Wish you all well and good by

[Roy B.]

When I read about broach markings, stampings and paint over spraying on exhaust
Manifolds I realize NCRS has changed.
Many people are making up the corvette they wont using repro. Paper work, trim tags and what ever.
I'm sure many reading this will be pi*St off. But most Corvettes once receiving a top Flight are never seen again ( WHY! MONEY) And "sadly NCRS" is being used by to many to make money.

There is another world out there were people are purist but drive their cars. This forum is wonderful for many but not all and I'm one of them.
As you pass the trailer parking lot you can tell how many Corvettes are being judged .The war stories we older member told was how our Corvette ran or broke down while driving to NCRS meets, it's now changed and like many first NCRS members I feel out of place.
Because I love C1's most but also own C2's I see little on C1's and few and fewer C1's attending meets.I still plane to keep the restorer coming and thank you all that I've posted with and friends I've met over the years. I and many other just love driving our Corvettes and as you know people that do cant relate to those that don't. I truly respect all your opinion's you have and hope you respect mine.
I still plane to attend some NCRS meets driving a Corvette.Thanks ROY

[Joseph T.]

Re: Upcoming Event

Roy...

I plan to fly out to California for the Carroll Shelby Fabulous Fifties event in Torrance on 10/27- 10/28.

Sounds like a fun time that will produce some very interesting cars, people and conversation.

Hope to see you there! C'mon down...and bring Noland with you.

Joe Trybulec

[Dave F.]

Re: Wish you all well and good by

Roy,

You're not upsetting me, but I'd be very sad to have you leave the forum. I count on your perspective in many matters. I'm new to Corvettes and since buying my car I've always felt I would drive it as much as I could. But you're the one who convinced me I can drive the hell out of it and still show up at an NCRS meet if I want to.

I don't really understand why you would want to stop being a part of this forum. Is there a better one?

Who cares if most people trailer their cars nowadays. It just means more fun and attention for you and me when we're blasting down the highway.

Stay on the forum Roy! And I hope to see you around the Northwest!

-Dave

[Dave F.]

Re: Wish you all well and good by

A purists car with a set of wonderfully fun non-purist wheels and Roy Braatz's OS spare in the trunk, showing up for a Corvette picnic. Others there included the NW solid axle chapter who have taken their cars from Seattle to Chicago to Santa Monica recently. Love driving the Vette!

[Philip C.]

Have a Beer with us

Hi Roy sorry I never have had the pleasure of meeting you, but I have had the pleasure of reading your posts. The hobby is now a business the cars even new today are very expensive the costs of restoring the early ones is prohibited.I cant blame guys that trailer their cars and Iam one of them because the restoration level of these cars is so high that driving them is not possible.This board is one of the best parts of the hobby, if your an average guy or a 100 car collector its a level playing field. We joke around sometimes someone feelings are hurt but we all take it in stride. I think I poked a little fun at you because you like to post photos.There is a good bunch of usual guys on here telling stories and asking sometimes dumb questions and answers but thats the story yea everbodys in it for the money are you selling the 55 for what you paid for it or less I wouldnt think so. The sad part is we done see the C1s. NCRS has had only 82 1956 vin numbers judged since we started.The Boston show had 170 plus cars things are looking up. The NCRS member numbers are 40K plus but we still have 15K plus active members. I hate long posts! TALK TO YA Phil 8063

[Dave Suesz]

You've been a great

help to me, working out some of the missing bits, and large gaps in my knowledge.

Word of caution- My last big hurdle will be replacement of the canvas top, which is original and shot. I may PM you if I can't get my questions answered here.

[Frank C.]

Re: Wish you all well and good by

Roy...I share your thots, but I have no plans of ever leaving this forum. There are too many knowledgable members here to just turn my back because of these money hungry yuppies who are using the NCRS as a stepping stone for cubic $$$$. You either love CORVETTES or MONEY and you can't have it both ways. I really hope this is NOT your last post. Regards Frank

[Dave F.]

