D on’t tell Diane but I think I am sick. And I
think it is terminal. I noticed it a month or
so ago and the symptoms keep coming
back. Increased heart rate, cloudy and
jumbled thoughts, moments of deep breathing and
feelings of concern.
Another T-bird that I like is for sale.
If you don’t drop in to our club meetings much, you
may not know that three Thunderbirds have found
residence in my garage. Make that two, since there
is no way to fit three T-birds in my garage and leave
space to work on anything. TA 1963 Special Lan-
dau, otherwise known as the Principality of Monaco
T-bird, is currently housed in the garage of club VP
Eric Johansson’s neighbor until I have room (and
time!) to start working on it.
The car that would become my fourth Thunderbird
is a 1995 Thunderbird, 40th Anniversary edition. It
is a fully optioned, V-8 model right down to the spe-
cial exterior graphics. Price; $2000, negotiable. It is
not a perfect example. It has front bumper damage,
a broken headlight cover and it is in need of a re-
paint. Oh, and the current owner has been smoking
in it. It also appears that a dog travels in the car.
But my illness makes it impossible to distinguish
what I see right in front of me and the vision in my
mind of how the car looked when it was brand new
in all its grandeur!
To some degree, we all have this illness. Most peo-
ple I know have it under control. They keep it in
check with one Thunderbird or some other classic
car. The occasional flare-up is diminished because
lack of time or space prevents the disease from
spreading. It does appear to me that the most effec-
tive way to keep this malady at bay is a glare from a
spouse or partner although this has not been sci-
entifically proven. Yes, “autocinetum incremen-
tulum” * is a horrible disease.
It is finally apparent that my garage at home has
just been a stopgap measure. It has kept the dis-
ease at bay for well over a decade but it will no
longer do. Stronger measures need to be taken
and I think you all know what that means; a shop.
I must say that she was the one to broach the sub-
ject that a lift may cure some of my problems. And
for a while it did. But with the addition of the ‘63 (I
haven't even brought up the ‘95 yet. It is just too
painful!) the only relief I can see now is building a
shop. I have seen other club members cure their
problems with a shop. I think it will help me also.
So the search starts for specialists that are trained
in this field (field being appropriate since we don’t
have space to put a shop on our lot). The investi-
gation into different therapies has begun (I hear
that a 20’x40’ steel building has great potential!).
And the taking of overtime is in ongoing because
you know that treatment is going to be expensive.
The prognosis is good. I am not too worried about
my current state. With luck, a space will be found,
a shop constructed and all the Thunderbirds will be
able to find a nest to call home.
Then, after I have gone through all that, perhaps, I
can be of help to others with their problems. You
know who you are! Tom
I know some of you reading this are going
through some personal medical problems
that are very serious. This was written
tongue-in-cheek and is not meant to belittle
what you are going through. If you have
asked that your information not be shared
with the group, it has not. But know that
your fellow club member is concerned for
your well being and supports you!
Is There a Doctor In the House?
I N S I D E T H I S
I S S U E :
Meet-A-Member 2
Fogging an En-
gine
4
NWVTC Fall
Cruise 2018
5
Meeting Minutes 6
Calendar of
Events
7
Passing Lane 8
E X E C U T I V E B O A R D Thunderbird Flyer N O V E M B E R , 2 0 1 8 V O L U M E 3 8 , I S S U E 1 1
Newsletter of the Northwest Vintage Thunderbird Club
S P E C I A L
P O I N T S O F
I N T E R E S T :
Club Christmas
party will be
held at Langdon
Farms Golf
Course in mid
December.
RSVP’s will be
mailed mid No-
vember
* Latin for “increase of automobiles”. I just made that
up so don’t bother looking for it in any medical book!
P A G E 2
T H U N D E R B I R D F L Y E R
Long time club member Dennis Tokstad sent me this article that he wrote for another club maga-zine on the event of his retirement. Since many of you may not have met Dennis, his story is a great piece to get to know him better. Editor
O n June 30, 2018, I retired from Hyster-Yale Group after 43 years. I retired as the engi-
neering manager of engine systems for the company, which designs and builds Hyster
and Yale forklift trucks. It was a great career for a car
guy like myself. I had always been interested in how things worked when I went to Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, Oregon and then to Portland State
University graduating in 1975 with a mechanical engi-neering degree.
