The April 2023 newsletter - Text Version
Updated 27-Mar-2023 = Copyright (c) 2023 Corvairs of New Mexico
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April 2023 / VOLUME 49 / NUMBER 4 / ISSUE 571
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First Place, Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, 2005 & 2012
Third Place, Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, 2010
EDITOR Jim Pittman
THIS MONTH
Officers, Volunteers, Dues Due Dates ................. Committees
President's Letter ..................... President Gregory Nelson
Cover Story: Blowout ................................. Tarmo Sutt
Cover Story: Blowout .............................. David Huntoon
More Fun to Report .............. Vice President Brenda Stickler
Birthdays & Anniversaries ......................... Heula Pittman
Treasury Report ................................... Steve Gongora
In Memoriam: Geoffrey Johnson ....................... Jim Pittman
Resurrecting a '66 Corsa .......................... Geoff Johnson
The Corsa's New Engine ............................ Geoff Johnson
Dummy of the Month Club Revisited ............... Sylvan Zuercher
Register Now for the Salida Tri-State! .. Pikes Peak Corvair Club
New Maxxis 13-inch Tires for Corvairs ................ Tarmo Sutt
Calendar of Coming Events .................... Board of Directors
April Issues, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 49 Years Ago .... Club Historian
COVER An Old-fashioned Tire Blowout on I-25 near Las Vegas, NM
OFFICERS and VOLUNTEERS
President Greg Nelson 505-400-8670 fesedu @ comcast.net
Vice-President Brenda Stickler 505-856-6993 tounce66 @ msn.com
Secretary Lupe Arellanes 505-515-9897 ispeakmedicare505 @ gmail.com
Treasurer Steve Gongora 505-220-7401 stevegongora @ msn.com
Newsletter Jim Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu
Birthdays Heula Pittman 505-275-2195 heula @ q.com
Past President Pat Hall 505-620-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com
Past President Dave Allin 505-410-9668 dnjallin @ gmail.com
Past President David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 @ aol.com
MEETING: Regular Meeting -- Saturday April 1st, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe St NE, Albuquerque, NM 87108
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 April 2023
DUE LAST MONTH ================= INACTIVE DATE
2023.03 Fred & Brenda Edeskuty 25-APR-2023
2023.03 Barbara & Gordon Johnson 25-APR-2023
2023.03 Connie & Robert McBreen 25-APR-2023
2023.03 Kelli & Mark L Morgan 25-APR-2023
DUE THIS MONTH ================== INACTIVE DATE
2023.04 Deborah & John Dinsdale 25-MAY-2023
2023.04 Heula & Jim Pittman 25-MAY-2023
DUE NEXT MONTH ================= INACTIVE DATE
2023.05 Emma & LeRoy Rogers 25-JUN-2023
2023.05 Kay & Tarmo Sutt 25-JUN-2023
DUE JUN ========================= INACTIVE DATE
2023.06 ======== NONE ======== 25-JUL-2023
INACTIVE ======================== INACTIVE DATE
2022.02 Linda Soukup & Tony Berbig 25-MAR-2022
2022.07 Mike R Hughes 25-AUG-2022
Send your Dues to:
CNM Treasurer - Steve Gongora
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 25-Mar-2023 we have 41 active family memberships.
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FROM THE PRESIDENT
GREG NELSON
Trash Day Blow Out
Unfortunately, our first pickup of the year was a blow out. Literally.
I'll bet if we had on skates and used the trash bags as a sail we could have
rolled all the way to route 337. So instead, Dave, Larry and I went to the Roots
Farm Cafe for coffee and hot tea. We sat inside and chatted with the group of
regulars that Dave Huntoon knows. Fingers crossed April is not as windy.
Tri-State (or Tri-Club?) 2023
Don't forget to sign up for the convention in Salida, Colorado. The
website is: tristatecorvairs.com
I'll be able to attend this event although I'm embarrassed to admit I'll be
driving my 2018 Mazda. It gets great gas mileage and has really comfortable
seats and an engine I'm near 100% certain won't cough out on me. I'm looking
forward to seeing the Colorado club members.
Las Vegas, NM Field Trip
Several of us took a hotel and banquet hall scouting mission on Friday
March 10th. I decided to take the long way up via back roads to check out a
route as if I was to take my 1964 Corvair up to Las Vegas -- I drove my 2018
Mazda 3 on this trip. So, I headed east on Route 66 to Moriarty. North on 41
until it intersects with Highway 285. Then up to Interstate 25. Now you have to
get on the freeway for 5 miles, there are no frontage roads, and then hop off in
Glorieta and back on to the very deserted Old Las Vegas Highway. There were no
other cars on this stretch all the way to Las Vegas. If the car had any issues,
I'd be up the creek with no paddles. The trip took 3.5 hours and was actually
rather enjoyable. In Las Vegas we toured the Castaneda Hotel, the Serf Hall and
the Buffalo Hall & Cowboy Cafe where we had lunch with the Bacas. Andy Baca has
agreed to assist with advertising the car show. He's also an instructor at
Highlands University and manages the local car shows.
