Paul Dubreuil. January 2019 Issue #306. President s Chatter

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1 January 2019 Issue #306 President s Chatter As we begin the 2019 New Year, I look forward to serving as your new President. Many thanks to Don and our other officers for their dedication and leadership over the past two years. Over the holidays, I spent some time gathering ideas for upcoming Tours and Workshops. With help from the internet, I found some new ideas, as well as revisited some great tours from our club s past. As Don mentioned in the December newsletter, our goal is to keep our activities interesting and most of all to have fun! I know with a combined membership effort, we can fill our calendar. Our next meeting is January 29 th, same time and place. This month we plan to have a raffle for a Model A engine Head. With the short notice this month, I will provide the refreshments. See you all at the meeting! President, Paul Dubreuil Directions to our Meeting Meeting Location! The Harwinton Public Library (80 Bentley Drive Harwinton, CT 06791) From Route 8- Take exit 42 onto Rt. 118 east toward Harwinton. Travel 2.5 miles on Rt. 118 to Bentley Drive. Take a right onto Bentley Drive, the Library is a half mile on the left. Editor s Note: If anyone has items for sale, just them to me and I will be glad to post them in the newsletter. Our newsletter has a wide range of exposure being on the internet. Please your requests by the 15th of the month. Also, articles are always appreciated. cabrioletdave@yahoo.com

2 The 2018 Annual Christmas Party Marinos Rest- Excellent Food and a great place for a Party Richard Meda receives the LHHAC Lifetime Award Paul Dubreuil receives the Rusty Nut Award Fantastic Music! Good Conversation

3 We need Volunteers for 2019 Workshops 1. Navigating Our Website 2. Restoring the Model A Stainless Steel Parts 3. Paint Restoration and Care (Using the right car care products) 4. Timing the Model A Ford 5. Front End Alignment 6. Adjusting the Steering Box 7. Setting up a CB Radio in your Model A 8. How to change a Tire 9. A Night on Trouble Shooting and the Solutions (Members could bring in their past solutions and experiences) 10. The proper way to Torque the Model A Head 11. Cooking on the Model A Manifold 12. Brake Adjustment 13. Video Nights ( How To and entertainment videos) 14. Era Clothing (Show and Tell) 15. How to Run a Club Tour (Things to consider and proper touring etiquette) 16. Winterizing the Model A Ford 17. How to check your Fan Blade for cracks and wear. 18. How to adjust your Clutch 19. What to bring in your trunk for road repairs 20. Non-Auto related Topics 21. Show and Tell (Model A Era accessories) 22. Fixing a leaky Steering Box. If anyone has experience or knowledge about any of the above topics and would like to put on a workshop at one of our club meetings, please contact Don Bruno and let him know.

4 They are Still Out There! Photos by Michael Dubreuil Michael found this Model A Ford, that was converted into a plow, in the woods of Glastonbury, CT. **************************************************************************************** Have a little Laugh... Thoughts of Nearly 50 Years of Marriage After being married for forty-eight years this month, Rusty took a careful look at his wife, Rita one day and said, Forty-eight years ago we had a cheap house, a junk car, slept on a sofabed, and watched a 10-inch black-and-white TV. But hey, I got to sleep every night with a hot 21-year-old girl. Now I have a $750,000 home, a $45,000 car, a nice big bed, and a large-screen TV, but I m sleep-ing with a 69-year-old woman. So, I said to Rita, it seems to me that you re not holding up your end of things! Rita, being the very reasonable woman she is, told me to go out and find a hot 21-year-old girl and she would make sure that I would once again be living in a cheap house, driving a junk car, sleeping on a sofa-bed, and watching a 10-inch black-and-white TV. Aren t older women great? They really know how to solve an old guy s problems!

