The December 2010 newsletter - Text Version Updated 29-May-2013 ==== Copyright (c) 2013 Corvairs of New Mexico ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DECEMBER 2010 / VOLUME 36 / NUMBER 12 / ISSUE #423 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, First Place, 2005 Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, Third Place, 2010 EDITOR: Jim Pittman NEXT MEETING: Wednesday 1st December 2010, 6:00 to 6:55 PM Highland Senior Center at 131 Monroe NE, Albuquerque THIS MONTH: Dues Due.......................................Membership Committee AIRTIME.....................................President David Huntoon November Meeting Minutes...................................Art Gold November Board Meeting Minutes.......................Chuck Vertrees Please Get Car Parts Out of Oven....................Brenda Stickler Bingo Night............................................Ray Trujillo Birthdays and Anniversaries......................Sunshine Committee Christmas Dinner Update................................Rita Gongora May I Have Your Attention Please.......................Larry Yoffee Calendar of Coming Events........................Board of Directors Chevrolet Volt - Another Look...........................Jim Pittman Thank You! Thank You!.................................Heula Pittman Good and Bad Engine Overhauls....................Richard Finch, SEA Seven, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago......................Club Historian Index to This Year's Newsletters.........................the Editor COVER: Bill Reider & Jim Pittman at a CNM Rally Checkpoint, Aug 1988 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MEETING: First Wednesday of each month at 6:00 PM LOCATION: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE, Albuquerque, NM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ President: David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 @ aol.com Vice-Pres: Ray Trujillo 505-839-7436 ray @ bpsabq.com Secretary: Art Gold 505-620-7434 rollerart @ gmail.com Treasurer: Robert Gold 505-268-6878 beisbol30 @ msn.com Car Council: David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 @ aol.com Merchandise: Vickie Hall 505-865-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com Membership: David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 @ aol.com Sunshine: Heula Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu Newsletter: Jim Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu Past Pres: Pat Hall 505-620-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com Correspondent: Charles Vertrees 505-299-0744 vertrees @ swcp.com Membership: Sylvan Zuercher 505-299-7577 opal.zue @ gmail.com Emeritus: Wendell Walker 505-892-8471 defarge505 @ gmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DUES: CNM: 12 months $25.00 -or- 26 months $ 50.00 CORSA: 12 months $45.00 -or- 26 months $ 90.00 CNM & CORSA: 12 months $70.00 -or- 26 months $140.00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CORSA's home page: http://www.corvair.org Steve Gongora's page: http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter871 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DUES DUE DATES FOR DECEMBER 2010 DUE LAST MONTH = INACTIVE 25-DEC-2010: 2010.11 Linda & Dick Cochran 2006.09 DUE THIS MONTH = INACTIVE 25-JAN-2011: 2010.12 David Huntoon 1994.11 2010.12 Roger Pape 2002.12 2010.12 Larry Yoffee 2009.12 DUE NEXT MONTH = INACTIVE 25-FEB-2011: 2011.01 Darlene & William Darcy 2009.01 2011.01 Wibke Garrecht 2005.09 2011.01 Carolyn & Dan Palmer 2006.01 == DUE FEB = INACTIVE 25-MAR-2011: 2011.02 Gayle & Richard Finch 2000.06 2011.02 Kelly & Art Gold 2006.12 2011.02 Vickie & Pat Hall 2005.10 2011.02 Frank Stadler 1990.02 2011.02 Brenda & Mike Stickler 1976.07 2011.02 Wendell Walker 1989.01 == MEMBERSHIP EXPIRED = INACTIVE AS OF 25-NOV-2010: 2010.01 Darlene & William Darcy 2009.01 2010.01 Kim & Del Patten 1980.07 2010.05 Jack Bryan 1982.02 2010.06 John Myers 2003.05 2010.10 Debra & Jon Anderson 1992.10 2010.10 Barbara & Gordon Johnson 2001.06 2010.10 Sylvia & Ray Trujillo 2003.08 Send your Dues to: Robert Gold, CNM Treasurer 1301 Valencia NE Albuquerque, NM 87110 Past due memberships will become inactive after a one-month grace period. The Club will mail in your National Dues when you renew, if you send us the renewal form from your CORSA Communique! CNM's newsletters: http://www.unm.edu/~jimp ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AIRTIME David Huntoon Greetings Corvair people! I hope everyone is well. It is the beginning of the Holiday season when we all think even more than usual of family and friends. What I can't believe is our pleasant weather. Usually by the third week of October here in the East mountains we should have had several snow storms. We actually have had two light snow showers mixed with rain. Maybe a total of 30 minutes. When I travel into town it seems positively balmy. I would like to mention that our Bingo Night at Steve & Rita's place was another nice club event. We made over $300 for the club with the silent auction and the hands of bingo. Plenty of food also. Thanks to everyone who contributed and attended. Especially Ray and his family for organizing the whole thing. Next time we need to give Ray a seventh inning stretch. He seems to be everywhere. We need a volunteer to take his place for 30 minutes so he can relax and enjoy himself. Our next event is the Christmas Dinner, 12/4 at 5 pm at Roper's Restaurant on Central SE. Please remember to bring some gifts for our sponsorship of the Safe House. No large stuffed animals, no old toys. Needed are everyday items we all use to make life comfortable. These people often had to leave their homes on short notice. Think towels, soaps, toothbrushes, socks, slippers, hankies. You get the idea. Hope to see all of you at the party and Happy Holidays! Later, David ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOVEMBER MEETING NOTES - 11-03-2010 Art Gold President Dave Huntoon called meeting to order at 6:04pm. Stated that Pat Hall has a guest, Hub Elmore, who is going to join the club. Dave said that he really did not have much more to report. Vice President Ray Trujillo