INSTRUMENT PANEL
    Wally continued to work on the instrument panel preparing it to receive the gages as well as preparing it for final paint.
LIGHTING FIN
    Bud, Al and Ron worked on the lighting fin adding the brackets necessary to install all the lighting fixtures that were supplied by Jerry at Gray Bar Electric. Once all the brackets were installed then the final preparations were made so that the under side of the fin can be painted next week.
HEAD LIGHTS
    Wayne, after locating the carburetor kit that will be shipped to Dean Tryon down in North Carolina, dug out the old rusty head light buckets. He then spent most of the day sand blasting all the rust away. After preparing these head light buckets he then painted these their final black paint. They turned out beautiful. Wayne also brought and donated two brand new stainless rims that go around the sealed beam lights. He also located two of the original stainless rims that can be used as they have no dents and just need buffed and polished. If you look at the photos of the front of the Futurliners in some you will see two head lights and in others four head lights. All the Futurliners had four head lights. However, when they were in a parade a plate would be inserted in front of the two center lights. This plate would identify that specific Futurliner such as "GM-1" through "GM-12".
BODY
    Jim worked at the top of the rear door frame replacing a rusted section with new fabricated metal. Don worked at replacing several small sections around the front wheel housings. Howard did the welding.
SIDE 16' DOORS
    The large side 16' door frames on both sides have been installed and operated by their respective motors. Ed DeVries had previously had steel skin sections fabricated with flanges and hemmed edges. A team of Conrad, Art, Howard, and Dick went to work taking these sections and adding the skin to the left upper 16' door.
MANNEQUINS
    Bud had previously borrowed two mannequins from Rogers Department Store that he had dressed in the Parader's original uniforms that were borrowed from Parader Raffee Johns. We used this to show case the uniforms at the Parader's reunion. Since we had to return these mannequins, but in the mean time had received the donation of two mannequins from Sears, Bud had the destination of undressing and redressing mannequins. I sure hope Bud did not get stopped by the police on his way home with two naked mannequins laying in the bed of his pickup truck.
ARCHIVES
    As a result of the Parader's Reunion we have received many more photos and slides of the Parade of Progress both from the Parade in 1941 as well as the 1953 through 1956 Parade. Mike started wading through all the donated material. In addition we have received collections that must be returned once copied. Carol and I started the copying process over the week end but quickly ran out of ink in our copier. Now with new cartridges we will start again. Mike also had to make the usual Tuesday run to Gemmens Hardware store. Jeff and John stopped to check what help they could offer. We appreciate them doing this frequently.

VOLUNTEERS (Names for both days, most volunteers were present both Tuesday and Wednesday) Jim Baker, Mike Ball, Al Batts, Bruce Beimers, Bill Bicknell, Stan Bower and wife Carol, Jim Buick and wife Betty, Del Carpenter and wife Sue, Dick Chambers (Western Michigan Region Antique Club of America President) and wife Carolyn, Conrad and wife Judy, Jeff Dornbush, Bud Dinger and wife Bea, Ron Elzinga and wife, Wayne Jackson and wife Lois, Tom Kuhlman, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton, Art Meidema and wife Wilma, Wes Myrick, Dick Saddler and wife Janet, Arnie Seeger (Arnie and his wife Shirley came up from North Carolina), Jerry Sigler and wife Deloris, Wally Snow, Audrey Snow (Local Buick Club of America President), Howard Sullivan and wife, Dean Tryon (Our newspaper editor and his wife Les hail from North Carolina), and John Wiltjer.

