Home of North Meets South Car Show and Rally Drives With LBC’s … · 2019. 11. 15. · Official...

Official NewsletterParadise British Car Club

WWW.Paradisecarclubhome.comVolume 2015, Issue 2 Spring, 2015Home of North Meets South Car Show and Rally

Drives With LBC’s Are Soooooo Much Fun!!

On Saturday April 11th , six British cars met atthe Madonna Inn and proceeded in formation up theCuesta to the Highway 58 off ramp. There they meta beautiful Morgan British car and together the 7cars proceeded to the park in Santa Margarita for aphoto op. The group of cars included 2 MGA's, abug eye Sprite, a Morgan one Stag, a Mini and fi-nally an old Jag. The cars were driven by thePalmer's, Link's,Chapple's,Smith's,Shirley's, Peter-son's and Zigler.

The goal ofthe day was tohave fun, lookfor flowers, andenjoy the com-pany of thegroup. The tripwas along theback roads eastof Santa Marga-rita and Atasca-dero ending forlunch at the LC(Loading Chute)Restaurant. Theroute includedPozo, Los Pilitas,Huer Huero,Parkhill, La

Pansa and Highways 58, 41 and 229. The tempera-ture was perfect for a top down drive by all thosethat had tops to take down. Los Pilitas and HuerHuero Roads were delightful with a shady tree cov-ered drive and many wild flowers along the roadside.

All cars were successful in arriving on sched-ule at the restau-rant. The grouphad a privateroom on the sideof the buildingand enjoyed along long enter-taining lunch.

After lunch thegroup separatedwith some head-ing for the winecountry and oth-ers the coast viasome equallyinteresting roads.

(More photos onpage 3)

Wayne and LoisPeterson

Paradise British Car Club

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The following tools and videos are available for checkout from the club tool crib. Contact Larry Long (937-3784) for full list.- Engine Hoist- MGB king pin reamer- MGB wheel painting template

Larry also has the following video tapes available forviewing:- Battle of the B’s- Inside the Octagon, MG 1921-1945- ‘Doctor’ Doolins total MG Engine Rebuild- SU Carbs – overhaul & tuning- Astons in Action, Blackhawk Classic- Guide to MGB Maintenance- Healey, The Man, The Marque, The Machine- The Great Marques – Volume 4- MGF– The Birth of a New Legend- The MGB Video- Classic MG, MG Magic, The MGF

- Engine Stand- Two-way radios- British Flag

Officers and Board Members

Technical Advisors

Webmaster & Graphics Design

Tool Crib & Tech Library

Advertising

Members - No chargeNon-Members - $5 for two issuesCommercial - Business card or 1/8th page - $25 yearCommercial - 1/4 page - $50 per yearCommercial - 1/2 page - $75 per yearCommercial - Full Page - $100 per year

Corporate Sponsor Program - Corporations andbusiness that sponsor club activities, provide prizes andmerchandise, or provide services in support of theParadise British Car Club qualify for free or discountedadvertising. Please contact the newsletter editor, listedbelow, about this program.

The North American MGA Register

National Affiliations

North American MGB Register

Bonnet to Boot

The Bonnet to Boot is our club newsletter, pub-lished every other month, and sent to the memberswho are current with their dues. Larry Long is the in-terim editor. If you would be interested in helping outwith this, please contact Larry.

Articles are solicited for any and all activities thatyou are enjoying with your British car, including func-tions that you attend, current restoration projects, orjust stories that you would like to share with others.Desired format is Microsoft Word or a good typedcopy for text, and JPEG for graphics and photos.Please do not imbed the graphics into the text file. Allphotos will be returned. Articles can be submitted viaemail to Larry at [email protected], or delivered to1411 Foxenwood Drive, Santa Maria, CA 93455.

Car Help or Club QuestionCall any of our club officers

Regalia

Club Dues

Club memberships are $15.00 per family and are paidto the Membership Chairperson in January of eachyear.

Lorin Cuthbert MGALarry Long MG T-series

929-0087937-3784

Larry Long, temporarily

To order club Regalia, contact Jim Bull at one of ourevents or call at 937-4208.The following items are currently available.

