The December 2020 newsletter - Text Version Updated 29-Nov-2020 ==== Copyright (c) 2020 Corvairs of New Mexico ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== December 2020 / VOLUME 46 / NUMBER 12 / ISSUE 543 ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== First Place, Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, 2005 & 2012 Third Place, Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, 2010 EDITOR: Jim Pittman NEXT MEETING: Regular Meeting: December 5th at 10:00AM MEETING CANCELLED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS / COVID-19 THIS MONTH: President: What's Up Dave? ........................ David Huntoon Dues Due Dates ............................. Membership Committee Secretary's Report for November ........................ Kay Sutt Reminder About Birthday Cards ..................... Heula Pittman Treasury Report ................................... Steve Gongora Thoughts on a Spam Email ......................... Gordon Johnson Is Fuel Stabilizer Actually Hurting Your Car? . Pennsylvania Club Corvair Carburetor Identification ............. Pennsylvania Club Birthdays & Anniversaries .................. Membership Committee TECH: Shifter Articles .............................. Jim Pittman TECH: Adjust Late Shifter ........ ENCHANTED CORVAIRS, March 2010 TECH: Shift Tube Alignment ......... THE REAR VIEW, February 1985 Calendar of Coming Events .................... Board of Directors December Issues, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago ..... Club Historian Index to Articles Published in 2020 .................. The Editor COVER: Late Model Shifter Show-And-Tell, February 2003 Meeting COVER: The Twelve Covers of Enchanted Corvairs for 2020 ............................................................................. ............................................................................ OFFICERS and VOLUNTEERS President David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 @ aol.com Vice-President Tarmo Sutt 505-690-2046 tarmo @ juno.com Secretary Kay Sutt 505-471-1153 tarmo @ juno.com Treasurer Steve Gongora 505-220-7401 stevegongora @ msn.com Membership Linda Soukup 763-226-0707 feathersandfur.ls @ gmail.com Car Council Tony Berbig 763-226-0707 studeboytony @ gmail.com Merchandise Vickie Hall 505-865-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com Sunshine Heula Pittman 505-275-2195 heula @ q.com Newsletter Jim Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu Old Route 66 Greg Nelson 505-400-8670 fesedu @ comcast.net Past President Ray Trujillo 505-814-8373 rtrujilloabq505 @ gmail.com Past President Pat Hall 505-620-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com Past President Dave Allin 505-410-9668 dnjallin @ gmail.com MEETINGS: Regular Meeting for December CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 / CORONAVIRUS INTERNET: CORSA's home page www.corvair.org/ CNM's newsletters www.unm.edu/~jimp/ New Mexico Council of Car Clubs www.nmcarcouncil.com/ ............................................................................. ............................................................................ SCHEDULE CNM: 12 months = $25.00 or 26 months = $ 50.00 OF CORSA: 12 months = $45.00 or 26 months = $ 90.00 DUES CNM & CORSA: 12 months = $70.00 or 26 months = $140.00 ............................................................................. ............................................................................ DUES DUE DATES DECEMBER 2020 DUE LAST MONTH ====================== INACTIVE DATE 2020.11 Linda & Dick Cochran 25-DEC-2020 DUE THIS MONTH ====================== INACTIVE DATE 2020.12 David Huntoon 25-JAN-2021 2020.12 Lee Reider 25-JAN-2021 DUE NEXT MONTH ====================== INACTIVE DATE 2021.01 Fred & Brenda Edeskuty 25-FEB-2021 2021.01 Connie & Robert McBreen 25-FEB-2021 DUE FEBRUARY 2021 =================== INACTIVE DATE 2021.02 Linda & Anthony Berbig 25-MAR-2021 2021.02 Heula & Jim Pittman 25-MAR-2021 INACTIVE ============================ INACTIVE DATE 2020.02 Larry Yoffee 25-MAR-2020 2020.03 Natalie Robison 25-APR-2020 2020.04 Conner Siddell 25-MAY-2020 2020.06 Art Gold 25-JUL-2020 2020.10 Sylvia & Ray Trujillo 25-NOV-2020 Send your Dues to: Steve Gongora -- CNM Treasurer 8419 Palo Duro NE Albuquerque, NM 87111 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. As of 28-Nov-2020 we have 43 active family memberships. ............................................................................. ............................................................................ PRESIDENT'S LETTER What's up Dave? Bad to worse seems to be the way of the world lately. New Mexico is no exception. So for the near future, in person club events are on hold. We are continuing with online Board meetings but club membership meetings are not happening. That could change if enough club members indicate they would like online, ZOOM, meetings. Let me know and if 10 or more are in favor we can do it. Now, the Tri-State question. Since Covid numbers keep getting worse and the likely possibility of no vaccine for the general population until April, the Board is thinking moving the Tri-State to late October of 2021. Conditions should should be much improved by then hopefully. This is not a done deal as we need to talk to the host hotel. I think we must do this as we certainly don't wish our members and friends to be at risk. We need a safe club event. I do think it is possible to have an econo run in the east mountains sometime in the next couple of months. I think it could be safely done as long as we don't congregate in one place for long. Checked out a route of 43.3 miles and 1 hour driving time at posted speeds. Once again let me know if you would be interested and would attend..... Patience and stay safe, thx David Photo: Snow on 27 October 2020 in Cedar Crest, NM ............................................................................. ............................................................................ SECRETARY'S REPORT, NOVEMBER, 2020 Kay Sutt Because of the surge in the Corona virus infection rate in New Mexico, it was decided at the October Board Meeting it would not be safe to have an in-person meeting, and the Board voted to cancel the November meeting entirely. Therefore, there is no Secretary's report for the November General Meeting. However, the November Board meeting did take place on November 18 via Zoom. Present at the meeting were President Dave Huntoon, Vice-president Tarmo Sutt, Secretary Kay Sutt, Treasurer Steve Gongora, Tri-State Chairman Terry Price, Newsletter Editor Jim Pittman and Old Route 66 Cleanup Chair Greg Nelson. Basically, we only had two items on the agenda, the Tri-State meet and Steve's request to send an honorarium to the NM Museum of Military History subsequent to the CNM tour of the facility. The raging Corona virus and the news we are getting regarding the anticipated staged roll-out of a vaccine make it necessary for the Board to consider the viability of the 2021 Tri-State meet. Most Corvair owners are in the age group judged to be 'most vulnerable' to the virus, and current news updates regarding a vaccine indicate it is likely going to be late first quarter or into the second quarter of 2021 before a vaccine will be available to our age group. Given this information we doubt we can host a successful Tri-State and meet the contractual guidelines with the host hotel regarding attendance. Other Albuquerque events for the same time frame are beginning to be postponed, and Terry and Steve agreed to contact the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and the Hispano Chamber of Commerce to determine how many other events for the general timeframe of May, 2021 are being cancelled or postponed. Based on these points, the Board has agreed to contact the host hotel to propose postponing, not canceling, the Albuquerque Tri-State. The dates proposed by the Board are October 15-16-17, 2021, (our first preference), or May 20-21-22, 2022, (our second preference). Dave and Terry will contact the hospitality person for the hotel to propose this change. We are aware this is relatively early to make this change, but we are trying to be proactive and as transparent as possible with the hotel and all Corvair folks. CNM is dedicated to making the event, already postponed once due to Covid, a success. During this unprecedented and difficult time, looking forward to seeing/meeting friends at Tri-State is important, but our primary concern is the health and safety of everyone who attends, as well as the financial security of CNM as well as the host hotel. We will keep the CNM membership updated on the progress of these negotiations with the hotel. The second item on the agenda of the Board meeting was Steve's request to send a $100 check to the NM Museum of Military History to honor the wonderful tour they kindly afforded CNM'ers. The request was unanimously approved by the Board. Finally, there was informal discussion regarding the Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit" which features a late (probably 1966) Corsa in Episodes 6-7. It's fun to see Corvairs are still visible. They seem to be becoming a time stamp for the 1960's. Of note, although nobody but a CORSA member would notice, an oval CORSA sticker is visible in the middle of the rear window. Anybody have any idea who owns this car? With that bit of fun, the meeting was adjourned. Members are reminded they are welcome at all Board meetings. If you wish to attend a Zoom meeting of the board, email Kay Sutt at suttkay@gmail.com to request an invitation to join the discussion. Kay Sutt ............................................................................. ............................................................................ JUST A REMINDER Heula Pittman As the "Sunshine Person" I would like to remind everyone about some of my duties throughout the year. First of all, Jim and I design new birthday cards each year. Then I mail them from the club during the year to club members, their spouses or significant others and to any of their children living at home. In order to keep a current list of birthdates I need input from members. I also mail get well cards and sympathy cards to members and their families as the need arises. But in order to do this I need help from members notifying me as the need arises. Vickie Hall, Merchandise Chair, and I prepare and distribute new member packets to those just joining CNM. Since we are in the middle of this pandemic and we are not having regular meetings or club events, we are not communicating with each other as in the past. So I am asking for your help in keeping me up to date with any changes in the above events. Thanks for your cooperation... Stay Positive and Test Negative! ............................................................................. ............................................................................ TREASURY REPORT FOR 10-22-2020 to 11-26-2020 DATE CHECK# AMOUNT PAYEE DESCRIPTION BALANCE = $7,142.93 ========== ==== ========== =========== ========================================= ========= 2020.10.24 1567 $ 25.00 Dues W.Heil 12 m CNM $ 25.00 $7,167.93 2020.11.01 8649 $ 50.00 Dues T.Lawler 26 m CNM $ 50.00 $7,217.93 2020.11.13 $ 25.00 Dues W.Darcy 12 m CNM $ 25.00 $7,242.93 2020.11.23 2394 -$ 100.00 Donation NM Museum Military History -$ 100.00 $7,142.93 ========== ==== ========== =========== ========================================= ========= 2020.12.01 DEC NEWSLETTER ===================================================== $7,142.93 ............................................................................. ............................................................................ Subject: THOUGHTS ON RECENT SPAM INCIDENT From: Gordon Johnson < gjohnson AT unm.edu > To: Jim Pittman < jimp AT unm.edu > Date: 24-Nov-2020 19:53:54 MST On November 14 I received an email from someone claiming to be a former officer in the Corvair Club asking me to email him concerning an urgent matter that needed my assistance. I responded to his email on November 17. He responded that he did not have good cell coverage and needed me to get him a $500 Amazon gift card and he would reimburse as soon as he could. Of course, I did not respond. By then I found the email address he used was not the one listed for his name in the Corvair Club newsletter. I do not include the name of the former officer because it could have been any of several people with names and email addresses in the newsletter. Unfortunately I did not check the email address before responding and just clicked on the one offered by the computer. I'll appreciate any comments that you might wish to make on this issue. Thanks and best regards, Gordon Johnson SPAM EMAIL Jim Pittman Gordon asked me to warn our members about an apparent spam email. Several of us have seen a lot of similar emails in recent months. They look innocent but actually come from people intent on stealing your money and they are not going to stop anytime soon. Recent messages several of our members have received seem to fit this pattern: the criminal looks online for organizations