Futurliner Newsletter for July 2000

What’s Happening!	One of the most significant developments recently is the fact that GM has offered to help in the redesign of the top structure of the vehicle. This was a weak spot in all the vehicles and created problems when both the side doors were actuated and when the light bar was extended. Don has worked with GM in developing the criteria that must be corrected and they will design new drawings for us to construct a new top structure. Major body projects have included cutting out old rusty sections of structure and panels and welding in new pieces from one end of the vehicle to the other. Brake and steering linkage parts have been removed and tagged for Weller Truck. They have picked up the parts for hot dipping, bead blasting and priming. We have new bearings to install when they are returned. The original parts are all good except the bearings. The drive shafts and universals have been cleaned and reassembled. They have surprising little wear and should perform well after rebuilding. The drivers seat is finally functional. After Dean Tryon took it home to rebuild the wood seat and frame, the vertical adjustment just would not loosen up after weeks of soaking in various liquids. Don took it back to Michigan where they had bigger hammers and managed to free it up. The seat now is ready for the upholsterers when the rest of the cockpit is ready. All the Futurliner work sessions for the 1999-2000 winter took place in the storage area of Don's pole barn. There was no heat, poor lighting, electrical cords and air lines strung from the opposite side of the barn, and the work space around the Futurliner was only about 3' on each side, 1' in the front and about 2' at the rear. The coldest morning when work was started was 12F. Late in the spring, a 30' X 40' addition was put on the original barn with great lighting, heat, lots of plugs, air hook ups, and lots of room to work. The workers will be spoiled for the next winter season. Thanks Don!
History	Bill Bicknell in Ohio has put together a very good historical article on the Futurliners that will be used in his local Buick Club newsletter. If anyone else is interested in a copy of it, contact Bill at 513-864-5224. Much of the info he drew from the web site, our presentation and other recent articles written on these vehicles. The Michigan Traveler magazine (March 2000) that we mentioned in the last issue also has an excellent article.
Work Group	The large group of volunteers that worked nearly every Tuesday during the fall, winter and spring has taken the summer off from their "official" duties. Many of them continue to work behind the scenes however, on specific projects. The group has grown to 21 people involved in these weekly sessions plus 8 wives who help with preparing and serving lunch. As of the end of May, they accumulated 237 work days on the project. These sessions will pick up in Sept. for anyone else who might like to join them. The pay is not much but the satisfaction and lunches are great! We are looking for someone with an "English" wheel to fabricate the outer sheetmetal skin. Anyone out there who can help?
Other Volunteers	The number of people continuing to step forward and volunteer the use of their facilities or help off-site is incredible. Recent additions include: A Colorado automotive restoration shop volunteered to provide the labor to upholster the cockpit. That includes the drivers seat and the 2 passenger seats. We will work out shipping the seat cushions to Colorado but to do this in order, we need to obtain enough material for everything. Coker Tire will supply the wide white wall tires. However, to get the mold changed to insert the original letters "GENERAL MOTORS, PARADE OF PROGRESS" "US ROYAL", "FLEETWAY" in the sidewall will require about $35,000. At this point, we do not have the funds to cover this significant expense. Potentially other Futurliners might use these special tires and share the cost.
Misc. Notes	We heard from Bob Armstrong with the Silversides group (former Greyhound employees from San Diego, Calif.). He put a link from their web site to ours since a lot of these folks are interested in the Futurliner also. Thanks Bob. We’ve just received a photo of a 1940 Futurliner taken in Duluth, Minn. This is one of the very few we have of these vehicles in operation. On April 8, 26 people from NATMUS in Indiana visited the Futurliner at Don’s to see the project firsthand. They were joined by another 20 people from Michigan who are part of the restoration team. Ryan DeVries has spent many hours at his hobby shop at home polishing the large aluminum "GM" letters that Charlie Glick had cast. Ryan brought them over just prior to the scheduled visit and they are outstanding. Due to the casting process where the ribs were cast into the back of the letters, the outer surface shrunk a great deal. This had to be all sanded out prior to starting the polishing process. A big thanks to Ryan who did this beautiful work. By the way, Ryan has a hobby business of casting and polishing antique fire engine bells and in his spare time, he restores fire trucks (big ones like ladder trucks). We now have a paint sponsor. The local paint distributor, Wyrick Co. and specifically their employee Ray de Longpre (Zeeland Michigan) has been talking to the Montana Paint Representative Ernest J. Borsich (Valley City, Ohio) to sponsor this project with the following products: Acid etch primers (can and spray cans) Top coat colors: Light gray for rear inside White for outside of body Reducers & thinners for above Epoxy two part primers Black for frame and under carriage White for lower cargo compartments Target Red for outside of body Degreasers for cleaning the metal This will be a great help in expense as paints are very expensive. We also received additional photos from Tom VanVoorhis including an original photo of the model Futurliners and associated vehicles that were used to plan the site layout before the vehicles arrived. If anyone knows the existence of any of these models, we would sure like to add them to the collection.