- Paradise Jacket w/club logo. . . . . . .- Member Name for Jacket . . . . . . . .- Paradise Baseball Caps . . . . . . . . . .- NAMGBR Name Badges . . . . . . . .- Paradise MG Logo . . . . . . . . . . . . .- Polo Shirt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Gary Van Houter -Thor Gjerdrum-Michael Link-Bing Kunzig-Rhonda Cardinal-Larry Long -AVAILABLE-

733-2266937-3138614-2875287-8474937-8402937-3784

ChairmanVice ChairSecretaryTreasurerMembership ChairEvents Coord (Temp)Newsletter Editor


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Stowe House: A Very Nice Place to Visit Larry Long

tion.

In 1875, 3,000 lemon trees were

planted in the first commer-

cial lemon orchard planting in California.

Goleta's earliest commercial irrigation

also took place on the ranch, and you can

still visit 'Lake Los Carneros', the pond

created by the Stows. Sherman Stow's

son, state senator Edgar Whitney Stow,

set up a research laboratory at the ranch

and developed disease resistant

lemon rootstock of great value to local

growers.

If you never lived in the Santa Bar-bara/Goleta area, or don’t visit there often, youmay not be familiar with one of the jewels of thearea in terms of a nice and interesting place tovisit: the Stowe House and Museum in Goleta.Rhonda Cardinal led us on a tour in early Marchto the Stowe House where we had a very nicepresentation and tour by two tour guides, fol-lowed by a picnic lunch on the grounds, and thena trip to the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden.

The Stow House was once the headquartersof Rancho La Patera, on the original Rancho LaGoleta. In 1871, William Whitney Stow, a legal

counsel for Southern Pacific Railroad in San Fran-cisco, purchased 1,043 acres costing $28,677 for hisson, Sherman P. Stow. Sherman Stow built a Car-penter Gothic Victorian home on the site and movedinto the house with his bride, Ida G. Hollister, in1873. The family expanded the house in two majorrenovations in the 1880s and 1910s. The house wasoccupied by three generations of Stow descendants.

The Stow House is now a U.S. historical landmarkand is now the headquarters of Goleta Historical So-ciety which preserves and interprets the history ofthe Goleta Valley. There is the old farm house, a col-lection of farm equipment used on the property, anda railroad museum housed in the old Goleta rail sta-


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The Garden completed a Cultural Landscape

Master Plan in 2012 to help us understand and pre-

serve the significant elements that combined to cre-

ate the character of the landscape. The fact that

SBBG was the first botanic garden devoted to the

propagation, display, and study of native Cali-

fornia plants and plant communities and was

consciously designed in a naturalistic style con-

tributes to its significance.

With sweeping views to the Santa Ynez

Mountains and the Santa Barbara Channel Is-

lands and stunning landscapes, the Santa Bar-

bara Botanic Garden is a great place to explore

California's native plant diversity.

The Garden's 78 acres encompass a variety of

cultivated displays as well as stands of natural coast

live oak and riparian woodlands. There are over

1,000 different taxa of plants on that one can see

along the 5-1/2 miles of paths and

other featured areas such as the historic Mission

Dam and aqueduct built in 1807 to supply water to

the Santa Barbara Mission, an authentic Japanese

Teahouse and Tea Garden, and the spectacular views

along the Porter Trail along with the quiet cool of

the Redwood grove or the knockout punch of

the Meadow wildflowers in full bloom in spring.

It was evident that several people from our

club are avid gardeners; they were quite able to iden-

We had a very nice visit there, and I know that

everybody thoroughly enjoyed the tour. The drive

down to Goleta was uneventful, as we like it. After

lunch several of us went on to the Santa Barbara

Botanic Garden.

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has long

been celebrated for the distinctive marriage of its

landscape design and natural setting. In 1983, the

Mission Dam and Aqueduct (located on the Garden

grounds) were designated County Historic Land-

mark #24 by the Santa Barbara County Board of

Supervisors. In 2003 the landmark was broadened to

include the Garden’s historic design concept and six

additional elements within the Garden's 23 core

acres.