whose web sites publically list officers and members with phone numbers and email addresses. With modern technology it is easy to disguise an email address so it looks like it comes from someone else. The criminal composes a message to a member asking for help for a club function. The message is disguised to seem to come from a club officer. The request may include a link to a web site, or may just ask the member to reply. If the member replies, the criminal typically asks the member to purchase pre-paid cards and then email the code number back to the sender. Unsuspecting members, believing their club officer needs their help with some club function, buy the pre-paid cards and send the code numbers. The criminal cashes in the card and there goes your money. There are hundreds of variations to this ploy. The illustration below shows an actual (somewhat disguised) email message I received recently. The names have been changed. Note that the actual email address is not that of our possible former club president Dxxx Axxxx but someone else I am calling John Smith. I often get messages of this sort. When I see one like this I just automatically delete it, assuming the message is a scam. It's similar to the ongoing plague of junk phone calls. Criminals can make a call to your number that is hacked to look (to Caller ID) like it comes from any number they want. We have been getting several such calls a day for years. If our Caller ID does not show someone we know, we do not answer. Of course, it is possible the hacker has made the call appear to come from someone on our list of friends. If that is the case, if we answer, we will need to quickly detect that it is NOT our friend calling and immediately hang up. I don't believe the government or the phone company or the ISP that provides email service can stop these irritating criminal messages, even if they wanted to. We just have to be prepared to completely ignore them. The mantra is, "Don't answer, don't click." What a situation! Is this the world you signed up for when you were taking Civics in school? No? Me neither. But it's the world we've got. ............................................................................. ............................................................................ IS YOUR FUEL STABILIZER ACTUALLY HURTING YOUR CAR? Hagerty Media, Maintenance & Tech, Author: Kyle Smith, 3 November 2020 Submitted by Steve Hooper, CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA CORVAIR CLUB Putting your beloved ride away for the season and enduring months of watching it sit in place, wishing you could just go for a drive, is an unfortunate reality of winter vehicle storage. Worse is the notion that your careful storage prep routine includes a common misstep that will set you up for a bad experience come springtime. That's exactly what FortNine digs into with this latest video about fuel stabilizers: I am usually the first to throw shade at YouTube "tests" conducted using far from bulletproof science, but even these informal tests shed thought-provoking light on how different chemical compounds affect your car's performance. These fuel stabilizers typically have bold claims printed on the label, designed to appeal to the type of person who cares more about protecting their engine than buying the right pet food. I know I am more particular about the fuel I feed my internal combustion companions than the food I feed my fluffy cat friends, but as this video explains, one group has a lot less side effects from corn content. The ethanol in modern fuel is hygroscopic, meaning it attracts water. That H2O content can reach a point where it will separate from the fuel, especially in long term storage. That water sitting at the bottom of the tank is the first thing to be picked up by the fuel pickup. To address this, the stabilizer concoctions work to O type of alcohol so that the heavier mixture will burn -- however poorly -- when drawn into the fuel system and dispersed in the combustion chamber. Yes, almost all of these mixtures help in some fashion, but a few caused damage in other ways compared to the test's control sample. A few of the products tested led to greater corrosion, due to a lack of additive preventing the growth of rust and allowing a greater ingress of moisture. That moisture will -- at best -- make for a hard starting car in the spring and a rusty mess of a fuel system if left alone too long. Our vintage cars often have steel fuel lines and tanks, so any moisture just sitting around is bound to cause trouble. In the end, the best solution with a vintage engine is to start with non-ethanol fuel. Fuel blends contain a lot of additives already and, as pointed out in the video, if there was one miracle cure that could be added to fuel to prevent all such problems, it would likely already be in the gas from the pump. Ethanol is what causes most of the problems associated with long-term fuel storage in an old car or bike. Barring the option of getting pure gas (also known as recreation gas), K100 and STA-BIL came out on top as recommended from the products sampled because STA-BIL and K100 both reduced the absorption of moisture and reduced corrosion. Personally, this puts my mind at ease because as I have been a STA-BIL fan for years. Of course, I've never had more than my own anecdotal evidence to back up a recommendation, and I am often adding it to ethanol-free fuels from the outset. Now go forth and store with confidence! Hopefully spring arrives sooner than later. ............................................................................. ............................................................................ CORVAIR CARBURETOR IDENTIFICATION CORSA Communique, Author Jack L Cox, January 1981 CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA CORVAIR CLUB, December 2020 1. 1960 - No choking system on carburetor 2. 1961 - Manual choke. P/N's 7019100, 7019101. Early 61's had one internal and one external bowl vent. Late 61's had only the internal bowl vent. 3. 1962 & 1963 - Change to automatic choke system. P/N USAGE 7023100 Powerglide 7023101 Standard Shift 7023102 Hi-performance (102 HP) '62 and '63 are identical except that early 62's had one internal bowl vent. The rest had three. Difference among the above P/N's: Size of main metering jet and idle speed jet. (Refer to shop manual.) 4. 1964 - Several changes from 1963. The exterior appearance change that makes 1964+ different from earlier ones is the idle vapor vent. Other changes: (1) from symmetrical Venturi cluster to a non-symmetrical type; (2) torsion spring on float pivot; (3) two internal bowl vents. P/N USAGE 7024022 Powerglide 7024023 Standard Shift 7024024 Hi-performance (110 HP) 5. 