My wife Kim and I have several old cars including 4 Thunderbirds, 1955, 1960, 1964 and 2003, but my car
collecting activities started much earlier in 1968. I bought a ’56 Ford Sunliner convertible that I rebuilt with the help of my Dad and brother. I drove it throughout
high school. At the end of my senior year (1971), I found a ’55 Ford Sunliner convertible and bought it, as it was a more solid car (less rust) than my ’56. I sold
the ’56 Sunliner at that point, of course regretting it im-mediately. I have owned the ’55 Sunliner now for 47 years. My wish had always been to someday have a
Crown Victoria and I wanted a Skyliner, though I didn’t think that it would be possible to find
one that I could afford. On April Fool’s Day, 1978, I
saw a 1955 Ford Crown Victoria Sky-liner for sale in the
local Oregonian newspaper in a
wrecking yard in Sherwood, Oregon a small town out-
side of Portland. Even though it was in rough shape with lots of rust, I bought it, telling my
wife, Kim, that we could part it out to recoup our invest-ment if we had to. I knew that I did not want to part it out, but it would need everything and I had never done
such a complete restoration of a car before. It needed to have the body removed from the frame and stripped. In the first 3 years of ownership of the Crown, I worked
pretty hard on the car, removing the body with the help of 8 friends, lifting it off and putting it on another friend’s trailer for the trip to Redi-Strip. I sandblasted the frame
and suspension components in the driveway of our house and found a used 272 engine to rebuild to re-place the engine in the car that had a cracked block.
The project proceeded well, completing the chassis
rebuild and drivetrain installation and even showing the completed chassis in the Fall Expo Center car
show in October of 1980. With a couple of friends, I started “5 and 6 Products Company” which repro-duced the 1955-1956 Crown Victoria Door Trim
Tabs and sold them to Crown Victoria owners for several years through word of mouth and ads in Hemmings Motor News. The creation of these die
cast parts was quite a project in itself. I created the drawings and we had a local tool and die maker create the tooling and a local Portland company,
Con-Met, cast the zinc-aluminum alloy die castings and another local company, East Side Plating, do the chrome plating for us. We sold hundreds of
sets of these parts before disbanding the company in the mid-80’s when life and real jobs didn’t provide us the time for this hobby business. After all these
years, the car that I created the reproduction Door Trim Tabs for, is nearly ready to mount them on!!
Over the next 30 years progress slowed with family
and other car projects taking priority. I did track down the original owner of the car, Bud Nees, and the second owner of the car Gerald Holtz, where it
was originally sold during the Summer of 1955 in Eureka, California. Both gentlemen still live in Eure-ka. Gerald had purchased the car from his high
school friend, Bud, in January, 1956, trading him as partial payment, a 1952 Chevrolet. Gerald and his wife were married in 1959 and used the car as their
wedding get-away car. I also contacted Harper Ford in Eureka, the dealership where the car was sold to Bud. The great-grandson of the founder of
Harper Ford, Trevor Harper now owns the dealer-ship. He has been interested in the progress of the restoration of the Crown. The car had been sold to
the original owner, off the showroom floor. The original dealership building where the car had been on display in 1955 still exists and is used as a family
museum now and has the Harper family car collec-tion on display now. This includes another 1955 Ford Crown Victoria, but not one that Harper Ford
had sold in 1955.
