If you have never been to the Eastern Sierra in the Fall, then this is your opportunity to come see the beautiful Fall Colors that only Mother Nature can paint. By the way, there is also a great car show going on as well. The Owens Valley Cruisers hosts the Fall Colors Car Show. This show attracts some very sweet rides from western Nevada, central California, and all parts known to mankind. The annual participation in this show is around 360 cars. So shine up your ride and come be a part of a fun-filled weekend in the heart of the Eastern Sierra.

The show kicks off on Saturday morning with a pancake breakfast prepared by the Bishop Lions Club. The show and shine is from 9:30 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. followed by a cruise down Main Street. The evening rounds out with a 50’s dance. Sunday morning gives rise to a breath taking Poker Run in the high country. I don’t know if you will get the high poker hand, but you will get HIGH, elevation 9800 feet. Mark October 3-5 on your calendars.

You can fill out an registration form ONLINE by clicking HERE

Hi there, a little info on powder coating,

One of our generous sponsors for the Classics in Paradise Car Show is a local powder coating shop . So I thought some information on the powder coating process, advantages and disadvantages might be of interest.

What is powder coating?

Powder coating is by far the youngest of the surface finishing techniques in common use today. It was first used in Australia about 1967.

Powder coating is the technique of applying dry paint to a part. The final cured coating is the same as a 2-pack wet paint. In normal wet painting such as house paints, the solids are in suspension in a liquid carrier, which must evaporate before the solid paint coating is produced.

In powder coating, the powdered paint may be applied by either of two techniques.

• The item is lowered into a fluidised bed of the powder, which may or may not be electrostatically charged, or
• The powdered paint is electrostatically charged and sprayed onto the part.

The part is then placed in an oven and the powder particles melt and coalesce to form a continuous film.

There are two main types of powder available to the surface finisher:

• Thermoplastic powders that will remelt when heated, and
• Thermosetting powders that will not remelt upon reheating. During the curing process (in the oven) a chemical cross-linking reaction is triggered at the curing temperature and it is this chemical reaction which gives the powder coating many of its desirable properties.

General Description

Powder coating uses 100% resin in a dry, powdered form (MnTAP, p. 4). Powder coating works on the principle that opposite charges attract. The powder is pneumatically fed from a reservoir through a spray gun where the powder gains a low amperage, high-voltage positive charge. Parts to be painted are electrically grounded so that the positively charged powder particles are strongly attracted to the parts’ surfaces. The powder-coated part is then pulled through an oven where the powder melts and fuses into a smooth coating (IHWRICe). Substrates must generally be able to withstand temperatures of 260°F or higher (EPAd, p. 33).

Advantages and Disadvantages

Powder-coating materials can provide a high-quality, durable, corrosion-resistant coating. Powder coatings do not produce hazardous overspray wastes or wastewater sludges, and most do not release VOCs when cured (some powder coatings will release VOCs, such as caprolactam, a former HAP). With powder coating, users can collect the powder overspray and reuse it, resulting in transfer efficiencies of up to 99% (MnTAP, p. 4). However, powder coating systems require the complete conversion of a coating line, which can be costly. For more information on other advantages and disadvantages of powder coating, see table 23 at the end of this section.

Table 23. Advantages and Disadvantages of Powder Coatings (NCP2P, p. 3)

Types of Powder Coatings

Product manufacturers can specify the properties required in a finish (such as resistance to ultraviolet light, high durability, corrosion resistance and color) to a powder coating manufacturer who then formulates the appropriate powder (IHWRICe). Coating powders are frequently separated into decorative and functional grades; decorative grades generally have a finer particle size than functional grades. Powders are also divided between thermoset and thermoplastic resins (EPA, p. 163-164).

