MONTHLY CRUISIN’ with the Mass Cruisers Auto Club

“CRUISIN’ AT THE SPEED OF FUN”

We’re on the Web

www.masscruisers.com

And Facebook

March 2015 Volume 25 Issue 3

Diane Thornton gets down and dirty at our 2nd Wrenchin’ n ’ Coffee Session. Page 4.

Truly the Winter of Our Discontent Frank Bryant and Sarojit Malik plot their take-

over of the Cruisers at Eagle Brook. Page 9.

MONTHLY CRUISIN

Our clubhouse is located at 124 Main Street, Norfolk, behind the Dunkin Donuts shop and across the street from the

police station. For more information please call: 781 551-0520. Visitors, guests and those interested in joining the

Mass Cruisers Auto Club are welcome to attend one of our monthly meetings held on the third Tuesday of

each month in Norfolk.

We’re on the Web!

www.masscruisers.com

Club Officers

President– John Buchanan

Vice President—Diane Thornton

Secretary—Patrick Touhey

Treasurer—Wayne Lestan

Webmaster—Steve Vining

Newsletter Editor—Paul Saulnier

Facebook Admin. – Patrick

Touhey

New Member Liaison—Dole Cole

Sgts. at Arms—Rick Lawlor &

John Sturniolo

Charity Coordination –

Frank Bryant

By-Laws – Roy Rossman

MAAC Representative— John

Buchanan

Special Events

Cruise Night—Steve Huntington

Car Show—Rich Armando

Club Events Calendar – Marcia

Silvestri

Advertising Rates Business card space…….$25.00/yr

To advertise in the Monthly Cruiser, please send a business card and a check for $25.00 to

Mass Cruisers Newsletter P.O.

Box 217, Wrentham, MA.

02093

Directory 2

From the President’s Tail Pipe

Bob & June Smith in Florida 3

Wrenchen’ n’ Coffee or How

Gearheads Socialize. 4

Wrenchen’ n’ Coffee or How

Gearheads Socialize (cont.) 5

Monthly Calendar 6

Car Shows & Events 7

Lady Cruisers Page

by Marcia Silvestri and

Diane Thornton

8

Eaglebrook Dinner Social

by Pat Touhey 9

HD 2796: Historic Routes

Designation

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Remember When:

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Page 2 Contact us by snail mail:

P.O. Box 217, Wrentham, MA 02093

Or by email:

HO350@comcast.net

From the President’s Tailpipes Monthly Cruisin Page 3

The CRUZING season ain’t over for Bob &

June Smith down in Florida. This was the

photo greeting Bob sent back to us from

Daytona with the following note;

“Happy New Year. I am still cruzing here in

Florida. This was at Bruce Rossmeyer's Harley

Davison Shop on Saturday. Bob Smith”

That’s Bob’s emerald green ’40 Ford on the

right end in the photo. That bra must be a

new addition; something she must have to

wear when they go to the beach.

Problems with snow, ice & below freezing temperatures all of February are

hitting us with unprecedented challenges. John & Nancy Bloom came home from the

Cape to find their furnace was off and all the water in the pipes and toilets frozen. Bob &

June Smith, who have been enjoying winter in Daytona, learned the tent roof collapsed

on his lift and he had to hire 6 men to shovel off the flat roofs of his garages where his

cars are stored. It is a chore taking care of one property this winter let alone multiples, particularly long

distance. I bet each one of us will have a horror story to share before the next monthly social scheduled

for the first day of spring on Saturday March 21 takes place.

Believe it or not the first swap meet of the season is March 1 at the Holmes Barn in Norfolk. And, this

won’t be the first time parking there was tight due to piled up snow, only this year’s epic February snow

total is one for the record books. The prediction is that winter will soon end and we’ll be prepping for the

upcoming cruise season at Patriot Place, but will all the snow piles be melted by April 16?

