'U/"e Cortez ..

National

11022 EAST DAINES DRIVE, TEMPLE CITY. CALIFORNIA 91780 • (8181 444-6030 • (81 BI44B-9225 (FAX]

Volume 19,No. 5

September 1994

jan & Tony Nota, Editors

FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK

We have a number of items- to call to your attention with this issue. but fi rst, some thoughts and comments on our summer rally.

The 21 st National Cortez Rally was an outstanding success in more ways than one. thanks to the super efforts of Rose Mary & Jim Singhose and the Oregon Cortez Club. I! was their goal to makethis year's National Cortez Rally something special and one that would be. long remembered. and it was exactly that. The attendance was the best in many a year. There was a total of 93 Cortez families, fU hy cnach, 9 by car and one Cortez owner, George Hayer. who lives at Kimball Creek.

Kimball Creek Bend RV Resort is owned and operated by Bert & Helen Bowman and with their son Toby and daughter-in-law Becky maintain one nf the best manicured camp resorts we've seen in some Lime. (One of the favorites are what we called the PoleCharacters. They were everywhere. even one

·\..-seen trying 10 fish the Rogue River. The

. Pole-Characters (short 6-inch diameter poles stuck in the ground in groups) were outfitted with all sort of di scardtype. items to give them a pcrsonality.)

Most everyone was in camp by mid-day Monday the 2:lth, and it was on to getting acquainted, relaxing and eventually check rhe schedu lex of events. One of those was the Tuesday morning Jet Boar Tour with the second boat lefr without one of irs passengers who overslept. Fortunately, it hadn't gotten tOO far from the Kimball Creek dock. Toby Bowman got into his 4-whee1 drive truck and raced up the shoreline. Within moments. the boat was hailed, returned to the dock, and Scotty Wallace boarded to a roundof applause.

There is more to report on the 21st National Cortez Rally and what happened during and after. However, we will allow our TCN reporters 10 tell you all about it and you will find it al! elsewhere jn this issue.

The September issue notes the beginning of our dues campaign and altho the end of the year ~CCmS sometime away, it would be well apprcc iarcd if ail could get the ir dues in as soon a .. possible. Canadian incm bcrs are askedt« make a note of the preferred method of payment noted in the dues item, Postal Money Order in U.S. Funds. Make your check payable (0 The Cortez Nationaland send it to The National ASAP.

We arc always in need of cross- reference parr numbers, places of service, serv ice tips.

and other technical information. This type of input is especially important as we willsoon begin revising and updating the Cortez National Directory, Please send whatever information you have to The National so-that it can be included in the new directory.

You will find an assortment of news and reports in this issue beginning with the rally report and continuing on with the exciting and wet Jet Boat tour up the Rogue River, with thanks tu Jack Thomas .. The next. is from Ingrid & Mike Blomfield on the caravan Irmn the 21 st National Cortez Rally to the 31st FMCA Convention in Puyallup, Fred Franke offers II follow-up (or don't follow me downhill as 1'111 "free-wheeling") to the caravan from the 21 st TCN to the 31 st FMCA Fred also has some gnad news on a "magic potion" for transmission internal seal repair, There is an item on rhc Eastern Regional, still time to call Teresa Miller and get in your rescrvaunn. Frank Freda', column this issue outlines why the Cortez is still one of the best rnororhomcs ever built. Frank Spraitzar has an update for you on the Welsh Multi-Fuel System installed in his '73 Cortez and Bub Cobler has a service note on the Progressive Dynamics converter common in the Kent models. As always we have. some new members to introduce to you and we hope that many of you will get acquainted real soon.

OUT thanks 10 all of our reporters for this issue, their names are noted with their article and to you all, for your continued support. We wish you many happy miles of Correzzing.

DUES CAMPAIGN

The calendar year for The National runs from January to December. Annual dues are $20. Canadian members are requested to use Postal Money Orders marked for U:S. Funds. This is the preferred method as U.S. banks charge $5 to cash a check drawn on a Canadian bank. Make your check payable to The Cortez national and send it 10 The National ASAP.

As most of you know, it is the latter part of the year when our annual dues campaign gets underway. It is also important that we complete the dues collection process as promptly as possi b1c so that we can move on

INMEMORIAM

Howard Benson - Scottsdale, AZ Roy Frics . Chicago, IL

. .. conunued onpal-:e 2

to the second step ..... 'hich is compiling and updating the membership roster for 1995. Although we ha ve set a deadline of December l Sth, it would be nice if all dues were in before that final' dare. Check your listing as it was published in the directory, and(or for newer members, as it was listed in The newsletter for accuracy. Please let us know if there are anychange s (address. phone number; coach, parking). This will not only allow us to update your file, but also reflect those changes in the new directory.

CORTEZ NATIONAL RALLY

The 21 st National Cortez Rally was held at Kimball Creek Bend RV Resort in Gold Beach, Oregon on July 25. 26, and 27, 1994, The rally was an outstanding SUCCf!;;", thanks to the super .cfforts of Rose Mary & Jim Singhose and the Oregon Cortez Club, It was their goal to make this year's National Cortex Rally something special and one that would be long remembered', and it was exactly that,

There. were a few early arrivals which Jan and I met up with over the weekend inand out of town SUch as the A ton 's, Mundays, Blomfields, and the Mndrows.

