The Benefits of Using HIDs on Older Vehicles

HIDs didn’t appear for the first time as an option in vehicles until the early 1990s. Even now, many cars, trucks, and SUVs still come with halogen headlights standard, though HIDs are at least an upgrade option on a wide range of vehicles nowadays. Just because HIDs didn’t come into use until the 1990s, however, doesn’t mean that vehicles from the 1980s and earlier can’t take advantage of them. With the proper conversion and installation equipment, many older vehicles can be adapted to utilize HIDs. The installation process may take a little bit longer, but there are many benefits older vehicles can get from using HID headlights.

The first and most obvious advantage to giving an older vehicle HID headlights is improving on the current condition of the car’s headlight array. Many headlights suffer from water damage and yellowing from years of use, so if the car’s headlights are several decades old, that can only exacerbate the problem. HIDs, because they can last up to 10x as long as conventional halogen headlights, will not need to be replaced as often, meaning less work for any owner of an older vehicle. The 3x greater brightness can also help to overcome any visibility issues due to dated headlight covers (though for optimal performance, these should be replaced as well).

Vehicles from the 1980s and earlier can also be prone to using a lot of energy, and HIDs can be efficient additions to many vehicles. One potential disadvantage is that older cars sometimes need to have their electrical systems adapted to the HID’s power needs in order for the new headlights to function, but a power shutdown due to the system being overwhelmed is still highly unlikely. In fact, the car’s electrical system should adapt rather quickly to the new setup.

Unless you’re trying to preserve a vintage car that’s value is based on its utilization of original parts, HIDs may add substantial resale value to a vehicle if you’re trying to sell an older car. New HIDs are ultramodern and look new for years, and can make what otherwise looks like a worn down old car appear in much better shape. Though halogens are clearly more than sufficient for use among older vehicles (after all, many of these models came with halogens standard), if you’re trying to overcome other deficiencies, new headlights can go a long way to filling in those gaps. Just be sure, should you decide to install HIDs on an older vehicle, to set the headlight beams so they aim lower than normal. HIDs can be blinding to oncoming traffic if not directed away from the vision line of most other vehicles. Once properly set, however, they shouldn’t bother other drivers, and can help drivers who have them installed in their cars see better, particularly if they’re older and have trouble seeing clearly at night.

I visited an auction in January where this non-running t-bucket was for sale. It was built in Canada in the 80s.

Next Meeting

Our next meeting will be on Monday April 30th at 6:30 PM at River City Diner North, 803 E Parham Rd, Richmond, VA 23227, 804-266-1500. Click for driving directions.

CCCCVA Dues are Due

The annual car club council dues are due for member clubs and associate members. Please send a check for $10 made out to CCCCVA to Fred Fann, 15628 Rowlett Road, Chesterfield, VA 23838. Be sure to write your club name on the check or envelope. Dues are always due by the end of January so if your club has not paid please do so soon. Thanks for supporting the council.

American Ethanol Partners with NASCAR Teams

On January 26th American Ethanol announced at the NASCAR Preview fan event in Charlotte, N.C., that it will continue relationships with Richard Childress Racing and RAB Racing for the 2012 season. Austin Dillon, 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion will drive his number 3 Chevrolet with American Ethanol serving as the primary sponsor for six races of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series. The paint scheme of number 3 will be American Ethanol's colors. "I'm proud to carry the American Ethanol colors in NASCAR," said Dillon. "Growth Energy is committed to clean air, and as an avid outdoorsman I truly appreciate their desire to protect our nation's air and water for future generations. I commend the work they do and I am looking forward to representing American Ethanol, Growth Energy and the National Corn Growers Association."

American Ethanol will be an associate sponsor for the entire RCR team of drivers. These include Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Paul Menard. Kenny Wallace will drive the number 09 Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for RAB Racing and has partnered with American Ethanol. "I'm honored to represent American Ethanol. I not only talk about American Ethanol, I truly believe in it. I've been to the farms, I've met the families, I've been to the ethanol plants, and I've been in the hallways of the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C., in support of it. I believe it is our job to cut down on dependency of foreign oil, and American Ethanol is a major part of that," Wallace said.

