Delaware Valley NCRS Chapter Newsletter - Clubs

FEBRUARY 2009
Delaware Valley NCRS Chapter Newsletter
Chairman’s Message & Update
by John Kane
Believe it or not, the warm weather is just
around the corner. Only 5 weeks to Spring, at least
according the calendar. Several of our members
attended the NCRS Winter Regional Convention in
Old Town in Orlando Florida three weeks ago. I
traveled down with Frank Stech, Frank Andelora and
John Ruschak. While I was there I also saw Kevin
Goodman, Steve Cook, Bill Skinner, Bob Cook, Al
Schwacke, Steve Gansky, Rich Vaughn, Walt Weems,
and Dick Robinson and there may have been other
present that I might have missed. As you can see, our
chapter had a very healthy presence at this meet. e
weather was quite cold, but it did warm up a bit during
the last two days. Unfortunately our member and pastchairman,
Bill Skinner, re-injured his leg during the rst
day in Florida forcing him to make a hospital visit. Bill
was later seen hobbling around the judging area with a
removable cast on his leg. is injury also gave him
good justication to shirk his mid-year judging duties,
but just for this one event. Bill, I hope your leg is
healing well.
Since the last newsletter, we ran on another
fantastic Run for the Ribbons at Bryner in October.
is is one of the biggest and best chapter meets in the
nation. Congrats to Frank Stech, and Elaine and Tim
Raisner on another great effort. Elaine and Tim again
deserve our thanks for organizing the Christmas party at
Earl’s in Peddler’s Village. Earl’s food is always superb.
Big thanks also go to Kevin Goodman and Hal
Emrich for stepping forward and organizing the Road
Tour of the Bucks County covered bridges last fall. e
road tour was again very well attended. For those of you
not willing to drive your precious show cars on the road
tour you should take a lesson from Dick Robinson. He
drove the entire length of the Road Tour with his
Duntov FI 1957. Good job, Dick!
In this issue:
• Chairman’s Message & Update
—by John Kane
• Gas Mileage 101
—by Donald Klumpp
• e Invasion Of e White Blob
—by John Kane
• It’s e Year Of e 1959!
—by John Mulhern III
• Membership Application/Renewal
• 28th Run For e Ribbons Results
• 2009 Chapter Events Calendar
• 2009 Chapter Officers
Last fall we also put on a C4 Performance
Verication Judging Clinic at County Corvette in West
Chester, PA. anks to Jim Jordan and Jim Stuempe
for their hospitality. anks to Tim Raiser and Frank
Stech and others who helped for running the session
itself. If anyone is having an issue getting a PV on a
Corvette, talk to Tim — he has helped more than a
dozen cars successfully complete the PV test.
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Gas Mileage 101
by Donald Klumpp
With today’s gas prices exceeding $4.00 a gallon
[Donald wrote this in late 2008, but I think prices will be
back in that area soon enough — Ed.] anything we can
do to our cars or the way we drive that will increase gas
mileage keeps money in our pocket.
Increasing fuel mileage in our cars can be
broken down into two areas. First is “mechanical”. e
following are relatively easy and inexpensive things we
can do to our cars:
1. Air lter — change the air lter no later than
the manufacturer recommends. A dirty oil lter
makes the engine work harder to draw fresh air
in.
2. Use synthetic oil — it’s slippery nature makes
your engine produce more power with less gas.
Be sure to follow the recommended viscosity in
your owner’s manual. I believe “Corvette” is still
recommending Mobile 1.
3. Tire pressure — I recommend inating your
tires to at least two to four pounds above the
factory settings. is slight increase will reduce
rolling resistance without decreasing ride
quality.
4. Wax your car — it will reduce wind resistance.
is tip is most effective if you do a lot of
highway driving. e use of a product like
“Rain X” on your windshield will also reduce
wind resistance.