They, and most of the others, made it into camp on Sunday and by that evening almost half of our total number wert' settled and ready to rally, By mid-day Monday almost all were in camp.

Because of the many early arrivals, it was decided to get as many as possible registered late Sunday to alleviate any congestion on Monday morning. Registration sometimes tends to gel in the way of socializing when so many friends show up in great bunches.

J art had all of the Oregon registration crew meet Sunday evening in the fee hall for a short session on how to handle the registration. One of the gals suggested after the registration class, [he crew practice by registering themselves.

With Monday morning arr ivafs and registrations. the early hours were spent getting acquainted and checking out the library of books at the book exchange. Frank Freda set up at I o'clock for a two-hour Mechanic's Forum 'neath the shade of a large tree adjacent to his coach. There. were approximately 50 men and several women in the group. Frank ran an excellent and informative session covering: Front-end wander and wheeladjustment; Rear wheel maintenance along with outer bearing failure; and. Tire sizes and types of wheels. The last

· .. continued from puge I

half hour of the forum was opened up for questions on any situations, problems, or failures experienced. It was an opportunity to exchange meaningful ideas and solutions with everyone.

The afternoon also included a recipe exchange (recipe cards .and samples included), a plant sale, and a craft show. The latter got much attention with all the very beautiful, practical, useful. and novelty items on display and for sale.

For the more athletic, horseshoes and Bocci games were on tap for the afternoon. However.It took a while to find a suitable area of the lawn for the Bocci games. Certainly, it appeared Ihat none over exerted themselves.

The Oregon Cortez club provided the Monday evening BaroB-Que. It was a site to behold 10 watch the members set up the assembly line for food preparation. Giant packages, jars, containers, and boxes of everything made their way from Cortez to rec h3.JL The campground's grills were set out on the lawn for the men to.cook the hamburgers and hotdogs, while inside the rechall the ladies were busy opening, cleaning, cutting and setting out all the goodies on the tables. Once completed, Cortezzers formed organized arid orderly rows down the chow line.

The evening campfire and marshmallow roast was set up at the large rock-pit fireplace on the banks of the Rogue Rivet. It was a scenic and somewhat cool place for the evening gathering. A lot of marshmallows were consumed between a sort of "Can You Top This" for laughs galore.

Tuesday morning had a somewhat early start as enough .Cortezzers La fill two boars rendezvoused at the camp dock for a pickup by Jerry's Rogue Jets for an original Rogue River jet boat lour. The all-day l04-mile round trip excursion was one of the. highlights of the rally. When the Cortezzers returned, few were then seen after disembarking. All that fresh air, sunshine, and excitement made a: late siesta almost a m us L

For the remainder of the Cortezzers, about half, the Tuesday.afternoon was taken up with a number of activities and time to go and. explore Gold Beach. The 4 PM scheduled Mechanic's Forum was lead by Dick Alan, of TItusville; Florida. Most of you know about the elaborate work Dick has done with his' Cortez and he detailed the modifications as well as the most recent additions, the CASPRO Power Drive unit (covered in May, 1994 newsletter) and a fuel injection system. Both have done much to improve engine and transmission performance. A number of other topics were discussed as well as comments and responses to questions from the Cortezzers. Another Mechanic's Forum was held on Wednesday and Dericksen Brinkerhoff also spoke about the CASPRO Power Drive unit installed in his Kent model, the Multi-Fuel system (reponed in March, 1994 newsletter) and a recently installed braking system modification, Like all previous sessions, 3 good amount of technical

information was exchanged and up for discus.~ion.

The fancy dress pet show originally scheduled for Tuesday was moved to Thursday moming, because so many owners were on the Tuesday Jet Boat tour, There were eleven entries being shown, nine dogs and two cats. All received awards. Tracy. a white West! Terrier (owned by Warren & Jean Wipson) and Heidi, a white Poodle (owned by Janelle Thompson) tied for First Place. There were prizes for the smallest, the biggest. the oldest. besr behaved, [he feistiest, etc. The judges were strictly amateur and hope no one judges the judges. It was a fun event for all, participants as weI! as onlookers. Other Wednesday highlights included morning and afternoon Open House sessions, sale of Cortez parts and related items, a last chance at the book and plant exchange, or just relaxing in the shade. The latter hunch enjoying that free lunch that most tell you there. isn't, I learned that if you ear with your fingers, spiced apples can stain them (fingers).

The piece de resistance was the catered evening steak dinner put on hy the campground owners. The Bowman's, Bert & Hclc.. and Toby & Becky and their staff outdid themselves. The four tables of hors d;oeuvres was outstanding. I[ was hard I'D believe but there were left-overs. Perhaps wanting to save room for the steak dinner. Not to go unnoticed and perhaps to be admired and not eaten were the two beautifully .decorated sheet cakes, Each emblazoned with a.perfecr outlinc()[a Cortez.

