. Pick up some Russell
steel braided hoses and anodized fittings, maybe some wax products or a new air
filter, etc! Chat for a bit with Mike or Rob at B&R….
Back
into the R/T. Burnout time!
Then
north on Roslyn or Glen Cove Roads to I.U. Willets, back west through Albertson
and Willy Park, and over to Shelter Rock Road, head south then turn right onto
Old Courthouse Rd, left onto Denton again and quick right back into Dunhill
Road where I started.
From
’79 when I got my license through ’89 when I moved, that was my loop. Enjoy a
nice ride, exercise the car, pick up some brews, wash it up for the night’s
pending activities, and tune it just right!
I
took many other cruises down to the Hot Rod BK on Hempstead Turnpike in East
Meadow, or up to Franny Lou in Bayside. Plus all the night trips to Jones Beach
- hang out for a few hours - and on the way home hit 100+ on Shore Parkway or
on a good stretch of the Meadowbrook.
Ahh,
the old days. When you got pulled over for driving with beers in the car and
all they did was confiscate your booze!
Can’t
even count the number of times. (Thank God we never got in an accident or hurt
anyone)
The
Charger was a great winter ride, with all the space between the radiator and
the front bumper, my buddies and I would store four six packs on the valance
pan. Driving along in the cool air would keep those babies nice and chilled!
Periodically we would pull over, pop the hood, grab another six, and get back
to cruising!
10
mpg wasn’t so bad, gas was under a buck a gallon and the tank held 20!
Today
its different. I am a respectable father and editor of Long Island Classic
Cars.com. Even though the booze is gone and I don’t hit 100 anymore - since I
have kids at home that need me and I am bright enough now to consider other
drivers; I still have a great time cruising in the R/T or one of the other
menacing Mopars I own.
I’ll
never stop loving cars and driving around in a cool one!
Summer
is here, just cruise man! Just cruise!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1
Editor’s Introduction
2 Picture Caption Contest
3 Cruise Night Information
4 Guest Writer’s Columns
Tom Sebastian
Lou Refano
Justin Appelbaum
Sandy Kane
Rich’s Tech Tips
My Car Story
5 The Archive
6 Editor’s Closing
___________________________________________________
Long
Island Classic Cars’
Submit your entry along with your name and e-mail
address to: newsletter@liclassiccars.com
This contest is open to everyone! (LI Classic Cars.com
paid personnel, regular column writers, and business advertisers are not
eligible.)
Winners will be notified by e-mail and/or phone.
Please submit all entries by the 20th of the next
month. (Ex: for Summer’s contest the entries are due by August 20th)
No substitutions of prizes will be allowed.
In the event of prize choices, winner will be given
the opportunity to select the one they want.
All decisions are final and are made by the paid
personnel of Long Island Classic Cars.com
Winners must claim their prizes within 30 days of
contest end or forfeit the prize to the runner up.
If there are multiple correct entries on puzzle,
matching, fill-in contests - winner will be randomly selected from all correct
entries.
A few simple rules:
1) Think - be clever!
2) Keep it somewhat clean.
Here is last month’s winning entry from Howard Leeds.
With fond
thoughts of Rodney Dangerfield: "My other car is no
bargain either. Every Sunday I take the family out for a push!”
Howard
wins a Mr. Clean AutoDry Car Wash kit!
Congratulations!
We had some other really great entries – here are two “Honorable
Mentions”….
"Boy, I sure hope he learns how to drive this thing soon so I can take the training wheels off. All right guys, one more time;1,2,3 PUSH!!!"
Dave Rothman
“Come and Test Drive The New ‘NOT SO SMART CAR’ at a dealer near you!”
John Vicari
OK - Here is the picture for our Summer “Caption Cut-Up
Contest”!!
Go to it! Send in your funniest, wittiest comments by 8/20/08 and
win the prize!
___________________________________________________
“EXTRA EXTRA!
READ ALL ABOUT IT!!”
The Cruise Nights are all up and running up for the year! Here is the latest
list!!
2008 Cruise Night location
updates:
TUESDAYS: McDonald's. Metropolitan Ave. & 69th Road, Forest Hills, NY.
Sponsored by East Coast Car Association/Toys For Tots
TUESDAYS: Audrey Ave. Oyster Bay, NY
Sponsored by Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce
TUESDAYS: Old Key Food Shopping Center. Dogwood Avenue. Franklin Square, NY
Public Gathering
WEDNESDAYS: KFC. William Floyd Pkwy & Montauk Hwy. Shirley, NY
Sponsored by Bow Tie Boulevard Camaro Club
WEDNESDAYS: Nathan's Famous. 3131 Long Beach Rd, Oceanside, NY
Public Gathering
WEDNESDAYS: Stop & Shop Center. Union Blvd, West Islip, NY
Sponsored by the Long Island Road Gents
THURSDAYS: Wendy’s Shopping Center. Montauk Hwy and Locust Ave, Oakdale, NY
Sponsored by Still Cruisin’ Car Club (May be closed down!)
