Volume 40 Issue Number 1 January 2007

Special Attractions

• Turlock Swap Meet

• Finger Bowls

• Ladies Shop and Eat Tour

• Dorothy Dodd

• Very, Very Last Laugh

Johnny’s Journey 2

Sunshine Report 3

Upcoming Events 3

Classified 3

Caught in the Headlights 4

Era Notes 5

The Garage 6

Technical Seminar 6

Touring 2007 7

Calendar 11

Inside Insights

General Membership

Friday,

January 19, 2007 8:00 p.m.

1st Lutheran Church Hall,

Concord

MAFCA 2006 CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

MODEL A MEMORIES

www.diabloas.com

Johnny’s Journey

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Moto-Meter Elected Officials 2007

Board of Directors President

John Bailey (707) 745-8251 Vice-President

Ron Accornero (510) 521-4846 Secretary

Cheryl Pierce (925) 798-9132 Treasurer

Ruth Janke (925) 689-0859 Tour Coordinator

Mariyln Neumann (925) 687-4691 Past President

Marianne Goodson (707) 745-8051 Editor

Peggy English (925) 682-3759

CLOCKMAN51@ASTOUND.NET Appointed Services ACCC Representative

Herb Neumann Historian

-your name here- Membership Services

Marianne Goodson Refreshments Co-Coordinator

Donna Staggs NCRG Representative

Alex Janke Photographers

Wayne English & Bob Rigor Public Relations

Bob Rigor Sunshine Reporter

Elsie Boarman Club Vests Marge Tait Video Czar

Bill Truesdell WebCzar Steve Mick

The Moto-Meter: The Moto-Meter is the official publi-cation of the Diablo A’s Chapter of the Model A Ford Club of America. The Moto-Meter is published once a month and is mailed to each member in good standing and other Model A Ford Clubs in exchange for their publication. The Moto-Meter takes no responsibility for the accuracy of materials, dates, places, etc. of its con-tents. Permission to reproduce items in The Moto-Meter is hereby granted provided credit is given to The Moto-Meter. The Moto-Meter welcomes any article, artwork or suggestions. Please submit all materials by the first day of the month. Meetings: Meetings are held on the third Friday of the month at 8:00 PM at First Lutheran Church LCMS at 4000 Concord Blvd., in Concord unless otherwise indi-cated in the Calendar of Events. GUESTS ARE AL-WAYS WELCOME. Membership: Membership in the Model A Ford Club is not a prerequisite to join The Diablo A’s. Both MAFCA and The Diablo A’s membership commence on January 1st, and expire on December 31st. MAFCA dues are $30.00 (MAFCA, 250 Cypress Ave., La Habra, CA 90631). The Diablo A’s dues of $45.00 per family is payable to the treasurer. Subscriptions to the Moto-Meter are $15.00 per year.

Johnny’s Journey Marianne – “A tough act to follow”. As I was preparing to write my first install-ment for the Motometer, I took the time to review a few “Moments from Marianne”. I can only say she will be a tough act to follow. Not just in her abil-ity to communicate through the written word but also her consummate profes-sionalism as President. She planned and prepared well and communicated even better. During the many hard days of the last year she was the face and voice of our club. I know I speak for all members when I say, “thank you Marianne, for your wonderful leadership and most of all your heart felt friendship.

… The holidays around our household were full of fun and family. Claire’s sister, brother-in-law, their two daughters, our son and daughter (Maggie and Paul) were all here for Christmas. A four day trip to Disneyland with all but Paul in tow preceded Christmas.

… Our guests bundled up and braved the cold weather of December for a short ride in “Mollie O” (our Model A, named for Claire’s mother). The girls being only 18 and 20 years old and from New Zealand couldn’t recall ever seeing a Model “A”, much less riding in a rumble seat. I’m not sure if a good time was had by all but I know I had fun.

… From time to time I will probably mention Shellbucks, the affectionate nickname given to the local mini mart/shell gas station. On Saturday and Sunday mornings between 8:00 and 9:30 you will usually find a few of the North Bay Diablo A’ers (and others) hanging out at Shellbucks. Bob Estrella, Dave and Jan Grandquist, Paul Chibotti, and Pete Goodson are regulars Steve Mick and Al Falarski have also dropped by several times. Please feel free to call for directions and stop by, we might put together an impromptu tour.