Thermoset resins crosslink to form a permanent film that withstands heat and cannot be remelted. They are used for decorative and protective coatings for architectural structures, on appliances and furniture, and elsewhere. Thermosetting resins are characterized by their excellent adhesion to metal; they are one-coat systems and do not require a primer (Farrell, p. 81). The five basic families of thermoset resins are epoxies, hybrids, urethane polyesters, acrylics and triglycidyl isocyanurate (TGIC) polyesters as described below:

• Epoxies are used for both functional and decorative coatings. Their functional properties include outstanding corrosion resistance and electrical insulation. Decorative epoxies offer attractive finishes that are flexible, tough, and have excellent corrosion resistance and high-impact strength. However, these coatings lack ultraviolet resistance and, therefore, are not recommended for outdoor use. In prolonged exposure to sunlight, they tend to chalk and discolor. Various types of hardeners are used with epoxy powder to optimize its properties.
• Epoxy polyester hybrid coatings are mainly used for decorative applications. They are more resistant to chalking and over-bake yellowing than pure epoxies, but have a lower surface hardness and are less resistant to solvents. They exhibit better transfer efficiency and a greater degree of penetration into recessed areas of a part than other resins.
• Urethane polyesters are formulated with polyester hydroxyl resin combined with blocked isocyanate hardeners. They exhibit outstanding thin film appearance and toughness as well as good weathering properties.
• Acrylic-urethane coatings are formulated with acrylic resins crosslinked with blocked isocyanates. They have excellent color, gloss, hardness, weatherability and chemical resistance, and have an excellent thin film appearance. However, they are less flexible than polyesters.
• TGIC polyesters contain a polyester resin crosslinked with TGIC as a curing agent. They offer very good mechanical properties, impact strength and weather resistance. They are resistant to chalking and are often used for outdoor parts, such as patio furniture, lawn mowers, as well as aluminum extrusions and panels for large commercial buildings. In Europe, reduced occupational-exposure limits were recommended for TGIC powders as a result of in vivo mutagenicity tests (EPAd, p. 28).

Thermoplastic resins form a coating, but do not undergo a change in molecular structure. These resins can be remelted after they have been applied. Thermoplastic powder coatings melt and flow when heat is applied, but retain the same chemical composition when they are cool and solidified (KSBEAP, p. 10). Although some thermoplastic materials provide adhesion to metal, most require a primer (Farrell, p. 81). Thermoplastic resins are mainly used in functional coatings, such as thick, protective coatings on dishwasher trays. Examples of thermoplastic resins used in powder coating are polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and thermoplastic polyester. These examples are described below:

• Polyethylene provides excellent chemical resistance and outstanding electrical insulation properties. These coatings are smooth, and have a medium gloss and good release properties that allow sticky materials to be cleaned from their surfaces. These are often used as coatings for laboratory equipment.
• Polypropylene produces a surface that is very inert and is often used in applications where the part that is powder coated might be exposed to chemicals.
• Nylon offers excellent abrasion, wear and impact resistance, and a low coefficient of friction. Nylon is commonly used as a mechanical coating for sliding and rotating bearing applications in appliances, farm equipment and textile machinery.
• PVC provides good durability as well as flexibility; dishwasher trays are an example of a product coated with PVC.
• Thermoplastic polyester offers good exterior durability and weatherability. The coating does not usually require a primer for good adhesion to most metals. These materials are often used on outdoor metal furniture (EPAd, p. 26 and PCI, p. 6-7).

This is my first Chevy. What was yours?

Click on these to bring back memories.

