[NJARC] Help me help Team Fox

[Matt Reynolds]

Fellow electronics enthusiasts,

I realize this is not a 100% radio-related topic,  and the message is a bit lengthy, but please bear with me, as I believe you folks are just the right people to ask for help!

As most of you already are aware, a few years prior I followed through with a childhood dream of mine and bought my childhood dream car.  Raised on pop culture, I grew especially fond of Back to the Future, which is largely responsible for my fascination of science and technology, especially of times gone by.  4 years ago I bought my Delorean, and in doing so became part of another family of like-minded enthusiasts that are passionate about common themes - their cars, their connection to history, and their connection to science fiction/pop culture.

Through my connection through the Delorean community, I have made hundreds of new friends.  Two of these friends of mine, have dedicated a large portion of their lives trying to help people.   Terry and Oliver Holler turned their Delorean into a replica time machine several years ago to complete a bucket list goal, and after doing so, teamed up with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.  They criss-cross the planet in their car, going from event to event, raising money for the foundation.  They have driven their car in all 50 states, about 10 countries, and have put over half a million miles on it!  That's no small feat in any car, but it's especially impressive in a Delorean.

Anyway, the Hollers are trying to complete a goal that I am also trying to complete at some point - and that is make a replica of the "Time Circuit Control Tubes", or "hood box".  For those not familiar with the story, In the 2nd film in the trilogy the 1980s-built integrated electronics that controlled the time circuits were damaged by lightning, which stranded the car in the 1880s.  The third film starts where this left off.  In order to make the car functional again, The car was stored in a cave in the 1880s, recovered in the 50s, and an equivalent circuit was designed to replace the fried 80s integrated circuit.

Terry and Oliver are working hard on re-creating the look and feel of the hood box for their car, and have made good progress sourcing parts in order to build their own version of this.  They did this with their entire time machine, in a time before DVDs, HD photography, etc.  They are super resourceful, and their car looks amazing, especially having been built and designed in the VHS "pause and take notes" era.

Fortunately, they are friends with the people that own the real Part 3 car (which I was also fortunate enough to see earlier this year), and have been able to take up-close pictures of it.

Here's a screenshot of the Hood Box Replica, that was built and attached to the restored screen-used part 3 car:

[https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1318/5179398301_717e028f80_b.jpg]

Long story short, Terry and Oliver are looking for the two large vacuum tubes in the center of the box.  They purchased a boxed lot of radio tubes a few months ago to get all the little ones you see throughout the box, but they are still missing the other two, and would like to use something as close to as accurate as possible.  They obviously do not need to be good tubes, duds are fine\preferred.  I am asking to see if any of you have tubes that look similar (or the same as) the ones in the photos, and would be willing to part with them.

I have also attached to this email two more zoomed in pictures that Oliver provided, showing the two large tubes in the middle.  To me they look like some form of transmitting tube, but I am by no means an expert.

The parts are never seen up close in the movie, but from a distance you see a rats nest of "cool looking electronics".  It's a great prop, but for the vintage electronics geeks of the world, up close you can see that there's no way it could possibly function as anything other than a prop.  You will also see things that did not exist in the 1950s as well, but again, movie magic.    Tubes are just mounted into metal cages, parts are not all connected together, etc.  They don't have to be the exact number tube, but obviously if we know which ones they are it would be awesome to get the right ones.

Any help would be appreciated.  Whether that means you have some you can part with, or can at least tell me what number they are so I can help them find them, that would be great.  They will go to a good cause.


For information on Terry and Oliver's efforts to help Team Fox, their website is here:

http://tothefuture.org/Welcome.html
Michael J. Fox’s non-profit to end ... - to the future<http://tothefuture.org/Welcome.html>
tothefuture.org
We’re Terry and Oliver Holler and we are traveling to the future in our DeLorean Time Machine (that we built!) through all 50 states to raise awareness and funding ...

For more pictures of the actual screen used BTTF 3 Car, see the following:

BTTF3 DeLorean<http://www.bttf3delorean.com/Exterior.html>
www.bttf3delorean.com
Both front and rear bumpers had faded greatly over the years. They were refinished and painted with a semi-gloss mixture so that the paint didn’t look too shiny and ...

If you have any information or can help, please let me know.

Best Regards,

Matt Reynolds
(Flux) Capacitor Chairperson
567-204-3850
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