stated that this weekend (Saturday) is the Bingo/Potluck at 5:30pm at House of Covers. The bingo cards will go for two dollars each, and half of each pot will go to the winner. There will be items for silent auction provided by Rita Gongora. Ray is still looking for suggestions for a one minute tech tip. After the formal meeting at 7:15pm is the 66 Diner casual meeting. Secretary Art Gold stated that he has nothing to state except that he is glad his Chevelle is running well. Treasurer Robert Gold stated that he is impressed by the number of FCs that are in the club. Robert also stated that he had seen Steve Gongora's newly finished Rampside and it's "spectacular." Geoff Johnson arrived in a historic Rampside that many years ago belonged to one of the founders of the club, Pete Colburn. Funds are: Cash Account $2,668.38; Ally Account $1,176.29 for a total of $3,844.67. COMMITTEE REPORTS Membership Dave Huntoon & Sylvan Zuercher stated that guest Hub Elmore is in attendance. NM Car Council Dave Huntoon asked Pat Hall to report on the meeting. The Car Council treasurer said that the Council lost $1,000 this last year. The money that was lost was due to the Museum Show and the Swap Meet. The cost for the venue for the Swap Meet in Los Lunas is going to go up. Dave also stated that he wants to retire from his duties of Council Representative, and is asking for volunteers to take the position. Editor Jim Pittman stated that the deadline for the newsletter is Friday November 19th. He reminded us that the beginning of "real time" (Non daylight saving time) is this Sunday. He asked for a show of hands for the members who brought their Corvairs to the meeting; about 8 members raised their hands. Jim should have reported talking to Wendell Walker who was back at home continuing his recovery from his accident in his 1963 Cadillac several weeks ago. Jim reported that Sylvan Zuercher fell and is recovering. Sylvan and John Wiker met to make recommendations on the club's major award (the Meissner Award) which will be revamped starting next year. This will be discussed and decided at the next board meeting, and this year's Meissner Award will be awarded at the March 2011 anniversary party under existing rules. Sunshine Heula Pittman stated that tonight we will vote for the logo design for the 2011 Red River Tri-State. She said the meeting time for the dinner at Roper's Restaurant on 12-04-2010 was changed from 5:30pm to 5:00pm. Heula also stated that the Safe House needs donations (clothing, toiletries, toys). These donations are to be brought to the Christmas dinner. Heula said the Sunshine Committee will provide Christmas Stockings for CNM children at the Christmas dinner. Merchandise Vickie Hall stated that she received $5.00 for a Care and Feeding book, and the money was given to Robert Gold. Our 50/50 champ, Ollie Scheflow, donated the winning money to the Sunshine Committee. NEW OR OTHER BUSINESS Vicki Hall stated that Amy Franco (new member) was in attendance with her husband David Franco, and that they arrived in a Corvair. Dave Huntoon stated that he was in attendance at the service for Chuck's wife Julia Vertrees. The service was attended by hundreds. Dave said that the service was very impressive in terms of the life Julia led with Chuck, including children, grandchildren and friends. Chuck and Julia were faithful CNM members for many years, attending and organizing or working at many events. She will be missed. We appreciated David's moving report on the service which several CNM members were able to attend. ACTIVITIES 11/06/2010 - Bingo night at House of Covers - 5:30pm 11/30/2010 - Meissner Award nominations deadline for suggested changes. Contact John Wiker with your comments. 12/04/2010 - Christmas Dinner at Roper's on Central - The starting time is 5:00pm, not 5:30pm. OTHER One Minute Tech Tip given by Robert Gold - discussed the bevel inside a brake drum as an indicator of whether the drum had been "turned" too many times. He learned this after seeing smoke coming from one of the wheels on one of his Corvairs! There were several comments from our members about how to be sure you don't have brake drums that have been "turned" too far for safety. At Heula's suggestion the members went around the room briefly introducing themselves for benefit of our guests and new members. Meeting adjourned at 6:55pm and many went to the 66 Diner on Central. -- Art Gold ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOVEMBER BOARD NOTES Chuck Vertrees The meeting was called to order at 17:00 on 11/17/2010. Ray Trujillo reported that the pot-luck, bingo, silent auction was a success. CNM made $145.50 on the silent auction items and $130.00 on the Bingo. Dave Huntoon said that he had some more money on the silent auction to turn in. It was suggested that the next time, Ray should be given some assistance so he could have a little time off so he could play a game or two. Treasurer, Robert Gold, could not attend because he had to stay at home with a sick son. He sent in the figures for the treasury as $2,827.03 in the checking account and $1,176.29 in the Ally Demand account for a total of $4,003.32. Dave Huntoon said that there had been no new member activity. Usually it is slow in the winter because of the lack of car shows. Also there was no Car Council report because they are on "vacation" right now and will meet again in January. Jim Pittman said that the deadline for the newsletter was this Friday. This issue will be a long newsletter since it will have the index of the year's features. He was wondering about the effectiveness of his web page. Jim said that he gets about 8 to 12 hits a day but he has no way to know who they are. He rarely gets any feedback on his page. Some feedback has come in from other club's newsletter editors. We used to get a lot of other club newsletters by mail, but most are now only on line. Jim often has his camera at CNM functions and will sometimes e-mail copies of photos to members who are in the picture. This brought up the question of, "What is the future of e-mail?" There are so many other things out there now such as Facebook and Twitter. This discussion eventually brought up the question