THURSDAYS: King Kullen Center. Corner of Manor-Riverhead Rd & Rt 25a. Wading River, NY
Public Gathering
FRIDAYS: Bellmore Train Station. Sunrise Highway. Bellmore, NY
Public Gathering
FRIDAYS: Massapequa Train Station. Sunrise Highway. Massapequa, NY
Sponsored by the Massapequa Chamber of Commerce (starts in summer for 4 weeks only)
SATURDAYS: *AM Cruise* Steve’s Collision. 618 North Bicycle Path. Port Jefferson Station, NY.
Sponsored by Steve’s Collision. (1st Sat. of month – check EVENTS section for dates)
SATURDAYS: Food & Fun Deli - Omni Hardware Lot. 1228 N. Wellwood Ave, West Babylon, NY
Sponsored by Long Island Mopars. (Replacement for Kohl’s that was lost)
SATURDAYS: KFC. William Floyd Pkwy & Montauk Hwy. Shirley, NY.
Sponsored by Bow Tie Boulevard Camaro Club
SUNDAYS: *AM Cruise* Ocean Pkwy, Captree Beach Parking Lot through May, then at OBI.
Public gathering
If anyone know of any other cruise
locations that are fully up and running and not in danger of being cancelled
please let us know so we can post them for all to see - here and in the EVENTS
section of the website.
___________________________________________________
GUEST WRITERS’ COLUMNS
Tom Sebastian is back! Well, he’s always been here – but he’s back!! To
performance that is! Tommy – don’t ever leave us again! Enjoy his latest tale
of automotive indulgence and parlayance!
PS
–Don’t forget to check his footnotes when reading the article!
Lou Refano has
part two of his “Independents” series about Graham-Paige. Some real interesting
stuff about a breed long gone.
Justin
Appelbaum from AutoMat chats about
their annual summer car show party. It’s a great time for all. Any of you who
haven’t been should really check it out next time around!
Sandy
Kane has organized an event that will be in its
third year now. This is no ordinary car show, swap, or get together. What he
has envisioned is a yearly event to raise awareness of, and money for, research
into prostate cancer. At his shows they do free screenings and have caught
several cases already for guys in the car community! Read the story here, and
get out to support this worthwhile, important, and fun September event!
Rich’s
Tech Tips sheds light on the old
RON+MON/2 and what we really need to consider about gasoline formulas.
In the My Car Story section we have a follow up story to what was an
interesting car the first time around, and now, is just an unbelievably
creative gem from the minds and pockets of Dave Delman and his friend Tom Neiland! You may remember Dave’s DeLorean from a couple of
years ago, well he bought another one - see what he has done to it! Doc Brown
look out!!
Enjoy…
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Tom
Sebastian
Tom goes from this..
…. to this!
The 914 – ‘The Spirit Returneth’
Gimme’ That Old Time Religion!
I read a letter recently in Car & Driver proclaiming the vanishing choice of real drivers’ cars like the MX-5, the S2000 and the GTI.
Well, compared with the boring cars that are out there, the writer had his point. The MX-5 is now the training wheels for some big time racing schools, but it still comes up short of the refined, suave ride of the rotary RX-8 by the same company. And while, for sure, there are few cars out there with the taut, no-frills ride of the S2000, it still has none of the character of that company’s earlier, CRX Si. And while GTI owners will forever compare that car positively to everything else they ever own, it is still but half the car of the explosive Corrado -- especially the VR-6 from ’92 –94 -- the ultimate, Stealth Street Fighter of the 90’s.
Well, with the 914, I went everyone one better. I jumped right into the primordial soup of sports car DNA and came out with nothing less than the raw, elemental, mid-engined, lightweight, bare-boned, 2-inches off the pavement, Fun Machine!
“I can’t believe you don’t own this car! Don’t you want to have any fun in
your life?!
I yelled that to every Mustang owner I spotted as they hunched lazily over their steering wheels at top speed with all kinds of time to fiddle with treble, bass and fade settings for their rather eventless ride home. They kind of reminded me myself, just three hours earlier.
It was a one-to-one exchange. He took my Saab, I took his Porsche. No money exchanged.
(I’m sure he thinks he got the better deal. He looked shattered from his 3-hr adventure to meet me -- like a Le Mans driver in for a driver exchange, all but wiped out from trying to keep his stiff running racer on the road. I, on the other hand, must have looked like I just got out of bed. I couldn’t wait to change places with him!)
It was another case of ‘as soon as I saw it, I had to drive it; as soon as I drove it, I couldn’t imagine giving back the keys!’
Done deal. He got my comfy, 900 S Saab convertible and I took off in his raucous, untamed, Porsche 914 roadster.
