The March 2015 newsletter - Text Version Updated 24-Feb-2015 == Copyright (c) 2015 == Corvairs of New Mexico ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MARCH 2015 / VOLUME 41 / NUMBER 3 / ISSUE #474 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, First Place, 2005 Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, Third Place, 2010 Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, First Place, 2012 EDITOR: Jim Pittman NEXT MEETING: Please note - this month only - Special Meeting Date! Wednesday, March 18th, 2015 at 7:00 PM North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center, Wyoming & Carmel NE THIS MONTH: Dues Due .................................. Membership Committee Mechanically Un-inclined .......................... Ray Trujillo February Meeting Minutes .............................. Art Gold February Board Meeting ........................... Anne Mae Gold Treasury Report .................................... Robert Gold Award Ceremony Honoring Korean War Veterans ......... Consul Kim Celebration of the Life of Wendell Walker ... The E-Crank, VMCCA Double Dipping: Two Car Council Meetings ........... Robert Gold Smart Honda Civic -- Smart Cars .................... Jim Pittman A Sound Investment ................................. Robert Gold Who has What ................................ Board of Directors Calendar of Coming Events ................... Board of Directors March Issue, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago ........ Club Historian COVER: LeRoy Rogers' 1960 Coupe at a Sonic Car Show, 23-Apr-2005 A poster illustrating Wendell Walker's long engineering career ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MEETINGS: First Wednesday of the Month at 7:00 PM North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center, Wyoming & Carmel NE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OFFICERS and VOLUNTEERS President: Ray Trujillo 505-839-7436 ray @ bpsabq.com Vice-Pres: Tarmo Sutt 505-690-2046 tarmo @ juno.com Secretary: Anne Mae Gold 505-268-6878 beisbol30 @ msn.com Treasurer: Robert Gold 505-268-6878 beisbol30 @ msn.com Car Council: Robert Gold 505-268-6878 beisbol30 @ msn.com Merchandise: Vickie Hall 505-865-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com Membership: Larry Yoffee 505-321-5909 corsa180 @ gmail.com Sunshine: VACANT VACANT VACANT Newsletter: Jim Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu Old Route 66: Lube Lubert 505-256-9331 505-400-3680 = cell Past President: Pat Hall 505-620-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com Past President: John Wiker 505-899-3076 wikerj63 @ yahoo.com Past President: David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 @ aol.com MEETINGS: First Wednesday of each Month at 7:00 PM North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center, Wyoming & Carmel NE CORSA's home page: http://www.corvair.org CNM's newsletters: http://www.unm.edu/~jimp Steve Gongora's page: http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter871 Larry Yoffee's home page: http://www.corsaturbo180usa.com/ New Mexico Council of Car Clubs: http://www.nmcarcouncil.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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DUES DUE DATES MARCH 2014 EXPIRED ============================ INACTIVE DATE 2014.05 Marilyn & Richard Foster 25-JUN-2014 2014.05 Chloe Mullins 25-JUN-2014 2014.06 Melba & Tommie Anderson 25-JUL-2014 2014.06 Susanne & Larry Hickerson 25-JUL-2014 2014.09 Kathryn & Douglas Gadomski 25-OCT-2014 2014.09 Brian E Rowe 25-OCT-2014 2014.11 Matt & Heather Choiniere 25-DEC-2014 2014.12 Kelli & Mark Morgan 25-JAN-2015 2015.01 Darlene & William Darcy 25-Feb-2015 DUE LAST MONTH ===================== INACTIVE DATE 2015.02 Frank Stadler 25-Mar-2105 DUE THIS MONTH ===================== INACTIVE DATE 2015.03 Carl Johnson 25-APR-2015 2015.03 Emma & LeRoy Rogers 25-APR-2015 DUE NEXT MONTH ===================== INACTIVE DATE 2015.04 Kathy & Larry Blair 25-MAY-2015 2015.04 Deborah & John Dinsdale 25-MAY-2015 DUE MAY 2015 ======================= INACTIVE DATE 2015.05 Valerie Nye & Joel Yelich 25-JUN-2015 Send your Dues to: CNM Treasurer c/o Robert Gold 1301 Valencia NE Albuquerque, NM 87110 Past due memberships become inactive after a one-month grace period. The Club will mail in your National Dues if you send us the renewal form from your Communique. On 25-FEB-2015 we had 42 active family memberships. WELCOME NEW MEMBERS: Mary Ellen & David Feasel of Peyton, Colorado ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mechanically Un-inclined Ray Trujillo Hello everyone! First of all, please remember that our membership meeting for this month will be held on March 18th. If you were at last month's meeting you'll recall this change was due to the Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center being closed the first week of March. Since we will be meeting later in the month than normal I would also like to remind you about the Anniversary dinner. It is being held on Saturday March 21st at the El Norteno Restaurant located at 4410 Wyoming NE. It will begin at 5pm and the cost per person is $15. We will be having chicken and beef fajitas, cheese enchiladas and it also includes a soft drink and dessert. In order to get a good count for the dinner Jim Pittman will be sending all members an e-mail asking to call me with your reservations. We felt this would really help the restaurant prepare for our large group. Also we will present the Ike Meissner Award at the dinner so please plan on attending and help honor our newest award recipient. As usual, it should make for a real nice evening so I'm looking forward to seeing you there. On Saturday, April 11th we will hold our first Old Route 