PARADER'S REUNION PREPARATION
    One display that bears mentioning is the Parader uniforms that Raffee Johns loaned us. If you recall Raffee still had his original lecturer uniform as well as his work uniform. In order to display these uniforms properly Bud (used to be a manager at Roger's Department Store - a local clothing store) went there to borrow two mannequins. In the mean time Stan (used to be a manager at Sears) also started looking for mannequins. Rogers suggested to Bud to bring the clothes to their store so that they could size the mannequins properly. Bud managed to get the two mannequins dressed minus shoes. Then he managed to find some size 12 shoes at a Good Will store. So Bud started our work session by polishing two sets of shoes and putting them on the mannequins.
    In the meantime, Stan got Sears to donate two mannequins. The final display ended up with three mannequins, one dressed as a Parader lecturer, one as a Parader worker, and one with the donated rubber rain coat and hat that has been donated by a Parader.
    (As a side line, the fully clothed mannequins were delivered to the Futurliner barn while I was on vacation. When I got home I walked in a corner of my darkened barn and was scared out of my wits when I confronted these characters.)
    Although most of Tuesday was spent setting up displays as well as memorabilia there was some work performed. I will not detail the displays other than to say that the Paraders have supplied us a treasure house of memorabilia that we show cased. We also put out all the mechanical and electrical components restored.
    The volunteers worked all day putting all the displays together.
ELECTRICAL
    Jeff Dornbush delivered the newly purchased 120-volt motor and gear box required for the light fin. He picked it up at Holland Electric.
    In addition, Wayne and Connie traveled to Wayne's house to move an engine off of a rolling heavy duty stand. Bringing along this rolling stand they then went to River City Electronics and picked up the restored generator, completely rebuilt control panel and the tested and pronounced "OK" three transformers. We want to thank River City Electronics for their work and agreeing to do this work at cost (actually it cost them more than their cost) and the local GM plant for paying for this restoration.
    Bud and Ron started the installation of the fluorescence light fixtures in the lighting fin.
EXTRA ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION
    As mentioned earlier the donated military drive train, a OHV 302 six cylinder gasoline with a four speed Hydramatic transmission, had been previously dropped off by Tom. Bill Bicknell was scheduled to pick it up Wednesday. However, while it was there Del discovered that the plumbing on the engine indicated that the air compressor was water cooled. Our NOS block does not have the block ports to properly plumb this. However, by the end of Wednesday Del along with others had figured what changes must be made to properly cool the air compressor. Bill, Tom, Del and others loaded the engine and transmission on Bill's truck. The reason Bill must take both the engine and transmission is the fact that the engine is stuck and to separate the engine from the transmission the engine must be free.
    Tom also included the radiator from the Army Truck donation. Although we already have the original radiator restored we will need a radiator for the for the spare drive line display. John Wiltjer just stopped and picked up this radiator already receiving John Weller's (Weller Truck) approval to have it rebuilt at his shop.

ELECTRICAL
    Jeff Dornbush this summer designed the wiring to operate the large 16' powered doors for the sides of the Futurliner as well as the operation of the lighting fin. He purchased all the necessary materials and this past Monday, 8-25-02, installed the door electrical circuits. Jeff arrived at 8 AM and without even taking a lunch break managed by 3 PM to have all the electrical controls installed on the right and left doors. He tested everything by operating each set of doors.
    The lighting fin electrical components cannot be installed until the lighting fin itself is installed.
    Thanks Jeff for taking a day of vacation to do this work. Jeff is an electrician at a local manufacturing plant and lives in Fennville, Michigan.
GENERATOR
    River City Electronics continues to work on the generator and control box. We should be picking these components up in the next few weeks.
    We thank River City Electronics for getting this work done during a busy work schedule that they already have.
SPARE ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION
    As previously mentioned Tom Kuhlman has donated an old GMC Army truck that has the same drivetrain as the Futurliner. Tom just recently pulled both the transmission as well as the engine from this truck. He plans on delivering the engine and transmission today. Thanks Tom for doing this work all by yourself.

NEEDS -TIRES
    We are seeking someone in the tire manufacturing business that can find us a used truck tire mold for a 10:00 X 20 tire. We have a commitment from a GM Die Build plant that they will machine into the mold the letters for our Futurliner tires. We have an original tire in which the side wall raised letters are in excellent shape (the tread is cracked and worn). Just as a reminder the original tires were white walls, with the raised letters "GENERAL MOTORS", "PARADE OF PROGRESS", "US ROYAL", and "FLEETWAY".
    In addition, we have a commitment from Coker Tire that they will make the tires.
NEEDS - PARADER'S UNIFORMS
    We have been loaned both the "dress" and "work" uniforms that the Paraders used. We have priced out the cost of reproducing 20 sets and it is about $5,000. These will be used to once the Futurliner goes on the road. We need a sponsor that would like to benefit by picking up the cost of these uniforms.
GM WORLD
    GM World was a monthly publication of the GM overseas operations from the 1930's up into the 1960's. This publication covered all of GM's worldwide business and had articles covering many countries that GM did business in from Java to Russia. It is a treasure of the automobile business activity in the world in this era. GM Operations had these monthly editions put into yearly hard bound editions.
    If you are a automobile historian these GM World editions cover much of the automobile world. After reviewing these issues it appears in addition to the GM overseas automobile and truck makes (Holden, Opel, Bedford, Vauxhall, etc) that the vehicles GM exported and assembled overseas were Chevrolet cars and truck and Buicks.
    For you old car enthusiast they would be a treasure to find.
    Victor Garske, Parader, has taken the time to go through these and identify those issues containing Previews of Progress, Caravans, Parade of Progress, Streamliners, Futurliners and related information. In addition he located the original hard bound year sets of the editions that contained the above information and borrowed them and sent them to us so that our web site manager, Jim Crame, can add them to the web site. After the specific articles are scanned and added to the web site we will return them to Vic so he in turn can return them to the owner. We want to thank Victor Garske for the effort to obtain these articles so others may enjoy them.
GENERATOR
    Our large industrial generator is at a local company River City Electronics. I stopped there this past week and the generator is complete and was on their test setup. It has already been run up to 900 rpm and everything checks out ok. The control panel is nearly finished and River City Electronics has been able to obtain instruments and controls that match the original. They also have wired it with period looking wire. They have already spent a lot more than what their cost estimate but are going to finish it with the money that the local GM plant supplied.
    There were no drawings or information for River City Electronics to go on but their skillful engineers, technicians and electricians have figured out all the wiring diagrams.
    We want to thank the folks at River City Electronics as well as GM for making all this possible.
PARTS
    We received from Dave's Sandblasting and his brother's paint shop (The Refinisher) several sandblasted and painted parts including the door that is on the inside rear of the Futurliner and the metal guard for the pulley system that drives the above generator. Thanks to Dave and his brother

