T o m a t a l kOctober 2015

Pontiac Adventures 2015

Dick & Carol Johnson’s1969 Pontiac Firebird 400

Page 1

TomatalkOctober 2015Volume 40 ~ Number 10

The Tomatalk is published monthly by the Minnesota Chapter 13 of the Pon-tiac Oakland Club International. The Tomahawk Chapter was founded in 1977. The chapter is dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of Pontiac, Oakland and GMC vehicles of all years and models, stock and modified.

Club events are organized for the en-joyment of our members.

All letters to the editor should be signed. Articles, letters and editorial content represent the opinions and viewpoints of the authors and not necessarily that of the Tomahawk Chapter or POCI.

web site: tomatalk.org

Tomahawk ChapterOfficers

President - Tony Miller 8044 Wood Duck Tr.

Circle Pines, MN 55014toplessindian70@gmail.com

651-786-1214 Vice-President

Todd Lewis5895 St. Albans No.

Shorewood, MN 55126 651-895-9325

tc.lewis@yahoo.com

Secretary - Steve Weese8838 Baltimore St. NE

Blaine, MN 55449 763-780-0937

steveweese@comcast.net

Treasurer - Jim Notch107 Charity Circle

Montrose, MN 55363 952-594-5000

bigapple14@comcast.net

Newsletter Editor &Web Site Administrator

Paul Bergstrom1165 County Road 83

Maple Plain, MN 55359763-479-2248

pontiacpaulb@gmail.com

President’s MessageFall is fast approaching, but we’ve been able to enjoy some of the most beautiful days of the year, and I hope you are all getting a chance to be out-side enjoying the sunshine - be it with your cars or your significant other (no discussion will be held on which one is “more significant”!) At our September meeting we discussed who would be attending the Valley Car Show and what duties needed to be performed. As with all shows, these duties include getting and putting up the tents, putting out signs, filling coolers and bringing beverages, compiling the paperwork and signing up registrants. At this show we also collected can goods. Ballot boxes need to be counted, awards presented, and then there’s always clean up. I send out a heartfelt thank you to those that help and let you know that your hard work is truly appreciated.

On a member level, it was announced that Todd Lewis won the Top Street Racer trophy for his recent racing in Duluth. Congratulations from the entire Club goes out to Todd for enjoying his machine as it was meant to be enjoyed! That being said, the Miller family headed out to Rock Falls for the “Club Day” racing that was mentioned in the last newsletter. Tom Vankempen was out there as well to enjoy the remarkable day. Some serious memories were made between my son and I (with him never to forget that his time was ½ second faster than dear old Dad’s)! Well, I’m headed back to the garage. I hope to see you all at the October meeting! Tony Miller, Tomahawk Chief

Page 2

Page 3

September Meeting Minutes

9/15/15We met at the Legion with 17 mem-ber’s present. The meeting was called to order at 6:57. Jamie Bergstrom is 60 today, Happy Birthday Jamie! Last months minutes were read and accept-ed. Jim gave a treasurer’s report and it was accepted.

Old Business- Duluth Street Drags: Todd had the most fun he has had at a drag event. He won his class and plans to go again next year.

Convention- Terry had an ignition problem on the way home. He was not happy with the service he got from AAA.

Hot Deadwood Nights- Todd had a good time. He did have a fuel pump problem, but was able to wire an elec-tric one from NAPA to get himself back into town.

New Business- Todd asked if anyone is interested in going to Deadwood next year. He has secured some hotel rooms at discounted rates. Please call him if you are interested.

Pontiac Adventures- Paul and Jamie are going to this event in the Wisconsin Dells at the Chula Vista Resort.

Todd plans to attend the Drag Race, Show and Swap at Humboldt, Iowa.

Membership Meeting

Tues, Oct. 207:00 pm

Total Engine Service9625 Humbolt Ave. S.

Bloomington, MN Hope to See You There !

Valley Show- we plan to meet at Per-kins at 7 for breakfast, then to Valley to set up. Nick has the trophies.

Next months meeting location is TBD.