Meeting halfway between his place and mine, I was in the optimal position of comparing rides. All I can say is that the ride home was as far removed from the trip over to meet him. As Mark Twain would say -- “the difference between lightening and the lightening bug.” Not only didn’t I have a radio any more (nor could I have heard it if I did) but I also didn’t want one. As even Beethoven himself cannot compete with the natural sounds of the rain forest, so it was here as well that sappy mood music would only hamper the full bouquet of mid-engine noise, acceleration, and straight-arm, rack and pinion turning.
The 914 didn’t experience an easy birth. In its heyday, as the replacement for the 912, this little wide-bodied wedge raised some ire.
“At least the 912 resembled the 911!” screamed the Grand Pooh Bahs (self-proclaimed) in the Porsche Realm. And they had a point: this new design seemed to come right out of left field.
Actually, it came out of a meeting between execs of VW and Porsche. Volkswagen too, was seeking to replace its Karmann-Ghia. Whereas Porsche was looking for another entry-level model, VW was looking for some relief from its 60’s image as the wheels of choice among druggies -- as well as from the somewhat silly aspect of Maxwell Smart chasing spies in their flagship Ghia. Although VW wasn’t quite ready to abandon the tie-died, cash cow that allowed them to talk to Porsche in the first place, they definitely were looking to expand their horizons.[1]
Unfortunately for VW, it was badged as a Porsche on this side of the Atlantic and thus they never got much credit for it. Because the truth of the matter is that this Porsche had one quality that the screaming 911’s of the era lacked: Reliability. An effortless start each and every morning; a simple, flat-4 engine that didn’t take one week’s pay to retune, and less than 100 horses strategically placed in midway down the chassis. It was really a Beetle in Wolf’s running gear -- and it was Porsche’s first Boxter. But with almost a thousand pounds less of extraneous curb weight than the current Boxter, even that one would be hard-pressed to match it thru the esses. He would be leaning hard into the turns while you would be skipping right on through. Even the bigger 911’s have to brake for the turns. You don’t. It is that well balanced. (It wasn’t first in its class at Le Mans for nothing.) And when you get really good at mastering what is, admittedly, a pretty damn loose gearbox, you can make the thing dance.
The experience was a turning point for VW. They had a taste for the fast life and never looked back.
For the company Porsche the opposite problem ensued: “What are you doing fooling around with the likes of VW to produce a sports car!?” asked the critics.
Well, I can give you the answer right now.
Just as Ferrari got pummeled by the press for working with Fiat to product the glorious 246 Dino, the result here is almost as brilliant. (Well, OK… I exaggerate. Nothing is as nice as a 246 Dino.)
What you gain by using VW parts aside from the obvious cost, part-availability and replacement advantage, is a Porsche engine that you, me -- anyone(!) -- can actually work on by ourselves.
But the real genius here was making this a mid-engine car. No one, NO ONE will believe you when you say there are only 80 HP setting just behind your head – the secret that allows it to zap through those turns as fast as it does.[2] You may enter the S-turns behind the bigger engine Boxter, but you may as well be exiting ahead of him. You will see his red lights going into it but anyone behind you would be shocked not see yours. You never have to use them. It’s all balance, baby… Barishnikov on wheels.
Among the Miatas.
How fitting that on my last trip of summer, I pulled out from the Inn and right into the midst of a rather sad looking Miata car club out for a cruise. The passengers appeared as listless as their cars. Retired teachers, perhaps, with no idea of what a ride in a real sports car even is. Too bad. I’m sure their radios were nice.
…..
Having owned the cars that came from the first two meetings between Porsche and VW, I can’t wait for the third. Porsche will always be Porsche, always pushing the envelope to produce the best sports car on the road, but Volkswagen is now an entirely new entity. When you consider the GTI, and the Corrado; the company’s recent purchase of Bentley and Bugatti; their experience producing the fabulous Phaeton and the fastest production car on the planet -- The Veyron -- then you would have to say that they have passed well beyond the ‘specter’ of Maxwell talking into his shoe and Dead Heads chasing Jerry Garcia across the country in multi-colored buses.
Whatever else this future hybrid will look like, it won’t be cheap. And that makes me think my recent exchange, a 914 for a Saab 900, was the deal of the century! You should be this lucky!
NEXT TIME: “Prelude to
Victory!”
(Deal of the
century? You mean STEAL of the century!! How in the world did you accomplish an
even swap!?!?) Pete
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
GRAHAM-PAIGE
MOTORS, PART 2
by
Louis Refano
(photos by the
author)
Ray Lignowski’s Graham-Paige model 45 is a great
example of a “cruise-able” piece of automotive history. And I must thank
him for not only sharing his antique automobile with me on a sunny afternoon,
but for providing me with a wealth of information related to this pre-war
classic and the people who engineered it.