Re: Have a Beer with us

"the restoration level of these cars is so high that driving them is not possible"

Tell that to Jay Leno.

I mean no disrespect Phil, but I'm not buying into that arguement. If you choose just to display your car that is fine, but there are many cars at a much higher level than most Corvettes that do get driven. Heck, even the Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance had a road tour that many of the cars participated in. I also know of several collectors up this way who drive very high dollar restorations. I can remember a comment from one guy who said he undid at least 10K of restoration work by taking his car down the West Coast, but it was all worth it.

-Dave

[Michael L.]

Re: Wish you all well and good by

Roy, I hope you keep in touch via email. I hope I can still drop you a line and get info that will help me get my '55 driver on the road. Then, when there are meets or shows in the Tahoe / Northern California area, your '55 will not be the only one driven to the event! Best wishes,

Mike in Sparks, NV

[Gary C.]

Roy stick around your input in invaluable

and besides you have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with all of us. Your comments and post make the forum enjoyable. Do hope you will stick around. Regards, Gary....

[Rob M.]

Re: Wish you all well and good by

Roy,

You can't be serious. First spending 40+ years learning all about Corvette thingies and then stop sharing that information with your buddy's here on this forum. Come on, we are counting on chaps like you to help us out when we are stuck under the dash in our tiny C1's!

greetings,
Rob.

[Edward McComas]

Re: Wish you all well and good by

Roy;

I definitely understand you concerns about how the hobby, and NCRS, have changed. I was ready to throw in the towel and quit NCRS a few years ago. However, my friend and Corvette mentor Dale Pearman asked me to reconsider. He pointed out that it is not really possible to change any organization from the outside. During the very last conversation that I had with Dale before he passed, he extracted two promises from me. And one of them was that I would not quit NCRS.

Now I realize that you are not quiting NCRS, and that is good. But don't give up on the NCRS technical forum. You have a lot of knowledge and insight to share with those that are new to the hobby.

Remember, it is not about the cars, it is about the people.

P.S. Have you checked out the Vetteheads web site yet. www.vetteheads.com. Reminds me a lot of NCRS in the old days.

[Chris H.]

Re: Wish you all well and good by

Roy, do not give up! At least not on this forum. I may not be a typical NCRS guy but my car is not a trailer queen. I hope it will be as good as one, one day, but I will still drive it. Not like you do but will still drive it on nice days, to meets, etc.

W/o this forum I do not think I could ever get it to that point. It is the best place to find out what is right for my car. In fact it almost makes it too simple. Sometimes I feel guilty because of all you experts that had to learn the hard way by going to look at correct cars, junk yards and glean photos.

Us youngun's need the expertise you can offer.

Chris

[Gary Schisler]

Amen!

Well said. My thoughts exactly. Driving them is not possible? Don't think so. I thought these were cars and not golden calves?

Gary

[John D.]

Re: Wish you all well and good by

Roy, Never had the pleasure of knowing you but did think about you while attending the Boston Regional. You would have liked being there. There were a ton of your favorite cars both unrestored and restored. 53's 54's. maybe a 55. I couldn't believe how many. All lined up. Phil is right Roy. I am an old time member of NCRS myself. Joined in 78 or 79. Right now the club has come alive big time. Lots of interest even from the younger generation. Sure there are people doing it for business but you will always have that. But there are a host of others doing it for fun. I had my 63 judged for the first time after owning it for 28 years. Didn't do it so it could be resold for big bucks. Turned down big bucks for it at the show. Did it for fun. Fun is what it's all about. Sure there are some extremists. I can be one of those at times also. But having been a key player in the Pittsburgh chapter from day one I always stress to the members you gotta have fun. Enjoyed reading most of your posts over the years. Right now it's the end of the year and a lot of us are Corvetted out. That can happen. Espeically with me. But the club needs nice people like you.John