Updated 05-Dec-2021 - Copyright (c) 2021 Corvairs of New Mexico.
MEETING TIME: First Wednesday of each month at 7:30 PM LOCATION: Galles Chevrolet, 1601 Lomas Boulevard NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110 PRESIDENT: Hurley Wilvert 281-1732 hurley.wilvert @ fmglobal.com VICE-PRES: Robert Gold 268-6878 beisbol30 @ hotmail.com SECRETARY: Charles Vertrees 299-0744 vertrees @ swcp.com TREASURER: Wendell Walker 892-8471 defarge505 @ aol.com MEMBERSHIP: Sylvan Zuercher 299-7577 zuerchero @ hubwest.com NEWSLETTER: Jim Pittman 275-2195 casa unm edu DUES: CNM: 12 months $15.00 or 26 months $ 30.00 CORSA: 12 months $35.00 or 26 months $ 70.00 BOTH: 12 months $50.00 or 26 months $100.00 ===== EDITOR: Jim Pittman NEXT MEETING: Wednesday February 2nd, 7:30 PM Galles Chevrolet 1601 Lomas NE CONTENTS: THIS MONTH: Dues Due Sylvan Zuercher January Meeting Chuck Vertrees Board Meeting Chuck Vertrees Billiken Mark Morgan From the Driver's Seat Hurley Wilvert Cars and Parts For Sale Everybody Seven Years Ago Jim Pittman Coming Events Everybody Progressive Dinner Debbie Pleau Rebuttal Del Patten Dark Intrigue Tom Martin Professional Quiz the Internet COVER: Board Members, January 17, 2000 ===== "Has not printing freed the education of the people from all political and religious shackles? It would be vain for any despotism to invade all the schools. The instruction that everyone is free to receive from books in silence and solitude can never be completely corrupted. How with the multitude of different books, with the innumerable copies of each book, of reprints that can be made available at a moment's notice, how could it be possible to bolt every door, to seal every crevice through which truth aspires to enter?" --- the Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794) Alas, the Marquis did not anticipate the Nazis and did not imagine the seductive power of the Internet for religious fundamentalists and hate groups. Dues Expired or Due or Approaching Due: Bruce Carlin 09/1999 Clint Jones 10/1999 George Montoya 10/1999 Paul Campbell 11/1999 David Huntoon 12/1999 Ray Burns 02/2000 Carl Johnson 02/2000 Clayborne Souza 02/2000 Mike Stickler 02/2000 Bob Carlson 03/2000 Tarmo Sutt 03/2000 Joel Craig 04/2000 Mark Domzalski 04/2000 Bill McClellan 04/2000 Stephen Parker 04/2000 David Patten 04/2000 If your membership is due or has expired, please send your dues to: Wendell Walker, CNM Treasurer, 301 Utah Meadow, Rio Rancho, NM 87124 Note: the Club will mail in your National dues when you renew, but only if you send us the renewal form from CORSA Communique While surfing the web, check out the CORSA Home Page: http://www.corvair.org ===== JANUARY MEETING NOTES Chuck Vertrees President Hurley Wilvert called the meeting to order on January 5th at 7:30 PM. This was the first meeting at our new site, Galles Chevrolet. All officers were present except for Treasurer Wendell Walker. The meeting room is excellent. The Treasurer's report had been sent to the Secretary before the meeting. It showed that CNM had $142.64 in the checking account and $5,985.54 in the Money Market Account for a total of $6,128.18. Sylvan Zuercher reported that he had contacted a possible new member who would come to the meeting later if he could get loose. He was unable to make it by the end of the meeting, so Sylvan will follow up on him. OLD BUSINESS The progressive dinner is all set for Saturday, February 5th, starting at 4:00 PM. A map is elsewhere in this newsletter with more details. Debbie Pleau should be called by all who plan on going. The women's auxiliary, tentatively called "Stitch & Bitch," will meet at Anne Mae Gold's house on Saturday, January 8th, from 1 to 4 PM. LeRoy Rogers reported that the Garage Tour, Saturday March 4th, is all set. We will meet at Pat's Place Restaurant at 12:00 PM. It is on the corner of Montgomery and Wyoming. We will have lunch and then go to three garages. LeRoy will have a map in the newsletter. All three garages will be in the Northeast heights. A possible April event might be an out of town weekend trip to Santa Theresa near El Paso. There is an air museum and an auto museum there. The distance is about 225 miles. Sylvan will contact Wayne Ward in Las Cruces about this. There will be further discussion about this at the board meeting. Robert Gold has been in contact with the State Fair about the car show this fall. He plans on about 17 awards, some of which will probably be rather esoteric, knowing Robert. Everything is all set with the Fair people. I think this will be on September 24th. There was nothing to report on a new set of CNM license plates. NEW BUSINESS The Tri-State & Museum show was discussed. Jerry