Minutes
of the May 2003 Meeting
by
Barbara Bell
The club met for dinner at Wingers. There were 32 in attendance. President Bill Waters conducted a short business meeting.
Ron Bone reported that the Flaming Gorge trip was great. Eight cars participated. They spent two nights on the road, and enjoyed mostly sunshine.
There are 10 cars committed to going on the California trip so far. It looks as if the pass will be open.
Wayne announced the next planning meeting for the Wild West 'Vette Fest will be Wednesday, May 28th at 8 PM at Bartons. He also asked that everyone help get sponsors committed.
Randy told how successful the Dare Dress for Success project was this year. There was a great turnout; in fact, next year there may have to be higher qualifications for the students as there were so many students this year who qualified. The officers presented Key Chains to all who donated their time and cars for the project to show appreciation. The officers would like to become a member of the club, buy a Corvette, and paint it up to use in the program. If anyone knows of a car for sale, let Randy know.
The next meeting was set as a brunch at JJ Norths on Saturday, June 21st at 10AM, and then we will take a little drive.
We will go on the first and third Thursday, alternating between Scotties in Idaho Falls on the first Thursday, and the Sonic in Rexburg on the third Thursday.
June
Birthdays
| Bev Novak | 1 |
| Christy Goody | 2 |
| Bill Merrell | 2 |
| Susan Larsen | 5 |
| Egon Lamprecht | 8 |
| John Pentecost | 29 |
Corvettes Outrun Rains to Flaming Gorge
by Ron Bone
Eight Corvettes gathered at the motel on the
night of May 2, 2003 to begin our season opener trip to the Flaming Gorge. Most had been peppered with bugs as they
drove from Idaho to Salt Lake City, prompting some owners to return to the
parking lot after dark with bug scrapers in hand. Dick Bargman convinced two young ladies who were passing through
that yes, these were all his Corvettes and yes, Ken and Linda Olsen's bright
yellow '73 was his favorite, too.
Storm clouds threatened from the west as we
departed on Saturday morning but spirits were high. Rich and Linda Morris gave their silent blessing to a little
tweaking with the speed limit, so before long the clouds began to recede in our
rear view mirrors and the sun came out for a beautiful day.
Heading east on U.S. 40, we crested Daniel's
Pass at 8,000 feet and entered the Uinta and Ouray Indian Reservation. Duchesne, Utah, a thriving metropolis of
1,400, was big enough nonetheless to sport some scenery that caught Tommy
Taylor's watchful eye. We managed to
get him back on the road, though, and arrived at Dinosaur National Monument
before lunch. It looked for a few
minutes as though we would all have to pay $ 10 per car to see the dinosaur
quarry. But Wayne Valentine sprang to
the rescue and persuaded the attendant to allow all the Corvettes to enter on
Farrell and Darlene Davidson's Golden Age passes. Buoyed by our good fortune, we all enjoyed the quarry immensely.
After lunch at Vernal, Utah, we turned north
and negotiated some very nice uphill switchbacks that were made, no doubt, just
for us. We toured the Flaming Gorge Dam
Visitor Center then departed, under the watchful eyes of three patrol cars in
the parking lot, for Red Canyon Overlook.
This was to be the scenic highlight of the trip, so we were
understandably disappointed when rain struck us as we were in route. Our worry was for naught, though, as the
rain stopped and the sun came out as if on cue as we approached the
overlook. We had it to ourselves, and
the sight of the rugged and colorful canyon carved by the Green River was worth
the trip!
After a nice cruise through the scenic high
desert country to the east of the gorge, we arrived at the motel in Green River,
Wyoming. Pam Valentine and Peggy Bone
both managed to activate their security alarms while sitting in their cars,
extracting their husbands from the check-in waiting line and drawing lots of
unwanted attention to themselves in the process. While touring the town later that evening, Wayne Valentine
validated the discovery that one wrong turn at Green River assures that you are
going to see Rock Springs. The
knowledge came in handy the next morning, however, as we left town.
Sunday morning dawned as yet another
beautiful day. After a short, but
earnest, insurrection the night before, it was decided that the scheduled 7:30
A.M. departure would be moved back to 8:30 A.M. On the return trip we skirted
the western shore of Bear Lake and enjoyed its beautiful blue waters. Terry and Marjean Rinlisbaker gave us an
insider's guided tour of the area, providing a running commentary over the
radio as we drove through. After a nice
lunch at the Enders Hotel in Soda Springs, we zipped up Interstate 1-5 and
returned to our homes by midafternoon, tired but refreshed by the trip.