1965 - External appearance difference from 1964 includes plug filling high speed enrichment drilling hole. Plug is located at base of bowl between fuel inlet and accelerator pump lever. Internal difference: Added power valve system. P/N USAGE 7025023 95 HP standard and Powerglide, and 110 HP standard / 140 HP primary 7025024 110 HP with Powerglide 7025025 All with air conditioning 7025026 140 HP secondary (No idle, choke, or power system.) 6. 1966 - Only one external appearance difference from 1964 and 1965; choke shaft kick lever is metal rather than plastic. Only internal change was a lower idle air bleed was added. This "hole" can be seen in the carburetor throat by shining light into carburetor. You have to strain to see it though. It is more visible looking up from the base. ............................................................................. ............................................................................. TECH: SHIFTER ARTICLES Jim Pittman Over the years we have published several articles on Corvair shifters. I am reprinting a couple of them here this month. I became acquainted with Corvair shifters and their problems when I was in Alaska with my new 1966 Corsa turbo coupe. I knew exactly nothing about how shifters worked on any kind of car. Of course I bought the 1965 shop manual and the 1966 supplement when I bought the car, I bought an early copy of Bill Fisher's HOT ROD book, and I subscribed to ROAD & TRACK magazine, which used to have outstanding technical articles on everything automotive. So I had plenty of resources to learn about Corvair things when the need arose. I learned to drive "stick" in a 1941 Ford, I had experience with a fifties Ford pickup and a Volkswagen Beetle, and I owned a 1965 Austin Healey (four-speed plus overdrive) for a year. When I bought the Healey and joined the Dayton SCCA club, I avidly absorbed the lore of the sports car crowd on how to double-clutch to downshift and how to time clutch action when upshifting and how to "feel" the movement of the shifter. I got pretty good at it. But none of this told me anything about how moving the shift lever actually made the gears change to different ratios. I had seen pictures of the innards of gearboxes, but the mysteries of synchronizers and countershafts and continuously meshed gears were just that, mysteries. Driving my new Corvair was simply, hold down the clutch pedal and, by feel, move the knob there to get to that gear. I practiced my "double-clutching" skills with the Corvair, without knowing what that actually accomplished in the transmission. The shifter felt okay so I just drove the car and didn't worry. In Fairbanks as winter came on, the shifting of the Corvair changed. For one thing, and it made perfect sense, moving the shift knob became very difficult when the car was cold. Well, the lubricant in the transaxle was at 40 below and it was just congealed like heavy grease, not easy-flowing like oil. Therefore, when you park leave the shifter in neutral. Warm up the car and shifting would work okay. But I noticed a change in the "sloppiness" of the shifter. It no longer seemed to move into the right gear position without wiggling the knob around a bit before it would actually go into gear. Military bases had auto hobby shops and I scheduled time at the Fort Wainwright hobby shop to put the car up on a lift and peer at the complexity of the linkage. The shop manual was a guide. At the rear I could see the outer tube and the inner tube and I could see how the inner tube was supposed to transmit push-pull-twist motions to the pin coming out of the gearbox. (I could easily see the mechanism because the rubber boot that was intended to keep out dust and mud was cracked and falling apart.) When I removed the steel pin holding the shift mechanism to the gearbox I could see how loose and rattly the two tubes were, and I could see why: the plastic bushing was out of place and not doing anything except bouncing around. A plastic bushing for such a vital part? Yes indeed, maybe a way to save a few cents. I guessed the cold temperatures let shift movements break the four little prongs that were supposed to hold the bushing in place. A quick repair was to push the bushing back in place, then find a scrap piece of metal shaped like a two-finger fork and bolt it up next to the bushing to keep it from popping out. This worked okay and removed a lot of the slop for several months. At a later time I removed both belly pans and examined the front of the shifter mechanism and did similar patching on the front bushing. Still later I bought the bronze shifter bushing kits for my Corvairs. It was somewhat tedious to install the bushings with the tiny little screws to hold them in place, but the bronze bushings made a world of difference in shifter feel and accuracy, especially after adjusting the position of the tubes relative to the transmission pin. The 1965 and 1966 shifter mechanisms are different but both can be adjusted to line up the shaft with the pin. I was able to get most of my Corvairs to shift easily with two fingers and careful double-clutching "by feel" for every shift. I became an evangelist for good Corvair shifting, writing articles on how to do it (I think one article even made it into the Communique) and telling all my Corvair friends how to make their shifters work better. Did any of them take my advice? I don't know. Difficult shifting seems to bother some people more than others. It bothered me, and I was pleased to take the trouble to try to get my Corvairs to shift perfectly. Several of them actually did. Maybe these articles will encourage someone who has a sloppy or difficult shifter to take the trouble to modify and adjust their shifters to get them to work better. It's not that hard! And the bronze bushings are still available from Clark's. ............................................................................. ............................................................................ Happy Birthday Wishes to December CNM'ers: Jimmy Arellanes Dick Cochran Sara Gold Maggie Kitts Diane Lawler Lube Lubert Gregory Nelson Fred Riggs December anniversaries: Elizabeth & Mark Domzalski Barbara & Gordon Johnson ............................................................................. ............................................................................ ADJUST LATE SHIFTER -- MARCH 2010 Jim Pittman Some of us, if we learned to drive a fifties or sixties British sports car, like a shifter that is precise, smooth and effortless. The typical Corvair shifter is sloppy, crunchy and difficult. It's not just because of the location of the transmission in the back and the shifter in front. More than likely your late shifter just needs two new parts and a few simple adjustments to work much better. Bronze bushings are easy to install and can make the shifter action more precise and positive. Other new and remanufactured parts are readily available from Clark's. The above drawing of late shifter parts is copied from Clark's catalog. Your first chore is to look at your shifter and the drawing and understand how the shift mechanism works. If you are lucky you may have only minor problems and you won't have to disassemble very much to be able to make a big improvement. Count on needing new bushings and a new coupling pin, though, with some disassembly required. Here are some of the things that could go wrong. * 1. The pins holding the shifter (35) in the shifter base (38) could be worn. Tapered bearings can be used for new pins. The shifter base must be disassembled, worn pins removed and new pins pressed in. Sylvan Zuercher had a great article in our March 1998 newsletter covering all the details. * 2. The lubrication inside the shifter base (38) could be missing, hardened or gummy, making for "stiff" operation. * 3. The shifter base (38) could be too loose or too tight where it bolts through shims (1 and 2) through the car's floor pan to the head of the shifter tube (3), or it could have dried-out or gummy lubrication. If too tight, the shifter tube head won't be able to slide along the car's floor pan as the engine/transaxle moves in its rubber mounts under normal operation. * 4. The lubricant in the shifter ball-to-cup mechanism could be missing, solidified or gummy, making for "stiff" operation. * 5. The front and rear bushings (23) could be missing from the shifter tube, allowing the inner rod to move sloppily and to rattle. * 6. The shifter tube (3) could be bent from previous encounters with stumps or bolders, making it hard for the inner rod (4) to slide or rotate. * 7. The cardboard liner between the outer shift tube (3) and the inner rod (4) could be full of rust or wet and distorted, causing excessive friction when shifting. * 8. The stabilizer rod (20) could be adjusted too high, too low or too far sideways, putting excess stress on the inner rod and the rear bushing, thereby causing excess friction. * 9. The coupling pin (13) or the holes in the coupler (12) could be worn, leading to sloppiness. The hole in the transmission pin is probably okay. * 10. The rubber insert inside the coupler (12) could be dried out and slipping, allowing the inner shaft to rotate relative to the coupler. * 11. The coupler (12) could be fastened to the inner tube (4) too close or too far from the transmission, making the shift lever lean too far forward or too far backward from the driver. Start by putting your car up on four secure jack stands. Take off the left rear wheel for more working space if you want but it's not necessary. Crawl underneath, take off the belly pans and look at the mechanisms, front and rear. It helps greatly to have an assistant who can sit in the driver's seat, put in the clutch, and slowly shift through all the gears while you watch the movements of the parts below. Once you have examined your shifter mechanism you may be able to guess what parts and adjustments are needed. If your car already has bronze bushings, you can probably make an improvement by just adjusting the coupler. If your bushings are shot, then order some new parts, including a Clark's bronze bushing kit, new plastic shifter base (1), rubber bushings for the stabilizer rod (20), and new rubber boots. Budget time for disassembly, cleaning, reassembly and alignment By the way, I find the sheet metal screws holding the belly pans in place are very easy to strip out and I don't know of a satisfactory repair. With new parts in hand, start by taking the belly pans off the car, then remove the shift tube from the car. Remove the coupler from the inner rod, then pull the inner rod out of the shifter tube. Remove and discard the inner cardboard tube. Install bronze bushings according to Clark's instructions, making sure they don't bind the inner rod. Careful filing and crocus cloth are good for this. (If you are adept at brazing, you may prefer to braze them in place instead of drilling and tapping holes for the eight tiny screws.) Remove rust, then paint the shifter tube and inner rod as needed. Clean all the moving parts and put new grease where needed. Check the condition and lubrication of the floor shims top and bottom, then loosely install the shifter base with shims through the floor to the shifter tube head. Install the shifter tube stabilizer rod loosely at the rear. Back at the front, tighten the shifter base just snug enough that it won't rock sloppily side-to-side, but loose enough that it can slide front-to-back along the floor pan. Gradually tighten up the nuts holding the stabilizer rod bushings so the stabilizer rod holds the coupler in approximate alignment with the shifter pin, then install the coupler's pin to the transmission's shaft. Go back to the driver's seat and try moving the shift lever to see if you can engage all the gears. Leave the shift lever in first gear for a 4-speed or reverse gear for a 3-speed. Go below and pull out the pin from the coupler. Does the coupler now want to move up or down or sideways? If so, adjust the stabilizer rod nuts and bushings so the stabilizer rod holds the coupler so that it's looking squarely at the pin. Tighten everything up securely. Put in the pin, a washer and a cotter pin. Go up and check shifter action. For those lucky enough to have shifters with all parts in good shape, this one adjustment could make an enormous difference in shifter feel. The position of the shift lever forward-to-back relative to the driver's position can be adjusted over a certain range. Loosen the clamp holding the coupler to the inner tube and adjust the front-to-back position of the lever to suit, then tighten the clamp. It's a good final touch to install all new rubber boots to keep some of the road dust out of the moving parts. Now, if you are confident of your work, install the belly pans and go take your car for a test ride. What you are aiming for is, the shift knob will easily and positively move the mechanism to engage every gear, with minimum effort but with very little slop and looseness. The bronze bushings will ensure part of this, and careful adjustment will take care of the rest. The drawing (above) of the early shift mechanism is included for comparison. Some parts are similar to the late models but some are quite different. ............................................................................. ............................................................................ 