Trunk Rust - 1964 Corvair Update
Still sweating away (not really, it is too cold in the garage) removing
a bit of rust in the trunk. When I get about 90% of the rust removed, I'll call
it a day. Then it's a coat or two of POR15 and then the gray paint from Clark's.
I'm also slowly sanding away my painting mistake in the weatherstrip groove
around the engine. I tried a small Dremel wire wheel brush, but it spins so fast
that the whiskers were flying off all over the place. Good thing I was wearing
protective goggles, and a mask, and hearing protection.
Car Council
At the NMCCC meeting there was discussion of the Big Four Events to be
held this year. First up is the Albuquerque Museum show. Unfortunately, it's the
same weekend as our Salida Meet. Any club members not attending the meet are
encouraged to stop by the Museum car show and please take plenty of pictures.
The rest of the events are on the Council's website:
nmcarcouncil.com
CNM Anniversary Party
We celebrated our 49th anniversary with a lunch at Tomato Cafe at its
new location. We had a very good turnout. Thanks to Brenda for bringing desert
and the door prize. Dave Huntoon sat in the magic door prize chair and picked up
the prize: a container of nuts. See the nearby photo from Steve Gongora.
Cheers and see ya at the April meeting.
Gregory Nelson -- CNM President
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COVER STORY: THE BLOWOUT
DAVID HUNTOON
I decided not to drive my 1963 Monza convertible on our field trip to Las Vegas
and opted for a ride in my 2006 Rousch Mustang. It's more modern, more
comfortable, has unlimited power and can get reasonable gas mileage. The weather
prediction was for gusty high winds, not fun in any Corvair. I headed up I-25.
Somewhere beyond Santa Fe I saw a late Corvair stopped in the wide median. Was
that Tarmo?
I was in the wrong lane to stop so had to continue until I could cross over and
turn back. By the time I got there Tarmo had the car jacked up, had the
blown-out left rear tire removed and had the spare in place. All using the
original tools that came with the Corvair in 1965.
I had a portable air pump in the Mustang and we gave the spare a few more
pounds. The tires had good tread but the sidewalls of all the tires had lots of
bad cracks! No telling how old those tires were. Tarmo drove on to Las Vegas,
about 30 miles, very carefully as I followed.
After our visit to Las Vegas we got ready to leave and Tarmo thought he could
make it back okay but I planned to follow him just in case. The wind was bad all
the way back. I could see that it was really buffeting the Corvair around and we
barely got over sixty most of the way back.
Tarmo's 1965 Corsa is highly original, but it would surely take wind gusts
better with an added front spoiler. And he has to decide between finding 13-inch
tires or making the car more un-original by equipping it with 14-inch wheels.
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COVER STORY: THE BLOWOUT
TARMO SUTT
Friday March 10th, the day to go to Las Vegas. I was apprehensive about taking
the 1965 Corsa coupe, but decided to do it. I took a few extra tools and started
out on I-25. The wind was strong and gusty. I drove about 70 but slowed down due
to the gusts. I felt a particularly strong gust but then realized it was a tire
problem. I stopped at a "no crossing" area and found the left rear tire
shredded! I dug out the jack and the lug wrench. In the jack there was a big
screwdriver. I remember that in 1965, if you ordered a Corvair with wire wheel
covers you got a special big screwdriver, because the lug wrench pry handle
wouldn't remove the wire wheel covers. I jacked up the car, removed the wheel
and mounted the spare. Just then David drove up in his Mustang. With a portable
air pump we got the spare up to maybe 30 pounds. We then proceeded to Las Vegas
at modest speed.
As we were leaving I wondered if there'd be a store with a used 13-inch tire.
Probably not. David said he'd follow me back in case of further problems, but I
made it back to my dad's house okay and put the car safely in the metal building
where I have been keeping it.
On the internet I looked for 13-inch tires and found whitewall tires were
available from Maxxim. Several of our members have been happy with these tires
and I ordered a set of four. Then I thought, now that the Corsa will have new
tires, it's probably time to upgrade the wheel bearings. I have a pair of late
model wheel hubs I got from Bill Reider maybe twenty years ago. I'll change them
out and then re-pack the front bearings. Then maybe the car will be ready for
another 200,000 miles!