of should we make CDs available that include back issues of our newsletter. These could be offered for sale on CORSA' classified ad page. What about adding other regional club newsletters on the same CD? This warrants further discussion. Heula Pittman said that the Sunshine committee would be getting together next week to prepare the Christmas stockings for CNM kids at the Christmas dinner. This is for children 18 years old and younger. She said that the "Guess the Number of Skittles in the Jar" netted only $3.75 for the Sunshine Committee. Vickie Hall said she had no report on merchandise. John Wiker said that he had talked to Sylvan Zuercher on Monday and that he was still in quite a lot of pain. The healing is going slowly. It was suggested that each committee try to figure what their annual budget would probably be and that the treasurer could issue one check a year instead of a lot of smaller ones. This is being worked on. John Wiker also reported on the planning for the Meissner Award. The committee has decided that the next award, to be presented in March, would be the last under the Meissner name and the existing criteria. John had a list of the suggested activities and points for setting up a system to award points for participation during the year. The lists were passed around and everyone was asked to make any suggestions and get them back to John as soon as possible. As part of the scoring system, new sign-in sheets will be needed. Members will have to help with the record keeping. Work on planning for the future of our award has been going on, off and on, for months now, and time is running out. Brenda Stickler was not able to make the meeting, but she called Dave and told him that there were possibly three caterers that could handle the dinner at the Red River Tri-State and she was contacting them. There will be a board meeting in December because there are several things which will still have to be decided. Bill Reider contacted a couple of the board members and suggested that we should check and see what kind of a meeting place we might be able to rent. It was also suggested that we should check into other city facilities such as Fire Stations. Restaurants were suggested, but past experience showed that unless everyone ordered something it would not work. Larry Yoffee attended the meeting to discuss his web site. He wanted to be sure that we did not feel that it would conflict with the CNM web site. The board said that there would not be any conflict. Larry wants to advertise cars for sale and possibly have a gallery of CNM cars. The board said that it would be great and would certainly help to bring more attention to Corvairs. You can find his site by going to Corvair Center, chose center link, scroll down to enthusiasts and scroll to Larry Yoffee. Or, just go directly to: http://www.corsaturbo180usa.weebly.com/ You can contact Larry Yoffee at Corsa180@gmail.com. The meeting was adjourned at 18:12. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CARTOON CAPTION: Brenda Stickler Hon -- our guests will be here in an hour ... would you please get the car parts out of the oven so I can finish up my baking? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BINGO NIGHT Ray Trujillo Hello everyone! Once again CNM had another successful silent auction/bingo and potluck evening. We had a great turnout with lots of great food and fun. Thank you to all who attended and also a big round of applause goes to everyone who donated items for the silent auction. The silent auction brought in $145.50 and the bingo made $130. So a nice grand total of $275.50 was contributed to CNM's bank account. The silent auction had twenty-seven items to bid on and it seemed like no one went home empty handed. Now as far as the bingo games went, we played five games with six winning cards being paid out. The first game was won by Javi Gold, the second game winnings were split by Barbara Gordon and Art Gold. The third and forth games were won again by Barbara Gordon and the final game was won by Dan Palmer. Congratulations to our big winner Barbara Gordon! She won in three out of the five games played, what a lucky night for her! CNM would also like to express its gratitude to Steve and Rita Gongora for hosting yet another great evening at their House of Covers business. My family and I had a great time and look forward to seeing you all again soon. Ray Trujillo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Birthdates: Dick Cochran December 5 Ruth Boydston December 7 Isaac Trujillo December 9 Lube Lubert December 21 Sara Gold December 30 Fred Riggs December 31 Anniversaries: Elizabeth & Mark Domzalski December 11 Barbara & Gordon Johnson December 18 Lori & Joel Nash December 31 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CHRISTMAS DINNER UPDATE Rita Gongora Our Christmas Dinner party will be at Roper's Restaurant, 8810 Central Avenue SE 298-5143 (same place as last year) on Saturday December 4th at 5:00 PM. The meal will be Italian and prices will be: Adults: $12.95, Children 6-12 $9.95, everything included. Rita will bring dessert. Emma Rogers and Lee Reider will collect your donated items for the Safe House. We will need a head count by Thursday morning, December 2nd, so if you aren't at the December meeting to raise your hand, and you plan to attend, please give Rita a call at 505-256-0551. We hope to see everyone there for a great end-of-year party! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE Larry Yoffee Wow, can't believed that worked! Actually what I can't believe is that it's been a year since I decided to join CNM. I'm really glad I did because my association with other members and all they have had to offer in the way of knowledge and good humor has really made for a much more comprehensive experience now that I have decided to get back to owning a Corvair. Some of you might remember from back in the day when a guy would hang a plate from his rear bumper in his dramatically raked Ford or Chevy commonly painted in primer. Occasionally you might have seen one that said "Lone Wolf-No Club". Well, that wasn't me. I even belonged to a very loosely put together Corvair club made up of 3 guys. We even had a club stripe (sort of the reverse of a Camaro stripe) and loved just cruising around and working on our cars. Well, fast forward 42 years and here I am still playing around with Corvairs. Lately, I've put a new twist on it just for fun. Not too long ago I decided to develop a website dedicated to my interest in Corvairs. It has been a process and I have learned some new computer skills. Now I would like to share what I have done with you. I would like to direct you to my website at: http://www.CorsaTurbo180USA.weebly.com/ There are several pages to view. One page you won't find at this time is one that features CNM cars and trucks. I would very much like to start a gallery of members' car and would like to invite you to email me pictures of yours and let's jumpstart this new page. In addition to that, I have dedicated a page to advertising "cars for sale" and "parts for sale". Since my website has links to a "national" audience of Corvair folks, your ads have the potential to be seen by thousands. All ads are free of charge. Just email pictures, text, your asking price and contact information. Send this to me at: corsa180@gmail.com Lastly, "welcome and thank you" for viewing my personal association with Corvairs. I hope you'll let me know you were there by making a comment on the guestbook page. - Larry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ============================================================================ 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 ============================================================================ | December 2010 | January 2011 | February 2011 | | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | | 1 2 3 4 | 1 | 1 2 3 4 5 | | 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | | 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 | 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 | | 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 | 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 | 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 | | 26 27 28 29 30 31 | 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 | 27 28 | | | 30 31 | | ============================================================================ Wed 1 Dec 6:00 to 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Wed 1 Dec After our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner, 1405 Central NE Sat 4 Dec 5:00 PM Christmas Party - ROPER'S RESTAURANT - 8810 Central SE Sat 11 Dec Second Saturdays: Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starts in Bosque Farms at the Wells Fargo Bank. 1:00 PM in Winter, 6:00 PM during Daylight Time. Wed 15 Dec 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Wed 15 Dec MEISSNER AWARD: Deadline for the board to decide on changes to rules. Fri 24 Dec 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Fri 24 Dec MEISSNER AWARD: Nomination Form will be in the January newsletter. ============================================================================ 2011: Wed 5 Jan MEISSNER AWARD: Nomination Form is in the January newsletter. Wed 5 Jan 6:00 to 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Wed 5 Jan After our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner, 1405 Central NE Sat 8 Jan Second Saturdays: Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starts in Bosque Farms at the Wells Fargo Bank. 1:00 PM in Winter, 6:00 PM during Daylight Time. Wed 19 Jan 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Fri 21 Jan 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman ============================================================================ 2011: Wed 2 Feb 6:00 to 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Wed 2 Feb After our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner, 1405 Central NE Wed 2 Feb MEISSNER AWARD: Nominations are due tonight before 7:00 PM. Sat 12 Feb Second Saturdays: Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starts in Bosque Farms at the Wells Fargo Bank. 1:00 PM in Winter, 6:00 PM during Daylight Time. Wed 16 Feb 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Fri 18 Feb 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Fri 18 Feb BOYDSTON AWARD: Nomination Form will be in the March newsletter. ============================================================================ 2011: Wed 2 Mar BOYDSTON AWARD: Nomination Form is in the March newsletter. Wed 2 Mar 6:00 to 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Wed 2 Mar After our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner, 1405 Central NE Sat 12 Mar Second Saturdays: Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starts in Bosque Farms at the Wells Fargo Bank. 1:00 PM in Winter, 6:00 PM during Daylight Time. Wed 16 Mar 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Sat xx Mar ....... CNM's 37th Anniversary Celebration Sat xx Mar MEISSNER AWARD: Presentation at the Anniversary Celebration Fri 18 Mar 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman ============================================================================ 2011: 3-4-5-June - Tri-State Event - Red River, NM - Corvairs of New Mexico ============================================================================ 2011: 20-23 July - CORSA Convention - Rocky Mountain CORSA - Denver,Colorado ============================================================================ See the New Mexico Council of Car Clubs Web Site for more "NMCCC" activities: ===================== http://www.nmisso.com/nmccc1.htm ===================== ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CHEVROLET VOLT - ANOTHER LOOK Jim Pittman After writing about the Chevrolet Volt in the CNM October 2009 issue, I kept thinking about how GM could possibly continue to develop this car and how people could possibly be convinced it is a viable product. Here are answers. Car and Driver has an analysis in their December 2010 issue, and an article by Charles Lane appears in the October 30 Washington Post. First, think about how you drive your car. When do you need power? That's right, you need power to accelerate and to go uphill. If you are just cruising along at highway speeds and have good aerodynamics