1965-1969 SHIFT TUBE ALIGNMENT -- THE REAR VIEW, FEBRUARY 1985 Improve the action of your shifter and the life of the shifter tube bushings, especially the rear one, by correcting shift tube misalignment. The stabilizer rod acts not only to steady the end of the shift tube, but also to help keep it aligned with the transmission. As the motor mounts sag with age, however, the rod may actually be trying to force the shift tube out of alignment. To check the alignment, remove the pin connecting the shifter to the transmission. Note that both shift tube bushings must be in place to accurately align the shifter tube. The shifter yoke should fit so it is in line with the shaft of the transmission without rubbing on the sides or requiring any force to hold it in position. Most likely when you remove the pin the yoke will drop below the transmission shaft and force will be required to hold it in place. This force is what causes wear on the shifter bushings, and makes shifting harder than it ought to be. Shown below are the two styles of bracket that were used to mount the end of the stabilizer rod to the late transmission crossmember. The 1965 style used a flat bracket while the 1966-1969 style had a bracket with a "dimple" that acted as a ball-and-socket joint to provide an alignment adjustment. The 1965 style could not be adjusted for any angle other than 90 degrees to the bracket. To align the bracket on '65s you can bend the bracket by using a small jack placed under the shifter tube end of the stabilizer rod. Remove the pin from the shifter yoke and jack up on the rod until the yoke is about 1/4" above the transmission shaft. Release the jack and check the alignment. The yoke and shaft should meet so the pin can be installed without any force required. If not, repeat the Jacking process until they align. You may need to loosen the two bolts holding the bracket to the crossmember to make sideways adjustments. To align 1966-1969 models you can still use the jack method, but first loosen the ball-and-socket joint at the transmission end of the stabilizer rod. Jack the shift tube end of the rod to the proper alignment, then tighten the nut before releasing the jack. (Editor's note: In addition to the alignment described above, the ease and precision of your late model's shifting can be improved by replacing the plastic bushing at each end of the shift tube with brass or bronze bushings. They are readily available from Clark's.) ............................................................................. ............................................................................ ============================================================================ | December 2020 | January 2021 | February 2021 | | 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 | | 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 | | 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 | 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 | 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 | | 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 | 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 | 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 | | 27 28 29 30 31 | 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 | 28 | | | 31 | | ============================================================================ SAT 05 DEC 10:00 AM Meeting: CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS WED 16 DEC 5:00 PM Board Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED FRI 16 DEC 9:00 PM Deadline for items for January 2021 newsletter ! EARLY ! MON 17 DEC >> TARGET FOR PRINTING AND MAILING JANUARY NEWSLETTER << WED 00 DEC [ NO CAR COUNCIL MEETING THIS MONTH ] ============================================================================ SAT 02 JAN 10:00 AM Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED WED 20 JAN 5:00 PM Board Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED WED xx JAN 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED FRI 29 JAN 9:00 PM Deadline for items for January 2021 newsletter MON 01 FEB >> TARGET FOR PRINTING AND MAILING FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER << ============================================================================ SAT 06 FEB 10:00 AM Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED WED 17 FEB 5:00 PM Board Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED WED 24 FEB 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED FRI 26 FEB 9:00 PM Deadline for items for January 2021 newsletter MON 01 MAR >> TARGET FOR PRINTING AND MAILING JANUARY NEWSLETTER << ============================================================================ SUN 08 MAR 2:00 AM Set your clocks ahead an hour. No worries, we will get the hour back after tolerating a one-hour jet lag experience in November. SAT 06 MAR 10:00 AM Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED WED 17 MAR 5:00 PM Board Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED WED 24 MAR 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED FRI 26 MAR 9:00 PM Deadline for items for January 2021 newsletter MON 29 MAR >> TARGET FOR PRINTING AND MAILING JANUARY NEWSLETTER << ============================================================================ See the New Mexico Council of Car Clubs Web Site for more "NMCCC" activities ======================== http://www.nmcarcouncil.com/ ====================== ............................................................................. ............................................................................ SEVEN YEARS AGO [ DECEMBER 2020 VOL 46 Nr 12 ISSUE 543 ] Jim Pittman 2013 V.39 N.12 #459 Tarmo Sutt's 1966 Corsa turbo at the 2013 Santa Fe Concorso. A 1976 photo of Navy Lieutenant Mark Morgan, CNM Founder and first newsletter editor. Heather and Matt Choiniere were new members. President David Huntoon told about his "Smart-For-Two" car. Robert Gold described the gas heater TUNA and what happened next. Yes, it was now working. John Wiker reported on another car show. Many photos from our Christmas Party at House of Covers. Finally, an index to all our 2013 articles. 