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MORE FUN TO REPORT TO YOU
BRENDA STICKLER
The 49th Anniversary Celebration for our club was a great gathering. We were
spoiled with an open buffet. It even had a self-serve Ice Cream bar. Our club
members enjoyed the meal together. We had festive Cup Cakes provided by CNM.
There was also our famous "Look on your chair" for the door prize sticker. The
winner was asked if he wanted to trade his door prize for something else... He
gave an Emphatic: "No Way!" All this at the Tomato Cafe!
Next month, Saturday April 8th, you will have another opportunity to eat out
with us for an 11:00 AM Brunch at Ironwood Kitchen at 5740 Night Whisper Rd NW.
The Ironwood is in Unser Plaza, near Unser Blvd and McMahon Blvd.
You are always welcome to make some suggestions on places or events you would
like to share with our club. Soon, we will start the local yearly Car Shows.
We could use some feedback on outdoor outings together. Just let me know your
suggestions. I always look forward to meeting with my CNM Club!
See you soon -- Brenda Stickler
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Happy Birthday Wishes to April CNM'ers:
Elizabeth Domzalski
Alex Johnson
Kate Johnson
Robert McBreen
Emma Rogers
Katie Trujillo
Andy Trujillo
Happy Anniversary Wishes to April CNM'ers:
Connie & Robert McBreen
Lilian & Timothy Shortle
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TREASURY REPORT FOR 02-25-2023 to 03-25-2023 ===============================================
DATE CHECK# AMOUNT PAYEE DESCRIPTION BALANCE = $ 4,580.36
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2023.02.28 2581 -$ 94.54 J.Pittman Print 35 Newsletters MAR 2023 -$ 65.51 $ 4,514.85
2023.02.28 J.Pittman 29 Stamps @.84 each -$ 24.36 $ 4,490.49
2023.02.28 J.Pittman 29 Envelopes @ .161 each -$ 4.67 $ 4,485.82
2023.03.18 2582 -$ 23.96 B.Stickler Anniversary Dessert -$ 23.96 $ 4,461.86
2023.03.22 188 +$ 25.00 Dues T.Hall 12 m CNM +$ 25.00 $ 4,486.86
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2023.04 APR NEWSLETTER ============================================ BALANCE = $ 4,486.86
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IN MEMORIAM GEOFFREY JOHNSON
JIM PITTMAN
On Tuesday March 21st Pat Hall phoned to tell me that he had visited Geoff
Johnson and he was in bad shape and might not last the night. On Wednesday Pat
phoned and said he had died that morning. We all knew Geoff was suffering from
Stage 4 cancer. Nevertheless he often visited Pat and other CNM members and
helped with several of their projects. Pat very much appreciated his visits and
his help.
When we founded the club in 1974 I lived in an apartment on Rio Grande Boulevard
about a mile from Griegos Road where Carl Johnson lived and we sometimes
visited. Carl was very active in the club but I did not get to know his family
well. Over the years Geoff and Sally grew into true "Corvair People" and were
active in the club. Geoff became an expert mechanic and probably knew as much
about Corvairs as anyone in the club. He helped many of our members with any
number of maintenance and modification projects.
As Editor I thought it appropriate to reprint articles Geoff wrote for the
newsletter in past years. On the following pages are articles Geoff contributed
that illustrate his knowledge and enthusiasm for Corvairs.
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* * Reprinted From Enchanted Corvairs Newsletter -- September 2003 * *
RESURRECTING A '66 CORSA
GEOFF JOHNSON
It sounded nuts at first and I was not really into the idea. We wanted an
autocross car. The idea was originally conceived when we had run out of car
projects. My sister's '61 was a good solid runner, and my Buick was just about
finished, and my yellow '63 was still in a long rehabilitation after its
accident. The most likely choice was a hull of a '66 Corsa that had sat
engineless and abandoned for 30 years outside of our father's house. There was
also a '64 coupe that needed a cylinder head, and a lot of work. We settled on
the Corsa since we wanted a late model to counter balance all of our EM's. It
had several things going for it, factory fast steering, factory headrests, and a
lack of rust, other that though, it was very rough.
In 1972 it had been purchased from a used car lot in Santa Fe for its engine.
The engine was pulled, and the car was headed to the scrap yard, when our dad
traded some other car parts for it. He never really seemed to have plans for it,
and it sat, and sat, and sat. I remember as a kid climbing in through the shot
out windows and playing with the shifter pretending to drive it. The New Mexico
sun took its toll on the interior, and paint whilst it sat.
