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I am sure some long time members here recall his posting of very informative oil and technical postings which have helped me in many ways and I am sure most of you. he made a comment on the NCRS TDB of his dropping out. so he is still around just getting away from the internet
He stopped by my place as I was in the driveway doing a little work. After I finished drooling on his gorgeous, fresh Duntov Award '57 we had a very nice chat that included why I had not posted on the TDB for nearly three months.
Last April California state senator Grove introduced legislation, SB 712, which would have established an emission test exemption for cars at least 35 years old with certain conditions (only up to '75 are currently exempt), and some of you may recall that I started several threads on the subject. The bill became informally known as "Leno's Law" because Jay Leno was a big supporter and headed up a press conference and parade in Sacramento the day the bill was submitted and returned to testify in person at the first committee hearing.
I spent a considerable amount to time and effort both here and on the Corvette Forum (with the help of others who allowed me to post under their handles) requesting support from the vintage car community, especially the Corvette community. A few, no more than a handful from the CF, responded that they contacted the various committees requesting support for SB 712. It was easy to do, and I explained how to contact the various committees in all the threads I started, both here on the TDB and the CF.
Bills take months to progress through the California legislative process, and SB 712's first stop was the Senate Transportation Committee. The bill passed with strong bipartisan support, but to my surprise, the committee only received about 25 comments from the public (five of which, in addition to mine, I know were from friends and neighbors) despite my effort and the considerable effort from SEMA to get the word out to the car community to actively support the bill. It went on to pass the Senate Appropriations Committee and the full Senate with good bipartisan support. Then it was on to the Assembly and their Transportation and Appropriations Committees. It received strong bipartisan support in the Transportation Committee, but opposition (in person by the likes of CARB and other state agencies) was mounting.
Then it was on to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, and I was beginning to worry. There's this little thing called the "suspense file" where bills are sent to die. If you live in California you should look at the following link to see how it works.
Each biennial (2-year) legislative session sees THOUSANDS of bills introduced. Each solon (80 Assembly Members, 40 Senators) can introduce up to 35 bills, and this is reduced from a previously higher number!
So in the first Assembly Appropriations Committee meeting SB 712 was referred to the "suspense file", which was a very bad omen. (Keep in mind that I watched EVERY Senate and Assembly committee hearing as they live-streamed on the Web when SB 712 was on the agenda). This is the start of the opaque backroom operations as explained in the above calmatters link, where the fate of the bills are determined, and the several hundred "suspense file" bills were considered in the next Appropriations Committee meeting a couple of weeks later. It takes mere seconds for each bill, and when the chair called out SB 712 the disposition was to keep it in "suspense". In other words, the bill was dead and no one, not even the originator, Senator Grove, probably ever found out the real reason. There is never an actual public vote by the committee members.
Needless to say I was disappointed, and maybe just a little angry. As I said, at that first public hearing, the Senate Transportation Committee, there were only about 25 comments from the public, and the number declined from that in subsequent committee hearings. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN 25,000!!! The Assembly Appropriations chair certainly didn't expect any backlash from killing SB 712 because nobody seemed to give a damn, so it was easy to bury it in the "suspense file", and no one said a word!
I have three vintage cars in the 1976 to 1999 time frame, and all cars in this year group have to be emission tested every two years under load on a chassis dynamometer regardless of miles driven since the last test. Shops with dynos are getting harder to find because because there are ever fewer cars in this year group, and if the dyno breaks down, it may not be worth fixing (2000-up only require an OBD II code check and some visual inspections.) It's going to become increasingly difficult to keep 76-up cars legally registered for road use in California, especially pre-2000 modules that have to be dyno tested under load while tailpipe emissions are sampled. This includes the last half of the C3 era, the entire C4 era, and the first couple of years of the C5 era.
There must be more than a few 1976-up model year California Corvette owners who are NCRS members, but I'm not aware that any of them made any effort to support SB 712. I also emailed the NCRS President (who is a California resident) and the three chapter chairs. I got two responses, one saying "I'll pass it along". Another just remarked about the historical vehicle license plate requirement, and two did not respond to my email.
