The March 2016 newsletter - Text Version Updated 24-Sep-2016 = Copyright (c) 2016 Corvairs of New Mexico ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MARCH 2016 / VOLUME 42 / NUMBER 3 / ISSUE #486 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016 at 7:00 PM North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center, Wyoming & Carmel NE THIS MONTH: Mechanically Un-inclined ........................... Ray Trujillo Raymond Trujillo Obituarity ................. Albuquerque Journal Dues Due ................................... Membership Committee February Meeting Minutes .......................... Anne Mae Gold February Board Meeting Minutes .................... Anne Mae Gold January Car Council Meeting Report .................. Robert Gold Unser Racing Museum Tour ......................... Kevin Sullivan The Miracle of E-Mail (Unser Tour) ................... John Wiker CORSA Convention Logo ..................... Springfield, Illinois Treasury Report ..................................... Robert Gold I Can Fix Anything (Almost) ................... Ike Meissner 1978 Corvair Do's and Don'ts For 2016 .................. Steve Goodman Calendar of Coming Events .................... Board of Directors March Issues, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago ........ Club Historian Birthdays & Anniversaries .................... Sunshine Committee COVER: Corvairs and Corvair Fans Gather at the Unser Racing Museum ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OFFICERS and VOLUNTEERS President: Ray Trujillo 505-814-8373 ray bpsabq.com Vice President: John Wiker 505-899-3076 wikerj63 yahoo.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 Newsletter: Jim Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp unm.edu Old Route 66: Lube Lubert 505-256-9331 williamlubert gmail.com Past President: Pat Hall 505-620-5574 patandvickiehall q.com Past President: David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 aol.com Past Vice-Pres: Tarmo Sutt 505-690-2046 tarmo juno.com MEETINGS: First Wednesday of each Month at 7:00 PM North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center, Wyoming & Carmel NE INTERNET: 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 2016 INACTIVE ============================== INACTIVE DATE 2015.01 Darlene & William Darcy 25-Feb-2015 2015.02 Frank Stadler 25-Mar-2105 2015.08 Linda & Anthony Berbig 25-SEP-2015 2015.09 Lisa & Dan Thompson 25-OCT-2015 2015.12 Mark L Morgan 25-JAN-2016 DUE LAST MONTH ======================== INACTIVE DATE 2016.02 (NONE) 25-MAR-2016 DUE THIS MONTH ======================== INACTIVE DATE 2016.03 Carl Johnson 25-APR-2016 2016.03 Emma & LeRoy Rogers 25-APR-2016 DUE NEXT MONTH ======================== INACTIVE DATE 2016.04 Deborah & John Dinsdale 25-MAY-2016 2016.04 Art Gold 25-MAY-2016 DUE MAY 2016 ========================== INACTIVE DATE 2016.05 (NONE) 25-JUN-2016 Send your Dues to: Robert Gold, CNM Treasurer 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 23-Feb-2016 we had 44 active family memberships. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MECHANICALLY UN-INCLINED Ray Trujillo Hello everyone! Well, March madness is upon us! For those of you who follow college basketball, you know it's the time of year when we find out which teams get to go to the NCAA's so called "big dance" tournament. Our UNM Lobos are currently battling to make the NCAA tournament but we'll soon see how their season turns out. Right now it looks like the Lobos will need to win the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas to get the automatic bid, otherwise it's probably off to the less prestigious NIT tournament. Sylvia and I are big Lobo fans and we've attended many tournaments in Las Vegas to support the Lobos. It seems like every year UNM brings the most fans to this tournament and it always appears to give UNM a great chance to get to the NCAA's because of this great fan support. It's really an exciting time if you like college basketball. March is also an exciting month for CNM as we celebrate our club's 42nd Anniversary. This year we'll have our anniversary party at the Highland Senior Center on Saturday March 12th from 2:00-3:30pm. Sylvia and I will be preparing an Irish corned beef and cabbage meal while members will bring potluck side dishes and we'll have a cake for dessert. At the last meeting an items needed list was passed around and we'll do that again at the next meeting so we don't forget anything. Also, don't forget we'll present the Ike Meissner award to a worthy member. We also will have a storyteller who will attend our party and she'll entertain us with some Corvair tales. So plan on attending and don't miss out on what should be a fun celebration. Okay, let's move on to our upcoming April, May and June club activities. On Saturday April 9th at 8:30am we'll hold CNM's first Old Route 66 cleanup of 2016. A signup sheet for this civic duty will be passed around at the next two membership meetings. If you can help that would be great. On April 23rd the annual "Spring Thaw" will be held at the Old Car Garage located at 3232 Girard NE. I believe it runs from 8am-5pm and this is a donation event with much of the proceeds going to a local charity. Services provided are oil & filter changes along with general car inspections. Many from the collector car community attend and enjoy observing the services performed on the many different cars brought in. On Sunday May 15th, NMCCC holds its annual Albuquerque Museum car show and I believe it has a great showing of the many collector cars from the state of New Mexico and the surrounding area. It's always a great show and the price is a reasonable $10. Then on June the 3rd thru the 5th, the Tri-State event will be held in Montrose, Colorado. This year's host club is the Pikes Peak Corvair Club. For all information regarding hotel, T-shirts and other details go to www.corvair.org/chapters/chapters809/ and you are reminded to make your reservations early as rooms are limited and they go fast. Last month's club activity was a trip to the Unser Racing Museum. Wow, what a great turnout, as we had 25 adults and 4 children attend. CNM went to the museum nine years ago and I thought it was great back then but they have added more exhibits and even another building to showcase the many great accomplishments of the Unser racing family. The club owes a big thank you to John Wiker for setting up the museum tour and also for filling in for me at the last membership meeting as I was attending my father's funeral services. Thank you for your kind thoughts and condolences during our time of loss. Well I guess that's enough said for now, so I hope to see you at the next club meeting. -- Ray ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Raymond Trujillo, husband, dad, grandpa, great-grandpa, passed away on January 29, 2016 surrounded by his wife and family. He is preceded in death by his mom, Josephita; dad, Milton; brothers, Charlie and Luis; and sisters, Vicky, Helen and Barbara. Ray was married to the love of his life, Ramona, for 61 years. He was a devout Catholic who lived his faith and instilled deep moral values and principals in his family. He served in the United States Army and was honorably discharged after being wounded in the Korean War. Upon his return, he worked for the Bureau of Reclamation and Manzano Base as a heavy duty equipment mechanic foreman for 34 years. Ray started working at the age of 7, (when there was no child labor law), setting up bowling pins which lead to his love of bowling. He was also an avid gardener, growing chile, tomatoes, cucumbers and flowers in every color imaginable. He always carried candy in his pockets for his grandchildren. He loved being outdoors and watching sports. Ray leaves behind his wife, Ramona; children, Ray Jr. and wife, Sylvia, Theresa Martinez-Metzgar and husband, Jimmy, Caroline Chavez and husband, Paul, Sarah Candelaria and husband, Felix, Martha Trujillo and husband, Marty, and youngest son, Robert; 15 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Visitation was held on Wednesday, February 3, 2016 at 5:30 p.m., with the Rosary that followed at 6:30 p.m., at FRENCH - University. Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Thursday, February 4, 2016, 10:00 a.m., at St. Augustine Catholic Church, 71 Tribal Rd 35, Isleta Pueblo. Interment will follow at Santa Fe National Cemetery at 1:30 p.m. Pallbearers will be Nicole Chavez, Julian Trujillo, Isaac Trujillo, Robert Trujillo, Jr., Adam Trujillo and Marissa Candelaria. The Trujillo family would like to thank the doctors and nurses at Lovelace Hospital ICU and Gentiva Hospice. Please visit our online guest book for Ray at www.FrenchFunerals.com FRENCH - University 1111 University Blvd. NE 505-843-6333 Published in Albuquerque Journal on Feb. 2, 2016 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ February Meeting Minutes -- 2016.02.03 -- Anne Mae Gold Call to order: 7:06 pm Approval of old minutes: done President: Ray was not in attendance. Our condolences to Ray and his family on the loss of his father. VP: John ran the meeting. He needs Meissner Award nominations tonight. John asked for a head count for the Unser Museum visit. He suggested that we parade to the Golden Corral on north San Mateo after the tour. John reported that Brenda Stickler had called him about having a meeting at Ollie Scheflow's. Ollie wants four or five experienced members to identify and tag parts for a future garage sale. Other members will prepare a picnic lunch. The club replied, YES. Early May will be the suggested date. Brenda told us that Mary Alice was doing well. Treasurer: Robert reported $4,966.47 and read a list of members who have recently paid their dues. He was pulled away from our last meeting to attend the Car Council board meeting and he didn't want to forget anyone who paid dues. Editor: Jim said the deadline for material for the next newsletter is Friday Feb. 19th. No word on a CORSA chapter report. Merchandise: Vickie said nothing has been sold recently. She turned in her inventory report. She only sold $10 worth of merchandise in 2015. She has 2016 calendars, Harbor Freight coupons and other assorted items. Larry Yoffee suggested we may need to restock certain items. We are out of license plates, should we design a new plate? Larry said it would be expensive. John suggested that we set up a table at the next car show for our merchandise. Collectors may want our car memorabilia. Membership: Larry had no new membership activity. He would like to set up a couple of Corvair-only car shows at the Smith's near Domingo Baca, address 8100 Wyoming Blvd NE. He suggested April 16 or 17. We decided on Saturday April 16th. Meet at 10:30 am, stay till about 1 pm, leave earlier if you need to. He will bring it up at the next meeting. Let Larry know if you'd like to order a shirt. He is setting up another run. 2017 Tri-State: Terry said, despite his preference for Pagosa Springs, Taos will be our 2017 location. They simply have all the advantages. Terry will start setting up people to run registration, car show, fan belt toss, etc. We'll put a pamphlet together to take to the 2016 Montrose Tri-State. John suggested that he design a placemat for the banquet with the information on Taos. Car Council: Robert reported on recent meetings. May 15 is the Museum Car Show, focusing on the history of Route 66 and emphasizing cars of the 30's and 40's. Aug 14 is the CC picnic, this will probably be a potluck event, they are looking for a club to run it. Aug 15, Isleta Casino will have a car show 5:30-8:00 pm. Yes, this is on a Monday night. The Car Council website is up and running and Robert is the webmaster. At the Swap Meet in Los Lunas in September, the CC will raise the price of a space by $5 per day. A new car club, Albuquerque Classic Truck Club, joined the CC. Car Collector Appreciation Day will be this summer, maybe July 8. They want to repeat the cruise to Tijeras. John remarked that he was with last year's cruise and did not see how Tijeras got anything out of the event. Upcoming Events: Feb 6 10:00 AM Unser Museum Tour, 1776 Montano NW Mar 12 2:00 PM Anniversary dinner at Highland Senior Center. Ray plans to provide a Saint Patrick's Day meal of corned beef and cabbage and potluck side dishes are expected. Apr 9 8:30 AM Old Route 66 cleanup. Apr 23 Annual Spring Thaw, Old Car Garage, 3232 Girard NE. Call soon and make an appointment for this opportunity. Bring your own filters and any special oil you want to use. May 15 Albuquerque Museum Car Show. Theme: Route 66 Jun 3-4-5 Tri-State in Montrose, Colorado, Pikes Peak Corvair Club. Past events: The January club breakfast at Sergio's Cafe and Bakery was pleasant with a nice turn out. John thanked Larry for showing how to get your order taken. Miscellaneous: * John asked Robert to send out an e-mail to remind people about the Unser Museum visit. * John passed around a list of items to bring for the Anniversary dinner. * Pat Hall would like to schedule a tour to their southern property near San Antonio. How about April 30? Everyone could bring a pot luck dish for a nice lunch down there. * Lube Lubert ran the 50/50 raffle which was won by John Wiker with a $14 pot total. Adjournment: 8:17 pm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ February Board Meeting Minutes -- 2016.02.17 -- Anne Mae Gold Present: Jim P, Dave H, Lube L, John W, Robert G, Anne Mae G, Ray T, Terry P. Call to order: 5:04 pm President: Larry Yoffee called to say that his mother needs surgery in New Hampshire. He will be out of town for the next two months. Steve and Rita have asked CNM to give a stipend to a storyteller that they have asked to the Anniversary Dinner. The board threw some numbers around and we are willing to give her something, but we need some idea of how much to offer her. Rita suggests that it be between $50-100. The board elected to pay her a $75 honorarium. Ray thanks John for running the last membership meeting when he had to be absent. VP: John read the nominations for the Meissner Award and reported points. As the de facto awards committee, the board voted for the recipient. Ray will prepare the booklet and plaque and will present the award at the Anniversary dinner. Treasurer: $4,879.94 Membership: Larry not present Editor: Newsletter deadline is Friday February 19. Brian Blackwell sent email saying that CORSA's webpage was rebuilt from the ground up. Jim went on the site to see if our membership information was correct. He found one error. Ed Halpin said he would try to make some of our meetings and events. We discussed the award system we have going on in the club. The question was raised about what we do with the Meissner award once everyone has received it? John W. is still keeping track of points if we ever want to refer to the point system. Should we use the point system along with club service for that year? Car Council: The next CC newsletter will be coming out soon. 2017 Tri-State: nothing