SIDE CURTAINS
SIDE CURTAINS The magazine of the
ROTORUA VINTAGE AND VETERAN CAR CLUB
OCTOBER 2018
WE’RE NOW ON FACEBOOK ! www.rotoruavintagecarclub.org.nz
September Club Run to Pirongia
September Midweekers
SIDE CURTAINS - October 2018 The magazine of the ROTORUA VINTAGE AND VETERAN CAR CLUB
Clubrooms: Neil Hunt Park, Tarawera Rd, Rotorua Postal: PO Box 2014, Rotorua Email: rotorua@vcc.org.nz Website: www.rotoruavintagecarclub.org.nz Vero Insurance: Phone 0800 658 411 and quote your VCC membership number Club Meetings: 2nd Wednesday of month (except January), 7.15pm for 7.30pm start OFFICERS
Chairperson - David Tomlinson Secretary - Dennis Whimp Ph 021 731 678 Treasurer - Terry Fitzpatrick Club Captain - vacant Asst. Club Captain - Kevin Scott Committee Bob Mackay John Peters Terry Wadsworth Ronald Mayes Phil Monk
CONTENTS Chairman’s Report From The Secretary Car In The Room Pirongia Run For The Ladies September Midweek Run Lucas Gremlins Upcoming Midweek Runs Events Calendar
2 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12
Mid Weekers - Bob Mackay Side Curtains Editor - David Tomlinson rvvcc.editor@gmail.com Beaded Wheels - Ronald Mayes Librarian - Roger Couchman Asst Librarian - John Kirkland Cards/Flowers - Doreen Green
Cover Photos Front - September run, shed visit Back - September Club Night
CLUB CAR PHOTOS
If you want your club car photo on the clubroom wall then get in touch with Doug Green, and he will organise a time and place for a photo shoot. It would be good if we could have all member’s car photos on display. Side Curtains October 2018
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Chairman’s Report
- September 2018 by David Tomlinson
Another active month has gone by. At our September club night we had Bob Mackay’s 1953 Land Rover on display, and a good talk on the marque in general and Bob’s Landy. It didn’t even need the ramps to climb up into the club house, that’s what 4WD does for you! The midweekers had an early run due to the club run being on the last weekend of the month, and by all accounts had a good day out, and celebrated a branch member’s birthday. Our club run to Pirongia was well attended with many club cars from vintage through to P60, and a few moderns too. It was a muggy day with occasional misty showers, but after the markets the collection visit at a nearby rural property was warm and sunny. The picnic spot was superb, and the collections very interesting. We also had a visitor from Whakatane with us in a lovely 1950s Dodge V8 sedan. Our October run will start in the afternoon (1.30pm) from the clubrooms and will involve a short non-competitive run that will end up at a property in town, where we will view a collection and be treated to afternoon tea around 3pm. The November combined run with BoP, Taupo, EBoP and South Waikato branches will see our branch have a short run from the clubrooms arriving around the same time as the 2
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other branches at Te Amorangi Steam Museum at Holdens Bay, where we will view the museum and have a picnic lunch on site. Complimentary tea and coffee will be available at the venue, but there will be a charge of $10pp, to a maximum of $20 for any one car. It promises to be a great day out socialising with members from our neighbouring branches and viewing some cars we don’t often see. Elsewhere in this issue is the marketing poster for the Lakefront Car Show on January 20th next year. This is our only formal branch activity in January, and this year we had 300 cars attend on a lovely day, lets hope we can at least match that next time. A significant amount of marketing will be done to all our branches in the nearby regions, as well as many other clubs including all the single marque clubs. Our October club night will hopefully feature a video presentation of footage from the 1980 International Rally held here in Rotorua, I am guessing there will be no sound, but it should be interesting to see the cars and the people involved. Hot on the heels of Doug and Doreen Green hosting the BoP branch at Kiwi Metal Polishers recently, I hosted the Tauranga VW club at my lock up in Ngongy where they climbed all over my small collection, with their group of air cooled cars parked out front. We also had a model train group use our clubrooms recently for a weekend meeting, it is good for us to interact with these other groups so we see different faces from time to time. Hope to see many of you at a club activity soon. Side Curtains October 2018
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FROM THE SECRETARY by Dennis Whimp
Membership Subs are now due As at the 1st Oct, just under half of our members had renewed their subscriptions. To receive the discount of $11.50, payment must be received by the National Office no later than 20th October 2018. Renewals are for the period 01 November 2018 to 31 October 2019. There is the option of internet banking direct into the National office bank account. If you use this option, then ensure you put in your name and in the reference, your membership number. E.g. 15-…….. The 15 indicates that you are in the Rotorua branch. There has been a stream of emails from the national office with requests to try to identify internet banked amounts with no or obscure references. Thankfully, none seem to relate to our branch subsciption amount.
