Monthly Newsletter of the Early Ford V8 Club of AmericaEast Tennessee Regional Group

Aoril 11,2016

Things are in order for the summer cruise-ins which will begin on April 22 and run every Friday night from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Lowe’s parking lot until October 28.

The trailer which will store equipment for the Cruise-ins and be parked in Lowe’s parking lot next to Volunteer parkway to advertise the events has been painted and decorated with decals made from the sponsors lo-gos and a picture of a ‘35 Ford V8 convertible on both sides.

The front bears the logo of O’Reilly’s, the major sponsor, and the club’s name,Early Ford V8 Club and Friday Night Cruise-ln. The club’s name and Cruise-in also appears on both sides. The Early Ford V8 Club logo ap-pears on the back.

Sponsors include: O’Reilly’s, Lowe’s, Bristol Wrecker Service, Twin City Welding Company, Benny’s Pipe and Muffler, Blaylock Plumbing, Sure Drain, Care Extra Ordinary Wash and Wax,Motion Picture Graph-ics, T C’s Auto Repair, and BD&C Materials.

Faced with information that the federal government has earmarked $3.5 billion to provide grants to states that will adopt a waste tire abate-ment act to insure that used tires are disposed of properly, the club moved Saturday, April 9, to insure that there are no old tires on its premises that will cause trouble if Tennessee adopts the model waste Tire Abate-ment Act that will impose penalties on those who have not disposed of used tires properly.

Members found there were ten used tires on the grounds or in the ga-rage and they snaked 11 from the creek beside the club grounds. They are making arrangements to make certain they get to licensed recycling centers.

The government estimates two billion old tires lie in the nation’s dumps, and several million are added each year, illegally because of the difficulty and expense involved in landfilling whole tires.

Tire dumps attract mosquitoes and are susceptible to fires that cre-ate hazardous liquids and noxious emissions, posing a threat to public health and the environment. The East Tennessee Regional Group wants not only to insure that used tires are disposed of properly, but it wants to maintain its grounds in a neat and orderly manner.

Members examining the 3.5 horse power motor on the failed compressor have found that the brushes in the motor need to be replaced. Unfortunately they have been unable to find an electrical supply house that stocks brushes that will replace the failed ones.

One supplier has indicated that they can make brushes to dupli-cate the failed ones but they have a minimum order of $50.

Bob Leonard reports that he has a used motor and members are go-ing to see if it can replace the failed one.

Cruise-in arrangements complete

Club gathers used tires for recycling

Compressor motor needs new brushes

The deteriorated soffit on the front of the clubhouse has been re-placed with a white plastic soffit.

In keeping with club traditions Ron Harkleroad donated the mate-rial and he and Justin Parks and T Brown provided the labor to put it up.

Over the years, the 1,000 square foot clubhouse and the nearly 2,000 square foot, four bay garage have been built primarily with vol-unteer labor and mostly donated materials.

Members replacedeteriorated soffit

Meals for WheelsMeals for Wheels on Thurs-

day, April 14 will be served by Jim Broyles, Jim Gose

and Ken Bouck.

The 1949-53 Ford Mercury As-sociation will hold a National Con-vention June 8 - 11 at the Merriot hotel in Kingsport.

Early Ford V8 Club members will be welcome to show their cars without charge. Officials say just show their membership cards at the door.

The association was formed in 1992 by a group of guys with their love of the FLATHEAD engine. Its headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.

Ford Mercury groupmeets in Kingsport

Ford Words, April 11, 2016Page 2

by Steve DeCosaThis article is reprinted from

the Western NewYork Regional Group’s newsletter.

During the summer of 2000 we were cruising through the Central Adiron-dacks of New York State in our mostly original ‘23 touring. We stopped for gas at a local station, and a gentleman, who appeared to be about 80 yrs old, in coveralls, came out to the pumps. I noticed he had a thick New York City accent. He admired the T, and we talk-ed about old Fords for a few minutes. I finished gassing up, and topped off the tank with a 4 oz. baby-jar full of Marvel Mystery Oil. He said, “Why do you use that stuff?” I replied, I’d been using it (I’m 53 yrs old) for over 30 yrs in all my flathead V-8s, Models A and T. It’s good upper cylinder lube.

He said, “I’ll tell you a story: During the Depression, when I was in high school, I worked as a mechanic in a sewing shop in the Garment District in NYC. Those old sewing machines had visible oilers on top, and when it got hot the oil would stink, and the ladies who ran the machines would com-plain. The owner, whose name was Marvel, (pronounced Mar-VELL) told me to go down a few doors to the candy factory-I think it was a ‘Lifesaver’ type candy- and get a couple of gallons of Oil of Winter-green and some food coloring. We mixed it with the 10 wt. sewing machine oil to make it less offen-sive to the ladies. It became popu-lar with the other shops, and Mar-vel made more money with that oil, than with the sewing. When-ever anyone asked what was in the oil, Marvel said, ‘Don’t ask... It’s a MYSTERY!’ and that’s how the name came about!”