The steering box is solid, not a lot
of play in it. The Wagner hydraulic drum brakes, built by Lockheed, stop
the car sufficiently, but Ray says you have to keep your eyes farther down the
road and be prepared to step on the brake pedal early, as you could imagine it
takes quite a bit longer to stop than your typical modern four-wheel disc
brakes. The flathead motor is fairly smooth and very durable; fixing it
is simplicity itself, virtually “idiot-proof“ as Ray puts it. It’s
a low-compression engine that rarely seizes up, and the softly-sprung valves
prevent damage from over-revving the motor. With its flathead design it
is extremely rare to have a broken valve or piston. An interesting engine
feature is the adjustable timing chain. When your timing chain wears out
and you hear some slapping noise, you can simply loosen a bolt and move the
assembly outward to tighten it back up (this was recommended maintenance every
Spring). Grease cup rotation every 500 miles is also part of the
maintenance plan, as well as adding a few drops of oil to the bearings.
Ray’s car does not have the optional oil filter but does have strong oil
pressure. Cleaning the system out involves simply removing a copper
assembly and cleaning out the tubes (like fingers) that feed the main
bearings. This assures that you can start the old motor with sufficient
oil pressure.
On the inside, everything works,
including the vacuum-operated Trico fan on the passenger side, the clock in the
rearview mirror, and the heater (all dealer-installed). Regarding that
heater, it’s simply an exposed heater core in a box with a fan behind it, with
a toggle switch on the dash for high and low speeds. According to Ray,
many owners would install a hose in the summertime, such as a garden hose, to
redirect the flow of hot air away from the passenger compartment.
Ray found this car in a junkyard in
Rapid City, South Dakota, through Hemmings Motor News. He was looking for
something “odd”, something different, a car produced by an independent from the
1930s that wouldn’t normally be found at the typical car show. And
believe you me, it stood out quite a bit at the Bellmore Train Station cruise
night. He bought the car in the summer of ‘98. Since it was in a
dry climate in South Dakota, there was very little rust-through, just some
surface rust. The bad news was, most of the structural wood was
shot. The driver’s side of the car that was exposed to the sun and
elements for decades, had wood that was virtually non-existent; “you could just
grab it in your hand and squeeze it, and it would turn to dust,” according to
Ray. The passenger-side wood was still intact, so Ray took the patterns
from that to recreate the driver’s side. He had learned some
painting and bodywork in high school, but had to teach himself carpentry and
sophisticated bodywork. By 2000 he had the drive train running…he took it
all apart and cleaned out all the hardened caked-up grease. Lots of parts
are interchangeable with common tractor parts and industrial machine parts,
such as the U-Joints. Bearings can be found that are similar. He is
in the process of teaching himself how to do the upholstery…he found a place in
Massachusetts that makes the original mohair material for seating and door
panels, and plans to buy an industrial sewing machine on Ebay. Talk about
a hands-on restoration project!
Hunting down parts for a car like this is a
lot easier, thanks to support from the GOCI (Graham-Paige Owners Club
International…they also have a New England chapter that Ray belongs to).
Through the club he found a supplier in Canada who makes anything that is pot
metal, such as reproduction door handles and radiator caps. Graham-Paige
Motors also had a warehouse of parts stored at the Duesenberg factory (now the
Duesenberg Museum) up until the late 1960s. The current owner of all
these parts, which includes factory-fresh new fenders, gas tanks, etc., is
threatening to sell all the stuff as scrap metal because he is not making a
sufficient return on his investment. His cache also includes rare factory
blueprints of wood patterns. Some G-P Clubbers were attempting to pool
their resources to buy some of these parts at an auction that was to take
place, but no word on how that turned out. Hopefully they had some
success and these priceless antiques were saved.
The color of the car is Graham Maroon
(Ray found a standard G-P color card on Ebay). Graham-Paige, like other
independent automakers, had to make their cars stand out more, and a simple way
of doing that was by offering interesting colors, like light greens, yellows,
and light blues, when most cars of the early 30’s were dark colors or
black. Pinstriping that also highlighted the separation of body color
from fender color was also part of the package, and need to be applied to this
Graham to make it accurate.
Ray gives some advice about people
thinking about restoring an old “clunker” that needs serious restoration:
Give it a try, and if you make a mistake, well, no big loss, because you
started with a car that doesn’t run anyway. In the meantime, you can
acquire a lot of knowledge about the process, and have that sense of
accomplishment, however small it may be.
Ray has no pretensions about making
his 1930 Graham a 100-point trophy winner. It is, for all intents and
purposes, a “drivable dream”; a rolling time machine that is used for the
family to enjoy spring and summer days in the park, family ice cream runs, and
“working-class” car shows such as the Bellmore Train Station. He has
transformed the car over the last 7 years from junkyard heap to fine-looking
antique. Even though there are many imperfections in details, such as
missing window curtains, homemade seat covers, original faded paint on the
accessory trunk, tarnished chrome pieces, etc., this car is one to be very
proud of. As I was interviewing Ray at the Freeport Boat Ramp, several
passersby stared and grinned at the car and voiced their approval. Even a
kid with a motorized scooter shouted “Nice car!” After all, classic beauty is
timeless, spans generations, and possesses integrity and truth. I’m
thinking the Graham Brothers would have appreciated the warm response they
received in 2008 to their mechanical marvel of 1930.
