#0066
September 2017
PO Box 458, LEVIN 14 Tiro Tiro Road, LEVIN
Patron
Tom Hayes
Chair
Colin Brooks
04 298 5458
Deputy Chair
Des St. Clare
0274 191412
Secretary
Winton Cleal
04 293 3369
Treasurer
Jackie Job
06 368 2565
Club Captain (Joint)
John White Bob Barton bobandthegaffer@gmail.com
06 368 3299 06 367 8216
Branch Delegate
Warren Birch
04 905 2130
Committee
Derek Ransom Pete Collins Warren MacMillan
06 368 1011 06 368 8656 06 362 6156
Custodian Groundspeople
Andrew Judd Wayne Thrower Julia MacMillan
06 368 6891 06 368 5611 06 362 6156
Spares Team
Callum Farmer callumfarmer77@hotmail.com Rex Williams Mike Khull Bob Barton Jeff Fox Colin Brooks Robert Cammish
06 364 7238
Library Archives
Peter and Bev Kelly
06 368 3474
Spark Editor
04 971 2858
Spark Distribution
Mark Gibson thegibbos@paradise.net.nz Bob Barton
VIC Team
Verdon Heath, Ivan Horn, Jeff Fox and Mark Morgan
06 367 0613 06 363 5633 06 367 8216 06 362 6013 04 298 5458 04 905 0772
06 367 8216
Meeting Branch Night - 1st Wednesday of the month at 7.30 pm Committee Meeting - Last Wednesday of the month at 7.30 pm Working Bee - Saturday following Branch Night at 8.30 am Spare Parts - Open Saturday following Branch Night
I have to start this month’s Chat on a sad note, with the passing of Shona Nightingale on the 8 August after a hard-fought battle with illness. Shona was a foundation member of our club, working hard in many positions of club activities throughout her life. Shona was a friend to Cheryl and me, and I especially valued her advice when I became Chairman. Our thoughts are with Peter and his family. Also, one of our newer members, Warren MacMillan, lost his mother, Marie, who passed away this month. She was 95 years old. On a lighter side, this month’s run to the Fisherman’s Table, followed by a tour of Chris Clark’s Garage in Paekakariki (the oldest working garage in the country!) was a great success. The extra number of people turning out for it caused staff at the restaurant a temporary headache! This year’s involvement with the VCC National Cancer Day on 27 August was put together in a short time, with an open day involving all local car clubs for a static display at TeTakare car park in the centre of Levin, and the Cancer Society collecting donations. Members came from Wellington and Palmerston North to join us, plus several motor bike club members. The weather was good, which helped make it a great day. The local paper gave us some great coverage, including photos and a write-up, which was fantastic publicity for our club. My thanks go to Bob and John, our Club Captains, for their effort in making this a successful day, with $520 being raised for the Cancer Society. I must thank John White for his talk on flying at Club Night. It took me back to my time as a young lad growing up in Portsmouth, when my mates and I would go “plane spotting” at the local airport. One time we were asked if we would like to go up. Of course we said yes, but when the pilot did a few loop-de-loops we all turned a slight shade of green! Not the best. I believe there are still a few places available for the “Tui” Trip this month, so ring Bob or John now for a tour of this iconic building. This Saturday’s Working Bee, with atrocious weather outside, saw 23 members join us for morning tea (a good day for it!) We are aiming now to equal Club Night attendance! It was great to see you all there catching up with the latest “goss!” 1 October is the Tararua Rodders Show at the AP &I Showgrounds. It would be great to see a few of our club cars parked outside our clubrooms to help attract those interested across to peruse our Spares and Library, which will be open on the day. That’s all for now. See you on the “Tui” Trip!
Colin
Roster for October 2017 Jeff Fox, Brendon Fox, Michael Gaffaney, Colin Geange, Mark Gibson. If you cannot make it for either kitchen duties on Club Night 4 October, or the Working Bee on Saturday, 7 October (9 am till 12 noon) please let myself or Cheryl know on 04 298-5458.
