December, 2010
The next club meeting:
7:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Golden Corral, Dothan.
Join us for dinner at 6:00 p.m.
RECALL - 2004 - leaky late model C5 fuel tanks
Yep, I"m still a little short of parking spaces this fall.
November proved to be another busy month for the club. As we have done for many years, we provided cars for the National Peanut Festival Parade, this year on the 6th. Much thanks to those who brave the cold temperatures that morning to make it happen. Then on the 13th, we had about a dozen from the club participate in a visit to the Seacrest Wolf Preserve. We were treated to the rare event of re-uniting wolf pups with their mom, after being hand raised for several months for domestication purposes. What a sight that was to see their mom immediately make it clear to them about their ‘place’ in the wolf pack. Pack hierarchy is a facilitating behavioral characteristic of wolf packs as each member knows who is above them and who is below. These pups will be on the bottom for a while. Our final event for the month was on the 21st. We had 5 cars make the trek to Montgomery Motorsports Park for some ‘fun’ drag racing. Everyone, including the ladies, had a great time and, no cars were damaged in the making of this event!!
In December we have 12 cars signed up to participate in the Headland Christmas Parade. Each will be carrying a queen and afterward we will do lunch. Then on the 18th we will have a much anticipated Christmas celebration. We will start with a visit to the Headland Girls Home for a visit and gift giving party. (We will be assigning club folks to each girl at the December meeting to fill their Christmas list.) Then after the visit, we will caravan to the Dothan Conference Center for our annual Christmas party. The club will be providing a ham and a turkey, and we will be asking each participant to bring a dish to share. After dinner, we will play the ‘Dirty Santa’ game. It should be an evening to remember.
Jean and I would like to take this opportunity to wish all a wonderful Christmas and a terrific New Year.
Bruce
Click for the Museum Homepage: National Corvette Museum - opens in its own window.
Click here for Charley's NCM Newsletter or read it here:
Courtesy of your NCM Ambassador
- Charley Robertson
-- top of page --
Winter-time auto maintenance. Temperature extremes are hard on our cars, and as we approach winter there are a few items we should consider for our cars and trucks.
Coolant – Since about the mid ‘90’s, all GM vehicles have been factory filled with an antifreeze good for 7 years. So what wears out after 7 years – the anti-corrosion additives. The coolants ability to resist freezing doesn’t change, but the coolant should be changed every 7 or so years to re-fresh the additives and to allow the sediment to be drained out.
Batteries – Cold weather is hard on batteries. If you have one that has been starting your car a bit slower than it used to, there’s a good chance that when you go to crank it up on a 30 degree morning, it simply won’ t do it. On our C5 Vettes, try to get a battery that has gel electrolyte rather than liquid. Since the car’s Powertrain Control Module is directly beneath the battery, you really don’t want acid dripping onto it if one of the posts breaks loose.
Rubber – Any rubber items such as tires, weather stripping, belts, and hoses suffer some deterioration during freezing temperatures. About the only thing you can do about it is try to get the car in a garage. Putting on a liberal coat of a good protectorate such as Armor All onto tires can help, as well as spraying silicone spray onto belts, hoses and weather stripping.
Exterior corrosion – We typically don’t wash our cars as often during the winter, so its possibly to get a certain amount of corrosion and/or damage to painted surfaces, and to exposed metal surfaces. Keeping a good coat of wax/sealant on painted surfaces will certainly help, and keep and eye on exposed metal under the hood as well as wheels and such. A little shot of WD-40 onto rusted surfaces can head off big problems later.