"American Ethanol is in this for the long haul. Through our partnerships with Austin Dillon and Kenny Wallace, we are telling NASCAR and its fans that American Ethanol is committed to the sport," said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, which led the effort to create American Ethanol. "These drivers are ideal ambassadors for the American Ethanol team and will help tell the story of how American-made ethanol creates jobs, cleans our air and fosters energy independence."

"American Ethanol is getting a lot of positive attention because it's a good fit for NASCAR's green initiative, and because of the increased horsepower on the track," said NCGA President Garry Niemeyer. "Our partnership with RCR and RAB Racing will assure continued success in letting the American public know that if ethanol can stand the stress these drivers put it through, it's good for the family car, too."

From the Agri-View website: "Growth Energy, a coalition of American ethanol supporters, filed the petition to the federal government, called the Green Jobs Waiver, to increase the allowable blend of ethanol in fuel from 10 percent to 15 percent, or E15. In 2010, NASCAR embraced the desire for greener, American-job-producing fuels when it announced its decision to move to Sunoco Green E15 for NASCAR's three national series.

Representing a wide array of ethanol supporters, from farmers to bio-engineering firms, American Ethanol was established by Growth Energy in partnership with the National Corn Growers Association and others. By establishing a marketing partnership with NASCAR starting with the 2011 racing season, the same year that NASCAR switched its fuel to Sunoco Green E15, American Ethanol aims to educate and inform the broader American public about the benefits of U.S.-made ethanol."

Just because some NASCAR teams have partnered with the ethanol industry does not mean E15 is ready for use in all cars and trucks. There is mounting evidence that ethanol can harm engines and other car parts. Plus some "green" activists believe it causes more pollution than ordinary gasoline. NASCAR has accumulated 1.3 million miles with Sunoco Green E15. Apparently big ethanol has made a partnership with NASCAR to push the E15 fuel.

Car Hobbyist News

I checked through the hundreds of bills and resolutions that have been filed in this session of the General Assembly. The most popular bills that concern driving are about texting and drinking while driving penalties. There are plenty of bills banning texting and even calling on cell phones while driving. Plenty of bills that would require the use of an ignition interlock system after a first DUI conviction.

There are also bills that would in one way or another raise the tax we pay on gasoline. There are fewer bills on special license plates. I’m hoping we have reached the saturation point on special plates.

I did spot HB 878 which would raise the fee on unlicensed vehicles that are not stored in a building from $100 a year to $500 a year. If you had a parts or project car stored outside and had transferred the title into your name as required by law and even if it were screened from view your locality could choose to charge you that fee. Transferring the title would alert the locality that you had an unlicensed vehicle.

The sponsor of HB 878 is Delegate Mark Sickles of Fairfax County. The county leadership asked him to sponsor this bill in order to deal with residents who live in Fairfax but register vehicles in Maryland to avoid the Fairfax personal property tax. Fairfax’s personal property tax rate is $4.57 per $100 or about twice what most Maryland counties charge. Apparently some in Fairfax register in Maryland to pay less tax. This is illegal and the county should take measures to find the people breaking the law.

The car council leaders decided we needed to fight this measure and the councils and SEMA sent out legislative alerts on the bill. As a result Delegate Sickles’ aide stated that they had more emails and phone calls on this bill than any other.

After some discussions the council leaders and SEMA decided to ask Delegate Sickles to amend his bill to exempt vehicles 25 or more years old and to reduce the proposed fee to $100 for people working on newer vehicles that were unlicensed and not stored in a building. Sickles agreed and has amended his bill. There would still be a $500 fee for those who are trying to avoid paying personal property taxes.

As of this writing HB 878 is scheduled to be heard in sub-committee on February 1st. I will post the outcome of the committee on the council website.

This is the fake Hilborn injection setup on the t-bucket. It's hard to believe but this setup is $1300 new.

13th Polar Bear Run

The 13th annual Polar Bear Run was held on Saturday January 28th. We journeyed from Hopewell to Market Place Antiques in Gloucester. This place will bring back memories. It even features an old 1930 Dodge in the store. After shopping the polar bear participants went to Ginney's Place to enjoy a $6.99 all you can eat buffet and the food was great with lots of variety. On the return trip we stopped at a combination indoor outdoor flea market. It was a good trip on a nice sunny day in the mid 60s.