In 1996, when the convention was in Albuquerque, we were thinking of thinning
out the collection, and offered it up for sale. A man from California wanted to
buy it and we pulled it around the house so he could pick it up. The main
purpose he wanted it for though was the quick steering, and we were relatively
sure he would have picked it up and stripped it. We did not want this happening
to an otherwise good body, and told the man thanks but no thanks. Later the same
prospective buyer asked again saying that he had plans to put the car together
if we would sell it to him, with its transaxle. So dad said ok, at that point
neither Sally nor I had any interest in the car so it looked like it was going.
Well thanks to our dad's lazy outlook on life, he never arranged the deal and it
never left.
On Easter Sunday of this year, I borrowed a friend's truck, rented a tow
trailer, and we set about loading the hulk up on the dolly. It took most of the
afternoon to retrieve it. First we had to excavate it from 2 feet of accumulated
crud (fencing materials, volvo parts, sports equipment...) around it. Then to
find tires that could hold it up for its 4-mile journey to my house. We got the
car home and set about cleaning out the hulk all the time wondering if we had
made a wise decision in attempting to resurrect the dead. That night I set about
rebuilding the brakes as everything was surely gone after 30 years of sitting.
Within four days the car had good brakes.
Enter another Corvair. A 1966 A/C Sedan that in 1975 someone thought it would
make a good dune buggy. This person crudely cut the front off with an
OxyAcetylene torch, after that they gave up and my dad picked up the remains for
$50. It still ran, but had loose flywheel bolts, so it sat as well. This would
be our source for a powertrain, an engine that runs and could be used until we
finish building it a perfect 140. I set to removing its powertrain, which had
roughly half an inch of dust on everything from sitting. A messy dirty job, in
cramped quarters, as the car was parked in on all sides but the one that was 1
foot away from the garage wall. Within a weekends hard work we had it out, and
moved over to our house for cleanup, and flywheel and clutch replacement. It was
a three speed so we had to find and put together a good '66+ 4-speed for it.
Then came assembly. We had a bucket of bolts and a lot of stray parts. Amazingly
the powertrain bolted together and up into place in the Corsa with relative
ease. Not a cakewalk but easier then when I put an engine in my Buick. For the
better part of a weekend we sat, slowly rounding up stuff we needed, bolting it
together and putting it in place. We did remarkably well having never worked on
a standard, or late model Corvair. Then all of a sudden, very much to our
surprise it was almost together! Got in turned the key and bam! It was alive.
Deafening, as we still had to put the muffler on, but it was running. Within
about an hour we were ready to take it around the block. Two weeks to the day
from when we brought it home it was alive! I never believed it would happen.
From there came hundreds of other things involved in resurrecting a car from a
30-year slumber. Clean, oil and grease everything that needed it. Removed 3 feet
of accumulated newspapers, TV parts, sports equipment and other assorted junk
from the interior. We replaced the hood that was dented with a good one. I put a
door of matching color on to replace the badly dented one on the passenger side.
I had to replace most of the window glass as vandals had shot it out over the
years. We put 14-inch FC rims on to have a better choice of tire sizes for
autocrossing. Within about a week of the engine first running it was approaching
roadworthiness. Getting it registered was far easier than we thought it would
be, since it had been out of the system for so long. We put in the original very
nice condition black seat out of the parts car, making the interior much better.
The Corsa dash was completely restored, and all the gauges now function, along
with the addition of two Stewart Warner Greenline gauges, one to monitor oil,
and one to keep a better eye on vacuum.
After driving it for a few weeks it popped a valve seat one Saturday night while
sitting at a stoplight. We got it home and pulled the head the next day. The
valve seat dropped because of an excessively worn guide. I put on a head with
new valve guides and N.O.S. valves. Since, it has been running and driving
beautifully, becoming my daily driver, since it is such a joy to drive. It still
needs tons of bodywork and a paint job, but that will come soon. The '63 coupe
is in line ahead of it though for bodywork, as it is almost finished being
repaired.
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* * Reprinted from the March 2004 CNM Special 30th Anniversary Newsletter * *
THE CORSA'S NEW ENGINE
GEOFF JOHNSON
My sister Sally and I have been working steadily on our '66 Corsa project. When
we got it we put a tired original 95 engine in it so it would be a functional
car and therefore we would work on it. At least to us it is very difficult to
want to put time and energy into a vehicle that we can't drive at the end of the
day. This 95 engine has never been apart, with the exception of a cylinder head
replacement. It is still smooth and powerful, but has many oil leaks and smokes
badly. Plus it just seems wrong to have a Corsa with a lesser engine in it. So
we started gathering parts for a new engine.
