Classic Car Club of America - Pacific Northwest Region

Welcome

pnwclassics — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:00:06 +0000

The Pacific Northwest Region of the Classic Car Club of America is one of the most active purveyors of information on the greatest automobiles ever built.

PNR-CCCA Garage Tour

pnwclassics — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:19:12 +0000

Sunday, April 26th is the date for a visit to a club-famous vintage motorcycle and petroliana collection. We will visit the collection in Gig Harbor and enjoy lunch at the world-famous Ruby Tuesday. Here is a sampling of what is in store:

Steamworks Concours d’Elegance 2009

pnwclassics — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:24:40 +0000

It is with great pleasure we can announce that Vancouver’s annual Steamworks Concours d’Elegance will once again go ahead on the Labor Day weekend, Saturday, September 5th.

We welcome submissions of interesting cars and would like to hear from the PNR CCCA membership as soon as possible!

For an entry form and more information, please e-mail Colin and Laurel Gurnsey

lgurnsey@telus.net

or call 604-980-7429.

Club Auto Events

pnwclassics — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:34:07 +0000

Save the date for future monthly driving tours! Below are the dates and the tour leaders:

April 4: Roy Magnuson

May 2: Dominic Dobson

June 6: Roy Magnuson

July 4: Peter Hageman and Al McEwan in conjunction with the Kirkland 4th of July Parade

August 1: Dominic Dobson

September 5: Pat Heffron

October 3: Peter Hageman

Please note:

• Route plan and lunch destination is at the discretion of the tour leader.

• Lunch is no-host.

• All tours are weather permitting.

2009 Coming Out Party

pnwclassics — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:02:52 +0000

Coming Out Party RSVP

The Annual Coming Out Party is the premier event for the year. Members and their guests will enjoy a sumptuous dinner among friends (provocative people and classy cars). This year’s event is held at the Seattle Design Center on March 21st. If you are a member of the club (or want to renew acquaintance with a current member), you do not want to miss it.

CCCA Events

pnwclassics — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:59:04 +0000

2009

Jan 7-11 . . . . . . . CCCA Annual Meeting: Cincinnati, OH (Indiana Region)

Apr 17-19 . . . . . Grand Classic: Florham Park, NJ (Metro Region)

Jun 12-20 . . . . . CARavan: Delta to Desert (NCR)

Sept 18-26 . . . . . CARavan: Rivers, Roads and Rhythms (SLR)

2010

Jan TBD . . . . . . CCCA Annual Meeting: San Diego, CA (SoCal Region)

July TBD . . . . . CARavan: Northwest CARavan (PNR)

Sept 9-18 . . . . . . CARavan: Autumn in the Adirondacks (MTR)

PNR-CCCA 2008 Annual Meeting

pnwclassics — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:53:33 +0000

The 2008 Annual Meeting was held at the Seattle Yacht Club on November 1st.

Radiator Expansion Tank

pnwclassics — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:22:04 +0000

It was while idling on hot asphalt, in line waiting to cross the Canadian border, that a lady dashed across the tarmac wildly exclaiming our car (Tinkerbelle—an 812 Cord Beverly) was leaking green liquid near the front wheels. This was one more indication Tinkerbelle couldn’t hold her coolant. In the past Tinkerbelle had often required additional coolant after long driving stints, and sometimes, usually at idle, the bubble disappeared from the King Seeley temperature gauge face although the car never “boiled over.”

At the 2007 Palo Alto Concours, Josh Malks suggested I lessen both the need for additional coolant and the car’s propensity to overheat by adding an expansion (overflow) tank and mildly pressurizing the cooling system. Josh showed me his set-up and suggested I talk with Jim Lawrence who, to the best of my knowledge, pioneered the concept on Cord 810/812 series cars.

Tank, hose, clamp, pressure cap & NAPA box

Jim was a Volvo dealer and, accordingly, adapted a Volvo expansion tank to retain overflow. Jim told me he installed a radiator pressure cap rated at four pounds and an eight millimeter (5/16”) rubber hose to connect the tank with the overflow tube running down the left (driver’s) side of the radiator.

Before the next driving season I collected a Volvo 164 tank (because it has a nice shape, fits into the space available, hangs nicely from the radiator-to-firewall strut and was what Jim recommended), a radiator cap from NAPA (part #703-1412), a suitable length of rubber hose and two hose clamps. With a hook fashioned from a piece of brazing rod I installed the tank in about a half-hour. It can be dismounted in less than five minutes and re-installed in about the same amount of time.

Some maintain every drive in a Cord is a test drive. Our test for the newly-installed expansion tank occurred on the 2008 Big Sky CARavan. In all, Tinkerbelle traveled about 3,000 miles in all kinds of conditions. Throughout the CARavan the car did fine losing little or no coolant. The acid test came during our return from Big Sky to our home in Puget Sound. The temperature was well over 100 degrees and Tinkerbelle was pulling long mountain passes. Occasionally, we would stop at idle for a few minutes. If ever a car should have balked, it was then. Tinkerbelle did not flag. She required no additional coolant and did not overheat. At the end of the day another car traveling with us was topped off with six quarts of water!

If you are a long-distance driver or drive your car in very warm weather you might consider installing an expansion tank with a low pressure cap. It is easy to do and can be removed easily for any reason. We found with Tinkerbelle the loss of coolant during stressful drives was dramatically reduced.