NOVEMBER 2018 OIL

The Oil Spot November 2018

Contents Page 1: President’s Mes-sage, Calendar, Oil Spot Info

Page 2: Secretary’s Notes, For Sale and Want Ads, Meetup Info

Pages 3 & 4: ...The True Spirit of Six Pack

Page 5: Fall Foliage Tour and Progressive Dinner Photos, Officers’ Info, NAMGBR Info

Page 6: Tech Q&A

Page 7: Holiday Party Info and Reservation Form

Page 8: BCC Meeting and Website Info

OIL

SPOT

NOVEMBE R 20 18 T H E O F F I C I A L

P U B L I C A T I O N O F

T H E B R I T I S H C A R C L U B O F

W E S T E R N N E W Y O R K

Dear BCC Members,

This is the first newsletter as your new President. I hope I can successfully justify your faith in me! Our driving season is nearly over and most of my cars are already stored for the win-

ter.

Thanks, again, to George Barbari for his excellent service to our organization as President for the past two years. Elections have been held and I’m delighted that all of our other current officers have agreed to serve another year – Thanks to them for their continued service as well!

Robin Illig has, again, graciously taken on the task of organizing our holiday party at Sean Patrick’s Emerald Isle on Saturday, December 20th. RSVPs are required. Fur-ther details are included in this issue of the Oil Spot. Thank you, Robin, for taking this on!

See you at the next meeting on November 20th. Our special guest speaker will be-

gin promptly at 7:30 PM that evening, and our regular meeting will follow her talk.

Skip Gould

Event Calendar

The following is a tentative calendar of planned and proposed events for 2018. If you would like to add an activity or know of a speaker you would like to have at one of our meetings please call Tom Luksch at 681-1607 or Todd Schupbach at 435-4279. Dates in bold face are club sanctioned events.

November 20 – BCC Meeting, 7:30 pm, Angry Buffalo at the Rose Garden. Guest speaker De-nise Reichard to talk on Amelia Earhart.

December 15 – Christmas Party/BCC Meeting at Sean Patrick, 5:00 pm – ?. Robin Illig chairper-son. See page 7 for details and reservation form.

The OIL SPOT is the official newsletter of the British Car Club of West-

ern New York.

The purpose of BCC is to foster good wll and camaraderie among

enthusiasts of British cars, and to exchange ideas and technical exper-

tise attendant to the restoration and preservation of all British marques.

The monthly OIL SPOT is sent by e-mail or traditional mail to all BCC

members. It includes a calendar of events, articles and photos of gen-

eral interest provided by the members, and classified ads.

E-mail contributions should be sent by the 25th of each month to

Linda at [email protected]. Attach the file, or type information in

the body of the e-mail. You can also send articles through the mail to

Linda Kula, 1566 Inwood Avenue, Angola, NY 14006. Photos

should be in JPG format. Articles are appreciated in MS Word or pdf

formats.

Classified ads appropriate to this newsletter are free. Ads run for three

issues.

For further information or a membership

application, visit our website at:

www.bcc-wny.com.


British Car Club Meeting Tuesday, October 16, 2018 Angry Buffalo – Rose Garden Res-taurant 22 Members in attendance

Opening Meeting was called to order at 7:31

pm by President George Barbari, wel-comed everyone. There were no visi-tors or new members.

George thanked Dave and Celeste Kray for chairing the beautiful fall run and Progressive Dinner on October 6. On the last stop, we were met by Fra-zer and Beverly Rice. Frazer is recov-ering from recent surgery and will be going to Roswell. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

George asked that members also keep Celeste Kray and Debbie Leible in their thoughts and prayers. They are both having surgery this week.

George expressed his thanks to all Officers and members for helping him and working with him during the past 2 years. Jack Cudmore thanked George Barbari for his excellent work and leadership of the Club. George received a round of applause.

Upcoming Events At the next meeting, November 20,

we will have a guest speaker presen-tation about Amelia Earhart.

The Christmas Party is scheduled for Saturday, December 15, chaired by Robin Illig. George asked for a motion that the Club contribute $5.00 per per-son toward the cost of the Christmas Party. Motion made by Jack Cud-more, seconded by Don Critoph. Mo-tion accepted and passed .

Secretary: Celeste Kray - Motion made by Dave Dill to accept report as presented in the October Oilspot, sec-onded by Pat Hain. Motion accepted and passed.

Treasurer: Sue Magro - Sue not in attendance. Treasurer’s report ap-

proved as presented by Rick Magro.

