The Touring Chronicle

Don't miss this chance to drive your Muscle Car around the beautiful
lake country of southwestern Missouri -- and enjoy festive downtown Branson.

Opening Buffet on Sunday May 13. Casual closing Banquet on Thursday afternoon May 17.

Host Hotel: Comfort Inn of Thousand Hills ask for VMCCA Rate: $70, including breakfast.

Mark Johnson's 1969 Chevelle wagon, "Yenko tribute car"

Tentative events planned: Tours of Branson's many M useums, and the Landing. Dinner show at The Dixie Stampede. Boat Ride on Table Rock Lake.

Muscle Car tours are for vehicles produced 1954-1987. Cars outside

this range will be permitted on a space available basis. Registrant must be a VMCCA member. There may be a 50 car limit on entries. Registration information will be posted on this website as soon as it is available.

Info: Contact Bob and Kathleen Taylor, hippo1941@cs.com

440 big block in Ray Maxfield's 1969 Dodge Coronet

Muscle cars on a recent tour.

Willys-Knight article

There are a lot of fun things to do in the old car hobby. Touring is obviously at or near the top of the list for VMCCA members. Then there are the many new friends that you meet along the way. Those are

certainly a big part the hobby's charm. But there is yet another activity that always thrills me.

I love to be a part of starting an old engine, particularly one that hasn't run in decades. I got that opportunity recently when Tom Holden and I went to help Howard DeLozier get the engine of his 1916 Willys-Knight running.

Howard is restoring the car and I believe the story was that the engine had been gone through, possibly at Harrah's, many years ago but had never been started. All the bits and pieces of a totally disassembled car eventually made their way to Howard's garage and there they sat for several years awaiting their turn. Their time had come.

We started on this project about last Thanksgiving. We began with the obvious. Did the engine turn freely? Is there oil in it? Does the starter work? All was a go. So we rigged a gravity fuel tank above the engine and hooked up a battery. Crank, crank, crank - nothing. Checked spark - we had some but it looked weak. Firing order okay. Fuel at carb okay. We tried again with the same lack of results so we sent the mag out to have it rebuilt.

A few weeks later with a known good mag we tried again with much the same results. We pulled plugs and found a lake of oil and gas on top of the pistons. We cleaned that up and tried again. Still nothing. We had run out of time so we adjourned and couldn't get back together until

last week.

Nothing had changed. We went over everything. Plugs were pulled,

dried and gapped. Plug wires were tested. We had fuel at carb and plenty of starter fluid for good measure. The timing marks on flywheel

and on mag drive all lined up with their marks. Checked compression and it seemed fine. Still no luck.

We concluded that with spark, fuel, and compression, the problem had to be timing so with a clear view of the flywheel, the caps off of the mag, and a stick in cylinder number one we brought the engine up to

top dead center. Sure enough, it was 180 degrees off. We correctly oriented the mag, hit the starter and the old sleeve valve engine

started immediately and ran beautifully.

Hearing it roar to life was a real thrill. And I think we can now state, with near 100% certainty, that firing spark plugs at the top of the exhaust stroke is not a particularly useful way to start an engine.

Kermit Wilke's Newest Project

1929 Gardner

Online Deal

Remember everyone - we have a $19 New Members online special offer that kicks in March 1. You can "invite a friend," or pay for a friend to

join VMCCA Mar 1- Oct 1. I know we have some readers of The Touring Chronicle who are not yet members of VMCCA. Now is a great time to get on board at a very low cost. Check it out at http://www.vmcca.org/Registration/Registration4.htm

Heritage Tour, July 15-20, Homestead, IA

There is more to Iowa than corn. Give yourself a chance to explore the back roads of central Iowa and you will discover the home of Herbert Hoover, check out the Amana Colonies, stock up on Amish Cheese and learn about the history of farming.

Russ and Marge Bee's 1933 Packard Coupe

If that isn't enough, take in a museum of Repertoire Theatre, doll collections and other interesting things. We can't say you'll never see a field of corn, but you will have a great time. More information and registration form for the "Hoo But Hoover" tour at http://vmcca.org/Tourinfo/HeritageD/index.htm

Whatsit?

Do you know what it is? See answer below.

Car Crazy At the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Museum

Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg Museum

Ever Wonder How a Steam Engine Works?

Working Model of Stephenson's Steam Engine

Photo Site - See Link in Quick Links

The Photo Site is one I created originally for my local chapter, although many VMCCA members from other areas now visit it. It covers all the local, regional, and national events that I attend. Obviously, I cannot attend everything but I would like this to become a site for photos from all our regions and chapters.

So, who has photos from any of this years tours? I would love to share them with everyone. Send them to me!

Ray Maxfield's newly restored 1969 Dodge Coronet

Join the VMCCA page on Facebook!

Facebook has become an extremely popular social networking site, reportedly having more than 500,000,000 users. That is something like one in fifteen people on the planet! There is no doubt that it is a great tool for keeping in touch with people and organizations in a way that was undreamed of and impossible just a few short years ago.

facebook vmcca

We try to keep up with the times so we have created a VMCCA page within Facebook. Join! Contribute! Make it a forum for all things VMCCA. Click on the "Find us on Facebook" box below. Then click Like!

Contact your editor with content ideas, feedback, or suggestions at holland@frii.com.

Dennis Holland

4200 Wellington Dr.

Fort Collins, CO 80526

Whatsit answer: 1960 Triumph TR-3