1930 Dodge in the Marketplace Antiques
See pictures of the PBR 13 at this link: PBR 13 - opens to a new window

SEMA Bill on Ethanol in Congress

Ethanol Content in Gasoline: A SAN-supported bill has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to seek independent scientific analysis on the effects of 15%-blend ethanol gasoline (E15) on vehicles and engines. The review would include an evaluation of the short- and long-term environmental, safety and performance effects of E15 on both on- and off-road vehicle engines. Last January, the EPA decided to allow the use of E15 in vehicles manufactured after 2001 based solely on a limited study by the U.S. Department of Energy. (The decision is currently the subject of several lawsuits.) Ethanol increases water formation, which can then create formic acid and corrode metals, plastics and rubber. The SAN opposes the introduction of E15 due to concerns that corrosion will harm automobiles of all ages, including special-interest collector and historic vehicles. The EPA has no procedure in place to ensure that misfueling does not occur or any plan for ensuring regular gasoline continues to be available for older vehicles.

This is a Willys-Knight that was in the auction.

Gas Prices Continue to Go Up

Usually January is one of the months where gasoline prices are low. There is less traveling and therefore less demand which can mean lower prices. However this January gas prices have continued to go up. At least one gasoline station in America has hit the $5 mark on gasoline - that was in California. California gas prices are the highest in the nation because of state tax and a special blend that is required to reduce pollution. Average gas prices were about 28 cents a gallon higher than last January. President Obama called for an end to big oil subsidies during his State of the Union address and once again called on Congress to pass a national renewable energy standard.

Here is a quote from the speech: “We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It‘s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that’s never been more promising.”

Obama asked for a $36.5 billion tax increase for oil and gas companies to be phased in over 10 years. This was when the Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate. His request was ignored. Currently many in Congress want more domestic production of oil and gas. Plus the Obama veto of the Keystone pipeline has not sat well with members of Congress. If the big oil subsidies were ended gasoline prices would certainly increase.

1929 Pontiac coupe that was in the auction. Every vehicle in the auction sold.

For a list of gas stations that sell ethanol free gasoline go to www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=VA

Congress Ends 30 Year Ethanol Subsidy $2 Billion Yearly Applied to Debt

In December Congress not only let the 45 cents a gallon ethanol subsidy expire it also let expire the 54 cents a gallon tariff on imported ethanol. This means a savings of about $2 billion a year and the good news is this will be applied to cutting the national debt.

Corn is not the best producer of ethanol, sugar cane is much better. Corn was used to produce ethanol in the US because we produce so much of it. It will be interesting to see if imports of ethanol start coming in from countries like Brazil where ethanol has been used as an automotive fuel since the 70s.

Restored 1971 Beetle convertible

CarClubCouncil - dot - Org Domain Name

At the October meeting the council delegates voted to keep the carclubcouncil.org domain name for the next year. It only costs $15 a year and if you type it into your browser it redirects to this website carclubcouncil.com. We picked the dot com name because that is what people are most familiar with. Dot org names were meant to be used by non-profits like us and we can certainly keep it. If any car council is interested in the dot org you can contact me and we will see if the council delegates want to transfer it to your organization. Contact me at fred@iloveoldcars.com if you or your organization is interested.

Antique Vehicle Registration Law Enforcement

If you see a vehicle that is in violation of the antique vehicle registration you may send photos of the vehicle to fredfann@hotmail.com. Photos should include the vehicle license plate and the violation. Also include the locality where the vehicle was spotted. All violations will be forwarded to the State Police for investigation. Violations include:
1. Vehicles registered as antiques used in a business or for business purposes
2. Vehicles (especially trucks) registered as antiques carrying cargo
3. Vehicles registered as antiques with oblivious safety violations
Violations do not include cosmetic defects such as primer spots, surface rust and poor quality paint.

Antique Plate Info Flyer Online

The council delegates have approved the flyer with information on antique plates and a link to it is online here: flyer opens to a new window. Council members and antique owners may print the flyer for their own reference or distribute it to those who own or are considering registering a vehicle as an antique. It will remain on the site for an undetermined time. Council delegates will review the effectiveness of the flyer at a later date.

That's a 1959 Ford retractable hardtop and yes it has been picked clean

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