The cars we drove and also American Bandstand

Ben J. Milander

THE HISTORY

The story of the American Graffiti ’55 Chevy began in 1970 when three 1955 Chevy 150 sedans were built for the 1971 movie Two-Lane Blacktop by Richard Ruth of Competition Engineering in Sunland, California. Ruth patterned the cars after his own big-block ’55 Chevy street racer after Two-Lane Blacktop/American Graffiti/Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz went street racing with Ruth while preparing for Two-Lane Blacktop. After that evening, Kurtz ordered two cars just like Ruth’s ’55 and a third ’55 to be used as a stunt car. While Ruth was building the ’55s, the studio arranged for General Motors to deliver three big block crate motors to his shop. One of the ’55s received a leftover 1969 L-88 427 Chevy big block while the other two were equipped with the new 454s. Ruth installed a Weiand tunnel ram with dual Holleys on the two main cars, and a single four barrel on the stunt car. The stunt car had a full rollcage and was equipped with a Ruth-designed right and left braking system so it could be intentionally thrown into a skid and rolled over for a scheduled rollover scene. Ruth delivered all three cars to the studio painted powder blue, but the studio had them finished with a gray primer appearance to fit the persona of the drag racers played by James Taylor and Dennis Wilson.
The studio equipped one of the two main cars with brackets to support the cameras for filming interior shots while the actors were driving. The other main car was used for the exterior shots of the car on the road. All three cars were used during the cross-country shoot on Two-Lane Blacktop and appear in the film to sharp-eyed observers. The original script called for the ’55 to roll over as it swerves to avoid a car wreck between a station wagon and a truck. Instead, the driver just ran off the road and did not roll over. Ruth surmises the film crew did not include anyone with the skills necessary to roll the car over exactly as needed in one take using his right/left braking setup. Since it had not been rolled over as scheduled, the stunt car stayed with the film crew for the entire filming from Los Angeles to the Great Smokey Mountains.
When filming on Two-Lane Blacktop was completed, the three ’55 Chevys were relegated to the Universal Studios prop car storage lot. A studio mechanic spotted the three ’55 Chevy hot rods on the back lot and bought the camera car since it was in the best condition of the three. He pulled out the Chevy big block for use in a boat and his son ended up with the car. The son repainted the car white with a candy-colored stripe down the sides and over the back, dropped in another 454, and drove it to high school as a daily driver. The car saw movie duty again when, during filming of Smokey and the Bandit, it was used to record motor sounds that were dubbed in for the TransAm. The ’55 was sold to a new owner and it then passed through a succession of owners until 2000 when it was located in Canada. It has since returned to the United States where it has been returned to the on-screen appearance with most of its original components intact – including some of the original camera mounting brackets that had been welded to the frame.
While preparing for American Graffiti, transportation supervisor Henry Travers picked up the two remaining Two-Lane Blacktop ’55 Chevys from the studio storage lot. He had both cars painted black and removed the left/right braking system on the stunt car so it could be driven as a “camera car” because it had an automatic transmission and would drive more smoothly for any close-ups of the actors inside the car. The stunt car was used in the crash scene at the end of American Graffiti where it was towed for the rollover. Travers brought in a non-running, salvage yard ’55 to use as the “burn” car. The burn car was actually a 2-door hardtop with a piece of wood fastened in place to give the appearance of a 2-door post. As soon as the scene was finished, the burn car was sent back to the salvage yard.
After filming on American Graffiti was finished, the inventory of studio-owned cars was assigned to Travers for disposal. He removed the drive train and front sheet metal from the stunt car and sold the remains to a California stock car racer who was interested in the battered car since it had a full roll cage. The racer stored the car in a friend’s salvage yard where it sat for several years. Due to a zoning dispute, the salvage yard was eventually forced to clear out some of the inventory and the remains of the stunt car was sent to the crusher. The other ’55 Chevy sat in Henry Travers’ front yard for over a year before it was eventually sold to Sam Crawford, who owned it when it was featured in a May 1976 issue of Street Rodder magazine with other notable “Graffiti” cars

After filming on American Graffiti was finished, the
inventory of studio-owned cars was assigned to Travers for disposal. He
removed the drive train and front sheet metal from the stunt car and
sold the remains to a California stock car racer who was interested in
the battered car since it had a full roll cage. The racer stored the
car in a friend’s salvage yard where it sat for several years. Due to a
zoning dispute, the salvage yard was eventually forced to clear out
some of the inventory and the remains of the stunt car was sent to the
crusher. The other ’55 Chevy sat in Henry Travers’ front yard for over
a year before it was eventually sold to Sam Crawford, who owned it when
it was featured in a May 1976 issue of Street Rodder magazine with other notable “Graffiti” cars.

Steve Fitch of Wichita, Kansas bought the Graffiti ’55 from
Crawford in the late 1970s. Fitch later bought the yellow ’32 Ford
Coupe driven by Paul LeMat’s character “John Milner” in a sealed bid
sale from the studio after More American Graffiti was completed. He owned both cars when he and the two most famous cars from American Graffiti were profiled in an October 1983 Car Craft magazine article. Fitch did a meticulous, detailed restoration of the ’55 to American Graffiti trim, and is credited with preserving the Coupe in as-is condition from the filming.

When Fitch later put both cars up for sale, the ’55 wound up in
Maryland in the hands of the current owner, Wayne Newsom, and the ’32
Coupe returned to the San Francisco area with Rick Figari. The ’32
Coupe has continued to be carefully preserved by Figari and many “movie
prop” features on the car are still visible – such as holes drilled in
the frame and brackets welded on for the camera mounts. Figari is
committed to preserving the Coupe because, in his view, it will only be
original once.