In 2010, a friend and co-worker, Chuck Johnson, offered to start working on the body of the Crown. He was an expert at body and paint and had rebuilt
several cars of his own and for friends. At that point the Crown was still in bare metal with the phosphate coating that Redi-strip had put on it 31 years earlier
stopping further oxidation. I had red oxide primed the bottom and reinstalled the body on the chassis. I had replaced a few sections of the body, but not
tackled the lower quarter panels, rocker panels and right side of the roof which had extensive rust dam-
age. Chuck came over to my house most Saturday mornings to work on the body. He wanted the drivetrain to be removed again to give him better
Meet-A-Member Dennis Tokstad
Continued on next page
P A G E 3 V O L U M E 3 8 , I S S U E 1 1
access to the cowl, so out it came again. I ended up pulling off the heads from the engine which had not yet been started after its 1980
rebuild and had the valves inserted for unleaded fuel. I also re-checked the engine bearings for any attention they might need. They were still coated with assembly lube and the engine was still in pris-
tine shape. I took the Fordomatic transmission to a local transmis-sion shop to check out the rebuild that I had done myself in 1980. The shop said it was still fine and needed nothing, other than the job
that I did cleaning the torque converter had not gotten all of the dirt and contaminate out of it, so they cleaned it better, resealed it and put it back together. Over the next 8 years the car has been making
slow, steady progress. The body is complete, painted and mostly reas-sembled with the exception of the front
fenders, which Chuck is still working on. The car has some extraordinary features. It has a New Old Stock (not
reproduction) interior! I found a com-plete NOS interior advertised in Hem-
mings Motor News in 1983 and pur-chased it. A guy had bought up some left over 1955 Ford interiors at the end
of the production model year and stored them. I was able to pur-chase red and white seats, door panels, headliner, armrests and rear center armrest. It was an incredible find. The complete upholstered
pieces had never been installed on seat frames or panels, so I stored them in boxes until I had a friend who is a retired upholstery guy, Les Diggs, install all the pieces on my restored seat frames and body in
2014. The complete interior is a sight to behold. Looking at and sit-ting in an original 1955 Ford interior is a real nostalgia trip.
The car also has its original Plexiglas roof panel. It is in remarkably good condition after 63 years. The car has its original power seat
mechanism also. I added a continental kit, wire wheel covers and rear deck antenna to match my ’55 Sunliner. I have had the engine started and running, but I have not yet driven the car, even after own-
ing it for over 40 years. After retiring, I should be able to dedicate more time to completing the Crown Victoria and look forward to driv-ing it and showing it at CVA meets.
The attached carica-
ture was commis-sioned by the Hyster-Yale Group as a
retirement gift. It shows my wife and I along with our ’55
Sunliner and ’55 Crown Victoria Sky-liner in front of our
shop. It was creat-ed by FunFac-es.com. I was given
both a retirement book with the image
and a framed large print of the incredible drawing. It is something that we will cherish always.
A slightly modified version of this article is being published as the feature cover story in the December, 2018 issue of the Fomoco
Times, the Crown Victoria Association monthly magazine. Kim and I are also members of that club. The club has international member-ship and has over 2,100 members worldwide.
Words and pictures by Dennis Tokstad
Last year a team of researchers at Stanford University trained
an artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize the make, model and
year of every car seen in 50 million Google Street View imag-
es taken from 200 US cities. The deep-learning, machine-
vision framework (called a convolutional neural network), was
reported by them to be as good as people at spotting the
subtle differences between car models or years. For example,
the AI could tell the difference between the small difference
between the 2007 and 2008 versions of the Honda Accord.
The researchers said their system could categorize vehicles
into one of 2,657 categories at a rate of 0.2 seconds each.
"While it classified the automobiles in 50 million images in
two weeks, a human expert, assuming ten seconds per im-
age, would take more than 15 years to do the same task,"
their research notes.
Eventually, the AI was able to identify 95 per cent of the vehi-
cles it was shown.
This data was in then compared to the voting data in a demo-
graphic database called the American Community Survey.
The comparison showed a "strong association between vehi-
cle distribution and disparate socioeconomic factors," the
researchers write. Asian-American neighborhoods were more
likely to drive Hondas and Toyotas; African-American areas
were associated with Chrysler, Buick and Oldsmobile, Cauca-
sian neighborhoods had pickup trucks, Volkswagens and
Aston Martins. And apparently this informed election picks.