… I want to express a big thank you to Marilyn Neumann and Alicia Watson for making the January brunch happen. At the Christmas dinner Marilyn and I dis-cussed the fact that we didn’t have a host for the traditional January brunch tour. Marilyn began to look for a suitable site. Shortly after that Alicia contacted Marilyn, suggested Toscana, and Marilyn took over from there. Thank you both very much!

… Looks like it will be a great tour season with Marilyn as tour coordinator. Our schedule is almost full but there are still a few openings so contact Marilyn if you would like to lead a tour.

… Here’s wishing you all a great 2007, and I hope to see everyone at the meeting and the brunch. John

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Upcoming Events Sunshine Report Elsie Boarman

For Sale: 1 set of four 19 inch wheels powder coated orange with tubes and tires— balanced. Ready to roll. — $700.00. Contact Charlie Piazza—925-933-9214 For Sale: 1929 Standard Roadster — $8000 Older restoration, runs well, needs TLC and top. Good driver, solid body. Contact Stan Massie at (925) 284-9152 or Dan Danzig at (925) 216-8153

Wow! A new year and a new Diablo A’s Board. It is nice that John Baily, new prez, will have a male officer. Last year he had a “harem”. Ha! Ha! Evelyn Wilson had Christmas with her son. Nita had Christmas with her family. Adell went to Atlanta to have Christmas with her family and Adrianna was celebrating with her family. Adrianna will be leaving January 15 to visit family in Chile. She will be gone for 2 months. Our Christmas party was fantastic! Thanks to Alicia Wat-son and Marilyn Neumann and all the Elf helpers that set up and cleaned up. Ed James has recovered nicely from his hernia surgery on December 6 and Wayne English was going for therapy so he can use his arm to give Peggy a hug every now and then. I received a call about our January Brunch on January 21. It is very helpful to the board if the tours run February to February. That way the new board does not have to worry about what is coming up. This was the original plan when the club started in 1968. Maybe this year we can plan ahead and have the January and February tours already set. Please try to make a new years resolution to attend the Diablo A’s meetings and support our new board. Look for a new column in our Moto Meter, written by Pete Goodson. I have the honor of being the first biogra-phy, with, I ‘m sure many more to follow. We have so many interesting and very caring friends. A happy and healthy 2007 to you all. Happy A’ing Elsie

Classified

Friday, January 19, 2007 — General Membership — The doors open at 7:30 p.m. and the meeting begins at 8:00 p.m. at First Lutheran Church, 4000 Concord B l v d . , Concord. Guests are welcome. Sunday, January 21, 2007 — Brunch Tour — Toscana Saturday, January 27, 2007 — Shop & Eat Ladies Tour Saturday, January 27, 2007 — Turlock Swap Meet Monday, February 5, 2007—Board Meeting — The Board Meeting will be held at the home of Ron Accornero. . The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. Please RSVP.

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Elsie Boarman

Elsie is the only remaining charter member of the Diablo A’s and so it seems appropriate that she should be the first mem-ber to be profiled in our new column Caught in the Headlights. Elsie was born in Oakland, California, and attended Fremont High School. She met her future husband, Howard (Howie) Boarman, at a dance at the Ali Baba in Oakland in 1946. One year later they were married. Howie had one daughter by a previous marriage. He and Elsie had one daughter and one son. She has two grandchildren. Her grandson is 20 and in the Navy. Her granddaughter is 16, lives in Santa Rosa and is still in high school. She is involved in sports. Elsie worked in the bookkeeping department of the American Trust Company (now Wells Fargo Bank). Howie worked for Aero Jet and GE. He was involved in cars from the time he was 16 years old. In 1967, Elsie and Howie started hosting foreign exchange students. Her first student was from Spain. The children of that student have visited Elsie at her home here in the states. Other students she has hosted have been from Taiwan, Holland and Japan. Also in 1967, Howie, having a Model A, wanted to enjoy it with other Model A enthusiasts. He sat down with the MAFCA roster and started making phone calls. This was the beginning of the Diablo A’s. Howie was the 1st President and Elsie later served as Treasurer for 3 years. She says her hobby is to iron. She “plays music and goes to town” while at the ironing board. The money she earns from ironing for other people she donates to various charities. If fact, giving to and helping other people are common themes in her life. For 20 years she sang with the Singing Messengers group entertaining at convalescent hospitals. She and Howie were also volunteers with Meals on Wheels for 20 years. She still has a “job” driving two students to school everyday. When asked to remember what the most exciting moment in her life was, she replied – her surprise 80th birthday party re-cently thrown by her daughter. When asked if there is anything that she would really like to do in the future, she said she would like to travel more of the US. She has served as our Sunshine Lady since 1976 and loves every member as if they were members of her own family. We are extremely fortunate to know her and have her as an important part of our Diablo A’s family