5. Front end alignment — a properly aligned car
will have reduced rolling plus you will minimize
tire wear.
e second area is “driving habits”:
1. Starts and stops — this is almost self
explanatory. Steady acceleration from a stop and
and greater anticipation of stops is something to
practice.
2. Cruise control — use this feature on your car
whenever possible. It does a much better job of
FEBRUARY 2009
maintaining your speed than your right foot;
thus saving fuel.
3. Speed — the higher the speed the greater the
wind resistance the lower your fuel mileage. Out
on the highway I try to stay at or no more than
ve miles per hour over the speed limit. In some
southern and western states where they have 70
mph speed limits that’s where I set the cruise
control. Above 70 mph wind resistance can only
start to eat into your mileage.
In conclusion, employing the things I have
talked about could improve your mileage by as much as
10%. at’s like reducing the price of a gallon of gas by
40 cents. Keep track of your mileage as a way of
checking on your progress.
The Invasion Of The White Blob
by John Kane
One afternoon in 1982 I was driving through
suburban Trenton and drove by Towbin Chevrolet on
Nottingham Way. Whenever I passed the dealership I
would always glance at the showroom and front display
lot to see if any new Corvettes were in stock. At that
time I was 35 years old and had never owned a new
Corvette, although I was in the middle of what turned
out to be a three year restoration on my Panama Yellow
1958. However, as I drove by this particular time my
view was completely blocked by a car transport trailer.
Immediately I noticed that on the very top was a single
1982 Collector Edition. I had never even seen one of
those models although I had read several articles in the
car magazines and I knew they were to be released soon.
At that time Towbin Chevrolet was the sponsor
of my local Corvette club, Capitol City Corvette Club
of Trenton NJ. I was very active in the club and I knew
the dealer quite well so I thought that maybe he would
give me a chance to take a test drive to check it out. I
pulled in and quickly found the dealer, Joel Towbin,
and he told me “John, we will be pulling that off of the
trailer in a few minutes, why don’t you hang around and
I will let you take it for out for a spin”. Well, he did not
have to ask me twice. I watched as they carefully
unloaded this silver beige beauty. e yard boy gave it a
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quick hose-down wash and brought it around to Joel.
Joel then tossed me the keys and said “Why don’t you
take it home and show it to your wife”. I said “Are you
serious?” He said “Sure, go ahead. Just be back before
we close tonight.” Well, I took this Corvette home and
showed it to my wife, and (as you might imagine) by
9:00 pm that night I was the proud owner of a 1982
Collector Edition.
For that time, this was a really unique car since
the General Motors was starting to build more powerful
engines again [200 bhp, up from 1981’s 190 — Ed.] and
the Collector Edition had the unique silver-beige
coloring, special badging, and the extensive body decals
and striping. It also had an actually functional rear
hatchback with hand release and soft multi-colored
leather on the seats and door panels.
I attended a number of car shows with the this
Corvette and put quite a few miles on it in the rst
couple of months. I was really enjoying this car until …
… after owning the car for about two months, I noticed
something very unusual on the driver’s side door panel.
A white material seems to be oozing outwardly from
behind the door panel. It was slowly and steadily
moving or growing into the passenger compartment
area from around the attaching hardware that mounted
the rather large leather door panel to the door. It
seemed to be oozing from behind the door handle
mounting hardware.
At rst it was a minor problem. However, after a
couple more weeks white material blob-like material
started to move or grow across entire sections of the
visible areas of the door panel. Within a month this
white substance appeared to be like a foam oozing all
across the entire surface of the door panel especially in
any area where there was an opening or slot in the door
panel. Also, the white material was coming outwardly
FEBRUARY 2009
from around the outer perimeter of the door panel
adjacent to the berglass of the door itself. I pulled a
couple screws on the door panel and took a peek with
my ashlight into the area behind the door panel.
I was aghast at what I saw: the entire interior
portion of the door was lled with a this white blob-like
grainy foam material. It seemed to be growing from the
door panel and spreading outwardly to the visible side
of the door panel and also growing into the interior of
the door itself. I immediately re-attached the door panel
and set up an appointment with the dealership to have
them take a look.
