The June 2018 newsletter - Text Version Updated 27-May-2018 ==== Copyright (c) 2018 Corvairs of New Mexico ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== JUNE 2018 / VOLUME 44 / NUMBER 6 / ISSUE # 513 ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== 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, June 6th, 2018 at 7:00 PM North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center, Wyoming & Carmel NE THIS MONTH Veterans' Park Car Show .............................. John Wiker Dues Due Dates ............................. Membership Committee May Regular Meeting ............................... Anne Mae Gold May Board Meeting ................................. Anne Mae Gold In the Driver's Seat: April Car Council Report ...... Robert Gold Treasury Report ..................................... Robert Gold Corvair Buddies: May Car Council Report ............. Robert Gold Fuse Box Replacement Tech Tip ....................... Lube Lubert Twice the Fun: Museum Car Show ...................... Robert Gold In Memoriam Carl Johnson ................................. Editor Corvair Story (from the May 2004 newsletter) ....... Carl Johnson Calendar of Coming Events .................... Board of Directors Birthdays & Anniversaries .................. Membership Committee June Issues, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago ......... Club Historian Photo Credits: John Wiker, Robert Gold, Larry Yoffee, Jim Pittman COVER Carl Johnson and Blue Van at our 1974 Winrock Corvair Show Right: Carl at a club get-together in Placitas, 17 April 2004 ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== OFFICERS and VOLUNTEERS President Lube Lubert 505-256-9331 dirtlube gmail.com Vice President Art Gold 505-620-7434 rollerart gmail.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 dirtlube2 gmail.com Past President Pat Hall 505-620-5574 patandvickiehall q.com Past President David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 aol.com Past President Ray Trujillo 505-814-8373 ray bpsabq.com Past President John Wiker 505-239-3311 wikerj63 yahoo.com Past VP 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 JUNE 2018 DUE LAST MONTH ===================== INACTIVE DATE 2018.05 === none === DUE THIS MONTH ===================== INACTIVE DATE 2018.06 === none === DUE NEXT MONTH ===================== INACTIVE DATE 2018.07 Carol & Larry Haynes 25-AUG-2018 2018.07 Sarah & Terry Price 25-AUG-2018 2018.07 Anne & John Wiker 25-AUG-2018 DUE AUGUST 2018 ==================== INACTIVE DATE 2018.08 David Hutchinson 25-SEP-2018 INACTIVE =========================== INACTIVE DATE 2017.01 Nancy & Russ McDuffie 25-FEB-2017 2017.02 Victor Sanchez 25-MAR-2017 2017.08 Kathryn & Douglas Gadomski 25-SEP-2017 2017.10 Carl Clasmeyer 25-NOV-2017 2017.10 Mary Lou & Mark Martinek 25-NOV-2017 2018.02 Lilian & Timothy Shortle 25-MAR-2018 NEW MEMBERS Bob Kitts and daughter Lesha Curtis bkittszia@gmail.com 1604 Narcisa Ct NW --- 505-507-2001 Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, NM 87107 They are affiliated with the Corvette Club. Welcome Bob and Lesha! As of 21-MAY-2018 we have 46 active family memberships. ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== VETERANS PARK CAR SHOW John Wiker I attended the Veteran Park show on Saturday. There were 42 cars there. Twenty came from the Mustang Club and twenty-two were various other types. There was also a motorcycle show as well as many vendors with home-made jewelry, wood carvings, stonework, homemade aprons, and other nicknacks. Of course there was a good selection of food items and deserts. The Rail Runner personnel were also there to give out free passes to all who have a VA card that are good for life with no renewal required. They told me that all you have to do if you missed this opportunity, just go downtown to their HQ and get it done if you have that VA card. Good deal for my wife and me since we can take the Rail Runner to Santa Fe to see the grandkids as often as we can. All profits will be going to the Veterans' Olympic Games being held in Albuquerque this year. Over 1,300 handicapped Veterans will take part in many types of games. The event was over at 3:00 PM and then I was off to the Unser Museum to supervise some of my Cadets setting up tables and moving cars from the inside display area to outside to make room for eighty people attending a banquet that night. Just some of the community service projects we do outside of school. Drove home with a dust storm pushing me all the way with rain falling in Edgewood just enough to put dirt spots all over the car. Oh well, it was a good day! ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== MAY MEETING - 2018.05.02 Anne Mae Gold Called to order at 7:09 PM with fourteen members present. OFFICER REPORTS President (Lube) Carl Johnson passed away at the age of 81. Carl was a charter member of this club. Members spent some time talking about Carl and his car collection. The club started in 1974 and the first meeting was held in his home. It was suggested that we create a CNM Hall of Fame for members who have made an impact on the club. Lube reported on the Old Route 66 cleanup. Robert gave a bit of history, explaining why the club carts off the trash bags... DOT was not picking up the bags. Robert pays the dump fee to dispose of the trash, however, the club will no longer pick up the BIG stuff, like lumber or tires. A minimum of four people are needed to make it successful. VP (Art) Nothing to report Secretary (AM) 16 days to retirement Treasurer (Robert) Current balance is $6,962.78 plus a few renewals. COMMITTEE REPORTS Editor (Jim) newsletter deadline Wednesday May 23 at 9:00 PM, early this month due to the Memorial Day weekend. Jim thanked Tarmo whose 1966 Corsa was on the newsletter cover. Jim and friends went up to Santa Fe on the Rail Runner. We were told that riding the Rail Runner is free on Wednesdays for seniors until September. Jim shared fun stories of some of the charter members who founded the club. Did you know that a teenager was crucial to the founding of the club? Car Council (Robert) As Vice President of the Car Council, Robert chaired his first meeting. It was sparsely attended. May 20 is the annual Museum Car Show. May 16th is the next meeting and it will be to stuff goodie bags. The day of the Museum Car Show, our members will meet at 6:30 AM across the street from the former Old Town Sheraton at Rio Grande and Sawmill Road. CNM members will caravan in at 7:00 AM. There is a $10 fee per car. There will also be a model car display inside the museum. Visit the website (nmcarcouncil.com) for more upcoming car events. Membership (Dave) No new nibbles, but our three new members were in attendance! Please visit Dave's Facebook page (Corvairs of New Mexico) to see his listing of Corvair-related car events. Merchandise/Sunshine (Vickie & Heula) reported that no merchandise was sold this month. Vickie asked if anyone knew about the War Eagles Air Museum near El Paso. They have a collection of airplanes and cars. The museum is southeast of Las Cruces near the town of Santa Teresa, New Mexico. She suggests that this might be a great spot to visit. Possibly a few old-timers will remember that Sylvan Zuercher organized a club trip to the War Eagles Museum back in April 2000. Dave suggested organizing another visit to the Atomic Museum in Albuquerque. UPCOMING EVENTS * May 5-13 Corrales Running of the Tractors and Tractor & Car Show at Corrales Recreational Center. * May 5 Owl Cafe Cars-N-Coffee 7:30-10:30 AM. Open to all cars. * May 5-24 Annual Summer Car Show Series Hooters East -- 10 AM - 4 PM. * May 20 Car Council - Museum Car Show at Albuquerque Museum, Old Town. * May 20 Florence, Colorado -- 17th Annual Merchants' Car Show. * June 8-10 Tri-State at Crested Butte, CO. Rocky Mountain CORSA is hosting. http://www.rockymountaincorsa.org/2018-tri-state-ralley-promo/ OLD BUSINESS Robert and Art attended the Sonic Car Show. NEW BUSINESS Tarmo Sutt said that the Santa Fe Concorso will not be held this year. The organizer passed away. Larry Blair said he will be attending the Tri-State. He had registered at the hotel, but he was called to register with the Rocky Mountain club as well. Larry also shared a TECH TIP. He showed a kit from Clarks for adjusting headlight aim. Bob Kitts and his daughter Lesha are rebuilding a Greenbrier van and would appreciate contacts and information that would be helpful in this rebuild. They want to install disc brakes. Larry said that there have been many reports of problems when disc brakes are added and suggested they start with getting the brake shoes arced to make the brakes more efficient. McBrides would be able to do this. Dave Allin is looking for a Corvair. He has seen a Corvair that was too nice for him and one that was too much of a project... so he is still looking for that Goldilocks Corvair that is just right! 50/50 WINNER ($20 pot): Vickie Hall. All proceeds were donated to the Sunshine Committee. We adjourned at 8:13 PM. ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== MAY BOARD MEETING - 2018.05.16 Anne Mae Gold Meeting called to order at 5:02 PM with Jim, Anne Mae, Lube present. OFFICER REPORTS: President: Lube will be attending the Merchants' Car Show in Florence, Colorado. VP: Art was Stuffing goodie bags for the Museum Car Show. Secretary: Art will be secretary for the month of June while Anne Mae recuperates from surgery. Treasurer: Robert was stuffing goodie bags for the Car Show and reports $7,148.86 in the bank. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Editor: Jim set the newsletter deadline for Wednesday May 23 at 9:00 PM to work around Memorial Day. Each month we receive the AIRHORN newsletter from Chicago. An article listed their editors for the last FIFTY years. Their Club started in 1968. They have been printing and mailing out their newsletter for all those years and there is no on-line version. Car Council: Sunday May 20 is the Museum Car Show. CNMers will meet about 6:30 AM and go into the display area en masse at 7:00 AM. There is a $10 registration fee per vehicle. Meet on Sawmill Road, across from the big hotel at 6:30 AM to drive in together. Membership: Dave was not present Merchandise/Sunshine: Vickie and Heula sent a report of no recent sales of merchandise. Vickie has all remaining copies of the Care and Feeding books. New members get a copy of the book. What will we do when the books run out? Robert has been working on editing and updating the booklet. Robert and Vickie should coordinate a plan for when to print more books. NEW BUSINESS: * Our regular meeting will fall on a holiday, July 4th. We discussed whether we should cancel the meeting or try to move it a week to Wednesday July 11th. If the 11th we will have to be sure a room is available. Lube will present this question to the membership at the June meeting. * The next Old Route 66 cleanup should be sometime in July. It could be Saturday July 7th or Saturday July 14th. We will decide on a date at the June meeting. We will have a signup sheet for the cleanup and will make a reminder call to those who signup. We need at least four or five people for the cleanup. * It was suggested that we could do better at recognizing guests and new members at meetings. The president could call for everyone present to introduce themselves as each meeting starts. Adjourned at 5:27 PM. ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT April Car Council Report I imagine that a few of you CNM'ers can remember how long I've been serving as the CNM rep to the New Mexico Council of Car Clubs. What you're missing is that long before I succeeded Mark Martinek as your rep, I attended meetings just for the drama. Way back when, the meetings would occasionally erupt in yelling between the reps. What fun! After several years of that I ascended to the status of Corvairs of New Mexico rep. Oh, by the way, those drama days are long gone. When Bob Agnew became president he put an end to all that controversy. We are now one happy family. I was very happy simply being your rep when, due to a set of circumstances, I wound up, first as a Board Member and then as Vice-President. Well, after some 18 months or so of serving as the VP I finally have the honor of actually doing my job. The Council constitution states that the sum duties of the VP is to substitute for the Council president when the president is gone. So for the first time since I was voted VP our president, Jamie Saavedra, was unable to attend a meeting and I served as meeting Chair. What power! I'm not going to lie, I was a bit nervous when I entered the meeting room. However, I shouldn't have worried. First of all there were not many attendees and secondly, after moving chairs around for the meeting, I lost my nervousness. Another nice thing was to look out at the attendees and see our own CNM president, Lube Lubert, was there as well as his brother Bill. Thanks for backing me up Lube! I called the meeting to order at 7:05. It should have been 7:00, but I was having a really good time talking with folks. When things settled down I began moving through the agenda, thankfully given to me by Jamie. I began by asking for the introductions of any visitors. It turned out a rep from the Air Cooled Alliance, a VW group, was there for the first time in many years. It was easy to spot him since he had a T-shirt with a big VW on it. He talked about some activities the group has planned for 2018 and that he planned to attend our meetings on a regular basis. I told him I once displayed my Corvair powered, 1974 VW bus at one of their events and they were very nice to me. Vairs and air-cooled VW's really have lots in common. Joe Ballengee, our treasurer, gave his report. As is usual, the Council is in great shape financially. Before the meeting Joe and I discussed fellow CNM'er, David Allin's visit to look at a car I heard for sale. It was a 1964 Monza in need of more work than David wanted to take on. Joe knows David from the Model Car Club. It's nice to have people in common. I'm confident David will find his car. Up to this point, though, the cars he's looked at were either too nice or not nice at all. The meeting hurried through descriptions of various upcoming events. Please keep in mind that the Museum Car Show will take place on Sunday, May 20. We'll meet across from the Old Town Hotel between 6:30 and 7:00 AM. After a group picture we'll enter the show grounds at 7:00. Let me know if you have any questions. The next meeting of the Council has been changed to May 16 at 6:00 PM in order to stuff goodie bags to be given out at the Museum Car Show. Don't forget, after the stuffing, those who attend will be fed pizza, so be there! After Joyce led a discussion of the Museum Car Show we talked about Collector Car Appreciation Day, scheduled for July 14th. The location will be determined later. Joyce then gave a short report on the Swap Meet to be held in Los Lunas from September 28-30. Things are looking good on that front. I then called for anyone to talk about upcoming car events. Rather than list all that here I suggest you look at the listing on the Council website -- nmcarcouncil.com. With that I adjourned the meeting. I now understand what Bill Reider went through when he was Council President. I'm sure of one thing: Bill must have done a better job than me when he sat at the head table. -- Robert Gold ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== ========== ==== ========== =========== ========================================= TREASURY REPORT FOR 04-20-2018 to 05-23-2018 DATE CHECK# AMOUNT PAYEE DESCRIPTION BALANCE = $6,962.78 ========== ==== ========== =========== ========================================= 2018.05.07 $ 265.00 Dues J.Dinsdale 12 m CNM $ 25.00 2018.05.07 $ Dues R.Gold 26 m CNM $ 50.00 2018.05.07 $ Dues B.Kitts 26 m CNM & CORSA $ 140.00 2018.05.07 $ Dues Art Gold 26 m CNM $ 50.00 2018.05.09 2316 -$ 78.92 H.Pittman Newsletter Printing MAY 2018 -$ 25.85 2018.05.09 -$ Newsletter Postage 31 x $0.70 -$ 23.10 2018.05.09 -$ Envelopes (4 X 25 = 100) -$ 29.97 