So I began thinking about whether I should continue to involve myself in the vintage car community, and there are other personal issues. My physical condition has deteriorated rapidly in the last year. Decades long back problems in addition to arthritis in my hips, knee and ankle issues, edema, nephropathy... makes it difficult to stand for very long or walk very far, so activities like standing on my feet most of the day and bending over judging cars is out of the question. The good news is that my primary care doctor signed off on a handicap parking placard for me, and am very likely going to "submit" to endoscopic back surgery early next year to clean out some of the scar tissue and bone spurs that are narrowing my spinal canal and impinging on the spinal cord (spinal stenosis). It won't make me "like new", but it should, hopefully, get me into better shape so at least walk more than a hundred feet before needing to rest.
I've been a NCRS member for 30-35 years, active on the TDB for 25 years, published articles in The Corvette Restorer and local chapter newsletters, local chapter judging and technical presentations, and a presentation at the 2012 national convention in San Diego. I've thoroughly enjoyed the ride, but I've reached one of those points in life were one has to move on and remind myself, again, of a famous quote from Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry character: "A man's got to know his limitations."
There have been recent discussions about what NCRS can do to attract and keep members. I think I made a suggestion or two in previous thread(s) on this issue, and here's another: Get behind federal and state legislation that is favorable to vintage cars and fight legislation that is unfavorable.
So I will not be renewing my membership in NCRS for next year and will not be participating in any vintage car events or public or private forums, but I want Don Hooper to know that by the end of the year I will have a new HP Windows laptop and a T-Mobil hotspot so I can enjoy YouTube videos with high speed internet while I'm flopped out on my recliner drinking beer. For now I'm keeping the old copper land line, but won't need dial-up internet any longer.
Though I will no longer participate in public or private forums, I welcome any inquiries if anyone thinks I can help and you know (or can find) my email or phone number. I prefer phone as my arthritic fingers are making typing more of a chore.
Keith,
Thanks for sharing that update. Duke is a wealth of knowledge in a number of areas and will, certainly, be missed on the forums. It is nice to hear he will take questions via phone. I, also, hope and pray he finds some relief from his back ailments and arthritis...both can be crippling. This particular facet of the hobby is certainly aging out.
SWCDuke and JohnZ were here in the early days providing sound technical advice and history about these cars to everyone. I learned a LOT from these guys. Duke helped to educate me especially on cams and valve train and ignition systems. I also enjoyed his stories on these cars and his early racing experiences in south California. My Corvette paper files were literally full of copies of his advice on these cars.
We are losing more and more of these "pioneers" each year that provided actual experiences of the C1 C2 Corvette early days. Fortunately we still have a few left on this forum to help and guide us........and I still learn from them when they post. Moving here to Bowling Green from New Orleans last year, I have made a number of friends that actually built our Corvettes back in St Louis and them moved to BG with the new Corvette Plant. A lot of fabulous and entertaining stories and information.
Duke............thanks for all your advice and help to us on this forum over the years.
I have many of his articled and downloads saved to my computer. Changing of the guard is always painful and especially when there are fewer and fewer guards to replace these icons.
I have many of his articled and downloads saved to my computer. Changing of the guard is always painful and especially when there are fewer and fewer guards to replace these icons.
the great thing about John and Duke is they worked for GM in the 60's and knew how the system worked.
Thus my comment. There were so many odd practices, lack of documentation etc. They helped bridge the gap of understanding, and in many cases, produced actual documention that help guide NCRS as we know it today.
It saddens me to hear of Duke's increasing infirmity. Age catches up with everyone eventually, and it can be harsh. I wish him all the best, and thank him for everything he has contributed to this and other forums through the years. I've certainly learned a great deal from his postings.
Over a decade ago, when I was deciding on how to rebuild my numbers matching, very tired, very original 300hp 327, Duke's advice (both here and direct) proved to be invaluable and the resultant engine is the envy of many of my friends. I hope the medical community is able to restore the quality of life he deserves.
Ron '66 roadster
Good man, shared good information to those who would listen, he will be missed here on the forum. May he live long and enjoy his time doing what he wants to do. There’s nothing wrong with that. 🇺🇸
SWCDUKE retirement
For now I'm keeping the old copper land line, but won't need dial-up internet any longer.
