Hi Bill and Patty,
Wow haven’t heard from you in years. No didn’t get the rod until 1980 so it had to be after 1983 or 4 when I was with Holly. Ray coasted the rest of the way down the mountain into an abandoned gas station then they wouldn’t let us work there so we towed it to a underpass on 8 and repaired it there. Larry Hofer went back to Yuma and got a steel pan from a junkyard and oil towing the T-bucket behind his Barracuda in the pouring rain. El Cajon to Oak Creek never had a dry windshield and Roy and I were in roadsters. Fun memories.
Don
From: william hogue <hogue34@hotmail.com>
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2026 10:21 PM
To: don.kleine.vortex@gmail.com; 'Michael G. Brattland' <mgbrattland@gerlecreek.com>; 'Tony Cortez' <tltony@cox.net>; lhofer@corvetteshopsandiego.com
Cc: 'San Diego Car Guys List' <sandiegocarguys@brattland.org>; 'Ray Gauthier' <ragauthier@cox.net>; 'Ron Lambrecht Home' <lambrecr@outlook.com>; 'Pete Cowper' <petercowper@att.net>; 'Kevin Black' <kblack1967@gmail.com>; 'Michael G Brattland' <mgbrattland@big3partsexchange.com>; 'Bill Jansen GMail' <coebill@gmail.com>; 'Bill Personius' <billpersonius@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sandiegocarguys] Re: My Willy Aum Oil Pan
Don,
Ray Smith was with a convoy of Over the Hill Gang members and we were actually going to the Oak Creek Rod Run (a bit south of Sedona). The year was 1978 and the group included Roy Chisolm, John Pickle, Norm Fletcher, Butch Whitley, Patti and me, and several others. As I recall, we "fixed" Ray's '38 Chevy by hammering a piece of wood in the hole in the oil pan and continued on to Oak Creek. Hillbilly engineering at it's finest!
Bill
From: don.kleine.vortex@gmail.com <don.kleine.vortex@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2026 1:43 PM
To: 'Michael G. Brattland' <mgbrattland@gerlecreek.com>; 'Tony Cortez' <tltony@cox.net>; lhofer@corvetteshopsandiego.com <lhofer@corvetteshopsandiego.com>
Cc: 'San Diego Car Guys List' <sandiegocarguys@brattland.org>; 'Ray Gauthier' <ragauthier@cox.net>; 'Ron Lambrecht Home' <lambrecr@outlook.com>; 'Pete Cowper' <petercowper@att.net>; 'Kevin Black' <kblack1967@gmail.com>; 'Michael G Brattland' <mgbrattland@big3partsexchange.com>; 'Bill Jansen GMail' <coebill@gmail.com>; 'Bill Personius' <billpersonius@gmail.com>
Subject: [Sandiegocarguys] Re: My Willy Aum Oil Pan
Hi,
Just like the pan the Ray Smith broke on a rock going to Sedona in 1986 on the freeway in the rain east of Yuma.
Don
From: Michael G. Brattland <mgbrattland@gerlecreek.com>
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2026 12:27 PM
To: Tony Cortez <tltony@cox.net>
Cc: San Diego Car Guys List <sandiegocarguys@brattland.org>; Ray Gauthier <ragauthier@cox.net>; Ron Lambrecht Home <lambrecr@outlook.com>; Pete Cowper <petercowper@att.net>; Kevin Black <kblack1967@gmail.com>; Michael G Brattland <mgbrattland@big3partsexchange.com>; Bill Jansen GMail <coebill@gmail.com>; Bill Personius <billpersonius@gmail.com>
Subject: [Sandiegocarguys] My Willy Aum Oil Pan
All back together and running here. As you always do a very nice Tig Weld both inside and outside on my hot rod oil pan which got holed at the oil changer place.Thanks so much making this pan repair for me Tony.....mgb
MGBrattland Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S23 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone