The Spring Meet Photos are now posted HERE
Los Gatos, CA Spring Judging Meet
APRIL 14-15, 2023
Don’t forget to register for NCC’s Spring Judging meet in Los Gatos! This is a 5 point meet and we’ll be judging cars on Friday & Saturday. Be sure to join us for dinner at Pedros (downtown Los Gatos) on Friday night. The party bus leaves the Los Gatos Lodge at 5:30pm. You can reserve your room by calling the Los Gatos Lodge (408-354-3300) and mentioning discount code “NCRS”. Room prices start at $109. See you there!
Register for the meet by logging into the NCRS National website here:
NCC’s Spring Judging Meet in Suisun City
Reminder: Online registration for NCC’s Spring
Judging Meet in Suisun City opened on February 1st. The meet will happen on April 22nd and 23rd. Please remember to give your raffle items to Glorie McNay.
You can register by logging in on the NCRS National Site at this location>> https://www.forums.ncrs.org/register/event-subscription.php
Suisun Meet Photos, Latest Vettecetera
Check out the photos from the April meet in Suisun in the new page under “Events/Past Events”. You can also click here: https://www.ncc.ncrs.org/2021-ncc-spring-meet-suisun-ca/
The May Vettecetera is now posted on the Newsletter page: https://www.ncc.ncrs.org/newsletters/
Next NCC Member Meeting is on May 11 via Zoom. Member meetings are always on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7pm. We look forward to seeing you there!!
New Meets, Judging School Presentations
If you haven’t attended our monthly meetings, it’s easier than ever to join via Zoom. Our next meeting is on April 13, 2021 at 7pm. Click or copy this link to join the Zoom call: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85851808752?pwd=WnR6cUZuNDRUdXRLR3oxS2ZSamQwZz09
You can view the latest Monthly Vettecetera at this page on this web site: https://www.ncc.ncrs.org/newsletters/
We posted some of Bob Grauer’s Judging School Presentations on this site. You can download here: https://www.ncc.ncrs.org/links-and-photos/
We look forward to seeing you at the Member meeting in April!!
Spring is just around the corner!!
If you haven’t attended our monthly meetings, it’s easier than ever to join via Zoom. Our next meeting is on February 9, 2021 at 7pm. Click or copy this link to join the Zoom call: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85851808752?pwd=WnR6cUZuNDRUdXRLR3oxS2ZSamQwZz09
Click here to add this meeting to your Google calendar: Google Calendar Invite Here!!
You can view the latest Monthly Vettecetera at this page on this web site: https://www.ncc.ncrs.org/newsletters/
Scroll down this page to read Joe LeMay’s article “How Ethanol Got Into Gasoline; Why it is Time to Remove it”
Facebook Page: The Northern California Chapter now has a Facebook Page. If you have a Facebook account, please “Like” the page. Make sure to check out the latest post on the 1963 Split Window Corvette that chapter member Chris Moore checked out near South San Francisco. The SWC was stored in a garage since the mid 1980’s. It’s on its way this weekend to C2 Restorations (https://c2restorations.com/), owned by chapter member Wayne Yurtin. You can see the NCC facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/NCCNCRS and we’ll post more pictures as Wayne works on the SWC. See a few photo’s below.
How to pay/renew Northern California Chapter and/or your National Dues: Scroll down to the “Happy New Year” December 26, 2020 post and you’ll find detailed instructions how to pay/renew.


How Ethanol Got Into Gasoline; Why it is Time to Remove it
– By Joe LeMay
Many will attempt to blame fuel system issues on ethanol in their gasoline. The information below is not about the issue with ethanol, but how the ethanol got into the gasoline supply. Maybe with some background, it is easy to see the reason for the addition and see that it is time for a change due to technology.
The Clean Air Act of 1970 required vehicle emission reductions. Think back to the first vehicle you experienced that had emission controls. There was a lot of effort to make a basic carbureted engine operate with reduced emissions. There were add-on systems such as air injection and exhaust gas recirculation. The vehicles did not run that well because the combustion process was attempted to be mechanically altered. That system was inherently flawed from an emissions perspective.