2018.05.21 $ 95.00 Dues M.Morgan 12 m CNM & CORSA $ 70.00 2018.05.21 $ G.Johnson 12 m CNM $ 25.00 ========== ==== ========== =========== ========================================= 2018.04.06 JUN NEWSLETTER ========================================== $7,243.86 ================================================================================ ====== If you have any concerns or questions about this report please ===== ====== contact Robert Gold at 505-268-6878 or email: beisbol30 msn.com ===== ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== CORVAIR BUDDIES May Car Council Report Robert Gold This month's meeting was a bit special. Only a few times a year do we change the traditional day and time for a Council meeting and this was one of those days. We moved the day up a week and started one and a half hours earlier so we could stuff baggies for the May 20, Museum Car Show. This is one of the more popular meetings, since we got a chance to talk a lot with other car folks and better yet, we got fed pizza after we were done. Obviously, we didn't do much traditional meeting business so I don't have much to say about that. Joe Ballengee, the Treasurer, said we have lots of money and haven't earned a penny on our two CDs. By the way, Joe helped one of our newest members, David Allin, buy a Corvair. Joe and David went down to our Corvair Mecca in Los Lunas and David bought a 1966 Corvair from Pat Hall. We're looking forward to seeing David in his new ride.... maybe at the Museum Show? We'll see. There's not much more to report about the business meeting. We talked a bit about upcoming shows, which are listed on the website, nmcarcouncil.com. The big discussion was about the Albuquerque Museum Car Show. Joyce renewed her plea for volunteers. So far Art Gold will be counting ballots and I'll be parking cars. Contact me if you want to help out. I want to also note that your Vice President Lube and my son Art were there to help stuff those bags. I gave out bags to the folks and Art filed the bags when they were stuffed. We were sorta like bookends to the line or workers. The stuffing was over in no time and the pizza was great. With that the meeting broke up and I went home to take a nap... yawn! I hope to see you at the Albuquerque Museum Car Show on May 20th. We will meet across the street from that big hotel in Old Town and we will drive in at 7:00. Be there! -- Robert Gold ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== FUSE BOX REPLACEMENT Lube Lubert A friend of mine made a replacement fuse holder using a small wooden box. He used eight heavy duty ATO inline fuse holders. He installed the new fuse box in his 1970 Ford E-300 Econoline Motor Home, in the cab of the truck. It uses modern bladed plugin plastic fuses. I asked my friend Cannie Kilmer to make one of these for my 1963 Corvair 4-door sedan. He sealed the top side with clear epoxy and the back side with black sealant. Seven heavy duty ATO inline fuse holders were installed with the wires coming out the back side. I extended the bottom side with a 3/4" x 3/4" piece of wood. I used wood screws on the small piece of wood and on the Barrier Strip on both sides. I used a metal plumbers strap to mount the new fuse box to the center underside of the trunk shelf. I used self-tapping screws to hold up the new wooden fuse box. I installed two pieces of vacuum hose on the sharp ends of the self-tapping screws. I may replace them with bolts with nylocks. I purchased two barrier strips, 6-position, Grote #82-2334 to install in the box. I purchased seven heavy duty ATO inline fuse holders, Grote #82-2211. The last one is not being used at this time. I purchased six Grote #83-2504 ring terminals for the larger wires and used Grote #83-2505 ring terminals for smaller wires. I made a 14-gauge purple wire for a jumper wire with ring terminals. You can use a heavier gauge wire if you like to. I will do that next time. I used the 14-gauge purple wire from the wiper fuse down to the radio fuse, down to the heater fuse and down to the turn signals. I studied the old plastic fuse holder for wire positions. I tried to get 14-gauge wires the same colors as the original ones from the original plastic fuse box. I bumped up the fuse on the radio from 5 amps to 10 amps so I could connect my electric fuel pump to the radio fuse. When installed, I hooked up the negative battery post to try out all my connections to the new fuse box. I saved the old glass fuses to give to another Corvair owner. Web sites: www.littlefuse.com www.grote.com www.velvac.com www.napa.com ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== TWICE THE FUN -- CAR COUNCIL MUSEUM CAR SHOW Robert Gold One of the reasons I like writing for the CNM newsletter is the fact that Jim Pittman, our editor, is nice enough to print most of what I have to say. I consider it a sign of charity. With that in mind, I hope Jim is in a charitable mood and lets me talk about more than the Museum Car Show. May 20 was a very busy day for me and my bride, Anne Mae. I guess I'll begin with the show. I couldn't believe it, but the weather for the show was actually better than it's ever been even though I cannot remember a show that was marred by bad weather. This day was close to perfect for the seven Corvairs and two Pontiacs that were on display. Here is the list of those cars owned by CNM'ers: 1. Robert Gold 1964 500. 