Respectfully Submitted,Steve “Mudbird” Weese

Tomahawk Chapter Secretary

Page 4

Meanwhile... Back at the “Pontiac RanchMy apologies for the lack of photos of the Valley Buick/GMC Car Show/BBQ. I had some great photos on my iPhone but when I was downloading them to my computer I guess I made a few wrong choices and voila.... photos vanished! Anyway, stay tuned for the next issue... “The Tale of Two Trans Sports”, whereby a redlight-runner hits my ‘92 Trans Sport van (my true road warrior and family-truckster). It turns out the insurance company totalled out the van. Find out what we ended up with for our replacement vehicle.

Let’s keep those Ponchos rollin’! Paul Bergstrom, Tomatalk Editor_______________________________

HELP WANTED!We have registered for the 2016 POCI Convention in Bettendorf, IA. and need your help in getting my TA to the show. Looking for a trailer (and or truck) to use, borrow, rent or hire . . . pay for gas if you own a truck. Please contact Tim Herrera ASAP via email (herrera220@msn.com) or phone (651-484-9927) me after 2:30pm M-F.

2016 POCI ConventionBettendorf, IAIsle Hotel & Casino

July 12-16On-line registration is now available at poci.org.

Check the poci.org website for hotel availability and convention updates, or call the the POCI Club Office at (877) 368-3454.

‘60 Pontiac Bonneville convert for sale in M

ichigan- contact Paul for details.

Page 5

Donations to the

Maple Plain

Foodshelf

358 pounds of

non-perishable

food items

$65 donation

2015 Valley Buick GMCCar Show & BBQ

Thanks for coming out everyone, and thanks for the food and cash donations- hope to see you there next year!

14th Anniversary Tomahawk Chapter Fall Car Show Get Together & Barbecue  

       

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Saturday, September 19, 2015

9:00 am – 2:00 pm • Valley - Buick - GMC •

7500 145th St.West- Apple Valley Buick – Olds – Pontiac – Cadillac – Oakland - GMC

 

Minneapolis Bring a Can(s) of Food

for Food Shelves - Trade for a Barbecue

 

St. Paul

494      

35W                

B'Ville Center

Cedar Ave Hwy.77

               Co.Rd 42  

Apple Valley

 

 

• Free Participant Admission • • Free Barbecue Lunch to

Participants with Canned Goods • • Spectator's Choice Awards • • Swap Spaces for $5.00 •

 

Cadillac!  

Oldsmobile!  

Pontiac!  

FOR  MORE  INFORMATION:  CONTACT  TONY  MILLER  651-­‐786-­‐1214  OR  TODD  LEWIS  651-­‐895-­‐9325  

WINNERS LISTPontiac: 1st- Robert Pribnow ‘59, 2nd- David Markinson ‘40 Sedan

Oldsmobile: 1st- Keith Hinglehut ‘62 Starfire, 2nd- Phil Larson ‘54 Olds 98

Buick: 1st: James McKinley ‘37 Buick, 2nd- John Smith ‘51 Super

Cadillac: Vern Conzemium ‘60 Coupe

GMC: George Nall ‘92 Typhoon

2014 Event photos

Most Outstanding/ Dave Bennett Award: Russell Erickson ‘64 PontiacValley’s Choice: Al McAlpine ‘67 Firebird

Page 6

Pontiac Adventures 2015

My brother Jamie and I attended the 2nd Annual “Pontiac Adventures” held at the Chula Vista Resort in the Wisconsin Dells the last weekend in September. We have a great time and we made many new friends. There were 53 Pontiacs in the show. The driving tours were tons of fun:, “Hot Laps” at Dells Raceway, winer-ies, restaurants and breweries, drag racing too. The organizers go to great lengths to ensure there is something for everone. As they say, “Leave your lawnchairs at home!” A special thanks to Ed Saari of Chula Vista for his hospitality, and POCI members Joe Morgan, Chris Wachel and Deb Stebane for an excellent job organizing this event. It’s getting bigger every year, this is one fun Fall event! To the Tomahawk Crew.... let’s make this a club activity in 2016! The dates will be September 16-18, 2016.

Page 7

Dick & Carol Johnson’s

I always thought it would be fun to buy a California car to drive back to Minne-sota. In 1974 my wife’s parents, in California, needed a car: a 1974 Oldsmobile Omega 2 door hatch back. Since we had an Oldsmobile dealership, we had the vehicle! We volunteered to deliver it to Pacifica, California, just south of San Francisco with our two daughters, 2 1/2 and an 8 month old. That gave me the op-portunity to look for and purchase a California car! After much looking, I bought this 1969 Pontiac Firebird 400 convertible from the original owner. We abandoned our suitcases, packed the trunk, added a piece of foam rubber to the back seat for the comfort of our little girls…(this was before seatbelts) and headed home to Minnesota. Our trip to California had been a long 4-day trip, try-ing to be patriotic with the new 55 mph speed limit and a new car with ‘break in’ constraints.