66 cleanup of the year. We will start at 8:30am. Normally the first cleanup of the year is the one that has accumulated more trash than usual because we've haven't been out there since the fall of the previous year. So the more of you who can come out and help the quicker and more complete job we can do. On Saturday, April 25 we will have a driving tour to Grants and Steve Gongora will be finalizing all the details with Dick Cochran next week, so I'll pass those details on to the club as soon as I get them. Next up on the schedule is the Albuquerque Museum /NMCCC Car show on Sunday, May 17th. I believe this car show is one of the best and the price is quite reasonable, usually around $10. Then a few weeks later on May 29,30,31, the 2015 Tri-State event will meet in Durango. The Tri-State meet is always a nice weekend getaway and a great chance to catch up with members of our neighboring Corvair clubs. So as you can see, we have a fairly busy schedule of activities lined up. Looking back at last month, we had originally planned on having a Garage tour to The Old Car Garage but we canceled it because Wendell Walker's Life Celebration was scheduled for the same day. It was a very nice remembrance party for Wendy as stories were told about his full life and times.CNM had nineteen members who attended and we all celebrated his wonderful life. Thank you to the Walker Family for inviting us. Well springtime is just around the corner and daylight saving time begins March 8th. I really like the time change because I can begin to do more outdoor activities after the work day has ended. Although Mountain Standard Time only lasts about four months, this is around the time of year where I feel like winter has lasted long enough. I know our winters here are not nearly as severe as other parts of the country and we're lucky to have such a tolerable climate. Speaking of the time change, let me tell you what happened one year to my family. I was about fifteen and I remember my dad saying to me that we needed to remember to set the clocks forward one hour before going to bed that night. Since I was the oldest of the kids I felt as if I was granted a great honor in being able to set the clock forward for daylight saving time. I remember our parents taking us out that Saturday night for pizza and we all came back stuffed and happy. Now, later that evening and unbeknownst to me, while my siblings and I were watching TV my dad had set our clocks forward for the time change. One clock was an alarm clock while the other was just a large kitchen clock for all to see. Since Saturday night was the only night we kids were allowed to stay up till 10pm we took advantage of it. When our TV show ended Mom and Dad were already asleep, so we all went to bed because on Sunday morning our family regularly attended the early 9am mass. Now right before I go to bed I remember to do my assigned honorable duty of changing the clocks ahead one hour with the alarm clock to go off at 8am. If you're following me on this, you know the clocks are now two hours ahead instead of one hour. The next morning the alarm clock goes off and we all reluctantly awake to get ready for church. Once we're all ready we pile into the family station wagon and head off to church. Now my dad always said to us "If you're not five minutes early then you're late." I must say that statement has been pretty good advice. Well, we show up in the church parking lot and not a single car is there yet and my dad proudly states "I guess we're the first ones here." Now that was the first clue that something was amiss because we were never the first ones there. So we wait in the car for a few minutes for others to arrive but no one comes. My dad starts to suspect something is not right so he turns the car radio on to listen for the time to be announced. When he hears the time is actually 8am instead of 9am he turns to me and asks "Did you change the clocks last night?" All I could say was he told me not to forget to change the clocks before going to bed, which I honorably did. Needless to say, we were definitely not late that morning and as I now say if you're not a hour early then you must have set your clock right. Well, I guess that's enough said for now, so I'll see you at the next club meeting. -- Ray Trujillo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Regular Meeting Minutes - February 4th, 2015 Art Gold Meeting came to order at 7:05 P.M. at North Domingo Baca Multicultural Center with 24 in attendance. Officer Reports President Ray Trujillo approved the previous minutes. Welcome Wendell Walker's sons Vance and Norm to the meeting. Voting on the Anniversary Dinner (Milton's or El Norteno or a Caterer). We voted for El Norteno for the Anniversary Dinner, to be held Saturday 3-21-15 at 5 P.M. * March meeting will not be the first Wednesday as the center will be closed on March 4th. Meeting will be moved two weeks to Wednesday March18th. * No March Board meeting. Vice President Tarmo Sutt was not present as January was a travel month for him with ship cruises and auctions in Phoenix. Treasurer Robert Gold stated that the account has $5,068.14. Secretary Art Gold substituted for Anne Mae Gold who he said is not feeling well tonight. Membership chair Larry Yoffee wanted to announced that we have gained two new members, Mary Ellen & David Feasel, who live east of Colorado Springs. We have not heard more from the potential new member from Taos. Larry also said he would like to do a membership drive this year. How do we attract new members to the club? A Corvair-only show? Larry phoned El Norteno and stated that the club is now booked for the anniversary dinner. He gave dinner alternatives which are Fajitas and Enchiladas for $15 per person including