Speaker for October 2017 Instead of a speaker for this month, we will be showing a couple of clips on “How to Assemble a Model “T” Ford in World Record Time!” One involves a team of ladies, the other could just feature a few people you might recognise! Come along and see for yourself.
HOTROD SHOW - AP&I SHOWGROUNDS - SUNDAY 1 OCTOBER 2017 Our clubrooms will be open for the show, the library, spares department and our kitchen also. We will need help with this. We need our old vehicles on display please. Can I ask for one or two ladies to help in the kitchen, for one or two gentlemen to come forward and help with spares and the library please. It will be an open day for our club to invite people interested in joining. Please contact me if you can help.
Bob
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Welcome to our newest member, Don McAlpine. Don is a retired teacher and lives in Otaki with his wife Anne. They own not one, but two Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire cars. The one I saw at the working bee was really tidy. Don acquired this 1955 car from Wellington, it looks to be original, but Don says it may have had a makeover in the 70’s. The other car Don has had a fair while, as a project car. It’s not yet finished and moved with him around the country, as the job demanded. It rests in the back of his garage waiting its turn in time. Don has a lifetime association with the marque, his uncle had the Armstrong Siddeley dealership and apparently Don got to sit in them inhaling that English car smell!! Armstrong Siddeley went the way of most British cars, stopping production in 1960. We look forward to seeing Don and Anne at club outings in the future.
John W
From: Vintage Car Club of NZ (Inc) - admin [mailto:admin@vcc.org.nz] Subject: VCC ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL Importance: High Hi Folks The annual VCC membership subscriptions were sent out to all members on Wednesday. People have started to receive them and I can see a number have paid by Direct Credit already. Unfortunately I can see that they have not included their membership number as the reference. Please, at every opportunity, can you remind members that if they choose to pay this way, they must put their membership number. It clearly states this on the remittance advice, where we give the bank account information. It actually advises them what reference number to use (which is their membership number) Thanking you in advance for your help on this matter. Kind Regards Julie Cairns – Gee Administration Manager Vintage Car Club of NZ - National Office
________________________________________________________________ From: Vintage Car Club of NZ (Inc) - admin [mailto:admin@vcc.org.nz] Sent: Thursday, 7 September 2017 11:09 AM Subject: VCC SUB PAYMENT - NO REFERENCE AS TO WHO IT IS FROM Importance: High Hi Folks Whilst I have had a few people put money in to the Club bank account for their subscriptions, without the required reference information, there is only one that I can so far not identify. The date the money was inputted in to our account was 6 September 2017. Reference – all I have is the word Transfer. I do not want to give the amount as that is the only way I will be able to determine that it is correctly the person who contacts me. However it is over $100. Can you put a call out in your branch newsletter, to anyone who transferred money in to our account on 6 September, paid over $100 and did not put a reference number – not even a name – to contact national office. Thanks Kind Regards Julie Cairns – Gee Administration Manager Vintage Car Club of NZ - National Office
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Aaah Jeeez! Dey went thru dis crap last year too!
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE HOROWHENUA BRANCH VINTAGE CAR CLUB NZ INC HELD AT 14 TIRO TIRO ROAD, LEVIN ON 6 SEPT 2017 AT 7.30PM Present: Chairman Colin Brooks and 54 members. Apologies: Michael Wintringham, Tom Hayes, Verdon Heath, Hec and Shirley Newton, Warren Birch, Pete Collins, Murray Doreen. Visitors: Ernie Elgie, Don McCaron Minutes of the last meeting: Were taken as read. Winton/Margaret Lawton. Correspondence: Cards received. One from the Cancer Society thanking us for helping to raise $520 for them on the VCC National Day and also one from the local Hospice thanking us for the use of the club rooms. Treasurers Report: Read by Jackie Job/Bill Laney. Club Captain’s Report: Fisherman’s Table was a great success with 45 people sitting down to lunch. Daffodil Day 56 cars and 12 bikes. A good crowd showed up with cars from Wellington and Palmerston North branches. 5 cars attended Summerset Village on Father’s day and took people on a short drive. 40 people are required for Tui Brewery visit. Meet at club rooms at 10 a.m. Library: A very busy month with a lot of new books. 18 Daimler/Sovereign Service Manuals donated. Next month a half price sale will be held. General Business: Our Club to host the 2020 Easter Rally. International Rally to have been held in 2021 has been put on hold. Speaker: John White gave us a talk on his experience of flying. Meeting closed at 9 pm.