In 1990, there were amendments to the Clean Air Act. The amendments included the requirement to use oxygenated gasoline (“reformulated” gasoline). An oxygenated gasoline mixture allows the fuel to burn more completely and therefore produce cleaner emissions. Its use in fuel has obvious benefits for improving air quality.
With the new revisions, petroleum companies had to come up with a new way to make a cleaner-burning fuel. One option that we had until recently is MTBE. It was added beginning in 1979 as an anti-knock agent, replacing lead that had a similar use as an anti-knock agent. MTBE also is an oxygenate for gasoline. In 2002-2007, MTBE was banned due to persistent groundwater contamination from leaking storage tanks.
Methanol was another effort. For a time in California, there were 5,000 Ford Taurus FFV that would operate on an 85% methanol fuel. There were also specific gas pumps for that fuel. Some of you may have remembered those vehicles if you lived in the region. That program did not last long.
Ethanol is used as an option as both an oxygenate and as an octane booster for anti-knock properties. There are however many issues with ethanol and with production of ethanol as a replacement for portions of gasoline.
At the time when an oxygenate became part of the fuel requirement, there were fewer choices of engine control systems, fuel injection systems, and performance enhancements available in engine technology. Ethanol provided a fuel option that was beneficial. However, technology has now surpassed the ethanol option. Ethanol as a oxygenate is no longer needed. Current emission control systems produce the required low emissions with lower levels of added ethanol.
The process of producing ethanol, transporting it, and the power that is produced from an ethanol fuel need to be considered when determining the overall efficiency of ethanol as a fuel additive. One can see there are detrimental effects on air quality, fuel energy or power, and cost.
Ethanol production emissions: There are significant air emissions to produce, transport, and use the ethanol. Ethanol is made from corn. There are a lot of steps from growing the corn to delivering it at the refinery. Think about the water that needs to be added to crops, water pumps run by fossil fuels that are used on a farm, and the fuel needed for the agricultural equipment. These are all sources of air emissions.
Creating ethanol for inclusion into gasoline requires more energy to make the ethanol than the energy the ethanol will produce. Adding up the energy costs of corn production and its conversion to ethanol, 131,000 BTU are needed to make 1 gallon of ethanol. One gallon of ethanol has an energy value of only 76,000 BTU. Put another way, about 70 percent more energy is required to produce ethanol than the energy that is in ethanol. Every time you make 1 gallon of ethanol for gasoline, there is a net energy loss of 54,000 BTU.
Then there is the fuel required to deliver the ethanol to refineries. I have seen rail cars of ethanol being delivered to our local refinery. The ethanol is then added to the gasoline the refinery produced.
Fuels are an energy source: The higher the fuel energy, the more efficient it is as a propulsion material. Fuels have different energy values that are measured by heat content of the fuel. Liquid fuels are measured by physical units such as gallons, and by heat content in BTUs. This becomes their energy content in BTU per gallon. Un-oxygenated gasoline (ethanol free) has a heat content of 125,000 BTU per gallon. Ethanol has a heat content of 76,000 BTU per gallon. A 10% ethanol gasoline therefore has a heat content of 120,000. As the amount of ethanol increases, the heat content of the fuel decreases and so does the power that is produced by it.
What happens with E10 gasoline? The power, and correspondingly, the gas mileage will decrease. There are studies that show this effect. That is only part of the issue with ethanol.
Cost: Since the creation of the domestic market for corn ethanol after the energy crisis of the 1970s, the federal government has nurtured and maintained the ethanol industry with a steady stream of subsidies. Federal subsidies include tax breaks for corn-based biofuels to dispense higher blends of ethanol such as E10 and the Renewable Fuel Standard mandate (RFS) for the use of corn ethanol. The RFS mandate requires oil and gas companies to blend increasing amounts of biofuels with gasoline each year through 2022, and corn ethanol comprises a majority (78 percent) of the mandate. Approximately $1 billion a year in current federal and state subsidies for ethanol production are costs to consumers. So, you lose gas mileage, lose power, have added air emissions, and have a subsidized fuel additive that does no one any good, unless you are growing the corn.