Before and during the dinner, the Bowman's brought ina western band, the Country Travelers, to entertain us. lnbetween dinner and dessert there. was time for us. to make all of the presentations, awarding of prizes and closing announcements lest anyone get [00 full and nod off.It was also the chosen lime for Alice and Delman Munsey to step onsrage for recognition and a special presentation III Jim & Rose Mary Singhoxe on behalf of the Oregon Cortez Club and allow us all \0 applaud their efforts in putting (Do-ether the 21 st National Cortez Rally.

CoAwards and presentations continued to be made in a number of categories, some based on a questionnaire handed out during the rally. Categories were incl uded for Cortczzer traveling [he greatest distance, the best of show during Open House, National Rally attendance, longest time of Cortez ownership, perseverance in getting to the rally, and a number of other unique awards. Speaking of unique awards, thanks go to Heather & Bob Racho of Pit! Meadows, BC for the wooden crafted Cortez plaques that were presented to some ofthe above recipients.

The winner of the 5015.0 drawing was Don Behrend of Renton, Washington. Jim & Judv Rabe donated a weeks stay at a condominium in either Mexico or Hawaii. It was won by Leonard & Janet Guy of Seaview Washington. who by the way. also won grand prize #4. a gift certificate for 11 free 3-day stay of their choice at the Kimball Creek Bend RV

2

Resort, Winners of grand prizes were: (6) Jim

& Rose Mary Singhose, (5) Hap & Pat Fransen, (4) Leonard & Janet Guy, (3) Jack &

Pat Thomas, (2) Jack & Jane Kruse, and (1) Dick & Mary Luu Aeon taking home a beautifully handcrafted wooden bird house ~ made by Larry Lantagne of Payson, Arizona.

It was a pleasure to have Ed & Mary Alterman join us for a day ar the rally. Ed & Mary became the driving force so many years ago in gelling the Oregon Club started. Deservedly so, they wcre recognized and presented with a special gift.

Looking back at history, it was in early 1978 that Ed & 'Mary Altennatt began to put it together. Mary typed up the letter and Ed went out and had photocopies made for mailing. The announcement stated, "The first meeting/rally of the Cortez owners of Oregon-would be held at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds in Newport, Oregon on July 28, 29, and 30, 1.978." The cost was $2 per night with no hookups. (Actually there were a couple electrical outlets alongside .the bam which were assigned for allowingthe use of the electric coffee pol, electric shavers, and for charging batteries). It was further stated that they had scouted out the area and went on to list all of the various places of interest and eateries as well a~ a suggested agenda for the very first rally, Firsts are always special and it was thatfor the Oregon Cortezzers who gathered that late weekend in: July. 1978, in Newport; Oregon.

. The weather lor the .enure rally was simply marvelous. The the cool, damp an~ foggy mornings Changed 10 more bright and

sun shiny days. It was, for all of us, a most welcome change from the hot weather experienced inland and along the way.

Thursday was it day of departure, some leaving earlier than others. A good number, about 17 coaches; in a staggered schedule went on 10 the FMCA convention in Puyallup, Washington.

The 21st National Cortez Rally was an exceptional meet and enjoyed by all of those who attended. All of our rallies seem to take on a personality of their own and the 21st definitely had mat of the Oregon Cortez Club. The camaraderie, enthusiasm, friendliness, and eagerness to participate was really noticeable.

There were several who incurred problems either shortly before or while enroute to the rally, they are to be commended for their spunk (as Lou use 10 tell Mary on' the MTM show). Congratulations and we are glad that you made it.

Our thanks \0 all of those who brought

door prizes, there wen: enough to go around more than once; to those who offered their

help and assistance wherever it was needed

at the- activity events: to the Cascade Cortez

Cluh for donating $100 to help defray costs . of the Oregon Club's Monday night. Bar-B, -.LJ Que (the Oregon Club 50/50 drawing also contributed to the Bar-B-Que); to Jim &

Judy Rabe for the condominium certificate;

to Jack and Pat Thomasfor the Jet Boat

Report; Dorothy Abrams fllr the report on the Fancy Dress Pet Show; 10 Frank Freda and Dick Aron.forthe excellent Mechanic'S Foru!l1s; 10 theBowman's for theirgraciuus hospitalityand presenting such a perfect

\,.,... rally site; to an of you who attended the 'Great 21 st. it could 'not have happened without you; andlast, butnor least, to Rose Mary and. Jim Singhose and the Oregon Cortez Clubfor all their efforts in making theZ] st a most successful tdlly.

CORTEZ RALLY JET BOAT TRIP

,. ..

On the boatdock at Kimble Rimplc the weather was erisp but sunny. The boat started out a few miles down river and it was-so Cuggy you could notsee 20 feet. All were alerted 10 Wear layered clothes, as weawaited the arrival of the two boats aiB AM. EaCh held about 35 passengerSpl~sihe skipper, They seared us so that L\.1e 'boats were balanced, These. boats . are . powered by 3 jet motors and tota] over a thousand horses,and wow, do they go. Our skipper, Court. could-have made a living asa stand-up comedian, he was making jokes, none of which T had heard before.

