April 2019 Newsletter OFFICERS: President: Wayne Bane 724-594-7482 [email protected] Vice President: Peter Sarkis 412-310-1589 [email protected] Vice President: Marc Koszak 412-266-0562 [email protected] Secretary: Mary Beth Meyer 412-747-0769 [email protected] Treasurer: Jerry Longstreth 412-466-9091 [email protected] RECENT EVENTS:

Club Gathering at the Carmody’s Grill on Neville Island Sunday, March 24th Because of the uncertainty of March weather the Pitt Birds planned to meet at Carmody’s Grill for an afternoon of food, fun and beverages. It was an wonderful afternoon for the thirty seven members to converse and enjoy a great lunch in the restaurant’s enclosed patio. The Pitt Birds want to thank Marc Koszak and Jerry Longstreth for organizing this event. RECENT EVENTS: Club Gathering at the Carmody’s Grill - Continued

2 UPCOMING EVENTS: Meyersdale Maple Festival Sunday, April 7th Thunderbird Appreciation Day - SNPJ Car Cruise The Pitt Birds will travel to Meyersdale, PA to attend the Maple Sunday, May 19th Festival and Car Show. We will depart from Denny’s Restaurant in For Thunderbird Appreciation Day, members will meet to join in the Cranberry at 7:45 AM. GPS: 1346 Old Freedom Rd, Cranberry Twp, festivities at the SNPJ Lodge in Imperial, PA. Food and drinks will be PA 16066, or at the Irwin Turnpike Toll booth at 8:30 AM. We will available in the lodge. Plan to meet at the Oakdale Mini Mart at 11:30 make a restroom stop in Somerset at 9:15 AM, and arrive at AM. GPS: 7520 Steubenville Pike, Oakdale, PA 15071. Meyersdale at 10:00 AM. Once we have our cars parked in the show The location of the Car Cruise is at 255 W. Allegheny Road, Imperial, area, we will proceed to the old school house for a pancake breakfast. PA 15126. If you have any questions, please contact Mary Beth Along with the car show, you can visit the festival grounds to see Meyer at 412-747-0769 or [email protected]. maple syrup being made, crafts and other demonstrations. You can also tour the railroad museum. If you have any questions, contact Jerry Longstreth at 412-466-9091 or [email protected]. National Comedy Center – Jamestown, NY Sunday, June 23rd Plan to meet at Denny’s Restaurant in Cranberry for breakfast at CCAC, West Hills – Car Cruise Saturday, May 11th 7:30AM. GPS: 1346 Old Freedom Rd, Cranberry Twp., PA 16066. We will depart promptly at 8:30 AM and arrive in Jamestown at 11:00 Plan to meet at the Oakdale Mini Mart at 10:00 AM. AM. We will meet with the Buffalo Thunderbird Club and tour the GPS: 7520 Steubenville Pike, Oakdale, PA 15071. National Comedy Center. Tickets to the National Comedy Center are We will caravan a short distance to the CCAC Campus. If you want to $23.50. Visit: After the tour of the center, go directly to the CCAC Campus, the GPS address is 1000 McKee https://comedycenter.org/ we will have a late lunch at a local restaurant. We will return to the Road, Oakdale, PA 15071. If you have any questions, please contact area at about 6:00 PM. Mary Beth Meyer at 412-747-0769 or [email protected]. If you have any questions, please contact Mary Beth Meyer at 412- 747-0769 or [email protected].

Thunderbirds Frisbee Event at North Park Pitt Birds January 2020 Holiday Luncheon/Dinner Saturday, May 18th Questionnaire The Pitt Birds are considering three venues for the holiday dinner. The Pitt Birds will meet at La Casa Narcisi Winery on Saturday at 3:00 • Atria’s Restaurant, O’Hara Township. The cost of lunch would be PM. GPS: 4578 Gibsonia Rd, Gibsonia, PA 15044 $25.00 to $27.00. We will have lunch at the La Casa Narcisi Winery then caravan to • Carmody’s Grill on Neville Island. The cost of a buffet lunch would North Park to see the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds professional frisbee be $25.00 to $27.00. team play the . The Pittsburgh Thunderbirds are a • Grand Concourse Restaurant, Station Square. The cost of the professional disc team that competes in the Midwest Division Saturday Lunch would be $38.00 to $40.00. of the American Ultimate Disc League. If you have any questions, please contact Mary Beth Meyer at 412- We are asking each of you to please reply with your preference. 747-0769 or [email protected]. Please reply to Jerry Longstreth at 412-466-9091 or [email protected].

