Tour to Chrisman Mill Winery was a little nippy
CKMARC members rarely let a little bad weather get in the way of a good time. John Blair recently braved the elements to file this report on our January outing.
Our trip to the winery was a good one. Jeff and Mary Rhoads laid out a good route (about 40 miles there) from Turfland Mall thru Keene, Troy, Wilmore, Little Hickman and along the river to the winery. There were only two Model A’s (Jeff and Mary Rhoads and Billy and Judi Bates) that turned out. Everyone else drove modern cars. Those in modern vehicles were John Blair, Mike and Judy Akers, Herman and Nancy Butler, Bill Goetz (riding with the Butlers), Ron and Pearl Looney, Eugene and Nancy Swisher, Jerry and Martha Baker and their son and his wife. I hope I am not leaving anyone out. There were about 18 who turned out for the tour.
Everyone seemed to have a good time. We had a brief tour and they explained their process for making their wine. Everyone got into the wine tasting. Each had a wine glass and they would pour some for you to sample. The lunch was good.
The weather could have been a little more cooperative but I guess you can’t have everything in your favor. It began snowing while we were eating lunch, winds picked up briskly and the weather went down hill from there. It was like near blizzard conditions at times. The roads were mostly covered with snow when we left for home. North Main Street in Nicholasville was very treacherous to say the least, so stay off the brakes and don’t make any sudden moves or you could be on a wayward journey. US 27 to Lexington was open but slippery. Thankfully, everyone got home safely.

Words from our President
Boy Howdy! Hasn’t it been one long, cold, soggy winter? There must be something to this getting older and cold weather not mixing well. I know my attitude needs some elevating right about now. I’M sure a long Model A ride in some convertible weather would raise the spirits tremendously.
While waiting for this to happen, I’VE been working on a pyramid calling list. This will allow anyone to make one call to myself or John Yates, and trigger calls to all members. We can use this list to notify members of events or changes of events that would not normally wait to be printed in the Checkmark. I will get this list to top tier callers by March 1st.
Irvine is having a Mushroom festival April 23-24; our club has been invited to attend any or both days. If anyone would like to go or lead from Lexington, give me a call at 502-535-6665. Go to Estillonline.com for details of events.

Secretary’s Report
I’M really excited about the way the 2006 membership meet is coming along. On the 17th of March we had another well attended meeting at Jack and Linda Kubiks. Jack showed to the club the magnets that were finished and ready to send to the St. Louis Membership Meet to put in their goody bags. They are great looking magnets and will represent our club and state well. Jack has ordered denim shirts, T-shirts, baseball caps and host shirts with our logo, they will be here by our next meeting.
The next meeting will be March 24, at Jack and Linda Kubiks house at 6:30 P.M. Anyone wanting to work with us to make this a great event is welcome.
There will be 11 members attending the St. Louis Membership meet and they will meet the 15 of March to go over all the information and displays we will be taking with us.
Committees are still making progress on advertisements, tours, seminars and entertainment. Details on them will be given as soon as finalized. We will be adding a page to our web site with all that information as well as a link to the host hotel, the Holiday Inn North.

When You’re Hot You’re Hot- tech tip from John Blair
When I got my Model A I was having a lot of problems with it pushing water out the overflow when on hilly terrain. The car would not tolerate sustained driving over 30-35 M.P.H. or climb hills without losing a considerable amount of water to a point of overheating. This was one of the reasons I was hesitant about doing some of our tours in my early days in the club. I guess I didn’t want to be embarrassed. Each year I make a trip to Virginia and my first trip in the A I had to add nearly four gallons of water during the 175 mile trip. I remembered reading an article about a Lestoil cleaning treatment for the radiator published in The Model A News (March/April 1998) in the Technical Questions by Roger Kauffman. There appeared to be some old dried hard substance in the top of my radiator so I thought I would give it a try. Most of us have found old grease in the top of the radiator. This is usually caused by over greasing the water pump at the rear bushing. Over greasing the water pump causes the excess grease to go right into the cooling system where it accumulates in the upper tank and around the filler cap. Grease and water don’t mix. It can contribute to overheating problems if severe enough. The article said the best way to clean out the old grease without removing the radiator, is to remove what you can with an old rag, drain the cooling system, pour in 1 cup of Lestoil (full strength), refill with water and drive about 25 to 30 miles and drain the system. You might be amazed at what can come out of the cooling system. Flush and refill with water and repeat process again if needed. Be aware that Lestoil may foam a little and you may emit that Lestoil smell as you drive. You may dislodge some grease in the radiator causing it to seep or leak especially if the radiator is in marginal condition. Flush a couple of times, refill with coolant, grease the water pump and watch the grease, not too much. Never use chassis grease or wheel bearing grease, always use some type of water pump grease. If you use water as a coolant in the summer, be sure to use a cooling system conditioner to help minimize rust.