Off we go taking mali)' small rapids. with such names as Raohael's Delight Ripple and Tom East Ripple, On the way we. saw 4 deer and 'Iliany Osprey. The Osprey always build. their nests on (lId ctags of trees. Copper Canyon was pure solitude with. sheer .cliffs

L__. -il'Hl:t . towered lliouSllllds of feeiabove. you and .... the water was still and deep. Our first'stop was ill Agnes's Resort and was appreciated by those that hadcoffeeand donuts at the camp. We were required to pUI on life jackets here and this did increase the excitement,

The Ripples now have become more dangerous and are called Rapids. At the crossing of these rapids the pcop1clolre. drenched by the spray.and are screaming with delight. This is whatthey have .comc for. When all is lao quiet and we come to deep. water the-skipper makes a 360 degree tum and all are again soaked. We go beyond our eating spot to another gorgeous view Where allger pictures, When we landed, one of the skipper's daughter's had a 'l-shirt that said" "Follow me to Paradise.". Sowe did and ihat was the name of the resort andthe end of thefirst halfoCthetrip.'Thereal surprise was the fabulous chicken dinner. On the Hells Can y on trip all we had 'Vas abo" 1 unch.

. The returntrip down 'the river was just as delightful, except all were sleepy and nodded until we came on some rafters with loaded water rifles thai again drowned us, We had now shed most' of our layers of clothesand the running of the. rapids downstream seemed to make more spray, We again stopped at

Agnes's totransfer. to a larger boatthat could take all of the Cort.qzers from both boats.into one. In about an hour we were. back atthe

Kimball dock and back to our very hol Cortezcs which had been closed up all day.

To all that I talked to - they said that they

.' J

,.,.

would take Jerry's Rogue River Jet Boat Trip Again. It was it very good day.

Jack & Pat Thomas '77 Cortez Seallle, WA98115

MULTI-FUEL SYSTEM UPDATE

The March, i 994 issue, of The National Newsletter described the Welsh Mulii-Fuel System in stalled In' our '73 Cortez; where miniscule amounts of fuel (propane) isinjected in the Tnnmado engine along-with low grade gasoline in the conventional manner. No mechanical modification is necessary. Adjustment only is made to the Rochester Carburetor to fine tune engine ernmisions.

It is to be noted here that the installation was made prior to income tax filing date, Subsequently, the. IRS folks have approved the entire installation costas was Claimed by Welsh Technologies brochures. .

The installation has been in use for 700{J miles, continuously, as the.instrumentationhas indicated, without missing one.beat. During the prevailingnorthern hOI spell (94 degree arnbienrjwe covered 2007miles (Minnesota round trip) with nooverheating of engine;

Engine timing had been s.d· at 10 degrees BTDC Fuefmgwas done with 87 octane fuel and S6 octane whenavailable. This Toronado engine was designed to burn 91 octane fuel specified by the manufacturer.

We arc riding Oil Goodyear G- 1-59 tires.

No speedometer adjustment from original equlpmcnt Jias been -rnade.lnrersla1c 'highway speed was maintainedatSo-ou MPH normally. During Minnesota trip, gasol inc mileage was 12,3 mpg. propane usage J30mileslgal (gauge),' oil -consumption was qr ./1 00(\ miles,

Those who may .wi sh to obtain an inquiry regarding the Installaiion supplier c,~nt~.ti Welsh Technologies Inc." P.O. Box 42i4, River Edge, NJ07661, 2() 1-489-3465.

Frank Spraitzar '73 Cortez Warren, OH 44484

PROGRESSIVE DYNAMICS CONVERTER SERVICE NOTE The Symptoms: 12-vol.t circuits in our i'972 Corteziwou ld not operate when switching off 117 -voltor generator power.

The problem wastraced to the Progressive Dynamics convener. 'The. normally-closed contacts on the iransfer relay (inside the unit) were piued and would not pass current] illed the contacts with a metal fingernail file and so tar, all is well. Eventually the relay wlli need replacement whichwill be a major job due to the location ofrhc PO unit and the lack of slack in the, wiring, Itmight be. quicker to rewire things-in the long run,

Oh yes, the Progressive Dynamics converter is located behind the bon omdrawer, under the sink.

Boh Cobler '72 Cortez Nevada, Ci(Y.CA 95959

3

FRANK'S CORTEZ CLINIC Frank Freda

345 Ridgecrest Drive

. SantaBarbara.Ca 93108 805c969-7500

CORTEZ ONE OF THE BEST MOTORIIOMES BUILT

Surelv one of-the reasonswe chlll)Se If) have' a Cort~zis-~cau'''lil( one of the besrengmeered rnotorhomes available, plus irs 1\ bargain in me used RV marketplace. A Cortez canbe had for little, more than a good used automobile. Low insurance and license fees are also part of the bargain, The Cortez's all steel unitized hQdy,removabk, rollout ;md ruwahlc engine cradle, consisting ofcomplete from whee Is. suspension, powertrainand.cooling system adds to its special q ualities.