We actually started getting parts before even getting the car. We picked up a
new Iskenderian dual pattern cam with new failsafe cam gear for it Christmas
before last at Larry's Corvair in LA. I had also picked up a half dozen scraggly
140 heads off ebay over the past few years. We had been debating as to what to
do with our smoky 95 engine for a while. We planned on just re-ringing and
resealing it over a weekend, then driving it for a while longer, thinking
someday we will get around to building a super 140 engine for it.
Then at the Palm Springs swap meet last November we stumbled across a set of
0.040 over Forged True Yenko Singer Pistons with matched cylinders and rings
that Seth Emerson was selling. They were used but showed little wear. Ring gap,
and piston to bore clearance were in new tolerance, and the cylinders showed no
wear at all. We picked them up thinking we could swap them in the 95 and drive
it like that. But as we got back we started to realize that why don't we just
build a new engine, the proper 140 based engine we had been talking about
building, so we can go autocrossing with the Corsa.
The problem was we did not have an engine to begin with to rebuild. So we set
about building a new engine from scratch. I took the two '66+ 140 I heads I had
and we delivered them to Larry's Corvair in person on Christmas Eve. We were in
LA so we figured we could save on shipping by dropping them off. Big Mistake as
it took 12 hours to get from Palm Spring to Larry's shop and back in the awful
Christmas Eve L.A. traffic. But we got them there so rebuilding work could
begin. At the same time we picked up a complete engine seal set, and some other
small parts like new valve lifters.
We got back and went searching for a block. We found a bare low mileage block
out of a '65 110 Automatic. We found a rusty crankshaft out of a '66 engine. We
bead blasted it and the journals were not that bad. So off to Empire Engines
were it got turned 10/10 and looked like new. Only problem is it is not a
Nitrided crank, but we could not readily find one in useable shape. Maybe on the
next engine we build. We needed a set of connecting rods which we picked up from
Mike Stickler, had them rebuilt and pressed onto the pistons. The heads came
back from Larry's Corvair fully rebuilt, with new deep valve seats, bronze valve
guides, and milled combustion chambers. We had this done to set up a 0.035
compression gap for higher turbulence and better mixture burning. After
cleaning, polishing, and deshrouding the valves in the combustion chamber we
determined a final compression ratio of 9.72:1. At the same time we had the
heads shipped from Larry's we had them send us a 140 distributor core, and a set
of 140 exhaust manifolds. We have a lot of Corvair parts but few late model
parts and no extra 140 parts.
At this point the longblock is finished. We are now waiting for the powdercoated
shrouds and last little bits of carburetor linkage we need to complete the
assembly. We have scrounged parts for this engine from everywhere, and if
totalled there are probably parts from 30 different engines going into this.
What will become of the tired 95 engine? It is going to get rebuilt into a twin
turbo motor for our next project.
- Geoff Johnson
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Many years ago Sylvan and Del started a "Dummy of the Month" Club.
Revised, condensed and reprinted from Enchanted Corvairs, March 2000
"It all started with a stop at Francis Boydston's for parts
a conversation resulting in an August 1981 newsletter item.
Jim typed this for me as I had not yet started with computors."
"DUMMY OF THE MONTH" CLUB REVISITED
SYLVAN ZUERCHER
This club is open at no cost to any member who feels that confession is good for
the soul -- and informative to the timid. Presently qualified for membership is
Francis Boydston, who has owned and sold possibly 90 Corvairs since 1964 and has
worked on many others, clutch jobs being among the various repairs.
Francis recently did a clutch job on his camper pickup, but when finished the
clutch wouldn't release. Very unwelcome development! After removing the power
train and separating the transaxle, Francis discovered [have you guessed?] that
for some unknown reason the clutch disc was put in backwards! For all you
readers who haven't worked with clutches, the clutch disc is labeled on one face
"Flywheel Side" and if that side is installed facing the pressure plate instead
of the flywheel it will not work. Francis said that he obviously needs more
experience at dropping engines anyway. We had a good laugh about that.
Next month more CNM members will be added to this maybe-not-not-so-exclusive
club. Do you qualify? Let the editor know about your goofs so you too can join.
In October 1981 another member joined.