drink, or a person could order off the menu at the menu price. Member Reports Jim Pittman (Editor) - newsletter deadline, Friday, 2-20. Jim is one of the last original members still active in the club. He has been editing the newsletter for 37 years for a total of 444 issues. He thanked Mark Morgan, Steve Gongora, Sylvan Zurcher, Bill Reider, Larry Blair, Heula Pittman, 22 different presidents of the club, and 9 secretaries of the club. (Sunshine) - Vacant - we need a representative - talk to a board member if interested. Vickie Hall (Merchandise) - she has lowered the prices on the patches (CNM and Tri-State). Did not sell anything this month. She provided an inventory of merchandise for 2014 to Ray. Vickie said donations were dropped off today. These were items that club members took to the Christmas dinner in December. She delivered them to the "Storehouse". The folks there were very appreciative. Robert Gold (Car Council) - Go to the website: nmcarcouncil.com. He attended his first board meeting, in which they discussed the problems with an unruly exhibitor at the last swap meet. The council reinstated him on a probationary status for one year. There will not be a garage tour at Bob Agnew's garage on February 7th as scheduled due the date and time conflict with the Wendell Walker memorial event. The Great American Car Race is coming through Albuquerque (June 24th) at Old Town Plaza. New Business Tonight's 50/50 raffle winner was Russ McDuffie = $7.50 for him and $7.50 for CNM's general treasury - $15 all together. Upcoming Events FEB 07 11:00 A.M. - Garage Tour at Old Car Garage will be rescheduled FEB 07 1:00 P.M. - Celebration of the life of Wendell Walker to be held at the J & R Vintage Auto Museum MAR 21 5:00 P.M. - CNM's 41st Anniversary Dinner will be held at El Norteno. APR 25 .......... - Driving Tour to Grants - to be announced. MAY 17 .......... - Albuquerque Museum Car Show MAY 29 - 31 - Tri-State in Durango, Colorado Last Month's Events Dough-Re-Mi club breakfast had a great turnout and everyone enjoyed the wonderful fare. Meeting adjourned at 8:09 P.M. Mr. Gold Reporting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Board Meeting -- February 18th, 2015 Anne Mae Gold The meeting was called to order at 5:03 P.M. Present: Ray, Tarmo, Larry Yoffee, Anne Mae, Lube, Dave, Jim President Ray Trujillo said that the March membership meeting will be on March 18 due to closure of the facility. There will not be a board meeting in March as it falls on the same night as the membership meeting. March 21 is the Anniversary dinner at El Norteno at 5:00 P.M. Larry Yoffee reported that there is no charge for the room. We can use the room from 5:00 P.M. until closing. There is beer and wine available for purchase. For $15 ($18 if tip is included) per person we get two items: beef and chicken fajitas as one item, as a second item we can have cheese enchiladas. Soft drinks and a dessert will be included. We will have two servers, no separate checks, we should tip the servers. It was suggested that the Club pick up the tab for the tip. It was suggested that calls be made and e-mails be sent out to members concerning the Anniversary dinner. This way those who do not make the meeting will be aware of the dinner. Jim will generate the e-mail. We also have the selection of the Ike Meissner Award. We have received 3 or 4 nominations. Board members will make the decision this evening. Vice-President: Tarmo Sutt wants to follow up on members' car projects. He specifically wants to talk to Terry Price about how he got his restoration convertible chassis to the body shop! Treasurer: Robert Gold was at a Car Council board meeting but sent word that the club has a total of $5,036.74. He added that the club has always given Jim Pittman an annual check for $125.00 for newsletter printing expenses. The board approved this expense. Also, he needs to reimburse Ray the Christmas dinner food. Secretary Anne Mae Gold had nothing to report Membership: Larry Yoffee said that Mary Ellen & David Feasel from Colorado have joined CNM. Larry also has another possible member from the Taos area. Larry is thinking about having a membership drive to attract new members. He has read up on activities to drum up interest and our club is already doing a lot of it. Dave suggested that we may invite ex-members to a club picnic... no pressure... come out and say hi. Larry will bring this up to the general membership and ask for more ideas. Ideas mentioned tonight: assign new members a mentor to touch base with them for car issues; tech talks at meetings; presentations of old car commercials; change the meeting date and time; have a Corvair-only car show in a high visibility area. Larry has the CNM banner. It is large and difficult to transport and set up. He asks if we can make a smaller copy of the banner on an easel or stand that is easier to set up than the one we currently have. Dave says that he has a poster with the history of the club in the library. Dave will bring it in to the next meeting. Editor: Jim Pittman said Friday February 20 is the deadline for the newsletter. Please send Jim your articles. Sunshine: Vacant. Tarmo is willing to help out with these duties after Brenda and Vickie finish their current schedule. Car Council: Robert was attending the Car Council board meeting tonight. New Business: February Garage Tour was cancelled so that members could attend Wendy's service. MAR 21 5:00 P.M. - Anniversary dinner at El Norteno at 5:00 P.M. at $15 per person. APR 11 8:30 A.M. - Old Route 66 cleanup APR 25 - proposed date for driving tour to Grants, NM. Steve Gongora will let us know the time and meeting site for caravanning out to Grants. MAY 17 - Albuquerque Museum Car Show MAY 29 - 31- Tri-State in Durango