The front of the Conez is su pported with torsion . bars and the rear has coil springs, This makes fur an excellent ndeandhandling, Along with all of-the above i, aclose network ofCortez, owners willing. to share the ideas, modrticauons and time, Equally as important is the National Cork, organization with ils··gianl source of 'mformation .and' support

quickly available to all Correzzers. .

Now comesalittle historvon cortez which Was origmatly designed and <huilt by 'the Chirk Equipment-Company. Tbefirst HHoot,6-incb rear door Cortez saw the salcs tloor ill .I 963 wilha·6 'CYlinder engine and a slick~hifi, This model continued until 1969. now a v-S.stick shift. however, th~ right passenger door wa.~ dropped and the length wasincreased ro.approxirnately t9~feel6-inchcs.

Duri nj; 1970, a non-prod uction year, A leoStandard purchased Cortez from Clark Equipment. All model» !,eli)!(' lOj71 were know as Clarkmodels j 97 J arid late!' rnodel« were know "' Kent models.

In In t again productinrt begun with th~ rear door mood at 19cfeet 6-inChes. and now having a driver and passenger door, plusthe 455.0kbmomle engine andautornatic iransmission, From 1972'· through 1974, the 2.1 -fnot si de-door-models appeared. the rear -<100r mode] was dropped .. A gain 1975 was a non-producriun year .. during .this year the Cortez manufacturing company was purch ased by approximately '26 Cortez owners, the new-name was Cortez Enterprise Inc. (CEJ); manutactunng began in 1976 through appro"imateiylij78"lwhi~h time ·pi"OOllcriuo came to a halt, In my opinion the. demise of (he production wasaresult of many taCl.(;",~ some of-them being the energy crisis of the seventies, , insufficient capital plus the Cortez was mostly builtfrom cosrlycustom madeparts.

.. Being a low. production rnororhome with high quality, PUIS' Cortez waybefure its lime' in the

marketplace. .

Mntorhnmcs 'in thc.se'renr.'ies were just beginning l<l catch 01\·· and Cortez could not bring the price necessary to continue in business, at' (OUT'" at this point in time maIJY rnotorhume companies wert '(jut qf busi ness. .

Well in any event, being the. well engineered vehicle it is, most havein excess of 100,000 miles on them, many nave 200 300'()00 miles.rand arc still guing strong. Thus we understand Thai service, mainten ance, and some modifications are certainly

commonplace, ". .

NEXT ISSUE: Next time we win go brieny into each of (he listed itemsdescribing what you can tasilychtck and sorn e remedi e s .. 'modifications, and basic service (hat should be done after the purchase of your coach .. Many of us, who are' long-term owners (some 30 years or more). may al>~J heiTiU,rt',led in Our nC.j.t~gmcni" That segmentwill lookat: Lifeexpectancy of some systems, Fuel systems, HOI start problems, Brakes; Front and' rear wheel .bearmgs, "Irrcs ':l11d types orwheels, Structure frame 'failures; Disc brakes and boosters, Transmi.ssion and torque

converters, Rusrwork 10 check. .