Other Futurliner Status & History	Don and Carol stopped at the Peter Pan Bus Company (Springfield, Massachusetts) to view the progress of their Futurliner restoration/modernization project. This was a side trip on their way to visit Carol’s daughter in Conn. Mr. Peter Picknelly, Chairman of Peter Pan, had invited them to stop anytime. In addition, they had lunch with Peter and with Bill Sinico the manager of Coach Builders (Peter Pan's coach building operation). Don writes: "I was amazed at the progress since we had been there last fall. Mechanically the coach is all together. That includes the engine, transmission, brakes, and everything to make it run. The braking system is a modern safety system they designed similar to what is used on school buses. They are still in the check out phase of all these systems. Due to the structural weakness of the roof, they reinforced it by building an arch support. Unless you are looking for this support, you cannot see it the way they have it blended into the interior of the roof area. They built new 16' upper and lower display side doors out of aluminum. These 16' side display doors are all in place and while they were there, they operated the left side. The lighting fin at the top is operational with all its lights. Due to the large bundle of wires that would be required to place the fluorescence ballast remotely from the lighting fixtures, they mounted the ballast inside the top lighting fin. That does add some weight to the lighting fin. The display area of the Futurliner is completely done with all the lights, a TV monitor and modern electronics. Electrical power is supplied by a Honda Generator installed in the rear where the original PTO driven generator was located. This interior is finished in a gray carpet material on the inside of the doors and the ceiling and looks great. The plywood floor is yet to be covered. The exterior is in primer and the lower aluminum ribbing is installed. They plan their final paint to be the color and theme used on the Peter Pan Coaches. Yet to be installed are the rubber strips along the lower sides and the windshield. They had enough front and rear rubber bumper sections between their two Futurliners to salvage one set. Tears in the original set were repaired with epoxy and they will now paint them. They will also be using standard Firestone truck tires. In the drivers cockpit they have a new instrument panel of their design with modern gages. The original drivers seat has been restored. All the upholstery for the drivers cockpit had just arrived and is ready for installation. The color of the upholstery in this area is maroon (or so Don believes, his ability to ID colors leaves a little to be desired according to Carol). They have done a lot of work in the last few months and will end up with an outstanding Futurliner. It is really great that these historic vehicles are being saved. Although it has been modernized, the fact that its use will be as originally intended (as a display vehicle) it will allow the public to appreciate its history. Its first use will be in Springfield this year at a community event sponsored by Peter Pan. Look for its debut in the Springfield newspapers during this time. After looking at the Futurliner we were treated to lunch at an old German restaurant in Springfield. The contacts that we have had with Peter Pan Bus Co. has really helped us in our restoration. I appreciate their openness to share their information as they progressed in their restoration. Again lots of pictures were taken and they will send us pictures once it has been painted. We will add these to our web site once we obtain these pictures". Don & Carol also located (on the same trip) the Futurliner in New Hampshire that belongs to Kendrick Robbins. After considerable searching (another LONG "Don & Carol" story), it was located in an out-of the way place. It is in rough condition, has been mostly gutted, is very rusty, has no drivetrain parts and little of the special pieces unique to these vehicles remain.
Financial Status	Due to the response of the web site and other communications, NATMUS has received an additional $3,000 in donations. We greatly appreciate all who have supported the project. More is certainly needed though so if you are so inclined, we’ve included a form to help you.
Paraders	Tom Van Voorhis and Victor Garske had put together a collection of photos, newspaper clippings and pamphlets and given it to the Detroit Historical Museum. In April this year, they visited the museum and found that they had never done anything with it. So, they retrieved the package and are giving it to our collection for the project. We’ll give you more details in the future. Jim Morris sent us a note that he is considering a Parader reunion in 2001, most likely in Michigan and hopefully tie into this project. NATMUS is considering a 2005 Parader reunion in Auburn Indiana coupled with an antique truck National Meet. More on this later. We received word recently that Parader Frank Cronin passed away in Flint, Michigan.