Goffe will see to the T-shirts and patches. An ad has been placed in Corsa. We need to design and distribute registration forms. It would be very helpful if we knew ahead of time about how many people will be coming. Mark and Elizabeth will host the Bar-B-Q on Saturday night. August is an open month as far as activities go. It was suggested that possibly a camping trip would be good. It was suggested that Bill Reider be asked if he might plan this. It was suggested that as a November event we could have a potluck and auction at House of Covers. We have had these in the past and they seemed to please everyone. The idea was approved, but a date was not chosen. It was also suggested that Kay and Tarmo plan the fall tour. This was also approved. Jerry Goffe announced that in mid July there will be a film festival in Albuquerque. Much of it will involve Highway 66 and could very well involve some Albuquerque car clubs. Tarmo announced that the Custom Body 1963 Corvair will be at the auction in Scottsdale, AZ. He is hoping to go, and may bring back some pictures. Jerry Goffe announced that the "Horseless Carriage" license plates are now allowed to cover cars that are from 1965 or older. They are 10 to 12 dollars for six years. Mark said that special interest groups in CORSA, such as Airvairs, etc are covered by the same liability insurance as the regular chapters. However, they must follow the same rules as the regular chapters do as regards officers, etc. The Lake Tahoe Convention gave $4800 each to CPF and CORSA. The 2000 convention will be in July in Daytona, Florida. The 2001 convention is planned for near Chicago, and the 2002 convention might be in Flagstaff. If it were in Flagstaff, CNM would be expected to donate a lot of assistance. Dennis said our web site is up and running, although I have not had a chance to check it. The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 PM. ===== JANUARY BOARD MEETING NOTES Chuck Vertrees The regular board meeting was called to order at House of Covers on January 17th at 1700. Present were Sylvan Zuercher, Jim Pittman, Robert Gold, "Lube" Lubert, LeRoy Rogers, Mark Domzalski, Dennis Pleau, Wendell Walker, Steve Gongora, Hurley Wilvert, and Chuck Vertrees. Treasurer Wendell Walker reported that CNM has $242.64 in the checking account and $5,985.54 in the Money Market Account for a total of $6,228.18. Future tech talks will be Jim Pittman at the February meeting on production of the newsletter, and at the March meeting a presentation on the new definition of the "Classic Chevy." Steve will check into getting a future presentation on the various kinds of insurance for antique cars. Discussion on future events took place. The Progressive dinner is all set. The garage tour is all ready to go. We will meet at Pat's Place Restaurant at noon on February 4th. There will be more information in the newsletter about the tour. There was some discussion about the possible overnight in April. The date would be April 15th and 16th, which is Palm Sunday weekend. There is an Air Museum at Santa Theresa, which is south of Las Cruces. A quick count at the board meeting came up with about 15 people who would want to go. Sylvan will look into it further. The women have their part of the Tri-State under control. Mark said there would be no problem having the barbecue at his and Elizabeth's place. They have hosted large groups before with no problem. The cost would be about two to three hundred dollars, and possibly, CNM could host the event. June could possibly be an autocross, and Hurley is checking on that. July is the Santa Fe car show, and August is a possible camping trip. Bill Reider would like someone else to handle the camping trip. He did last year's trip, and if you knew how many phone calls he had to make to set it up, you could understand why he is a little burned out on this job. There are several possibilities that are somewhat closer to Albuquerque than the Pecos. There was discussion on the license plates. The question was brought up as to how many we had made last time, how long they lasted, and how many to order this time. Steve will follow up. Debbie Deck will be helping Sylvan with the newsletter mailing. Be sure to thank her when you get a chance. Thanks Debbie. Wendell announced that the Santa Fe car club will be having a garage tour on March 19th, and that CNM is invited. I don't remember the name where it will be, but we were there before and he has a bunch of Ford products, and a few others. It's well worth the trip if you haven't been or to go for a second time. More information will be in the newsletter later. Wendell also showed some possible raffle tickets for the