new. New Business: March 12 - Anniversary dinner at Highland Senior Center from 2:00-3:30. Irish Corned beef and cabbage with potluck dishes. The Meissner Award will be awarded to a worthy recipient at the dinner. April 9 - Old Route 66 cleanup starting at 8:30 am. April 23 - Spring Thaw at the Old Car Garage, 3232 Girard NE. April 30 - possible picnic at the Hall's place in San Antonio. Early May - possible garage tour at Ollie's house in Corrales. This will need to be a very limited number of people to go through his car parts and label and price them for a future garage sale. Brenda will let us know when a good time would be. Miscellaneous Topics: Dave Feasel brought us down a three-pound box of chocolates (there is a chocolate factory in Montrose) and some cheese from the Montrose area for the membership to try. He is a double member of Pikes Peak and CNM! Adjourn: 6:06 pm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A SLOW START -- January 2016 Car Council Report Robert Gold It occurred to me that this month's Car Council meeting was a bit like my 1962 Loadside on a cold morning. The truck slowly starts moving after I put it in gear. In like manner the Council got off to a slow start in 2016. This was our first meeting after a two month layoff and you could tell that the members were not much interested in covering a lot of ground in that meeting. Our Treasurer and Facebook folks were not even in attendance. Since this year's activities are far off, "no harm, no foul." The good news is that this approach resulted in a meeting that took a mere 45 minutes. Here's a quick summary of a quick meeting. The meeting began with a presentation by representatives of the New Mexico Council on Aging, who want to put on a car show in connection with an August 15 conference on aging at Isleta Casino. Anyone over 55 can pay $35.00 and get access to all sorts of health screenings. After members of the Car Council heard the talk, they had lots of suggestions on how to organize the show. The Car Council website (nmcarcouncil.com) will have more information on the event when we receive it. We then approved last meeting's minutes. This was followed by no Treasurer's report since our Treasurer was out of town. We were assured that the Council has lots of money. I gave a report on the website. The site is in good working order and all the bills for website development and maintenance have been paid. There was no report on our Facebook page because Jamie Saavedra was out of town. We next turned our attention to the newsletter. Joyce Clements reported that she would continue working on the newsletter but I would be helping her Xerox it and send it out. I should note that Joyce is a fountain of knowledge and without her help the newsletter would be a lot more difficult to produce. We next turned to New Business. The Museum Car Show is scheduled for May 15. The Museum will begin a new exhibit chronicling Route 66. In recognition of that we will be featuring cars from the 30's and 40's that may have traversed the road in its early years. It was mentioned that we'll need a host club for the August 14 Council picnic. We are considering having a potluck for the event. Joyce mentioned that people are already inquiring about the September swap meet. The cost of a space will increase by $5.00 per day. At this point the President of the Albuquerque Classic Truck Club spoke to the Council about his club. The president paid the membership fee, so the club is now officially part of the Car Council. Welcome! The new Council Rep from the BMW club introduced himself. We finished the meeting with a short discussion about Collector Car Appreciation Day which will be held on or about July 8. Since Mild to Wild Restorations is moving, the Albuquerque event will be held in a new place. We should have the particulars of the event sometime in the near future. That's about it for this month. Hopefully we'll have a little bit more enthusiasm and drama next month. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unser Racing Museum Tour Kevin Sullivan On Saturday, February 6, members of Corvairs of New Mexico visited the Unser Racing Museum, Montano NW, and it was a smashing success! We had so many people that the museum split us into two groups for personal guided tours. Approximately 24 members, a few extra family members, and three or four guests got to spend a leisurely two hours plus looking at the amazing displays and learning a lot. I did not know that sprint cars had only one gear and most didn't even have a clutch. The motorcycle displays were an unexpected treat. Everyone had their favorite displays, but I probably most enjoyed looking at the engines. Those double overhead cam Ford V-8s are beautiful. And also the cars. And the motorcycles. And trucks. It was all really well done. The only thing that I think would make the experience better would be listening to some of the engine and racing sounds on good headphones. I guess that's what we have youtube for. I