september 2018 newsletter - welcome to the pitt birds ...contact wayne bane at 724-594-7482 or...
TRANSCRIPT
OFFICERS:President: Wayne Bane 724-594-7482 [email protected]
Vice President: Peter Sarkis 412-310-1589 [email protected]
Vice President: Marc Koszak 412-266-0562 [email protected]
Secretary: Mary Beth Meyer 412-747-0769 [email protected]
Treasurer: Jerry Longstreth 412-466-9091 [email protected] EVENTS:
September 2018 Newsletter
International Thunderbird Club ConventionBuffalo, NY August 7-12th
Seventeen members of the Pitt Birds traveled to Buffalo, NY to attend the International Thunderbird Club Convention. The event started with aWelcome Reception with guest speaker Lauren Fix, noted writer and car enthusiast. On Wednesday we boarded a bus and visited the Pierce ArrowMuseum where we were given a guided tour of the facility. After lunch at the Pearl Street Brewery we toured Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin house. OnThursday we traveled to Niagara Falls where we took a ride on the Maid of the Mist. We had lunch at the Top of the Falls Restaurant and spent theafternoon touring the park on the New York side. Friday started with meetings and a seminar presented by Steve Legel. There was time in theafternoon to prepare our Thunderbirds for the concourse. For dinner we traveled to the Buffalo Waterfront and took a boat tour of the Buffalo riverand waterfront. We had dinner aboard the Navy cruiser USS Little Rock. There was a grand showing of Thunderbirds at the concourse onSaturday. Several Pitt Bird members judged cars and tallied the judging sheets. As you can see, many members won awards. We had a wonderfuldinner at the Protocol restaurant where awards were presented to the concourse winners. The Pitt Birds want to thank the Buffalo Thunderbird Cluband the ITC leadership for organizing and managing this event. We all had a great time.
Fred and Nancy Antill Ryan and Lois Bentley Ed and Debbie Kaczkowski Jerry and Barbara Longstreth Peter and Karen Sarkis Pitt Bird members who had their Thunderbird judged at the ITC Concourse and won an award.
International Thunderbird Club Convention Concourse
2
International Thunderbird Club Convention Tours
Pierce Arrow Museum
Frank Lloyd Wright Architectural Tour
Niagara Falls and a ride on the Maid of the Mist
Waterfront Tour and Dinner aboard the USS Little Rock
Bart and Vera Bartasavich at the Buffalo Waterfront
Banquet Dinner at the Protocol Restaurant3
4
Classic Thunderbird Club International Convention Knoxville, TN August 15-19, 2018
RECENT EVENTS:
Members of the Pitt Birds traveled to Knoxville, TN. to attend the Classic Thunderbird Club International Convention. A welcome party was held onWednesday. On Thursday attendees toured Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mtn. Adventure and participated in a Judges training seminar. ConcourseJudging on was held on Friday. On Saturday the day started with a Smoky Mtn. Scenic Drive and the Awards Banquet in the evening.Congratulations to Dwight and Birdie Good for getting a Concourse Gold award for their 1957 Thunderbird, and to Perry Anthony for receiving aCTCI Special Service Recognition Award. The Pitt Birds want to thank the Smoky Mountain Classic Thunderbird Club and the CTCI leadership fororganizing and managing this wonderful event.
Dwight and Birdie GoodConcourse Gold Award Winners
5
Beaver Hot Summer Night Car CruiseSaturday, August 4th
As always we were amazed at the quality, variety, and number ofclassic cars that come to this cruise each year. The Pitt Birds had anice representation of twenty members and ten Thunderbirds. Jon andJoAnn Strebeck arrived early and secured a perfect spot to view thecars as they paraded up and down the main street in Beaver, PA. ThePitt Birds want to thank Jon and JoAnn Strebeck for arranging thisevent.
