Summer is still hot – 90’s as we go to print~! What a super hot July we had and August is leading us right into September with no let up on the heat. Car shows and cruises are reveling in attendance because of the lack of rain this year. I see people driving classics out on the road from the early morning hours to late at night. That’s cool, its great to be able to get out there and enjoy what you have. This season has afforded great opportunities to do just that!

This time out our columns focus on some more serious issues besides car restos and other automotive enjoyment. We often take things for granted. Health and life to name the two biggies. Two of our columns deal with both of those issues and revolve around automotive events that seek to bring awareness to them, and help and hope to people.

Do take the time to read them thoroughly, and take part in these activities too if you can.

And of course, we have some fun stuff in this edition too!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1 Editor’s Introduction

2 Picture Caption Contest

3 Cruise Night Information & Updates

4 Guest Writer’s Columns

Sandy Kane

Justin Appelbaum

Tim Jaccard

Rich’s Tech Tips

My Car Story

5 The Archive

6 Editor’s Closing

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Long Island Classic Cars’

AUTOMOTIVE PICTURE CAPTION CONTEST

Submit your entry along with your name and e-mail address to: newsletter@liclassiccars.com

This contest is open to everyone! (LI Classic Cars.com paid personnel, regular column writers, and business advertisers are not eligible.)

Winners will be notified by e-mail and/or phone.

Please submit all entries by the 20th of the next month. (Ex: for August’s contest the entries are due by September 20th)

No substitutions of prizes will be allowed.

In the event of prize choices, winner will be given the opportunity to select the one they want.

All decisions are final and are made by the paid personnel of Long Island Classic Cars.com

Winners must claim their prizes within 30 days of contest end or forfeit the prize to the runner up.

If there are multiple correct entries on puzzle, matching, fill-in, or Q&A contests - winner will be randomly selected from all correct entries.

A few simple rules:

1) Be funny and creative!

2) Keep it somewhat clean!

Here is last issue’s winning caption from Marc Gottlieb….

“Does pulling on this bumper make my butt look fat?”

Marc wins a Mr. Clean Car Wash kit! Congratulations!!

Here is this month’s picture…

Go to it! Send in your funniest creative captions by 9/20/10 and win the prize!

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“EXTRA EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!” 18 Big Locations now!!

Thanks again for the input people!

Any others in Queens or Brooklyn that we don’t know about??? TELL US!

2010 Cruise Night location updates:

TUESDAYS: McDonald's. Metropolitan Ave. & 69^th Road, Forest Hills, NY.

Sponsored by East Coast Car Association/Toys For Tots. $? to charity

TUESDAYS: Tri-County Flea Market. Hempstead Turnpike, Levittown, NY

Public Gathering. FREE

WEDNESDAYS: Nathan’s. Long Beach Rd, Oceanside, NY

Public Gathering. FREE

THURSDAYS: Wendy’s Shopping Center. Montauk Hwy and Locust Ave, Oakdale, NY

Sponsored by Still Cruisin’ Car Club. FREE

THURSDAYS: Stop & Shop. Union Blvd, West Islip, NY

Sponsored by Long Island Road Gents. FREE

THURSDAYS: Kings Park Plaza-Located on Indian Head Rd & Meadow Rd. Kings Park, NY

Sponsored by Kings Park Chamber of Commerce and Professor’s Diner. FREE

THURSDAYS: Bridge, Glen, & School Streets. Glen Cove, NY

Sponsored by the Glen Cove Fire Dept. & The Downtown Business District. $5

THURSDAYS: Atlantic Avenue between Merrick Rd and Sunrise Hwy. Lynbrook, NY (June-August)

Sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce for “Community Chest” soup kitchen. $? to charity.

