Gary Lewis

Oh no! Jim, I’m praying for you!

David - Thanks. I appreciate all the support you and the others have given me on this. Little did we know almost seven years ago what this would grow into. Had we known we might have done things differently, but now we do and it is time to "do it right". And "right" means having the systems in place to ensure that it hangs around for the long haul. We have many things to do in order to get there, and not just the software. As for discreet funding, that is the plan.

I'm very sure you, and I, are right, Bob. I say that because I just hired a law firm and they agree. I'd read, and read, and read and kept coming up with so many hoops people thought we needed to jump through that I was about to give up. So I called the Oklahoma Tax Commission and asked questions, which caused them to go away and ask someone else. They then came back and said I need to talk to the Oklahoma Secretary of State. But after being on with them a while they said I needed to talk to the Oklahoma Tax Commission. And a 30 minute webinar I listened to said that since we have members in several different countries that we need to file all of these different documents. Plus, since we have members in most, if not all, states w/in the US we need to file documents in each state. Then I found two different "free" sites that would walk me through the process of creating the charter & bylaws, but in both cases once I'd answered their questions and they'd created a document they wanted $100 to get the "free" document. And the document was just fulfilling one of the many steps in the process. LegalZoom was pretty much the same - $125 to file with the state. But none of these outfits answered the questions we've been asking! They all assume that you've read the requirements and have determined that you qualify. But the Procedures For Organizing An Oklahoma Not For Profit Corporation specifically say in all upper case: PLEASE CONSULT THE STATUTES CAREFULLY. So I searched for an "Oklahoma non-profit lawyer" and called Philip S. Haney. After a 30 minute conversation with them I'd gotten all our questions answered and then some. We qualify. They will get back with me tomorrow and we'll get started. It'll take about a week to file in OK, who will then turn it around in one or two business days. From that we'll file online with the IRS and have our Employee Identification Number (EIN) immediately. With an EIN I can open up a bank account and we can start accepting funds for the migration.

I'm no more of an expert on this than any of you. But I think a significant part of being "engaged in business with the general public" in that example is "charging established green fees that are used to maintain and improve club facilities." Allowing people to use our "facilities" for free is very different from a country club charging people to use its facilities. I wouldn't see that as something that would exclude us from 501©(7) based on what was written there. But what do I know. Bob - I agree with you. But, what do I know? I'll run the idea of access to the facilities by my tax advisor, but I think she will agree. While the general public can see and read what is written on the forum they cannot ask or answer questions without joining. And the forum is our main way of helping people. They ask a question and we answer with our experience in that area. Sometimes we give them a link to a document in the library or post a pic of a diagram or schematic, but they didn't know where it was - and we did.

Good! Good that you got to go visit, good that Big Bro drove well, and good that you got the package. Now let's hope you get the ammeter soon.

Wow! Those look a million times better than the others!

That's a really interesting truck! What do you plan to do with it? Use it how?

I'll have to study that a bit, but I see your point, Larry. It talks about "corporate membership" and we don't do that. Granted, we will admit anyone that wants to participate, but they cannot participate in the forum w/o joining. And it is through the forum that they get questions answered, pats on the back for having accomplished something, etc. So while they can use the library w/o joining they cannot get the full benefit of the "club". And, in fact, while our library is by far the best there is on Bullnose trucks, there are other places where you can get some of those documents. So I think we are good. In fact, I'm going to find out. I have the Oklahoma 501c7 filing requirements document and am working on meeting all of the requirements. The biggest of those is having a charter and bylaws, so I'm working on documenting them. I'll be back to y'all with a draft soon - I hope.

Yes, the carb and the distributor are places you want to keep dry. But you also don't want to hit the 30+ year old wiring with really high-pressure water as it can easily break the insulation. And many high-pressure washers have nozzles that give really high pressure. But most car washes don't have really high water pressure or they'd be stripping the paint off of vehicles. So if you were to spray degreaser all over the engine and let it sit, then take it to a car wash and use hot, soapy water you might get a lot of it off w/o damaging anything. However, in my experience you may not get the engine started until things dry out, so if you had a way to take it on a trailer that might be better.