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tify a lot of the different plants in the garden and

commented that they have some of them in their gar-

dens.

Along with the Stowe House, the visit to the

Botanic Garden provided a very enjoyable day. A

few of us capped it off by having dinner on the

wharf in Santa Barbara. Thank you, Rhonda, for an

enjoyable outing!

Larry Long, with help from the internet


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The May “Spring Tour” Was Spectacular !! By Michael Link

On Saturday morning May 2nd, we metat The Golden Donut parking lot in Orcutt,everyone enjoying the social opportunity asthe group gathered. We were a group of eightBritish cars and their occupants, ready for anice morning’s drive. At 9:25 we had thedriver’s meeting, after which we headed outwith the hosts’ Triumph Stag at the front andan Austin Healey Bug Eye Sprite bringing upthe rear. What a pleasure to see the LBC’sout along the road for an adventure together.

The driving route took us on FoxenCanyon Road and then on to Ballard CanyonRoad. Next we made our way to Santa RosaRoad via Avenue of the Flags, where fourmore intrepid members joined our groupwith two more cars. Once on Santa RosaRoad for about 5 miles, we stopped at La-Fond winery for a 25 minute rest stop andfor those so inclined, some wine tasting. Aswe arrived at the winery, some of the peo-ple already there before us began to oohand aah at our group of cars.

From LaFond winery we continuedwest on Santa Rosa Road to Lompoc, then

around to Harris Grade Road until we arrivedat SR-135, where we headed east to arrive inLos Alamos at the restaurant Bell StreetFarms for lunch.

At the restaurant, five more ParadiseClub members joined our group, to make afinal total of 23 people. At Bell Street Farmsthe owner had printed up his daily menu witha British Union Jack to welcome our group.We sat at four tables reserved for us, on thepatio under umbrellas.


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The total drive time for the trip was 2hours and 48 minutes, including a 25 minuterest stop at an hour and ten minutes in to it.The time spent at the restaurant for most ofthe group was around 90 minutes, enjoyinggreat conversation, food and wine. Everyonewe heard from told us how much they en-joyed the drive and the restaurant.

For those who came with us on ourtour, thank you for making it a success. Forthose who did not, we missed you and hopewe’ll see you next time!

Lynn and Michael


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Our Next Event is…..

….a drive from Orcutt on some country roads south of there, ending up for lunch

at the famous Pea Soup Andersen’s Restaurant in Buellton. After lunch we will visit

the gasoline pump and automobilia museum just across the street for a private tour.

Contact Gary Van Houter and Janis to let the know of your desire to go on this

excursion and be sure to watch for emails telling about the details of the event.

Coming up in the next couple of months are:

** May 31—MG’s By The Bay in Danville. Contact Cuthberts for information.

** June 15-19—MG Gathering of the Faithful, Rhonert Park. Contact Jim Bull or

Larry Long for information.

** July 4th—Paradise Club BBQ at Thor and Donita Gjerdrum’s home.

** Also in July: Oxnard British car show, Laguna Lake European car show and

Arroyo Grande car show. Dates not know at press time, but watch for emails.

** August 1—Paradise Club annual Concourse d’Non-Elegance a t Longs

If there are other events that you might be attending and that you would like oth-

ers to know about, please send an email to Larry Long; he will get the information to

others.

Paradise Events List IncludedA list of up-coming events is included on the next page, for your planning. Datesfor the events will be included as soon as they are known, and other regional and

national events will be added as the information is published. This list will besent via email periodically as it is updated, and included in the Newsletter if we

ever find an editor!


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Mullin Museum in Oxnard: Don’t Miss It !! Larry Long

The Mullin Automotive Museum is a privately ownedautomobile museum in Oxnard, California, and members ofthe Paradise British Car Club were fortunate enough to visit itin February this year, the second of our events for the year, andthe first led by Larry Long.

Established in 2010, the museum displays the personalcar collection of businessman and philanthropist Peter Mullin.The museum has a large collection of vintage Bugattis, andmany of the cars are fully restored and able to be driven.