THURSDAYS: Cradle of Aviation Museum. Chas Lindbergh Blvd, Garden City, NY

Sponsored by The Cradle & The Autoseum. FREE (July-August)

FRIDAYS: Stop & Shop Center. Cypress Hills St & Myrtle Ave. Glendale, NY

Sponsored by East Coast Car Association/Toys for Tots. $? to charity

FRIDAYS: Bellmore Train Station. Sunrise Highway. Bellmore, NY

Public Gathering. FREE

FRIDAYS: Massapequa Train Station. Sunrise Highway. Massapequa, NY

Sponsored by Massapequa Chamber of Commerce. Two cans or more of food – to charity. (July - August)

SATURDAYS: Bob’s/McDonalds Shopping Center. Sunrise Highway, West Islip, NY

Sponsored by the Long Island Road Gents. FREE

SATURDAYS: Pep Boys Shopping Center. Waverly Ave & Sunrise Highway, Patchogue, NY

Sponsored by the Impressive & Aggressive Motor Club. FREE

SATURDAYS: Cedar Beach. Ocean Parkway, Cedar Beach, NY

Public Gathering. FREE

SUNDAYS: *AM Cruise* Ocean Pkwy, Captree Beach thru May, then at OBI. Babylon, NY

Public Gathering. FREE

SUNDAYS: *AM Cruise* Bob’s/McDonalds Shopping Center. Sunrise Highway, West Islip, NY

Sponsored by the Long Island Road Gents. FREE

SUNDAYS: *Afternoon Cruise* KC O’Malley’s. Gardiner’s Avenue, Levittown, NY

Public Gathering. FREE

If anyone knows of any other cruise locations that are fully up and running and not in danger of being cancelled please let us know so we can post them for all to see - here and in the EVENTS section of the website. Minimum 40 cars attending.

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GUEST WRITERS’ COLUMNS

Sandy Kane is back for his annual story about a show he has been running for several years now – this is the fifth time out and it just gets better and better! This show is for us – not just for fun – but for good health and preventive screening for a serious issue – prostate cancer. Read the article and get yourself down there!

Justin Appelbaum from AutoMat is moving on to another venture in the automotive field. We have enjoyed his AutoMat themed articles for several years now. (Perhaps he’ll keep writing for us from his own personal vault of “car stuff”??) Here is his last article – hope you enjoy it - and give us some feedback on all his work to send him off with!

Regarding cars and life – which one is more important? Obviously life. Tim Jaccard writes about how lives, innocent and helpless ones, are saved by a particular organization, and how the car hobby is involved in this most worthwhile of efforts!

Rich’s Tech Tips shoots sparks this time around – in fact its all about those 8 little pluggies that make your car go go go!

Only Rich can have so much info to impart on these things. We gotta take up a collection for this guy – all this advice for free!!

In the My Car Story section, Bill Rappel tries to give a valid reason why he undertook a project car when he had a super sweet restored one already! The car in question turned out to be very nice when done – and a unique and pretty cool machine!

Here’s to taking chances!! Well done Bill!

Enjoy…

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By Sandy Kane

“If summer is approaching, can Long Island Cruizin’ be far behind?”

As we head into our fifth yearly show I want to thank all of who have supported Long Island Cruizin’ For A Cure and helped us to grow into a “must attend” show. For those of you who have not yet attended Long Island Cruizin’ my only question is………..why have you not come out to one of the up and coming, best on Long Island car shows?

Once again we will be offering free PSA testing (a simple blood draw) provided by the staff of South Nassau Communities Hospital. This test is available to every man over forty attending the show, is done under the HIPPA privacy guidelines and takes about five minutes. It is very rewarding to have a man come up to me at the event, tell me that he was tested, had an elevated PSA, followed up and as a result is alive today. In the past four years we have had twelve situations just like this where the testing done at the show saved the man’s life!

The show has grown and evolved from a grass field in Merrick that held 200+ cars to an all blacktop, easy to get to location in Melville with a capacity for 900-1000 exhibitor cars as well as 500-1000 visitor cars. We had more than 400 exhibitor cars at the show in 2009 and are forecasting more than 600 for 2010 and 2000+ visitors!

The food is good, the entertainment is nostalgic (Kayla Star – the 12 year old Connie Francis sound alike, and Fonzie and Chachi, right out of the 50’s from the finger snapping to the music they play to their converted van) although I am waiting for Fonzie to bring down one of his own cars.