quilt donated by Ruth Boydston and the weaving donated by Ilva Walker. It was decided to do them in black and white instead of color because of the cost of color printing. Mark and Steve can print them with sequential numbers if we decide that we need them numbered. They will not be perforated. Sylvan brought up the CNM library. I doubt if most of the newer members are aware that we have a library and it is in an 8-door Corvair van. The van is currently at Mark's. LeRoy donated the van and he used to drive it to meeting each month with the library inside. There are a lot of little things that the van needs. Nothing major, but a lot of little things that would make a good Club spring project. It was decided to make a list of what needs to be done, and start to set up work weekends. On January 22nd (which will be past by the time you read this) Sandia Motor Sports Track will have an open house from 1 to 4 PM. Take exit 149 off of I-40, which is near Central and I-40. They will also have a school for course workers on February 26th and 27th. The track is a road course and not an oval, so it might possibly be a site for future autocross events. The Corvair ladies had a good meeting at the Golds'. They now have a new name and I didn't write it down. Robert asked them to have something at our May meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 PM. ===== FOR SALE, TRADE OR WANTED WANTED: Tinted glass for 1966 Corvair convertible. Vent, door, quarter, both sides. Prefer NOS or real nice condition. Tarmo Sutt 505-471-1153 tarmo @ juno.com FOR SALE: Early windshield, tinted, New Mexico style (lightly sand blasted) Larry Blair 505-821-1386 CNM ADS ARE FREE TO CNM MEMBERS, $5.00 TO NON-CNM MEMBERS ===== SEVEN YEARS AGO IN C.N.M. February 1993 Volume 19 Number 2 The cover showed last month's sad and neglected wreck, all fixed up as a new early Monza coupe. President Patten ran the meeting. New members this month: Bruce Heim and Frank Stadler. Will Davis counted up $1,137 in the treasury. Sylvan had heart surgery and was in the hospital at Lovelace. Bill Reider received the Ike Meissner Award for 1992. We planned a February garage tour. A dinner meeting was scheduled for March. Sizes were obtained for club golf shirts. Jerry showed a video of his recent trip to the Northwest Territories. LeRoy previewed the special March meeting at the Triple R Museum, AKA the Tool Museum. The Club has been there several times to see its fabulous collection of tools and toys. Our feature article this month was "My First Corvair" by Bill Reider. I wish more members would write articles like this. Bill told about the 1962 Monza convertible he bought at Nicky Chevrolet in Chicago. Not content with what GM put on the car, Bill soon had it equipped with four carbs, trombone exhausts, Mallory dual-point distributor and fan belt tensioner. Tech tips this month: Closing body seams with "High Tech Leak Check Seam Sealer"; painting the bottom of your car with "Hammerite Rust Stop Metal Finish Paint"; building a handy holder for cans of spray paint; removing tie rods; removing tie rod ends; and, removing steering knuckles and front springs. We also had several Otto Mechanic cartoons and a political article passed along by Francis on American jobs going overseas. FOURTEEN YEARS AGO The February 1986 cover was a map of Guam with Corvair by Mark Morgan. President Clayborne ran the meeting. A new member was Brad Bobotis. LeRoy reported that we had $556 to spend. We planned a garage tour, a "snow trip" and a caravan to a Phoenix mini-convention. There were new Clark's catalogs. George Morin described electro-chemical nickel-plating techniques. He passed around several samples. Clayborne's column asked what the original GM engineers who designed the Corvair meant by "economical." Did they mean a low coefficient of drag? High fuel mileage? Or just an economical car to buy and maintain? Mark Morgan, touring the world with the Navy, sent us an article he called "Driving in WESTPAC, Part 1: Guam" but it included some notes on Hawaii as well. Apparently there's a lot of automotive fun to be had on a small island with a speed limit of 35 MPH. Bill Reider's column on Corvair repair discussed brakes and how to keep them ship-shape. The first rule: get good quality shoes. Other people's tech tips this month included an illustrated article on towing the 1965 Corvair, courtesy of GM. TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO The February 1979 cover featured George Morin and his award-winning 1964 Monza. At the January meeting we raffled a set of NGK spark plugs. We had $396 in the bank. We planned a Club birthday party in March, a Winrock car show in April, a