So what became of Graham and their
innovative cars?
In 1932 they introduced a line of cars
called “Blue Streak” which were quite handsome and aerodynamic…but the country
was in the throes of the Great Depression, and all automakers suffered great
losses in sales. By 1935, the "Blue Streak" styling was getting
rather dated. A restyling of the front and rear ends for 1935 proved to
be a disaster, making the cars appear higher and narrower. Having no money for
a new body, Graham signed an agreement with Reo, paying Reo $7.50 in royalties
for each Hayes-built body. These were the basis of the 1936 and 1937 Graham
cars. Amos Northup of Murray Body was hired to design a new model for
1938. Unfortunately, he died before the design was complete. It is believed the
final design was completed by Graham engineers. The new 1938 Graham was
introduced with the slogan "Spirit of Motion". The car looked like it
was moving while standing still. The fenders, wheel openings and grille
all possessed a forward look. The design was widely praised in the American
press and by American designers. It also won the prestigious Concours
D'Elegance in Paris, France and other international style awards. Its
cut-back grille later gained the car the name "shark nose“. Did
American car buyers appreciate the award-winning styling? Nope. The
lineup was a complete flop, and Graham limped through 1939 and 1940.
Desperate for a winning offering and unable to retool, Graham made a deal with
Hupp Motor Co. in late 1939. According to the deal, the faltering company
entered into an arrangement with Hupmobile to build cars based on the body dies
of the stunning Cord 810/812. In an effort to remain in business, Hupp had
acquired the Cord dies, but lacked the financial resources to build the
car. Graham agreed to build the Hupp Skylark on a contract basis, while
receiving the rights to use the distinctive Cord dies to produce a similar car
of its own, to be called the Hollywood. The striking Skylark/Hollywood differed
from the Cord in having a shorter hood and conventional headlights. The Cord's
long hood was not needed, as the Hupp and Graham versions were rear-wheel
drive. However, the Hollywood did not stop the company's slide. It
actually was a worse flop in the sales department for both Graham and Hupmobile
than either firm's respective preceding models. The company suspended
manufacturing in September, 1940, only to reopen its plant for military production
for World War II. The company resumed automobile production in 1946
producing a new car, the Frazer, named for Graham-Paige President Joseph
Frazer, in partnership with Henry J. Kaiser. It also began production of farm
equipment under the Rototiller name. In August 1945, Graham-Paige announced
plans to resume production under the Graham name, but the plan never
materialized. On February 5th, 1947, Graham-Paige stockholders approved the
transfer of all their automotive assets to Kaiser-Frazer in exchange for
750,000 shares of Kaiser-Frazer stock and other considerations. Graham's
manufacturing facilities on Warren Avenue were sold to Chrysler, who used the
plants first for DeSoto body and engine production, and finally for assembly of
the Imperial from 1959-1961. Graham-Paige dropped the "Motors"
from its name and went into real estate, buying up such properties as the
Roosevelt Raceway in New York and Madison Square Garden. In 1962, the firm
changed its name to the Madison Square Garden Corporation, which was later
absorbed by Gulf & Western Industries. Currently Madison Square Garden is
part of Madison Square Garden, L.P., of which a majority interest is owned by
Cablevision Systems Corporation.
In my last article I teased about
covering the GM Centennial/Buick 105th Anniversary and Buick National Meet in
Flint, Michigan. It was quite a special weekend, and I took a wealth of
photos. Time doesn’t permit me to give the full story here so you’ll have
be “regaled” in the next article. But I did want to mention that one of
the most enjoyable aspects of that trip was when I was traveling along
I-75...the corridor between Flint and Detroit. Just about every car on
that highway was an AMERICAN car. While I was on the bus going to the GM
Heritage Center in Lansing, I decided just for fun to count the different kinds
of cars going the other way on the highway. At one point, 39 cars in a
row passed that were GM, Ford, or Chrysler products! Overall, imports
averaged around 1 in 10. Seemed like the old days! Gotta love the
loyalty of those Motor City people. Maybe CNN or NBC should cover this
angle, instead of all the doom-and-gloom news they give us about the American
auto companies. The whole event rekindled my sense of pride in the
American autoworker, the legacy of their great machines, and the renaissance
that is just around the corner. It’s been a great ride - and don’t ya
know it America, it ain’t over yet!
Sources: Millikan Motors, wikipedia.org, graham-paige.com,
nada-guides.com
( Lou,
great concluding piece. What a marquee!) Pete
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Resto Turned Custom"
By Justin
Appelbaum 
For those of you who don’t know, or have been stuck under a rock, AutoMat Co. was founded in 1956 by one man, Eric Browner, in the basement garage of a building in Hicksville, NY. Fifty plus years later it is run by his two sons Tim and Roger along with a loyal staff of over twenty people in a 12,000 sq. ft. facility. Recognized as one of the largest and most respected upholstery shops on the East Coast, all sorts of vehicles can be found in their shop at any given time, from classics, to muscle cars, modern customs, to hot rods, no job is to small or to big. In fact this past February at the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Spring Expo AutoMat Co. was named “Trimmer of the Year” in recognition of outstanding performance and dedication to the restyling industry. This is a major award and should not be taken lightly.
