May Meeting Minutes

By Bev Novak

The meeting was held at Big Juds in Archer, Idaho. It was a nice drive up there and we had 20 members show up plus three new members: Wayne Ramsey and Jim & Kathy Collins. Welcome to the club!

We have been asked to help out the DARE Program by showing up on June 3^rd at Sam's Club. I believe we are to be there around lunchtime, but no time was given. The DARE people will be selling hot dogs and would like the Corvettes there to help draw people in. All the money collected will be given to the DARE Program.

June 4^th is the Tautphus park show. We will hopefully get to park on the grass if it does not rain. We will try to park together by the trees. It was decided to do the road cleanup on June 11^th at 4 p.m. Last year we had a good turnout on Sunday afternoon so we are going to try it again. Please try to show up and help. A meeting place will be determined.

Albertsons in Rexburg would like us to come up again. We set the date for June 17^th. Please try to attend this also. They are sponsors to our show.

The Wild West Vette Fest is going well. We would like each member to donate a door prize. Try to make it not something tied to Idaho Falls area, like a gift certificate, because we have many people from out of state attend our show. It would be nice to have a good showing from our own club. The dates for the show are August 25, 26, and 27.

The McKinleys are again putting on the Second Annual Iona Days car show. It will be on July 24. The Taylor Chevrolet show will be July 15. Please try to attend these also. Taylor Chevrolet will have someone from Nascar there July 13.

Wonderful Trip 1

By Pam Valentine

On a cool Friday morning at 8 a.m., 16 Corvettes started off on a three-day trip with high expectations of fun, good food, and great company.

We weren't disappointed. This was our first "real" trip with the club since we joined about a year and a half ago.  It was enjoyable to get to know everyone a little better. The scenery was fantastic.  Everything was so green and lush -- a perfect time of year for that trip.

We traveled to McCall, through Sun Valley and Lowman, and enjoyed a good dinner at the Mill. On Saturday morning we ate at a cafe in Riggens on our way to Missoula, via Grangeville and Lolo Pass.  We then enjoyed yet another great meal at Jakers in Missoula and then a lazy evening of recuperating from a big dinner, and a good nights sleep. 

We headed home on Sunday morning and stopped at the Big Hole National Battlefield, which we really enjoyed.  Then we continued on our way to Dillon and home in the early evening.  It was a great weekend, but "sped" by  much too fast.  I will look forward to doing it again soon

Wonder- full Trip 2

By Bev Novak

There were 16 cars that went on the trip to McCall and Missoula over the weekend of the 19^th. Pat Parsons had to leave us to go to Boise, but it was nice to have him there for the day. We left at 8:30 on Friday morning. Brian lost his breaks in the '66 before we hit Arco. Richard rode with Brian so Sarah could ride with Debbie. Trish and Dick, Brian and Richard, and Debbie and Sarah looked around Arco and Ketchum for a Master Cylinder but couldn't find one. So Brian and Richard headed to Boise while Trish, Dick, Debbie, and Sarah met up with the rest of us at Stanley, where we had lunch. The guys didn't want to stop in Sun Valley so the women couldn't stop and shop. What a beautiful drive the first day was. We got to McCall around 6 that night and Brian and Richard rolled in around 9:30 with no brakes again.

We got up early Saturday with a small continental breakfast at the Super 8 and headed off to Riggins, where we had a wonderful breakfast. Another great drive. A couple of people had Huckleberry cobbler for breakfast; now that's what I call a breakfast! We hit the road again to see many people fishing along the Payette river. We made many stops along the way and we ended up in Missoula around 4 that afternoon. Farrel made reservations at Jaker's for dinner, so we all, for the most part, got to sit together. It was a nice relaxing evening.

Sunday we got up early and had a nice continental breakfast (snack) then headed to Hamilton for breakfast. Richard and Debbie Morris had to leave us because Debbie's brother passed away. We were all sorry to hear that.

After breakfast we headed to the Big Hole battleground where we stopped for a nice visit. It was on to Dillon for lunch and then home.