3 UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL EVENTS:

Carlisle - All Fords Nationals: PVGP – Pitt Birds Picnic July 20-21, 2019 May 31 – June 2, 2019 Early Registration is Open Join the International Thunderbird Club The registration cost is $40.00, and $50.00 at at the Carlisle Ford – Nationals. the gate. To register online, visit: For details visit: www.carlisleevents.com/carlisle-events http://www.pvgp.org/car-shows/schenley/ For hotel reservations: www.countryinns.com/itc2019 and click on the blue showclix button.

Classic Thunderbird Club International International Thunderbird Club Convention Convention Flagstaff, AZ May 15-19, 2019 Cleveland, OH August 6-11, 2019

For convention information, visit: intl-thunderbirdclub.com For information, visit: www.arizonaclassicthunderbirds.org The convention hotel is the The hotel are the Holiday Inn Express - Phone 928-714-1000, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Cleveland - Westlake. and the Little America Hotel & Resort - Phone 800-865-1401 For Reservations, Phone: 1-440-871-6000 Itinerary: Itinerary: • Tours to Sedona, Grand Canyon, and Walnut Canyon • Ferry to Put-In-Bay Island • Thunderbird Concours and Show • Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame • Crawford Auto Museum • Saturday Thunderbird Concours and Show

4 MEMBERSHIP: FOR SALE: Current Membership: 66 Members 1957 Thunderbird Contact: Ron George Welcome New Members: Ed and Jane Davis 724-784-0316 1964 Thunderbird, Washington, PA [email protected] $40,000

Interested in Joining an International Thunderbird Club? The Pitt Birds Thunderbird Club is a chapter club with the Classic Starmist Blue, rebuilt engine, new Good Year radials, restored in 2002, Thunderbird Club International (CTCI) and the International Kelsey Hayes wire wheels, new top and interior. No hardtop. $40,000. Thunderbird Club (ITC). Both CTCI and ITC have regional and international events, provide excellent technical advice, publish bi- monthly magazines, offer vendor sourcing, and articles about other local clubs. Membership information to CTCI or ITC can be found by 1956 Thunderbird visiting the following web sites. Contact: Bob Macek H: 412-331-6218 Classic Thunderbird Club International: www.ctci.org C: 724-719-0681 Then click on “Become a Member” on the Home page. $40,000 International Thunderbird Club: www.intl-thunderbirdclub.com Then click on the “Membership” button on the Home page. Yellow with white, yellow and black interior, 312 V-8, Automatic, power steering, brakes, windows and seats, 3,500 miles since total restoration in 2007, Black Hartz soft top, Goodyear radial tires, CTCI Important CTCI Information silver concourse winner, Perfect Condition. If you are a member of the Classic Thunderbird Club International, (CTCI), you may have read on Page 21 of the current issue of the 1955 Thunderbird Early Bird magazine. There is information about the inclusion of the Contact: Sal Gaetano 724-941-7977 two seat Thunderbirds manufactured between 2002 and 2005 into White with white top and red/white interior. 3 speed standard CTCI. There will be a ballot coming to CTCI members via email transmission, AM/FM radio, radial tires. Owned 10 years, requesting your vote as either a Yes or No to include these years of Immaculate condition. Thunderbird. Please vote as this is an important issue. Because this issue was presented by members at the General Membership meeting in Knoxville, TN. last year there will not be a recommendation from the Board of Directors. There are mixed opinions from the membership Men’s and Ladies’ Golf Shirts: and there should be pro and con information from the committee that Turquoise / Thunderbird blue golf shirts with was formed to investigate the issue included with the ballot. the Pitt Birds logo. Contact Mary Beth Meyer at 412-818-5898. The price is $25.00. Shipping and handling to your address is an additional $5.00. 5 Dwayne Peace's Ridler-winning '55 Thunderbird - Street Rodder Premium By Eric Geisert, Photos by Josh Mishier Article from: http://www.bankspower.com/magazines/...55-thunderbird

