Futurliner News
GM Futurliner Restoration Project
National Automotive and Truck Museum of the United States
ISSUE #19 -- JANUARY 2004

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    This is the 19th newsletter to keep our supporters, volunteer workers and other interested people informed on the status of the restoration project. This is an all-volunteer effort with one goal - restore one of the twelve GM Futurliners to an original and functional condition. The vehicle is owned by the National Automotive and Truck Museum of the United States (NATMUS) in Auburn, Indiana and is being rebuilt under the volunteer direction of Don Mayton in Zeeland, Michigan.
    We want to mention again that this vehicle was donated to NATMUS in the mid-90’s by the Bortz Auto Collection in Highland Park, Illinois. Thanks to Joe and Mark Bortz for the donation that provided the basis for this restoration project. For more information on this collection, check out their web site at www.bortzautocollection.com

Don M. Mayton, Project Director
4521 Majestic Vue, Zeeland, MI 49464
616 875-3058

Dean G. Tryon, Newsletter Editor
2516 Laurelford Ln., Wake Forest, NC 27587
919 562-4660

What’s
Happening!
  • The main emphasis of this years work sessions is on finishing all the little (and many not so little) details that will make the vehicle complete. Most of these are things you do not see from the photos but you will see when the vehicle is on display or in operation. The work group resumed in September with 15-20 hardy and talented workers showing up every Tuesday at Don’s in Zeeland Michigan.
  • Major areas of electrical work under way includes junction boxes, wiring for the external lights, turn signals, autronic eye, instrument panel, 120 VAC generator, light fin and other areas. One improvement being incorporated is a better method of routing and controlling the location of the wires to the light fin. Jeff Dornbush has taken this on and completed the necessary changes.
  • The exhaust system is proving to be no small task as it snakes from the engine, vertically up thru the vehicle culminating in single stack out the roof. Del Carpenter has been doing a lot of this specialized construction and bending at home with fitting on site. It is now complete.
  • Inside door panels are being fabricated for all of the people doors (4) and work will begin on finishing the interior of the 4 large display doors.
  • Weather seals for all the doors (8) are being donated to a large degree by Valley Truck in Grandville, MI plus some must be purchased and some are being fabricated.
  • A problem surfaced with the large 16’ upper doors. It was observed that when they were fully open (and horizontal), their weight was enough to deflect significantly. They still operated but a long-term concern was raised. Don contacted GM for assistance and they sent Venkat Aitharaju to Zeeland for his review. He then developed a series of recommendations that the crew is fabricating. One obstacle they overcame was that all new GM drawings are in metric of course and this crew only knows English. Conversions were made and the work progresses. (We would not say this work crew is old but the metric system was not prevalent when most of them were gainfully employed.)
  • Whitewall tires are being experimentally fabricated by Select Manufacturing Services in Muskegon, MI working thru Ginman Tire, also in Muskegon, MI. They have an experimental process to add whitewall material to a standard tire that will include the appropriate lettering. Initial tests look promising.
  • The driver’s compartment is being readied for upholstery, inside panels and windows. We are still running with the temporary Plexiglas windshield but if you saw the vehicle, you would have to look carefully to see that it is not the correct material or final installation.
  • Another small but important item is getting the step functional that should automatically come out when the door to the cab is opened. The original hydraulic valve is not repairable however and we have a local supplier trying to locate a "new" 60 year old valve.
  • The large 120 VAC generator installation has been started. The generator and the large control box have been rebuilt by River City Electronics in Grandville, MI last year.
  • All the air line fittings have now been converted to the correct DOT spec material, no small task in itself.
  • The trailer we reported on in the last newsletter might not be suitable for us after all. It will require extensive modifications and we’re considering starting from scratch. This item is still in our major "open" file of projects.
  • We continue to get donations of sandblasting services from Dave’s Custom Sandblasting in Zeeland, MI, electrical components at cost from Dave Lucas at Coopersville Automotive Supply in Coopersville MI. and paint products donated by Montana Paints thru our local supplier Wyrick Products. We very much appreciate their participation in the project.