I want to thank everyone who went on the trip for helping us with Sarah and Patrick. It was the first Corvette trip they made and I think they did pretty good. Thanks to Farrell and Darlene Davidson for planning the great trip.

For those who couldn't go, it was a wonderful trip. Maybe you can make the next one to Vancouver that Linda Moore is planning.

Is Your Corvette Really Sleeping During the Winter?

By Ken Johnson

fearless1@abac.com

Greetings fellow Corvette owners. Spring is fast returning to our beloved Pacific Northwest. That magical time when fair skies invite us to roll out our prized Corvettes will soon be upon us. Bennett and I are lucky enough to be able to allow our Corvette a safe winter slumber, while rain, ice, and sanded roads assault the less fortunate. But is your Corvette asleep really? If you own a 1985 or newer car of any kind, the answer is No!

Electronics have slowly crept into the automobile for quite awhile now and have changed the rules in many ways. I am an A.S.E. Certified Electrical Specialist and A.S.E. Master Engine Machinist. A 1985 or newer car has anywhere from 2 to 26 computer chips on board. These chips do not sleep. They are constantly monitoring input even when the car is parked, slowly drawing electrical sustenance from the battery.

Mrs. Johnson knows nothing about how her Corvette works, and she doesn't want to know. Many of you are the same way. That's FINE. I do not intend to teach or preach. I will try to save you some heartache with your automotive electrical system.

In each owner's manual there is a statement about how long you can leave the vehicle parked without having to charge the battery. Our '96 Vette manual actually says, "You may disconnect the battery, if you intend to leave the vehicle sit for more than 25 days." (Vehicle storage section.) Please READ your manual. Some cars, 1995 or later, can be gravely harmed by merely disconnecting the battery. Some systems are actually programmed to assume when there is a power disconnect that there has been an accident. Also they assume the air bags are deployed and disable those systems in case they did not deploy correctly. These codes cannot be removed unless the vehicle is taken to the dealership for service (read: big dollars).

If your battery test readings show less than 11.9 volts, or the car will not start, you can safely charge the battery and not harm anything with some simple steps. Go get a big 12 volt lantern battery, and some short wires. Alligator clips are nice here. Connect the positive wire to the B+ terminal on your alternator. Connect negative to ground some where. Now you can disconnect the car's battery and the system will be able to feed off the lantern battery. Do not hook a battery charger to a battery still connected to the vehicle! A voltage spike could blow out thousands of dollars in your electrical system! Trickle charge is better than a fast charge. There are simply laws of physical nature that can't be broken. A battery takes a certain amount of time to be charged up correctly -- usually 8 to10 hours.

Many times I hear the statement, "I'll just jump it and let the alternator charge the battery." Twenty years ago our 60-amp alternators could full charge for long periods and not burn up. Eventually they would charge a battery. Now, we need 120 to 160 amp alternators just to keep our new vehicles going down the road. If we expect to require 150 amps continuously from our charging systems, we will make some auto tech somewhere very happy. A 150-amp alternator simply can't fulfill this requirement for very long. It will burn itself up trying to charge the battery! Just remember: your alternator is NOT a battery charger.

Save yourself some heartache. Replace the battery when it's four years old. If you store your car longer than two weeks, charge the battery as I have described above. As a member of the Rose City Corvette Club, I will be happy to see you at one or our events, car and driver in full health. Your electrical specialist would prefer that you disregard this message entirely! They have to make a living too. I love to talk cars. I am always willing and available for discussion anytime!

How to Spend $44K and never leave Your Computer

One morning I woke up and decided to see how hard it would be to buy a new Corvette over the Internet. I began by checking into the General's web page for buying cars ­ GMBuyPower.com.

The first three major hurdles I had to overcome were choosing coupe, convertible, or hardtop; entering my area's zip code; and then going to the "build your own" section of the web page. Things really got fun after that.