When the technician at the Chevy dealership
pulled the door panel, he told me that none of the techs
there had ever seen anything like this problem and they
had no idea what it was. He felt that something might
have been wrong with the door panel so he ordered any
other one. It took a month for this unique style door
panel to become available and they installed it for me.
Everything seemed okay — but only for about a month.
e same problem started to occur again. is white
substance against oozing out from behind all the door
panel escutcheons and screw holes and primarily from
between the door panel adjacent the berglass of the
door itself. is time I realized I needed to take some
action myself and analyze this problem. I pulled the
door panel off completely myself and saw that this
white material had spread such that it extended
throughout the interior lower portion of the door itself.
You may remember that in 1982 these Collector
Edition door panels were made from high quality
leather formed in sections of various colors and this
white substance was eating away at the leather of the
door panels. e white substance appeared to me to be
growing and spreading like the fungus. At the time I
lived in New Jersey and I decided to take a sample of
the material to the local Rutgers Extension Service for
analysis. After microscopic examination, they
immediately informed me that it was clearly a fungus of
some type probably growing on the leather of the door
panel.
I took the car back to the dealership and showed
them the second door panel that had become inundated
with the fungus. ey agreed to order another new
panel. I then decided to take action myself. I pulled the
contaminated door panel and cleaned off the entire
PAGE 3

interior portion of the driver’s side door itself. is was
a lot of work because of there were many small corners
and crevices inside the door and where this white fungal
material had grown into, but if I didn’t remove all the
fungus it would probably just grow back yet again.
However after doing as much manual cleaning as
possible I realized that I could never totally
decontaminate the door and the fungus would probably
contaminate the third door panel once it was installed. I
gured that treating the entire interior area of the door
panel with a fungicide would be a way of preventing the
problem from reoccurring. So I went to my local home
center and bought some Ortho brand spray for killing
fungus on plants and lawns. I sprayed all around the
inside of the door panel and outside of the surface that
would be in contact with the new door panel [I’d pay
good money to have a picture of John at work on this and
go around asking various NCRS folks if they can explain
what they are seeing — Ed.]. I let it dry for a couple days
and repeated this process a half a dozen times until I
was reasonably sure that I had done my very best to kill
all of the residual fungus and spores.
Soon thereafter, I was notied by the dealership
parts manager that the new door panel had come in. I
drove the car to the dealership without any driver’s side
door panel with the fungus-lled second door panel
carefully enclosed in a sealed trash bag. I explained how
I had treated the driver’s side door. ey installed the
new door panel which was now the third of these very
expensive door panels [Still expensive now: $400 each
from your ner Corvette retailers — Ed.]. Of course, all
parts and labor were covered by the new car warranty. I
disposed of that fungus-lled second door panel in the
dumpster at the dealership since I did not want it
anywhere near my car anymore.
I am happy to tell you that this problem never
occurred again. I drove the car for three years with no
reoccurrence of the problem. So I gured that this
mysterious infestation
which I always refer to as
the “wild white fungus”
was exactly that, a fungus
or as I like to call it …
e White Blob!
It’s The Year Of The 1959!
FEBRUARY 2009
1959 was generally a “stand pat” year for
Corvette, but Chevrolet did make a few changes. Gone
were the washboard ridges on the hood and the Pontiaclike
chrome trunk spears had also disappeared. e
most signicant upgrades were in the interior, where the
gauges were now concave and a package tray was added.
Base price of a 1959 was $3,875 or about
$28,000 in today’s dollars. Common optional
equipment included the heater (92% of the 9,670
produced), whitewall tires (85%), windshield washers
(82%), signal-seeking AM radio (72%), and 4-speed
manual transmission (at 43% the most common
transmission). If you got
all this equipment you
paid around $4,363, or
about $31,500 in today’s
dollars.
Snowcrest white
was the most popular
color and red was the
most popular interior.