and low-drag tires, little power is needed. If you are going downhill or decelerating to a stop, no power at all is needed. (Indeed, using the brakes to control your speed is throwing away energy you have already bought and paid for. Patrick Bedard of Car and Driver once said that the way to get better fuel mileage in any car is to drive so as to never use the brakes!) In an internal-combustion engine car, the engine needs to be as big and powerful as it is so you can accelerate and go uphill as fast as you need to. The rest of the time the engine is just idling along and could be much smaller to adequately power the car. (But, don't forget that your headlights, air conditioner and high-dB sound system all require generous helpings of engine or battery power.) In an electric car with an appropriate-sized motor and battery, you can have excellent acceleration performance -- for a short time. This performance is not needed all the time. In any kind of normal driving, cars don't accelerate forever -- you soon get up to cruising speed and are back in low-power-required mode. So, you'd design your electric car with a large enough battery and motor to provided the needed acceleration for enough of the time. You'd design the helper gas engine with only enough power to keep the battery fully charged -- for normal driving. As you drive the car there would come an optimum point in the depletion of the battery charge where the gas engine should automatically start up to charge the battery. Thus in normal driving the battery would always stay near full charge, thereby remaining able to supply the energy needed for occasional acceleration. Also, when you brake, some of the otherwise wasted braking energy is fed back to the electric motor which then acts as a generator and puts part of your deceleration energy back into the battery. The Volt is designed this way. Assuming a fully charged battery, the Volt has full performance from the battery to accelerate and go up hills. When the battery gets depleted to a certain level (not anywhere near exhausted) the gasoline engine kicks in to charge the battery back up. Thus for anything like normal driving requirements there will always be plenty of battery power for maximum performance. The Volt's range will be about 40 miles without the engine starting up, and if you go farther so that the engine runs, the overall gasoline required will provide something on the order of 35-40 miles per gallon. That is, the system is designed to never let the battery charge get too low for good acceleration. If you are on a longer trip, the gas engine only needs to be powerful enough to keep the car going at the desired cruising speed. The battery will take care of unexpected acceleration and hill-climbing requirements. In a standard-size car you'd be able to drive hundreds of miles with the fuel economy of of a 1.4-liter gasoline engine, yet when you needed it you'd have equivalent acceleration power to that of a 6-liter gasoline engine. Compare the Volt to an all-electric car like the new Nissan Leaf. When you drive the all-electric car far enough to deplete the battery, you are done. And it takes many hours to charge up the battery at 120 volts house current. Using a more efficient 240-volt charger, it still takes hours to fill up the battery. The Volt won't leave you stranded - unless you run out of gasoline! Charles Lane in the Washington Post quotes a J. D. Power report that claims that electric vehicles cost too much to attract more than a handful of wealthy buyers. He criticizes the Chevy Volt for high development and operation costs compared to high-mileage vehicles available right now such as VW diesels and hybrids such as the Toyota Prius. He accuses the administration of wasting millions of dollars on development of a vehicle that won't save any carbon-based fuel and that will incur large construction, maintenance and disposal costs. As for me --- I am not yet ready to buy a Volt. 1) It's heavy because of that battery pack. 2) Disposing of the worn-out battery pack will be a problem. 3) Buying a new battery pack will be expensive. 4) A lighter-weight (but still large enough) car with a gasoline or diesel engine can provide equivalent performance and provide the same or better gasoline fuel economy at much lower cost. 5) I don't like the idea of sucking up 13 kilowatt-hours of electricity every day when I know that electricity comes from coal-fired power plants. 6) There won't be a nation-wide network of 240-volt (nor 120-volt, either) charging stations anytime soon. 7) $41,000 minus $7,500 federal tax credit = too expensive! 8) I can't help thinking that it would be morally wrong to have the long-suffering American taxpayer subsidize my new Volt to the tune of $7,500! REFERENCES: [1] CAR AND DRIVER, December 2010 page 63 [2] Obama's electric-car cult -by- Charles Lane Washington Post, Saturday, October 30, 2010. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn /content/article/2010/10/29/AR2010102905959.html?hpid=opinionsbox1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Heula Pittman SUNSHINE COMMITTEE CASH FROM THE 50/50 Ollie Scheflow won the 50/50 at our last membership meeting and promptly donated the whole amount to the Sunshine Committee! The amount was $19.00 and is greatly appreciated. Thanks to you, Ollie. We will see that it gets put to good use. RED RIVER TRI-STATE LOGO Brenda Stickler and I really appreciate all five of the logo suggestions for the Red River Tri-State that were submitted. Thanks so much to Larry Yoffee, Art Gold and Jim Pittman. We know that you guys spent a great deal of time working on these nice creations. The club voted on Jim's entry as the winner, which you will be seeing often in the next few weeks. Thank you, Jim. TIME CHANGE FOR CHRISTMAS Rita Gongora notified us that the Christmas Dinner will be held at 5:00 PM, instead of 5:30, as previously announced. It will be at Roper's Restaurant at 8810 Central SE (298-5143) on Saturday, December 4th. This is the same place we met last year. "THE SAFE HOUSE" Our club is sponsoring the "Safe House" again this year. We ask that everyone please bring whatever contribution you can to the dinner. Let's inventory our closets and cupboards for useful items we can donate. The only things the Safe House will not accept is LARGE stuffed toys, and any OLD toys. These toys must be new because of the danger of lead paint. There is a need for clothing for all ages, male and female. Any kind of toiletries and other bathroom supplies, bedding, kitchen supplies, such as pots and pans, utensils, dishes and most any other items for a household will be appreciated. Emma Rogers and Lee Reider are co-chairing this collection and will deliver the items after the party on December 4th. We appreciate your donations! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GOOD AND BAD ENGINE OVERHAULS by Richard Finch, SEA I first began overhauling farm tractor engines for my dad when I was a teenager living on a Texas Panhandle farm in the late 1940's. Those overhauls were completely successful and because of word-of-mouth, our farmer neighbors began paying me to overhaul their farm tractors also. When I went off to college at Abilene Christian College, Dad sold me the family farm pick-up truck which needed a ring and valve job, so I got permission from my college dorm supervisor to use the basement of my dorm to overhaul the Ford V-8 engine in that vehicle. After the overhaul, I began drag racing the other college kids at ACC and got the reputation for having the fastest pick-up or car in the college. That means that my overhauls were very well done and therefore very dependable. In about 1965, I began to get asked to overhaul Corvair engines for friends who were members of a local sports car club. Here is a list of a few of the problems I have encountered the past 40 years or so of doing Corvair overhauls: EXCESSIVE USE OF SILICONE SEALER Our 1969 Ultra Van had less than 17,000 miles on the odometer when we purchased it in 1998, but it was on its third engine already! This engine had 95 hp heads on it and it had a bad crankshaft knock that lasted for at least 5 seconds every time I cranked it up. I was pretty sure that the knock was due to a very loose set of main bearings and not due to the rod bearings. I elected to go ahead and drive the Ultra Van 200 miles from Poway, California where we bought it, through Malibu to our home in Santa Barbara, California. We got to Santa Barbara but as I was backing the Ultra Van into my "clean" concrete driveway, the oil cooler split open and dumped the engine's whole contents of dirty, black oil on to my driveway. Of course, I had already decided that I had to overhaul that engine. When I started to tear-down the engine I found that someone had slathered the two sides of the aluminum block with silicone sealer for some reason and that was the cause of the knock when the engine was first started up. If you don't already know this, there is no reason to seal the two sides of the engine block on a Corvair engine. The top cover covers 99% of the top of the block, the oil pan covers all of the bottom of the block, the rear accessory housing covers the entire rear of the block and the bell housing covers the entire front of the engine, making it totally unnecessary to put any kind of sealer on the two halves of the block. I also purchased another Ultra Van here in New Mexico that had been overhauled in Southern California and it came with a spare 140 hp engine. When I did a tear-down of the spare engine, I found white silicone sealer in every conceivable joint, including the push rod tubes. This included the oil pan, the rear accessory cover and the top cover. As you can imagine, this made for a very gooey mess when I was disassembling the engine. The moral to this story is that silicone sealer has no place in a Corvair engine because it tends to plug up everything that it comes in contact with, especially when it comes in contact with gasoline and engine oil. The Ford mechanics like blue silicone sealer, but it swells up with contact with oil and gasoline too! FITTING CYLINDER HEAD VALVE SEATS On page 66 in the 8th edition of "How to Keep Your Corvair Alive" there is a sketch of how to install new valve seats in aluminum Corvair heads. I developed this method after experiencing dropped seats in several Corvair heads, including 95 hp heads as well as 110hp heads, and especially 140hp heads. The system works perfectly and I have never had a seat come loose that was installed by using this method. My youngest son bought a used 1965 Monza that had a 110 hp engine and it had 3 loose valve seats when we bought it. The 8th edition of the book, "How to Keep Your Corvair Alive" contains at least 35 pages about how to properly overhaul any Corvair engine. The book is available from Clark's Corvair Parts Inc. as well as from many book stores or on the internet. One of my friends told me that someone was selling a copy for over $100.00 last month on E-bay. I hope there was something special about that book, because Clark's sells new copies for only $19.95 plus shipping! (There have been at least eight editions of Richard's book! Do you have them all? I have four. The original book had several photos I made back in 1968-69 when we were rebuilding my new 140-HP engine. This was a very successful engine rebuild. -- Jim) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ YEARS AGO -- Jim Pittman 07 - DEC 2003 - VOL 29 - Nr. 12 - # 339 The cover showed Del Patten's "Purple Corsa" with David Huntoon reading a map. Del reported on their trip to Palm Springs. In November 27 members met at Galles Chevrolet, Mark Domzalski presiding. Guests included Al Jones and Paul Clifford. Wendy reported $5731 in the bank. Plans were being made for our 30th anniversary party in March. We planned a review of our bylaws and constitution. Sylvan was setting up an awards committee. Editor Jim asked for stories for the newsletter on the topic "Corvair Catastrophes" from our members. One reported catastrophe was not being able to start a new automatic-equipped Corvair after years of driving 4-speeds. Larry Blair gave us a slide show and talk on his tour in Vietnam as a combat engineer. Our next Corvair Breakfast was to be at the Owl Cafe. World travelers Chuck Vertrees and Julia were going on a 24-day cruise from South Africa to Antarctica and South America and would report on any Corvairs seen. A special edition of the newsletter was planned for the 30th Anniversary. The pot luck/auction at House of Covers was a success, thanks to Steve & Rita. Steve Goodman, the Colorado tech article man, told us how to winterize our Corvairs. And finally, we had an index to all our excellent 2003 articles. 