On our way back to Minnesota, we discovered groups of 3 semis running between 70 and 80 mph so we would fall in between the second and third semi and roll

along. When they turned off, we would drive 55, waiting for the next group of semis and again fall in. The return trip was made much quicker and more fun. Once in Minnesota, we drove the car for the balance of the summer, then stored it in my father’s barn where it stayed for approximately 30 years.

Page 8

1969 Firebird 400In 2007, we took the Firebird out of storage. About the only thing we did me-chanically was to replace the fiber timing gears with steel in this 46,000-mile car.We then completely refinished this rust free car.

In 2009, our Pontiac franchise was bought out. We put the car back in storage with no trim on it, no exhaust, carpet and a few other missing pieces. When I saw the Land o’ Lakes GTO Muscle Car Classic I thought I should try to have it done and find out what I had done correctly and what I could correct to make it better.Our Firebird won first place in the featured car class. I was a little surprised be-cause there were a num-ber of very good-looking Firebirds there.

I am going to work on the items that weren’t ‘correct’ and try to make it even better.

Dick and Carol Johnson

A SPECIAL THANK YOU

Thanks to the Tomahawk Chapter for the sympathy card and donation. Kevin Fautsch & family

Thanks to Dick for the story and photos, that’s once nice looking ‘69!

Page 9

Want your 15 minutes of Tomatalk fame?Send in a member profile & photos today!

Kim Bennett Agency, Inc.2970 Rice StLittle Canada, MN 55113(651) 482-1598kbennet1@amfam.com

Sarah Vankempen - Licensed Representative(651) 236-8062(651) 482-1598 svankemp@amfam.com

Better service, better coverage and better value with our great lineup of discounts. Call today for a competitive quote. Your dream is out there. Go get it. We’ll protect it.

PROTECT YOUR DREAMS FOR LESS THAN YOU THINK.

American Family Mutual Insurance Company, American Family Insurance Company, American Standard Insurance Company of Ohio, American Standard Insurance Company of Wisconsin. 6000 American Parkway, Madison, WI 53783 ©2013 007366 – 6/13

Page 10

~ Pontiacs For Sale ~

1959 Pontiac Catalina 4-door: 389, needs ignition switch, it can be started (I put a push button on). Runs nice, I had it painted in about 2005. Front seat need repair. Low miles on tires. 14,404 showing on odometer. Asking $15,000. Delores Selle 715-986-2294 (Turtle Lake, WI)

It’s time to split up the ‘real’ 200 Day-tona 500 Pace Cars. Check out this link for more photos & information:http://www.daytonapacecars.com/id12.html

GMMG’s for sale..........h t tp: / /www.daytonapacecars .com /id21.html

Contact Jim Smith - GMMG Registry @ (715) 529-0898 E-Mail: info@gmmgregistry.com

Page 11

TOMATALKCLASSIFIED ADS

~ Parts For Sale ~

1962 Pontiac parts: rechromed wind-shield wiper bezels for single speed wipers only (will not fit 2-speed over-lap wiper cars), fits P/8 (big car) 1961 & 1962. Never installed after rechrome $175. Power brake vacuum reservoir, bead blasted, powder coated black & tested to hold vacuum, fits ‘61 & ‘62 Pontiac big cars (may fit other years) $75; rear electric antenna mount, re-plated with clear zinc (silver coat) w/rubber grommet, for ‘62 Pontiac, may fit other years $25. Contact Nick at (651) 451-7701 or (651) 263-5918, email nmann7701@comcast.net

1963 & 64 Pontiac: Full size parts. Regular and rare parts. Some 59 parts, 64 GP body 64 conv. Call or email with needs. Ed Kodet Evenings (612) 377-8256 or edpont@kodet.com

For sale: Mad Dog Headers - Pontiac 1961-1964 $200; #96 Heads - good condition $250; 1963 reproduction drivers side quarter panel 2dr HT $50. 1963 - kick panels, drive shaft, rocker panel covers. Doug (651) 786-2145

