| Vol. 25 - Issue No.5
Written By Allan C.
Holden
May 2026 |
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KALAMAZOO ANTIQUE BOTTLE CLUB NEWS |
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Member Club: of Federation Of Historic Bottle Collectors |
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WE ARE TAKING THE MAY MEETING ON THE ROAD! Coming Event!  Hi friends! We have a special meeting coming up this month, and you could easily miss the boat if you should show up at the wrong dock! Last year, our final meeting of the year was at a different place as well! And it was also at a different time. Do you remember that? Our Club President, Scott Hendrichsen, gave a privy- digging presentation at the Portage Library and it was very well received, and delivered, to a big crowd! THIS MONTH IS BIMBO'S PIZZA!!! This year, our final meeting before summer break, will be held on May 12th, 2026 at 6:00 at Bimbo’s Pizza in Kalamazoo, our long-time favorite Pizza Parlor. Bimbo’s Pizza is located at 338 East Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI. Phone (269) 349-3134 We like to start at 6:00 to 6:15 so they get our orders in. JOTTINGS FROM VINCENT . . . The attendance for Tuesday, April 14th, 2026 club meeting were the following: Vincent Grossi, Lynn Kozik, Len Sheaffer, Juli Sheaffer, Ashley Carlson, Kevin Siegfried, Kelly Bobbit, Eddie Nickerson, Al Holden, Scott Hendrichsen, Katie wages, Brian Wages, Mary Gale, Tim Hayes, Marian Hill and Lilly Hill. 1. The current Club Nominations for KABC 2026-2028 Officers are President: Scott Hendrichsen (2nd Term), Vice-President: Vincent Grossi (3rd Term) Treasurer: Len Sheaffer(2nd Term) Secretary: Open Position. Club Secretary: Katie Wages did a great job over the past two years for club. The club is looking for someone to fill this position. The Club Nominations were held at the April 2026 meeting. 1. The K.A.B.C. holds elections for officers every two years. All officers hold their positions for two years. The K.A.B.C. Elections will take at the next club meeting on Tuesday, May 12th, 2026. 2. The KABC's Privy Dig & Metal Detecting Event was held on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 on an 1850 Farmhouse, Schoolcraft, MI. There were 17 club members and 3 special guests at this event. Please visit the K.A.B.C.'s Facebook Page and May's Newsletter for photos of the event. 3. This May's club meeting will be held at Bimbo’s Pizza (269)-349-3134, Downtown Kalamazoo, 338 E. Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49007-3833. Gathering Time: 6pm-?pm. 4. The West Michigan Antique Bottle Club & Kalamazoo Antique Bottle Club's 4th Annual Group Picnic with Bottle Swap & Sale will be held on Sunday, August 16th, 2026. Location: Brookside Park, Otsego MI. Time: 11am-3pm. Details announced at a later date. 5. Kalamazoo Antique Bottle Club's New 2027 Bottle Show Date: May 15th, 2027. 6. The Kalamazoo Antique Bottle Club would like to announce our New 2027 Bottle Show Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2027.  The K.A.B.C. had to move our Bottle Show to Saturday, May 15th, 2027 next year, because of the 2027 Easter Schedule, and other major 2027 Bottle Show Dates which would totally compete with our show overall. Any questions about our bottle club and bottle show please let us know.  THANKS VINCENT! I want to point out; what a huge job putting the show together has to be! Vincent has been an example of “The right man for the job,” if there ever was one! As dumb, as I usually am, I didn’t think we would be able to keep the show going on after, John Pastor, resigned as show chairman. My thoughts were, “Well, now we will have to vote on continuing the show or not.” Which, I would have voted against keeping it. My reason was simple; I never thought we would find a Vincent among us. As much as I love hunting and collecting antique bottles, the show wasn’t that important to me, not like it is to some. Vince looked at so much more than just keeping everything “Good Enough” but making it better! By working beside the other shows, scheduled on the same day, and helping each other promote each other’s shows, and then taking a chance with a no-fee entry for the public, all brilliant. Not to mention encouraging vendors to become club members! Why haven’t we been thinking of these things before now? And now, Vincent is looking forward to next year, where he has carefully examined ways to avoid the Easter holiday and the other competing spring show dates! I am very impressed! MY BACK IS AGAINST THE WALL! One of my customer's finds for this spring! 1732 Mexico/Spanish 1 Reale  My favorite place to hunt, but it is only for early spring before the weeds take over . . . old homestead sites! The business I am involved with, is seasonal, and this is that season! And with Gold and Silver prices so high, it makes this hobby the one to be involved in! Many of the new metal detectors are digital and work with  software that can be edited
and updated. This makes the metal detectors, so they
can benefit from newer performance options. But that
makes more work for me to do!!!When I think back over the long winter months, when I had oodles of idle time, and nothing much to do. . it gets easy to become frustrated. Now, with warmer weather, I am hit by a tsunami! Of course now that I am busy, more-and- more the repair work comes streaming in! I am buried in work! I have reached the point where I am thinking “how do I do a newsletter?” Please forgive me for all non-bottle related material. I wrote this motor home update for a RV forum I am on, and I offer it here as something to read, as opposed to no newsletter at all. London Aire Update 
We haven’t taken time- off for three years, and I
think for anyone, down- time is important. . .