Membership: Barbara & Don Critoph Don reported that we have 83 mem-bers, 53 co-members for a total of 136 members. They are working on the new roster now. Don had his camera at the meeting and offered to take photos for the roster. If members have a picture they would like used in the roster, please send to Barb and Don .

Programs: Tom Luksch, Todd Schup-bach November 20 – Todd talked about the guest speaker scheduled for the next meeting. Denise Reichard will be dressed in character and give the story about Amelia Earhart in the first person. The presentation will be before the meeting, with the regular business meeting immediately after.

Regalia: Rick Magro Selection on display. New, old stock grill badges are available for $35. Those interested should buy this now; there are only a few left, and a reorder will likely be much more expensive. Rick is still working on t-shirts .

Webmaster: Dave Dill Dave reported that the website had

429 hits, 266 during the same period last year. Hits on all categories have gone up.

Still looking for a home page photo that is newer.

Dave has looked into the issues that some members are having with the

emailed link to the Oilspot, but has found no problems on the Club’s end. Members can view the newsletter on the Club’s website.

Dave received a suggestion to send email

blasts if there are any special an-nouncements. We have members

who do not have email access and our email distribution list also includes other clubs and organizations.

Newsletter: Linda Kula - not present. Skip will write a story for the newsletter about the frightening accident he and his wife were involved in while driving to the Triumph National Convention

Historian: Bill Bickerton If there are photos from the Progressive

Dinner, please send to Bill.

Meet Up: Skip Gould We have 88 members, mostly Club

members, but the site is open to any-one. Anyone who is a member of Meetup has the ability to place events on meetup.

Skip will add the date of next year’s EuroCar Day to Meetup – June 9, 2019.

Technical Sessions Coordinator: Randy McPhee Q: Recommendations needed for someone to rebuild a Triumph Spitfire 1300 engine Please contact Randy if you know of anyone; his contact info is 716-839-4386 or [email protected]

Old Business: Election of Officers - George asked for a motion to cast one vote for the slate of Officers as presented at the October meeting. Motion made by Dave Dill, seconded by Pat Hain. Motion accepted as passed.

New Business: Volunteers needed for the donation committee. Will be arranged at the No-vember meeting.

Motion made to adjourn the meeting made by George Barbari, seconded by Ginny Surre at 8:16 p.m. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted, Paula Barbari

Secretary’s NOTES Submitted by Paula Barbari

FOR SALE & WANTED ADS

For Sale: 1976 MG Midget - in good condition. Asking $6000. Please contact John Agnello at 716-775-5180 or

[email protected]

Please call Linda (716-983-1566) or email [email protected] to place or remove an ad.

https://www.meetup.com/British-classic-cars-Meetup/

mailto:[email protected]

https://www.meetup.com/British-classic-cars-Meetup/


6-Pack is a North American car club for owners of 6 cylinder Triumph TR250 and TR6 automobiles. I have been a member since 2009, and the organization has regionally local chapters in Toronto, Pittsburgh and Rochester. Ever since I learned of the “Tail of the Dragon” I’ve wanted to drive it with one of my sports cars. Ever since I acquired a second six cylinder Triumph in 2012 I’ve wanted to bring two cars to the Six Pack TRials. In 2012 the TR6 registration paperwork was held up by New York State, so I was only able to bring the TR250 to Niagara Falls. (My wife had agreed to drive the TR6.) In 2013 and 2014 I skipped the Trials be-cause I thought Traverse City and Oxford were too dis-tant. In 2015 I convinced my son, Brian, to drive my TR6 and I drove my TR250 to Galloway, NJ. We trav-eled with Doc Holliday and spent some time in Watkins Glen, driving the old course, on the way. The TR6 broke down about 20 miles from the host hotel. It missed the show, but got there before the banquet. The Spirit of Six Pack was awarded to Brian at the dinner. In 2016 Brian planned to arrive at Mohican Lodge on Friday evening in the TR6 after Karen and I drove the TR250 there on Thursday. The TR6 broke down at the state line and was towed home. In 2017 Brian had no interest in joining us in Her-shey (small wonder why), so Karen and I made the trip in the TR250 along with some of our Northern neighbors (Tush and John). When I learned the 2018 TRials was to be held at the Fontana resort, I immediately began planning to upgrade my car and make the trip. Surprisingly, Brian also was enthusiastic about driving along. I spent the year sorting both vehicles mechanically and driving them each to shows 3 or 4 hours away from my home. I redid the tops on both cars, I re-chromed the rear bumper on the TR250, both cars got wheel alignments and the suspensions were gone through. We arranged a caravan of vehicles from Ontario, Western New York and Northern Ohio with planned stops every 1 ½ to 2 hours along the route. Doc Holliday and Bill Henningsen joined my wife, my son and my son’s girlfriend for breakfast in Irving, NY (between Buffalo and Erie, PA) on Wednesday morn-ing. BCC member Lenny Price joined us for breakfast and to see us off. The group included myself and sev-eral Ontarian’s from Toronto Triumph Club, a couple of us from the Western New York British Car Club and one from the Rochester Triumph Club. It started rain-ing. We drove to Pennsylvania on the Interstate and paused to regroup after the toll booths. It began raining harder. We drove to Mentor, Ohio through even more