Fisherman’s Table – Sunday, 20 August A total of 45 people arrived at Fisherman‟s Table. We had booked for 35. On the evening before 10 people had cancelled due to illness, colds and flu etc. I was very surprised when 45 members turned up! So were the Fisherman‟s Table staff! They had to quickly organise another 10 extra places for our members. They did brilliantly and soon had us all settled down with a great lunch. The atmosphere was very good and everyone enjoyed themselves. It was a great surprise for our leader, Chairman Colin Brooks, when he was presented with a rather large, beautiful “Birthday Cake” from his lovely wife Cheryl. I don‟t mind telling you his age, he is 75 and doesn‟t look a day over 90! He cut the cake and managed to give everybody a crumb or two. „HAPPY BIRTHDAY‟ Colin and all the best from everyone for the next 75 years. After lunch we made our way to the oldest operating garage in New Zealand at Paekakariki. It is owned by one of our members, Chris Clark, who very kindly told us the history of the garage and showed us around. It was really interesting and we all enjoyed it. Thank you Chris for giving up your time and allowing us into your wonderful garage. I must say, that it was really very nice to see Keith Staples up and about, helping Chris out with the visit. A lot of our members know that Keith has fought a terrific battle and was very poorly. He is now on the mend and looking extremely good, great to see you up and about Keith. Thank you one and all, to the members that turned up on the day, without you, „our club members‟, there would not be a club, well done. John and I look forward to seeing you all at the Tui Brewery on Saturday, 24 September, 12 midday. VCC National Cancer Day Horowhenua Branch of the VCC held their National Cancer Day at Te Takere Levin Library car park. On Sunday, 27 August it turned out to be a nice sunny day and within the space of one hour 56 old vehicles turned up, along with 50 or so moderns plus a dozen or so motorcycles. A great crowd of people turned up from Cancer Research to organise the event and collect money for the cause. There was a great display of fine American vehicles, Fords and Chevys. English were well represented with Capris, Cortinas, 100Es and Dodge plus many more. Cancer relief workers for the local cancer charity collected a good amount and all had a good time. Well done to everyone who turned up and put the effort in to help make the day an outstanding success at short notice. Father’s Day - 2 September Arrive at 1 30pm at Summerset by the Ranges Retirement Centre, off Liverpool Street. Meet at the centre for a static display and a good time with the ladies and gentlemen of the centre. Vehicles are needed, please contact John or myself.
Tui Brewery, Sunday 24 September Itâ€&#x;s getting closer and we need 40 people to attend, so far we have 30 on the list. Please contact John or myself now and get your name down. If we know the numbers then Tui can get the food sorted and the seating arranged. It is pointless having a dozen people turning up who have not booked to find that they cannot sit next to the group who have booked seats! Just let us know if you are coming, do it now!!!!! Meet at the clubrooms at 10 am for an easy ride out to the Tui Brewery, or make your own way there to be at Tui for 12 noon. Thatâ€&#x;s all for now folks. Drive safely.
Bob and John Club Captains
SHONA’S MATE … Now I’d had the honour, Of washing Pete Nightingale’s cars, “You can start out on the old one, See how bloody good you are”, When he mentioned bout the old one, I thought that would be neat, The Nissan is quite simple, Will soon have that one beat. But no he didn’t mean a modern, Bit older then than that, “Matilda’s in the bottom shed, You can give her a crack”, Now Matilda is an oldie, Like 80 years or more, But she aren’t at all like wrinkly, Just black and blue and chrome,
Now as does happen with young love, They didn’t take the pics, So S and P have lived their lives, With a topless speedy chick, She took them on so many trips, With top both up and down, And left them in the lurch one day, When they were ferry bound, You VCC members know much more, Than I begin to tell, I do remember her bore size, A beer bottle fits so well, Now back to job of cleaning her, So she sparkled in the sun, In honour of Matilda’s driver and good mate, Dear Shona Nightingale.