Christchurch Classic Car Auction If you happen to be going to the Christchurch swap meet, there is also a Turner’s Classic car auction on Saturday 13 October north of Christchurch on behalf of G McVicar deceased estate. Over 30 prestigious vintage, post vintage and post war vehicles will be sold. This is probably one of the best collections to come up for sale for many a year with vehicles ranging from a 1924 model T to a 1981 Cadillac Seville. Most are in excellent condition. 4
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September “Car In The Room” Bob Mackay’s 1953 Land Rover
by Dennis Whimp
Bob gave us a good insight on just how much work goes into restoring what seemed a reasonably tidy motorable Land Rover. He purchased it in 2005 and has just got it reliably on the road after an extensive rebuild. Land Rover production started in 1948 with a 1600 cc engine. The NZ army purchased 640 between 1951 and 1953. Bob’s was one of the 29 that arrived with the new 2 litre engine in 1953. The old army numbers appeared somewhere in the 8 coats of paint that were stripped off. The body is all aluminium alloy except for the firewall which was rotten and a front mudguard that had been cut away and reproduced in fibreglass. A new mudguard was sourced from England where the maker ensured it was correct, right down to the number and shape of the rivets. To get a good firewall, Bob had to purchase a container load of second hand Land Rover bits from Whakatane, but that stood him in good stead as he sold off a lot of the surplus plus gained a lot of spares. And included was the remains of a 1948 model that was pretty rare. The wheelbase is 80 inches (2.03m). In 1954 they changed to an 86 inch Wheelbase and a couple of years later to 88 inches. Bob commented that he had owned one of these longer wheelbase models and he had two regrets about it. He regrets selling it and regrets not buying it back when it came up for sale as the longer wheelbase gives a much better ride. I was surprised at how high the canopy was as it only just passed the test of getting in under the clubroom doorway lintel. Side Curtains October 2018
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September Club Run to Pirongia
by David Tomlinson
Branch members descended on the Pirongia Craft Fair and I noted a few purchases made here and there, not least Fleur purchasing a mohair shawl, so perhaps I can go out and buy another car now! Weather was muggy, but relatively dry, and after a good walk up and down the very busy markets, we adjourned to our vehicles and travelled towards Te Awamutu to visit Colin Pinkerton’s farm. We were told it was more or less on the road we came in on, which I took to heart, forgetting I travelled from Hamilton earlier in the day. Apologies to those that followed me! We managed to all get to Colin’s and set about having a picnic under leafy trees amongst our cars, with an audience of dairy cows watching over us. A good number of cars made the journey, although the Greens had to travel in a modern when the GrahamPaige outright refused to start earlier in the morning. After lunch we perused Colin’s collection of vehicles and farm machinery. Some of the farm equipment was over 100 years old, but it all looked in fantastic condition. We even got a demonstration of corn being taken off the cob by a 90 year old machine. It worked very well too. Colin also started up is 1909 De Dion Bouton, which looked superb with brassware on all corners, complete with acetelene tank for the headlamps. A firm favourite was his 1957 Ford Thunderbird convertible, and he had several tractors, Dodge and Ford Model A pick up trucks and a lovely 1939 Buick 8. Some also had a wander around the lovely gardens, there was plenty to enjoy, and some of the younger visitors got a brisk ride around the farm in trollies towed behind a 4WD bike. It was a great day out. 6
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For The Ladies While we await some alternate content for this column from our lady members, we have had another recipe submitted this month.