The museum is housed in thebuilding formerly occupied by theChandler Vintage Museum ofTransportation and Wildlife. The50,000 sq/ft building was remodeledto be more energy efficient byAmerican architect David RandallHertz, making use of solar panelsand reflective roofing to reduceheat, yet incorporating elements thatretain the Art Deco style and motifsin order to match the era of the cars,many of which were made in the1920's and '30s.

Mullin Automotive Museumin Oxnard is always overflowingwith rare, handmade, and expensive Bugattis from the gilded,prewar era. But the Bugattis in the current exhibit that we wentto see have neither wheels nor engines. Turns out the Bugattifamily’s talents extended well beyond cars.

Running until March 31, Mullin’s "The Art of Bugatti"added an intriguing dimension to the family’s history. It ex-plored prodigious artwork and talents of the entire Bugatti clan,which included ornate furniture, internationally renownedbronze sculpture, silversmithing and painting.

"Where else in history is there a family like this?" saidPeter Mullin, founder of the museum that bears his name andowner of much of what’s on display inside.

Mullin’s avid car collecting -- he prefers prewar modelsfrom French marques like Voisin, Delage and Delahaye -- bledinto furniture years ago. The 73-year-old’s research into ArtDeco cars wandered to furniture from that era and the periodbefore it, Art Nouveau.

"You can’t think about the Art Deco movement withoutthinking about furniture," Mullin said. "I became interestedbecause our museum is really not a car museum so much as itis an Art Deco museum with cars as centerpiece."

In doing so, Mullin stum-bled across Bugatti patriarchCarlo. The elder Bugattiearned a reputation -- and aconsiderable fortune -- as anartist and craftsman in thelate 19th and early 20th cen-turies. He’s best known forhis intricate wood furnitureand musical instruments,though he also worked as asilversmith and painter.

Carlo, an Italian by birth,moved his wife Theresa andfamily to Paris at the turn ofthe 20th century. It was there

that his children’s artistic careers flourished. His elder son Et-tore had his automobiles, a business and craft that he laterpassed to his own son Jean. Ettore’s daughter Lidia was also apainter.

Meanwhile, Carlo’s younger son Rembrandt is regardedas an immensely talented sculptor. Known for his deep love ofall creatures, his bronze animal statues were inspired by histime at the Antwerp Zoo in Belgium.

Yet he would eventually fall into a depression and finan-cial hardship and commit suicide in 1916. Today, his piecescan command hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions,at auctions.


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"It continues to amaze me that thebreadth and depth of this family’s talentscontinued over multiple generations,"Mullin said.

And both Rembrandt and Carlohave pieces on display in museumsthroughout the globe, including theMusee d’Orsa in Paris. But you couldhave saved yourself a transcontinentalflight by driving to Oxnard with thegroup in February.

Three of Rembrandt’s notablebronze sculptures were on display:"Stalking Panther," "American Bison"and "Walking Indian Elephant." Upstairswere the original doors to the Bugattiworkshop and numerous paintings byLidia, some of the very family membersthe exhibit celebrated.

Throughout the exhibit there werearound 40 pieces of furniture by Carloand dozens of sculptures by Rembrandt.There were also components of the Bugatti automobilefactory in Mulsheim, France, and engine for a Bugatti-powered train, and photographs of much of the family’shistory.

Of course, this being a car museum, plenty of at-tention was paid to the famed cars built by Ettore and Jean(full name Gianoberto Carlo Maria Augusto). These four-wheeled monuments to impeccable design and cutting-edge technology were reason enough to pay the museum avisit.

Highlights included a light-blue 1936 Type 57SCAtlantic, a car which grabbed the Best of Show award atthe 2003 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It’s one ofonly two such cars in the world -- the other belongs toRalph Lauren.

There was also a pair of cars related to the verycreation of the Bugatti brand. A gleaming silver 1908

Bugatti Type 10 prototype built by Ettore inhis basement foreshadows production modelshe would later sell.

And the tiny 1913 Peugeot Bebe Cabrioletis also on display, a design of Ettore’s that helicensed to Peugeot, which provided an in-flux of cash to the fledgling Bugatti brand.

We also saw the Type 41 Royale CoupeDe Ville. Measuring a massive 21 feet long,the black-and-gray beast was displayed at the1928 Paris Auto Show as the most expensivecar ever built.