recommend a trip to the Unser Racing Museum to anyone who loves cars or racing. We have family coming to visit this year who will love it. CNM had our own display of impressive vehicles lined up outside the museum, a free show for all, including: * Jim Pittman's 1965 Monza coupe * John Wiker's 1966 Monza coupe * LeRoy & Emma Rogers' 1965 Corsa coupe * Larry Yoffee's 1965 Corsa coupe * Robert & Anne Mae Gold's 1961 Loadside * Geoff Johnson & family's 1962 Monza convertible * Kevin & Leslie Sullivan's 1969 Ultra Van Leslie and I debated whether to bring the Ultra Van, the MGA roadster or the MG Magnette, deciding on the Ultra because, hey, it's a Corvair. At the museum we met Larry Blair's son Matt, who used to have an MG Magnette and now has an MGA in pieces. Larry and Matt, you are welcome to come over to check out ours. After the museum visit, the Wilverts, the Golds, Larry & Matt Blair and John Wiker went to the Golden Corral for lunch and talk about college programs the sons and daughters were involved with. It was a great day for an Unser Museum tour! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Miracle of E-Mail John Wiker Wednesday at our membership meeting, we discussed going to the Unser Museum on Saturday. There were only 15 people at the meeting and when it was time to do a count of who was going Saturday, only 6 hands went up. We had set a goal of 15 or more so we could get the reduced group rate. I was really worried that we would not come close to the goal, so I let the miracle of electronics take over. I sent an e-mail to Robert Gold who then put it out to all members no matter where they lived or what their plans were for Saturday. As I arrived in the parking lot, there was Jim Pittman already warming up the camera, ready for action or so I hoped. Cars, trucks, normal cars and six Corvairs, early models, late models, a Loadside plus an Ultra Van soon filled the parking lot. The total number was twenty-five adults and four young future Corvair owners. I would like to thank all those who spent a couple hours with us today and especially to Robert Gold for sending the e-mail and taking care of the financial business with the museum. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. I certainly did. I can remember that my first outing with the club when I first joined was to this newly opened museum. At that time it had one race car and few displays and one small building. Wow how things have changed!! Thanks again for another great Corvair day. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TREASURY REPORT ............. 01-23-2016 to 02-18-2016 ............. ROBERT GOLD DATE CHECK# AMOUNT PAYEE DESCRIPTION BALANCE = $4,821.47 ========== ==== ========== =========== ========================================= 2016.02.03 +$ 145.00 Dues T.Shortle 12 m CNM $ 25.00 2016.02.03 +$ Dues V.Sanchez 12 m CNM & CORSA $ 70.00 2016.02.03 +$ Dues R.Gold 26 m CNM $ 50.00 2016.02.05 2233 -$ 32.53 H.Pittman FEB 2016 Newsletter_Printing -$ 32.53 2016.02.08 2232 -$ 9.00 V.Hall T-Shirts -$ 9.00 2016.02.12 2230 -$ 45.00 Dues R.McDuffie 12 m CORSA -$ 45.00 2016.02.16 +$ 110.00 Dues D.Feasel 12 m CNM $ 25.00 2016.02.16 +$ Deposit 50/50 raffle for February $ 7.00 2016.02.16 +$ Deposit CNM Polo Shirts $ 78.00 ========== ==== ========== =========== ========================================= 2016.02.02 ********************** ENDING BALANCE ********************* $4,989.94 ========== ==== ========== =========== ========================================= ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am proposing a feature for our newsletter called "CorVairiations from the Norm" and I am encouraging our members to contribute. Tell us your adventures while owning and driving a Corvair. They don't have to be horror stories, just fit with the title of the by-line. Please contribute so we'll have a story every month. --- Larry Yoffee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Originally Published in the June 1978 Enchanted Corvairs Newsletter I Can Fix Anything (Almost!) Ike Meissner Because I've got quite a few Corvairs of my own (fifteen) I have, over the years, developed a local reputation of knowing how to fix them and keep them running. Therefore I was not surprised when one day I received a call from a fellow Corvair owner some forty miles away asking me to fix his Corsa. What was unusual was his story, which I will relate to you. He had bought his Corsa used several years before with an unknown number of miles on it. The speedometer cable had been broken "for a long time" according to the previous owner. But the car had given him dependable service and seldom failed him until now. It seems that he had lent his car to a friend to drive to Santa Fe to get groceries. His friend was indeed a friendly fellow and because the majority of New Mexico is wide open spaces and rides are few and far between, he picked up a hitchhiking Indian as he drove through the neighboring reservation. No harm in that -- except that it was many minutes and