For sale: (1) TH-350 tranny cross-member (used) for 75-81 F-body $30; (1) TH-400 tranny crossmember (new) for 70-74 F-body $50. 2006-770 Street Avenger, vacuum secondaries, elec. choke $250. Contact Todd Lewis (651) 895-9325 tc.lewis@yahoo.com

Wanted: 1958 Pontiac cars/parts/memorabilia/toys/etc. Call Jim 952-594-5000 email bigapple14@comcast.net

Wanted: #13 heads for a 1970 GTO 400 engine, Fred Klokonos (507) 332-7060

Send want ads to:pontiacpaulb@gmail.com

1969 Firebird subframe and a rear bumper for ‘61-’62 Pontiac Tempest Station Wagon. Bob at (701) 371-0810.

1955 Pontiac parts for sale: stainless, 2 wheels, steering wheel, heater sy-tem, call for more details. Al Breitbarth (952) 933-4874

1961-1962 Pontiac tri-power air clean-er. Asking $550. Contact Harry Holm-berg (651) 206-8179

For Sale: full size Pontiac parts, ‘57 & ‘58 and other years. (4) sets of Rally wheels, radios ,many sets of hubcaps for ‘57-’78, chrome for ‘57, factory air, power antenna, fender skirts for ‘57-‘58 plus many more parts. Valued at $3,000, will sell all for $1,000.Will sell separately but would prefer to sell all at once. Good stuff to bring to swap meets. Contact Ed & Rosie Hus-tad (763) 786-1934 or Lisa Hustad at (612) 978-3779

~ Wanted ~

Page 12

TOMATALKClassified Ad Rates

12 issues:

$250 full page$150 half page

$75 quarter page$25 business card size

Tomahawk ChapterTechnical Advisors

Oakland and 1926 - 41 Pontiac Gary VanKempen

763-561-3911

1942-54 Al Longley 763-421-6953

1955-62 - Position Open

1963-72 Rollie Pederson

763-434-7400

1973-2010 - Position Open

High Perf. - Tom VanKempen763-434-7156

Firebird & Trans Am Tom Hegland

651-592-9305 TATA455@aol.com

Club HistorianMark Boyum

651-462-8493

Tomahawk Chapterweb site:

tomatalk.org

Photos and stories of member cars wanted. Send them by mail, e-mail or carrier pigeon to:

Paul Bergstrom, Tomatalk 1165 County Road 83

Maple Plain, MN 55359

e-mail: pontiacpaulb@gmail.com

Page 13

Sponsors of the Annual FallTomahawk Get Together/BBQ

- New and Used cars- Parts and Service

Valley Automotive GroupApple Valley, MN (952) 432-9500

Hastings, MN (651) 437-9815Waconia, MN (952) 442-5000

Rich Rabanus

Classic Auto StorageDowntown Motorcar Sales

2011/2017 North 2nd StreetMinneapolis, MN 55411

(612) 529-6857rich@downtownmotorcarsales.com

Kent Kienitz

14920 28th Ave. No. Plymouth, MN 55447

(763) 559-4779 (phone)(763) 559-1103 (fax)

www.powdercoatingtech.com

Support our advertisers!

Minnesota Tomahawk Chapter Membership Application Form

POCI Membership Number: __________

Membership in the Pontiac Oakland Club International is encouraged (see poci.org) Name: __________________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________________ City, State, Zip/Postal Code: ________________________________________ Country: ________________________________________________________ Phone:_____________________________ Fax:_________________________ E-mail address:____ _______________________________________________ Pontiac(s) owned: _________________________________________________ Referred by: ___________________________________________________________________

Annual dues are $20.00 (check payable to MN Tomahawk Chapter)

$15.00 for an “electronic” membership, newsletter received via email

SEND APPLICATION FORM AND DUES TO:

Jim Notch, 107 Charity Circle, Montrose, MN 55363

M

inne

sota

Tom

ahaw

k C

hapt

er o

f PO

CI

c

/o P

ontia

c Pa

ul B

., Ed

itor

1

165

Cou

nty

Roa

d 83

M

aple

Pla

in, M

N 5

5359

Min

neso

ta T

om

ahaw

k Ch

apte

r

POCI

Mem

bers

hip

Mee

ting

Octo

ber 2

0th

@ 7

p.m

.

Tota

l Eng

ine Se

rvice

Bloom

ingto

n, M

N