  • Mike Ball (project Librarian) and Al Batts (project photographer) continue work each day to catalog and document the restoration. They do a bunch of other things of course but these are some of the more long-term items that we will all appreciate in the future. In the short term, appreciation of their efforts is in the lunch and coffee break prep department.
  • December 16 was the last work session for the year and work resumes mid-January (except for the lucky few who will head south for warmer weather.)
Paraders & Archives
  • Jim Genzel located and sent a complete itinerary for the1953 thru 1956 Parade route. We have had many inquiries about where the Parade visited which we now can document. It is 4 pages in length and too long to list all the details here but in summary, it started on April 15, 1953 in Lexington KY, went thru the states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, W. Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia.
  • In 1954 it headed south before going north with stops in GA, FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, MD, PA, DE, NJ, CT, RI, Mass., Maine, NH, MA, NY, PA, OH, KY, TN, GA, AL and ended the year in Pensacola, FL.
  • In 1955 it went west and stopped in Miss., LA, TX, LA, Arkansas, TN, Missouri, Ind., Ill., Ontario, Quebec, WI, Iowa, Missouri, OK, TX and ended the year in San Antonio.
  • In 1956 it started in Odessa-Midland TX, continued with stops in AZ, CA OR, WA, British Columbia Canada and ended on June 28 in Spokane, WA. This was the final performance for the Parade and the tour left Spokane on July 6 and arrived in Detroit on July 17, 1956.
Project
Needs
  • Al Batts has been visiting the electronics stores pricing out what it would take to put together equipment that we can use in the Futurliner on a reasonable size screen to electronically display a video. We have a volunteer, Brad Boyajian, in California that has offered to put all our videos together in a 30 minute show that we can use as part of the Futurliner display as well as showing the video at club meets, etc. Once we nail down prices we will again have a future need to purchase this equipment or get it donated.
  • Don Bratt in the meantime has volunteered to take our videos with him to Florida (he leaves in January) and do all the scripting so that Brad can put together the videos. This will be a big job but Don has had experience with this as he has done the same for two separate mission trips he was on, one in Russia and one in Asia.
Financial status - Poster & Hats:
  • Although the outside of the vehicle is looking good, much work remains to be done inside as you are reading above. As we look at the remaining work and the purchases that must be made, we first ask companies to donate the parts, services or supplies. Even if it is just a discount it saves money, but invariably we must make purchases. We know we will need between $15,000 to $20,000 to complete this project so if you are so inclined, your continued donations are still needed and appreciated. Remember, they are tax deductible. We do not pay any volunteers nor do we charge for utilities, volunteer’s transportation in getting here, storage or other items. The only thing we do pay for is if we break a tool of any of our volunteer’s tools we will replace them of course.
  • Posters and hats are available thru NATMUS for $10 each plus $3 shipping. Quantity orders will have a break on shipping and will be approximately 20% above the single item shipping charge. Contact Bobbie Smith at NATMUS for specifics for your quantity. They were sold again this year at Hershey last October at several of the volunteer’s locations. An order form and additional info is on the web site and the mailing address is below on the Donation Form. Please use the full street address and not the PO box. Credit cards are accepted at the museum.
  • You can also see the poster (along with it’s history) and the hat on the web site (http://www.futurliner.com/poster.htm).
Misc.
Notes
  • A model is being considered by a couple of companies. John Batts has visited the project site and taken photos and info to begin the process. More info later.
  • Our Futurliner was spotted on TV again; this time on the History Channel during a segment about the "Eyes of Design" last summer.
  • Our vehicle was also mentioned in the "Corvette Quarterly" in an article on the Eyes of Design where it stated "One of the biggest attractions was the magnificent 1953 restored General Motors Futurliner bus. One of 12 built originally for a GM traveling educational road show called the Parade of Progress, this restored red and white motor coach was making its 1st debut at the Eyes on Design Exhibition."
  • The Futurliner was featured on a recent History Channel program called "Changing Gears". We were not aware of it being aired so if anyone has access to a video tape of the program, please let us know.
  • The group is very appreciative also of the many wives who provide lunch, coffee and snacks to the working crew each Tuesday. There are 5 who are supporting the group regularly these days led by Carol Mayton of course.

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