14 - DEC 1996 - VOL 22 - Nr. 12 - # 255 Brenda Stickler inspired a cover cartoon about Corvair parts in the oven. Who would do that? Treasurer Will reported $8360 in our accounts and said he had written checks of $7831 to CORSA, $1000 to CPF, $250 to San Diego's Rescue-921 and $250 to the Michelle Goffe Foundation. Bill reported that NMCCC's swap meet was a modest success. We planned an ethnic dinner for November and a Christmas dinner at Bella Vista for December. Fifteen people went on the Embudo Station Fall Tour and the lunch was great. Larry previewed a January carburetor rebuild session. Members should order the parts they'd need. Mark said the Fan Belt Toss in Palm Springs, California was great. Debbie said there were still plenty of CORSA Cookbooks. Bill announced that the CORSA Technical Guide supplement was now available and he was taking orders. Cartoon Otto Mechanic learned about the Gold Rush. Mark thanked Jim for some 18 years of editing. Heula found a special Holiday Puzzle Page for our playtime pleasure. The 1996 Newsletter Index closed out our year. 21 - DEC 1989 - VOL 15 - Nr. 12 - # 171 Our cover depicted Santa's sleigh (actually, a commemorative postage stamp) and twelve tiny reindeer. The treasurer reported $754 in our accounts. Members were told of a Veterans' Day parade starting at the Classic Hotel. We planned our Christmas Party for the County Line restaurant. Val Vaughn said he'd take over publication of the newsletter to give Sylvan a break. Tom Martin's column LA VENTANA profiled our founding member from Nebraska, Francis Boydston, who at that time claimed to have owned over 250 running Corvairs and one Ultravan. A technical article told us why 95s are not Corvairs - they were listed as Chevrolet trucks. The issue concluded with the 1989 index. 28 - DEC - 1982 - VOL 08 - Nr. 12 - # 087 On the cover: Mark Morgan's fantasy race car THE SPIRIT OF CLAUNCH. Our meeting was at Carrow's since Ed Black's meeting facility was locked. Rear axles were the theme of our tech talk: George Morin described earlys and Bill Reider described lates. A few members went on a tour to Roswell. We discussed asking CORSA for the 1987 Convention for Albuquerque. LeRoy reported for the board that we had plans for 11 events for next year. An article from the July 1982 CAR EXCHANGE described a front-wheel-drive roadster powered by Corvair. Twenty years earlier the designer, Bob Temple, tried to get General Motors interested, without success. An article from Rocky Mountain Classic Chevy Club discussed maintenance requirements from cars from the 30s, 40s and 50s. 35 - DEC 1975 - VOL 01 - Nr. 11 - # 011 On the cover: new president Sylvan Zuercher. Guests were Anna Gould and Loretta Keller. Were these names misspelled? We discussed getting 100% CORSA membership so we could be a chartered chapter. One benefit: insurance coverage for our events. Bill Reider ran a clean air clinic and tested two Corvairs for emissions. New CNM front license plates cost $2.50 each. Jack Sellers said he used GE silicone to help seal O-rings. Jim's rally cartoon was published in the October CORSA Communique. CNM and Rocky Mountain CORSA members discussed an event to be held near Trinidad, Colorado or Raton, New Mexico. A questionnaire to find out more about our membership was included.-- Richard Finch ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ INDEX TO 2010 NEWSLETTERS EACH MONTH OR AS AVAILABLE: Dues Due Membership.......Committee New Members............Membership Committee Drive a Corvair! President Pat Hall Calendar of Coming Events.............Board AIRTIME.....President David Huntoon For Sale, Trade or Wanted..........Everyone Meeting Minutes............Art Gold Seven, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago...Historian Board Meeting Minutes......Art Gold Old Route 66 Cleanup.........Ollie Scheflow Birthdays, Anniversaries...Sunshine Red River Tri-State Preview Brenda Stickler COVER ILLUSTRATIONS: We gather at Roper's Restaurant for a Christmas Party.............JAN Jim's Corsa turbo on a lonely road in Alaska, winter of 1966......FEB Larry Blair's Spyder, J & R Vintage Auto Museum...................MAR CNM, Recycling Your Scrap Metal Since July 2008...................APR Admiring 1960 & 1966 Corvair Coupes at April Meeting..............MAY Bill Reider: Electrovair II, GM 1966 Electric Vehicle.............JUN Former Library Van, Robert, David, Art Board Meeting..............JUL Coupes: Jim's 1965 Monza, and Tarmo's Award-Winning 1965 Corsa....AUG Our August Old Route 66 Clean-up Crew in Uniform..................SEP At the 2010 New Mexico State Fair - Another Success!..............OCT Waiting to Drive into the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta..............NOV Bill Reider & Jim Pittman at a CNM Rally Checkpoint, Aug 1988.....DEC CLUB EVENTS: Christmas Dinner at Roper's............................Heula Pittman JAN Garage Tour February 6th, with Map......................LeRoy Rogers FEB J & R Vintage Auto Museum Tour..........................Larry Yoffee MAR City Road Trip, May 8th...............................Chuck Vertrees APR Map with locations of all 26 Tri-State Events.................Editor MAY Canon City Tri-State Report..............................Jim & Heula JUN Museum Car Show Report: The Gang's All Here..............Robert Gold JUN Museum Car Show Report: The Rest of the Show.............Your Editor JUN A Few Canon City Tri-State Photos.............PPCC & RMC Newsletters JUL Father's Day Car Show In Edgewood, NM.....................Hal Rupert AUG Kirtland AFB Summerbash Report............................John Wiker AUG Magical Mystery Tour of Albuquerque......................Robert Gold AUG Nambe Falls Picnic Map, August 15th............................NMCCC AUG Can You Beat That? 2010 State Fair Car Show..............Robert Gold