We have some neat sponsors for the show including Allstate Insurance (our lead sponsor for 2010) as well as returning sponsors Ferrari Maserati of Long Island, Plycar Auto Transport and AAA, as well as a number of vendors for you to shop in the vendor pavilion. Our goody bag, available to the first 200 pre registered exhibitor cars, has some quality merchandise offers as well as a show tee shirt with the shirt available beyond the 200 as long as supplies last. Lest I forget, there will also be a 50/50 raffle with some great additional raffle prizes.

We are an all volunteer event (and always looking for more), with many being Prostate Cancer survivors, and a New York State Not-For-Profit corporation. The money we raise goes to cover the testing done at the show as well as an offsite year round PSA testing program currently being implemented as well as a series of “Town Hall” meeting to provide the general public with information about Prostate Cancer.

The best things at the show are the people and the cars. We have a lot of families attending where dad wants to bring back the nostalgia, mom wants to shop in the vendor area and the kids want to see the neat cars, trucks, etc in attendance. We have everything from the Austin Powers Corvette (at the show in 2009 and invited back for 2010) to old fire trucks and telephone company trucks to 40’s hot rods, 50’s classics, 60’s muscle cars, to the exotic Ferrari’s…..and everything in between.

It truly is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon in September and at the same time support a cause that is near and dear in the hearts of all men.

Sunday September 12^th at Capital One Bank headquarters – exit 49 North (Route 110) on the Long Island Expressway. To learn more about the event and see a pictorial history (NEWS page) and to download a car exhibitor entry form please visit our website www.licrizinforacure.com.

( Sandy – its been great every year – thanks again for your efforts!) Pete

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Not THE END

By Justin Appelbaum

There comes a time in everyone’s life where choices have to be made, some good, some bad, but in the end all we can hope for is that we made the right ones. I have spent the better part of my working career at AutoMat Co., I can’t believe that I have been here for about 14 years, with a 5 year hiatus. Like any company there were good times as well as bad, but thankfully there were way more of the good ones. Being part of this company, this family, has taught me a tremendous amount about cars and life. I can now say that I am able practically drive anything you can throw at me, from a 1898 Ford with a tiller instead of a steering wheel, to a 2011 Lamborghini with paddle shifters and everything in between. But with anything in life there comes a time when all things must come to an end. So this will be my last column as an employee of AutoMat Co.

I will be moving on to become the shop/parts manager of an auto body shop in Great Neck. There are multiple reasons for my decision to make this move, but the biggest one is the prospect for much advancement over the next 5-10 years. In no way am I ending my relationship with AutoMat Co and I will continue to remain in contact with all the people that I have been working with over the years, both employees and customers. I certainly look forward to continuing to go to car shows and cruise nights, but now it will be as a participant, and not “on the clock.” Which will be a nice change.

As of now there is no one specific person that will be taking my position. Tim, the owner, will be assuming most of my duties and some of the guys in the shop will be there, stepping up to help him out. There are rumors that someone very close to this news letter may be in discussion to fill in where I left off……but that is yet to be determined, so we will see.

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing for this column over the years, as well as others that have fallen by the way side. I can attest to you that my parents, who put me through college with a degree in English (what’s he gonna do with that; was always the question) certainly enjoyed telling everyone that I was now a published writer. It always gave me an outlet for all of the hard work that goes into building, restoring and customizing all of the high end rids that you have come to know over the past few years. Even though I will not be in the same aspect of the car industry, I will continue writing for this column. It might not be on the same topics as I have been covering but I can assure you that they will still be entertaining.

Thank you to everyone and I’ll be writing for you in the future!!!

( Justin – thanks for all the great stories and we hope they will continue! Good luck in your new venture!) Pete

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Safe Haven

Tim Jaccard

“The silence of pure innocence persuades when speaking fails.”

William Shakespeare

There are ninety four innocent newborn babies buried at Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury, babies that never got to speak or live a normal life. None of their mothers were there to see the burial, but the tiny bodies were not laid to rest alone or unheard. Because of them, and the heroic efforts of one man, hundreds of newborns have been saved.

It all began over eleven years ago, when Tim Jaccard, a Nassau County police medic, found himself questioning the indiscriminate killing of newborn babies.