This past June marked their 52nd year in business and nothing calls for a car show more then an anniversary, so that is exactly what AutoMat did. Their annual pre father’s day customer car show was held at their shop in appreciation of all the support over the years. The day was spectacular and over two hundred cars of all years, makes and models turned out for the event. Cars filled the parking lot, lined both sides of the street all the way around the building and the lot across the street. There was a DJ on hand playing music from all eras keeping the crowd grooving.
In order to make the day official, once again the AutoMat All Girls Judging Squad was in full effect and looking beautiful, judging all the vehicles in attendance and posing for pictures with all of the owners. Although the task at hand was quite difficult as all of the cars were trophy worthy, by the end of the day they had come up with a list of the top three winners. In third place was Wilson Gonzales with his customized bright red 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air coupe with a complete one off tan interior. Taking home second place was Steve Bender who brought his 1958 gold and red flamed Chevrolet pick-up truck. Top honors went to Al Baker and his stunning 1967 Chevrolet El Camino. There are few words to describe how amazing the details of this car are. For the complete build of this car see the June 2008 issue of LI Rides
.
A very special acknowledgement went out to Rudy Rosenberg who brought two fine examples of older European heritage. First was his powder blue 1955 Mercedes Benz 300, an awesome four-door convertible. The second a royal blue 1938 Rolls Royce Phantom III was luxury at its finest.
Also at the show once again was actor, fighter and all around badass Chuck Zito from HBO’s OZ and the Howard Stern Show with his “Worlds Baddest ’57 Chevy” with an interior recently completed by AutoMat. Chuck was on hand, signing copies of his book “Street Justice,” selling t-shirts and taking pictures with his fans.
LI Rides magazine was also on hand taking photographs and covering the days events. With a plethora of past issues in stock, they were given out to everybody that wanted one. There were a multitude of car at the show that had already been featured in the magazine and they were able to pick up some extra copies.
The day itself was a huge success, and fun was had by all. AutoMat would like to thank all those in attendance and all their past customers who could not make it to the celebration but have made the rise of AutoMat triumphant. The show is an annual event held every Saturday before Fathers Day. Hope to see you there next year.
(Indeed a fun event with lots going on)
Pete
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Cruizin’ With Results!!
by Sandy Kane
“We saves men’s
lives“ should be the name of the antique and classic car show instead of Long
Island Cruizin’ For A Cure.
First held in
September 2006, the show is unique in what it does – it is not just another
antique car show. The money raised is donated to Prostate Cancer testing and
education here on Long Island.
Most of the
components of the event, from the entertainment, to the location, to the raffle
gifts, are donated. This allows us to give over 90% of the money raised. In
addition, the show offers free on site PSA testing (a simple blood test) for
early detection of Prostate Cancer to every male attending. The actual test
takes less than a minute, with the results sent to the individual two weeks
later. This testing has resulted in the discovery of six potential cases of
Prostate Cancer in the last two years, saving the lives of these six men!
After my surgery
in January of 2004 I was looking for a way to give back and to educate men on
LI about Prostate Cancer, and that if it is caught early, it is not life
threatening. I found the original show - Cruisin For A Cure, held in
Through a
conversation with a business friend, I was made aware of the President’s
Council, a group that met yearly in January that is comprised of the presidents
of dozens of local car clubs and chapters. I stood before them in January of 2006
to plead my case. There were a few individuals who came forward and offered to
help, and we got started. That first year, 2006, was a complete learning
experience. I found the website Long Island Classic Cars.com, www.liclassiccars.com, started
visiting the car shows and cruise nights to hand out show flyers, and did a lot
of networking.
I also met a
number of really great people along the way who continue to help me and guide me.
The first show, at Firemans Field in
The main focus of
the show as far as I am concerned, is the PSA blood testing provided by South
Nassau
I am, at present,
a motorhead wanabe. I own a Corvette C6 convertible and have attended
The show has grown
since it’s first year at Fireman’s Field in Merrick. This year the show is
being held at the Capital One Bank buildings at Exit 49 North (Route 110) on
the Long Island Expressway on Sunday September 7th (no rain date)
and is being co-hosted by the Still Cruisin’ Car Club of Sayville.
In addition to lots
of old cars; Killer Joe and the Lido Review will be performing as well as nine
year old singing sensation Kayla Stockert. There will be food and vendors and
the exhibitor cars will be judged. As in the past, Goody Bags with Meguiar’s
car care products and tee shirts will be provided to the first 200
pre-registered vehicles.
