Futurliner #10 in the Flint Michigan
area Thursday June
23rd - Sunday June 26th, 2011. Thursday it was shown at the GM
plant in Grand Blanc.
It was a misty, cloudy, cool day but the plant had approximately
2,500 visitors. The Futurliner was well received with many
questions and comments. The day at the plant included plant tours
with robotic demonstrations, music, and a chance to test drive new
GM products.
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Friday morning
the Futurliner was driven from the Grand Blanc plant to the Sloan
Museum in Flint. Ed DeVries got it close to where it was to be
shown, shut the engine off and got instructions for the final
placement. When he went to restart it all it would do is "click".
Of course all of us started looking for the cause, tried to jump it
etc. still no success. Someone from Sloan alerted Greg Keller,
Auto Maintenance Restoration Supervisor of Sloan and the Buick
Gallery, he and Steve, a summer intern from the
McPherson College
of Automotive Restoration in
McPherson Kansas
arrived ready to help in anyway they could. Both jumped right in
and found the problem, a broken / burned wire on the starter. |
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They removed the
Futurliner starter and took it to their shop, repaired the wire and
bench tested the starter. No luck the starter was froze up.
They then took it to an electrical shop near the Sloan for emergency
repair. |
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In the mean time, Steve
secured one of the
Sloan vans and helped us get the Futurliner towed next to the curb for
it's final show location.
At
3:30 they
returned with the rebuilt starter, installed it and everything
worked just fine. Many, many thanks to Greg, Steve and the Sloan
for all they did to help out with this issue. |
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Saturday and Sunday the weather turned
good with warmer temperatures and sunny skies, it was a great show featuring
Chevrolets for their 100 year anniversary. There were large crowds
and a lots of interest in the Futurliner. Thanks to everyone from
the Sloan / Buick Gallery museums and GM that made us feel so very
welcome and appreciated having the Futurliner to their show and
event. |
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Volunteers staff the Futurliner souvenir
and memorabilia booth. Proceeds from sales help keep the
Futurliner in top shape for shows. |
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