State Fair car show in September and an Aspencade-Econorun in October. The Club's new posts of Treasurer and Membership chairman were filled by Francis Boydston and Ike Meissner respectively. We discussed a Club purchase of bulk items such as spark plugs, oil and air filters, wheel bearings, etc to get discount prices. We were still discussing the official name of the Newsletter. And, we had a new member: Stan Johnson. Jim listed eight functions of the Newsletter and asked for suggestions for improving it. In an article entitled "These are the Good Old Days" Jim argued that we were at a fortunate point in the life of the Corvair: our cars are still new enough (and technically advanced enough) that we can afford to drive them every day if we want, and still numerous enough that parts and repairs are readily available. Jim said we should enjoy driving our Corvairs now and keep them in shape to drive for years to come. Ike Meissner provided an article on adjusting timing for driving at high altitude with regular gasoline. Tech tips this month include: Using a rocker panel from a 1969 Camaro to replace the corresponding part on a 1965 Corvair; Checking the inner front wheel bearing for fit BEFORE installing; Adjusting the front wheel bearings; and using a short piece of 7/32" hose over the end of a spark plug to help avoid cross-threading it. ============================================================================ C O R V A I R S o f N E W M E X I C O C O M I N G E V E N T S ============================================================================ | F e b r u a r y | M a r c h | A p r i l | | | | | | : : 1 2 3 4 5 | : : : 1 2 3 4 | : : : : : : 1 | | 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | | 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 | 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 | 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | | 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 | 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 | 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 | | 27 28 29 : : : : | 26 27 28 29 30 31 : | 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 | | : : : : : : : | : : : : : : : | 30 : : : : : : | ============================================================================ Wed 2nd Feb 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 5th Feb 4:00 PM Progressive Dinner - Debbie Pleau Sat 12th Feb 1:00 PM CNM Ladies at Ruth Boydston's, 6829 Kelly NE Wed 16th Feb 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 18th Feb 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Wed 1st Mar 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 4th Mar 12:00 noon Garage Tour and lunch - LeRoy Rogers .........March CNM Ladies at Kim Patton's (TBA) Wed 15th Mar 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Sun 19th Mar 2:00 PM Garage Tour, Bob Pearson's, I-25 at La Cienega Exit Fri 24th Mar 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Wed 5th Apr 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE .........April CNM Ladies at Kay Sutt's (TBA) Wed 19th Apr 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 21st Apr 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= NEXT MEETING'S PROGRAM: NEWSLETTER PRODUCTION by Jim Pittman Subject: PROGRESSIVE DINNER Debbie Pleau ( dpleau @ efortress.com ) On Saturday, February 5th, CNM will have their first progressive dinner. For those who don't know what this means, it means that we'll have a four course meal at four different locations. We'll convene at the Gongoras' at 8419 Palo Duro NE at 4:00 PM. Here we'll have appetizers and drinks. From there, we'll caravan over to Glory Hall at 2417 Wyoming NE where the Reiders will host the soup and salad portion of the meal. Next stop, the Pleaus' at 120 Camino de Amador NW for the main meal; and finally, we'll end up at the Scheflow's in Corrales for dessert. See the nearby maps for locations. A head count will be extremely beneficial, primarily for seating purposes but also to make sure we have enough food. So if you're planning on attending or have any questions, please contact me at 505-345-0351. We'll also need volunteers to supply salads, soup and desserts. See you there! -- Debbie & Dennis GARAGE TOUR UPDATE LeRoy Rogers This year's garage tour will be held on Saturday March 4th. We will meet at Pat's Place for lunch at 12:00 noon. Pat's Place is located at 8216 Montgomery NE. At approximately 1:00 PM we will visit Art Leupold's garage, located at 4500 Piedra Blanca NE - just west of Montgomery and Eubank. From there we'll go to LeRoy's place, 11521 Versailles NE - that's north and east of Juan Tabo and Candelaria. The