For more information
and to download an exhibitor entry form please visit the show website at www.licruizinforacure.com
If you would like information about vendor or sponsor opportunities please call 1-800-LICRUIZIN and leave a voice mail with your name and phone number and best time to contact you. Or email at info@licruizinforacure.com
Help us save more
men’s lives on Long Island by Cruizin’ For A Cure
on Sunday September 7th!
(Sandy, a great cause and event to be sure! Thanks for starting it!) Pete
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RICH’S TECH TIPS
By Rich Fiore
OCTANE RATING....WHAT
DOES IT REALLY MEAN?
With the
heat wave we have been experiencing lately you probably have not given too much
thought to Gasoline and its Octane rating, what it means and what
difference it might make in your sled. You probably look at the pump and say
“should I buy the good stuff or the cheap stuff?”
For most of us with our high compression engines its a no-brainer... we are
using High Test. But there are still some illusions out there that using
High Test on cars that do not require it will give us more performance or is a
good thingy for the engine. Simply put ....you are just wasting your
money.
Octane rating is basically gasoline's resistance to
pinging. Pinging is caused when the piston is on the compression up stroke and
ignition with a secondary flame front is created from something other that the
spark plug. Then the plug ignites and kicks off a flame front.
These two flame fronts collide in the combustion chamber causing ping. ( Sounds
like marbles hitting a concrete floor ). There should obviously be only
one spark that is created from the spark plug. The other
"unauthorized " flame front can be caused by high compression
pressures, heat or carbon deposits lighting off the new air fuel mix. This is
also referred to as pre-ignition or pre-detonation. Sounds very high tech
eh? Keep in mind, pinging can eventually lead to engine damage if left
unchecked for a long time, along with a loss in power and gas mileage.
If a Carburetor goes out of adjustment, or the basic jetting is
played with and too much fuel is mixed with the air; gas will not burn
completely and create carbon deposits. Gas will also soak into these deposits.
Again this build up of carbon will create intense heat in the cylinder and head
areas and cause pre-ignition in the combustion chamber.
As an engine ages its safe to say carbon will buildup and your octane
requirements may change. So in theory the higher the number at the pump,
the less the inclination to ping in carbureted engines. But there is still more
to it than that.
There are many non-stock vehicles out there. Anything done
to these motors that effects compression; cam timing, ignition timing, intake
air and exhaust flow can effect a motors particular addiction to Octane. A
hotter running engine also changes things too. Like it or not fuel also
cools. High test will burn at a slower rate thus combustion is slowed with
premium gas. Simply put - octane has nothing to do with making more power in an
engine. The right choice only lets the power that's in the engine do its job
without grief, so to speak. Keep in mind, we are dealing with Carburetor type
of vehicles here. There are many modern vehicles that have very
sophisticated engine management systems which precisely control fuel delivery
and even have knock sensors which can quickly change engine parameters like
ignition timing.
Another thing to look at is how much of the fuel you are
buying that is really gasoline. Many gas companies switch over to summer
formulations. It doesn't hurt to read that label on the pump. Gasolines
contain Methyl Butyl Ether ( MTBE ). Ethanol is a mixture of 10% ethanol (
grain alcohol - although it can be made from corn, cellulose, sugar and other
such crops ) and 90% unleaded gasoline. Reformulated or Oxygenated
gasolines ( RFG ) is a term used to describe gasoline blends that are
specifically designed to burn cleaner than other types of gasoline and with
fewer tailpipe emissions. They are also formulated to evaporate less when you
fill your tank. There are also additives put in this gas to oxygenate
the gasoline.
As far as the octane ratings system used here it is
RON+MON/2. Whereby RON is the Research Octane Number and MON is the Motor
Octane Number. These ratings are determined on a Dyno for a particular fuel.
The RON test is done without a load on the engine, and the MON Dyno test is
done with a load. Both numbers are then combined and averaged.
So .once you have established the actual Octane needs of
your engine under all heat and load conditions ( no ping ), the use of a higher
octane gas is merely a waste of your hard-earned dinero.
Smoke em if you got em !!!!
(Lead is long gone and so is
the octane boost it provided! Know where I can get some race fuel?) Pete
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Dave Delman: 1981 DeLorean
The Electric Delorean Project
by Dave Delman & Tom Neiland
Tom and Dave are a couple of DeLorean enthusiasts who live locally here on Long Island. They are also both electrical engineers and are the founders of the Long Island – New York DeLorean Motor Club. They love making their DeLoreans unique by designing and building custom electronics for them.
One of their ultimate mods, is their conversion of a DeLorean, to run on electricity. That’s right, no gasoline whatsoever[t1]!
Dave purchased a 1981 DeLorean that had a seized motor, and the pair, seized the opportunity to remove the engine and make it electric. The car was purchased in July 2007 and trailered home from New Jersey.
They immediate went to work and removed the engine, exhaust system, radiator cooling system and fuel tank. This took about 500 pounds of weight off of the car. More weight would be added back soon! With that out of the way a number of decisions had to be made. What type of batteries to use, how many and where to put them? What motor and controller?