VOLUNTEERS: Jim Baker, Mike Ball, Al Batts, Carol Bowers, Stan Bowers, Del Carpenter, Fred Carpenter, Sue Carpenter, Conrad DeJong, Ed DeVries, Ryan DeVries*, Bud Dinger, Jeff Dornbush*, Ron Elzinga, Bob Hart, Wayne Jackson, Tom Kuhlman, Carol Mayton, Don Mayton, Wes Myrick, Martin Reed, Dick Saddler, Jerry Sigler, Lou Smiley**, Wally Snow, Howard Sullivan and John Wiltjer.
    Carol made and served lunch. Stan's Carol made a salad and Sue provided cake for desert. Howard and Al brought donuts for our coffee breaks.
    Lou Smiley makes his winter home in California and his summer home in Troy, New York. He yearly attends the TCT (Tin Can Tourist) get together at Dearborn Park near Milford, Michigan (the east side of Michigan). This past weekend was the annual TCT event with over 50 antique trailers and motor homes participating. Lou travels and lives in a blue 1940 Yellow Coach. If you recall the Futurliner chassis were built at the GM - Yellow Coach facility in Pontiac, Michigan in 1940. Lou discovered while here, working on the Futurliner, that the front steering arms were the same as on his Yellow Coach. We told him he better not leave it or we might have to borrow some parts off of the front of his coach. (Carol and I attend the same event with our 1936 Buick Roadmaster pulling our 1936 Bowlus Road Chief Travel Trailer.)
UPPER and LOWER 16' DOORS
    Jeff stopped prior to us starting in the morning and dropped off the right side motor that Holland Electric repaired for us. We want to thank Holland Electric for their service. Wayne and Lou then installed it. Ron had to fabricate spacers to raise the motor to get proper chain adjustment. Later it was run and performed fine. As mentioned last week the crew working on the timing of the doors were frustrated in their attempt to get the doors timed to close properly. Ed and Ryan, at home, constructed two new upper arms that were adjustable. Then, this crew, consisting of Ed, Bob, Ron, and Wes, proceeded to install these upper arms on the left side of the Futurliner where the doors were greatly out of time. In the process they discovered that the original upper arms were of different lengths. In fact after further investigation they discovered that there were three different lengths of these upper arms. These upper arms are a little less that 2' in length with a bored 3/4" hole in each end for a pin. Although each arm was different in length of less than an inch it made a big difference in the timing of the doors.
    The left doors were timed using the adjustable arms. They were tried out and closed perfectly. The arm lengths were recorded. Next the adjustable arms were taken to the right side and the same process was followed. We will end us with four upper door arms each a different length specific to that corner of the Futurliner. Probably for these doors to close properly every Futurliner was different.
    Next the left door had a fit problem at the center of the 16' length. This was also repaired. Connie did the welding.
BRAKES
    Del, Stan with Lou helping next started to work on installing the grill section to add hinges to make the engine compartment more accessible. They designed and started the fabrication of the hinges.
BODY
    Jim and Art worked at the rear fabricating and installing sheet metal around the rear door openings. This is another area that requires a lot of work since the Futurliner had been hit and damaged in this area.
LIGHTING FIN
    Wes brought the donated Lighting Fin fluorescence fixtures that we received as a result of Jerry's efforts at Gray Bar Electric. Bud and Al then started the process to make mounting brackets in order to install the 24 two bulb light fixtures. In the afternoon Connie applied another coat of primer on both the inside and outside of the light bar. Bud took the brackets he was working on in order to finish them at home.
PAINTING
    Mike made several runs to keep everyone working today. First he had to go to Wyrick Products to pick up some special mixed "green" for the instrument panel and the gray in order to paint the electrical control cabinet and all its parts. Next he has a run to the local hardware. We again want to thank Wyrick Products and Montana Paints for their donations.
GENERATOR
    Last week Bud had taken the control box for the generator to Dave's Sandblasting. Dave got the sandblasting done and had his brother ("THE REFINISHER") then apply a coat of primer. Bud picked up the primed control box and all its parts. Next, Connie and Art prepared the components for a final coat of paint and did the painting. We want to again thank Dave and his brother for the fine service that they give us.
CARGO DOORS
    Jerry and Fred worked on the lower cargo doors. They had to correct some alignment at the right rear of the Futurliner where the door motor sits. At the right front and the left front Jerry fabricated and had Howard weld in metal that will have the rubber bumper material attached later.
FLOOR
    Dick and Marty continued to drill holes and tap them for the floor.
INSTRUMENT PANEL
    Wally completed the preparation of the instrument panel for primer. Connie then painted it with primer. Later when the paint was dry Wally inserted the instruments to see how they looked.
DRILL BITS
    Between helping others on their projects Wayne continued to sharpen drill bits. I think he is caught up now.