especially at 75 years old!After I rebuilt the engine in my motor home, and I got it purring like a kitten. I still couldn’t get it to go down the road! I would go down a check list and find very few things left to do! So, what is wrong???? I have a fresh re- manufactured engine! I put in everything new! The only original pieces are the engine block and oil pan! Even the block has been worked-over with boring the cylinders and line boring the journals.  While the engine was
out and on my engine stand, I had Martin
Spring and Drive Line, completely rebuild the
transmission. Just a year earlier they replaced all
the carrier bearings and replaced the drive shafts
with a new custom balanced set.But this is different, something is not right! I pull away from a stop sign, accelerate past 35 mph, and it would starve-out for fuel. When I had hooked the fuel line to the carburetor, I simply wasn’t getting enough fuel. I could hear the in-tank pumps running. “If you can hear them, they are working!” so I was told. Well, I wasn’t getting much more than a trickle of gas. So, I drained both gas tanks, and lowered them with my transmission jack. Next, I purchased two new in-tank Ford electric fuel pumps. That was a massive job! I cleaned and painted both tanks and re-cushioned the hanger straps with tar soaked mill felt like Ford did. Now, with new pumps and new lines . . .still no luck! Next I purchased a new 650 cfm Holley carburetor . . . still no luck. The original owner had unhooked the “clean-burn air compressor,” but, he left it in place to keep the fan-belt pulleys in line. In other words, it was doing nothing, a dead-weight placeholder, just 70 pounds along for a free ride! When I was in the tear-down process, I saw another sign clearly showing where they were battling problems stemming form the primitive air-quality clean-burn system. Inside the intake manifold, there was a plenum coming in from the bottom of the intake, with hot exhaust gasses. The principle was; these gasses would be re-burned. But, this too had been disabled! Some mechanic had threaded that port, and capped it off with a cast-iron pipe plug! (Saved me from having to do it) They had made this entire clean burn system inoperable, yet, it was done without removing any of it! There were also left behind several vacuum controlled valves, switches, and vacuum hoses all related to the clean-burn still in place, and doing nothing. After doing some research, I learned that Ford had a mountain of problems with this system, but only with this engine, the big 7.5 liter (460 c.i.d.) and only in the van! Originally, Ford had no plan to use this motor in the van, but, to get into the RV industry market, with a cut-away-chassis for motor homes, they had to compete! Chrysler dominated with their Dodge chassis running the big 440 wedge engine. So, that brings us to the year 1983, and my chassis. First, to make fitting that big engine work, some frame issues had to be modified and some re-positioned, and new motor mount supports welded in. Next, they had stockpiles of new-old-stock Lincoln Continental “car motors” all ready to go. The problem was ahead in their future. I learned about one of those problems when I was driving across the northern U.P. I was heading east and as I came into Munising, MI, at a traffic light, my engine killed and would not restart. It ended up being a broken timing gear! The crazy thing was made with a plastic / nylon material to reduce noise in the Lincoln Continental, this was so it would be as quite as a Cadillac. These 460 Lincoln motors, were all wrong going into the one ton truck chassis! And, back then those vehicles didn’t even require the clean burn equipment, because it was just not required in a one-ton truck application!! And, strike three was; these the big trucks, and the one-ton RV chassis engines, would later receive a special RV cam-grind enabling more mid-range torque for long grades with those heavy loads . . . this motor didn’t have that either! And, my engine, being from actual late 70's production, the heads didn’t have the hardened valve seats for the newer fuels. With everything that was missing, along with stuff that should have been missing, trouble was brewing! With that big motor shoved up into the tight van’s engine dog-house, it was in an oven! This caused high-heat and fuel vapor- lock! Which leads me to the problem I am now fighting! The last clean burn item left is that problem! And it is hiding right under my nose!! Ford designed a special temperature activated check valve placed in the fuel line just before the carburetor, to bleed off any vapors, which were then sent in a return line back to the tank! This was the last clean-burn part left, and it was stuck!!! It was blocking both the main line, and the return line! Finally I found it! I pulled it off, replaced it with an open 3/8" brass $2.29 barbed “T” fitting and the problem is solved! I put about 60 miles on the new engine so far, and it runs like a dream! She has so much more power! I took her down M-43 with those long grades heading west and it was effortless! On start up, she holds 80 psi oil pressure and 60 psi rolling down the road. The water temperature averages 180 to 190 degrees during break-in! I can honestly say my dream of experiencing this coach as the first owner did . . .well, It may be better! With these soft Ford leather seats and air-ride suspension it is like floating on a cloud! I