So Peter drove her up the track, And almost got her stuck, “That’s 40 years I’ve used that track, I’m finally out of luck”, Now truth be told, I cannot lie, He is my bro-in-law, Matilta has been in my life, For 40 years or more, I drove her before she dropped her top, A dusty yellow tan, With sliding windows and solid roof, Built by Woodville man,
Author: Don McLaren
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Congratulations to all those involved in the organisation of the Horowhenua Daffodil Day Event, especially our Club Captains John and Bob. To all those that assisted in the arrangements and brought your vehicles to display, you all did a fantastic job. Thank you! The measurement of your success is the significant number of vehicles, clubs and spectators who attended for the cause. This event will get bigger and better as it becomes an important event in everyone’s calendar. We have the bones of a great event!
A story about my Rapier, as yet unnamed‌‌‌ About seven years ago I was looking for a project. I wanted a series Rapier but Brigid does not like them, so it was a Fastback or nothing. A Sunbeam Club member had a Fastback for sale, although it was in pieces and spread around several sheds in Marton. The rust work had been done and it had mags and new tyres. The car and many boxes duly arrived and were placed in my shed. There they sat for some time. Before starting I was determined that I would not spend more than what the car was worth, including the purchase price. A check of the boxes revealed that everything was there, although where they went was another matter. I would not buy another car in pieces! When I finally started, I scraped off the underseal to reveal a rust free floor pan. New underseal was brushed on and painted over. I was going to paint the car myself and I did paint the engine bay and inside the boot lid, bonnet, doors and roof, but I could not get a handle on the 2K paint so I enlisted Ivan Horn and his expertise to finish it off. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
A friend re-upholstered the front seats, the rest I did myself including painting the roof lining and door cards with vinyl paint. The motor came out of the Alpine as the original one was quite worn. I gas flowed the head to David Vizard specs but otherwise it is standard. As I had not driven the car, the condition of the gearbox and diff were unknown. Luckily they turned out okay although the radiator needed a recore. Luckily the Sunbeam Club has an extensive second hand spares department in Tirau, although most mechanical stuff is available new. And yes I did come in on budget. Just!
Rex Williams
Answer later in this issue of Spark
SUNDAY RUN – 24 September 2017 Meet at 1 00 pm at the Chesters Plumbing and Bathroom carpark in Tremaine Avenue (Palm Nth) for a leisurely run on easy roads to a CafÊ for afternoon tea and a chit-chat. The total mileage for the afternoon (i.e. including back to Palm Nth) will be approx 50 miles (80 kms). ________________________________________________________________
A Canadian built vehicle supplied to British Forces fitted with heavy duty suspension
1941 Ford V8 Station Wagon Staff Car
When insuring your valuable items (property, car etc) with Vero, quoting this number results in a commission being made to the Horowhenua Branch. Thank you for your support.
Number HO/300137
ANSWER
The ZiS was rumoured to use machinery from the Packard 180 assembly line which was sent to the USSR after American production ended. However, according to The Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company, there is no evidence whatsoever in the Packard archives of such a transfer. Moreover, as one of the main results of the collection of information and material of Bert Hein, there can be lots of current opinions within the car literature disproved. The database includes, in addition to some pictures of Commissars with Packards, a registry of existing cars and information about all ZiS versions, but particularly a point to point comparison between the products of Packard and ZiS. Therefore more likely that the top Commissars, including Joseph Stalin, owned several Packards and wanted their first effort at a luxury car to be based on what is arguably one of the top cars of the 1940s. These cars were often given as gifts to foreign communist leaders such as Mao Zedong and Kim Il-sung. After Stalin’s ZiL 110c cabriolet was used as a parade car for Nikita Khrushchev, and this model was given as a gift to Enver Hoxha, the lifelong president of Albania.