several miles later before it became plain that the Indian really wanted to go the other direction! Not wanting to immediately retrace his path and feeling somewhat obligated to the Indian, he made it understood that he would take the Indian where he wanted to go as soon as his shopping was done. The Indian settled back into the seat with a disgruntled expression and was obviously not happy with the idea. On getting back toward the reservation, the Indian directed the car down a dirt side road and told the driver to stop in front of one particularly large and colorful hogan. He told the driver that this was the house of the tribal medicine man and that he should wait there for a few minutes. Presently he emerged from the hogan with the medicine man who waved a feathered staff at the car and chanted something in the local dialect. The hitchhiker then told the driver that because of his ineptness the medicine man had been told to put a hex on the car. To make a long story short -- the Corsa never made it back to the highway! And now I was being asked to fix it. I've lived in New Mexico 22 years and I'm a lot less skeptical about such things as Indian magic than I used to be. So, more out of curiosity than anything else, I accepted the job. I first went to look at the car. It had been a white 1965 Corsa. I say "had been" because at one time it must actually have been white. Too many years of being outdoors in the New Mexico sun and wind had taken a fierce toll of the finish. It was pitted and almost sandblasted off in front. The glass on the driver's side was permanently frosted. Some stuffing was leaking out of the back of the rear seat and the dash looked like a misplaced asphalt plant. Oil and dirt everywhere. Solid grunge. While towing it on the way home I stopped at an auto store and bought two cans of gunk and then washed the top layer off at a do-it-yourself carwash. By the time I got down to where I could see the ignition wiring the dirt had plugged up the drains in the stall. I tipped the attendant an extra quarter and towed on home. The interior of the engine was equally unbelievable. It had been torn down once before and improperly reassembled. Broken piston rings, backwards pushrods, etc. The spark plug wiring had cracked insulation. The plugs themselves were in terrible shape -- with electrodes worn down to mere nubbins. The rubbing block on the points was worn away and the secondary carburetor bowls were full of some stuff that resembled old coffee grounds. The fuel filters looked as if they'd been used to strain plum pudding. After going through that engine I'm convinced that the medicine man's magic didn't have to be very strong -- it only had to be strong enough to cancel out the prayer that had kept it running. But a lot of elbow grease and about $100.00 worth of parts later, it ran just fine. I drove it back to the owner who immediately embarked on a trip to Florida with it. I'm glad he had such confidence in my work -- I would have been a little jittery about the idea. A month or so later he called me up to let me know that the car was still running great and that he was having it painted and reupholstered. As an aside, he asked me how I was able to get rid of the medicine man's hex. I told him I used one of my very special tools for that -- a hex wrench. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reprinted from: The DRIP LINE Pikes Peak Corvair Club Volume 39 Number 2 February 2016 CORVAIR DO's AND DON'Ts FOR 2016 Submitted by Steve Goodman The time for New Year's resolutions has passed and probably most of those well intended changes in lifestyle have already been ditched. So let's try resolutions that may be easier to hold onto through the year. DON'T slam your car doors -- It is hard on the door alignment and the latches themselves. The springs and plastic parts break easier now that the car is 45-55 years old. DON'T slam the engine lid -- The lid will close easily if you ease the lid down to the latch and then push gently. Adjust the latch if this doesn't work. DON'T use the steering wheel for a lever -- When adjusting your seating position in the car use your hands against the seat or door frame. Most steering wheels are cracked at the spokes from pulling and pushing. DON'T put your knee in the seat -- The seat springs aren't designed to have a sharp knee in the middle, it rips the center of the seat vinyl. DON'T leave rubber mats on the floor. Remove the rubber mats and let the carpet underneath dry out. The rubber traps moisture which will eventually rust the floor away. Treat the trunk mat the same way. DON'T use the sill plates for shoe sole scrapers -- The sill plates are soft material and scratch and dent easily. Knock your shoes together outside the car before swinging your legs under the dash. DO keep records of your maintenance and fuel -- You won't have to guess when the oil was last changed, and watching your fuel usage tells you when a tune-up may be needed. Records are particularly handy when