2. Larry & Elisa Yoffee A perfect 1965 Corsa 3. Sara Gold 1964 Monza, Lime Green (both the car and Sara) 4. Javi Gold 1966 Monza. My first Corvair! 5. John Wiker 1966 Monza. This car had the most popular trunk at the show! 6. David Allin 1969 Monza. Our new member with a just-purchased 1969 beauty. 7. Terry Price 1966 Monza Vert. A terrific car. 8. Art Gold 1972 VenNova II. I made it an honorary Vair for the show. It's a Pontiac, mostly. 9. Geoff Johnson 1950 Pontiac Convertible. One word -- WOW! I can say that our cars made a very nice grouping for the public to see. We played fast and loose with the rules and angle parked our rides even though the lines told us not to park them that way. Art managed to fend off several assaults by the car show staff who tried to get him to adjust his car in the parking space. Go Art! So here comes the part that I ask for Jim's kindness... It turns out that I had a conflict for the show. A student of Anne Mae's invited us to join him for his grad party. Tyler Wilson had just graduated from Sandia H.S. It turned out the party was in a private suite at the Isotopes. There are two things I truly love, in addition to my family - Corvairs and Baseball. So, at noon, Anne Mae and I plowed through the show crowd and escaped for the ballpark. I'm sure the show went on great without us. If you haven't had the chance to attend a 'Topes game in a suite, I highly recommend it. We were given gratis food and drink as well as a terrific view of the game. The 'Topes were kind enough to totally outhit the Reno Aces. In one inning the 'Topes scored 10 runs. It doesn't get much better than that. So as you can see, May 20 2018 was a stellar day for Anne Mae and me. Two wonderful experiences in one day. Lastly, I want to thank all of you CNM'ers for attending the show. Oh, I almost forgot to mention Geoff Johnson's pristine 1950 Pontiac Convertible. This red beauty really caused quite a stir at the show. My only regret is that he parked it in another area of the parking lot. I know one thing - Geoff has great taste in cars. See you all next year! ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== Rumor has it that Terry Price's 1966 Monza with 140 engine took Best of Show at the Museum Car Show! ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== Charter member CARL B. JOHNSON passed away on 29 April 2018 at age 81. Carl thought it was a great idea to form a New Mexico Corvair Club; Carl invited Corvair owners to a meeting at his home, March 17th, 1974; Carl was one of the eight founders of Corvairs of New Mexico, 10 April 1974; Carl owned and repaired innumerable Corvairs; Carl's adventures with Corvairs are beyond counting; Carl brought his 1961 Blue Bus to our 1974 Winrock Car Show; Carl wrote occasional tech tips and commentary for the newsletter; Carl's two children Geoffrey and Sally became key members of our club; Carl was generous with parts and knowledge to help us maintain our Corvairs; Carl brought his notebook to meetings and events to record technical details; Carl was a true Renaissance Man with far-ranging interests; Carl never received enough credit for his contributions to our club. Carl's generosity and knowledge: I was rebuilding a 1966 4-speed transmission and he gave me working parts from two 3-speeds and helped me remove pressed-on parts from the 4-speed. In 2004 Carl wrote an article for ENCHANTED CORVAIRS newsletter that outlined his life with Corvairs and shed some light on his involvement with the founding and the early years of our club. Perhaps it is a fitting tribute to Carl to reprint the article here. -- Ed. ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== CORVAIR STORY Carl Johnson There we were, checking our mail while home on a break from the summer's archaeological work. Pete Colburn? Oh, he found us through the CORSA mailing list. All eleven New Mexico members. Meet to talk Corvairs? Many of us had driven and learned about Corvairs long before we found each other here in CNM. We hadn't simply spent a few years driving "a car" and dumped it for something else. We liked our cars. So here we are , with all those organizational concepts--social, educational, mechanical, philosophical, and economic; all organized around Ed Cole's car. I got into Corvairs because I saw the advantages of the Greenbrier over anything else for short trips around town and for long trips, with carrying and camping abilities. We bought an FC, a Corvan, and used it in exactly those ways. It and other Corvairs ever since. It was many years before I did much driving in the cars; the microbus is just so convenient. We built this house on Griegos Road with the original Corvan, called Blue Bus. It is a 1961. Lumber, windows, appliances, loose pumice, flooring, etc. Wire, pipes, sewer lines, no problem. We did have to draw the line at vigas. Twenty-five fir logs 20 feet by 10 or 12 inches diameter might have crushed Blue Bus! They were delivered from Taos by big truck. Locally, we carried ten much smaller vigas in Blue Bus. We rented a flatbed truck to haul home the logs of an abandoned Navajo hogan after having paid for and dismantled it near Smith Lake. The hogan is a partially attached room of the house. To return to origins. The Army taught me about air-cooled engines as a helicopter mechanic. On leave in 1958 I visited a family friend in Germany. Lots