last place is Robert and Anna Gold's garage located at 1301 Valencia NE - west of San Pedro between Constitution and Lomas NE. GARAGE TOUR, SANTA FE CLUB Wendy Walker The Santa Fe club invites us to join them to tour Bob Pearson's automobile collection, Sunday, March 19th at 2:00 PM. Take I-25 to the La Cienega exit, go west, look for the first house on the right. We have been here before, several years ago. It's a fabulous location and a great collection of cars. ===== FROM THE DRIVERS SEAT Hurley Wilvert I was glad to see all of you at the first meeting of 2000 at our new meeting place, Galles Chevrolet. Our new sponsor, Joe Trujillo, sure made us feel welcome. Thank you Joe! We've got some great activities coming up this year. Check the calendar for the dates and locations. In just a few weeks is the Progressive Dinner. I am looking forward to some really good food because our club has some really good cooks. I hope to see lots of you there. My 1968 Monza is getting closer to the road. The engine is in and the carbs are on. All I need is to mount one muffler and I can set it down on the driveway. My 61 still keeps chugging along and helping me enjoy getting to wherever it is that I have to go. Once the '68 is running, I plan to treat the '61 to a new interior and a paint job. Maybe someday I can put it in one of our shows without risking beating out Del Patten for lowest point car. Robert Gold has got some good tech talks scheduled for the upcoming months. They will be informative and enjoyable, come and listen. If any of you know someone who could be or is interested in joining our club, be sure to let Sylvan Zuercher know about them. Sylvan is a great welcoming committee. I really enjoyed the meeting I had with Sylvan when he first called me to join the club. Something many of you may not know, I didn't, is that the club has a library van. It is a Corvair van with tons of Corvair related literature in it. Members can check out books, just like a library. If you need some information that you just can't seem to find, it will probably be there. The van needs a little work and there are plans to have a "fix the library van" party in a few months. Then, during he warmer months, the van will be at meetings for members to browse. I hope to get a list of what's there in the near future. Keep posted. I look forward to seeing all of you at the February meeting. Hurley Wilvert, President ===== Subject: CNM LADIES Anne Mae Gold ( beisbol30 @ hotmail.com ) The first meeting of the CNM Ladies was a great success! I thank those of you who attended and invite the rest of you who were unable to make it to our first meeting. The next meeting will be held at Ruth Boydston's house, 6829 Kelly NE, Albuquerque, 821-1506. Jim will provide a map for us if he has one available, or directions on how to get there. Ruth has volunteered to show us how to quilt. She says she can find a quilt for us to needle on. If you are not interested in quilting, please bring your crocheting (Debbie Pleau really wants to learn) or your knitting, or just bring your darning! The next meeting will be the second Saturday of February, that's the 12th, from 1 to 4 pm at Ruth's. In March we will meet at Kim Patton's, April has us caravanning to Santa Fe and Kay Sutt's home and we will skip the May meeting for the Tri-State. Robert has challenged us to come up with a Tech talk for a meeting or for the Tri-State. Let's talk about it! June has us booked into Brenda Wilvert's home, July is open at present, and August's host will be Debbie Pleau. I've offered to keep us updated on the meetings by writing reminders. Thanks to all of you who came to my house last time, I certainly had a blast and look forward to needling with you all soon! -- Anne Mae Gold ===== Subject: CHRISTMAS DINNER Steve Gongora ( sgongora @ worldnet.att.net ) The Christmas Dinner was a great success. Everyone was treated to a selection of breakfast or dinner with a touch of champagne. The Officer's Club at Kirtland does a fantastic job of touching all those taste buds and we even had entertainment to top off the event. We were specially treated to a short medley of Christmas songs from Emily and Captain Jon Luc Picard (the organist). The Ike Meissner Award was presented to Dennis Pleau. Santa's helpers, Elizabeth Domzalski and Anna Gold distributed Christmas goodies to the kids and kids at heart. Our sponsor from Galles Chevrolet, Joe Trujillo and his wife introduced themselves and extended their support for our club. Hope everyone had a great time. ===== Subject: SNAPPY REPARTEE!! Del Patten - Civ AFRL/PKP ( Del.Patten @ plk.af.mil ) Don't you just love it?? I mean, what other club out there do