you have more than one car (and who doesn't?). DO watch tire pressures -- One of the greatest detriments to the handling of our beloved CORVAIRS is errant tire pressures. It not only contributes to poor handling characteristics, but shortens the life of the tires. DO watch your wiper blades -- Why did I pick wiper blades out of everything on the car? EASY, when the rubber fails the sharp end of the wiper arm can score an arc in your windshield in just a couple of swipes. Windshields are too expensive to ruin over something so minor, the wiper is at your eye level all the time. DO battery maintenance -- Same question / same answer as above; dirty and corroded battery cables or dry battery cells contribute to many ill starting woes. Of course, the problem could be the starter itself, but more often than not, the battery or connections is at fault. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ============================================================================ | March 2016 | April 2016 | May 2016 | | 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 | 1 2 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | | 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 | | 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 | 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 | 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 | | 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 | 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 | 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 | | 27 28 29 30 31 | 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 | 29 30 31 | ============================================================================ WED 02 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. SAT 12 MAR 2:00 - 3:30 PM Our 42nd Anniversary Celebration SAT 12 MAR 2:00 - 3:30 PM HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER, 131 Monroe NE SAT 12 MAR 2:00 - 3:30 PM The 2016 IKE MEISSNER AWARD will be presented. WED 16 MAR 5:00 PM Board Meeting: HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER at 131 Monroe NE WED 23 MAR 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING OLD CAR GARAGE 3232 GIRARD NE FRI 25 MAR 9:00 PM Deadline for material for April Newsletter ============================================================================ WED 06 APR 7:00 PM Meeting: NORTH DOMINGO BACA MULTIGENERATIONAL CENTER SAT 09 APR 8:30 AM - Old Route 66 Cleanup - meet at bridge over I-40 SAT 16 APR 10:30 to 1:00 Corvair Car Show, Smith's, 8100 Wyoming Blvd NE WED 20 APR 5:00 PM Board Meeting: HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER at 131 Monroe NE FRI 22 APR 9:00 PM Deadline for items for May 2016 newsletter SAT 23 APR ....... World Wide Automotive Annual Spring Thaw - Old Car Garage, 3232 Girard NE, Albuquerque / Oil & Filter Change, Inspections WED 27 APR 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING OLD CAR GARAGE 3232 GIRARD NE SAT 30 APR ....... Barbecue and potluck at Vickie & Pat Hall's "southern home" located 3/4 mile north of the Owl Cafe, Highway 1, San Antonio, NM. ============================================================================ WED 04 MAY 7:00 PM Meeting: NORTH DOMINGO BACA MULTIGENERATIONAL CENTER SAT 14 MAY to SUN 02 OCT ----- Route 66 Exhibit at The Albuquerque Museum SUN 15 MAY ....... Albuquerque Museum / NMCCC 32nd Annual Car Show WED 18 MAY 5:00 PM Board Meeting: HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER at 131 Monroe NE WED 25 MAY 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING OLD CAR GARAGE 3232 GIRARD NE ============================================================================ 2016-JUN-03 Tri-State == Montrose, Colorado - Sponsor Pikes Peak Corvair Club 2016-JUN-04 Tri-State == the Holiday Inn Express has been confirmed 2016-JUN-05 Tri-State == Go to the PPCC web site to register: More information == http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter809/ ============================================================================ SUN 14 AUG ....... NMCCC Picnic - Oak Flat Picnic Area, South 14, Tijeras ============================================================================ SUN xx SEP State Fair Car Show --- CHECK ON DATE AND TIME! FRI-SAT 23-25 SEP NMCCC Swap Meet, Los Lunas ============================================================================ 2017 FRI-SAT-SUN 2-3-4 JUN Tri-State == Sponsored by CNM, Location: Taos, NM ============================================================================ See the New Mexico Council of Car Clubs Web Site for more "NMCCC" activities ======================== http://www.nmcarcouncil.com/ ====================== ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SEVEN YEARS AGO [ MARCH 2016 Vol 42 Nr 3 Issue 486 ] Jim Pittman 2009 Vol 35 Nr 3 #402 On the cover early Corvairs are on the first stop of a road trip. Ruth Boydston shows off the Sunshine Committee quilt, destined for the Taos Tri-State. Visitor Rich Youmans spoke on fuel pumps. Robert said we had $3,464.35 to spend. Art reported that the legislature wanted the tax on buying a used car to be based on the blue book value. New member James O'Connell sent us a photo of his Cord 8/10, yes, power by Corvair. President Mike told how his son Kyle was mobbed by admiring classmates when he drove to high school in Mike's "way cool" Greenbrier. Kim Patten previewed our anniversary dinner at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. Heula's "Can You Identify This Member" contest continued with a photo of Ruth Boydston. Dan Palmer reported on the fuel pump talk, giving both history and technical details. Finally, two pages of tech tips from back issues were printed, thanks to efforts by Ollie Scheflow. 