Bruce
-ed. note: next month, your editor overhauls C5 headlight motors, and adds to the spreadsheet.
| November | |
| 2 | Club meeting and annual officer elections |
| 4 - 6 |
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| 6 | The Silver Springs theme park in FL is having their annual Corvette show. Click here for info. |
| 6 | The Peanut Parade!! Lineup 0730. |
| 11 - 15 | Emerald Coast Club to Savannah for Paula Deen tour and other activities. Click here (google calendar) or here (club page) for details |
13 |
Cruise and check presentation to the Seacrest Wolf Preserve just south of Chipley FL. |
| 13 - 14 | The 10th Annual Dothan Automotive Swapmeet Car Corral and Car Show. Click here for the flyer |
| December | |
11 |
Headland Christmas Parade |
| 18 | CCCC Christmas Party at Dothan Conference Center Dirty Santa - bring a wrapped Corvette-related gift for each person who will participate. Meet at Spanish Acres on US431 just north of the Circle at 4pm to caravan to the Headland Girls home. |
| 31 | New Year's Eve Gala at the Dothan Conference Center. Dinner event at 7:30 pm, party starts at 9:00 pm. Click here to see the flyer (requires adobe reader). |
| Drag racing at the Montgomery Motor Sports Park. |
Lunch at the Tin Top Cafe enroute. |
Nothing like havin the place to ourselves. |
| The attached video is just one of several races we
enjoyed yesterday at the drag strip at Montgomery Motorsports park. We
had 5 cars make the trip. We enjoyed a great lunch at the Tin Roof Café
which is north of Troy on 231, then hit the strip about 1:30. As most of
our participants were new to drag racing, I rode with each to give them
a checkout and some instruction. After some training we were all
enjoying running down the track with wives/friends in the right seat and
with the tops down. It was a beautiful day to be outside enjoying the
fun and camaraderie, and for some gaining new experiences. Our track
times ranged from about 12.40 @116 to about 13.0 @109, so we were all
running pretty close. Maybe we can do this again in December if there is
interest as the track will be keeping the ‘test and tune’ event on
Sundays for a while. |
This past weekend we had members attending 2 events. We had Peggy, and David and Tammy accompany the Emerald Coast Corvette club on their trip to Savannah. With the emails I have received about this trip, they 'ate their way thru Savannah' on the Paula Dean tour. They said everyone had a good time and the weather was great. Also this past weekend was the cruise to the Seacrest Wolf Preserve, see the attached photos. This was a special day at the Preserve as they released 4 wolf pups back into the pack. These pups were pulled away from their mom when about 10 days old to be hand raised and become 'people friendly'. Now, several months later, they were re-united with their mom. Wow - she really let them know who was boss. They immediately assumed the submissive posture as they started to take their place in the pack. It was quite a sight. Also while there, we presented them with a $500 donation check we previously approved. |
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This space awaits your trip ...
We welcome our new members to the club!!!
Bruce Wagner, Daleville, white 1979 L-82 coupe !!
| HAPPY December
BIRTHDAYS 6 Jerri Gourley 14 Judy Lewis 15 Pat Fleming 17 David Miller 18 Russell Lewis 18 Joseph Miller 21 Suzanne Hammitt 22 Brenda Hancock 22 Roy Williams 30 Jeff Bishop |
and December
ANNIVERSARIES:
3 Mike & Cindy Walker 12 Jeffery & Micky Young 16 Russell & Judy Lewis 19 Juan Carlos (J C) & Vivian Cancel 27 Dan & Hassie Green |
| Seen at the Lemon Lot in Dothan: 1979 RED coupe, 112,000 miles, new paint, new tires, radiator, carb, brakes. |
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| He might have to remove that tag... |
RECALL - 2004 - leaky C5 fuel tanks
Your home planet as seen from the International Space Station
Charley says this is the next HUD
Motor Trend - 911Turbo v. ZR1 We know where to get more go for the dollar, or the Euro.
How effective is your favorite charity ?? How much goes to pay the bills before the donations disperse?
Inside C6R #4 at ALMS Salt Lake City, Utah, 2010
Race to Win
Corvette - check the videos /
How to clean a car, by the MiniCooper group.
How to make your car last - http://tinyurl.com/qwdp7t
LS2 Engine Assembly - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2ZQQRDmlJc&feature=related
President: Bruce Carter
Vice President: Russell Lewis
Secretary: Barbara Pattberg
NCM Ambassador:
Charley Robertson
Treasurer: Jim Robertson
Caravan Coordinator: John
Hickman
Local Event Coordinator: Bruce Carter
Newsletter Editor:
Brent Gourley
Member at Large:
Charley O. Robertson
Member at Large:
Rick Early
Webmaster: Brent Gourley