Within a period of a few weeks, he had responded to heart breaking calls that would change his life forever. The first of those calls was for a baby that was drowned in a toilet bowl in the Hempstead courthouse. Three weeks later it was a call for a baby not breathing left in a bag on the side of an office building in Albertson. Only two weeks later, he was called to respond for a baby that was shoved into a plastic bag and unearthed by a dog. Only two weeks after that, it was a baby not breathing found in a recycling bin in Cedarhurst.

It was all too much, even for a seasoned medical technician who had thirty six years experience. Tim knew he had to do something. So, he decided to research infanticide and soon discovered that a woman could not legally give birth to a baby and leave that baby with no intent to return. In fact, she could be charged with abandonment, endangering the welfare of a child, and child neglect, all felony charges that could result in a four year jail term. Armed with that information, Tim began his long journey. His first attempt was to try to get local legislators and politicians to support a Baby bill, which would provide a place where mothers could leave unwanted newborns. But, he got nowhere. Undaunted, he continued his research and found that in a ten month period in just three cities in the Country, there were 41 cases of neonaticide, or the killing of the baby in the first 24 hours of life.

Tim only became more determined. He continued his fight, which brought him to the Center for Disease Control where he testified about the need for new laws. It was there that he met Congresswoman Jeannie Morrison of Texas and John Tyson, the D.A. in Mobile Alabama. “Both Cities were having the same problems, so we put our bills together and decided to start an Awareness Program,” Tim said. Texas was the first state to come onboard with they called the ‘Baby Moses Bill’, which was signed by then Governor George W. Bush, the only governor, according to Tim, that was, at that time, willing to take on the problem head on. The bill was signed into law in 1999.

New York State did finally pass a bill in July, 2000, becoming the 12^th state to do so. In January of 2010, the District of Columbia came on board. It had been a long road, but finally every state and district in the Country now had a law, according to Tim. Most of them have the same version of the law, but New York State and South Carolina are the only two states that allow the mother to turn the baby over to any responsible party. It gives the birth mother the right to relinquish the baby to a hospital, police or fire station, or any responsible person willing to accept the newborn and call the proper authorities to have the baby transported to the hospital.

Another recent development is the addition of ambulances as an official drop off site. “By law they are extensions of a hospital, and as an extension, it allows a birth mother to call and have the ambulance pick up the newborn infant and have the medical staff transfer the baby to the hospital,” Tim explained, adding, “there are 3,900 ambulances in thirty one states that now have the logo and are aiding in the prevention of new born infant deaths.”

Nassau County, in January, become the first municipality to install the Safe Haven directional signs under the blue directional Hospital signs, and to install the logos that designate Save Haven on their ambulances.

As awareness of the program grows so does the calls for help. Last year the New York State hotline received 2,115 calls and aided 121 birth mothers making adoption plans. There were 21 relinquishments in the state, and 3 newborns found victim to neonaticide. When Safe Haven is informed of the death of a newborn, they get the health proxy for that child. They then ensure that each and every newborn is laid to rest with dignity, love and honor.

The fight for Tim has been a long and difficult one, filled with a sense of accomplishment as well as a sense of frustration. “The fact so many newborn infants have been adopted to loving families and I have been invited to their conformations, baptisms, and then to have to baptize the baby that has been victim to neonaticide knowing that the child could have been adopted by a loving family is heart wrenching. I get a knot in my stomach thinking that this child could have survived had the mother called and relinquished the baby anonymously to us,” said Tim.

One of the worst experiences for Tim was Baby Michael Hope, (all the babies get the last name of Hope.) The baby had been abandoned in Hempstead on a golf course. A dog had eaten part of the baby and dragged the body into the street. It was run over several times. A member of the American Spirit Motorcycle group also adopted Michael, and ever year on the anniversary of the Michael’s death, the group rides to his grave and leaves flowers. “They consider him to be part of the American Spirit family,” said Tim. But, there are also the times that Tim is able to save a baby’s life.