LIGHTING FIN
    While Bud and Al have been doing the physical work on the lighting fin we have also been working with Gray Bar electric to size the numerous fluorescence lighting fixtures contained in the Lighting Fin of the Futurliner. Jerry Blouin of Gray Bar (Grand Rapids) has been working with Jim Swiatek of Cooper Lighting (Elk Grove Village, IL) to size the fixtures and obtain them. Jerry has made several trips to our restoration project and has sent samples. Now that the style and type of lighting fixtures have been determined Cooper Lighting will be donating over $1,200 worth of equipment. A big thanks to both Jerry at Gray Bar, and Jim at Cooper Lighting.
PARADER
    "Parader" Victor Garske mailed to us a package of material that has allowed us to fill in a lot of blanks of GM's shows: Century of Progress, Caravan of Progress, Parade of Progress, Previews of Progress, Futurama, and Motorama. Following is a summary of that information. Also to put all of this information on our web site we need your help in finding the original publications that Vic sent us since they are copies that he had saved.
    We will start by quoting the letter that Vic sent to Dean Tryon, our Futurliner newsletter editor.

"Dean A. Tryon,
    The successful General Motors Caravan of Progress in the 1930s and its continuing popular post - World War II Parade of Progress in the 1950s was an educational program conceived by GM's inventive genuis Charles F. (Boss) Kettering. He got the activity started by obtaining Chairman Alfred P. Sloan's support to put the General Motors Science and Technology Exhibit from the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair (Century of Progress) on the road. The activity was designed to expose a wider audience to the imagination and initiative of scientists and engineers, as well as the industrial capabilities of the United States, particularly GM.
    The central or featured live 45-minute stage show, inspired by "Boss" Kett, in the Parade of Progress spectacular original pole-less tent was called Previews of Progress and was designed to create public interest in technology. The Science and engineering demonstrations (sequences) were selected and engineered by E. Barton Blett (who worked on the Century of Progress show of GM, Caravan, Parade, and Previews). The script for the Previews show of the Parade was written by John W. Reedy (who worked on the Caravan and was the director of GM's Previews of Progress). Buying of available scientific equipment for the Parade's stage show was coordinated and assembled by William A. Cobb and myself. Unique equipment, for demonstrating the scientific principles involved, which was not available for purchase, was fabricated by Bill and me.
    Later I built, scripted, and trained lecturers for the educational Previews of Progress science shows operated by GM subsidiaries in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, South Africa, Syria, Turkey, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Venezuela, El Salvador, Brazil, and Argentina.
    Vic"

    After obtaining this material I called and talked to Vic. He spent considerable time working GM's Previews of Progress traveling to 38 different countries.
    In addition to Vic's memory Vic sent along copies of some of the pages of the "GM WORLD" publications. This was the publication of the GM Overseas Operations Division which was responsible for all of GM business outside of the US and Canada. The information that Vic sent only pertained to the above GM shows. Following are the out line of these shows and how they all fit together. Up until Vic's letter and this information I was confused about the different GM shows.