you know whose members would chose to look so foolish (or have so much fun depending on your viewpoint!!) in front of so many??? I don't know about Larry but I sure have fun doing this! So let me tackle Larry's Letter to the Editor!! Where shall we start... maybe the beginning. I do know how to spell de facto... I really think it was Jim's funny computer that "corrected" my spelling... you know, it's one of those apple or banana computers. Or maybe it was just a slip between my thinking matter and fingers but thank you for catching that, Larry... sure evidence that you are a real detail man!!! I guess I am surprised that your eagle eyes have failed to find any pot holes out there that require repair (anyone else ever seen anyone fixing a pothole in this town?)? I am sure that my tires keep finding them (hey, where do we file claims for worn out shocks and flat tires??!!). Secondly, while I will admit that Sylvan has forgotten more mistakes than he has hair on his head, I am not sure that he has considered the difference between mistake and dumb mistake!!! And there is an important distinction there that I cannot explain... there just is!!! However Larry, you had so nicely accepted the honor of joining this rather exclusive club that I cannot resist accepting your application and advising you that from this day forth you are now the current president (as the sole member for many years, I made the rules... just yesterday in fact!!)... until of course, you can get some other fool to admit he made a mistake that qualifies him for entry!! You folks out there might want to never again admit in Larry's hearing that you made a mistake or you'll be the next president!!! I heard Larry's first act is to start a membership drive and set up a web page to go international!!! Now that is a real thinking man!!! As for Kim's drowned rat look at the CNM camping trip, I can't explain that!! She has the checkbook and the keys to the camper door??!!! My mother taught me to come in out of the rain but Kim is one of those adventuresome kinda people! I was off singing (no, not "singing in the rain") which is, as many of you know, the only thing that could drag me away from a CNM event!! Next time you guys should go on a dry day!!! And I'll get Kim a rain suit for her birthday... she mentioned something about diamonds but I am sure the rainsuit is what she really wants!! Maybe standing out in the rain should be considered for entry into the DoTMC?? You make the rules now Larry!!! Two more people and we can have a quartet!!! Well, since I have cleverly passed the mantle of leadership to one who has clearly exhibited all those talents necessary to lead this exclusive organization into the next millennium (and he can spell!!), I guess I'll go find a safe place to rid myself of this excess gas!!! Seems my gas tanks are all full and singing just doesn't use it up fast enough!!! There you go Jim... another addition to your fine publication!!! ===== Subject: PROFESSIONAL QUIZ The following quiz consists of four questions that tell you whether you are qualified to be a professional. Turn the page for the answers. The questions are not that difficult; you just need to think like a professional. I will not tell how many I got right. 1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator? Correct answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door. This question tests whether you are doing simple things in a complicated way. 2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator? Incorrect answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and shut the refrigerator. Correct answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant, and close the door. This question tests your foresight. 3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend? Correct answer: The elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator! This tests if you are capable of comprehensive thinking. OK, if you didn't answer the last three questions correctly, this one may be your last chance to test your qualifications to be a professional. 