Banana Gingerbread 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon mixed spice 125g butter 2 eggs 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 cup milk 2 tablespoons golden syrup 3 ripe banana’s ( I often use more a few more) 1 teaspoon baking soda Sift flour, baking powder and spices together. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs gradually, beating the mixture until its is light and fluffy. Melt the golden syrup, and then add the milk and baking soda. Mash the banana and using a wooden spoon, fold in sifted flour and spices through the creamed mixture with the banana. Pour the batter into a 23cm greased loaf tin and bake at 160 deg C for around 45 minutes. Ice with lemon icing when cool. Side Curtains October 2018
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Midweek “Birthday” Run by Bob Mackay A surprise awaited those arriving at the club rooms for morning tea prior to our monthly run, a birthday morning tea, sausage rolls, fresh club sandwiches and a birthday cake to celebrate a lady member’s significant birthday. With such a great morning tea we really did not need lunch but never the less we eventually left the club rooms. As some other members were meeting us at Convita Café (Paengaroa) and now faced with a late departure it was decided that we would take a shorter country road route to our lunch destination. After an extended lunch and half our morning tea still at the club rooms it was time to head directly back to the club rooms for afternoon tea. Thank you Pat for sharing you birthday with us, it was an enjoyable day for everyone. (5 club cars and 3 moderns). A blonde was trying to sell her old car but was having a lot of problems because the car had 250,000 miles on it. One day she told her problem to a brunette that she worked with. The brunette told her: “There is a possibility to make the car easier to sell, but it’s not legal.” “That doesn’t matter,” replied the blonde, “if I only can sell the car.” “Okay,” said the brunette. “Here is the address of a friend of mine. He owns a car repair shop. Tell him I sent you and he will turn the counter in your car back to 50,000 miles. Then it should not be a problem to sell your car anymore.” The following weekend, the blonde made the trip to the mechanic. About one month after that, the brunette asked the blonde: “Did you sell your car?” “No,” replied the blonde, “why should I? It only has 50,000 miles on it.” 8
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Rotorua Vintage & Veteran Car Club Inc proudly present the
7th Annual Rotorua Lakefront Car Show 10am - 2pm, Sunday, 20th January 2019 ALL CARS, BIKES AND COMMERCIALS WELCOME! , ) "( & ' #'#%( % " ' ' %#"' #- ( '% ' , & & " " #%! % & #* #$ " '# "+ " ) ( & #% ( & '# &$ + ' % ) & % ) %& * & #% # # " #" ' #" ($#" %% ) !#" & % & * #" ' '# ' # "& ! ( " #'#%( % ( & % * #! '# &$ + ' % ) & " %#($ (% " ' + % ) %& " ' % #!$ " #"& " " #+ ' % #*" $ " (" (" % ' '% & #% ' ) "' # # ' % & " ( " #'#%( & . ' '% '/ * & ' ' &#(' %" " # ' & #* % #'#%( & #(" & % ' * " #$ % ' #" "' '# ' % #* & * & #' % # + ''% ' #"&
) % ) & * % #" &$ + ' &' + % & & #* " ' ) "' & " ) %+ $#$( % * ' # & " # + ! %& & ) % " %#! % + ) "' '# !#&' " * #% (%' % " #%! ' #" ! info@rvvcc.org.nz #% #(% ## $ 1 #'#%( "' % ( 2 #% "+ ($ ' & ## #%* % '# & " +#( ' % 0
ALL PROCEEDS DONATED TO ST JOHNS AMBULANCE ROTORUA
www.rotoruavintagecarclub.org.nz Side Curtains October 2018
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Lucas Gremlins
by Ronald Mayes
