Message

I. A Brief Note from our President: Harold Sullivan:	April 14, 2004

I would like to wish everyone another belated "Happy New Year." I hope everyone survived the long cold winter we had this year. Fortunately we got lucky this year and the weather really cooperated for those members who drove their cars down to Autorama where I thought we had our best display ever this year. The huge new banner that was acquired by Andy Agosta set off our six Mopar Convertible display very nicely. I thought everyone’s car looked fantastic.

Woody Wadsworth took home a 6^th place trophy for his “one of none” 1970 Challenger T/A Convertible, even though he was very confident that he would not be honored, as he was back at our Club display when his name was announced, and another member kindly accepted on his behalf. Additionally, it was a pleasure talking to so many Club members at Autorama this February. I would like to thank Marc Milosevich, who had assistance from Woody Wadsworth and Tom Jiles (just to name a few), for all of their efforts in making Autorama an overwhelming success for the 6^th consecutive year! I can not wait for next year’s Autorama! The new year is starting out great for our Club. We had an astounding 156 renewed memberships, leaving only 9 spots to fill with a 23 person waiting list. After reviewing the list, we found that most had been waiting close to one full year, and some had been waiting for well over one year. The Board of Directors of N.O.M.M. decided to invite everyone on the waiting list into the Club. We again decided to increase the membership number slightly (by about 10) in an effort to recruit more ACTIVE members. Upon our invitation, all but three candidates accepted our offer and became new members of N.O.M.M., bringing us to a total of 176 regular members, plus 7 Honorary Members. Therefore, I would like to welcome the following new members (in no particular order): Don Gillespie, Jim Thomas, Mike & Bonnie Krystopowicz, Rick Levin, James Steplitus, Al Loftis, David A Pietila, Tom Nash, Thomas M. Pate, Charles & Wendy Vickery, Kurt Raguse, Hank Rule, Paul Livingston, Ron Cottick, Marc & Karen Ligocki, David Sidlar, Charles Millen, Bill & Donna Dempsey, Mark Noto, Ken Rogghe, Bob & Adrienne Stewart, and Larry D Lyons. I hope that they find their membership in the Club fun and rewarding. I was very impressed to hear about the strong turn-out at our recent Anniversary Party. I would like to thank Vicki and Glen Hoag, and everyone who supported them, for all of their efforts in hosting another terrific party. I apologize that I was not able to attend this year, but my two sons purchased a skiing trip for me and at the time of purchase, they were not aware of the date of the party. By the time I had discovered what had happened, it was too late to cancel our trip as nothing would have been refundable to my sons. We had not been away together (as father and sons) for many years, so I felt that it would have been a bad idea for me to back out on them. I hope you all understand, and I will be there for sure next year. I would again like to personally thank each and every member for his or her support and for their continued interest in the North Oakland Mopar Muscle Car Club. Remember, if it was not for your very strong support, we would not be one of the largest and most prestigious Mopar Muscle Car Clubs in Michigan. I hope to see everyone at our first quarter meeting, which is extremely important. I am especially looking forward to meeting and greeting our new members, as I have high hopes for their involvement and participation in all of the Club activities. Thanks again!

III. N.O.M.M. Merchandise.

Sam Bonanno and I have been working behind the scenes to bring new Club merchandise to you for this meeting. We have put in an order with a new supplier for new jackets (both summer and winter), new matching hats, and new sweatshirts. I really think you are going to like all of the new product lines as while they look virtually identical to our previous merchandise, but there will be radical price reductions in most items. The new supplier is giving us everything at wholesale and doing the embroidery practically for free. We will announce the new prices at the meeting and we really hope to have samples of the new items for you to inspect. Sam will also bring with him currently available Official Club Merchandise, which will be for sale at this meeting. We presently have a limited supply of official N.O.M.M. polo (golf) shirts, many T-shirts, some sweatshirts, some flags, and many can coolers. Official Club flags will be given out for free to all new members that show up at the meeting and ask for one! It pays to read this entire newsletter because valuable info like this can be stuck in anywhere and if you did not read this entire paragraph you would have missed out on this free opportunity for new members.