Perched on the grille of this model is anelaborate radiator cap in the form of an ele-phant on its hind legs, a sculpture by Ettore’sbrother Rembrandt that would become thebrand’s symbol.

Luck was not on this model’s side, how-ever; the Great Depression soon followedand Bugatti sold only three of the six modelsbuilt.

Mullin (the man) spent about a year putting the exhibittogether and getting all the items in one place. He owns most ofwhat we saw, though a few choice pieces of art and the odd carwere lent to the museum for the exhibit.

Some items came directly from the Bugatti family itself.Mullin knew Ettore’s granddaughter Caroline personally fromvarious road rallies. When he approached her with the idea forthis exhibit, she eagerly lent him family correspondence andpaintings that had never been shown publicly.

After the exhibit closed at the museum in March, Mr.Mullin expected that portions of it will travel to other museumsfor further exhibits. The talent of the Bugatti family and theirachievements are too expansive not to share with the public.

"It seems kind of criminal to just pack all this up and say'That’s it,' " Mullin said.

Alice admiring theart deco doors

The Type 41 RoyaleCoupe De Ville

1913 PeugeotBebe Cabrolet


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I found the following review of the museum, and it ex-presses my sentiments exactly, so I am printing it here—savesme some writing time!:

“I cannot say enough good things about this museum.While it's curiously tucked away in an Oxnard industrial park,don't be misled by any of that. This boasts an incredible col-lection of cars, many of which still remain hidden from themuseum goers. For instance, the collection being featuredpresently (the one that we saw) is only Mr. Mullin's Bugatticollection....... he's got many more cars in his overall collectionthat will be featured comeafter March. …….. Sleek,shiny, stylish and sexy auto-mobiles, which have the lookand feel (yes, you can touch)of perfection. You willoooooh and aaaaaah when yousee what's inside.

But guess what...........cars are not the only thing thatmake this museum so wonder-ful. It also contains a reallycomprehensive art deco col-lection of paintings, glass-ware, silver, decorativepieces, furniture, and lighting.

Between the magnificent cars and this art deco collection, I wastaking photographs left and right. Everything was so beautiful.Art deco happens to be one of my favorite periods, if not myfavorite.

…….I can't stress enough how much you should availyourself to seeing this museum. You need to purchase ticketsin advance, and hours are definitely limited. Find the money,make the time, and go. You will thank me !!”

We had a really good trip down to Oxnard, and met upwith the folks from “downsouth” at the museum, whereall of us enjoyed a “tailgateparty” with lots of goodies toeat and drink. But the bestwas afterwards when we allwent over to the WoodsRanch restaurant on MillStreet in Ventura for some ofthe best mouth-waterin’ BBQRibs you could ask for! Allin all, it was a very good day!

Larry Long, using an articlefrom the Los Angeles Times.

Jan and Gary

Wayne and Lois

Just doit,Wayne!!

This is a blue race car withnumber 27 on the side. (Iforgot to note the model!!)

An example of the art work displayed at the museum1920 Bugatti Type 13

Brescia Two-seater


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The Lucas Motto: Get Home Before Dark Submitted by Michael Link

Ok, so we’ve all heard many jokes about our LBC electrical systems. When was thelast time you gave any serious thought to the electrics and the headlights, brake lights andtail lights they power? Gentlemen don’t motor after dark.

Some of our LBC’s may have era original headlights (such as pre-focus), some sealedbeam headlights, some halogen headlights, and maybe some of you may even have HIDheadlights. Are they operating at or near expected brightness?

First, some facts. Automobile electric circuit figures are based on a 13.5 volt standard.Voltage is lost in an automobile electrical system from many factors—such as the length ofthe wiring from the battery to its light fixture, the contacts in the electrical switches, theconnectors in the wiring harness, and the contacts to the bulbs themselves. Corrosion buildsand causes resistance in wiring, switches and connectors, which limits the volts and theamps that can reach the various lights on the car.