In the build-your-own section I chose a coupe for $39,288 with a $645 "destination" charge and then got to the serious stuff. In the power teams subsection I selected the 6-speed for an additional $815 but opted not to take the performance handling package ($350) or the selective real time damping ($1695). I'm getting too old for stiff springs and a hard ride

Being a little short on cash (like having none) I selected the "high polished aluminum wheels" for $895 over the "magnesium wheels" for $2000. My cost was now $41,635.

The Optional Equipment section offered the most choices of the four areas. A buyer could have a lot of fun here. I checked the adjustable drivers power seat for $700 and the 6-way power passenger seat adjuster for $305 (my best friend is vertically challenged and needs a lot of seat adjustment). I then got electronic air ($365), front floor mats ($25), luggage shade and parcel net ($50), radio upgrade with CD ($100), and the memory package ($150), which remembers seat adjustments, radio station, and mirror settings for two different drivers.

I choose to bypass the "two tops" option for $1100 and the option of replacing the hard top with the blue-tinted one for $650. I also bypassed the active handling system for $500 (a computer system that adjusts power to the wheels and brakes to keep you safe) and the twilight sentinel system (a computer system that turns your lights on and off and dims them for you). I also choose not to get the "heads-up display" for $375; it reminded me of the kid computer games that always defeat me. I did, however, check the power telescoping steering wheel ($350) for my friend's sake. My cost was now $43,580.

That $43,580 included the option to pick my new car up at the Corvette Museum in Kentucky for $490. (The interesting thing was that choosing this option didn't eliminate the "destination" charge of $645!) The "Museum Delivery" option included "delivery at Bowling Green, my Corvette displayed on the same floor as legendary Corvettes from the past, personalized museum tour, engraved plaque, commemorative decal, and tour of Corvette assembly plant."

The final option I selected was a special "Magnetic Red metallic" paint for $500. Everybody wants their Corvette to stand out from the others! Right? Final cost: $44,080.

From there I clicked "finished selection" and then "locate." The next screen listed the following:

Monte Wight: Sebring Silver Metallic; Black Leather $47,874

Smith Chevrolet: Millenium Yellow; Light Gray Leather $48,119

Magnetic Red Metallic; Light Gray Leather $47,364

Magnetic Red Metallic; Light Gray Leather $47,969

Taylor Chevrolet: Arctic White; Light Gray Leather $45,409

Clicking on one of these cars would give you a new screen listing only minimum options, not including type of transmission!

So much for "building your own!" My choices were then "Get our best price," "Schedule a test drive," "Hold this vehicle," and "Other." And finally there was an option to "Choose this vehicle from dealer inventory." I think this one meant put up or shut up!

Looking back, I don't think any of this did me any more good than just visiting the dealers. The car I had built was around $3,000 less than the ones in inventory, but without the options list it was hard to compare.

How They Got Theirs

I thought there must be an easier way and then wondered how those lucky people with new 2000 and 1999 Corvettes got theirs. So I called a few of them.

Kelly and Terry Armstrong bought their new 2000 in Brookhaven, Mississippi over the Labor Day holiday -- not because they wanted to or even planned to buy a new 2000, but because their '86 died there (a cracked block or head). They were on their way to New Orleans with the Novaks and Hughes.

"The dealer took a day to fix a bad radiator. Before we got out of town, it overheated again and white smoke came out of the exhaust," says Kelly. "It required a major rebuild, and we were tired and a long ways from home."

Earlier, traveling from Bowling Green on their way to New Orleans, they had passed a truckload of Corvettes. While they were getting the bad news on their Vette, the truck with the load of new Corvettes arrived and unloaded one Pewter coupe. Terry said, "Make me an offer!" and the rest is history.

Jack Larson, who "hangs out at Monte Wight Chevrolet a lot" stopped there one day to look at a new 1999 on display. Having had a '73 and a Silver Anniversary '78 in the past, Jack had been thinking about buying another Corvette for the past 11 years. He gave serious thought to buying the '99. In the end he choose not to, but did tell the people at Monte Wight that if he were to buy one it would have to be a 6-speed, red, have polished wheels, etc, etc, etc.