I would personally like to thank Sam Bonanno for all of this help with the Club merchandise, not to mention all of the newsletter, roster and general announcement help he gives me all year long. Everything Sam does is a labor intensive and thankless job that I, for one, appreciate immensely. Please do not handle the merchandise yourself at the meeting. Please ask Sam and he will help you find the merchandise you are looking for. I would like to thank all of the members for their continued support of Club merchandise!

III. Our 7^th Annual Car Show and Swap Meet.

As most of you know, our Car Show and Swap Meet will be held again at the Mopar Centerline Parts Depot on Sunday, April 25, 2004. This event will be one of the central focuses at our upcoming meeting. We need many volunteers to help out with the swap meet, with show cars and with clean up after the event has concluded. As you know, we derive all of our operating income from the this event. Do not forget to take advantage of the discount given to members which is $10.00 swap spaces (a 50% savings)! Last year we sold approximately 100 swap spaces and we had way over 110 show cars attend. Actually, we had to turn away about 6 show cars who arrived late as the event was already full of cars. We can surely hold many, many more spectators (walk in people), so tell your friends to come out to the event. Admission is the same as last year ($5.00 for adults and children under 16 are free)!! One added bonus is that DaimlerChrysler re-paved the entire parking lot and repainted all of the yellow parking lines. This will assist our operation greatly as we utilize the lines for spacing purposes and for the general layout of the show. Much more to be said about all of this at the meeting. Thanks again to Joe Trotta for securing this awesome location for our event.

IV. February 2004 Autorama Car Show.

by Marc Milosevich

I would like to take this opportunity to say that we again had a great display at the 2004 Detroit Autorama. We received only two awards this year. With the level of competition, that changes each year, no one should be disappointed if they did not place. I thought the display was exceptional with six great convertibles. I may be wrong, but I do not think any show anywhere has ever had six Mopar convertibles in one display. It was also a pleasant surprise to see so many Club members that came by and visited with us. I would like to thank the Club members that helped with the setup and dismantling of the display. The members that helped are as follows: Gene Mead, Tom Jiles, Jack VanWingerden, Mark Tuck, David Smith, Joe Trotta and Gary Cowan. There was also plenty of help from the participants in the display. Special thanks goes out to Tom Jiles and Woody Wadsworth. I would also like to thank Andy Agosta for doing the groundwork in supplying our new banner, that we had on display this year for the first time.

We are soon going to review our plans and intentions for next year's Autorama. I urge any Club member (who has not been in the display before) to contact our P.O. Box or E‑Mail me via the web site if you are interested in participating in 2005. At this point in time, we do not have any cars for next year. Thanks again to everyone for another fantastic show!!

Marc Milosevich

V. Hello Fellow NOMM Members.

by Vicki Hoag

Well, another year has started and the Sixth Annual NOMM celebration has come and gone as a great success. 135 members/significant others attended. Our room was new and bigger (Thank you Yacht Club party!), and the food was outstanding. Our DJ, “Jammin Jerry” played old TV show themes during cocktail hour, and everyone who dressed up and got into the spirit of the evening enjoyed themselves. Attending were the Mouseketeers (Woody, Val, Kim, Andy and Carol) the captain from the USS Minnow, Mrs. Thurston Howell III, Sonny and Cher, Adam Cartwright, Cousin It, Lurch, Morticia, Endora, and many more. Cudo's go out to those who stuck their necks out for the fun! 63 door prizes were awarded (in less than 45 minutes) and two 50/50 raffles provided even more excitement. I want to Thank the following people who contributed to the evenings success; Jan & Mark Lafata, Thom & Carol Olson, Gary & Carol Hembree, Frank Vivio, Rob Beyer, Scott Breckenridge, Harold Sullivan, Nan Kyllonen, Tom & Karen Jiles, John Los, Kathy Buono, Tony & Diane Urbanski, Marc Milosevich, Mark Boldenow, Jack and Marlene VanWingerden, and last but not least, Glenn, without whose help the party would never get off the ground. Next year’s date has been set for February 5, 2005, so please add this date to your calendars. There will be an opportunity for assigned group seating next year, so that you all don't beat me to the hall that night. Details will follow at a later date. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves, and see you cruising this spring and summer.