"For instance, if the number of sedans encountered during a
drive through a city is higher than the number of pickup
trucks, the city is likely to vote for a Democrat during the next
presidential election (88 per cent chance); otherwise, it is
likely to vote Republican (82 per cent)," the researchers ex-
plain.
That data was compared with the American Community Sur-
vey and electoral results to test its accuracy. Researchers
claimed a strong correlation "for every demographic statistic
we examined." The actual accuracy did vary, though: for ex-
ample, the system correctly classified 264 of 311 Wisconsin
precincts' votes, and 58 out 60 in Gilbert, Arizona.
The researchers say such work isn't intended to replace more
labor-intensive, door-to-door surveys, but could help supple-
ment it and speed up initial results. The American Community
Survey costs $250 million a year and takes two and a half
years to complete.
He stresses the paper's predictions are only applicable at a
group level – and that there may be more accurate tech-
niques. "The authors are looking at an aggregate rather than
an individual level, [such as] what is the voting behaviour of a
zip code or precinct rather than an individual. I'm dubious
that this would work at an individual level," he says. "In terms
of raw accuracy, the results are not that high. Probably just
looking at a precinct's vote proportion last time there was a
vote would also be a good predictor of their next vote."
P A G E 4
T H U N D E R B I R D F L Y E R
Fogging An Engine
H ere in the Pacific Northwest, many classic car owners store their rides for the winter. Most of them take care to prep the inside and outside of the vehicles for a few months on non-use.
Although many of these topics have been covered before, the process of fogging an engine has not been coverer here. Let’s take a look at another step to take when putting your car to bed for the season.
When an engine sits inactive during the cold season, the parts inside cool and con-
densation will form from the moisture is in the air. Corrosion can occur on cylinder walls, pistons, rings, and valves. Once the engine is started again this corrosion can score cylinder walls, increase wear on the rings and even cause a stuck valve. The
use of fogging oil coats the internal parts of the engine with a thin blanket of oily goodness as a preventative measure. Although major wear and broken parts are unlikely to occur over just one winter, the use of a fogging oil is cheap insurance.
Most fogging oil comes in a spray can and
application is straight forward. Remove the air cleaner to access the carburetor. Then spray the contents in the carburetor intake
with the engine running. Very quickly, oily smoke (that would be the fog) should start
flowing from the exhaust. Shut the engine down. That is all it takes.
For added protection, you can pull each spark plug and spray another dose of oil into each cylinder after the fogging part.
There are many
brands of engine
fogging oil like these
from Amsoil and Sta
-Bil. A can will typi-
cally run from $5 to
$10.
I could not find a picture of someone using
fogging oil with a classic car engine but this is
the type of “fog” you should see when using
this product. This product is not recommend-
ed for fuel injected or diesel engines. Words by Tom Przedwojewski
Courtesy of YouTube
Why wait until you get to grandmother's house to start cooking when you can make the whole dinner from the heat of
your car engine on the way? That's basically the idea behind Manifold Destiny (Simon and Schuster Paperbacks,
$14), the guide to cooking on your car engine.
The book explains how to prepare, foil wrap and tuck an uncooked
dinner into various places under your car's hood so that your casse-
role or roast is sizzling hot and waiting when you arrive. Here's the
recipe for "To Grandmother's House Road Turkey:"
1. At home, combine the turkey, potatoes and carrots into a bowl with
the wine and cover. Marinate two hours in the refrigerator, then drain
well (and don't drink the wine). Setting the vegetables aside, dredge
the turkey pieces in flour, then heavily butter five large squares of foil.
Arrange equal amounts of turkey and vegetables in each square, and
season with sale and pepper as desired. Cup the foil around the tur-
key and vegetables, and pour over each serving as much heavy
cream as you can without making a soupy mess, then seal care-
fully.
2. Cook on the engine about four hours, turning once. We're as-
suming grandmother doesn't live in the next town.
There. Easy. And when you arrive, let's hope that grandma has
already made the stuffing, peas and pecan pie. Cooking on an engine isn't all that complicated, but does include a
few do's and don'ts to keep from losing fingers or setting the car on fire, which can ruin your dinner party. So you
might want to consult the book.