2002 Vol 28 Nr 3 #318 Cover: touring the Doll Museum. Geoff Johnson, son of founder Carl, was a new member. Sylvan had a new pacemaker to tune up his heart. We considered putting part of our $5,701 bank account into a GMAC account. Mark Domzalski reported on preparations for the 2002 CORSA Convention in Flagstaff. We planned a carburetor workshop. "Care and Feeding" by Bill Reider was intended to provide information to new members. Any income from sales was a by-product. Bill was working on a revision. Part numbers needed to be re-checked and details of the club Awards should be added. Did we need to revise our Constitution? Anne Mae told us about plans by the Corvair Ladies group, including a progressive dinner and a visit to the Boydston cabin in the Pecos. An article by Elvis King (Arkansas Corvair Club) told how to set up to do powder coating in your shop. Not easy, but definitely worthwhile if you want a great-looking, durable coating on metal parts. 1995 Vol 21 Nr 3 #234 Our cover showed a cutaway drawing of a 1960 Corvair engine from THE AUTOCAR, October 1959. Sylvan ran the meeting: both president and V.P. were absent. Later both V.P. Beasley and president Blair arrived. A guest was Steve Schultheis. Our bank balance of $1,259 included $125 earmarked for the convention. Bill Reider reported on the Car Council meeting. We received $50 for our work at the last swap meet. We made plans for the Tri-State at Red River. Sylvan reported on a group purchase of harmonic balancers at $45.16 plus shipping and core. The club purchase would result in a cost of $52 each. Bill Reider gave a talk on rebuilding differentials. President Larry praised the talk on differentials. Larry said working on Corvairs was very therapeutic and worked wonders for relieving stress buildup from his day job. Billiken was about to leave for Tucson, Arizona where he planned to look for a Corvair to buy. But did he? Sylvan outlined plans for Red River Rendezvous II coming up in May. Debbie told about convention committee activities. A tech tip told what to do for a car that would be in storage for the winter. An article described the interesting Cord 8/10 replicar. It featured the styling of a 1936 810 Cord at eight/tenths scale, front-wheel-drive with Corvair drive train, and a body made of rust-proof Royalex plastic. 1988 Vol 14 Nr 3 #150 Our cover proclaimed the Club's 14th birthday! We learned of the death of Marlee Meissner; her husband Ike Meissner died eight years earlier. We had $456 in the bank. We planned a "see and be seen" safety session to check out lights and turn signals on our cars. We raised our dues to $12 per year or $25 for 26 months. We had another "LeRoy Auction." Tech tips included a quick emergency fix for a broken clutch cable, and a quick way to tell which fuse had blown out. 1981 Vol 7 Nr 3 # 66 On the cover our happy CNM dragon munched on a birthday cake: we were seven years old. We were about to buy $14 jackets and $1 name tags. Robin DeVore gave a talk on generators and alternators and advised installing an alternator in an early model. Sylvan told about diagnosing clutch problems caused by a loose clutch cable pulley anchor. Bill wrote that you could have clutch release problems if you put a thick insulating pad under the carpet! Our Ladies' Day found a small but enthusiastic crowd who came to learn about basic tools and car care. CORSA asked for help with judging at the Denver convention. Tech tips addressed squeaks and rattles. Forty-two years ago... Sunday 17 March 1974... Invited by Pete Colburn, Corvair owners gathered at Carl Johnson's house on Griegos Road. We showed off our Corvairs and decided we should meet again soon to start a CORVAIR CLUB.. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ March Birthdays: Linda Cochran Art Gold Vickie Hall Barbara Johnson Russ McDuffie John McMahan Brenda Stickler Hurley Wilvert Joel Yelich March Wedding Anniversaries: Anne Mae & Robert Gold Belinda & Victor Sanchez ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. I still print mailing labels with a 1989 Apple IIgs on a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet IIIp. The newsletter is composed using Apple computers. Software includes OSX, 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=