Joining charter member Francis Boydston this month is Del Patten. Del seems to
have a problem with the blower fan installation. Oil was leaking from the top of
the engine so there was only one thing to do: change the top cover gaskets. This
is a long strip-down job, then a short job to clean the gasket surfaces. With
flying elbows Del really got into the job and since evening was approaching, he
pressed on ever faster. Torque bolts on cover, replace top shroud, install carbs
and generator, get ready to tighten fan belt and --whoops-- forgot the #:?&#%!!
fan - oh nuts. Strip down everything again and install fan. Yes, he finished the
job with the help of a shop light since it was dark by this time. Del says this
was the third [?] time he forgot to install the fan after working on his engine.
Del, what's this phobia about not replacing the fan? Rather than leaving the fan
off of the engine, simply duck when it hits the fan.
In November 1981 another article:
I elected myself to the DOM and, having started this club, I made all the rules,
regulations and requirements. I call them the Three R's. This one is personal.
(It probably should have been the first one in the series, but there seemed to
be others equally worthy of membership.)
When I rewired the ignition coil and distributor cap (using new Mag wires of
course) on a factory air conditioned engine some time ago, it seemed that
something just wasn't right. After new plugs, points, rotor, condensor, cap,
timing, dwell adjustment and just about everything else, it was time for a test
drive. Out of the garage, to the street, check traffic -- go full out -- boy!
What a dog! It ran better before I worked on it. Hmmm. Turn around and nurse the
car back to the shop. Darn near had to push it back up the street. Re-check
everything -- everything seems okay. The idle still sounds a little rough
though. So go back over everything. Still can't figure what it is. The Lone
Ranger finally arrives in the form of Bill Reider who dares to suggest a crossed
wire situation. No way, Bill! When I rewire, I do it right! I lay the wires over
the top shroud, in order by length, snap the boots over the plugs and string the
wires back to the distributor. Since I am in a huury to deliver the car, Bill, a
better suggestion would be appreciated, if you please.
Well, fellow Dummys, the Lone Ranger calmly rechecked the wiring anyway. Sure
enough, number 2 and number 4 were crossed at the distributor. Well, at least I
had the right length wire on #2 and #4 spark plugs. Switching them fixed the
problem! Now if I could only find the guy who switched those wires while I
wasn't looking.
In January 1994 another short article:
Del, responding to a request for Care and Feeding Your Corvair booklet
information, wrote up his fan miscue -- from his point of view! I'm not
including it here, though.
A long hiatus ensued.
It was a long time before we had another application for membership. There were
three possible reasons: A: nobody made any boo boo's -- I don't think that is
likely. B: nobody worked on their cars -- also not very likely. And C: nobody
would admit to any goofs -- my guess is that C is the most likely scenario!
In November 1999 at last a nomination:
Finally I was able to nominate Larry Blair for membership for having screwed up
on two different procedures.
As we know, Larry is completely rebuilding a beautiful 1964 Monza Convertible.
After installing the power train, it was found that one of the rear axles would
not seat against the brake backing plate. It lacked about 3/8 of an inch of
fully seating and no amount of shoving, slamming, pounding and muttering (did
you try a great big hammer) helped. After some real dark thoughts, a 300 watt
light bulb turned on. It seems that Larry had placed a nut on one of the A-frame
studs -- to keep the backing plate from falling off. Removal of the nut solved
the problem.
Larry's second entry into our Club came when it was time to start up the Very
Carefully Crafted engine. A small oil leak was detected on top of the oil filter
adapter and oil pressure sending unit area. Due to some very sophisticated
plumbing, it was thought that it may be coming from one of the many pipe joints,
so several fittings were snugged a bit tighter. After several restarts of the
engine, the leak got progressively worse. No, it wasn't the high volume oil pump
with 50 PSI. After a thorough inspection, the leak was found to be due to the
lack of a small gasket which usually goes under the head of the oil filter bolt.
Gasket added, bolt re-torqued, engine restarted, and voila! no more oil leak.
Wrapping up:
This low membership Club is open to anyone who will come forward and state to
the club at large their MISTAKE.
One applicant went so far as to send me a note saying "Becomind a memmber of
this very excluzive Club will be verry dificult for me sinse I just don't make
any MISTEAKS." This person, one assumes, does not use a spell checker on their
computer.
Perhaps Del's short term memory ability is evident in the fact that he claims
sole membership in this club when as you can see from the above articles, he is
one of four!
Both Del and Larry make the dubious claim to the Presidency of the DOM club. But
it was started by me and and I am the one who wrote the Three R's.
Occasionally others apply for membership. Richard Finch claimed to have driven
an Ultra Van for three years before finally checking to see what was wrong with
a rebuilt distributor: it was dropping without warning from 12 degrees to TDC. A
new distributor fixed the problem.
If you think you'd qualify for our Club, write up your mistake and get it to
the editor. Or maybe to one of the members of our Club. The members of CNM want
to know!