The ghost of Joseph Lucas may be lurking in my Princess 1100 as he makes himself known at awkward moments. Some weeks ago the car “failed to proceed” just after I had turned into our street. No sparks at the plugs so we towed it home. I couldn’t see any obvious fault so called the AA. The young fellow who came confirmed no sparks but didn’t know where to proceed from there. “What is that black box?” he asked - he had never seen a car with a generator and voltage control box (and probably not one with points ignition!), and decided to seek the advice of a more-senior mechanic who arrived the next day. Meanwhile, I had swapped coil, condenser and finally the ignition switch to no avail. The senior man immediately obtained a spark at the points when flicking them open with a small screwdriver. The car went well after that. I fitted new points and set the timing and all was well on occasional runs until today (Sunday 7 October) when the engine conked out in the middle of the Te Ngae/Tarawera Roads roundabout. No engine and no indicators. I managed to coast off the road and pushed it into Repco’s car park. While talking to an AA service person I tried the starter again and the engine burst into life! I drove home by the quietest routes with no trouble and proceeded to clean every electrical terminal I could find under the bonnet. I used CRC Contact Cleaner and lots of jiggling of gthe connectors. Some of the terminals and connectors looked less than clean after 54 years, 49 spent here in Rotorua, so I wonder if it has suffered from a touch of the local atmosphere? Magazine deadline time looms so I will send this to David before trying the car on the road. Any ideas from our experts out there will be gratefully received! 10
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CLUB NIGHT - September 12th Neil Hunt Park - 7.30pm DVD Night: Footage from the 1980 International Rally Followed by tea, coffee and biscuits
Upcoming Midweek Runs
by Bob Mackay
Wednesday October 24th Meet at the club rooms for morning tea at 10 am. We will then take a short run calling on a member’s shed before lunch at a country cafÊ This run is just five days prior to the start of the Spring Tour, so a good chance to check the cars out before the tour.
Spring Tour - Monday October 29th - Friday November 2nd Presently there are 11 cars taking part in the spring tour. I will be in contact with all participants prior to the tour. The plan is to meet at the bakery in Opotiki for lunch at 12pm on Monday 29th October; we will then travel to Gisborne via Waioeka Gorge (SH2), where we will need to be mindful of other traffic especially heavy transport. Gisborne does not appear well catered for by way of restaurants, especially on a Monday night when many are closed which may mean that those open could be quite busy so I will book every one into the Rivers Restaurant and Bar for the Monday night meal, if any one wishes to make alternative arrangements please let me know. The Tuesday program is to visit the Rere Falls, the museum and the Gisborne museum of Transport and Technology, where we will have a bring your own lunch (picnic or just grab a pie). Wednesday starts with morning cuppa at the Gisborne VVC club rooms(and Parts Shed). We will then take the inland route to Napier via Wairoa and look for a suitable picnic spot on the way for lunch. Thursday will be busy day that has kindly been arranged by Kevin Haywood of the Hastings Club. Friday will return home.
October Club Run - Sunday October 14th Starting at the club rooms at 1.30pm, there will be a short run of around 60 minutes ending at a mystery destination with afternoon tea provided. Side Curtains October 2018
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Contributions to Side Curtains This is your magazine! Please feel free to share anything you think might be of interest to the membership by sending it to the editor, preferably by email, and a picture says a thousand words, so include photos where possible. Members taking part in club runs or events hosted by other branches are encouraged to pen a short piece about their experience to include in the next issue going to print. All items to the editor by the end of the month.
www.rotoruavintagecarclub.org.nz The branch website aims to meet the needs of our members, to promote our branch nationally, and to potential new members. If you have any suggestions please contact David Tomlinson. Please check the branch Facebook page regularly too. 12
Side Curtains October 2018
September Club Run to Pirongia
September Club Night