Moon Area Car Cruise Sunday, August 26thOne member, Marc Kacsak arrived at Moon Park at 3:30 AM toreserve a pavilion. The other sixteen members arrived later in themorning. We had a great spot to view the 1,000 plus cars as theyentered the park. In the afternoon we took a break for lunch at thepavilion. The Pitt Birds want the thank Mary Beth Meyer for preparingthe lunch and organizing the event.
6
Hovatter’s Wildlife Zoo Saturday, October 20th
Kingwood, WVPlan to meet at the Meadowlands McDonalds at 8:00 AM, we willdepart at 9:00 AM.GPS: 235 Meadowlands Blvd, Washington, PA 15301We will caravan to Kingwood, WV where we will visit the Hovatter’sWildlife Zoo. The Zoo is located in Kingwood West Virginia and ishome to over 30 different species of native and exotic animals from allover the world. What started out as a small collection of deer, blackbear, cougars and tigers has turned into a menagerie of Chimpanzee,Grizzly Bear, various species of Orange and White Tiger, Spotted andBlack Lepoard, Ring Tailed Lemur, Baboon and many otherspecies. Admission is $12 for adult. After a tour of the zoo, we willhave late lunch at be Rosemary’s Thyme Mexican Restaurant locatedat the Preston County Country Club at 183 Club House Road.Kingwood WV. If you have any questions please contact Pete orKaren Sarkis at 412-310-1589.
Autumn Meeting Saturday, November 17thThe Pitt Birds will meet at 2:00 PM on Saturday, November 17th atPerkins Restaurant in Cranberry.GPS: 20013 Route 19, Cranberry Twp, PA 16066
Agenda items are:• Nomination of Officers• Suggested Activities and Tours for 2019
• Holiday Dinner Plans
UPCOMING EVENTS:Autumn Winery Tour 2018 September 29-30thWe will meet at Denny's Restaurant, 1346 Old Freedom Rd,Cranberry Twp, PA 16066, at 9:30 AM on Saturday, September 29th
for breakfast. We will depart at 10:45 AM for North East, PA and theWineFest arriving at approximately 1:00 PM with a 15 minute stop atRest Area mile marker 134.5. We will park together at Gravel Pit Park.You will be on your own to stroll through the park and stop at booths totaste various wines. There will be shuttle buses to take you to severalwineries of your choice. We will meet back at our cars at 4:45 PM andthen walk a short distance to The Ruffed Grouse Restaurant. Dinner isat 5:00 PM. If the weather is accommodating, we will eat on theoutside patio and take in the sunset. If the weather is inclement, wewill have dinner inside. After dinner we will depart for the hotel wherewe will park our cars and check-in. At 8:00 PM we will meet in thelobby and board the shuttle for Presque Isle Downs. There will alsobe the opportunity for dessert and drinks at the casino. The lastshuttle back to our hotel leaves at midnight. We can meet forbreakfast on Sunday morning in the hotel. A breakfast bar is providedand included. You are on your own to take in other sites in Erie orcaravan back.
If you are staying overnight, a block of rooms have been reserved atthe Quality Inn, 8040 Perry Highway, Erie, PA 16509. The rooms areeither two double beds or king bed non-smoking. Call the hoteldirectly to make your reservation at 814-864-4911 and mention thePitt-Bird Car Club.
Tickets can be purchased at the gate for $30 per person which getsyou admission to the park, wine sampling and a commemorative wineglass. You can also buy tickets on-line for a discount at $25 perperson. Use this link: https://nechamber.org/tickets/ The discountprice is good thru September 27th.
If you are planning to go please contact Ed Kaczkowski at 412-302-2151 or [email protected] so that reservations at therestaurant can be finalized.
7
MEMBERSHIP:Current Membership: 68 Members
Interested in Joining an International Thunderbird Club?The Pitt Birds Thunderbird Club is a chapter club with the ClassicThunderbird Club International (CTCI) and the InternationalThunderbird Club (ITC). Both CTCI and ITC have regional andinternational events, provide excellent technical advice, publish bi-monthly magazines, offer vendor sourcing, and articles about otherlocal clubs. Membership information to CTCI or ITC can be found byvisiting the following web sites.Classic Thunderbird Club International: www.ctci.org
Then click on “Become a Member” on the Home page.International Thunderbird Club: www.intl-thunderbirdclub.com
Then click on the “Membership” button on the Home page.