ZiS-110 was a limousine from ZiL introduced in 1946. The 110 was developed from the reverse engineering of a 1942 Packard Super Eight during 1944. The first 5 prototypes were completed by August 1945. It was powered by a 6 litre, 8 cylinder engine producing 140 hp (104 kW) and giving a top speed of over 140 km/h (87 mph). It was made in both sedan and convertible versions.
In 1931 the factory was re-equipped and expanded with the help of the American company A.J. Brandt and Co., and changed its name to Automotive Factory No. 2 Zavod imeni Stalina (ZiS). Nikita Khrushchev denounced the ‘cult of personality’ of Joseph Stalin in 1956, afterwards the name was changed again to Zavod imeni Likhachova (ZiL), after its former director Ivan Alekseevich Likhachov.
The factory was founded in 1916 as the Moscow Automotive Society (AMO) (in Russian Автомобильное Московское Общество (АМО)). Translated (Avtomobilnoe Moskovskoe Obshchestvo (AMO)). The plans were to produce Fiat-15 1.5 tonne trucks under licence. Because of the October Revolution and the subsequent Russian Civil War it took until 1 November 1924 to produce the first vehicle, the AMO-F-15.
With the little research completed on this car it was interesting to see it came with a warning on Wikipedia. It says that the articles refer to sources that remain unclear and invalidated. This leads to the discrepancies in name and dates. Make what you can from this information from several sources. There is always an invitation, if you know more, tell Spark. Provide some proof, not just your opinion!
Our member George McLean has supplied some of this information. Thank you very much for your contribution George. He is adamant the vehicle is a 1948 ZiL. He worked on one, he should know, as his story testifies. There is no sub model name.
I started my motor trade apprenticeship with the Wellington Ford dealers, Avery Motors, in 1959. About a month or so afterwards, a very large black limousine came into the workshop one morning. It didn't look like any Ford that I'd seen before. I did notice it had ‘DP’ plates which meant it was a diplomatic car. It was running very rough and lumpy. Obviously it had some form of engine trouble. The driver got out and went to see the Service Manager. A short time afterwards he and the driver came over to where I was standing alongside the mechanic and said we were both assigned to work on the car. Subsequently, we discovered it was a Soviet made ZiL, a seven passenger limousine. The driver was a Russian diplomat from the Soviet Legation who mentioned in broken English, "You need bits …make car go …tell me …I get Russia." He then left his business card and departed. Lifting the bonnet we found a large flat head eight cylinder motor beneath. The engine was running, so the mechanic told me to get a screwdriver and then he started shorting out the spark plugs one by one. He discovered two adjacent plugs made little difference to the lumpy running. We removed the plugs and checked the cylinder compressions, only to find they were down in pressure. The head was removed and discovered the engine had two burnt out exhaust valves. The mechanic stood back and looked at the front of the car. He thought it looked familiar …like a ‘48 Packard?
He removed one of the good exhaust valves and gave it to me along with the cylinder head gasket, told me to go to Dominion Motors in Kent Terrace, the local Packard agents, to compare their parts with the ZiL parts. Both turned out to be identical with each other, so I returned with two new Packard exhaust valves and a top overhaul gasket set. The ZiL got a valve grind, reassembled and a tune up. After taking it for a test run, the Soviet Legation was told by phone the car was ready to pickup. "No! Not ready? Not possible! You get bits … Russia now?" was the incredulous response. It took some time to convince the Russians that their car was indeed ready to pick up! The Russian official arrived still not convinced it was fixed and wondered how it was possible without Russian parts! He was told it was fixed with ‘Kiwi ingenuity’. He looked confused at this reply, shrugged his shoulders and muttered, "Fix with ‘idjewittie’ bits. Da! (yes) Ver grood." He then left, a very puzzled man. Why did the ZiL turn up at a Ford agency? Their office car was a Mk2 Ford Zephyr, so it follows …? Cheers.
