Between Bill and Donna Hansen, and Larry Azevedo, the Tin Lizzies had an action-packed day planned for Saturday, October 8th! The day started out with a breakfast hosted by Bill and Donna at Hot Tamales, a restaurant that prides itself on serving authentic New Mexican food. It’s located on Coors Road (just north of the Intel chip manufacturing plant) in Rio Rancho, NM. The first arrivals were Bill and Donna who drove their beautifully restored 1924 Model T touring car affectionately named after Donna’s mother “Irene”. Lorna arrived with fellow club member Susan Peterson in her freshly rebuilt 1915 speedster the “Lorna Special”. Larry (currently on the MTFCA Board of Directors) drove his 1915 Coupelet, a car restored by his father George (a legend in Northern California). This rare car runs very well and a new top is one of Larry’s projects for the future. We had a great turnout of 26 people and everyone had a great time.
After breakfast, it was a short drive from Rio Rancho north to the town of Bernalillo, home of the J&R Automotive Museum. This museum was created by Gab Joiner who was a successful road building contractor and helped develop the City of Rio Rancho. The museum boasts a wide range of cars, many of them rare such as a Rickenbacker and twelve classic cars that participated in the GREAT AMERICAN RACE, including the 1995 winner, a 1917 Marmon. The museum also includes a large gift shop and restoration facilities. Thank you to Bill and Donna Hansen for hosting the breakfast and organizing the visit to the museum!
After the museum, many club members drove southwest to the Village of Corrales where Larry and Lorna Azevedo live. It’s the location of “Larry’s Garage” where he generously shares his garage, tools, and expertise with the club. On this day, Larry Langdon and his son Steve brought their 1926 Model T coupe to correct a broken Bendix. Larry Langdon was the President of the Tin Lizzies in 1982, when Steve was still a boy. Now, 34 years later, the coupe belongs to Steve and the family rekindled their interest in joining the Tin Lizzies while at the 2016 New Mexico State Fair (where our club had 22 cars on display). Welcome back Larry and Steve!
Other projects included Kirk Peterson working on the front end of his 1925 coupe “Buster”. Buster’s front axle had a lot of wear and the threads on the king pins were stripped. It was going to be easier to find another axle than to weld and tap the existing one. Luckily, John Hayne (senior club member and major parts collector) had one in stock. After replacing the axle, the steering also showed wear, so, eventually, the entire front end and steering will have been rebuilt. It may look like a “barn find”, but mechanically Buster will be in excellent condition.
Dave Merewether and Paul Duncan were busy rebuilding carburetors. Mark Wing brought a pair of 1911 12-rivet clamshell housings of rust removal and inspection. They are destined for an August 1911 (engine no. 62,838) Model T touring car project down the road. Dave Ferro was helping Mark clean-up a late open car dashboard recently purchased at the annual Los Lunas Auto Swap Meet. Thank you Dave!
It was a great work party and we acquired two new Tin Lizzie members too! Thank you Larry!