Jack later thought that if he were to buy a new Corvette he would probably wait until 2000; having a "millennium" car sounded like something special to him. He even looked into the availability of a "Y2KVet" license plate.

Guess what? Sometime later a salesman from Monte Wight called Jack to tell him "his" Corvette was in, just as he had wanted it. And the State of Idaho told him the license he wanted was also available. So Jack fulfilled his 11-year-old dream.

Bill and Lolly Martin special ordered their '99 in June of '98. Seven months later they took delivery. However, things didn't go well. The car developed electrical problems (related to a bad starter) and a chattering clutch. After the dealer's third attempt at fixing the clutch, Bill went to the factory rep and got him to agree to buy the car back. It had 7,000 miles on it.

With his returned money, Bill reordered essentially the same car in October 1999. His new 2000 Corvette arrived in February and now has 3,000 miles without any problems. "I changed the color of the interior so I wouldn't feel like I was driving the same car," says Bill.

Although Dick and Trisha Bargman haven't yet seen their newly purchased 1999, they now own one after a thorough nationwide search done by Trisha on the Internet. Dick says there were hundreds of '99's for sale, but when you deleted those with automatics and the colors they didn't want, the available cars got pretty slim pretty quick.

Son Pete found exactly what Dick and Trisha were looking for in Wake Forest, North Carolina, close to where Pete lives. After a little negotiating, Dick and Trisha purchased the car. Pete picked it up and will "store" it at his home until the Bargmans can come get it. Dick tells me that Pete is limited to driving the new car 50 miles, and it is a 30-mile drive from where he picks it up to his home. (Yea right, Dick! Good luck.)

Trisha and Linda Moore have plans to fly to North Carolina and drive the car home at the end of May. No Thelma and Louise actions please ladies.

Wild West Vette Fest

We need door prizes. Please, everyone, donate one door prize. It doesn't need to be expensive (around $10), but should be transportable so our out-of-town guests can take them when they leave. Give the door prize to Bev or Brian Novak.

June

Birthdays

Bev Novak	1
Bill Merrell	2
Susan Larson	5
Egon Lamprecht	8
Brian Denny	30
Fred Dilorellzo	20

Wonderful Man

By Trish Bargman

Two weeks ago we had a wonderful trip that was planned by Farrell and Darlene Davidson. We had a great time with good people, food, scenery, and weather.

For me, the best part was the people. We had a really nice mix of old members and new. As I looked around I realized that at least half of the people on this trip were brought into the club by one person ­ Sam Miller.

I remembered that Sam had tracked us down and made us promise to come to a meeting. "Just come to a meeting and see if you like it. We have a really nice bunch of people in the club."

Well that was nine years ago. We wouldn't have been on this beautiful spring ride if Sam hadn't brought Farrell and Darlene into the club. Farrell has lots of ideas for future trips and I would advise everyone to take advantage of his planning and come along the next time. I think I can safely promise you a fun trip with lots of information and all the best places to find the best cobbler, scenic roads, steaks, skinny dip'n places, etc.

So Sam I want to Thank You for all that you have done to help this club grow and become what it is today. Keep up the good work. You have made a difference. I just wanted you to know that.

Albertson's Show

By Janet Miller

The Rexburg Albertson's Store, next to Wal Mart, has invited all Corvette owners to come to their store from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 17 for a Vette display. I told the Albertson's people that I would get as many cars as I could to show support for their support of our Wild West Vette Fest show.

Bring lawn chairs to relax in. We usually just walk across the parking lot and eat at Arby's for lunch. If you have any questions, please call me at 356-8678.

Clean up The Highway.

Let's meet at the old Earnst building at 4:00 p.m., June 11 (Sunday) to clean our portion of the highway. This is one way to give back to the community and it is good way to keep the highways clean. I'm pretty sure the club will buy the ice cream after we are all done. Lets have another great turnout this year!