Caught in the Headlights By Pete Goodson

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F E B RUA R Y

1 9 2 8

I had a call the other day from a man whose Model A just would not run the way he felt that it should, and not being gifted with blind intuitive pow-ers, I suggested that he try to get the car out here and I would be glad to look at it. But first, let me ask a question or two. What was the last thing that he had done to the engine? “Changed the oil” he answered. Okay. What was the thing that he had done before that? “Greased the chassis” he answered. Well! I was not getting any place so , so try again. Can you get the car out here? “I will try,” he answered. Some time later, the car arrived and as it pulled up into the driveway, I could hear an engine badly out of time, struggling to run and obviously heated up as a bit of steam struggled to escape. “Shut it off and let’s let it cool off a bit,” I said as I raised the hood. I said that it seemed a bit out of time but he reassured me that he had indeed retimed the engine that very morning so he know that the timing was not the problem. “Humor me” I said as I raised the distributor cap and removed the timing pin. “Now retard the spark lever to full retard” I said and he said “Why?” Well, you guessed it. The car was out of time because there is a 20 degree difference between full retard and full advance and if the retard lever just happened to be some where in between when he attempted to retime his engine he could be anywhere from zero to twenty degrees out of time and yes, he was! A quick check showed that the timing was indeed the problem and a quick retime soon had the old car purring like a well-fed kitten. Soooooo, timing does greatly affect the performance of the Model A engine and if you suspect that something is wrong, yet you have the timing down pat, then look to the timing gear cover. Yes, there are at least 3 difference cov-ers– all will fit but some are for the Model B engine which has only a 10 degree advance which could lead to problems. Well, that’s enough on the subject so I leave it to you to check things out. Well that’s Model A'ing, take care and let’s all have fun while we can and as the old cowboy used to sing “Happy Trails to You”……

Cal

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The Garage ….… by Cal TECHNICAL SEMINARS

2007

February 10 “Rebuild Your Steering Box”

Bob Grady’s Garage

9:00 am

RSVP Alex Janke (689-0859) or Bob Grady (933-1154)

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TOURING 2007

Marilyn Neumann

As required by the Chapter Bylaws, the Tour Coordinators are to provide touring guidelines at the begin-ning of the year. Driving a Model A on tour is not much different than driving the family car. However, since we are driving a car that is at least 75 years old, we suggest the following guidelines. Remember that common sense and courtesy will ensure that you have an enjoyable tour. Know your car — do not use a Chapter Tour as a test run. Arrive at the meeting place with a full tank of gas. Maintain your position in the group, leaving adequate distance between you and the car ahead for traffic to

pass and merge. A tour may require special instructions due to the size of the group or the distance to be traveled so obey

any instructions that your Tour Leader has given out. If you have trouble, try to get off the road into a parking lot, side road, freeway off ramp, etc. If your car stops completely, pull off onto the shoulder as far as possible and exit your car carefully and

safely. If a car in the group pulls over, continue to follow the tour. The Tour Leader or Tour Coordinator has as-

signed a “tail car” that will stop and help the disabled member or members. An exception to this would be if the disabled car will be out of sight of the “tail car”. In this case, stay long enough to be sure that help has arrived then proceed to follow the tour.

If a tour requires an advance reservation or other notice, please RSVP. It is not the intention of these guidelines to cover every situation that may arise on tour ……… again, let

common sense and courtesy be your guide. Lastly, and most importantly, ……… dust off your Model A, gather up the family and come out and sup-port your monthly tour leaders.

8 VOLUME 40 ISSUE NUMBER 1

UPCOMING TOURS IN 2007

January 21, 2007 Toscana Restaurante Tour Alicia Watson January 27, 2007 Ladies Shop and Eat Tour Alicia Watson February 24, 2007 Peerless Coffee Tour Melinda Hayes March 24, 2007 Bodega Bay John Bailey

2007 Classic Car Show at Fisherman’s Wharf

Presidents Day Weekend

The San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, along with the Fisherman’s Wharf Merchants Association, is hosting the fifth annual Fisherman’s Wharf Classic Car Exhibit on Pier 45 Friday through Sunday February 16-18th. The Classic Car Show brings several hundred collec-tor automobiles to Fisherman’s Wharf for a fun week-end of activities, including parties, banquets and tours specially planned for car show participants. Hotel ac-commodations are available at Fisherman’s Wharf at special Classic Car Show rates. For more information go to www.sfmodelaclub.org or call 415 621-0500.