Glad you got that done, Chris. I've not made it to the shop, so you beat me to it.

Glad you found it! Did you torque the bolts in a sequence? I think I'd start in the center and spiral out. But hopefully what you've done will hold. As for "The trip to the alps will be Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Austria. The Garda sea, Dolomits, several mountain passes. We will start from Oslo with ColorLine to Kiel 21. of June. The tour will be 3 weeks." That sounds like a whole lot of fun! You'll be in a bunch of places we just were, from Lake Geneva on the west to Salzburg and beyond on the east. We were down to Garda a few years ago, and Neuschwanstein as well as Fussen and the Kelstein House. That is absolutely stunning country, and it would be such fun to drive a Bullnose through it! It seems like such a far way from Norway there, but then I see you are taking a ferry to Kiel and driving from there. And since we did a Baltic tour a few years ago I now realize how tightly knit that is. Please post pictures!!!

Cool! Can we see some pics?

The StackHouse site says " "Thus, in a 501©(7) organization, a payment of dues, a payment of fees, and a donation, are all identical from a federal income tax perspective." I also checked with my friend, the tax accountant, this morning at church and she agreed - to a 501c7 organization membership fees, dues, & assessments are tax deductible but contributions aren't. Otherwise they are all acceptable forms of support. Yes, if they sent me an SASE with money I could return the envelope with a sticker. But I'm still hoping to make this as easy as is possible. My thinking is that I'll get the bank account for the non-profit set up and then people can Venmo to it. That gives me tracking of who sent what and when, and will suffice for the annual IRS submittal.

Where did you get the 15% usage bit? Maybe I missed that. I see a max of 15% contribution mentioned when it says "No more than 15 percent of the amount may be derived from use of the club’s facilities or services by the general public..." But if we don't solicit on FTE, FSB, or Facebook we won't be getting contributions from there. And we could easily suggest that people who aren't members become a member before they contribute. Right? And I'm missing where it says the truck show would have to be members only. This IRS publication says: It doesn't say that the personal contact must be among members only. But that we provide an opportunity for personal contact. We do with the truck show. And we are exclusive - the general public is not considered to be members. You must apply and be admitted. So we could have a meeting of the members the night before the show, meaning Friday night, and then the show on Saturday - just as we've done. So, what am I missing? I'm not saying I know I'm right, so please push back when I go off the deep end.

Wow! Good work, Rusty! And well documented!

Interesting thought, CJ. And with 2000+ members it would only take half of them kicking in $1/year and we'd be there on an annual basis. And if all of them kicked in $1 initially we'd have enough for the migration. But managing an annual levy looks onerous. On Nabble we don't have a way of doing a mass email to all users. And shipping all of them a sticker would be difficult as we have no physical address for the majority of them. Which is why I'm hoping to keep it to contributions. However, initially my reading of the rules indicated that we may have problems getting accepted as a 501c7 with just contributions. The IRS publication Social Clubs – Requirements for Exemption – Support By Membership Dues says "A social club must be supported by membership fees, dues, and assessments. A section 501©(7) organization may receive up to 35 percent of its gross receipts, including investment income, from sources outside of its membership without losing its tax-exempt status. No more than 15 percent of the amount may be derived from use of the club’s facilities or services by the general public or from other activities not furthering social or recreational purposes for members. If an organization has nonmember income exceeding these limits, all the facts and circumstances will be considered in determining whether the club continues to qualify for exemption." But what are "membership fees, dues, or assessments"? StackExchange answered the question of Do 501©(7) organizations have to charge dues or fees to members? There's a whole lot of info and it is a good read, but at the bottom it says "Thus, in a 501©(7) organization, a payment of dues, a payment of fees, and a donation, are all identical from a federal income tax perspective. But due and fees are gift tax exempt, while donations are taxable gifts for gift tax purposes (and are not entitled to the estate tax charitable deduction)." So it looks like we can still go ahead with the plan to have it funded by contributions. But we will have to have a way to show where we are at any point in time toward the goal so people can contribute and help us out. And, we might want to monitor the contributions for that 35% limit if we get contributions from outside the membership. In other words, while the folks on other forums, like FTE & FSB, as well as the millions on Facebook, use our library we probably shouldn't go hat-in-hand to them or we might go over the "outside" limit.