of Volkswagens. Dietrich drove his to show me around Trier and the Mosel River Valley. In 1960, Father and my brother each bought VWs while I was in college. Living at home and often sharing cars, I quickly learned the advantages of the VW over our "old Detroit" fare. I often used our VW on long trips into northern Minnesota and Wisconsin for archaeology and canoe trips. Great gasoline mileage. Small body? So what. It was easy to take care of. Big problem such as a broken clutch cable on the far side of town--easy. Early synchro practice for potential problem on Corvair. Summer work at the University of Minnesota's garage brought me face-to-face with Greenbriers! I had barely heard of these nifty vehicles. Much like the VW microbus, but more powerful. There they were, for me to service. Part of the University fleet, they had been purchased for use by a family friend. The two Greenbriers spent summers being beaten up on gravel roads in Mexico on Dr. Warner's ornithology field trips. The best birding seems to be on the worst roads. That situation was the case in Minnesota when I took his class. Years and classes passed. There were occasional rides in Corvair cars and a VW bus. Graduation was in 1964 after which I drove my 1955 Mercury wagon to Guatemala for more archaeological studies and to make a film of a work camp sponsored by the Society of Friends. My 1960 trip for summer classes in Mayan archaeology had been in my 1952 Chevy. It was January 1966 when we arrived in Albuquerque, my newly married wife Ann and I. We both had jobs and needed a second car. It was time for the Greenbrier! We soon found out at the Chevrolet store that the FCs had been discontinued. We didn't want a poor substitute, so we looked around at the used market where we found Blue Bus, a 1961 Corvan. It was, indeed, a used car. After one trip to Mexico City, and much other highway driving, it needed a new engine. I'm still not sure why it suddenly began to slurp oil as we left Mesa Verde National Park, but I suspect collapsed rings from overheating of hard driving with 10-30 oil; consequent viscosity improver-shearing and breakdown?? The folks at Galles tried to get me a 1965 or '66 engine, also a 4-speed transmission and positraction 3.55 rear axle. A car engine arrived in a big crate, so we drilled the crankcase and welded in a one-inch aluminum pipe stub. Looks and works just like the proper FC crankcase. I put it all together and into the car. It worked great! Experience has caused some changes. I no longer use the 3.55 axle in FCs. Too much engine heat. I still use 205-15" tires, but use 3.89 axle and the early fan with full fins. I used to drive 80 mph in those days. Oil temperature of 365 degrees isn't good. I also dropped the positraction unit after having destroyed two on rough and rocky roads. It is too weak a design for some of my uses, pushing the somewhat heavier microbuses. Eventually I got hold of two of the low speed first gear units which were supplied with some 1961 FCs. Ratio for first and reverse is 4.25:1 vs about 3.65:1 on the common four speeds. Mine are now housed in 62-63 carriers to get away from the weak reverse detent of the 1961 design. I've hit reverse in error often enough myself. It becomes dangerous when a novice Corvan driver does that at the intersection of Cerrillos Road and St. Francis Drive in Santa Fe. Edite Cates was momentarily lost; a dangerous moment for us all, herself, three kids, her husband and me. Get rid of that problem reverse detent! I acquired more Corvairs. Then the prize, when it became available from another archaeologist, Bill Sundt. Brown Bus is a 1964 Greenbrier with air conditioning. Ann had left. There were several lovely girlfriends... Before long I found a woman even better than any car, the mother of Sally and Geoffrey. Zoe, also known as Paddy, and I drove Brown Bus to Guatemala that year, 1972. On the dashboard we checked off the few remaining Corvairs which we saw along the way. Only eight total. We were elated to find an in-use match to our bus parked on a Guatemalan mountainside. Meanwhile, 1972 was a big year in other ways. Various people were beginning a Corvair family. Alvin Jones told me of a little advertisement for CORSA. I joined. Next summer we got Pete Colburn's letter. I told him we had parking space here along the irrigation ditch; tell everyone to come over... so it goes... what do we call us? Oh my. Decisions... We're still here and still driving our Corvairs. National group and super local friends. We learn a lot from each other as we mix and match our experiences and solutions to problems. Brown Bus is still my favorite automobile. It is together and up and running today. I don't drive it every day because I haven't figured out how to get truly high fuel mileage from it! Maybe fuel injection? Stay tuned. It might have to wait until my next life. Brown Bus languished for many years. The turbo engine began to smoke near the end of the Guatemala trip. Prior use in a dune buggy had worn it out. After limited use for a year or so, it was parked for a long time waiting. And waiting. Its "wheels didn't squeak" as it sat. Others were in good condition for a lot of commuting to Portales and back. Life repeatedly intervened. The kids needed more and more of my time. They enjoyed working with me on the cars after about age two. Be careful--check