Nomination of Officers:The Pitt Birds are soliciting nomination suggestions for the followingoffices in this club:• President• Vice President• Secretary• Treasurer
The position for the Newsletter Editor is also available
If you are interested or know of someone that is interested, pleasecontact Wayne Bane at 724-594-7482 or [email protected].
Men’s and Ladies’ Golf Shirts: Turquoise / Thunderbird blue golf shirts withthe Pitt Birds logo.Contact Mary Beth Meyer at 412-818-5898.The price is $25.00. Shipping and handling toyour address is an additional $5.00.
Visit and Join the Pitt Birds Thunderbird Club Facebook Page
Please visit the Pitt Birds Facebook page, post a comment or a photoof your Thunderbird and see what others have posted.Visit: www.facebook.com/groups/1558299460953848/
FOR SALE:1957 ThunderbirdContact: Carol VivaldiH: 724-939-7306 C: 412-877-1711 [email protected]$35,000
312 V-8, Automatic, Coral Sand w/White Hardtop and BlackConvertible Top, Power Steering, Power Windows, Radial Tires, Radioworks well, Have original Town & Country Radio, 44,000 Miles,Original California Car in good condition.
No Longer Passive SlushboxesTom Taylor, RockAuto.com
Most automatic transmissions built this century do not havedipstick tubes in the engine compartment for checking and addingtransmission fluid. How do you access the fluid in thesetransmissions?
A common design, found on the Ford 5R55 in a 2002-2005Thunderbird uses a vertical tube mounted in the transmission oilpan. Unscrew a plug from the bottom of the tube to check the fluidlevel. If fluid pours out of the tube, then there is too much fluid inthe transmission. The top of the tube should be even with the fluidlevel in the oil pan. That explanation is overly simple. Please keepreading!
To add fluid, the Ford 5R55 requires pumping fluid vertically up thesame little tube mentioned above. You pump fluid up the tube andthen let any excess fluid above the tube run back out. NewerMustangs use a less messy short dipstick and fill hole just abovethe oil pan. The vehicle must be level while all this is going on.That means using a lift or very carefully adjusted jack stands.
So, why do the car manufacturers make it harder by sending usunder the car to check or add transmission fluid? The short answerinvolves fluid temperature, risk of overfilling and the reducedlikelihood of leaks. Automatic transmissions are no longer passive"slushboxes." Computers control nearly everything, including howmuch transmission fluid is in the oil pan at different fluidtemperatures. The fluid level in the pan varies a lot. The "tube" inthe Ford examples above is only accurate (top of tube matches thecorrect fluid level) at a specific fluid temperature.
The wide fluid level variation in the pan is easy to see withChrysler's NAG1 transmission (300, Charger, Challenger...). TheNAG1 still has a dipstick tube under the hood, but the tube isplugged. To begin checking the transmission fluid, the plug isremoved and a dipstick is inserted. The fluid level should be justover the 20 mark on the dipstick at 70°F (21°C) and just under the80 mark when the transmission fluid is hot, 200°F (27°C). There isa lot of distance between those dipstick markings.
Transmission fluid should not really need checking and topping offunless the fluid is being changed or there is a visible leak thatneeds to be fixed. Newer transmission designs and gasketmaterials are less likely to leak.The handy dipstick tube is gone, but so is the opportunity forsomebody poking around under the hood to damage thetransmission by casually overfilling it (or by adding the wrongtransmission fluid). Arm yourself with a service manual beforeheading under the car or if you are simply curious about how todrain, fill and check your transmission fluid.
If fluid pours out of the tube, then there is too much.
8