Progress! Yes, Mr. Occam was pretty sharp. So I'm glad you listened to him. But I've not swapped switches so don't have any immediate advice. But if I get out to the shop this afternoon I'll look at the horn pads I have to see if I can tell.

Actually, an 81 didn't have a neutral safety switch.

Matthew - It may take quite a while for the king pins to loosen up. But I don't know what else there is to do. Good luck! Mike - Glad you got it started! Such a good feeling! And glad we could help you. That's what makes us happy.

I don’t think it’s very specific, I think they just want us to jump through a hoop, I’ve heard stories of people just taking a screenshot of a website membership and it being sufficient. This is the language I’ve found: o One of the following:  A notarized affidavit (DPSMV 1911) attesting to the fact that the vehicle has not been and will not be materially altered or modified from the original manufacturer’s specifications and that such vehicle shall be used primarily for special occasions such as exhibitions, club activities, parades, or other functions of the public interest, or for necessary testing, maintenance, and storage purposes.  A photocopy of a card showing applicant's membership in an antique car club On Nabble or InVision you can click on the poster's screen name and get info regarding when s/he joined. So it would be easy to verify that that you are a member. And when we become a non-profit with all of the detail I'm sure that would qualify - assuming that 1980 - 86 is considered "antique".

Looks good! But I'll bet you are right about the tires being the source of the vibration.

2129 users as of right now, CJ. What are you thinking?

Stein - I hate to tell you, but I won't let anything from Mr. Gasket into my shop. Their stuff has gotten so bad that I won't use it. But hopefully the Multilayer Steel gaskets will work for you. On the coolant leak, that doesn't sound like fun if you have to pull the timing cover. But if you are going to the Alps, you'll have quite the trip and need it to be "right". Speaking of that, where in the Alps? Just curious as I was there last Sept/Oct. Loved it! On the leak at that nipple, I ran an 8mm tap through the nipple to put some "teeth" in it and filled it full of J-B Weld 8277 WaterWeld Epoxy Putty. Crammed the epoxy in so it was coming out of nipple at the neck and then reached in the neck and flattened the epoxy against the neck. And while I did put a vacuum cap over it for safety, it hasn't leaked a bit.

We don’t want delay (in general, 2024 people are a bit hurry), so canned answering is OK. But I think to limit posting in the NMSH is a good process. This can be the spam “custom control”, which requires a human allowance (and good welcome words) before going further in forum postings. Is it possible with InVision? Yes, Jeff, I think it is quite possible. But we'll need to figure out how we want to do it. In the AdminCP (control panel) I've created a Group Promotion Rule of "New Member to Member" and set it so that if someone earns any one of these badges s/he'll get promoted to Member: First Post; Conversation Starter; Collaborator; Reacting Well; Problem Solver; Well Followed; Dedicated; Week One Done; One Month Later; One Year In; Very Popular; Posting Machine; Great Support; Helpful; Superstar; Great Content. And in the Achievement Rules part of the AdminCP it is set so that when they post their first comment or reply they get the First Post badge, which should automatically promote them to Member. But we don't have to use all or any of those badges. We can delete any or all of them and/or we can create our own. And in the Achievement Rules we can set it up so that any badge is manually awarded, or auto & manually, or just auto. In other words, there is huge flexibility in InVision. So we could make the promotion manual and have one of the moderators do the job when s/he thinks the person has done the intro. Or we could make it automatic after the person makes X posts/replies. We just need to figure out how we want to do it.