TO GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE ROAD TURKEY
1 Boneless turkey breast, about five
pounds, sliced into thin strips against the
grain
3 large baking potatoes, peeled and diced
3 carrots, finely diced
Dry white wine
Flour for dredging
Butter for greasing foil
Salt and pepper to taste
Three-quarters cup heavy cream
P A G E 5 V O L U M E 3 8 , I S S U E 1 1
P lanning a cruise takes about 2 months and a lot of input from others to try and make it fun, practical and well attended. So
was the task Debbie and I took on in early August hoping for the following: What date will be the best for everyone? What
length of drive will most want to endure? What location will be new and interesting? Where do you meet and end that is
convenient? AND most important what the heck will the weather be like in October?!
Well with amazing luck at least the weather cooperated big time. As for the rest of the cruise I can only comment that we heard from
many that this was just right and very fun, soooo planning a cruise is worth it!
Sunday morning October 14th arrived with full sun and our Retro Bird cleaned and full of fuel. We left the house and made it one
quarter mile when Booom! Rear tire blow out, really!! Later found a ¼’ drive socket 2” extension punctured my brand new tire. Well
we limped home parked and took the family wagon to meet the group. What a nice surprise as we counted upwards of 17 Thunder-
birds, 2 classics, Mike Hinch’s ‘56 Ford Sedan and a ‘65 Mustang. Two others brought their family car, head count approximately 38
people.
I called ahead to the Fargher Lakehouse Café and doubled the number attending lunch.
We took off at 11 AM and headed towards Battleground, WA. As soon as we turned onto
Hwy 503 the traffic slowed down and all twenty of us started to feel the sun and falling
leaves. After another turn onto Rock Creek Rd. and the drive got really fun. Twists and
turns at 40 mph, just a great cruise. Sunlight coming and going all the way to Lucia Falls
rest stop. The short walk thru the forest was easy and the view very nice, everyone took
pics and wondered how they did not know this place existed.
Starting again on to Amboy and Yacolt thru farms and lots of falling leaves, brilliant turning
colors and our T-Bird “snake” wound thru the countryside. We arrived at the café about
12:50 and they had a great setting for us! Reserved tables took care of all of us and the parking lot was large enough for comforta-
ble viewing. Lots of conversations, lots of laughs and since most all had their
“name tags” we were comfortable with the event. Not sure anyone would complain
about the selections and quality of the lunch so again good luck for us.
Shortly
after 2:15
several
including
Deb and I
had to
get back
on the
road
home
which was a snap as just about 10 miles further we were
back to Battleground where we started. So we traveled
abut 65-70 miles, gone for about 4 hours and had some
nice cruise time with our fellow T-Birders.
As this cruise is now behind us I am encouraged to do this
again and perhaps more often. We always encourage any-
one who feels the urge to take us to someplace they like or
interesting for others, go for it!
Keep informed with the club newsletter, learn about out
future plans for the club and in particular next years Sizzlin’
Summer Car Show and the 2020 International that we will
be hosting. Thanks to everyone who came and supported
the Fall Cruise.
NWVTC Fall Cruise 2018
Above: T-birds from three decades outside the Fargher Lakehouse Café.
Below: Some of the NWVTC members from similar decades!
Words by Mark Haworth Pictures from Vicky Wimsatt
Lucia Falls
P A G E 6
T H U N D E R B I R D F L Y E R
Meeting Minutes Attendance: Thomas Przedwojewski, Eric Johansson, Vicky Wimsatt, Mark Haworth, Matt Truax, Steve
Wimsatt, Dave Coles, Griff Truax, Jim Brewster, Ana Johansson, Mel Meyers
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM at the Bird Nest. We had 11 members present and one new (soon to
join) member Mel Myers; Welcome Mel and we hope you will enjoy your Thunderbird with us!
Tom noted the following:
That we have approximately 52 families and 60 cars as part of the club.
May 19, is to be next year’s Thunderbird Appreciation Day!
Some dialogue about individual membership to the ITC and the VTCI, each association has benefits and
currently some members belong to one or the other as well as our club the NWVTC.