• CENTURY of PROGRESS - This was the 1933-34 Worlds Fair held in Chicago. Industrial firms like GM showcased progress in science, industry and products in the present as well as the future.
• CARAVAN of PROGRESS - This refers to the first Parade of Progress (1936 - 1940) in much of the literature. The people that worked this first POP were referred to as "Caravaners".
• PARADE of PROGRESS - Wonders of science show-casing how industrial research discovers new processes that later provide products within the reach of countless people. The displays were the last word in scientific showmanship, combining the best features of the General Motors exhibits at the Chicago Century of Progress and a number of displays never shown before. There were three series of POP's, 1936-40, 1941, and 1953-56.
• PREVIEWS of PROGRESS - This was the stage show of the Parade of Progress inside the Aero-Dome tent. It was designed to last 45 minutes with two "Paraders" making the presentation. It was also a stand-alone show taken to schools, colleges, auditoriums, as well as to foreign countries as outlined above. When this was a stand alone show it was referred to as the "little caravan" consisting of various devices for the demonstration of scientific phenomena, developed by the General Motors Research Laboratories. At one point an "Ultra-Streamlined" truck was created to transport the displays. This truck was built on a GMC chassis, with a Buick engine. The only photo of this truck that I have ever seen is on page 170 of the book "GMC - THE FIRST 100 YEARS".
• FUTURAMA - In 1939 at the New York Worlds Fair in the General Motors Building had the largest scale model panorama ever constructed called the Futurama. Guests would view the panorama, illustrating the highway systems of 1939 and of 1960, from luxurious twin arm-chairs, fitted to a smooth-running serpentine track of escalator type, while the 20-ton "polyrhetor" (sound mechanism) provides the commentator's running description of the scene to each chair at exactly the right moment.
• MOTORAMA - The speculator shows that GM put on introducing their new products (automobiles primarily) during the 1950s. (See the book "The GM MOTORAMA - Dream Cars of the Fifties" by author Bruce Berghoff.

Here are the issues that Vic sent copies of the pages from the GENERAL MOTORS WORLD publications that pertained to the above GM shows.

• February 1936 - (pages 3 & 4) Photos of Streamliners. (could not read date) (page 2) Photo of 1936 POP.
• February 1938 - (page 18) POP breaks all attendance records in Mexico City.
• March 1938 - (pages 3 &4) Previews of Progress article with a photo of the Previews of Progress Ultra-Streamlined truck. Also a Mexico City report.
• May 1938 - (page 5) GM POP pays visit to New York City in April 1938.
• January 1939 - (page 21) POP in Havana Cuba January 8 - 18, 1939.
• February 1939 - (pages 4 & 5) Second report of POP in Havana, Cuba.
• May 1939 - GM Worlds Fair Building in New York City.
• July 1939 - (pages 4 & 5) GM's exhibit at NY Worlds Fair lauded best by news media.
• October 1939 - (page 8) POP visits Toronto, Canada.
• August 1949 - GM employees day at the fair in New York City and San Francisco.
• July 1940 - (pages 4 & 5) Previews of Progress travels to Mexico.
• May 1953 - (page 12) Announcement of GM's new POP.
• February 1954 - (page 3) GM adds new exhibit to POP.

Here is where we need your help. All of the above material from "GENERAL MOTORS WORLD" should be added to our web pages. However the copies that Vic sent us were from old copies. We need everyone to look for the above originals so we can get them to the web pages for everyone to enjoy. Thanking you in advance.
PHOTOS
    We have also received a new batch of high quality photos of the first series POP (1936 - 1941) showing the Streamliners and the set up at the Parade of Progress shows. Also included were new photos of the 1941 POP with the Futurliners and the Aero-Dome tent being erected. These are of high quality that we can add to the web pages.