Vicki Hoag

VI. Ted’s Tech-Topic Tales.

By Ted Mazurek.

Whoa, check out that rear end!! No, not that one. I am talking about the rear end under your Mopar Muscle Car. There were two types of rear axles used in most 1966 to 1972 Dodge and Plymouth performance vehicles: the 8 3/4 inch ring gear Chrysler built axle with a dropout center section carrier that contains the pinion gear and differential with ring gear (referred to as a Quick Change unit) which is front loaded into the housing, and the 9 3/4 inch ring gear Dana built Model 60 rear loaded integral-carrier, which has a 10 bolt back cover. First, I will describe the 8 3/4 inch Chrysler Axle details. The main housing was painted gloss black with about 20% flattener added to the mix, but the dropout center section (sometimes referred to as the Third Member, or usually called a “Pig”) was not painted along with the pinion snubber and yoke, as they were all left bare metal at assembly.

Because B&E Body housings are different from each other, for identification purposes, a large B was drawn in yellow on the round center of the housing or a large E drawn in white. The E was drawn upside-down so it looked like a 3 when the axle was mounted under the vehicle. The date code of the axle’s assembly and the last three digits of its part number were stenciled in yellow 7/8 inch high numbers on the left and right axle tubes. The part number was located on the rear of the right tube near the U-Bolts, while the date code was on the front or top of the left tube near the U-Bolts. Another date code, stenciled in white 7/8 inch high alpha-numeric digits, can be found on the bottom of the left lower rib of the Pig.

Beginning with the 1969 models, the factory used color code paint daubs on the pigs to identify the gear ratios and Sure Grip Units. The paint daubs, which were square shaped, were located on the pinion barrel, which is the underside of the Pig. For instance, three black daubs would identify a 3.23-1 ring and pinion ratio, and an orange daub on the pinion barrel closer to the Pig’s mounting flange would designate a Sure Grip differential unit. Also, I.D. tags were placed under the Pig’s mounting nuts. One at 11-O’Clock which read “Use Limited Slip Differential Lube Only”, and the gear ratio tag at 1-O’Clock. Well that is all for the 8 3/4. Next newsletter I will cover the bullet proof Dana 60 axle. Stay tuned for more (“Junk in the Trunk”) read end talk. To be continued. . . . I got your back,

Ted

VII. Some Other Topics to Discuss at Meeting.

There are many things to discuss at the meeting because we need to (re)appoint Chairpersons for all of the committees and sub-committees that organize Club participation in the official Club events. Some of the official Club events to be discussed include the following: N.O.M.M.'s upcoming Car Show on April 25th, N.O.M.M. at Milan Dragway on Saturday October 23^rd, the Woodward Dream Cruise, the Mopar Nationals, the Frankenmuth Show, the Thunderfest Boat Show, the DaimlerChrylser Employee Motorsport Assoc. show, the possibility of a Club Picnic, the Lewiston Car Show, and many, more. Lastly, Sam will be handing out hard copy Newsletters, and a Calendar of Events (which will also be available on our web site) to all of the computerless members who attend this meeting. A copy of the Club’s financial statement can always be acquired by asking Joe Trotta for a copy (we are not handing them out because there has been almost no interest the last two years, and this thing is really long and boring!) Be there at the meeting or be uninformed and square.