A voltage drop is how much below the 13.5 volts there is at whatever is being pow-ered, such as light bulb contacts. Voltage drops in a lighting circuit can have dramatic effecton your lights. The average voltage drop for a particular LBC light is the figure used in thefollowing discussion, with 13.5 volts at the fuse block before switches.

For a headlamp, a 1.53 volt drop at the light reduces the light output by 38% or only62% of the light’s capable output. For rear turn signals, the average voltage drop is 2.22volts resulting in only 49% of output, and for brake lights the average voltage drop is 2.31volts resulting in only 47% of light output. And don’t forget to consider the voltage drop inour LBC’s when we have the headlights on, while waiting at a stop light. How visible arewe in this situation?

Think about this, your little LBC brake lights are, at 47%, less than half brightness ofwhat the bulbs are designed to produce—when there is 13.5 volts in the electrical system.And, what about when sitting at idle at night with the headlights on with much lower volt-age? These figures are using brand new bulbs, not bulbs which have darkened over time ashappens in aged bulbs. Given the modern distractions of drivers, and the relative smallnessof our LBC’s and their lights, we should probably be thinking in terms of being as visibleas possible and being able to see as best we can.

Consider using LED lights for the brake lights and tail lights, and if you do use them,be sure they are at least as bright as the rated incandescent bulbs are at full voltage. If youuse LEDs for your turn signals, you’ll need to change your flasher to one that works withLED’s or add a resistor to the circuit in order for the signals to flash.


15

If you have a rearward installed battery, instead of the long wire runs from the bat-tery to the light switch or the brake pedal then back to the rear facing lights, a relay setupfor them in the trunk can increase their brightness to near 97%.

Another brake and tail light project to consider is to look carefully at your LBC’sreflectors. Corrosion on the reflectors or loss of reflecting ability greatly reduces their ap-parent brightness. Heat from the brake light bulbs over time often causes a loss of reflec-tivity.

Reflective foil tape is available from hobby stores, and is sold by some LBC suppli-ers for use in gauges, for instance. I know of one guy who likes foil cupcake holdersturned inside out for his MGB brake light reflectors. If using metallic foils or cupcakecups, be sure you do not cause a short circuit—be careful about what touches or cantouch the foil.

One other thought: turn signals and brake lights are intended to be seen by others,they don’t help us as drivers. Headlights are intended to reflect light from objects aheadof us and back to us. As voltage to headlights drops, their color shifts towards the red endof the light spectrum, which is seen less by our eyes than light in the yellow and greenparts of the light spectrum. As an aside, this is why some vehicles use red as their instru-ment lighting color, to affect our vision less than a green instrument illumination.

Halogen bulbs have 20 to 50 percent greater luminous intensity than conventionaltungsten incandescent of the same wattage. This is why conversion to halogen lights ispopular. But, have you ever known anyone who did a halogen conversion and has beendisappointed by the results? Likely, the less than expected result is due to a voltage dropin their vehicle.

Converting your LBC to using headlight relays is a good idea to eliminate their volt-age drop. This can eliminate most all of the voltage drop, giving you a 97% light output.It also reduces the electrical load through your lighting switch, extending its life sincewith relays it only has the power to operate the relay going through it, not the power forthe light itself. If a halogen conversion is something you’d like to consider, be sure youinclude in the project using headlight relays. You wouldn’t want your Lucas light switchto be: three positions for a Lucas switch: smoke, smolder, ignite. And you’d want to getfull brightness from the headlights.

For those of us who would like to keep our LBC looking as original as possible, re-lays and LED lights can be quite stealthy. Relays aren’t large and can mostly be installedin out of sight locations.


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Familiar names like Moss Motors sells LED bulbs and headlight relay retrofit kits(117-515) for LBC’s.

LED light bulbs are sold from many vendors, such asLiteZupp (http://litezupp.com) andSuperBright LEDs (https://www.superbrightleds.com/) who also sells LED flashers

that will keep the flash rate constant even when at idle with the headlights on with or with-out LED bulbs.

You don’t have to have Lucas be The Prince of Darkness if you modernize and up-grade your lights. Some of the info contained in this article is from Rick Astley’s ClassicBritish Car Electrical Systems.

More photos from the Mullin Museum—Internet photos, photographer not known

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