2006 V.32 N.12 #375 The "Library Van" and the Route-66-Cleanup Crew. Geoff and Cary reported on a great trip to the Fan Belt Toss. Tarmo brought a clean, jewell-like half a block and told what it took to get it that way. Jim suggested making a CD with back issues of the newsletter. Jerry planned a tour to Bosque del Apache. Ray told about cold weather destroying his speedometer. Wendell told about getting a ride in a Ford GT-40 race car. Many nice color photos of cars and activities. Steve Goodman told about winter storage tactics. Jim discussed his web page, and Robert summed up Car Council activities. Finally, an index to everything published during 2006. 1999 V.25 N.12 #291 Mark Domzalski's Rampside at Truchas, New Mexico for another great CNM Aspencade. New members were Kathy & Doug Gadomski. Billiken was driving off into the sunset. We planned the Tri-State/Albuquerque Museum Car Show, organized by Debbie Pleau. President Hurley reported a visit with friends at Cactus Corvair Club in Arizona. Ollie reported on our last Old Route 66 cleanup. We saw a rattlesnake and a very dead bobcat. Del told us that Larry was being considered for membership in the Dummy of the Month Club. Dennis Pleau reported on the GWFBT&SW, the Holy Grail of Corvairhood! 1992 V.18 N.12 #207 Christmas trees. President Del ran the meeting. Walter and Dave Huntoon from Chicago visited. Paul Coffman was a new member. We were preparing for our Christmas dinner and talked about getting Club T-shirts and jackets. Michael Pleau attended. Del was working on getting a Greenbrier back on the road. A blurb from the Sierra Club listed hidden costs to owning an automobile. Mark Martinek reported on the tour to Truth or Consequences. LeRoy had tire and brake problems and they never got to see the car museum. Otherwise it was a fun weekend. Tech tips included an article on silicon brake fluid and a good way to remove the rain gutter trim without damaging it: use an old bottle opener! 1985 V.11 N.12 #123 Santa with a clutter of many Corvair models. President Clayborne ran the meeting; we had no guests. We had a new member, though: Larry Blair who had a '63 Monza coupe and a '64 Spyder convertible. Our Christmas party was to be at Kirtland AFB Officers' Club. We planned a foray to the Flea Market to raise money and get rid of junk, err, treasures. We wanted to have a meeting in Santa Fe. We wanted a photo session; maybe part of an Aspencade. Tri-State planning continued. Clayborne's "Blower Breeze" said they just don't make cars like they used to. LeRoy said we'd have visitors at the next meeting from the New Mexico MVD. They would address how to get title to a titleless vehicle and how new seat belt laws apply to the various Corvairs, some of which came with seat belts and some not. Bill Reider's column discussed cleaning your oil cooler: they are out of sight and tend to collect leaves and dust. You also need to check your air filter, PVC valve and parking brake and clutch cables. How many of us have a Corvair with factory lube in the rear wheel bearings, steering box and clutch cross shaft? A tech tip from Chevrolet told how to adjust your accelerator linkage and how to install a harmonic balancer. We had a year-end financial statement and the index to volume 11 of the Newsletter. 1978 V.04 N.11 #039 A Monza GT and an early convertible. Sylvan presided. Les Campbell took notes and reported $350 in the bank. We amended the constitution to provide for separate offices for secretary and treasurer and to allow an appointed membership chairperson. Sylvan proposed we give a name for the Newsletter other than "Corvairs of New Mexico." Suggestions were solicited. We planned a dinner at Bella Vista. A newspaper article said that Alvin Grille of New Orleans owned 175 Corvairs. Tech tips came from our German member, Markus Rothmeyer, on adjusting thermostats, from Francis Boydston on timing your engine without a timing light, from Joel Nash on NGK and Bosch spark plugs, and Norm Brand on where to get spark plugs. The very first CNM Newsletter index covered every issue published to date. Your editor provided a history of the Newsletter and its somewhat irregular numbering scheme. Looking through this index today you'll see quite a few classic articles that are still well worth reading thirty-five years later. Your editor asked for more information on the Club's history and asked members to write detailed articles for our March 1979 Special Anniversary newsletter issue. ............................................................................. ............................................................................ ===== INDEX FOR THE HEXED YEAR OF 2020 ===== EVERY MONTH President's Letter ......... Birthdays & Anniversaries Dues Due This Month .................. Treasury Report Meeting Minutes ............ Calendar of Coming Events Board Meeting Minutes ................ Seven Years Ago JAN President's Message ................................... Dave Allin December Board Meeting Conducted via Email ................ The Board Copper Canyon Christmas Party Report .................. Heula Pittman Donations to The Storehouse ............................. Vickie Hall How to Lose 36 Days in One Easy Step .................... Jim Pittman David Neale's Letter to CNM Members ........ Larry Blair & Lee Reider CNM Member List 15 December 2019 ............... Membership Committee COVER Is that Santa Claus, or an Elf, at our Christmas Party? COVER Larry Blair Offers a Cleaning Tool Tech Tip at our Meeting FEB President's Message ................................... Dave Allin Photos from the January Meeting ........................ Jim Pittman Tri-State Tasks ......................................... Dave Allin Getting Started with Corvairs ............................. Pat Hall Dark Intrigue (September 25, 1959) ...................... Tom Martin Rampside at Baird-Jackson Auction ....................... Tarmo Sutt Ike Meissner Award Nomination Form ...... Deadline: February Meeting COVER Pat Hall and his 1965 Corsa Coupe at January Meeting MAR President's Message .................................. Dave Allin Car Council Meeting Notes ............................... Dave Allin Information on the Anniversary Party .................. Rita Gongora Images of the Tri-State Web Page .................... Tarmo and Tami McScellaneous Ramblings Mike McGowan - The Good Old Days ... AIRHORN Spring Equinox Earliest This Year ....... contributed by Larry Blair Identify Parts ................ Charlie Biddle - Chicagoland AIRHORN Twenty Years Ago Today (Newsletter Production) ......... Jim Pittman COVER Snow Covers Sandia Mountain -- 1965 Monza Coupe APR President's Message: CNM and COVID-19 ................ Dave Allin President's Message: The 2020 Tri-State ................. Dave Allin March Board Meeting ...................... CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 Our English Cousin ...................................... Dave Allin CNM 46th Anniversary Party ........................... Heula Pittman Bill Darcy Corvair Photos .............................. Vickie Hall This Never Happened (Birthday Cards) ................. Heula Pittman COVER On an Econorun to Madrid in April 2006 COVER Wendell Walker and Bill Reider on the Econorun MAY President's Message .................................. Dave Allin The Road to Lakewood (Corvair Models) ................... Dave Allin April Meetings ........................... CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 Corvairs in the Time of Coronavirus ..... Thanks to Contributions by Lee Reider, Vickie Hall, David Neale, and some help from the Editor Lost Memories of the Spanish Flu ....................... Jim Pittman Corvair Activities from Facebook ........................ Tarmo Sutt Twenty Years Ago: Due South: Tour Report ....... Elizabeth Domzalski COVER It was Twenty Years Ago: Saturday April 15th, 2000 COVER Steve's 1966 Corsa: Pecan orchard, Las Cruces, 2000 JUN President's Message .................................. Dave Allin My First Corvair ........................................ Dave Allin May Meetings ............................. CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 Memorial Day Tribute to John Wiker and Bill Reider .......... Editor Corvairs in the Time of Coronavirus ................. Other Chapters Funny Reflections on the Virus ..................... Brenda Stickler Photos of Vickie's New Corvair ......................... Vickie Hall Help Identify an Albuquerque 1964 900 ................ David Huntoon Reprints from 2000 - Report of the 2000 Tri-State ..... Dennis Pleau Other News from Twenty Years Ago ....................... CNM Members Fifty Years Ago - Student Riots ........................ Jim Pittman COVER Corvairs gather at the Veterans' Memorial in Albuquerque COVER Larry Blair conducted the ceremony of Tribute to Bill and John JUL President's Message .................................. Dave Allin June Regular Meeting at Mariposa Basin Park .............. Kay Sutt Old Route 66 Cleanup, June 8th ...................... David Huntoon Fathers' Day Car Show, Edgewood ..................... David Huntoon What to do during a Pandemic Stay-at-Home? ............. Tarmo Sutt A new/used 2006 Rousch Mustang ...................... David Huntoon Coronavirus / Covic-19 Pandemic Timeline ........... New York Times Fifty years ago - I'm Glad I've Got Positraction ...... Jim Pittman Coins (Not Much Corvair Content) ...................... Jim Pittman COVER April 1968: From San Antonio, NM to Carrizozo on U.S. 380 COVER May 1967: From Anchorage to Fairbanks via Alaska Hwy One AUG President's Letter: What's Up Dave? ............... David Huntoon July Board Meeting via Zoom .............................. Kay Sutt Ran When Parked ............................ Mid-Continent Corvairs Yellow Early Racer ......................... Mid-Continent Corvairs Spot The 'Vair ................. Westwind, Los Angeles Corvair Club Trip of a Lifetime with a 1964 Monza ................. Bill Lawless Twenty-nine Years Ago: Trip to VLA .................... Jerry Goffe Thirty-nine Years Ago: Trip to VLA .................... Jim Pittman Acceleration - Keith Black ............... Submitted by Terry Price COVER Years Ago: Steve Gongora's 1966 Corsa Coupe at the VLA COVER Years Ago: Wayne Christgau's 1969 Monza Coupe at the VLA SEP President's Letter: What's Up Dave? ............... David Huntoon How to Join a Zoom Meeting ............................... Kay Sutt COVID Psychology ............................... Medical Consultant Nomination Form for October Election ........................ Board Tech: Magnesium Cooling Fan Deterioration ........... Group Corvair Presidential Ramblings .................... Travis Bolton - VairCor Twenty Years Ago: Unintended Acceleration ..................... Jim Twenty Years Ago: You Can't Always Get What You Want .......... Jim COVER Members Gather for Old Route 66 Cleanup, July 2000 OCT President's Letter: What's Up Dave? .............. David Huntoon September Board Meeting Cancelled ...................... The Board Nomination Form for October Election ................... Committee Our Newest Members ................................ Heula & Vickie Mustang Story ...................................... David Huntoon Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman ............. Movie Review Back Home in Oklahoma ................................. Dave Allin TECH: Oversteer ..................... Mike McGowan CHICAGO AIRHORN Twenty Years Ago: Campout: August 4-5-6, 2000 ...... Steve Gongora Twenty Years Ago: Saving Another Corvair ........... Richard Finch COVER David Huntoon's "New" 2006 Rousch Mustang NOV President's Letter: What's Up Dave? .............. David Huntoon October 21st Board Meeting ............................. Cancelled Photos from October Meeting ........................ Steve & Tarmo Photos from Military Museum ........................ Steve Gongora TECH: Corvair Engines: Interference or Not? .... Maryland Corvairs Nine Years Ago: October Picnic ............. From 2011 Newsletters The COVID Pandemic ...................................... Comments Old Car Parade - Spot the 'Vair .......... Long Beach, Mississippi Our Fall Picnic at Elena Gallegos ................. September 2011 COVER Corvairs at Elena Gallegos Picnic Area DEC President's Letter: What's Up Dave? .............. David Huntoon Secretary's Report for November ......................... Kay Sutt Reminder About Birthday Cards ...................... Heula Pittman Thoughts on a Spam Email .......................... Gordon Johnson Is Fuel Stabilizer Actually Hurting Your Car? .. Pennsylvania Club Corvair Carburetor Identification .............. Pennsylvania Club Articles on Corvair Shifters ......................... Jim Pittman TECH: Adjust Late Shifter ......... ENCHANTED CORVAIRS, March 2010 TECH: Shift Tube Alignment .......... THE REAR VIEW, February 1985 Index to 2020 Articles .................................... Editor COVER Shifter Show-and-Tell at the February 2003 Meeting .. Editor ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== ======~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~=====~====== 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=