Either fuel injected
engine (regular cam or
high lift cam) was the
most expensive option,
at $484.20.
PAGE 4

DELAWARE VALLEY CHAPTER
FEBRUARY 2009
MEETINGS:
8 P.M. on the third Wednesday during February, April, June, August and October at the
William F. Bolton Dixon American Legion
493 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington, PA
Directions:
Take PA Turnpike to Exit 339 (former Exit 26), Fort Washington/ Ambler Exit; go straight after
you pay toll onto Pennsylvania Ave. (Note: Do not go onto Route #309.) Stay on Pennsylvania
Ave. 0.9 mile until it dead-ends into Bethlehem Pike. Make left onto Bethlehem Pike for 0.5 mile.
The American Legion is on your left.
ACTIVITIES:
We also have a Chapter Meet in October, Judging Seminars, Carlisle NCRS Gallery, Ride and
Drives, Annual Holiday Party and other activities, dates to be announced.
DUES:
Membership dues are $30 per year. February is our renewal month each year.
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
RENEWAL / CHANGE of ADDRESS FORM
Name: _________________________________________ Spouse: ____________________________
Street Address: _____________________________________________________ NCRS #: ________________
City: _____________________________ State: ______________ Zip + 4: _________________
Phone Number: (_______)_________________________ E-mail: ____________________________________
Note you must be a current National NCRS member to join.
_____ I would like to join the Delaware Valley Chapter at this time. ($30)
_____ My $30 annual renewal enclosed.
_____ Please note my change of address.
Please return completed form with remittance if required payable to:
DELAWARE VALLEY CHAPTER NCRS
c/o Kevin Goodman
P.O. Box 490
Forest Grove, PA 18922-0490
(267) 261-0883
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Delaware Valley Chapter NCRS
28 th RUN FOR THE RIBBONS
October 5th, 2008
FLIGHT ENTRANTS
FEBRUARY 2009
Year NCRS# Type Color Name Address Flight
1959 1171 Roadster Frost Blue Bob Gredlics Bokeelia, FL 2 nd
1962 42061 Roadster Honduras Maroon Paul Alvater Lumberton, NJ Top
1962 888 Roadster Roman Red Dick Robinson Fort Washington, PA Top
1961 49521 Roadster Roman Red Edwin Pikalow Kimberton, PA 2 nd
1962 47779 Roadster Fawn Beige Randy Gonski Pittstown, NJ 2 nd
1963 44540 Coupe Sebring Silver Arnold Papenfuhs Pittstown, NJ Top
1963 46805 Coupe Sebring Silver Patrick Petrillo Doylestown, PA Top
1963 37182 Convertible Riverside Red Steve Gansky Newtown, PA 2 nd
1965 47585 Convertible Milano Maroon Gathian Greco Spring, TX Top
1965 47143 Convertible Nassau Blue Frank Ristagno Deptford, NJ Top
1965 43778 Convertible Milano Maroon Joel Talka Pittstown, NJ Top
1965 40364 Coupe Goldwood Yellow George Wagman York, PA Top
1966 49044 Convertible Rally Red James Constable Bangor, PA Top
1966 14105 Convertible Rally Red Bruce Crookham Wycombe, PA Top
1966 49519 Coupe Mosport Green Bruce Allen Sellersville, PA 2 nd
1967 23779 Convertible Goodwood Green Cliff Angel Ashton, MD Top
1967 42786 Convertible Rally Red Jim Brooke Blue Bell, PA Top
1967 30768 Convertible Ermine White Don Meluzio York, PA Top