THE FALL CRUISE was mentioned as Mark reported the event was well attended and had an exceptionally
beautiful day. The Fall Cruise recap is reported in this newsletter.
A report concerning the VTCI International event was presented by Ana Johansson. The show committee
met on October 13th and discussed a great deal of plans and activities. Ana submitted a four page report
with ideas, possible itineraries for the week and emphasized that right now there is a request from all mem-
bers to help create the “theme” or “tag line” for our convention. A prize will be offered for idea that is select-
ed. The committee will meet again on November 10th at 9 am at the Village Inn in Tigard.
Tom passed out business cards for the club. They are simply indicating our “contact information” so that as
members come across other T Birders, they can offer a card and encourage them to check out the club.
The Annual Christmas Party will be held December 16th (Sunday) in the afternoon at Langdon Farms Golf
course in Wilsonville. More details to follow. Hopefully you can place this on your calendar and join the an-
nual get together.
Vicki Wimsatt offered the Treasurers report, the club continues to be in the black and is well managed.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:35 pm
Minutes recorded by NWVTC Secretary Mark Haworth
No meeting scheduled for November!
There are club members that ordered
a name tag and still have not picked
them up. We would rather not mail
them since postage almost doubles
the cost of the tag.
If you ordered a name tag and have
not received it yet, please contact
Mark Haworth 503-805-4816 to
make arrangements to get it to you!
Calendar of Events
P A G E 7 V O L U M E 3 8 , I S S U E 1 1
Club Meetings
• Nov No scheduled meeting Happy Thanksgiving!
• Dec 16th (Sun) NWVTC Christmas Party and End of Year meeting at Langdon Farms Golf Course. Details on back
page
VTCI Events http://vintagethunderbirdclub.net/events.htm
• No scheduled events through 2018
ITC Events http://www.intl-thunderbirdclub.com/index.html
• No scheduled events through 2018
Car Shows and Events
• Every Saturday throughout the year, Portland Cars & Coffee, Wilsonville, OR
Further information at portlandcarsandcoffee.com
• Dec 1st (Sat) Toys for Joy Santa Cruise& Fireman Breakfast, Stayton, OR
Further information at www.stros.biz
• Dec 2nd (Sun) Movie at the Museum, Brooks, OR
Further information at www.carandcylcle.com
These are not all the events in the area. If I have missed any that you think the club members would like to know about send in the information and I’ll put it in the list! If you attend an event snap a picture or two and write up
something for the newsletter. Each event has a certain flavor and we all like to find a fun and interesting event.
Passing Lane fun and funny stuff from the road
2018 Executive Board
President Tom Przedwojewski
VP Eric Johansson
Secretary Mark Haworth
Treasurer Vicky Wimsatt
Web site/ Tom Przedwojewski
Newsletter
Find us on the web at
www.nwtbirds.org
No meeting scheduled for November.
NWVTC Christmas Party Sunday, December 16th!
Invitations will be mailed to you before Thanksgiving. Please
RSVP by December 5th!
Club Meeting Times
For your entire club apparel needs; hats, shirts, jackets or even back-
packs, go to Stitch-n-Embroidery. Order on-line, over the phone or in
person. Delivery to the next club meeting is available. Tell them you
want the NW Vintage Thunderbird Club logo!
stitchnembroidery.com/index.html
Early
20th
Century
Thanks-
giving
post-
cards
In November, 1969, radio station
KHJ "The Big 93" FM in Los An-
geles gave away a brand new
1970 Thunderbird! The 4,545 lb.
“Thanksgiving Thunderbird" con-
test was announced by the sta-
tion during the week of November
12, 1969. Listeners were encour-
aged to listen for the surprise
"fowl" gobble sound effect, and
call in when they heard it. Win-
ners were given free holiday din-
ners, and a chance to win the
Thanksgiving Thunderbird! KHJ's
Scotty Brink presented the keys
to the new Thunderbird to the
winner, Mr. Don Amick.
From 93KHJ.blogspot.com
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