One recent one came on Good Friday of this year. Tim was having one of his rare breakfasts with his wife when the crisis center in Ohio contacted him. They had a woman in labor on the telephone. The call was transferred to Tim, who had done five previous telephone births. Within one and a half hours, the labor would be over and the baby born. The birth mother put her telephone on speaker, and Tim talked her through the birthing process. He directed her to get towels, sheets and some string to tie off the umbilical cord, all the while trying to convince her to get some help. She continued to refuse. Tim then described how she could tell if the baby was crowning. She said she felt the baby’s head and he told her to start pushing. After the third heavy contraction, the baby was born. Following Tim’s directions for cutting the cord, the mother then cleared the baby’s mouth with her finger, and baby started crying “loud and clear”. Tim was elated. “I explained to her to put the baby in the towel and keep him warm and then she had to deliver the placenta next. After 15 minutes, the mother expelled the placenta, and described it to me in full detail. This is done to see if any tears or any materials are still left inside of her,” Tim explained.

The birth mother then rested for about 25 minutes, all the time keeping in telephone contact with Tim, who kept trying to convince her to let him have someone come and care for her. The mother kept refusing, and after Tim was convinced it was safe for her, she agreed to get into her car and bring the baby to a local hospital. Meanwhile, Tim had to inform the staff at the hospital as to the details and requirements of the law. Soon after, the mother arrived at the hospital and the baby was handed over to the medical staff. Despite his pleas, the mother refused to stay. She did agree to keep in contact with Tim, and called him back every hour for the first six hours. She also called on Saturday and Sunday mornings and told him she was sore but doing well. She agreed to take vitamins but would not take an antibiotic.

On Easter Sunday, Tim took another call. This time the mother had already given birth. She agreed to leave the baby at a local church. When the weekend was over, Tim knew his battle that had started years ago, was one that was worth fighting. He had saved two infants, who otherwise might not have been able to go on to live normal lives. “It is because of Tim’s seemingly never ending fight to protect newborns, that our local CSEA has supported his cause for many years”, said Charles Sellitto. “We are honored to know that we can be part of protecting the lives of those who are too young to protect themselves.”

Here on Long Island Tim and Safe Haven will be hosting their 4^th annual “Ride for Hope Poker Run” at Cedar Creek Park in Seaford. (See liclassiccars.com EVENTS section for details!) Classic and Specialty cars, along with motorcycles can come on down….(hundreds were in attendance last year!) … and in addition to the “Run”, there is a Barbecue, live music and a Chicken-Wing Tasting Contest judged by the participants in the run. This will be a truly successful event and a wonderful day for all. WBAB radio will be on hand to air the event live, and there will be many other things going on. The last few years have been great and the funds raised go towards the AMT Children of Hope Foundation / Baby Safe Haven. Prizes will be awarded to all winning contestants at the end of the run!

See you there this year again – and thanks to all the people who have brought their rides the past few years! Lets make this years the biggest and best!

(God bless you and your efforts Tim. Truly this is one of the most important tasks in life.) Pete

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RICH’S TECH TIPS

By Rich Fiore

LETS LOOK AT THE PLUGS THERE SPARKY

Sparks plugs can be a great storybook of how an internal combustion engine is performing. The color, condition and deposits present on the tip provide evidence as to what’s going on inside your engine. Even though ignition systems went to breakerless in the early 70's, spark plugs still remain at the core of the ignition system. Spark plug technology has definitely evolved over the years but they still perform the same basic function. They allow a high voltage surge of electricity to jump across a gap which is located in the combustion chamber. This of course is still required to fire a fuel-air charge which is in a highly compressed state.

Reading spark plugs can be a mystery for some, but is a must for performance tuning. Of course it can give you some early insight into any problem that may rear its ugly head. Its always important to jot down which cylinder each plug came from. This way if engine or head service is required it gets one in the right ballpark and can save unnecessary work on other cylinders.

In a good running and properly tuned engine, all of the plugs should be uniform in color. All of the plugs should have a tan or slightly reddish coloring. Anything else - and there is more than likely a problem. If those babies come out greasy, crusty, coated, burnt, or close to white – well, lets just say that things aren’t in perfect order at that point.

The possible conditions are as follows:

Oil Fouled - Plugs look greasy - Excessive oil from worn rings or valve guides/seals.

Carbon fouled - Plugs look like black fuzz - Mixture is too rich, plug is too cold, the air cleaner is dirty, or excessive idling.

Gap has been bridged - Light color. Again worn rings, valve guides/seals, plugs too cold and fuel quality.