-- Sylvan "Mountain Dew" Zuercher
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38TH TRI-STATE CORVAIR MEET -- SALIDA, COLORADO
Dates: MAY 19-20-21, 2023
Hosted by: PIKES PEAK CORVAIR CLUB
Host hotel: The Hampton Inn and Suites
Location: 785 US 50, Salida, CO 81201 -- (719) 539-7850
From: Kathy Green via PPCC-List < ppcc-list@corvair.org >;
To: Pikes Peak Corvair Club < ppcc-list@corvair.org >;
To: Rocky Mountain Corsa < rmc-list@corvair.org >
Sent: Fri, Feb 3, 2023 2:31 pm
Subject: PPCC List - Tri-State Information
Attached is a reminder with links about Tri-State. We had a flurry of
registrations after the last publicity went out, so hopefully this will
encourage some registrations. Please share with anyone you believe might be
interested. We would love it if all three clubs would include this in your next
newsletters.
** Pikes Peak Corvair Club Web Site:
https://pikespeakcorvairclub.wixsite.com/ppcc
** The Official CORVAIRS TRI-STATE Web Site:
https://TriStateCorvairs.com
Jim, thanks in advance for forwarding this on to our valued CNM members.
As I don't have access to your mailing list, I'm counting on you!
Thanks all!! -- Kathy Green -- The Spirit has a song for those who listen.
This message was sent by the PPCCs mailing list, all copyrights are the property
of the writer, please attribute properly.
This list sponsored by the Corvair Society of America, http://www.corvair.org
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NEW TIRES FOR CORVAIRS
TARMO SUTT
I should have been more concerned about the condition of the Corsa's tires
before I left for Las Vegas, and Kay even asked me about them. But I have driven
this car to Albuquerque and to club events any number of times over the years
with no problems. The tire treads all looked fine and I did not pay attention to
the sidewalls. I decided to go anyway. A blowout was just waiting to happen, and
it did! Fortunately the results were not too severe. Just good luck. And very
glad that Dave came by and stopped to help.
When I got home I looked online for 13-inch tires in a good size for Corvairs. I
found a set of tires, Maxxis, size P185/80R13 90S M+S and I ordered them. I have
not yet learned where they were made.
Four days later with no notice from the company or the shipper, there they were
in the driveway in front of the house! The cost was $540, delivered.
Apparently this is the modern way to buy tires. Find them on the internet, order
them, four days later they show up at your house.
I have been helping Pat Hall get the motor running in the sedan that I traded
him for the Loadside, and this weekend I plan to take the tires to Pat's house
where he will mount them on the original Corvair rims.
Kay says this is a lesson on the need to pay attention to the maintenance of
tires -- they don't live forever! And you can't go by the amount of tread left,
you need to keep an eye on the sidewalls. When you have several vehicles,
especially old classic Corvairs, this becomes that much more important.
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| April 2023 | May 2023 | June 2023 |
| Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa |
| 1 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 | 1 2 3 |
| 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 | 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
| 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 | 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 |
| 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 | 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 | 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 |
| 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 | 28 29 30 31 | 25 26 27 28 29 30 |
| 30 | | |
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SAT 01 APR 10:00 AM Meeting: Highland Senior Center
131 Monroe St NE, Albuquerque, NM 87108 Phone: (505) 767-5210
SAT 08 APR 11:00 AM Breakfast at Ironwood Kitchen, 5740 Night Whisper Road NW
WED 19 APR xxxxxxxx Deadline to register for the Salida Tri-State.