John

Monthly Cruisin Page 4 Wrenchin’ n’ Coffee Sessions

by John Buchanan

The second Wrenchin’ n’ Coffee session on February 14, Valentine’s morning at Bob Hines’s Robert’s Automotive in

Attleboro, saw 16 members show up to experience and learn a few things or two.

The hefty morning project belonged to replacing the front

springs on John Guravage’s ’68 Chevelle, left, to correct the

car’s ride height. Thanks to the herculean assist and guidance by

John Nunez and Bob, the job was completed that morning.

Above, Bob Wood also brought in his MIG welder and set it up

in one of the empty bays so members could try their hand at

learning how to weld. Some who tried it for the first time now

have an appreciation that this is one job better left to

professionals or, at least, well-practiced amateurs.

Meanwhile V.P. Diane Thornton, above, swapped out borrowed winter tire lugs on her daily driver and Mike Rabbitt

brought in his Honda Odyssey to replace the front and rear brake rotors and pads..

My own Impala sat on the shop’s Hunter HawkEye Elite alignment

machine waiting to do the bump steer measurements, but Bob was

not able to free up his time to set up the machine’s wheel targets

and calibrate the camera system. That was postponed for the fol-

lowing Monday late afternoon prior to replacing the old power

assist steering system with a new Borgeson 567 power steering

box setup later that week (photos attached). The toe-in measure-

ments indicated some bump steer but not enough to account for

much of the car’s high speed highway handling performance. The

new power steering box should help.

The March 14 8 am – noon Wrenchin’ n’ Coffee session is on the

calendar, so let Bob know if you are planning to bring your car in

for a morning work session 508-223-3737.

Wrenchin’ n’ Coffee Sessions

(cont.)

by John Buchanan

Monthly Cruisin Page 5

Left. Jack Lane and Rich Armando wait their

turn at the welder.

Below. Ralph and Rich set the table to do

some welding.

Left. Rich Armando applies what he learned

today. He and Ralph both made a little figu-

rine to bring home.

Monthly Cruisin Page 6

March 2015 Su Mo Tue We Th Fri Sat

1 * 2 3 4 5 6 * 7

8 9 10 * 11 12 13 14 *

15 * 16 17 * 18 19 20 21 *

22 23 24 25 26 27 * 28 *

29 * 30 31

March 2015 1st, MARCOM Model A Club Flea Market,

22 Myrtle St., Norfolk. 7:30 AM—11 AM 6th, Dancing with the cars, Larz Anderson

Museum, Brookline, Mass. 7—10:30 PM 10th, Business Meeting @ Clubhouse 14th, Wrenchin’n’coffee, Robert’s Automo-

tive, Attleboro, Mass. 8AM—Noon 15, MASSCAR’s 26th Model Car Exhibition,

Holiday Inn, Taunton, Mass. Exit 9 off rt 495 17th, Members Meeting @ Clubhouse 21st, Red Wing Diner social with dessert at

Diane Thornton’s home. 27– 29th, ISCA World of Wheels, Boston

Seaport World Trade Center 29th, Winter Blas Parts Swap, Maynard Elks

April 2015 11th, Wrenchin’n’coffee, Robert’s Automo-

tive, Attleboro, Mass. 8AM—Noon 12th, Ty-Rods Spring Auto Swap Meet,

Stafford Speedway 14th, Business Meeting @ Clubhouse 21st, Members Meeting @ Clubhouse 16th & 30th, Bass Pro Cruise Season

begins 26, Early ford VB Club Swap Meet, Fitchburg

Airport

April 2015 Su Mo Tue We Th Fri Sat

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 *

12 * 13 14 * 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 * 22 23 24 25

26 * 27 28 29 30

Monthly Cruisin Page 7

Lady Cruisers Page

by Marcia Silvestri & Diane Thornton

Monthly Cruisin Page 8

Eagle Brook Dinner Social

By Pat Touhey

Monthly Cruisin Page 9

The February dinner social at the Eagle brook restaurant in Norfolk hosted

by member Sarojit Malik was slightly inter-

rupted by our continued winter weather.