VIII. General Information (Rants) from Dave Smith.

I wanted to add a couple of my own thoughts again (surprise, surprise) that really do not fit within any of the above categories. First, I want to give a continued thanks to Tom Lerach and his assistant Jack Plants for our wonderful website and for the maintenance duties (updates and such) on the site. I think the usage for the site is way up and I am very happy to see this fact. Please use the site as much as possible folks, (Keith Wiederhold excluded)! Second, I would like to thank Joe Trotta and Sam Bonanno for taking care of every aspect of membership renewals and inviting/securing the new members. These tasks are very time consuming and they did a perfect job! I would also like to thank Sam again for picking up and running with all of the responsibilities associated with the Club merchandise and with all of the Club communications via direct email, including the compiling and maintaining of the Club Roster (and other valuable information for us).

I would personally like to make it mandatory in a couple of years or so that all Club members have a computer or at least have very easy access to one. If you do not currently own one you are really missing the boat. There is so much Mopar content on the web that you are missing, not to mention the ability through email to easily and cheaply communicate with all of your loved ones, friends and fellow NOMM Members. Not having a computer kind of reminds me of the line in the movie “Wayne’s World” where, after being asked about their move to a big movie studio from Wayne’s basement to record their TV show Garth comments, “We fear change.” For the number of hold outs we have in the Club, do not let technology pass you by. Computers are here to stay, so get with it. After this rant, I will not say too much more about this topic.

Additionally, I always need content for our Newsletters. I appreciate Ted’s, Marc’s, Harold’s and Vicki’s contributions this month, but I could use something from other people each quarter. Please help me out by sending in an article about something funny or just your thoughts. The only restriction is that it must be somewhat automotive related and be a little up-beat (no slams against anyone please). We have added a new members this year, that has a lot of experience in writing, editing and publishing these kind of articles, and I will be asking for his input and help with this thing! I am confident you will meet him at our first meeting, and I intend to ask him to comment briefly on his role as editor of an automotive magazine.

The Club continues to become more recognized and prominent each year. Thanks for making N.O.M.M. such a strong organization. I can promise you that 2004 will be our best year yet. I have included a list of events for 2004 that was compiled to the best of my ability. As always, we have some new surprises in store for you this year. Please pray for good weather for our Car Show and Swap Meet.

David L. Smith

NORTH OAKLAND MOPAR MUSCLE’S

2004 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

1. N.O.M.M. Swap Meet and Car Show: April 25, 2004.

2. Freedom Hill Car Show: May 7, 2004.

3. The Chrysler Classic in Columbus: May 21^st through 23^rd, 2004.

4. Lion’s Club Festival of Cars (Cars in the Park): May 30, 2004.

5. Chrysler Employee’s Motor-Sport Association Show: June 5, 2004.

6. Mopars at 7 Lakes State Park in Holly: June 6, 2004.

7. Carnival of Cars: June 13, 2004.

8. Lewiston Car Show: June 11^th through 13^th, 2004.

9. Gratiot Cruise: June 19, 2004.

10. Galeana’s Van Dyke Dodge Show: June ___, 2004.

11. St. Ignace Car Show: June 24^th through 26^th, 2004.

12. Eyes on Classic Design: June 27, 2004.

13. Down-River Cruise: July 26, 2004.

14. Chryslers at Carlisle: July 9^th through 11^th, 2004.

15. Thunderfest Boat Show: July ____, 2004.

16. Mopar at the Red Barns: July 24, 2004.

17. Meadowbrook Concours D’elegance: August 1, 2004.

18. Rockin Rod’s Rochester Show: August 15, 2004.

19. Mopar Nationals: August 13^th through 15^th, 2004.

20. Woodward Dream Cruise: August 21, 2004.

21. Moparfest at New Hamburg Ontario: August 21^st and 22^nd, 2004.

22. Michigan Chrysler Classic: August 27^th through 29^th, 2004.

23. Walter P Chrysler Club: September 5, 2004.

24. Frankenmuth Car Show: September 10^th through 12^th, 2004.

25. Mopar Weekend at Norwalk: September 17^th through 19^th, 2004.