Jonathan thought if they could incorporate a tailored European look You normally don't want to mess with something after it achieves icon with a simple elegance then they'd have something unique and good status because, in most people's eyes, it has already attained looking. perfection. Put a better smile on the Mona Lisa? Nah. Change the With such a lofty goal in front of them, nothing would be left untouched original formula for the Dublin, Texas- brewed Dr. Pepper? Some and, over a period of three years, the car would receive hundreds of things are better left alone. But every once in a while it happens: an modifications and a long list of custom work, including an internal improvement in what went before. rollcage, new floors, an engine compartment design that would hide a A dentist living in Tyler, Texas, Dwayne has tinkered with cars for most twin-turbo setup, and a steel-infused interior that looks so slick and of his life. Having always liked the design of the early T-birds, he smooth it looks like it could have been taken out of a 2013 concept acquired a numbers-matching '55 more than 20 years ago. At the time vehicle. the car had been through one restoration and was in decent shape The twin-turbo 6.15L V-8 from Gale Banks Engineering produces but, two decades later, Dwayne's wife, Carolyn, said it was time to 1,150 hp with 925 lb-ft of torque (with 21 pounds of boost). To help either sell it or restore it, but one of their two sons, Matt, told his dad smooth things up, the radiator fans are hidden in their own they needed to do something other than another restoration. compartment. Matt, along with his younger brother, Jonathan, had started Torq'd Matt and Jonathan started the project from the ground up, creating a Design Lab in their hometown of Tyler and the goal from the two-man new chassis from 2x4-inch rectangular and 1.5- inch round tubing, shop was to get the Thunderbird into the Pirelli Great 8 at the Detroit setting it up on a 105-inch wheelbase (while the original's was 102 Autorama. Now in its 60th year, the Detroit Autorama is probably most inches). Jonathan's "organic flowing" design meant it wasn't just a famous for its Don Ridler Memorial Award- the top prize at the indoor bunch of metal welded together under the car, but a conceptual design car show-that's given to a vehicle that best displays stylish and that could stand on its own merits, adding to the car's overall innovative design. The Pirelli Great 8 is the group of eight finalists appearance rather than just supporting a body. chosen from which the Ridler is picked, so getting into the Pirelli Great A Moser 9-inch rear (3.73:1) uses one-off triangulated polished 8 is a major achievement it itself. stainless steel four-link and RideTech coilovers along with SSBC 13.6- Dwayne's sons knew the project would be intense, but Jonathan had inch cross-drilled discs and aluminum four-piston calipers (with a an ace up his sleeve: he was a transportation design major at the Art custom T-bird logo etched into the caliper's face). Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and knew a thing or two about designing parts and pieces. 6 Dwayne Peace's Ridler-winning '55 Thunderbird - Street Rodder Premium - Continued Up front, Torq'd built an independent suspension using Heidt's The radiator is also hidden, and is under a cover that eliminates the spindles, a Flaming River steering box (and ididit column), and another filler cap, which was moved to the top of the intake manifold and works set of RideTech coilovers and SSBC discs (this time 14.1- inch). A via a Greening-machined aluminum filler piece finished with custom Kugel Komponents underdash master cylinder setup is mounted out of hard hose lines. Mark Bowler in Lawrenceville, Illinois, set up the view, and Clayton Machine Works provided the pedal assembly. 4L80E transmission, which was also deburred before it was painted a And just how the original Thunderbird V-8 made a difference over its matte charcoal. competitors, the engine in Dwayne's 'Bird would be impressive, too. At Both Matt and Jonathan and the Greenings had their hands full with 1,150 hp with 925 lb-ft of torque (at 21 pounds of boost), the injected creating all of the new metal pieces needed and modifying what was 6.15L twin turbo from Gale Banks Engineering certainly makes a left on the car as Torq'd estimates only 25 percent of the original body statement. Based in Azusa, California, Banks has been a performance is still intact. Besides the hidden internal rollcage, Matt and Jonathan source for hot rodders since 1958, and they know their way around created a smooth underbelly for the car, modified the windshield posts, diesel- and gas-engined powerplants, and they design turbocharged changed the hood so it operates alligator style rather than opening engines from the crank's centerline out. from the cowl, and re-peaked all of the body lines. The decklid was The Banks block was first deburred and then painted before the shortened, the hood scoop lengthened 6 inches, and the Greenings Banks/Dart aluminum heads were bolted on. A Front Runner belt fabbed an aluminum inner panel to give a smooth appearance to the system from Vintage Air was also used, and a Gen VI EFI system from underside of the hood. Greening also built the twin fuel tanks under ACCEL delivers the mix, while the exhaust includes headers designed the trunk floor, and the bumpers were flipped upside-down and then and made by Jonathan and a set of Borla Sportsman XR-1 mufflers. tucked into the body for a tighter appearance. Other goodies include an aluminum radiator from Ron Davis Racing More metalwork was fabbed inside the cockpit with the addition of a and custom aluminum valve covers that feature a one-off machined T- custom dash and an aluminum console (from Greening). Simple and bird emblem. subtle, dual cockpit coves are found on the dash, with only a single The fabrication of the car's parts and pieces as well as much of the tachometer (custom by Classic Instruments) located in its own pod in redesign came from a collaboration of Matt and Jeff at Torq'd along front of the one-off waterfall steering wheel (designed by Jonathan and with Jeff and Jesse Greening-a father-and-son team who run Greening machined by Greening Auto Company) and a Movado clock (itself an Auto Company out of Nashville. The Greenings have a long history iconic design) mounted above the console that runs back between the with awardwinning hot rods, as well as with the Detroit Autorama, going custom bucket seats, designed and built by Torq'd and Paul Atkins back to when they built a Ridler winner for Paul Atkins in 2001. In some Interiors. instances, the Greenings finished what Torq'd started, while in other Intricate and one-off parts and pieces are one specialty of the spots it was Jonathan or Matt building or modifying something or the Greenings, and they came through for Dwayne in a big way. One of Greenings creating something from scratch. Both teams contributed the first things the Greenings did with the body is set all the gaps on heavily to the final product. the doors, hood, and trunk. And many of the car's details, from the So with one look around the engine compartment you'll notice this side trim to the rearview mirror, were CNC'd at Greening. The door engine doesn't look like anything else out there, mostly due to the tops were capped off (making it a true roadster) and Greening formed routing of the fresh air ducts for the twin turbos that come off the the two pieces of sheetmetal that were welded together to create the smoothed-up fenderwells or the air cleaner that flows into the cowl trim that runs around the edge of the cockpit before it was plated by section of the car (both done by Jonathan). The Spearco aluminum Advanced Plating. Greening also made the custom pushbutton door intercoolers for the turbos are hidden behind the front wheels in the release that was incorporated into the trim. fenderwells.