Old Business: The Celebration of Life for Wendell Walker was held on February 7 and was well attended. There were 19 members from CNM who attended. Meeting adjourned at 6:00 P.M and Anne Mae and Jim jumped into their Miatas and cruised home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TREASURY REPORT ************* 01-24-2015 to 02-19-2015 ************* ROBERT GOLD DATE CHECK# AMOUNT PAYEE DESCRIPTION BALANCE = $5,113.14 ========== ==== ========== =========== ========================================= 2015.01.30 2188 -$ 45.00 CORSA Dues R.McDuffie 12 m CORSA -$ 45.00 2015.02.09 2190 -$ 31.40 H.Pittman FEB 2015 Newsletter_Printing -$ 31.40 2015.02.17 +$ 291.00 Dues H.Wilvert 26 m CNM $ 50.00 2015.02.17 Dues H.Wilvert 12 m CORSA $ 40.00 2015.02.17 Dues G.Johnson 26 m CNM $ 50.00 2015.02.17 Dues D.Feasel 12 m CNM $ 25.00 2015.02.17 Dues T.Price 12 m CNM $ 25.00 2015.02.17 Dues T.Price 12 m CORSA $ 45.00 2015.02.17 Dues E.Halpin 12 m CNM $ 25.00 2015.02.17 Deposit 50/50 Raffle $ 7.00 2015.02.17 Deposit Tri-State Merchandise $ 24.00 ========== ==== ========== =========== ========================================= 2015.02.20 ********************** ENDING BALANCE ********************* $5,327.74 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On November 7, 2014 a ceremony was held at the New Mexico Vererans' Memorial in Albuquerque honoring many veterans of the Korean War which was fought during 1950-1953. The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles, General Consul Hyun-myung Kim, presented the veterans with an "Ambassador for Peace" proclamation. CNM member Bill Reider was one of the veterans honored. Bill served with the U. S. Army in a halftrack unit during the Korean War. In his remarks, Consul General Kim thanked the United States and the veterans of the Korean War for their support and sacrifice for the Republic of Korea in the War. The Korean War started 65 years ago on Sunday 1950-June-25. In 2012 a new memorial marker was installed in Albuquerque at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial Park. The monument shows the number of men killed in action, as well as those missing. Officials said 215 New Mexicans died during the Korean War. "AMBASSADOR FOR PEACE" Official Proclamation It is a great honor and pleasure to express the everlasting gratitude of the Republic of Korea and our people for the service you and your countrymen have performed in restoring and preserving our freedom and democracy. We cherish in our hearts the memory of your boundless sacrifices in helping us reestablish our Free Nation. In grateful recognition of your dedicated contributions, it is our privilege to proclaim you an "AMBASSADOR FOR PEACE" with every good wish of people of the Republic of Korea. Let each of us reaffirm our mutual respect and friendship that they may endure for generations to come Minister Chairman Patriots and Veterans Affairs Korean Veterans Association Republic of Korea Republic of Korea Thanks to Larry Blair for making this information available to us. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seven Special CNM'ers Have March Birthdays: ** Anthony Berbig ** Art Gold ** Vickie Hall ** Russ McDuffie ** Brenda Stickler ** Hurley Wilvert ** Joel Yelich One Special Couple Has a March Anniversary: ** Anne Mae & Robert Gold ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * M E M B E R * I N F O R M A T I O N *** W H O * H A S * W H A T * ================================================================================ Brenda Stickler 505-856-6993 has Corvairs to move. One is a white Corvair V-8 (not running). ================================================================================ Pat Hall 505-620-5574 in Los Lunas, NM has Corvairs in need of repair. Lots of parts for most Corvairs. ================================================================================ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Celebration of the Life of Wendell Walker The E-Crank - Newsletter of VMCCA - February 2015 Our cherished VMCCA member Wendy Walker passed away last year on September 15. His family wanted to have a memorial service for relatives and friends in Albuquerque on February 7. Thanks to the hospitality of Gab and Evonna Joiner, Wendy's family put together a plan to host Wendy's service at the J&R Museum in Rio Rancho. This proved to be a perfect venue. The J&R was one of Wendy's favorite spots and everyone enjoyed the comfortable atmosphere surrounded by open garage space and old cars. About 75 folks from the VMCCA and Corvairs of New Mexico came to have fun and pay their respects. Wendy and Ilva's adult children Vance, Norman, and Kathleen provided lots of popcorn, cookies, sandwiches and memories. Several attendees gave oral histories about their life with Wendy. There were a few tears but mostly smiles and joy in remembering so many interactions with a life so beautifully lived. Don Farmer was most cogent: "Wendy Walker is who I wanted to be when I grew up....." The celebration continued for quite some time with participants strolling the impromptu car show in the parking lot and enjoying the immaculate car collection inside the J&R Museum. Goodbye Wendy, we will boldly carry on in your memory. Three Photos by Pat Hall ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DOUBLE DIPPING -- January Car Council Board Meeting & Monthly Meeting Report Robert Gold First, let me wish everyone a Happy New Year. From the view of the Car Council this is New Years since we didn't have any meetings from November until now. It was a nice break, but now it's time to get down to business for the New Year. To make up for the lack of meetings the Council has now had two meetings in quick succession, and your Council rep was at both of