What’s
Happening! |
- The main emphasis of this years work
sessions is on finishing all the little (and many not so
little) details that will make the vehicle complete. Most of these are
things you do not see from the photos but you will see when the
vehicle is on display or in operation. The work group resumed in
September with 15-20 hardy and talented workers showing up every
Tuesday at Don’s in Zeeland Michigan.
- Major areas of electrical work
under way includes junction boxes, wiring for the external lights,
turn signals, autronic eye, instrument panel, 120 VAC generator, light
fin and other areas. One improvement being incorporated is a better
method of routing and controlling the location of the wires to the
light fin. Jeff Dornbush has taken this on and completed the necessary
changes.
- The exhaust system is proving to
be no small task as it snakes from the engine, vertically up thru the
vehicle culminating in single stack out the roof. Del Carpenter
has been doing a lot of this specialized construction and bending at
home with fitting on site. It is now complete.
- Inside door panels are being
fabricated for all of the people doors (4) and work will begin on
finishing the interior of the 4 large display doors.
- Weather seals
for all the doors (8) are being donated to a large degree by Valley
Truck in Grandville, MI plus some must be purchased and some are
being fabricated.
- A problem surfaced with the large 16’
upper doors. It was observed that when they were fully open (and
horizontal), their weight was enough to deflect significantly. They
still operated but a long-term concern was raised. Don contacted GM
for assistance and they sent Venkat Aitharaju to Zeeland for
his review. He then developed a series of recommendations that the
crew is fabricating. One obstacle they overcame was that all new GM
drawings are in metric of course and this crew only knows English.
Conversions were made and the work progresses. (We would not say this
work crew is old but the metric system was not prevalent when most of
them were gainfully employed.)
- Whitewall tires
are being experimentally fabricated by Select Manufacturing Services in
Muskegon, MI working thru Ginman Tire, also in Muskegon, MI. They have
an experimental process to add whitewall material to a standard tire
that will include the appropriate lettering. Initial tests look
promising.
- The driver’s compartment is
being readied for upholstery, inside panels and windows. We are still
running with the temporary Plexiglas windshield but if you saw the
vehicle, you would have to look carefully to see that it is not the
correct material or final installation.
- Another small but important item is
getting the step functional that should automatically come out
when the door to the cab is opened. The original hydraulic valve is
not repairable however and we have a local supplier trying to locate a
"new" 60 year old valve.
- The large 120 VAC generator
installation has been started. The generator and the large control box
have been rebuilt by River City Electronics in Grandville, MI last
year.
- All the air line fittings have
now been converted to the correct DOT spec material, no small task in
itself.
- The trailer we reported on in the
last newsletter might not be suitable for us after all. It will
require extensive modifications and we’re considering starting from
scratch. This item is still in our major "open" file of
projects.
- We continue to get donations of sandblasting
services from Dave’s Custom Sandblasting in Zeeland, MI, electrical
components at cost from Dave Lucas at Coopersville
Automotive Supply in Coopersville MI. and paint products donated
by Montana Paints thru our local supplier Wyrick Products.
We very much appreciate their participation in the project.
- Mike Ball
(project Librarian) and Al Batts (project photographer) continue
work each day to catalog and document the restoration. They do a bunch
of other things of course but these are some of the more long-term items
that we will all appreciate in the future. In the short term,
appreciation of their efforts is in the lunch and coffee break prep
department.
- December 16 was the last work session
for the year and work resumes mid-January (except for the lucky few
who will head south for warmer weather.)
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Paraders
& Archives
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- Jim Genzel
located and sent a complete itinerary for the1953 thru 1956 Parade
route. We have had many inquiries about where the Parade visited which
we now can document. It is 4 pages in length and too long to list all
the details here but in summary, it started on April 15, 1953 in
Lexington KY, went thru the states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, W. Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina
and Atlanta, Georgia.
- In 1954 it headed south before going
north with stops in GA, FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, MD, PA, DE, NJ, CT, RI,
Mass., Maine, NH, MA, NY, PA, OH, KY, TN, GA, AL and ended the year
in Pensacola, FL.
- In 1955 it went west and stopped in
Miss., LA, TX, LA, Arkansas, TN, Missouri, Ind., Ill., Ontario,
Quebec, WI, Iowa, Missouri, OK, TX and ended the year in San
Antonio.
- In 1956 it started in Odessa-Midland
TX, continued with stops in AZ, CA OR, WA, British Columbia Canada
and ended on June 28 in Spokane, WA. This was the final performance
for the Parade and the tour left Spokane on July 6 and arrived in
Detroit on July 17, 1956.
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| Financial
status - Poster & Hats: |
- Although the outside of the vehicle is
looking good, much work remains to be done inside as you are reading
above. As we look at the remaining work and the purchases that must be
made, we first ask companies to donate the parts, services or
supplies. Even if it is just a discount it saves money, but invariably
we must make purchases. We know we will need between $15,000 to
$20,000 to complete this project so if you are so inclined, your
continued donations are still needed and appreciated. Remember, they
are tax deductible. We do not pay any volunteers nor do we charge for
utilities, volunteer’s transportation in getting here, storage or
other items. The only thing we do pay for is if we break a tool of any
of our volunteer’s tools we will replace them of course.
- Posters and hats
are available thru NATMUS for $10 each plus $3 shipping. Quantity orders
will have a break on shipping and will be approximately 20% above the
single item shipping charge. Contact Bobbie Smith at NATMUS for
specifics for your quantity. They were sold again this year at Hershey
last October at several of the volunteer’s locations. An order form
and additional info is on the web site and the mailing address is below
on the Donation Form. Please use the full street address and not
the PO box. Credit cards are accepted at the museum.
- You can also see the poster (along with
it’s history) and the hat on the web site (http://www.futurliner.com/poster.htm).
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