21st TCN ATTENDEES

NOTO, Tony & Jan CA

ATON, Dick & Mary Lou FL

BLOMFIELD, Mike & Ingrid Be

MODROW, Roy & Dolly . WA

GRIMES, Albert & Jackie AZ

FREDA, Frank & son Rory CA

CAIRNS, Tom & Mickie AZ

COOK, Bob & Betsy AZ

SHERMAN, Edward & Palma AZ

BARBER, John & Shirley OR

STEELE, Muguette WA

FRANSEN, Hap & Pat CA-

BENNETT, Stanley & Sonya CA

JURNECKA, Joe ~ Ruth CA

THOMAS, Jack. & Pat WA

KRUSE, Jack& lane CA

PICKTON, Wa,ller & Faith MT

HERYFORD, Keith & Georgie CA

OLDHAM, John & Janet OR

SINGHOSE, James & Rose Mary OR

HAAS, Rick & Debbie OR

JOHNSON, Marvin & Betty Harton OR

SINGHO$E, Leonard & Judy ID

BRITAIN, Howard & Carolyn OR

RACHO, Bob& Heather' BC

BROSY,Jack & Geraldine OR

MUNSEY, Delman & Alice OR

GONSALVES, Bill & Faye CA

VOLKMANN, Mrs. Willie CA

WHITTLE, Clyde & Peggy CA

OLSEN, Larry & Sybil CA

VODDEN, DOn & Martha TX

MUNDAY, David & Lovey AZ

SMITH, joel C. & Rita Marie CA-

NELSON, Rudy & Arlene IA

HANNICK, Larry & June WA

HUGHES, Da1e& Beth WA

LEIGHTON, Donovan & Gerta Range OR

VACA, AI & Janet OR

ANDREASSEN, Dale &Gloria WA

HAlTON. JOe & Caryl FL

DORNAUS, Glenn & Emmylou IL

BERG, Harris & Doreen OR

BENNETT; Paul & Barbara -OR

DETWILER, Harry & Doris Lee CA

LANTAGNE, Larry & Olive AZ

JORDAN, Phil & Ellen AZ

DOWNEN, Dan & Betty CA

CALL, Wilson & WiUieCA

PEARSON, Bob & Bobbe OR

FRANKE, Fred & Jean CA

RICH, James & Geraldine CA

VAN SANTEN, Dick &Osie OR

GREINER, Jim & Barb OR

MARKS, David & Rosalie NY

WHEELER, Ken & sister Dorn CA

WHEELER, JR., Ken & Corisande OR

COX, Harold & Ann CA

WIPSON, Warren & Jean CA

CRlDELICH, John & Elaine CA

COOK, Virgil & Beverly MT

FORDIc:E, Gerald & Sheila WA

RABE, Jim & Judy OR

TRANBERG, Cm-I & Peggy WA

GREGORY, Dave & Ann Swenson WA

BEHREND, Donald & Arlene WA

TORTORlCI. James & Florence WA

PELL, Austin & Jeanette CA

CANADA, Alfred & Laura OR THOMPSON, Tom, Donna & Janelle WA

STOKOE. Ray & Shirley NY

GURR, George &.Edna OK

CRULL, James & Norma WA

BERRY, Gerry & Mary CA

SWINGLE, Warren & Jeanne Horton CA

MENDOZA, Tino & Frances CA

GRANT, J-ieb & Ruth WA

CORDIS, Kenneth & JoAnne OR

OLDS, Ken, Wendy & Lauren CA

GUY, Leonard & Janet WA

BRAWDY, Dave & Mary WA

HAY, Hal & Marge OR

HENDERSON, Hank & Doni CA

CRAWLEY, Harvey OR

BRINKERHOFF, Dericksen & Mary CA

COBLER, Robert & Pilt CA

ST. 9ERMAIN, John & Nancy OR

SOLEM, Chuck & Sharon WA

WALLACE, Scotty & Ruth WA

CORRADQ,. Vince& Mary FL

ALTERMATI, Ed & Mary OR

BAYER,-Gemge OR

HUBBAIW, Keith & Mary OR

FMCA CONVENTION

This is an account of the Great Trck of the 1994 TCN to FMCA Convention. or How We Got to Where We Were Going,

Tony & Jan Noto and the Oregon Cortez Club thoughtfully arranged datesso 'that it would be possible for Cortezzers to drive from the 21st National Cortez Rally in Gold Beach, Oregon 10 the 31st FMCA Annual Summer Convention in Puyallup, Washington,

About 20 Cortezzers len the Kimball Creek Campground on the Rogue River at various times on the morning of Thursday, July 28th, and played .tag and leapfrog with each other Northwards on Highway 101. Many STopped to sightsee on the way up_ Atons, Dornaus, Hattons, Marks and Blomfields chanced to.meet (or lunch in Coos Bay. Srokoes were spotted having lunch in a rest area in Eugene. At the Santiam River Rest Area, Greiners, Marks and Blomfields stopped for a coffee break, Both Greinersand Mruks then had starter problems, which those excellent mechanics wen: soon able to fix, with a "bang" here (Greiners) and a "spare part for a starter" there (Marks),

By pre-arrangement, 16 Cortezes and one "other" pulled into the Woodburn, Oregon WalMart (at.1-5 & 271) parking lot for Night One of the journey north. Atons, Hattons, Dornaus, Marks, Henderson, Blomfield, Cairns, Cooks, Greiners, Frankes, Stokoes, Pe lls, Shermans, Downens, Lantagnes, Swingles and Mapes all enjoyed good shopping, great Cortez-talk, and a level safe overnight stop. (The management ·of WalMart welcomes overnight RV's)

Thc gang moved on in small groups the next day io another pre-arranged meeting place at Washington Mile 11 I on 1-5 at Hawks Prairie Inn. Aftcr great soft ice cream indulgences, 15 of the 17 caravanned, by

4

invitation, 11 miles lathe home of Cortezzer Hcb and Ruth Grant in Steilacoom, WA. Hatton-and Dornaus came along later, having shopped at the Pendleton. Woolen Mill Outler in WashougaI,WA.

We made a pr e uy sight! Seventeen ..",/J Cortezes lined up on Hcb and Ruth's meadow, all with 0 view of the waters of

Puget Sound. In the late afternoon, Hcb and

Ruth invited the whole bunch onto their sun

deck to enjoy a beautiful sunset and ice

cream and cookie treats. Heb even presented

"door prizes" of wonderfully handcrafted (by (Heb) wooden napkin holders. He then entertained with stories of the colorful history of the Burlington Great Northern Railroad. The main line of the railroad runs

along the shoreline just below the bluff on which their lovely home is situated,

There Were many Cortez stories swapped, till darkness fell, and everyonereturned to their coaches.