George
We have had a very busy month in the library, with over 60 books and manuals being placed on the library shelves. Over a period of six days, each book or manual has been cleaned, mended and processed. Some of the large service manuals have had to have been 'rehoused' because the constant handling in their past life had destroyed their original covers. Thank you Bill Shattky for your generous donation of six as-new books and manuals. Another five as-new titles have replaced the well-used titles already on the shelves. A total of 11 books in Bill's donation. Bill also donated a portable microfiche machine. Thank you Lyndon Wood of Levin Mitsubishi for your very generous donation of: 18 Jaguar and Jaguar/Daimler Sovereign service manuals 20 Fiat manuals of all models 18 various other titles Look in the Latest Arrivals folder in the library for details of the new titles. The well-used manuals are being offered to members via the For Sale section of the library. If you are having trouble locating the 20 Fiat manuals - 'look up!' - they are on the top shelf above 'A - Austin'. The 'F' shelves will be only 'Ford' from now on. Exhausted librarians and archivist.
Bev and Peter Kelly Librarians and Archivists
The drought has finally broken and once more the Spares Department is busy again. A big thank you goes out to Jerry Harvey for the donation of the materials which allowed us to build the leaf spring rack, which is now in the new part of the spares area – please see photos. Over the last month the Spares Department has been helping a West Coast member source parts for his restoration of a 1928 Renault MT Doctor’s Coupe. At the time of writing this column, we have been able to supply him with a diff, gearbox and torque tube - please see photos. Members should take note that the Spares Department is currently working on getting a supply of 1929 Hudson parts, however I will have more information on this next month. Safe travelling everyone.
Callum
Wanted: A rotor or crab distributor for my ’47 Ford V8. NOS or a good second hand one will do. I have run out of spares and the new ones give nothing but grief! Phone Mike K on 06 3635633
½ Marked Price Sale in the Library! Breaking News! Bargains! We will be having a ½ Price Sale of all items in the For Sale section of the library next club night, 4 October. We need to make space. It will continue the following Saturday Working Bee, 7 October. This is your chance to 'Bag a Bargain!'
advertisements Now I’ve got your attention ... did you know, if you’re a member you can advertise your car, your parts or your whatever FOR SALE here? You could’ve had this space to sell your stuff for free!
CALENDAR of COMING EVENTS September 24th
A trip to the Tui Brewery and a BBQ cooked by the famous Tui Girls. Meet at clubrooms 10 am. See information in Club Captain’s Report this issue. st October 1 Hot Rod Show at AP&I Showgrounds - spares, library and kitchen will be open - bring your car for display October 4th Horowhenua Club Night th October 14 Manawatu Branch Swap Meet - see ad this issue of Spark. A run to be arranged if enough interest. st November 1 Horowhenua Club Night th November 12 Manawatu Motorcycle Swap Meet – 8 am at clubrooms - travel together if attending. th November 19 Tararua Trundle - further TBA th December 6 Horowhenua Club Night th December 10 Branch Christmas Party - further TBA th February 11 All British Car Day, Trentham Memorial Park - A fundraiser for Wellington Free Ambulance - further TBA th February 25 The Mangahao Valley and 3 Dams Trip - Wellington Branch have been invited – further TBA Any enquiries to: John White Phone 06 368-3299
Kapiti Coast Mid Week Run (last Wednesday of the month) Wednesday, 27 September: Checkpoint at the Southward Museum 10 15 am Gather at the Southward Museum, ‘Bentley Room’ for a screening of the 1956 movie ‘Checkpoint’ starring Anthony Steel, Odile Versois, Stanley Baker, James Robertson Justice and featuring period sports cars and racing in northern Italy (Mille Miglia) 10 30 am Movie commences 12.00 noon Light finger-food lunch: savoury, sandwiches, muffins, tea and coffee (includes room and AV equipment) - $15 per person Following A visit to the museum for those who wish Lunch Note that a concession rate of $15 is now available for NZ Goldcard holders and an annual subscription (unlimited cardholder visits in one year) can be purchased for $40 Display cars of the kind featured in the movie are the 750 Monza Ferrari and the unbodied Bob Wraight Aston Martin/Lagonda Special. If you would like to join in please register by emailing, for this month only, kay.murray@clear.net.nz or telephone 04 293 3601 by Sunday, 25 September as numbers are needed for catering.
ISSN
the print bureau 06 367 9330