them. For the first time since I was elected to the Council's Board of Directors I actually got to attend a Board meeting. Obviously, they don't meet very often. So this is, in part, my report on that meeting. First we heard from an individual who had been banned from participating in the September swap meet. It appeared that he had gotten drunk, fought with his swap meet neighbor, and a had been seen with a gun. It seemed reasonable to suspend such a guy. However, he attended the meeting and pleaded his case with his wife for reinstatement. Long story short -- the facts turned out to be a bit mirky, he and his wife seemed to be really nice folks, so we just put them on probation for a year and ended it like that. I guess I need to emphasize for any of you who want to attend the swap meet -- don't drink in public and be sure to hide all those guns you carry. We then had some discussion of the upcoming Museum Car Show. All I can say is that it's still on for Sunday, May 17. There will be a meeting with the City to firm things up. Hopefully we can get a guarantee that there will not be any flooding this year. Joyce Clements talked about the swap meet. She said she needs help because the event has just gotten too big. The next step will be for her to produce a chart detailing what is needed. That was to be presented to the Council at the January meeting. That's about it for the board meeting. One other thing of note is the snow storm I braved to get to the meeting. That got me thinking about how each snowflake is different... amazing. With the end of my first, ever Board meeting I only had to wait another week to see all those Car Council folks again at the regular Car Council meeting. We former government employees call that double dipping. Even before the meeting at the Old Car Garage began, I got a chance to corral Bob Agnew and tell him about the scheduling conflict between Wendy's memorial service and the tour of his place. He understood the need to cancel the Garage Tour and he invited us to visit him at a later date. At this time I don't know what that later date will be. The meeting itself was a bit uneventful. The main thing of interest was dealing with the resignation of our former and current treasurer. He said he'd worked enough at the job and we all agreed with him. The person who was being pressured to take the job is Joe Ballengee, a current Board member. He took the bureaucratic approach of having us name a committee to determine all the duties of the job before he would consent to taking the position. I followed my wife's instructions and didn't volunteer for the job. I guess she felt that being a treasurer of a total of three organizations would be too much and I agreed with that. On a sad note, it was mentioned that Louie Paul, the former Treasurer, continued to be seriously sick with cancer, but he was still hanging in there. A rep from the Sky City Casino spoke to the group about possible cruises out to their facility. I got a chance to attend a religious celebration at Acoma and it was quite an experience. The cruises could include a drive along old Route 66, staying at the hotel, and a tour of Acoma. Just a thought.... I gave a report about the website. We've had no problems, so I didn't say much. I will report to the group next month about the status of ownership of the domain: nmcarcouncil.com. Also, I need to research what we'll need to pay to keep the name and continue to use the Weebly site to maintain our website. More info next month. Then we had discussions about the major Council events for this year: 1. The Museum Car Show, 2. Car Appreciation Day, 3. The Council Picnic, 4. The September swap meet. I'll be saying more about these events when we get nearer to them. The dates can be found on the Council's website. Joyce then handed out a chart of needed help for the swap meet. I volunteered to help put out signs on Friday morning. It seems if they are put out on Thursday, they will probably disappear before the event. Joyce is looking for folks to head up activities such as field supervisors for the three days, someone to take charge of the "Hobo" dinner on Friday night, and coverage of other minor jobs. This is a really big event and it's important that we get folks to help. I hope to get some of you CNM'ers to help a bit more on Saturday. Remember, if you volunteer you get free food and a chance to get an early start viewing what's for sale. Please think about joining me and helping out either Friday morning (8:00 am) or on Saturday during the day. Lastly, it was reported that the Great American Car Race will be coming through New Mexico in late June 2015. They will be at the Old Town Plaza at 11:45 on June 24. I checked out the cars a few years ago and I still treasure the pictures I took of all the unique rides. For your info, the J&R Museum, where Wendy's memorial service will be held, houses several of these classic cars. Info on the race can be found at their website greatrace.com. With that we adjourned the meeting at around 8:30. -- Robert Gold ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Smart Honda - Smart Cars Jim Pittman On Monday the weather was nice and we took the 2013 Civic for a drive out to Edgewood for a second visit to Dough-Re-Mi for lunch. We had a fine time. Afterwards we decided to return "through the woods" around the back side of what we have been calling "Colleen's Mountain" near the community of Cedar Grove. We descended the very steep hill at San Pedro and turned south on NM 14 from Golden, heading toward Paako and Tijeras. The weather was cold but sunny with significant wind from the west. On the hills and curves I was doing between 50 and 65, no hurry. Suddenly with no warning it felt like the engine went to idle. The