Saturday, July 30th, seventeen Cortezes followed "fearless leader" Heband Ruth to the Cortez holding area at the Fruitland Grange Hail near Puyallup. Only the first three came in together. A long with much chatterand directions on CB channel 12, some got hung up at stop lights, stopped for gas, or just plain wandered. All arrived in due course, at the holding. area, Lantagnes don't know how they did it -they started out as #4 in the caravan, but arrived last,

More FMCA Cortez Chapter Cortezes arrived; and at the lead-off time of 4;30 PM, ., everyone "started their engines" and 30 . Cortezes were lead to the FMCA fairgrounds

site by Chapter President Dick and Mary Lou Alan. All 30 arrived together at this time.

From Saturday, July 30th thru Wednesday, August 1rd, happy hours, meetings. seminars of all description, entertainment, dancing, ice cream socialscand 7 to 9 AM coffee and. doughnuts kept everyone hopping.

An are looking forward to the FMCA Winter Convention at Las Cruces. New Mexico on March 9, 10. 11, 1995 and the 32nd Annual Summer FMCA Convention in Minot, North Dakota on August 15 .. 16, 17.1995.

Ingrid Blomfield reponing for the TCN News.

Mike &, Ingrid Blornfield '73 Cortez West Vancouver. BC V7S-2C7

EL PERIODICO

We were all comfortably sitting on the spacious veranda overlooking an ann of the world famous Puget Sound enjoying the magnificent view eating ice cream and homemade. cookies. About a hundred yards below and in front of us near the water's edge ran the double tracks of the Southern Pacific and Burlington Northern railroads. Every once in awhile a long train would roll by causing most of us to give ita hollerand a wave ~ just like a bunch ofliule kids.

What was the occasion? About 17 Cortez

f -

W

coaches and their happy occupants had accepted Ruth & Hcb Grant's invitation to stop overnight at his place enroure froin the 21 st National Cortez Rally at Gold Beach, OR, to the Family Motor Coach Assn

~ convention in Puyallup, Washington. Ruth & Heb, f'ettow Cortez enthus i asts , are justifiably proud of their four acres which rhey carved out of the dense forest some 'i5 years ago. In addition, they borh exhibited considerable pride in their beautiful home which Heb, a master carpenter by profession, built with his own hands.

Elsewhere herein are the xt ati sties, names, home states and other descriptions Of one of the best National Rallies we've attended for a long time. We were especially happy to once again meet some of our old friends from far away places - even Florida and New York. You can't get much further away from the Northwest than that, But to continue our story:

From the Grants' we convoyed to our predetermi ned hold ing area where our numbers were almost doubled by the time we entered at the State Fairgrounds and parked together as intended, Duc to the foresight and. planning of our Cortez Chapter President, Dick Aton and his lovely wife Mary Lou, we were nicely located on a green grassy plot only a very short walk from one of the main gates. So once again our traditional Cortez camaraderie was soon in fullswing. Forthose who were there, there's

.... ~. need for us tei describe the fine time we '--Yhadai the convention. The rest of OUT readers can either read about it in the FMCA's excellent magazine, our chapter newsletter or simply do without

incidentally. on the subject of convoying, we did have some slight discomfort in gelling separated enroute, due mostly to some getting held up bytraffic lights going through town, Fortunately and thanks to our CB radios, we were relayed sufficient instructions on how to "gel back on track" via another highway and were able to arrive on time, Too late some of us were reminded that a basic rule of thumb in convoying is NOT TO LET the vehicle BEHIND out of your sight.

Anyway, that was the Good News - ,now for the Bad: Jean and I almost didn't make it again this year to The National Some: of you may recall that last year we missed OUr first one ever due to a broken flex plate (which.connects the torque converter to the engine). This year our transmission started giving US trouble at the end of our first day from horne. It refused to go .back into high gear (drive) after reaching the top of a long steep grade and then free-wheeled going down. Strangely, though, we'd been

, watching the temperature gauges for both the' -..lP' engine and trans noting they were only

slightly abovenormal. .

The next morning we were about ready to tum around and try to. make it hack to Yreka

but our good friends. Jerry & lim Rich, with whom we were traveling, convinced us that we should try .to keep going into Ashland, Oregon, where they had planned ro srop anyway and where we: might find a transmission shop. We limped along, reached the town - but it was Sunday and practically nothing was open. So we agreed to try for the next and bigger city, Medford, Slay overnight and then see what we could do about repairs the following day.

Then, for a little Better News, out of the corner of our eye we just barely spotted a transmission shop with an open door. The owner was ther e von ly to do some paperwork. but was kind enough to talk to' us and render all opinion, His conclusion was that iT wouldn't do any particular harm to keep on driving except that we'd have to do a lot of braking when free-wheeling down long grades. So we continued onward and eventually arrived at our destination; the Gold Beach site of The 21st National Cortez Rally, And we were thankful for our Ford-type disk br akes (same as (he late Charlie Hill's - God Bless him) because southern Oregon has a lot of very long sleep gr ade s. Finally arriving at t he rally site and having at .Ieast accomplished the main purpose of our trip. we could now relax, enjoy the rally and worry about repairs later.