- If you’d like to read more, you can download the entire article by clicking here.
Happy New Year
We’re saying goodby to 2020 and looking forward to 2021.
During 2020 we continued to hold monthly meetings via Zoom. We welcome everyone to join the membership meeting on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7pm. The next meeting will be held on January 12, 2021 @ 7pm. Click on this link to join the Zoom call: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85851808752?pwd=WnR6cUZuNDRUdXRLR3oxS2ZSamQwZz09
You can see the latest Monthly Vettecetera at this page on this web site: https://www.ncc.ncrs.org/newsletters/
How to pay/renew Northern California Chapter Dues: Chapter Dues are paid on the NCRS national forum site. You can click this link: https://www.forums.ncrs.org/register/chapter-membership.php After clicking the link, you need to log in using your NCRS login and password. Once you login, there’s a box on the right that you can click on and find the “Northern California Chapter”. Once you select Northern California Chapter, the system will automatically indicate which year is due and you can choose to pay for 1 year or two years. Current dues are $30 per year.
How to pay/renew National Dues: National Dues are paid on the ncrs.org web site. To pay your national dues, you can click on this link: https://www.ncrs.org/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=65_66 or go to https://www.ncrs.org/, click on “Services” and then “Renew Membership”. You then select the icon to renew your respective renewal (USA, Canada, Other Countries) and click “add to cart”. You can then check out and pay by clicking the “cart” icon. Current annual dues are $50.
Lastly, the Northern California Chapter now has a Facebook Page. If you have a Facebook account, please “Like” the page. You’re also encouraged to post a picture of your Corvette, events, pictures of events or anything else. You can see the page here: https://www.facebook.com/NCCNCRS
Do you have your Go Bag Ready?
With the advent of all of the fires in the Bay Area, we asked John and Sophia Tidwell what they pack in the go bag they leave by their front door in case of emergency.
This is what is in their go bag:
- One gallon of water
- Nonperishable snacks
- Nonperishable snacks
- Toiletries
- Change of clothing
- First Aid kit
- Flashlight (extra batteries or solar)
- Radio (extra batteries or solar)
- Prescriptions (in bottles w/label) and medicine
- Face masks
- Hand sanitizer
- Cell phone charger, cord and power pack
- Cash
- Copies of important documents (i.e. passports, driver’s licenses, birth certificates, insurance etc.)
- Photos of the personal property in the house
- List of important numbers (including bank accounts) and passwords
- Notebook and pen
There should be a note on the go bag to add the following as you leave:
- Cell phone
- Credit cards
- Computer (or external drives)

You will need to supplement for pets, children or the elderly.
The assumption is that we will be fleeing a fire and can find shelter within 24 hours. Thus, we do not have the 6 gallons of water and 3 days’ worth of food that some recommend.
No time like the present to get prepared!
2019 Lake Tahoe Regional – Sept 19-21
What happens when all three of California’s NCRS Chapters join
forces?
Only the best kind of NCRS Regional for our members. Mark your calendars for September 19th – 21st and plan on attending the closest Regional Meet you will have for quite some time.
What makes a Regional Meet different from a Chapter Meet?
A Regional Meet will have everything you would expect from a Chapter meet plus the ability to have your Corvette go through the PV (Performance Verification) judging, Advanced Judging School, Seminars, Special Corvettes on display, Vendors, Sightseeing excursions, and more.
Where will this event be held?
The host hotel will be the MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa located at 55 Highway 50, Stateline, NV. The registration desk will open in the lobby on Thursday September 19th at 8:00am – 4:00pm. All Corvettes without exception will need to be in place by 4:00pm on Thursday. A special room rate has been arranged for our group. A block of just 90 rooms will be available only until August 18, 2019: Use Code: STNCRS9 Room rates are $82 Wednesday and Thursday, $172 Friday and Saturday, plus tax. www.montbleuresort.com 1-800-648-3353