tachometer was reading about 1500. It was like the engine was idling in top gear. As we approached an uphill climb the car slowed down. Pushing the gas pedal had no effect. Scary! I dropped the automatic transmission selector into D3 and the RPMs went up, and now pushing the pas pedal would accelerate the car. What is going on, I thought. Was the hill steeper than I thought? Was there a strong head wind? It did not feel like it. For a while we continued along with everything working normally. Suddenly the same thing happened, no acceleration when I pushed on the gas pedal to go up a slight hill. Again, D3 made the engine rev up and again the engine would accelerate. Clearly this was a real phenomenon. Over the next few miles the car did more or less the same thing three or four more times. I could not see anything I was doing to cause the deceleration. Maybe my first thought should have been, The car has been hacked! But I did not think that. Instead I thought, This car is fly-by-wire and there's no lever or cable from the gas pedal to a carburetor. Instead the gas pedal sends an electric signal to the engine control computer which tells the fuel injection system how much gas to feed the engine. The computer gets data on which gear the transmission is in, the engine speed, the car's speed, the altitude, the temperature and who knows what else. Something is wrong with one of the sensors or one of the computers. When we bought the car we tried it with and without using its "Economy" mode and it seemed to make no difference, so we just left it in Econ all the time. It was in that mode now. I pushed the button to turn it off. The car misbehaved no more all the way home. I called the Honda dealer and made an appointment to come in and get it checked. Friday before the appointment we took the car out to try to get it to misbehave. We drove from the city limit to Tijeras and back two or three times, in Econ mode, out of Econ mode, faster and slower, trying to get it to show the mysterious deceleration. No misbehaving. It ran fine. On Tuesday I took the car in for my appointment. I told Dave as best I could what it did and everything I tried. I told him about driving to Tijeras looking for failure and not finding it. I said, I didn't put it back in Econ mode after the deceleration episodes, and it has been running fine ever since. That should not make any difference, he said. I'll have my tech check it out. I suppose auto dealers don't have mechanics any more, they have techs. When we got the car back Dave told me his tech drove it around a bit trying to get it to misbehave but it didn't. So they downloaded and installed a software update from Honda. Let me know if it does it again, he said. I will, I said. They downloaded a software update! I have downloaded any number of software updates for computers, cameras, blu-ray players, even television sets. We don't just own a car, we own a collection of computers powered by a gasoline engine. We have to worry about computer bugs. Maybe we have to worry about being hacked! Well, I don't think this Civic can be hacked because it does not have GPS or a map/navigation function. But, it does have anti-lock brakes, electronic brake distribution, multiple air bags, Bluetooth (turned off as far as I know) to talk to a smartphone, and it has a remote access key fob. Could it be hacked through any of those? Surely -- hopefully -- not. This episode puts my faithful 1965 Corvair into a whole different light. The Corvair has no electronic stuff whatever -- well, it does have a radio. But air bags? No. Anti-lock brakes? No. Fuel injection? No. Actually, my Corvair once suffered from a case of unintended deceleration, if I may call it that. It was cold and stormy. Snow covered the ground. I had ordered a new set of tires for the Miata and had new alloy wheels in the garage. I thought it would be a few more days until the tires came in so I wouldn't have to drive in the snow. But there was a phone call telling me the tires were here. I couldn't wait. I went out to warm up the Corvair. I put the wheels in the idling Corvair and jumped in to drive to Discount Tire. Push the clutch, put the shifter in first, feed some gas and let out the clutch. The engine died! Put in the clutch, restart. Same thing. Restart, jiggle the gas pedal. The engine just idled along. The gas pedal had no effect! I turned off the engine and went to Plan B to take the wheels in to get those new tires installed. As soon as the weather allowed, I went out to see what was wrong with the Corvair. Nothing obvious in the engine compartment. I peered under the car in front of the left rear wheel. There was a C-clip on the ground. The link from the front had fallen loose so the carb linkage was not moving. A new C-clip and five minutes saw the problem fixed. Can new cars with internet access be hacked? Apparently they can be and have been! You can read more about it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/09/business/report-sees-weak-security-in-cars- wireless-systems.