7 Dwayne Peace's '55 Thunderbird - Continued Parts such as the onepiece taillight housing, For the car's cockpit, Paul Atkins Interiors which incorporates the fender cap, lens ring, covered the Jonathan-designed, Euroinspired and a portion of the trunk trim, was first interior with an autumn and charcoal leather programmed by Greening into a CNC combination with a heavy stitching pattern. machine then milled from a single block of What you can't see is the Dynamat insulation, billet aluminum. The taillight's red acrylic the wiring from American Autowire that was lenses were also milled. The car's side trim installed by Greening, and the air-conditioning (also CNC'd aluminum) overlaps across the system (yes, even though it's a roadster) was door gaps so it fools the eye into thinking it's provided by Vintage Air. Fit and finish, important one long piece, and mini T-bird logos were but even more so on a car going for the Ridler milled for both the leading section of the side award, was handled by both Greenings, Steve trim and also for the interior's seat backs. Tracy of Advanced Plating, and, of course, the The car's lighting is an electroluminescence Peace brothers while the car went together. system used in the taillights, side markers, Once finished and on display at the Detroit turn and running lights, and at the end of the Autorama, the car was featured on four low- grille spear (where the top lens is a turn profile risers with both the hood and trunk barely signal while the bottom lens is a running cracked open for viewing. The idea was to keep light). Greening also shortened the headlight the doors shut so the observer could drink in the rings by 1 inch and did the car's finish car's lines without being distracted by the usual welding. explosion of open doors, hood, trunk, and other To make it a roller, Jonathan designed a display material. It was a bold move going with concave sevenspoke wheel, and then gave the subtle route, but one they believed was the the design to Greening so it could be worked right way to go based on the car's concept. up in CAD (computer aided drawing). From By Friday evening, the Peace family found out there a design was finalized, and then the they did make the Pirelli Great 8 and, on wheels were milled in 19x8 and 20x12 sizes Sunday afternoon, Jonathan, Matt, and their by Greening and chromed by Advanced dad, Dwayne, all stood on stage with the other Plating before being wrapped in Pirelli seven contenders as the event organizers made 235/35ZR19 and P-Zero 295/30ZR20 their announcement: the little red T-bird had rubber. won the 2012 Don Ridler Memorial Award. In The Greenings certainly understood the high the next few months, the 'Bird continued to win standards the T-bird was being built to, and major awards, including the Legend Cup at the they didn't disappoint when it came to the Chicago World of Wheels, the Golden Builder paint and bodywork, either. Jeff used BASF award at the Hot Rod and Restoration Show in paints, specifically the Glasurit 90 Line, when Indianapolis, named a Custom Rod of the Year spraying the red and charcoal hues (in both finalist at the Goodguys Nashville show, and the gloss and matte) over the car and engine Chairman's Cup at the Concours d'Elegance pieces, colors that easily complement the Classy Chassis invitational in Houston. And it tones chosen for the interior. seems, as all the awards demonstrate, you really can improve on an iconic design if you 8 have the talent to back it up.