You meet the most interesting people when you drive a Model T!

Back in 1951 Mechanix Illustrated magazine published and distributed plans for buildimg a 100 + miles per hour speedster from old Ford parts. It is unknown how many backyard tinkerers undertook such a project, but internet reports that the magazine built 17. Collectors today re-port 11 such vehicles remain whether home built or of the magazine’s examples is unknown.

Hemmings recently pub-lished this advertisement: “For Sale: 1941 Ford V8 speedster, $30,000.”

The owner, who lives in Monroe, WI, said, “This is an original Mechan-ics Illustrated sportster as built from the 1951 Mechanix Illustrated issue and plans. It is one of 11 known to be in existence. Ford flathead runs and drives great. This car was hand built using the MI plans by using parts from 1930’s and 1940’s cars to build a 100+mph sportster. This car one of the neatest cars I have ever owned. A majority of the body was hand made and hand pounded and shaped.

The windshield needs to be mounted. This car is in great shape and certainly is a unique piece of American history. It purrs like a kitten. Will consider partial trades.”

While attempting to verify dates in the story about the Mechanix Il-lustrated speedster I found an interchange of comments on a blog begin-ning in December 2015 about a speedster found in the weeds. I thought it might have been built from the Mechanix Illustrated plans, but I found no connection except that it had been built about the same time. A writer identified only by the initials in his blog described his speed-

ster project with this car. “Five years ago I found this car behind a nearby rental house. I didn’t know what it was, except that it looked cool. The property owner put me in touch with the owner of the car who told me it had been built in the early 1950s by a kid who worked at a local machine shop. That was the era of the Mechanix Illus-trated speedsters, and this car was created along those lines—sort of a cross between a miniature Auburn and a European sports car. It had been driven hard for about 10 years, until it was worn out.

He had acquired it in the late ‘60s, with the intention of rebuilding it. He put the car in an outbuilding in his parents’ yard. Over time the building collapsed and was hauled away. The car sat exposed for more than 40 years, becoming a garden trellis for weeds. Nevertheless, he planned to fix it up someday, so it wasn’t for sale.

I stayed in contact and called him every few weeks to talk about the car. Finally I convinced him I was the guy to take over his dream. A deal was struck and the car was mine.

It came with a bunch of extra parts that had been stored in a ga-rage. It was a real mishmash: big touring car chassis (badly butch-

(Continued on Page 4, Column 1.)

Company made speedster bodies

Magazine offered speedster plans MarvelMystery oilexplained

Ford Words, April 11, 2016 Page 3

Edsel Ford’s restored first speedster, thought lost for many years, sold for $770,000 at the RM Sotheby’s auction on Amelia Island March 12.

The speedster, was described in the February issue of Ford Words, It was built on a 1932 Model 18 chassis with 221 cubic engine, and 106 in wheel base. The boat tail body and fenders were made of aluminum and crafted by work-men in Ford’s aircraft and Lincoln plants.

Edsel had a particular inter-est in the look of Ford cars. After Edsel returned from a 1932 Eu-ropean trip, he asked Eugene T. “Bob” Gregorie to design and super-vise the construction of a “sports car” similar to those he’d seen “on the continent.” Gregorie, who had worked as a yacht designer and then at Brewster & Company and Harley Earl’s GM Art & Colour studio, was an accomplished “sketch artist” who was adept at translating Edsel’s visions into reality.

Gregorie was able to use idle craftsmen from Ford’s aircraft division. To finish the car, he had an entire Lincoln plant at his disposal, because automobile production there briefly stopped during the Depression.

Rakish tapered fenders were adapted from Tri-Motor aircraft “wheel pants.” The grille resembled a ’32’s at the top, but at the bottom, it was vee’d forward, anticipating the flared grille on the forthcoming 1933 model Ford.

Early in 1935 Ford named Gregorie to head a small team of designers.Wanting a car that was even lower and racier, Edsel and Gregorie soon

began on a second custom roadster. Edsel sold this first car to Indianap-olis mechanic Elmer Benzin, who sold it to a young GM designer who wrecked it, and for decades, it was believed the Speedster was scrapped, but a body man in Connecticut, who didn’t know its history replaced the damaged alloy fenders with four steel fenders, which he had adapted from a 1935/36 Chevrolet.

After he passed away, 50 years later, the Speedster was purchased by the man who consigned it to the Amelia Island sale after he had for five years painstakingly restored it to look exactly the way it did when it was built. The original boat tail bodywork was expertly refinished, and new aluminum fenders were hand-crafted by Mike and Jim Bari-llaro in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was repainted in 1932 Ford Tunis Gray, matched to a sample found on the underside of the cowl vent. The inte-rior was redone in dark grey-brown leather.