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=1& pagewanted=all ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Sound Investment Robert Gold I've always loved music. This includes recordings made from the 20's through the 90's -- I'm a bit lost in the new millenium. The good news is that much of the music I love is available online and can be downloaded digitally onto many different devices.The bad news is I can't access this music through the radio that sits in my beloved Corvair. The question was what could I do to bring this variety of music into my car. I think I've found the answer, so read on. Let me step back a moment and recognize the efforts of my son, Art, who got me the music I crave. As a result of his online efforts he downloaded over a thousand songs of all sorts onto a flash drive. To tell the truth I don't know how that many songs could fit into an ity, bity, flash drive. I guess I need to ask a technical person for the answer to that. As I said, I now have all that music, but the radio in my Corvair is not equipped to play it. After checking online to look for a radio capable of playing from a flash drive, I was horrified to find that only radios over $200 or so would do the trick. I tried to use a cheapee Chinese radio, but all it seemed to want to play was the sound of my engine. After a bit of a journey I discovered a solution that didn't cost much, was easy to install, and could be used with my current radio. Among the myriad of equipment out there they've made a little FM transmitter that plugs into a lighter socket and can cost as little as $15.00. The transmitter will accommodate flash drives as well as other digital input. The trick is that it operates much like those old FM converters from the 60's that would turn your stock AM radio into FM by fooling the radio into picking up the FM signal at a certain frequency on the AM dial. As is normally the case, the solution isn't as simple as just plugging the transmitter into the 50 year-old Corvair lighter. That sorta works, but the lighter just doesn't make good enough contact to eliminate static and other sounds. Also, on occasion the lack of contact would simply turn off the device. However, I found a solution. I purchased a universal lighter plugin and mounted it below the radio on my early model. This made for a good contact for the transmitter and moved the device nearer to the antenna for better sound. I now can drive down the road listening to one of the more than 1,000 songs that Art gave me, and it didn't break the bank in getting that done. As I was listening to Duke Ellington it occurred to me you all might want to know about this fix. -- Robert Gold ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ============================================================================ | March 2015 | April 2015 | May 2015 | | 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 5 6 7 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 | | 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 | 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | | 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 | 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 | 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 | | 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 | 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 | 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 | | 29 30 31 | 26 27 28 29 30 | 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 | | | | 31 | ============================================================================ MEETING DELAYED TWO WEEKS BECAUSE NORTH DOMINGO BACA IS CLOSED ON MARCH 4th !!! Wed 18 Mar 7:00 PM Meeting: NORTH DOMINGO BACA MULTIGENERATIONAL CENTER, at Wyoming & Carmel, north of Wyoming & Paseo del Norte NE. After the meeting, we may go to "JASON'S DELI" at 5920 Holly Ave. NE. Tue 17 Mar = Saint Patrick's Day Wed 18 Mar NOTE: The Board Meeting is cancelled this month Fri 20 Mar 9:00 PM Deadline for items for April 2015 newsletter Sat 21 Mar 5:00 PM CNM Anniversary Dinner --- El Norteno Restaurant Montgomery Crossing Shopping Center, 4410 Wyoming Boulevard NE (Southeast corner of Montgomery & Wyoming) Phone: (505) 508-4372 Wed 25 Mar 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING OLD CAR GARAGE 3232 GIRARD NE ============================================================================ Wed 1 Apr 7:00 PM Meeting: NORTH DOMINGO BACA MULTIGENERATIONAL CENTER Sat 11 Apr 8:30 AM Old Route 66 cleanup -- come one, come all & join the fun! Wed 15 Apr 5:00 PM Board Meeting: HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER at 131 Monroe NE Sat 18 Apr Annual Spring Thaw at the OLD CAR GARAGE WORLDWIDE AUTOMOTIVE 3232 Girard NE, Albuquerque - 881-2722 Wed 22 Apr 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING OLD CAR GARAGE 3232 GIRARD NE Fri 24 Apr 9:00 PM Deadline for items for May 2015 newsletter Sat 25 Apr (tentative) Driving Tour to Grants, NM - more information to come ============================================================================ Wed 6 May 7:00 PM Meeting: NORTH DOMINGO BACA MULTIGENERATIONAL CENTER Sun 17 May - Albuquerque Museum/NMCCC Annual Car Show - Albuquerque Museum, 2000 Mountain Rd. NW, Albuquerque - joyce@nmcarcouncil.net Fri 22 May 9:00 PM Deadline for items for June 2015 newsletter Wed 27 May 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING OLD CAR GARAGE 3232 GIRARD NE May 29-30-31 - 2015 Tri-State -- Durango, Colorado Hosted by: ROCKY MOUNTAIN CORSA Host hotel: Hampton Inn Location: 3777 Main Avenue, Durango. Room rate: $110+tax per night which includes a hot breakfast. This rate is good until April 29, 2015. Mention "CORVAIR TRI STATE DURANGO 2015" if calling for a reservation. Hampton Inn Durango 970-247-2600 800-247-6885 or 800-247-6685 Call me with any questions. Tim Shortle 970-247-9675 days 970-903-2127 eves ============================================================================ See the New Mexico Council of Car Clubs Web Site for more "NMCCC" activities ======================== http://www.nmcarcouncil.com/ ====================== ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SEVEN YEARS AGO MARCH Jim Pittman 2008 Vol 34 Nr 3 Issue 390 Cover: we went to see the B-17 "Liberty Belle" at Double Eagle Airport thanks to Steve Johnson. No fewer than nine B-17 photos were shown! Treasurer Wendell said we had $2944 in the bank. We learned about a database of cars in the city available to be used in movies filmed in New Mexico. David suggested going to the CORSA convention in Ventura, CA by Amtrak: cheap and easy. Tarmo showed us the rebuilt turbo unit destined for his 1966 Corsa convertible. LeRoy led a great garage tour to the Lewis Antique Auto and Toy Museum in Moriarty. President Mike was eloquent in his praise for the museum and the value to car nuts of auto junk yards. Finally, the history of the Boydston Award and a nomination form finished up this issue. 