November 1999
Nov. 1
I called Kim Schroeder at GM Archives today. She is working on a major project - a 180 foot display on GM History for the Detroit Auto Show. We need to check that out. Kim confirms that the American Crossroads Exhibit has been returned to Michigan and is being refurbished for display at the Ren Cen. She did not seem familiar with the details but says she is supposed to meet with the guys who are working on that exhibit.
I asked her if she had seen the Chrysler Museum and she said I was the 6th person to ask her that this week. She says GM announced plans for a museum before Chrysler started theirs, but timed it so people would not be hindered from seeing it by the remodeling going on with relocation of GM headquarters to the Ren Cen. I told her I would send a copy of our Futurliner presentation so she could tune the guys in that are putting the GM displays together.
Kim says that her grandfather painted the inside of one of the Futurliner exhibits but is having trouble remembering which one it was. Perhaps our presentation outlining the exhibits will trigger some memory for him. I'll follow up with her after Thanksgiving and see if we can learn more about what's going on.
Nov. 2
The Futurliner work session held on 11-2-99 the following volunteers were present:
Bruce Beimers, Jim Baker, Ed DeVries, Jerry Sigler, Connie DeJong, Del Carpenter, Wayne Jackson, Don Mayton, Carol Mayton, Dee Beimers, Sue Carpenter
Carol provided lunch with salad and desert provided by Dee and Sue. Just like Jerry said as he sat down "looks like all the ranch hands on the farm".
Visitors that showed up to see what work is going on and to check on our progress were Wes Myrick, Dave Rumsey and Clyde Pole.
Jerry immediately tackled removing the left gasoline tank with its saddle. Connie and Jerry then removed additional rust on the bottom of the sub frame.
Jim Baker continued to remove panels from the rear of the Futurliner. Although there is some rust out here the rear has less structural rust.
Ed and Bruce removed the bulk of the wiring harness and air lines. Then they removed the Hydamatic shifter column with its associated linkages and cables. Fortunately they were able to remove all of this intact. They also proceeded to remove some of the rusted floor in the cockpit. The drivers seat was then removed.
Del and Wayne continued to disassemble the spare 3rd 2-speed/PTO gearbox. They then loaded all of its parts in their trucks to take home for soaking and cleaning. Following this they disconnected the drive shaft on the front and the rear of the 3rd 2-speed/PTO gearbox housed in the Futurliner. Upon draining the gearbox the only thing that came out was 2 quarts of water. Next week it is their plan to remove this gearbox from the Futurliner and then start its disassembly
Nov. 11
Just had a conversation with Kendrick Robbins the owner of the Futurliner in New Hampshire, which is the 9th one we have been able to locate out of the original 12. Kendrick acquired the Futurliner in 1984 but did not remove it from the junkyard until the early 90's. Just a few brief details about this Futurliner:
It has the original GMC 302 OHV 6-cylinder engine coupled to its Hydramatic automatic transmission.
It has some of its original paint still on it.
The top light bar (fin) still works. On all the original pictures that I have seen the light bar lights up a narrow plastic lens that reads "Parade of Progress". On this light bar the plastic lens reads "Square D". The owner and I can only assume that at one time Square D used this Futurliner. (We will have to try to track this down.)
Kendrick plans restore this again like many modernizing and using a modern powertrain.
Like the others this Futurliner is badly rusted.
We can thank Keith Silcox up in Canada for leading us to this one. Our Partners are doing an outstanding job.
Nov. 11
Bill Putman called today and gave me some more information about their Futurliners.
Their 2nd Futurliner just got hauled into his shop. It is badly damaged in the rear and it corresponds with the damage that is recorded by Douglas Dean. Douglas told me that one of the Futurliners lost its brakes on a steep hill and crashed into the other one and the back was wiped out. Since it was near the end of the Parade of Progress program GM decided not to fix the one that was wrecked in the rear. Later this rear damaged Futurliner was given to the Michigan State Police as a parts vehicle.
Bill said the interior is filled with parts. Although he has not inventoried what is in it he does intend to make an inventory and let me know. Already he can see in the back a almost new aluminum grill, two rubber cast sections of the bumper one with a "G" and the other with the "M". If we must get one cast at least we will have an original reference. He said the bumper sections are not worth using except to have new ones cast.
This 2nd Futurliner is #8 as he has found the "GM-8" plate that goes between the two other headlights that shows up in a lot of photos. Also he said there is the remains of a piece of plastic that covered the headlights.
This 2nd Futurliner is deteriorated to the point it cannot be saved except for parts. It dose have the original powertrain inside.
Both of their Futurliners have the little running lights that show up on many photos and we have not seen any. These are yellow lights in the front and red in the back. I already talked to Bill about acquiring a set. I will have to work on that in the future.
He stated that the 2nd Futurliner has a generator and the 1st one never had a generator. The large electrical box in the back is considerably different for the different applications.
We will continue our communications and continue to learn more.
Nov. 16
Futurliner Questions:
Dean, had another conservation with Bill Putman from California that is the restorer for Brad Boyajian. I appears that their Futurliner never has a generator set as there is no PTO shaft and the original electrical control box has no reostat for controlling the output voltage. As I am copying former "Paraders" we have the following questions:
How many of the Futurliners had generator sets?
Does anyone have a list of Futurliners #1 through #12 and which of the displays they each had? We do have a list of the displays for 1953.
In the 1950's were any displays added or deleted?
We have been getting excellent pictures from the "Paraders". Does anyone have a set of photos of the displays? We do have a few pictures but not a complete set for every display.
Fortunately our Futurliner News is being passed around and as a result we get more and more information. Keep up the good work.
Bill Putman stated that the Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA) is a good source for parts for both our engine and transmission. I am getting a courtesy copy of their magazine. However I do not need another magazine coming to this house. Does anyone of us get this magazine or want to get it in case we need information in the future?