Searspoint Raceway is calling us. July 25 – 27, 2003, the American Le Mans series race will be run at the Grand Prix of Sonoma. Featured will be factory Corvettes, LMP 900 prototypes, GT Class. Also the weekend will feature the return of the Speed World Challenge Series, which includes the modified street Corvettes, BMW M3, and other sports cars. The triple-header of weekend racing will also include the Super Truck Racing Association of America. There will also be car corrals and vendors. There are already some guys signed up and I will need to know of anyone else that is interested as soon as possible. Remember that this is the same weekend as Boise Vette Fest, so if that is already in your plans you will have to wait until the next Guy’s Race Weekend. Tickets can be purchased at the raceway (no assigned seating) but hotel and driving arrangements need to be made. Contact Dick Bargman 458-4671 or bargman@srv.net.
Thanks to Ron Bone for planning the trip to Dinosaur
and The Flaming Gorge. Everyone had a great time and we got to meet our members
from Bancroft, Terry & Marjean Rinlisbaker. We had good weather; at least
each time we got out of the car to look around it quit raining. The roads were
fun and very lightly traveled. Ron has some other ideas for weekend or day
trips and I’m sure they will be as successful as the first one was. Good Job
Ron.
The Corvettes of Southeast Idaho sent five cars to the meet in Billings, MT. We saw lots of old friends, did a beautiful poker run to Red Lodge and back, took a tour of the area answering question about things we saw (not one divorce or separation has been reported), enjoyed the Funkana, and watched the Autocross. They had good food and the entertainment was excellent. We won door prizes and a special sponsor award. The Glass Reunion put on a fun event with just the right mix of activities and relax time. This is a rotating show. One of the clubs from Montana does this every year so you get some of the same things with just enough difference to keep it interesting each year. It is always over the Memorial Day weekend and you should put it on your to do list for next year right now. The event next year will be in Whitefish. Glass Reunion -- we had a great time thank you!
The Snake River club may be fairly new at putting on shows, but they are really fast learners. They put on a great show down at Cactus Pete’s over the last weekend. We had 6 ½ cars there (Rich and Linda had to keep going to California so were only there Friday night). Every car entered in the show ‘n’ shine from our club got a trophy, and almost everyone won a door prize (some won lot’s). We went to the show and almost everyone stayed awake, no one got grounded this time (you had to be there) and everyone learned how to get crab out of the shell. The Snake River club did a great job and next year’s Border Run should also be on a priority list for next year. Snake River Corvettes -- for all your hard work we thank you.
Wretched Excess
Condensed from Corvette Magazine
Rich Rembold can talk
the talk. He also can walk the walk. Who couldn’t once they’ve gone to such
great lengths of excess?
Actually, Rich, who is a
college professor, has gone a step past excess to what he labels "wretched
excess".
His ‘98 C5 is currently the one and only Lingenfelter twin-turbo 427 wide body
in the world. With 725 horsepower, of which 613, along with 679 foot pounds of
torque, transfer to the rear wheels, Rich’s ride is, as he says, "in a
league with the likes of a McLaren F1."
Initially, Rich merely wanted his Corvette modified by Lingenfelter. He sent
his C5 to LPE for the installation of a Stage 1 twin turbo on the stock LS1
engine "We started showing the car at various events," Rich explains.
"And we also enjoyed it out on the highway."
A year later, Rich went back to Lingenfelter for an upgrade to the 383 stroker,
still with twin turbos.
At the same time as the 383 stroker was being installed, Rich went
for "the look" with the glorious wide body, developed by Lingenfelter
for post 200 MPH testing. “After John Lingenfelter turned that 225 or 226 in
his Stage II twin turbo, it felt a little light. So the body may have been in
response to meeting the needs for high speed stability,” says Rich.
If we were a professor,
Rembold would receive an A in Lingenfelter History 101. In a manner of
speaking, the C5 body was "too aerodynamic." What was needed was more
down force and thus more drag, for more stability to hold the road. A side
benefit of the wide body is the ability to carry a wider set of wheels and
tires.
If Rembold had made a hit
with his twin-turbo C5 stock-bodied coupe, he became the darling of concours
showing in his Wretched Excess clothes. He placed second in the entire East
Region in concours events. But alas, stone chips from highway cruising
eventually took their points toll. Rich sent the C5 back to LPE for paint.
Rembold was not one to pass up opportunity. He’d shipped the C5 from Maryland
to Indiana, and at LPE the 427 was a possibility. LPE explained the C5-R block
was available. Rich gave the okay, "Let’s do it." The result is
the first 427 twin turbo installed in the wide body “You’ve got to be kidding”
Corvette.
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How fast? Off the bat, 0-60 is under three seconds -
at 2.97. One thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three, end of story.