rain and met up Lenny Lange who joined our caravan. We made a final gas stop late on Wednesday after-noon about 25 minutes from our planned hotel stay in Newport, KY. My Tr6 failed to restart properly after stopping for gas. We opened the bonnet to find the Die-hard battery swollen to abnormal size and hissing. With help from several others in the caravan, we located a local FLAPS (about 5 miles away), got a cardboard box to hold the battery, removed the battery, loaded Brian, the battery and myself into the TR250 and proceeded to the FLAPS where I purchased a new battery. When we returned my battery box had been washed and dried by those that had remained behind. We installed the new battery and started the TR6. Everyone left for the hotel but my wife (Karen), Brian, and his girlfriend (Darra). When Brian restarted the TR6 it was not running well at all – it appeared to be running on three cylinders. I texted Tush and he pro-ceeded to unload his TR3 from his trailer and also unload his truck (to make room for Brian and Darra). Brian and Darra Uber’ed it on to the hotel. Tush then headed back to the broken car to rescue us. I pulled the air cleaners off the TR6 and found that both carbs looked dirty (perhaps the failing battery was causing the plugs to not burn as well as normally). The piston in the rearmost SU was frozen closed in place! I freed it with a screwdriver and Karen and I left the six and took the TR250 back to the FLAPS and bought a can of Gu-mOut. I returned and we cleaned the carbs. The six began to run normally just as Tush arrived. It was now full dark and we needed to get past Cincinnati and across the border to Kentucky and the hotel. Karen agreed to follow Tush in the TR250 and I drove the TR6 in the rear of the procession.

Continued on page 4

Photos courtesy of Skip Gould

2018 Trials and the True Spirit of Six Pack By Skip Gould


Six Pack continued from page 3 Tush and I made it to the Hofbrauhaus in time to catch a very late dinner and meet up with Steve, Aaron, Todd and others from southern Ohio. I was surprised to meet Alan Atkinson there as well. At 9 AM on Thursday morning we headed out into the rain again. As we crossed Kentucky the rain got pro-gressively worse. I noticed that my six had the passen-ger window rolled down in the pouring rain and Darra was certainly getting wet. Rat Ridge Roadster passed us on this leg and apparently gave Brian and Darra a strange look when he noticed the window down. We had preplanned a lunch stop at the KFC museum in Corbin, KY at the request of some of our caravan mem-bers. When we stopped at the KFC, I learned that pas-senger side window regulator on the TR6 had frozen in place with the window down. Tush and I disassembled the door panel and couldn’t free the regulator. I scrounged a clear plastic bag from the restaurant and lent my rain coat to Darra. I gave Brian the bag and a roll of duct tape, but they decided to drive with the win-dow open instead of sealing it. I texted Todd Bermudez to see if he had a spare regulator and if one of his sons could overnight it to the resort. The rains kept coming even harder. At about 3:30 PM we passed through a construction area on I-75 in Tennessee north of Knoxville. Trucks were instructed

to use the left lane. Moving along at maybe 55 MPH in the right lane we struggled to see through the rain. Semis continuously flew by in the left lane at what must have been at least 70 MPH. One semi drifted into my lane and caught my TR250 on the leading edge of my rear bumper. My car spun twice and was now perpen-dicular to the traffic in the left lane. I looked out the driver’s window to see a white semi front about 6 inches from my glass before it hit us. I’m not sure if it was the same truck or the one behind the first one. The impact spun us back the other way and I slide out of the left lane sideways into the drainage ditch in the central median. Karen and I were shook up and sore,