1967 49528 Convertible Marina Blue Tom Skeuse Stockton, NJ Top
1967 32891 Convertible Rally Red Michael & Allen Wright Sharon, ONT Top
1967 12082 Coupe Goodwood Green Jim Steumplfe Exton, PA 2 nd
1969 34796 Coupe LeMans Blue George Dieterle Vernon, NJ Top
1969 49377 Convertible Fathom Green Marc Scudillo Millstone Twp., NJ 2 nd
1970 41199 Coupe Blue Mitch Stamos Oreeld, PA Top
1970 49079 Convertible Donnybrooke Green Greg Heitman Chalfont, PA 2 nd
1971 47300 Coupe Brands Hatch Green Tom Weigand Doylestown, PA 3 rd
1978 47904 Coupe Black/Silver Marlene Jacques Etkowicz Maple Glen, PA Top
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FEBRUARY 2009
1980 22772 Coupe Silver Dennis Bright Allentown, PA Top
1984 48943 Coupe Bright Red Tom Conlon Shamong, NJ Top
1986 6821 Convertible Yellow Oliver Giorgi Glenside, PA Top
1988 16252 Coupe Bright Red John Keane Gwynedd Valley, PA Top
1988 24165 Coupe Dark Red Metallic Vito Cimilluca Colonia, NJ Top
1989 46372 Convertible Charcoal Metallic Fred Boyte Ashburn, VA Top
1993 47839 Coupe Black Rose Metallic Lynn & Francis Earhart Freehold, NJ Top
DUNTOV DISPLAY
1967 Coupe Tuxedo Black Frank Stech Pitman, NJ
1971 Coupe War Bonnet Yellow Kevin Goodman Forest Grove, PA
McLELLAN DISPLAY
1990 Coupe Polo Green John Auerbach Furlong, PA
BOWTIE DISPLAY
1972 Coupe Classic White Erich Meyer Brick, NJ
CROSSED FLAG DISPLAY
1986 Coupe Bright Red Gregory Cue Wilmington, DE
SPORTSMAN
1961 Convertible Sateen Silver Ed Baldwin Wilmington, DE
1962 Roadster Honduras Maroon Leon Schlorff Abington, PA
1975 Coupe Classic White Ed De Lussey Cinnaminson, NJ
2002 Coupe Electron Blue Bob Cook Landenberg, PA
2003 Convertible Anniversary Red John & Ivelis Mulhern Bryn Mawr, PA
2007 Coupe Velocity Yellow John Kane Newtown, PA
2008 Coupe Black Rick Alshire Severn, MD
PAGE 7

2009 Chapter Events Calendar
February
18 Membership Meeting • Wm. Bolton American Legion • 8:00 PM
April
15 Membership Meeting • Wm. Bolton American Legion • 8:00 PM
23-25 Lowes Motor Speedway Regional • Concord, NC
May
14-16 Nevada Regional • Lake Tahoe, NV
June
11-13 Wisconsin Regional • Delaeld, WI
17 Membership Meeting • Wm. Bolton American Legion • 8:00 PM
July
12-16 National Convention • San Jose, CA
2009 Chapter Officers
Chairperson
John Kane
(215) 497-9361
1973 Boxwood Drive
Newtown, PA 18940
jjkane@comcast.net
Vice Chairperson
Kevin Goodman
(267) 261-0883
P.O. Box 490
Forest Grove, PA 18922
DelValNCRSsec@Aol.com
Secretary
Ivelis Mulhern
(610) 519-1217
725 Polo Road
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
ivmulhern@gmail.com
Treasurer
John Keane
(215) 542-0790
P.O. Box 404
Gwynedd Valley, PA 19437
Meet/Activity Chairperson
Elaine Raisner
(215) 675-4299
393 Camberly Drive
Warminster, PA 18974
Fax (215) 675-3775
DelValTER@aol.com
Judging Chairperson
Frank Stech
(856) 665-1557
755 North Broadway
Pitman, NJ 08071
FLSJR@aol.com
Website Administrator
Hal Emrich
(215) 297-0646
7065 Ferry Road RD #1
New Hope, PA 18938
haldelvalncrs@att.net
FEBRUARY 2009
Newsletter Editor
John Mulhern III
(610) 519-1217
725 Polo Road
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
delvalnewsletter@gmail.com
PAGE 8