WHEELS
    Steve and his friend John stopped by today. Steve came to pick up four of the tire-wheel assemblies to have the tires dismounted from the wheel rims. Next he will be picking up the balance of the wheels to have them sand blasted and then painted by the powder coating process.
    While here, they both went over the Futurliner and its progress. They offered to look for standard truck parts that we might need.
    One of the recent discoveries on this project was the fact that the rear transmission was at one time shifted from the cab. Del Carpenter discovered this while working on the brake system. When we received the Futurliner, the rear transmission had to be shifted from the left outside rear of the vehicle. I explained this to Steve and John and they stated there was a system that used cables or rods to do this from the cab. Both of these men work with large trucks and they stated they would try to find such a system on an older truck.
AIR CONDITIONER
    Bud Dinger has made contact with one of the local air conditioner repair shops. Bud stopped by today to pick up the conditioner's compressor and condenser. He plans on taking it to this local business to see if they can repair it as a service to this project. Not only do our volunteers physically work on the project but go out to local businesses to solicit their help with their products or services. Thanks Bud.
ARCHIVES
    Mike Ball will be busy again next week as we have received new material. Dave Zimmerman from Maple Park, Illinois has sent us photos of one of the Futurliners being towed out of the lot that Joe Borts had it stored in on its way to a warehouse in Indiana. From this photo, we have identified it as the Futurliner that currently is owned by Brad Boyajian in California. Thanks to Dave for helping us to fill in more history.
    From my sister (Sandy) and her son's girl friend, Robin, came an original pamphlet that is titled "AGAIN CHEVROLET LEADS THE PARADE OF PROGRESS." Robin purchased this pamphlet on e-bay. Now here comes the mystery. The pamphlet is announcing the new "1933 Chevrolets". The first Parade of Progress occurred in 1936. The idea of the Parade of Progress came out of the 1933-4 Worlds Fair in Chicago and it was called the "Century of Progress." In the pamphlet, there is no further reference to the Parade of Progress or the Worlds Fair or the Century of Progress. Does anyone have a clue of what is pamphlet is referring to. Thanks to Sandy and Robin for the pamphlet. Now we need someone to clear up this mystery.
    We have also received from Tom Van Voorhis his Parade of Progress card case minus the cards. It does have the original gold colored mechanical pencil and is identified with his engraved "T. V." initials. Tom, thank you for this donation.
ROOF
    GM through Chad Seigel plans to ship the balance of the steel shortly for this project. Again, we want to thank the GM-PPO operations and all those that contributed to designing, building and delivering the roof.
PARADER
    I had a conversation with Parader Tom Raleigh. Tom lives in Michigan and was on the Parade of Progress in 1939, 1940 and 1941. Tom is 85 years young and served as a mechanic on the Streamliners. He stated he performed all maintenance on the vehicles. The Streamliners were powered with a large GMC gasoline inline 6-cylinder engine coupled to a manual transmission. They had large tires but did not have dual wheels. As a result of not having duals they frequently got stuck in sand and mud. The Streamliners had an interior floor made of wood for the displays to be mounted upon. When at a show they would be positioned in two groups of three Streamliners parked parallel to each other. The side doors were raised by a hoist. The public would enter at one Streamliner and travel through three Streamliners looking at the displays and exit at the third Streamliner. The public would then walk to the next group of three Streamliners. Note, this arrangement can be found on photos on the web site.
    In addition to being the mechanic on the Streamliners, he drove the wrecker that traveled with the POP. On one trip, he was the passenger in the wrecker with Bull Davis driving. The wrecker was a short wheel base vehicle and Bull lost control, took out a telephone and then went into the woods and flipped on its top. Later using the winch truck they turned the wrecker back on it wheels and caught up with the Parade. Tom also said that they had lots of tire problems with the Streamliners. There was a lot of weight on these vehicles and they tended to blow out tires.
    The Paraders typical day consisted of driving vehicles (Streamliners, support vehicles, GM cars), parading the vehicles down main street when they arrived in town, setting up the show, changing clothes, and then doing the lecturing. After several days at each location the show would be torn down and off to the next town. Everything the Paraders owned was carried in their Parader's streamer trunks and a two suiter. When preparing to leave a town they packed all their worldly belongings in these containers and then left them in their hotel rooms. There was a crew assigned to pick up the steamer trunks, carry them to the next town and haul them up to their rooms. Upon arrival Tom said the room key would be handed to them, there was no check in or waiting. Tom said that they received a $100/ month, all their food and lodging, and clothes cleaning.
    By 1940, the Streamliners were well used and many had been in accidents. Tom gave accounts of Streamliners hitting the edges of bridges, automobiles and buildings. In the summer of 1940, the Streamliners were retired. The Paraders were split into two groups, one group going to New York for the GM show and the other group going to San Francisco to that GM show. Tom went to the San Francisco show. The Paraders there were housed at the Hill Castle hotel. He stated that they lived like kings.
    Later that year (1940) after the San Francisco show was over he was transferred to New York at the yearly car introduction show that was held at the Waldorf Astoria.
    Tom then was sent to join the Parade of Progress show that was to open in Florida 1941. He was sent to Pensacola, Florida where they were in charge or developing the procedure for raising the new Aero-Dome tent that GM designed (received a patent) and built for the new Parade of Progress. He stated it took some time to work out the details. He stated that it took a large crew of men to raise this tent. (Note: The erection of the tent is on an old GM movie that has been converted to a video and shows the raising of this tent in this era.)
    Tom also stated that each new Futurliner had a 4 cylinder 2 cycle engine known as a 471 (This stands for 4 cylinders with each cylinder having 71 cubic inches.). On the new Futurliners the chief diesel mechanic was Pat Hanna. (The engines in the Futurliners were changed to the gasoline OHV 6 cylinder 302 engine in 1952.)
    Next they were off to Miami, Florida for the official opening of the new Parade of Progress in April 1941.
    One thing Tom does not know is what happened to the eight Streamliners. We are still looking for at least one. We thank Tom for this valuable information.
NEEDS
    We have a vendor that wants to make a limited number of Futurliner models. Part of the financial proceeds will be given to the Futurliner restoration project. However, the vendor must receive GM licensing to proceed. We need a volunteer lawyer or whomever that is willing to work with this vendor to get official licensing from GM. Here is another opportunity.