Contact Marilyn Neumann to see if there is enough interest to make this a tour.

The brunch tour is on January 21, 2007.

Choices Poached Asparagus with prosciutto

with fresh fruits and potatoes; Omelet with baby spinach, smoked ham and

Fontina cheese with fresh fruits and roasted potatoes;

Amaretto French Toast with chicken-apple sausage and fresh fruits.

Champagne and coffee. Any one of the entrees is only $18

including tax and tip. Hope that you can attend.

TOSCANNA RESTAURANTE

LADIES SHOP AND EAT TOUR

On January 27, 2007, the 4th Annual Ladies Shop and Eat Tour will be in Danville. We will be going to La Ultima for lunch and then hit the fantastic stores. There are many, many stores—some you have seen before and some new. Please let me know if you will be attending so I can make reservations. Yes, the guys will be going to the Swap Meet in Turlock! Alicia

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In Memorium As we start the new year, we would like to remember those club members who left us last year:

Dick Kirk Cecil Kissinger Welden Shore Gordon Wilson

Let us also remember those members who have passed away since 1989:

Arlene Arnold Ron Baumgarter Howie Boarman

Frank Becker Louelle Bronson

Jim Conley Charlie Crill

Earl Fisher Faye Fisher Glenn Fuller J.B. Gentry

Darlene Hall Melba Hall

Dwaine Hall

George Jackson Elizabeth Kergel

John Kergel Yuko Martinez

Julie McGoldbrick Patrick McGoldbrick

William Moran

Ed Mortimore Ida Mortimore Roberyt Myers

Willa Reed Marion Shelby Wally Shelby Chuck Stewart

Jim Trezza Marion Trezza Anne Valentine

Harold Valentine Bill Veitch

Bob Williams

Dear Diablo A’s Friends, My family and I want to thank you for the generous gift you made to the Model A Ford Foundation in Dick’s memory. He would be so honored. We also want to thank the members for all the love and support you have given us. And for the generous lunch-eon after the memorial – All the beautiful Model A’s lined up at the church was such a great tribute. And last but not least for the wonderful talk you gave about Dick at the memorial. Take care and God bless you all. Love Adell

Thank You

To my Model A Family, My recovery is going better than expected. Your cards and well wishes were very helpful in my recuperation. I was humbled by the great number of cards and calls inquiring after my health, as I am unaccus-tomed to being on the receiving end of get well wishes. Thank you, thank you, thank you!. Wayne

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Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 General Mtg

20

21 Brunch Tour

22 23 24 25 26 27 Shop & Eat

28 29 30 31

JANUARY 2007 Birthdays

January 6 Ron Wallach 10 Peggy English 14 Cheryl Pierce 21 Alicia Watson 22 Alex Janke 24 Bill Truesdell 24 Elaine Matheson 26 Sara Conley 27 Dennis Gill 28 Marty Larsen 29 Elisa Ragusa

Anniversaries January

1 Jerry and Paula Beldon 21 Ed and Jeane James 21 Holtzman and Maurine Frazier 25 Jerry and Rosella Hendrickson

General Meeting January 19, 2007 8:00 p.m. First Lutheran Church, Concord Tour: Toscana Restaurante January 21, 2007 TBA

Cal’s Engine and Machine Shop Greg and Mark

THE VERY, VERY, VERY, LAST LAUGH

WWW.DIABLOAS.COM

Realizing that their home just wasn't big enough with the new baby in the house, Little Johnny's parents discussed moving to a bigger one. Little Johnny sat patiently listening to his parents, then piped in, "It's no use. He'll just follow us anyway."

A new neighbor asked the little girl next door if she had any brothers and sisters. She re-plied, "No, I'm the lonely child." A three-year-old went with his dad to see a litter of kittens. On returning home, he breathlessly informed his mother there were two boy kittens and two girl kittens. "How did you know?" his mother asked. "Daddy picked them up and looked underneath," he replied. "I think it's printed on the bottom."

Another three-year old put his shoes on by himself. His mother noticed the left was on the right foot. She said, "Son, your shoes are on the wrong feet." He looked up at her with a raised brow and said, "Don't kid me, Mom. I KNOW they're my feet."

On the first day of school, the Kindergarten teacher said, "If anyone has to go to the bathroom, hold up two fingers." A little voice from the back of the room asked, "How will that help?"