4. There is a river where thousands of crocodiles live. How do you cross it? Correct Answer: Simply swim through it. All the crocodiles are attending the animal meeting! This question tests your reasoning ability. Scoring: If you answered four out of four questions correctly, you are a true professional. Wealth and success await you. If you answered three out of four, you have some catching up to do but there's hope for you. If you answered two out of four, consider a career as a hamburger flipper in a fast food joint. If you answered one out of four, try selling some of your organs. It's the only way you'll ever make any money. If you answered none correctly, consider a career that does not require any higher mental functions at all, such as law (i.e., attorney, judge, etc.) or politics. ===== DARK INTRIGUE Tom Martin It was a quiet, moonless night in Albuquerque and our formless garb would make us hard to spot. My watch showed 10:55. GIL, GEORGE, JACK and I had been briefed in late afternoon and we met in the shadow of the building where the boss was waiting. FRANK was his name, I recall, but we knew him as "PANCHO". The windows were covered in brown paper when earlier in the day they revealed the venerable interior of this old structure. As this recollection forms in 1987, I feel a strange sensation. The Julian period is a cycle of 7,980 years and this is based on a solar cycle of 28 years. Therefore the days of the week repeat on the same dates only every 28 years! What takes me back 28 years to Julian day number 2,436,836 - September 24, 1959? It was a Thursday night just like this year. GEORGE was usually very talkative, but not tonight. GIL had a hat pulled low over his eyes. There was little conversation as we five got into PANCHO'S car and drove the short distance. PANCHO stopped in the middle of the block near First and Iron Streets and we got out. Four pairs of eyes followed him down the deserted street as he drove away. JACK produced a set of keys and began trying them in the lock on the fence gate. A second, a third, and finally the fourth key opened the large, formidable padlock. The log chain fell to one side and we entered. I sensed the others had done this before but this was my first time. I had only recently graduated from college and joined this group. The eerie glow of light to the north was from the Santa Fe train station and to the south I could see a solitary green light in the train yard. Suddenly, I noticed a group of men approach from our rear and follow our footsteps through the gate and into the fenced enclosure. GIL nudged me and laconically whispered, "They're Hickam's boys. They'll take care of the big ones". A few more paces and JACK stopped and handed me a key and said, "This one's yours. We'll see you back there". I tried the key in the lock and it opened. I opened the door to a _new 1960 Corvair 500_ and slid behind the wheel. Shift lever to "N", pump the accelerator pedal a couple times and with a turn of the key the new engine started with a sound I'd never heard before - a strong, but muffled purr. My left hand found the knob for the headlights and just below that, the black ratchet handle of the emergency brake. I shifted to "R" and backed up and then to "D". I rolled out onto First and headed for the service entrance of Galles-Groesbeeck Cheverolet on Copper Avenue, between Fifth and Sixth. I could smell the newness of the black rubber floor mat and the fabric of the seats. Yep, the radio worked and the steering felt nimble compared to the big Impala I was used to driving. PANCHO was waiting with the service door open and in I went. The others were quick to follow and the door closed behind us. One more shuttle of four from the train yard and our night's work was done. Congratulations were in order as we each acknowledged no one had seen us. The "make-ready" guys were at work and mine was already washed. The dawn crew would ferry the full-sized cars and everything would be ready for the debut of the 1960 model cars. At 10:00 am the following morning, Friday September 25, 1959, Julian day number 2,436,837, the four of us in dark blue suits tore the paper off the showroom windows. To my surprise, I was looking into the eyes of about three dozen people who eagerly awaited the unlocking of the doors. The Corvairs had been allotted half of the showroom space and were easily the top attraction that day. No one noticed that a heart beat a little faster inside one of those dark blue suits - I had been the first to drive the ALL NEW CHEVROLET CORVAIR on the streets of Albuquerque! -- Tom Martin Editor's note: Ruth Boydston asked me to find the article Tom Martin wrote about bringing the first Corvair to Galles-Groesbeeck Chevrolet. This is it. We published it in the January 1988 issue of Enchanted Corvairs Newsletter. Thanks to Tom for all the excellent articles he provided to us during 1987-1990. ===== Subject: THE SECRET IS SMOKE! (VV) (No Corvair content, I hope!) Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 19:11:59 -0600 From: Dennis & Debbie Pleau ( dpleau @ efortress.com ) From: JVHRoberts @ aol.com A sheet of paper crossed my desk the other day, and as I read it, realization of a basic truth came over me. So simple! So obvious, we couldn't see it. John Kuivinen, Chairman of the Polamar Repeater Club, an amateur radio group, has discovered what makes integrated circuits work. He say's smoke is the thing that makes ICs work, because every time you let the smoke out of an IC, it stop working. He claims to have verified this by testing. I was flabbergasted, of course! Smoke makes all electrical devices work. Remember the last time smoke escaped from your Lucas voltage regulator? Didn't it quit? I sat and smiled like an idiot as more of the truth dawned. It's the wiring harness that carries smoke from one device to another on British cars. And when it springs a leak, it lets the smoke out of everything at once and nothing works. The starter motor requires large quantities of smoke to operate properly, that's why the wiring going to it is so big. Feeling very smug, I continued to expand my hypothesis. Why are Lucas electrics more likely to leak smoke than, say, Bosch? A HA!! Lucas is British. Things English always leak. British convertible tops leak. British engines leak oil. British displacers leak hydrostatic fluid. British tires leak air. British governments leak secrets. Naturally, British electrics leak smoke! From Open Exhaust, Detroit Region SCCA Submitted by John N8FYL ****************************** This message was sent by the Corvair list, all copyrights are the property of the writer, please attribute properly. To unsubscribe, send mail to majordomo @ skiblack.com with "unsubscribe virtualvairs" as the first line of the message. Post mail to: virtualvairs @ skiblack.com . For help, send mail to: vv-help @ skiblack.com . ****************************** ===== Subject: CORVAIR FUNNY (VV) Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 19:03:07 -0600 From: Dennis & Debbie Pleau ( dpleau @ efortress.com From: "Bagley, Ray (KUCC)" ( bagleyr @ kennecott.com ) Ten Commandments For The Corvair Enthusiast: 1. Thou shalt not read thy Communique on company time, lest thy employer make it impossible to continue thy car restoration. 2. Thou shalt not covet thy club member's car, nor his garage, nor his bearing greaser and in da Chuckster's case the Communique. 3. Thou shalt not store thy car out-of-doors except for the wife's Buick. 4. Thou shalt not deceive thy wife into thinking that thee is taking her for a romantic Sunday drive when indeed thou art going cruising to look at another 'Vair or auto crossing. 5. Thou shalt not love thy vair's more than thy wife and children. 6. Thou shalt not despise thy neighbor's Edsel, nor his DeSoto, nor even his '47 Plymouth. 7. Thou shalt not tell thy spouse the entire cost of thy latest restoration, at least not all at the same time. 8. Thou shalt not promise thy wife a new addition for the house and then use it to store cars. 9. Thou shalt not allow thy sons and daughters to get married during the CORSA National Convention or any other Corvair gathering. 10. Thou shalt not buy thy wife a floor jack for Christmas. ****************************** This message was sent by the Corvair list, all copyrights are the property of the writer, please attribute properly. To unsubscribe, send mail to majordomo @ skiblack.com with "unsubscribe virtualvairs" (no quotes) as the first line of the message. Post mail to: virtualvairs @ skiblack.com For help, send mail to: vv-help @ skiblack.com ****************************** ===== Subject: Re: FLIPPIN BELTS (VV) Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2000 15:39:55 -0700 From: Dennis & Debbie Pleau ( dpleau @ efortress.com ) From: "Diane Galli" ( rdgalli @ tcsn.net ) This recent thread on "Flippin' Belts, and the gimmicks to prevent it leads me to express my .02 cents worth. There are several conditions that will contribute to belts flippin off. 1. Bent pulleys 2. Wider than stock (3/8 inch) belts 3. Stretchable cheap belts 4. Using early steel fans 5. Engine not running smoothly (running on 5 or fewer cylinders) 6. Belt guards missing 7. Unusual driving habits Any of these conditions can cause belt problems, and if two or more of these conditions exist, you can almost be guaranteed to have problems. Fix the causes. I change belts every 20,000 miles, whether they need it or not. If any of you know any other conditions to cause this, add them to the list. This would be something good to put in "The Beginners Manual". Bob ****************************** This message was sent by the Corvair list, all copyrights are the property of the writer, please attribute properly. To unsubscribe, mailto:majordomo @ skiblack.com with "unsubscribe virtualvairs" (without the quotes) as the first line of the message. To post, mailto:virtualvairs @ skiblack.com. For help, mailto:vv-help @ skiblack.com. ****************************** =end=