ARCHIVES
    Mike continues to file the many items that we have received. Also, he follows up on any leads that you folks might send to us. Mike is also our official photographer during our work sessions. We are looking at getting a digital camera so we can add photos to our work reports.
DOORS
    Howard worked on the large upper door both fabricating and welding in sections to strengthen the doorframe where there had been extensive rust.
    Phil DeVries made at home new latches for the large side doors. The old ones were badly worn and in some cases, the shafts were almost rusted in two. Connie installed three of the four new latches.
ROOF FRAME
    Don, Dick and Tom worked at fabricating additional 45-degree supports from the front roof bulkhead frame to the main Futurliner frame to provide additional strength to the roof. These supports angle through each side of the engine compartment. Conrad did the welding.
    Art fabricated frame sections for the rear roof bulkhead to the upper main Futurliner frame. He then welded these sections into place.
CAB
    Both Connie and Art worked on the sheet metal on the front of the cab. They were putting in finish welding where the skin had been previously tacked in place.
    Dick and Marty worked on the components for the inside of the cab. Although most of the interior sheet metal can be reused since it is all covered with upholstery, there is a lot of repairs to be made. In addition, all the access doors that lead to things like the window washer bottle were missing and have to be fabricated.
BRAKES
    Del, Stan and Jeff worked on the brake valves and lines. First, to make the area more accessible the wheel-tire assemblies were removed from all four corners. Next, they worked at installing more brake lines. Then they worked at installing more connections at each junction point.
    Phil DeVries fabricated new brackets for mounting the front brake chambers. Del took them home today to give them a final coat of black paint.
FINANCIAL
    First, I want to thank those that have contributed to our project and those that continue to contribute year after year. Also we want to thank the businesses that continue to supply services and products. Fortunately, the contributions have always arrived so that this project has never been held up due to money. Again thanks to all.
STEERING WHEEL
    Tom delivered the steering wheel that he removed from the Army Truck that he donated to our project. Although it needs restoring, it is in relative good shape. The outer wheel handgrip area is in good shape with a few cracks that need addressed. The hub at the base needs completely restored.
    John Wiltjer again stopped to see if he could help us with anything.
    Bud Dinger plans on stopping later this week to pick up the air conditioner compressor and condenser and take it to a local company that he knows with the hope that they will do it for nothing. We will see.
NEEDS
    IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE THAT NEEDS A NICE HOMEWORK JOB OF RESTORING THE FUTURLINER STEERING WHEEL? (Free shipping provided!)

PARADERS
    Had a call from Douglas Livy. He was a Parader in 1940-1941 with the 2nd Parade of Progress when the Futurliners were used for the first time. He is 81 years young and remembers the Parade as well as the Futurliners. He plans to attend the Parader's reunion this coming September. He also remembers the trunks that each Parader was issued. The Paraders carried all their worldly possessions in these trunks. He stated they were cream in color with red trim. It sure would be neat to find one to add to our collection. He also knows a Parader that was with the 1936 Parade that he is going to contact for us.
ROOF
    Today Bud, Connie, Art and Don worked at cutting some of the sheet metal away from the old roof over the cab and the rear section so that the new center roof frame section that was delivered this past Thursday could be raised 2" into its final position. Once all the metal was cut, air chiseled, and torched away the hydraulic jack was used and the new section of roof frame was raised into its location. Connie and Art then welded it in place. The balance of the day Art and Connie welded the two bulkheads that had just been tacked together when they were installed. There were two welders going all day.
BODY
    Jim continued to work at fabricating and welding in metal at the rear.
    Towards the end of the day Bud worked at shimming the right rear door for a better fit. He will have to fabricate shims for next week.