but amazingly apparently unhurt. I dialed 911. The Ten-nessee Highway Patrol arrived within 5 minutes and told us that they had ordered a tow truck. We sat in the ditch for two hours. I texted Tush to let the others know where we were. I texted Brian and Darra to suggest that they stop where they were to let the rain subside. Brian said it had stopped raining where they were so they wanted to press on to the resort. It was Darra’s birthday so we called the resort to see if we could ar-range a birthday cake with their dinner. Tush texted me back to let me know that John’s Honda 2000 was also involved in an accident. John was reportedly en route to a hospital. The tow truck arrived, I was dismayed that it wasn’t a rollback. They pulled me out of the drainage ditch and onto the left hand shoulder. I asked that they come back with a rollback. They said it might take another two hours. We said we’d wait. I started my TR250. My windshield wiper motor was no longer working, my speedometer was also inoperable, my gas gauge and temperature gauge were both parked at the left as well. I really didn’t want to drive the car until I could check it out more thoroughly, so I called Enterprise and re-served a rental SUV. The rollback arrived. The THP told me he would stop all traffic on I-75 southbound and asked me to drive to the right hand shoulder to be loaded on the rollback. He did and I drove across the road and was loaded on the truck. The Enterprise office was 15 miles from the towing yard and scheduled to close at 6 PM. The tow driver agreed to take us to the Enterprise location and then unload my 250 in a se-cured yard at his site. I told him I would be back on Fri-day or Saturday after the rains stopped. I picked up a Dodge Journey and made my first tra-versal of the Dragon in the dark, fog and rain to arrive at the resort after 9 PM. Karen and I were able to pur-chase dinner (and libations!) before calling it a night. We were delighted to see Jon there, although we learned that his car was probably totaled. Friday morning I walked down the hill from the lodge to look for TR6 and spotted Tush and John unloading Tush’s TR3 from the trailer. I stopped to help and we were joined by Ken Delhonde – I was happy to finally meet Poolboy face to face after all the good advice he’s given me over the years! I learned that Bill Henningsen had had charging problems in his TR3 during the last legs of the trip. Lenny Lange had lent Bill a replace-ment alternator in case that was the problem. Chris Holliday had helped Bill with his Volt Ohm meter the day before and they determined that the battery wasn’t charged up to snuff. I helped Bill with his car and it looked like the alternator might fit, but I found Bill’s fan belt slightly loose. I reasoned that the slight looseness, in combination with all the water during the drive, cou-pled with Bill’s lights, wipers and GPS all running

Continued on page 6


Thank you to Celeste and Dave Kray who hosted this event on Saturday, October 6!!

Officers of the British Car Club of Western New

York

President: George Barbari 716-694-7366 [email protected]

VPs Programming:

Tom Luksch 716-681-1607 [email protected]

Todd Schupbach 716-435-4279

[email protected]

VP Membership: Don and Barb Critoph 832-4408

(716) 866-5798, [email protected]

Secretary: Celeste Kray 633-4586 [email protected]

Historian: Bill Bickerton [email protected]

Treasurer: Sue Magro 716-909-4421 [email protected]

VP Regalia: Rick Magro 716-909-3536

Web Master: Dave Dill 866-5466 [email protected]

Editor: Linda Kula 716-983-1566 [email protected]

Sunshine: Debbie Leible 625-9201 [email protected]

(Please notify Debbie for get well wishes or matters of condo-

lence. )

Thanks, Todd Schupbach for the photos!


tel:(716)%20866-5798

tel:(716)%20866-5798








Tech Q & A From the Monthly Meetings By Randy McPhee

This is our new regular feature in our Oil Spot newsletter. The idea is for members to share their vexing ques-tions with other members, and thereby tap into the collective knowledge base of our membership. We have in-stituted a question and answer session as a part of our regular monthly meetings, and encourage you to bring your questions. If you are unable to attend the meeting, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at; [email protected] or, leave a message on my answering machine at; (716)839-4386. Your questions will be presented at the meeting and repeated in the news letter with, we hope, an answer. So, on to our questions from the last meeting.

Our new question: Q: Our tech question from our last meeting at the Angry Buffalo. Yours truly managed to over rev his 1300 Spit-fire engine and break a connecting rod so, I asked if anyone could recommend a place to rebuild it. Several people had high praise for North East Machine on Two Mile Creek Road in Tonawanda. However; seeing as how I have to pull the engine anyway, I am looking into putting a rebuilt 1500 cc in it, as that's what should be in my car. So, if anyone has a line on a 1500 Triumph engine, please let me know.

Our old question: Q: Don Critoph has a wiring issue with his ’96 Jaguar XJ6 Sedan. He wants to know if anyone knows the route that the wiring from the reverse lights take back to the fuse box within the car. He can see where the wire at-taches at the light, but not where it goes. Also, his horn is not working. If you think you can help Don please contact him via e-mail at; [email protected], or phone at; 716-832-4408.

