ERA News Joe Davis —Mobile Overhauled Following the Electrical Rebuilder’s Association (ERA) Tech Ed Seminar in Ft. Lauderdale last December, trainer Joe Davis began hearing an engine knock in his motor home. He pulled into a rest area on Florida’s I-95 and discov- ered it had used four quarts of oil in less than 200 miles. After adding oil, he limped into B&H Electric in Orange Park, Fla., which is owned by ERA Secretary Bob Thomas. Further checks revealed the engine was most likely suffering from a burned piston. “Joe told me he had no choice but to drive it back to Pennsylvania where he could do the repairs himself,’ said Thomas. “I tried to convince him that attempting to limp it back home was a bad idea. Aside from the obvious conse- quences of blowing an engine half way home, I explained that the weather in Northeast Florida is significantly warmer than Pennsylvania. I offered to Bob Bracken of Orange Park Automotive (L) an Joe Davis (center) install a new engine. “Ya gotta have friends…” d Bob Thomas of B&H Electric (R) help keep the motor home in a safe place — my yard. I also offered to provide a space to do the work—the service area at B&H.” After sleeping on the proposition, Davis accepted the offer and returned home in a U-Haul truck to finish work on the 2007 seminars. As news of Davis’s setback circulated among the ERA Board of Advisors, donations came in to help pay for a new engine. When he returned to Florida on January 29, a new GM factory 454 engine was waiting for him. “T can’t thank the ERA enough,” Davis said. He installed the engine himself, with a little help from Bob Bracken of Orange Park Automotive, a long-time customer and friend of Thomas’s. “Of course I helped a little, too, but Joe really did 98 percent of the work,” said Thomas. “He started the engine change on Monday, January 29 and had it running Saturday, February 3. The engine fired on the second revolution, and purred like a kitten. The following day he took it for a 90-mile test run.” Thanks to all who assisted in get- ting Davis back on the road again to educate and encourage rebuilders around the country. Web Services Update The ERA will soon be offering Web site design and hosting packages at affordable prices for members only. Participants may supply and register their own domain name and _ provide their own hosting or they may choose to have their new Web site hosted by the ERA. Here are some of the details: eA basic package with participant- supplied domain and hosting will include four pages: Home (includes link to map), Services, Contact, and About Us and will cost $400. ¢ A basic package with ERA hosting will include four pages: Home (includes link to map), Services, Contact, and About Us and will cost $500 with one year of hosting included. Hosting after the first year will cost $120 annually. e Additional pages may be added with up to four pictures and text for $75 per page. e Any modifications after the initial site roll-out will be billed at $65 an hour. Minor modifications such as phone number or address change will be free of charge. ¢ Participants must provide their own logo, photos, artwork and text. In order to do the work at these prices, all sites will be built using a stan- dard template, very similar to what you can view at: www.electricbob.com. Participants may make changes to back- grounds, colors and fonts, but no radical changes. By altering the three main ele- ments (backgrounds, colors, fonts) each site can have a unique look. This service will be officially rolled out at the show in Portland. Construction of the first Web sites will begin after the show, on a first-come, first-served basis. More News The long-awaited publication, “Auto