2001 Vol 27 Nr 3 Issue 306 The cover featured many snapshots of members and Larry's tech talk on gas heaters. Billiken mourned the upcoming death of Plymouth. Our bank balance was $5861. Mark, CORSA President, said that Debbie Pleau was now CORSA Merchandise Chair. Preparations for the summer CORSA Convention in Chicago were going well. Larry Blair gave last-minute information on our tour to the Big-I construction site. Steve polished up the new CNM web page. It was described as "short on flash and long on content." After the meeting, several members tried out the Route 66 Diner on Central. The board approved a sum of $125 to help with newsletter expenses. The little guy in the back of Jim's head was still working for free, but the printer needed toner and paper. Hurley claimed spring was on its way and told about finishing up lots of detail work on his 1968 coupe. Joel reported on last month's tour to the Tool Museum where we all had a great time. Anne Mae previewed several activities planned by the CNM Ladies Group. Dennis reminded us that there were plenty of CORSA Tech Guides available and anyone who wanted to work on a Corvair really needed a copy. Tech tips this month were mostly about cams. After a short article by Bryan Blackwell, a two-page article by Ray Sedman explained how cams work and why certain cams are best for certain engines. The cam is truly the heart of your engine, and an engine rebuild mandates making an informed choice on the cam you use. 1994 Vol 20 Nr 3 Issue 222 The 20th Anniversary cover featured tiny copies of nineteen March newsletter covers spanning 1975 to 1993. President Del ran the meeting. Treasurer Will reported $886 in the bank. A guest was Kit Tras. We intended to produce some "Corvair" belt buckles as a fund-raiser if we could obtain permission from the Atlanta club. We voted not to require our treasurer to be bonded: it would be too expensive. We learned that former member Roland Pool had died. We planned events for the year: a 20th Anniversary party on March 26th and the Tri-State in Pagosa Springs in May. Debbie reported on our "Vairs in the Air" committees. Our first planning meeting for the 1996 CORSA convention was held in October 1993. Yes, we really did spend two and a half years getting ready for this major event! 1987 Vol 13 Nr 3 Issue 138 Our cover showed a 1960 engine compartment. Who can point out the features that make it unique? V-P Tarmo ran the meeting. We had a rich $798 bank balance. New members were Terry Lingle and Bill Wallace. Francis planned to check prices for a Club name tag with CORSA logo. President Clayborne wrote about robbing convertible parts to keep his sedan going through the winter, then robbing them back to keep the convertible going through the summer. LeRoy had a list of items for the March auction. Steve Goodman told about fun events planned for the Tri-State in Ouray, Colorado. Francis told us about the heater hose gremlin which eats your battery's power by making a short to the starter solenoid connector. Bill Reider told us the details of rear suspension alignment. He said you could do it yourself but it was pretty tricky. 1980 Vol 6 Nr 3 Issue 54 Our cover featured a Rampside on our our sixth birthday. Twenty-eight members showed up for our meeting at Norm Brand's office. We made a $100 donation to the New Mexico Kidney Foundation in memory of Ike Meissner. John Lawrence suggested an annual award to the CNM member who best exemplified Ike's enthusiasm and help with the Club: the start of the Meissner Award. Tech tips: we listed theoretical modifications to a turbo engine. The "wet newspaper pulp" method of removing a pilot bushing -- reputed to be messy! A table of front and rear suspension specs for 1960-1964 Corvairs to take to your friendly alignment shop! Lakewoods have a removable floor plate to get at the starter from above -- how many of us knew that? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Enchanted Corvairs Newsletter is published monthly by Corvairs of New Mexico, chartered Chapter #871 of CORSA, the Corvair Society of America. Copyright by the Authors and by Corvairs of New Mexico. Articles may be reprinted in any CORSA publication as a service to CORSA members, provided credit to the Author and this Newsletter is clearly stated. All opinions are those of the Author or Editor and are not necessarily endorsed by Corvairs of New Mexico or CORSA. Material for publication should reach the Editor by the 15th of the month. Send material via e-mail ( jimp @ unm.edu ) or submit a readable manuscript. I prefer ASCII TEXT, but MS Word or RTF are fine. Photographs are welcome. Don't photoshop your digital JPGs -- send the originals. This ecologically green newsletter is produced in a Microsoft-free environment. I still print mailing labels with a 1989 Apple IIgs on a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet IIIp. The newsletter is composed using Apple Macintosh computers. Software includes OS-X, AppleWorks, Photoshop CS, GraphicConverter, BBEdit and InDesign CS. If you care, ask for more details. Transportation: 1965 Corvair Monza, 1990 Honda Civic, 1996 Mazda Miata and 2013 Honda Civic. When I'm 64, I'll get by with a little help from my friends. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ =END=