5 The Hershey Car Show 2018 At this years Hersey Show Debbie Deziel ran into Jay Leno. Guy Livolsi was camera ready! He took this great picture. I just finished telling Jay Leno that I love his show! He is a very down to earth gentleman. As we posed for a picture he pointed to my guy, Guy, and said, Is that your father?! Jay Leno began his career in night clubs as a stand up comic. He worked 300 nights a year before hitting it big in 1992 with his own late-night talk show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992). A big, sweet guy with a very good comedy routine. He also hosted the NBC show Jay Leno s Garage. Birth Name: James Douglas Muir Leno Born: April 28,1950 in New Rochelle, NY. Nickname: Hardest Working Man in Showbiz Height: 5 11

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7 A little Humor... "Ever since we got married, my wife has tried to change me. She got me to stop drink-ing, smoking and running around until all hours of the night. She taught me how to dress well, enjoy the fine arts, gourmet cook-ing, classical music, even how to invest in the stock market," said the man. "Sounds like you may be bitter because she changed you so drastically," remarked his friend. "I'm not bitter. Now that I'm so improved, she just isn't good enough for me."

8 Model A of the Month Owners: Dave and Carol Habersang Description of Vehicle: 1930 Ford Cabriolet 68B History: I saw an ad in the Hemming s Motor News magazine for a 1930 Ford Cabriolet. It was owned by a elderly widow who lived in Erie, PA. She had just remarried and her new spouse was into boats not antique cars. Carol and I decided to make the trip from Connecticut to see the car. It looked good from 20 feet. I carefully looked it over and performed the Magnet Test, checking for excess bondo, everything seemed fine. It looked as if the car only needed a mild restoration. I always liked the looks of the Cabriolet and being a convertible made it even more enticing. I decided to buy it and made an offer. The offer was accepted and we were now the proud owners of a Model A Ford. (We later discovered that the car had originally come from Denmark.) Condition when purchased: Good, I thought, so much for that Magnet Test. Love can be Blind, even with cars. What was done on the car: When it was finally delivered a good friend of mine, Billy Walcott, took it for a ride. He had worked on Model A s since he was a kid. He told me that he could hear a knocking noise in the engine and it needed to be rebuilt. To make a long story short the car needed a complete restoration! After being dragged through 5 restoration shops with nothing being done on the car. I realized that these shops did not have the knowledge and ability to work with the Cabriolet s extensive wooden subframe. Since I was a Technology Education teacher and had a good mechanical ability with things, I decided to research everything that I could about restoring the Cabriolet. To my surprise, during the restoration process, I uncovered the original maintenance and body tags that had many years of paint on them. The metal tags were written in Danish showing that the car originally was assembled in Copenhagen, Denmark. I totally restored the car myself from ground up and painted the car with acrylic lacquer, which still looks great today. It took me 12 long years with many ups and downs, but I am proud to say that I did it myself. Carol and I appropriately call her Suzie Q, named after the very long song by Creedence Clearwater Revival. (Finally finished in 1999)

9 MAFFI Newsletter Minute January 2019 Happy New Year from the Board of Trustees at MAFFI! We hope you had a great Reflecting back, we are very pleased with the progress and additions made to the museum over the course of the year. During 2018, through donations, we added 10 vehicles and an elaborate tool display to our collection. In addition, 3 vehicles were placed on loan to the museum. We have a partnership with NATMUS in Auburn, Indiana in which 4 Model A vehicles and a cutaway chassis are on display in a vintage gas station environment. Our balance sheet improved and we remain debt free. Model A Day at The Gilmore saw the largest attendance to date and we were grateful to have Tim Kelly s Town Car and Town Car Delivery collection on display. For 2019 we are working on a new theme for our annual Model A Day at The Gilmore. We also plan to have new displays completed in our showroom and service garage as well as an educational display showing the inner workings of a Model A chassis. Thanks to all that made 2018 such a success and help support the museum as we jump into the New Year!" The largest public museum dedicated to the Model A Ford, this 13,000-square-foot recreation of a 1928 Ford dealership includes a service bay and gas pumps. You ll also find rare examples of the famed car, which was produced from 1928 through 1931, including Thomas Edison s Model A, a school bus, mail truck, and tow-truck. (Open Year-Round)

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11 Northwestern Connecticut A s 2019 Club Officers and Committee Chairpersons PRESIDENT Paul Dubreuil 10 Zappulla Drive Torrington, CT VICE PRESIDENT Ed Coville SECRETARY Nick Nesci TREASURER CLUB APPAREL Archie Bardwell Don Bruno 20 Colin Drive Torrington, CT MEMBERSHIP Archie Bardwell 20 Colin Drive Torrington, CT GOOD CHEER CLUB HISTORIAN Dave Habersang EDITOR/WEBMASTER Don Bruno Dave Habersang