had taken the original cylinder heads to a engine machinist friend in Portage, without really inspecting them. I told him I wanted all new valves, seals & springs. Terry called me, “Al you need to come back and look at what I found.” The engine's heat, combined with no hardened valve seats, caused the valves to pound themselves into the heads! As a result, both heads were cracked bad! JUNK! So, now I am on the hunt for the right heads! There are several varieties of these “Lima” heads, so the numbers must be right. I struck-out again-and-again after checking several. Finally, a fellow located an hour north of Lansing had a pair listed on Market Place. He listed a set of Ford "Dove" heads. So they are in the right family, but I need the right numbers! So I call him telling him where to find the numbers that I needed him to find. One-by-one he reads them off . . . I can't believe it! A perfect match! Next I start in with questions like, "why are you selling them?" He responded, "They came off my Jet Boat, and they don't have a lot of "HOURS!" (Not miles) on them. I just purchased aluminum heads, and a supercharger, and fuel injection setup and I am switching to burning alcohol.” I found they came off a late 90's Ford 429 Cobra marine engine complete with hardened valve seats! We went all through them with new EV8 stainless valves and the latest springs. I was so pleased, they were in nearly new condition! LAST MONTH Our very dear ladies, sweet-as-the-sugar, which I must avoid, Mary Gale and Katie Wages, gave us a nice presentation about the group, “Daughters of the Revolution.” It was reminiscent to me of a similar presentation presented to our bottle club almost 30 years ago. At that meeting, Club Founders, Ernie Lawson and Jack Short were deeply involved with a Civil War Round Table. They gave us some tips on finding any Civil War ancestors which we may have hidden away, up high in our family tree. What Mary and Katie showed us is really no different today, but with the Internet Family Tree Groups it is a whole lot easier! Katie pointed out that in your, search you can run you into name repetition! Boy Howdy! When I found out one of my three Civil War ancestors on my mother’s side was named Martin Harter, soon I learned he was Martin Harter IV! As I followed that branch of the family tree further back, I located my Great- . . . Grandfather who fought under General Washington, was named Martin Harter II. He became the largest land owner in Pennsylvania! He was paid for his service with land in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Birth: 1740, Death: 1804 He was, Revolutionary War Veteran: Sergent in the 2nd Battalion of the Northampton County Militia Son of Martin I & Magdalena Harter Married: Christina Margaretha Maurer Children: Jacob, Maria Gertraut, Martin III, Maria Catherina, Johann Michael, Maria Elizabeth, and Anna Maria. And, you will find in your search there are shirt tail relatives out there today just like you, anxious to share much of their hard work! I mean, I had photos and news clippings and stories floating my way from every direction! I think it is quite an honor to learn that you are part of family of patriots, so I looked into becoming a member of “Sons of the Revolution.” But in a way it is a club, and I am already in too many. But deciding to be a lone wolf, which doesn’t change my status as a Son of the Revolution. I discovered I had a Grandfather on my dad’s side, William Wetherall who served in the Civil War in the First Michigan Engineers. I also was very interested in my grandmother on my father’s side where I stuck a dead end! The only clue I have, was passed on to me by my father’s younger brother, Uncle Leonard Holden. He told me, my Grandma Mildred Holden’s great grandmother was 100% Ottawa Indian. Right there is where the trail goes cold! It wasn’t talked about! Why, it was shameful to some! During my genealogy search, my great grandfather on my mother side was a Chef in one of Chicago great 5 Star Supper Clubs, The Walnut Room. That part was good. But, they were ashamed to say that he was first the chief cook for the staff of the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Tim Hayes read his newsletter! and brought along something to go with our 250 year, 1776 Celebration! A very, very cool a (GI-14) General Washington – Eagle pint, which is historically very significant, and is affectionately called the “Firecracker.” The flask was blown at the Kensington   Glass Works in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania somewhere between 1820 and 1830. The
flask has a sheared lip and pontil mark on the
bottom.What makes this flask one of, if not the most important historical flask, is that it is embossed along the sides ‘ADAMS & JEFFERSON JULY 4. A.D. 1776’ on the edge nearest Washington and ‘KENSINGTON GLASSWORKS, PHILADELPHIA 1776’ with three small stars after 1776 on the edge nearest the American eagle. History tells us that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died within hours of each other on July 4, 1826. This was 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The Kalamazoo Antique
Bottle Club
"Meets this Month" at BIMBO'S PIZZA!!!!, Meeting date is May 12th at 6:00 Located at: Downtown Kalamazoo, 338 E. Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49007-3833. Gathering Time: 6pm-?pm.  
Phone
269-685-1776
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