Six Pack continued from page 4 probably were the root cause of the problem. We tightened the belt and the problem resolved. Bill agreed to accompany Karen and I back to the towing company yard and inspect my 250. We set off to go there and decided to avoid driving the Dragon again in the Dodge. We drove to Robbinsville Tennessee in time to be stopped by their Homecoming parade. Once the parade finished we saw that we wouldn’t arrive back at the 250 until after 6 PM, too late to inspect the car and drive back. We returned to the resort. The RUstToss was a great event that evening, and the side excursion was even better! Saturday I got up at 6 AM and washed the six to take it to the show field by 8 AM. Bill Henningsen had had enough, so he passed the show field and headed back to Buffalo in his TR3A. Karen arranged a “missing” display next to the other beautiful 250’s at the show. At 10 AM Karen and I left the show and drove back through the Dragon in the Dodge to check out my 250. The tow driver let me test drive the car in his large lot, and we both crawled underneath to inspect the suspension components. Todd’s son Tony arrived at the resort and brought a regulator with him. Brian and Darra installed it while we were picking up the 250. In addition to the few broken things listed earlier, I noticed my steering wheel was no longer centered. We returned the rental and drove the 250 back to the resort (finally driving a Triumph on the Tail of the Dragon!), arriving at 5:55 PM. I parked out front of the lodge at Tush’s suggestion as he felt everyone would want to see the car. At dinner I learned that another Triumph had been sideswiped a couple weeks before the TRials in Illinois. Scale model TR6’s were awarded to all three of us with smashed cars. Each of the TR250 drivers were then given a plaque commemorating the 50th anniversary of the TR250. I was then presented the “Spirit of Six Pack” award, apparently for perseverance. I still wanted to drive the Dragon in my TR6. We were scheduled to leave early Sunday morning. One of the Canada contingent agreed to rise even earlier on Sunday morning and accompany me with his Miata at 6:30 AM. Scott McCoy drove the tail in both directions Sunday morning before we left for Columbus Ohio at 8:30 AM. On Sunday, the guys traveling back on our route included Tush, Brian, Alan Findlay, Richard Tisdale and David Fidler. Alan, Richard and David each took turns “setting a pick” for me to change lanes in the 250 without brake lights or turn signals. Fid drove cleanup for the group all the way to Columbus. The drive back didn’t include any more accidents or mechanical failures, but did take a long time with us arriving in Columbus at 9:45 PM. Karen, Brian, Darra and I arrived at my home by 3:30 PM on Monday. I believe the true “Spirit of Six Pack” was exemplified by Tush with willing helpfulness all week long; Todd Ber-

mudez helping me source parts in an emergency; Lenny, Chris, and Scott for helping me with mechanical issues

en route; as well as Richard, Alan, and Fid who cleaned my battery box and helped me get my TR250 home

safely.




BCC’s Annual Holiday Party Saturday, December 15, 2018

Sean Patrick’s Emerald Isle 3480 Millersport Hwy, Getzville, NY 14068

Cash Bar Starts at 5:00 pm. Dinner served at 6:00 pm

Main Course Choices:

NY Strip Steak (10oz) $31.76

Chicken Marsala $25.42

Fresh Char Grilled Salmon $27.90

Each dinner includes Soup, Salad, Vegetable Medley, Oven Herb-Roasted Potatoes, Rolls, Ice Cream, Coffee, Decafe Coffee and Tea . Please complete the bottom portion and mail to Robin Illig, 119 Roncroff Drive, North Tonawanda, NY 14120 with your dinner selection and check made out to the British Car Club. Please return by Friday, December 7, 2018 so we can confirm with the restaurant how many people will be attending. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name(s) : ________________________________________________________________

Number Attending:______

Fresh Char Grilled Salmon $27.90 each: ______________

Chicken Marsala $25.42 each: ____________________

NY Strip Steak, 10 oz. $31.76 each: _____________________

Please make check out to British Car Club and mail to Robin Illig, 119 Roncroff Drive,

North Tonawanda, NY 14120. Please return by Friday, December 8, 2017.


Linda M. Kula 1566 Inwood Avenue Angola, NY 14006

November 20, 2018 - Regular Meeting - 7:30 pm - Rose Garden Restaurant / Angry Buffalo

Guest Speaker: Denise Reichard portrays Amelia Earhart

Meetings are held at 7:30 pm on the third Tuesday of each month (except December when we party instead) at the Rose Garden Restaurant / Angry Buffalo 2753 Wehrle Drive, Williamsville, NY 14221. Come earlier and eat dinner!!! For current news and activities, check out www.bcc-wny.com

British Car Club of Western New York

NOVEMBER 2018 OIL

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