With the help of the information provided by the on-line “EV Calculator”, www.evconvert.com/tools/evcalc/, they settled on using thirteen Deka 100 amp-hour deep cycle AGM “Intimidator” batteries. These batteries are all connected in a series circuit and can provide up to 156 kilowatts of power. That’s the equivalent of about 200 horsepower. The stock Delorean came with a 130 HP aluminum V6. Now there are 910 pounds of lead which had to be distributed and mounted. They chose to put 5 up front under the “bonnet” and eight in the back, above the electric motor. Tom was “the welder” and the two of them put their heads together and figured out the best way to mount them. Now that they decided on the “propulsion pack”, the next focus was on how to control that energy. The motor controller’s job is to take the input signal from the “go pedal” (hey you really can’t call it a gas pedal any more) and feed the proper amount of power to the electric motor safely and reliably. Even though 156 kilowatts is a far cry from 1.21 jigawatts, it’s still a substantial amount of power. (Think about one thousand, five hundred and sixty 100 watt light bulbs all lit up at once.) To safely control this much power you need a motor controller. Tom and Dave chose the very best in controllers, a Zilla Z1K-HV. This unit does develop some heat so it is water cooled. They used the existing stainless steel coolant tank as a reservoir for the controller coolant.
So what do you use to carry that much power? Really big wires of course! 4/0 gauge welding cable is what they used. The diameter of the copper conductor in these babies is half an inch! Even though it is a big, thick wire it is remarkably flexible because it is made up of 3,154 strands of tiny 32 gauge wire. Now to the motor itself. They are using the WarP 9, series wound DC motor by NetGain Motors, Inc. The motor is air cooled, weighs about 175 pounds and is 9.25 inches in diameter and 16 inches long. Best of all it’s red, Dave’s favorite color.
Dave designed the motor to transmission adapter plate and the motor to tranny input shaft coupler which was machined by a local shop. The shop owner was so intrigued by the project he came over to Dave’s house to hand deliver the coupler and check out the electric ride. When we first tried to slide it onto the motor shaft it seems like it didn’t fit. Fear turned into excitement when they realized that the coupler was machined so precisely that it needed to be perfectly aligned with the shaft before it would slide on. It really fit perfectly! So now they had the motor connected directly to the input shaft of the stock five speed transmission. There is no clutch. With an electric car you really don’t need multiple gears but the one gear you chose would have to be a compromise between acceleration and top speed. Tom and Dave wanted the best of both so they kept the tranny in and shift without using a clutch. You can see how on the YouTube video, Shifting a Clutchless DeLorean.
The first test runs where completed in December 2007 and really added to their excitement over this timely project. Check out the YouTube video on the World’s Fastest Electric DeLorean. With gasoline prices spiraling out of control, America needs electric powered cars. (You really need to take a look at the movie “Who Killed the Electric Car”.)
Though the car is still a work in progress they have taken it to various clubs and meetings, including[t2] the Northeast chapter of the Electric Automobile Association and the Power of DC EV (electric vehicle) meeting in Maryland where it won first prize in the “low voltage “ (156 volts or less) quarter mile drag racing competition. Tom and Dave also won the prestigious, “Charles Muffley Award for Engineering Excellence” at the 2008 DeLorean Car Show this past June 2008. Lou Costa contributed to the wins with his custom side striping.
A computerized dash board and battery monitoring system is currently being designed. Hopefully when lithium ion battery prices come down they can boost the range from the present 30 miles to over 100 miles on a charge. It takes about 2 hours to recharge the batteries. The electric DeLorean is actually quicker than a stock DeLorean and has a top speed of over 85 mph. (Remember the speedometers in the 1980s were only allowed to go up to 85.)
The total cost of the car and conversion has been about $18,000 (not including labor of course), and it is indeed a labor of love for them. The cost of being able to “bypass the pump”… priceless!
For more information and to see some of the other stories and news pieces, check out www.electricdelorean.com. There is also a newly formed chapter of the Electric Automobile Association here on Long Island, www.lieaa.org. To contact Dave or Tom, email us at ED1@electricdelorean.com.
(Dave & Tom
- you guys outdid the Big Three and
Toyota! AWESOME!!) Pete
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Here
is where you can access previous editions of the Long Island Classic Cars
Online Newsletter.
http://www.liclassiccars.com/Newsletter/
You can also access the previous Newsletters through a
link on the main page of the website.
___________________________________________________
How’s that for a Newsletter!?
Some
GREAT contributions from our writers! I tell ya’, these guys keep outdoing
themselves!
There
is plenty of summer left – all of August and September too! The car market is
seeing a lot of vehicles change hands, and yes, the prices are down! A good
time to buy a car for sure! Check out our FOR SALE section on the main page of
the site – some great cars with great prices!
I wish
I had that multi-car garage so I could get another one myself!
Pete Giordano
Editor
Long Island Classic Cars.com