White blistered insulator - Carb mixture too lean or a vacuum leak.

Flashover - Voltage does not jump gap but travels down the insulator. This occurs on a damp day or if there is too much carbon on the insulator.

Black Gray spots - Caused by detonation - Too low of an octane fuel, incorrect timing and wrong heat range.

Melted looking - Timing too early, too much combustion residue, defective valves, poor fuel quality or too cold of a plug.

Rounded center electrode - Excessive wear and it has exceeded its life span.

Glazing - a hard shiny coating - dirt or sand is entering the combustion chamber and sticks to the plug.

So armed with a little education, one can easily tell what is going on in your engine and prevent any future problems. It just takes a careful review of each plug. Its kinda like your doctor doing a blood test that we all go for yearly .... Right sparky ?

Quick and dirty: When was the last time you pulled some wires off a few plugs, the Distributor cap, and the coil and looked for corrosion?

(Only you Rich can give such an extensive assessment of spark plugs! THANKS – we owe ya again!.) Pete

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My Car Story

Bill Rappel: 1978 AMC Gremlin X

Don’t know why. Just can’t figure it out. Your guess is as good as mine. Four years ago I was the proud owner of a mint condition, red 1965 Buick Riviera. All the work done, won trophies, got plenty of thumbs up and offers to buy. Then one day, while en route to my next telephone repair job, I too a short cut through a salvage yard area block.

Well, there it was on the side of the street in front of Jimmy’s Junk Yard. ’78 Gremlin in Baby Blue, a casualty of neglect… not abuse. A car that even this junkyard cast out onto the street. I guess the other junkers complained. We are talking about a car that no one in their right mind would even consider standing next to, let alone thinking of owning! Putting a “bee in my bonnet”, I decided to go for it! My last car hurrah!

I told myself; “I can do it! It CAN be done! Well… maybe. Maybe not. No – know forget it Bill. Get back in your truck and go. Don’t look back and let yourself have the fully restored ’65 Riviera. You don’t need this! What’s your problem?!”

Am I a softy for “terminally sick has-beens?” Well, you guessed it… I got out of my truck and decided that a full time job, four kids and family weren’t enough responsibility. “How much will you take? How about thirty bucks?” I asked the man. The salvage guy said he wanted $300. I told him that the doors were falling off, it had rust throughout the car – he said the engine and tranny were very good and that he could put them into his Jeep. I swore Jimmy the Junkman to secrecy. If my wife found out that I had paid $300 I’d be in more trouble than you cold imagine. Part of the deal was that the car would be towed to my house. When my wife and four kids got home from school, they were scared of this impersonator of a car!

Now it is four years and thousands of dollars (an hours of work) later. The Riv is sold – don’t look back – and I can admit that I never loved the Riviera like this little Gremlin that we call Mr. G. Heads turn and thumbs go up whenever I take Mr. G. out for a drive. Sometimes people say what I always ask myself: “You restored a Gremlin! Why?” This car is my daily driver on sunny days. I take it to cruise nights and car shows, went to AMO in Berlin, CT two years in a row with it.

Thanks to my wife and kids, the car is almost new. It is redone and now has Cragars, a sunroof, new interior and suspension, plus I added a four barrel carburetor and a set of headers to it. It runs great and looks cool. Anything that could be redone, painted, bolted, or glued has been done. This car is definitely not a cookie cutter or something common!

I always thought that a car reflects a person’s personality. Who would buy, restore, and drive a Gremlin? Well, they are confused and want answers! With me – well, maybe I am paralyzed from the ears up – or perhaps I am a graduate of “What’s A Matter U.” Obviously a Doctor or a Scientist wouldn’t be the owner of a Gremlin. Must be that a person who put this much time and money into this type of car has a job such as Lifeguard in a car wash and be named “Sudsy”.

Well, in any case, just have respect for Mr.G. – He’s been through a lot.

PS - The kids aren’t scared of my Gremlin X anymore – they just laugh at it and at me from time to time!

(Bill – no one’s laughing at either of you – that’s one good looking and clean car! You did the hobby a favor by resurrecting it!) Pete

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The

Pete Giordano

Editor

Long Island Classic Cars.com