Edsel and Bob Gregorie collaborated on two other “Continental” Speed-sters in 1934 and again in 1935. The second Speedster was restored by RM Auto Restoration and is now owned by the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan. The third Speedster has nev-er been found.

Amelia Island was just the beginning for this car’s future honors. The Speedster and its new owner will be welcome at top-flight concours events worldwide.

Edsel’s first speedster sells for $770,000

Paul Lovin needs a frame in which the radiator bolts for his 1941 Chevy. If you know where one might be available contact him at 2713 Peterson Lane,Knoxville, TN 37920, or e-mail Chyrl M at fai34@chartertn.net.

Help- parts needed-Help

Copies of the Early Ford V8 Club’s national roster of members arrived this week. It contains the name, address, phone numbers, lists of early Ford vehicles owned, and e-mail addresses (if available) of all members of the club.

In 91 pages of names, it lists the names of the club’s more than 8,700 members. Additional pages are devoted to advertising intend-ed for early Ford V8 owners and in-formation about the organization.

Accompanying the directory is a separate sheet that contains the member’s personal club identity card and a coupon enabling the member to publish a 40 word ad for parts, cars or related items, free in the V8 Times, which is published every two months for subscribing members. Members will want to preserve their identity card to ob-tain discounts when they purchase items at O’Reilly’s.

V8 Club National

Directory

arrives

EARLY FORD V8 CLUB OF AMERICAEast Tennessee Regional Group

Minutes of Meeting held April 7, 2016The meeting was called to order by President

Phil Vinson at 7:07 p.m.Minutes of the meeting of March 10, 2016 were

read by Secretary Murv Perry and approved as read on motion by Ron Freeman, seconded by T Brown.

Treasurer’s report was presented by John Seneker. It was accepted on motion by Fred Lord, seconded by Mike Gifford.

Ron Harkleroad on behalf of the club presented Murv Perry a 16 by 20 framed photo of his ‘35 Cabriolet saying thanks for serving the club as secretary for 26 years.

It was reported that the trailer had been deco-rated with sponsors’ names and that it would be taken to O’Reily’s and to Lowe’s in preparation for cruise-ins to start April 22.

Phil reported that there was a national move-ment to make certain old tires were properly dis-posed of to prevent breeding of mosquitoes and indicated we had 10 tires on club property and he had counted 11 in the creek. Plans were made to get them all to the area collection point.

The club rules for storing cars were reviewed making the point that members were limited to storing three cars at one dollar per month.

Justin Grubb reported he had a pair of tires to replace those on the towing trailer and the group agreed that freshening up and painting the trail-er would be the next project.

The club thanked Ron Harkleroad, Justin Parks and T Brown for repairing the soffit on the front of the clubhouse.

Meals for wheels next week will be provided by Jim Broyles, Jim Gose and Ken Bouck.

It was reported the compressor motor needed brushes and that they were not available. Get-ting a replacement motor was discussed.

Patrick Nowisky and Rick Mcgessny were in-troduced as guests.

John Harrison won the $19 Ford Fund draw-ing.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:27 p.m.Minutes submitted by Murv Perry.

Ford Words, April 11, 2016, Page 4

EARLY FORD V8 CLUB OF AMERICAEast Tennessee Regional Group

Minutes of Meeting held March 10, 2016The meeting was called to order by President

Phil Vinson. Minutes of the meeting of March 3 were read

by Phil Vinson and approved on motion by Ron Freeman, seconded by Freddie King.

Treasurer’s report was presented by John Seneker. He read the names of new sponsors of the cruise-Ins. The report was accepted on mo-tion by Justin Parks, seconded by Fred Lord.

There was discussion of a problem with one of the compressors. The group decided to look into what could be done to fix it.

A motion of appreciation for the evening meal was approved.

T Brown’s number was drawn for the $15 Ford Fund.

Meeting was adjourned.Minutes submitted by Murv Perry.Transcribed from Todd Perry’s iPhone.

(Continued from Column 1) I found a small item in the Iron Trade Review for

December 1920 announcing the organization of the Mercury body Corp that would be manufacturing bod-ies for Fords and Chevrolets. An ad sought customers.

A Floyd Clymer publication on my shelf however showed the bodies on Model T Fords without doors. The photos of the car in question appear to show it has a cowl and rear sections separated by doors.

ered), motorcycle/trike fenders, homemade splash guards, homemade windshield frame, Guide bullet headlights, Chevy bumpers, and a very long and cool 10-panel hood off a 1932 LaSalle.

The body was a total mystery. The previous own-er insisted it was homemade, but there was a serial number stamped into the remains of the firewall. Turns out, the body of my car is a Mercury Speed-ster, produced by the Mercury Body Corporation of St. Louis, KY. It constructed about 1,699 bodies for Ford and Chevrolet chassis from 1920 to 1926.”

Speedster bodies- Continued from Page 2.