transaxle oil after your car sits a while. Shifter shaft leaked just a little. As we prepared to move back to Albuquerque, I hitched the bus behind something else I was driving. The pinion shaft bearing lasted five miles before lock up. Brought on a trailer, the car waited longer. Then, time to do it. New TRW pistons and rings, rebored cylinders from Francis Boydston, and milled heads which Francis had found somewhere. The improved squish works; it never pings on regular. Lots of power, perhaps more than turbocharger. Now it's really right; air conditioning, heater improved with better blower motor and lots of insulation on the ducts; transaxle with 4.25 first gear and 3.89 axle, tires 205-15, and the good cooling fan. Perhaps holding it to 75 mph will help it have a long life. It still gets onto the rough roads just fine. For field trips, collecting rocks or doing archaeology, the forward controls go almost anywhere that a regular pickup truck can go. A four wheel drive SUV might get me one-quarter mile farther along some of the worst roads I've ever needed; however, I can get off my butt and walk that far. I don't like to scar the land with my new tracks. I have been known to take my small sacrificial pickup truck into some known difficult areas. And if you'll look at the underside of our light blue '62 two door coupe you will observe that it has been in some very bad places. Use it carefully, but don't baby it! Are we proud of our club? Emphatically yes! We are all keeping the club together, and we are proudly passing our collective knowledge to the next generation. Our team goes forward. Perhaps after all little did Ed Cole realize just how successful his team's product could be. -- Carl ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== ============================================================================ | June 2018 | July 2018 | August 2018 | | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | | 1 2 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | 1 2 3 4 | | 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 | 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | | 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 | 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 | 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 | | 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 | 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 | 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 | | 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 | 29 30 31 | 26 27 28 29 30 31 | ============================================================================ SUGGESTION: A visit with other clubs to the Telephone Museum on Fourth Street SUGGESTION: A visit to the new WEATHER LAB at the Balloon Museum SUGGESTION: A visit to the Soaring Museum in Moriarty SUGGESTION: A visit to the Atomic Museum on Eubank WED 06 JUN 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. JUNE 8-10 Tri-State at Crested Butte, Colorado -- Rocky Mountain CORSA http://www.rockymountaincorsa.org/2018-tri-state-ralley-promo/ WED 20 JUN 5:00 PM Board Meeting: HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER at 131 Monroe NE WED 27 JUN 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING OLD CAR GARAGE 3232 GIRARD NE ============================================================================ WED 04 JUL 7:00 PM Meeting: NORTH DOMINGO BACA MULTIGENERATIONAL CENTER. WED 18 JUL 5:00 PM Board Meeting: HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER at 131 Monroe NE FRI 20 JUL 9:00 PM Deadline for items for August 2018 newsletter MON 23 JUL - 48th International Corvair Convention TUE 24 JUL - Doubletree Hotel Greentree WED 25 JUL - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania THU 26 JUL - 1-800-222-TREE (8733) and use code CCA RESERVATIONS www.corvairpittsburgh.com CONTACT ---- Jim Weppelman 412-577-6447 cell / text WED 25 JUL 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING OLD CAR GARAGE 3232 GIRARD NE ============================================================================ WED 01 AUG 7:00 PM Meeting: NORTH DOMINGO BACA MULTIGENERATIONAL CENTER. SUN 12 AUG NMCCC ALL CLUBS PICNIC at Oak Flats Picnic Area, Tijeras WED 15 AUG 5:00 PM Board Meeting: HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER at 131 Monroe NE WED 22 AUG 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING OLD CAR GARAGE 3232 GIRARD NE FRI 24 AUG 9:00 PM Deadline for items for September 2018 newsletter ============================================================================ SUGGESTION: Let's do another east mountains Econo-Run or Road Rally. WED 05 SEP 7:00 PM Meeting: NORTH DOMINGO BACA MULTIGENERATIONAL CENTER. WED 19 SEP 5:00 PM Board Meeting: HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER at 131 Monroe NE FRI 21 SEP 9:00 PM Deadline for items for October 2018 newsletter SEPTEMBER 28-30 - NMCCC/LOS LUNAS 40TH ANNUAL SWAP MEET, MORRIS FIELD, LOS LUNAS WED 00 SEP 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING OLD CAR GARAGE 3232 GIRARD NE ======================== http://www.nmcarcouncil.com/ ====================== See the New Mexico Council of Car Clubs Web Site for more "NMCCC" activities ======================== http://www.nmcarcouncil.com/ ====================== ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== Happy Birthday Wishes to June