SEP Nambe Falls Report.......................................Jim Pittman SEP Nambe Falls: Photos.......................................John Wiker SEP Kirtland AFB BX Car Show..................................John Wiker OCT Red River Tri-State 2011 preview.......Brenda Stickler & Robert Gold OCT Christmas Items For SAFE HOUSE Needed............Christmas Committee NOV The Great 2010 Balloon Fiesta Car Show...................Jim & Heula NOV Bingo Night.............................................Ray Trujillo DEC GENERAL INTEREST ARTICLES: CNM Member List 25 December 2009..........................the Editor JAN Ike Meissner Award Nomination Form............CNM Board of Directors JAN Galles Chevrolet Sponsorship............................Ray Trujillo JAN New Member Tech Talk in January......................Sylvan Zuercher JAN Twas the Night Before the Run..............................Ron Kelly JAN Two Thousand Miles, Many Billboards......................Jim Pittman JAN Where Goeth CORSA.................Eric Schakel, Rocky Mountain CORSA JAN Photos of Things You May Not See -- Except at a Club Breakfast.......FEB The Ike Meissner Award..................................Ray Trujillo FEB Treasury Balance Graph, 2004-2010.....................Club Historian FEB Unprecedented Opportunity (Our B-17).....................Jim Pittman FEB CNM to Host 2011 Tri-State.............................Heula Pittman MAR Is This Elvis Presley's Corvair?.........................Vickie Hall MAR It's Anniversary Luncheon Time!...............Anne Mae & Robert Gold MAR We Must Expect Posterity...............Piet Hein (from the Internet) MAR Alternate Universe Cover.........................Resident CNM Artist APR CNM Den Mother: Ruth Boydston..........................Heula Pittman APR Encounter in 1964 (Jim & Ralph)...................Al "Alabama" Smitt APR Rocky Mountain CORSA............................CNM's 2011 Tri-State APR Who's Missing From This Picture?.........................Robert Gold APR Yesterday's News Today's News...............................Pat Hall APR CORSA Corner - May 2010......................Director Jamie Reinhart MAY Late-breaking News on Canon City Tri-State.............Paul Campbell MAY Route 66 Clean Up: My Years on the Road..................Javier Gold MAY Talking During Meetings................................Heula Pittman MAY Cover Story: Electrovair II photo from 1986..............Bill Reider JUN Lost-in-the-Glare Log............................Resident Curmudgeon JUN Our Prize Winners: Museum Car Show.......................Vickie Hall JUN Chevrolet or Chevy.................................Pat & Vickie Hall JUL Corvair heritage Day.................................October 2, 2010 JUL The Corvair Rumor Mill "Sobriquet".....................A-nonny-moose JUL Two Car Shows, Two States, One Week!....................Wendy Walker JUL Contest to Design Red River Logo......................Brenda & Heula AUG Corsa Corner for July.....................................Tim Mahler AUG From the Director (AIRHORN)............................Bill Stricker AUG Door Prizes for Red River Tri-State....................Heula Pittman AUG Little Larry..............................................(WESTWIND) AUG Remarkable Visit to Washington, DC.......................Robert Gold AUG A Unique Piece of Trash..................................Robert Gold SEP My 2010 CORSA Convention Trip.............................Curt Shimp SEP Letters to the Editor...............................(Old Car Brakes) OCT More Chairpersons Needed...............................Heula Pittman OCT Name Tag Etiquette.......................................Vickie Hall OCT ODE to a Fellow CNM Member (Geoff Johnson)...............Robert Gold OCT State Fair Car Show......................................Robert Gold OCT We Won Again! Congratulations on Newsletter............Heula Pittman OCT A Case of Mistaken Identity..............................Vickie Hall NOV Bingo Night.............................................Ray Trujillo NOV Obituaries: Robert Garrecht, Julia Vertrees.......Sunshine Committee NOV Rescue of Chile Miners: Video Stills.....................Jim Pittman NOV Time to Park...................................Ex-President Pat Hall NOV Please Get Car Parts Out of Oven.....................Brenda Stickler DEC May I Have Your Attention Please (New Web Page).........Larry Yoffee DEC Chevrolet Volt - Another Look............................Jim Pittman DEC Thank You! Thank You!..................................Heula Pittman DEC Index to This Year's Newsletters..........................the Editor DEC TECHNICAL: Check Battery Voltage..................Steve Goodman, Rocky Mountain JAN Battery Voltage..........................................Jim Pittman JAN Oil Cloth on Work Bench................................Heula Pittman JAN Voltmeter or Ammeter?....................................Jim Pittman JAN Alternator or Battery?..................DENVAIR NEWS - Steve Goodman FEB Thermostat Fixes...........................Matt Nall, CORVAIR CENTER FEB Adjust Late Shifter.........................Tech Talk by Jim Pittman MAR Batteries And Alternators...............Steve Goodman (DENVAIR NEWS) MAR Install Clark's Air Conditioner...................Richard Finch, SAE MAR Late Shifter Tube Alignment.................(THE REAR VIEW Feb 1985) MAR Unnecessary Unsafety.....................................Jim Pittman MAR Gauges and Wiring......................................Steve Goodman APR Penetrating Oil Test......................Vulcan Corvair Enthusiasts APR Rear Tail Light Sockets..............Heart of America Corvair Owners APR Installing Clark's A/C in 1963 Coupe Part 2............Richard Finch MAY Powerglide TUNA Report....................................Dan Palmer MAY Grease Fittings in 1965-1969 Rear Axles................Richard Finch JUN Installing Velvetouch(tm) Brakes.......................Richard Finch OCT How to Build an Engine Removal Cart...............Richard Finch, SAE NOV Steering Adjustments........................Bob Hall - Group Corvair NOV Good and Bad Engine Overhauls.....................Richard Finch, SEA DEC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ =END=