CAB INTERIOR
    Dick and Marty worked at laying out all the components that go into the cab for proper fit. They carried the large air-conditioned condenser up into the cab to understand how it was mounted.
AIR CONDITIONER
    Here is where we could use some help. We have the air conditioner condenser and compressor as well as an extra set that the FIDO (Canadian Futurliner) folks gave us. We need an air conditioner shop to take these components and make one good set work. This is the early 1950's vintage air conditioner system that GM put on its Cadillac's and Buicks. Is there anyone out there that can give us a hand?
STEERING WHEEL
    Tom Kuhlman who donated his 1950's Army Truck to our project called today and has pulled the steering wheel from this truck with out having to destroy it to get it off. He will be bringing it up for us to restore and use. Thanks Tom.
INSTRUMENTS
    John Wiltjer had Weller Truck go through all its old vintage parts and brought with him today a double needle air tank pressure gage, a tachometer and a speedometer. The air tank pressure gage is the correct type and size and we will be using it. The tachometer and speedometer are larger than the originals. When Wally gets back from his trip, we will determine whether we can use them. Thanks to John and Weller Truck.
BRAKES
    Del and Stan pulled copper brake tubing through the framework of the Futurliner. In addition, they worked at installing fittings and valves.
    When we received the Futurliner the transmission that is located in the rear had levers that came out of the side to shift this transmission from the outside of the vehicle (of course the vehicle would have to be stopped). Today when Del was installing the copper brake tubing he came across remnants of brackets that at one time held rods that came from the cab to shift this transmission. Apparently, this original system did not function properly and then everything was changed to the side of the Futurliner. Does any Parader remember the arrangement that was originally in the driver's cockpit? How about the un-restored Futurliners? What is on those vehicles?
DOORS
    Stan also worked and cleaning all the threads on the two upper doors with a die thread tap. There are 49 holes per door so that is almost 100 holes he ran a thread tap through today.
ARCHIVES
    Mike again did a lot of miscellaneous jobs from the archive work, photographing our progress, to installation of a cup holder in our break room. Mike is involved in sprint car racing and recently bought a sprint car and is restoring it with a group of volunteers just like the Futurliner crew.

ROOF
    GM - PPO operations made arrangements to ship the center section (front to back) of the newly fabricated roof frame today. I have been describing this as 1/3 of the roof frame. However after it arrived it is really 1/2 of the roof frame. There is a 1/4 on the right side and a 1/4 on the left side that needs to be assembled yet.
    Ed had previously brought his high-low fork lift truck. This center section of the roof was scheduled to arrive at 10:30 and at exactly 10:27 the truck from Warren, Michigan rolled in the drive way. The driver advised us the easiest and safest way to unload his truck and that was promptly done. Ed is Chief Engineer on the roof and side doors and he had pretty much planned today's session. Del and I were the helpers.
    Next Ed's high-low was chained to the Futurliner and the Futurliner pulled out of the barn. It was a very windy day here in Michigan and we had to make sure everything was done safely. Ed had his plan. After unloading the many pieces of steel for the right and left sides of the roof (some assembly required later), we chained the new center roof frame to the forks of the high-low. A safety chain was attached to the mast of the truck to prevent the chain from slipping off the end of the forks.
    With ropes attached to each end of the 16'-6" long center roof frame, and Del and Don guiding, the new roof frame was lifted and placed at an angle to be slid in between the rear bulk head and the old roof of the Futurliner. It was a very tight fit and we had to use the porta-power hydraulic jack to raise the old roof as well as a come-along to slide the rear section in its place. Then with Ed maneuvering the high-low he swung the front of the new roof frame in between the front bulk head and the old roof section. Next, the new roof frame had to be slid forward to be secure over the front bulk head. This was done using the porta-power hydraulic jack and a come-along. Both of these tools were used to center the new roof frame right to left.
    As I stated Ed had planned the entire operation and from the truck arriving and getting the roof in its rough location it took only three hours. Next, metal must be trimmed off of the old roof at both ends and the new roof frame raised about two inches to be in its home location. Ed is leaving for Arizona for a few weeks and I know while he is gone he will have planned everything in his head. I told him it will be waiting for him. We have plenty of other work to do until he gets back.
    We want of thank all of GM-PPO employees for the great job that they did and how it fit perfectly on top of the bulk heads that they had previously fabricated and installed. I also want to thank the volunteers for today that set the roof in place.
    Again, without all our volunteers and the individual skills that they bring to this project this Futurliner would still be sitting some place rusting away.