THE CAR

Shortly after the ’55 was shipped to Maryland, it
received an extensive frame-off modification as a show car and its
appearance and originality was radically changed from when it was used
in American Graffiti. There remain, however, several visible details on the Graffiti ’55 that point to the authenticity of the car, in addition to its well-documented history.

• In both movies, and today, the car has distinctive radiused rear wheelwells
• In Two-Lane Blacktop, the car’s trunk was lift-off fiberglass and
  held in place with “hood pins” on the upper corners and in the center of
  the lower edge below the trunk emblem. In American Graffiti, the pins can
  still be seen on the car. The trunk on the car is now hinged, but the
  original brackets used to mount the pins are still in place on the top
  corners and the spots where the holes in the trunk lid were filled are
  still visible if you look closely.
• In both movies, you can see the tube front axle and chrome radius rods
  under the front of the car. In the magazine articles, the car is shown with
  the tube axle, the the 4-link setup, and the coil-over suspension. The car
  still has the same axle, which was custom built by Richard Ruth, although
  the other components have been changed.
  
• In Two-Lane Blacktop, there are several good shots of the big block 427 engine, the Weiand
  tunnel ram, and the headers. The Street Rodder and Car Craft articles also
  show the engine and headers. There were no shots of the engine compartment
  in American Graffiti, most likely because the film was set in 1962 and the only big block
  Chevrolet engine then available was the 409. The car is thought to still have the same
  L-88 427 engine, and is still equipped with the headers that were fabricated by
  Richard Ruth and are unique to the car, although the original Weiand
  tunnel ram and the hydraulic throttle linkage installed by Ruth have
  disappeared.
• In Two Lane Blacktop the car had front bucket seats, a white
  headliner, fiberglass doors with sliding plexiglass windows, a roll bar,
  and no rear seat. In American Graffiti , the bucket seats were
  replaced with a bench seat, the fiberglass doors and plexiglass windows
  were replaced with stock steel doors and rollup windows, the roll bar was
  still in place, the headliner was still white, and the rear seat area
  was covered with a white “tonneau” cover from the top of the bench seat to
  the package tray. The original old-style Covico three-spoke steering wheel
  is clearly visible, too. The car’s current interior represents the biggest
  change from the car as seen in the two movies. The car now has a full
  red/gray leather interior, the steel doors are equipped with power windows,
  the roll bar is gone, a stock ’55 steering wheel has replaced the
  Covico wheel, and Bel Air trim and gauges have been added to the dash.
• In the 1983 Car Craft magazine article, the ’55 is pictured with the
  Kansas license plate “GRAF 55.” The plate is still on the car since it has never been titled or licensed in Maryland.
• In Two-Lane Blacktop there is a gas station scene in
  which the attendant is seen filling the gas tank after the fiberglass
  trunk lid was removed. The gas tank filler neck was accessed through a
  hole cut in the floor of the trunk on the driver’s side close to the
  rear bumper. That hole is still there, but covered by a sheet metal
  plate that has been fastened to the floor of the trunk from underneath.
  Richard Ruth also appeared in this scene. He’s the mechanic wearing the
  Glendale Speed Center T-shirt who strolled out to look at the car.

Although many changes have been made to the ’55 since its days as a
movie prop, Richard Ruth has examined detailed photos of the car and has verified that the car is
one of the originals that he built for Two-Lane Blacktop and went on
to fame as Falfa’s American Graffiti ’55 Chevy.

Click here to see more …

Classic Chevs of Reno is a car club dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of Chevrolet motor cars. Originally dedicated to the Tri Five classics of 1955, 1956, and 1957, the club currently accepts all years of Chevrolet and other makes of classic cars as well. Members have a wide variety of interests from original cars to street rods. We organize club activites for interaction among others with similar interests and plan and organize a car show each year called Classics in Paradise which is held in June each year. We also participate in Reno’s Hot August Night and plan and run the Poker run.

The site has been set up to allow car enthusiasts and especially Chevy lovers to interact through posts and comments about their interests, experiences, wants and needs. Welcome to our site and ENJOY!!

Ben J. Milander
Webmaster and Administrator