CNM'ers: Phil Finch Robert Gold Rita Gongora Heula Pittman Jonathan Reider Timothy Shortle Sylvia Trujillo June CNM Anniversaries: Janice & David Allin Jon & Debra Anderson Carolyn & Dan Palmer Heula & Jiim Pittman Sarah & Terry Price ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== SEVEN YEARS AGO [ JUNE 2018 VOL 44 Nr 6 ISSUE 513 ] Jim Pittman 2011 Vol 37 Nr 6 #429 The cover: Tarmo's 1966 Corsa gets its new top at House of Covers. Kay Sutt told the story of how Tarmo found and restored this car. Mike Stickler discussed modern coatings (not just paint) to help engines run cooler. Robert Gold reported on being on "cloud nine" at another successful car show and we had many photos. John Wiker reported on a Friday the Thirteenth gremlin that incapacitated his 1966 Monza and required some Pat Hall surgery to drill out and replace a broken bolt. Finally, we were fully prepared for the Red River Tri-State. 2004 Vol 30 Nr 6 #345 The cover: Terry Price and Sara Gold were proud of their Corvairs at the Museum Car Show. VP Sally Johnson ran our May meeting at Galles Chevrolet where 26 members greeted new/old member Terry Price and guest John Marousek. Wendell reported $2,590 in the bank. We looked forward to the Tri-State in Cripple Creek, Colorado. We needed a new edition to the Care & Feeding book because Clarks had ordered fifty and we only had 18 on hand. Board discussions included a club breakfast, the Santa Fe July 4th show and a campout at the Boydston cabin in the Pecos. Our revised constitution was carefully reviewed and finally accepted. Were we going to get new club jackets? No decision at this time. Mark Domzalski told about finally finding a slow leak at the crimped seal on the oil sender on his Rampside. Jon Anderson reported on the Cripple Creek Tri-State which many of us enjoyed. The Boydston Award was presented to Ben Benzel of the Pikes Peak club. We borrowed a tech tip from Steve Goodman in which he told about a car radio played so loud, a failing wheel bearing couldn't be heard. Robert Gold reported on Car Council doings. Heula Pittman covered the careers of Wendell Walker in a new edition of LA VENTANA. 1997 Vol 23 Nr 6 #261 The cover: Corvairs at the Journal Center where we saw how a daily newspaper was put together. Ilva Walker reported on the tour. We had $7,133 in the bank. The Museum Car Show conflicted with our Gunnison, Colorado Tri-State Meet. We amended our constitution to require 100% CORSA membership. Bill was updating the Care & Feeding booklet. Mark reported on the great success of the Gunnison Tri-State. Next year we'd be in Lake City, Colorado. Dennis told us about a sudden lack of fuel to the carbs. He discovered a broken spring in the top of the fuel pump. 1990 Vol 16 Nr 6 #177 The cover drawing was from Car Life magazine: geometry of the 1964 and 1965 Corvair rear suspensions. New members were John Folkerts, Eric Mather, Bill Medcalf, Eric Medcalf and John Martinez. John Baca and his 1962 convertible were guests. We looked forward to a Car Council picnic. At the Ed Black's All-Chevy Show the Club turned out with 19 of the 170 vehicles and we got seven awards. Bad news for those who like nice-looking car restorations: Bob Phillips was closing CAR & TRUCK FACTORY. While the Walkers and the Sticklers won trophies at the Museum car show, several CNMers went to Durango to visit with the Rocky Mountain CORSA people, the Pikes Peak club members, and to ride the narrow-gauge railway to Silverton. Tom Martin's column, La Ventana, was a "This is your Life" story of long-time active CNM member, Steve Gongora. Tech tips included a warning about how to seat push rods when you install TRW valve lifters, preventing leaks around the shifter shaft seal, and keeping your heater hose away from the exhaust pipes. Finally, we had a very nice letter from Mr. Ed Black thanking the Club for our participation in the All-Chevy Show. 1983 Vol 9 Nr 6 # 93 The cover showed the Car Life drawings of 1964 and 1965 rear suspensions, showing their geometry during cornering. They are clearly different, but how do they feel? New member Eugene Drye owned a Spyder in Las Vegas. We weren't quite ready to vote on 100% CORSA membership yet. Jim gave a tech talk on shift linkage adjustment. Sylvan previewed an econorun. LeRoy reported the details on the Museum car show and the various prizes awarded. 1976 Vol 2 Nr 6 # 17 Thirty-one members and guests attended. Terry Gray confirmed the date for the Winrock Car Show; we expected 12 to 15 Corvairs. We planned a flea market fund-raiser. LeRoy was working on a roster of all cars owned by club members. Mark Morgan wrote about early and late Fitch Sprints, Corvairs that had been enhanced by legendary race driver John Fitch in Falls Village, Connecticut. Mark bragged about out-dragging a Capri (remember those German-built mini-Mustangs?) with his mythical 1965 Monza, and told us about the benefits of contributing to CORSA's museum and racing funds. ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== 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. The newsletter is composed using Apple computers. Software includes Mac OS-X, AppleWorks, Photoshop CS, GraphicConverter, BBEdit and InDesign CS. If you care, ask for more details. When I'm 64, I'll get by with a little help from my friends. ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== =END=