There was a hardy 13 members who braved

the slippery roads to have some fun and din-

ner with their fellow members and friends.

I was unable to attend the dessert part at

Sarojit’s home, but I’m sure it was a lovely

time. As Sarojit has some nice pieces of In-

dian Art and a great men den in the lower

level.

Above. The faithful gather to break bread and share libations.

Right. John crooning “Put Your Head On My Shoulder”

HD2796 Historic Route Signage

By John Buchanan

Monthly Cruisin Page 10

Historic U .S. Route 1 begins in

Fort Kent, Maine ending at the tip of the Florida Keys at Key

West for 2,450 miles. U.S. Route 6 begins at the tip of Cape

Cod in Provincetown traveling west through 14 states end-

ing in Bishop California for 3, 205 miles http://

www.route6tour.com/ and U.S. Route 20 begins in Ken-

more Square Boston traveling west for 3,365 miles ending at

the junction of the Pacific Coast Highway U.S. 101 in

Newport Oregon http://historicus20.com/index.html

The Mass Cruisers, unique among Massachusetts Car Clubs,

conducts annual automotive events on these three iconic

U.S. Highways, U.S. Routes 1, 6 & 20 which is why I have

been actively supporting efforts that promote awareness

and recognition of these vital links to our automotive, travel

and economic past. Of course our biggest events are the 14

bi-weekly Thursday Bass Pro Shops Cruise-In Car Shows at

Patriot place on U.S. Route 1. Interestingly, there is a new

Historic U.S. Route 1 group out of Virginia http://

www.historicrouteone.com/ in the early stages of pulling

together the 14 states and D.C. much like the Historic U.S.

Route 6 & 20 groups have been doing these past few

years. On U.S. Route 6, we conduct the annual opening

race weekend car show at Seekonk Speedway along with

assist in organizing the annual October Seekonk to Prov-

incetown U.S. Route 6 cruise weekend with eight other car clubs and organizations that conduct car show

and cruise events along that iconic highway. We also are the host car club for the annual Goodguys East

Coast Nationals off U.S. Route 20 at the Big E in W. Springfield.

Fortunately we have an auto hobbyist friend, Rep. Steven Howitt (R) Seekonk who submitted HD2796 for

the 189th Massachusetts General Court which states as follows:

Historic Routes Designations

SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, Route1, Route 20 and Route 6 in the Com-

monwealth shall be designated and known as historic United States Routes. The Massachusetts Department of Trans-

portation shall erect and maintain suitable markers bearing that designation in compliance with standards of the de-

partment.

At the appropriate time when this bill is scheduled to come before the Joint Transportation Committee we will be ask-

ing for your support by contacting your Representative and Senator asking for their positive support and assistance to

pass this legislation. Towns will be able to use this as leverage to locate and erect historic route signage that will aid

travelers and promote local economic tourism.

Remember When

Page 11 Monthly Cruisin

Q: What U S production car has the quickest 0-60 mph

time? A: The 1962 Chevrolet Impala SS 409 did it in 4.0 seconds ***************************************************************

***

Mass Cruiser Member anniversaries:

Active Members Spouse-Cp Since

Mark Lite Holly Mar, 2010 David Nicholson Cara Mar, 2010

****************************************************

Ladies have always been involved with cars:

http://www.tvraaca.org/women1937i.htm

http://www.tvraaca.org/chevrolet1953i.htm

http://www.tvraaca.org/ford1957i.htm

Route 6 Tourist Assoc. photo contest prize, a Cali-

fornia Historic U.S. Route 6 sign, arrived in the mail

and was immediately tacked up on the clubhouse

wall under our incorrect time clock next to its Mas-

sachusetts sister sign. We’ve only got to collect 12

more signs for a complete set.

March 2015

Member meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the Norfolk MA clubhouse.

P.O. Box 217

Wrentham, MA 02093

Monthly Cruisin Last Page