So now for the Good News: Enjoy the rally we did, as we also did all the 20 years Wore (last year excepted, ·of coursej. And the all day jet-boat excursion up the Rogue River was an outstanding .advemure and one whichwe'Il long remember. Rose Mary & Jim Sirrghose and their fellow Oregonians deserve loads of pra ise for the outstanding job in organizing thisgreat Zl st NCR.

Back to the Bad News: We departed Gold Beach early Thursday morning so that the other Cortez. people would be behind us in case we broke down and needed help. We again limped along mostly in 2nd (passing) gear, not exceeding 50 MPH and stopping at all the rest areas to give our tranny a breather. The 187 miles to Ruth & Heb's place seemed more like a thousand - but we made it OK. There was a slight ray of hope, however, when intermiuently the Cortez ran okay.

But when something needs fixing rr's usually best to do the simplest things first and on our GM transmissions and in that order, are the external modulator and the governor, Well, another good friend among our group, Dan Downen, just happened 10 have' a spare modul ator on hand and insisted we give it a' fry; in fact he even crawled underneath and made the switch, Alas,·a short road test proved only that the original modulator was not the problem, But no one had a governor so that' would have to wait until later. The next day the: 17 of us drove the short 20 miles to the Puyallup l a irg rounds. Once more we

5

survived and after parking with the now over 30 coaches of our Cortez Chapter, again relaxed 10 enjoy our usual great camaraderie as we 11 as another f'irre convention,

Meanwhile, still another good Cortez friend, Ed Sherman of Arizona offered to drive [0 Airport Auto Service in SeaTac which was most highly recommended by old time Cortezzer Mike Blomfield of British Columbia. Ed Chapin, the proprietor, agreed to srartwnrk on our ailing machine the Monday following the convention, During the interim weekend we were happy to accept Ingrid & Mike's invitation to stay OVer at the nearby Elks Lodge very comfortable RV park,

Finally, some Good News: Also there with us were Rosalie & Dave Marks who'd come in their Cortez all the way from New York where Dave had formerly been in charge of maintaining a large fleet of police cars. Now that we were free of rallies and conventions, we had time to seriously discuss the problem with our GM transrn iss i on , Dave opined that nothing was really broken but the internal seals were' leaking, probably due. to old age and heal. He said that he had with him a much used common additive that softened and expanded these seals so that they would again work properly. He was quite confident thai this would solve our problem. and we could gel home without. further difficulty.

Allho!<'gh we've never had much faith ill the many oil additives that claim 10 he "an overhaul in the bottle" , etc, ill this instance we accepted Daile's advice figuring, whal did. we have to lose. The-quart container is labeled;'

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID SEALER

- GUARANTEED-

"If you are not satisfied with the results, mail sales receipt to us and your purchase. price 'will be refunded." Made in U ,S A.; Gold Eagle Co. Chicago, IL 60632

To make this long story no longer, we put in the additive, .cancelled our appointment' for removal of the rranny and, stani ng cautiously at first, drove the 945 miles in the next three days, arriving safely home without the slightest sign of the former problem. Our odometer now reads 199895,

But now, hopefully, we have until the middle of October to prepare for the Fourth Annual Hernando '8 Rid'eaway to another Gold Beach (Playa de Oro) down in old Mexico. See the July issue of The Cortez National for complete details,

Jean & Fred Franke '77 Cortez Sunnyvale, CA 94D89

EASTERN REGIONAL

The. Eastern Regional Cnnez Rally is here. It's scheduled for September 12, 13. 14, 15. and 16. 1994 at the Old Mill Stream Camping Manor in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The campground is quiet, easily accessible, centrally located 10 all attractions and the Red 'Ro-se Trolley offers convenient transportation JO and from the campground.

The schedule for the 4-oight. S-day event includes campsite with water and electric for two people; coffee, tea, and doughnuts each morning; socials, two c ate r ed meals; a Tuesday night po! luck supper; ladies crafts and Cortez living socials; mechanics forums with one featuring the Welsh Multi-Fuel System; a tal en! night; a best dressed log

contest; special entertainmenr: tours and an opportunity to shop at the area's factory outlet stores,

In addition to what you normally take with you to a rally, you are also asked to bring alnng a five dollar gift for the Happy Hour. I r gerule! involved. please indicate same.

The ral'ly fee for The Regional is $100 percoach andreservations ate still being taken by phone. Call Teresa Miller at 6 J O~ 269-7942.

Steve & Teresa Miller '78 Cortez 123 Gallagherville Ro.<!.d Downingtown, PA 19335.

A MESSAGE FROM GEORGE

1 would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Cortez owners who have ordered hinge. material and weather stripping

oyer the veal's. ..,J

1 will no longer he handling the vinyl. If yDU have a future need for the vinyl, you can contact Don Behrend, 176 S.E. 196th Drive, Remon. WA9805R, 206-226-2696.

We have sold our Con-e7. and as it drove out the driveway, I was reminded of the many stories I've heard around the camp fires. To sum them all up, all of US would have to agree, that Cortez~s never die, they Just rust away.

George & Vi Blackmore Altamonte Springs. FL ]2701