WED 19 APR 7:00 PM Board Meeting via Zoom
WED 26 APR 7:00 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING - FOURTH WEDNESDAYS
Manzano Mesa Senior center - 501 Elizabeth St SE
FRI 28 APR 9:00 PM Deadline for items for the May newsletter
MON 01 MAY ******* TARGET FOR PRINTING, MAILING MAY NEWSLETTER <<
============================================================================
SAT 06 MAY 10:00 AM Meeting: Highland Senior Center
131 Monroe St NE, Albuquerque, NM 87108 Phone: (505) 767-5210
WED 17 MAY 7:00 PM Board Meeting via Zoom
FRI-SAT-SUN 19-20-21 38th TRI-STATE -- SALIDA, COLORADO -- PIKES PEAK CORVAIRS
Register on the Pikes Peak web site:
https://pikespeakcorvairclub.wixsite.com/ppcc
Click: "2023 TRI-STATE"
Click: "Tri-State Hotel Registration" for accomodations
Click: "On-line Registration" to register for events, car show, banquet
SUN xx MAY xx:xx AM NMCCC / ALBUQUERQUE MUSEUM Car Show -- Albuquerque Old Town
WED 24 MAY 7:00 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING - FOURTH WEDNESDAYS
Manzano Mesa Senior center - 501 Elizabeth St SE
FRI 26 MAY 9:00 PM Deadline for items for the June newsletter
MON 29 MAY ******* TARGET FOR PRINTING, MAILING JUNE NEWSLETTER <<
============================================================================
SAT 03 JUN 10:00 AM Meeting: Highland Senior Center
131 Monroe St NE, Albuquerque, NM 87108 Phone: (505) 767-5210
WED 21 JUN 7:00 PM Board Meeting via Zoom
FRI 23 JUN 9:00 PM Deadline for items for the July newsletter
MON 26 JUN ******* TARGET FOR PRINTING, MAILING JULY NEWSLETTER <<
WED 28 JUN 7:00 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING - FOURTH WEDNESDAYS
Manzano Mesa Senior center - 501 Elizabeth St SE
============================================================================
SAT 01 JUL 10:00 AM Meeting: Highland Senior Center
TUE 04 JUL Early! Fourth of July on the Plaza in Santa Fe -- Classic Car Display
THU 08 JUL xxxxxxx Collector Car Appreciation Day - NMCCC
WED 19 JUL 7:00 PM Board Meeting via Zoom
WED 26 JUL 7:00 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING - FOURTH WEDNESDAYS
FRI 28 JUL 9:00 PM Deadline for items for the August newsletter
MON 31 JUL ******* TARGET FOR PRINTING, MAILING AUGUST NEWSLETTER <<
============================================================================
See the New Mexico Council of Car Clubs Web Site for more "NMCCC" activities
======================== http://www.nmcarcouncil.com/ ======================
SUGGESTION: A visit to the new WEATHER LAB at the Balloon Museum
SUGGESTION: A visit to the Soaring Museum in Moriarty
SUGGESTION: Activities with other clubs such as VMCCA
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SEVEN YEARS AGO [ APRIL 2023 VOL 49 Nr 4 ISSUE 571 ]
JIM PITTMAN
2016 Vol 42 Nr 4 #487
The cover: another Mark Morgan fantasy Corvair-based race car and a 1960 Fire
Chief command vehicle. Julie Primm dressed like Ralph Nader at our Anniversary
Party. Brian Blackwell updated CORSA's computer system. Larry compared a worn
and a new camshaft. Vickie & Pat invited us to lunch at their new San Antonio
N.M. ranchito. Robert Gold praised paint and body repair done by Morningstar
Collision. Vickie Hall received the Meissner Award. In honor of April First
there were 32 sentences, each one containing all 26 letters.Photos included
Tarmo's famous 1965 "Ed Black's" Sedan. Tech: speedometer cables by Christine
Kimberly of PPCC. Your editor, fearing a too-little, too-late fix for the
man-made causes of global warming, said, "I'll Say Goodbye Now."
2009 Vol 35 Nr 4 #403
The cover: Tarmo showed his Honda motorcycle. We had $3,465 in the bank. Sylvan
was recovering from heart surgery. At the Anniversary Party Heula presented the
Meissner Award to Ray Trujillo. We did more planning for the Taos Tri-State. Pat
Hall reported on our tour of The Color Works in Los Lunas. We saw paint jobs,
but we also looked at a couple of junked Corvairs in the back lot. Tech tips by
Bill Reider discussed equipping your Corvair with 14-inch wheels. He told about
an overheating Corvair that had a bad case of casting flash. Jim related his
impressions of a 1996 cleanup of Old Route 66.
2002 Vol 28 Nr 4 #319
The cover: We celebrated CNMers who have been battling trash on Old Route 66 for
years. New members: Jay Ecclestone, Mike Hacker, Geoffrey Johnson. The treasury
balance was $5,584 and the GMAC account paid 3.4%. Wendell sold new jacket
patches and license plates and we donated to the Wheels Museum. We installed a
flagpole at the Boydston cabin. Mark told us about a July "Old Route 66" car
show. The Car Council negotiated with Los Lunas to hold the annual swap meet
there. Cactus Corvair Club asked for help with the Flagstaff CORSA Convention.
Jerry asked members to take their Corvairs to the April tune-up at Old Cars
Garage. Bill edited the newest edition of his Care and Feeding book. John Wiker
invited us to a tune-up session at Del Norte High School. Anne Mae told us the
summer schedule for the CNM Ladies group. David reviewed the March Old Route 66
clean-up: 23 bags of detritus. Mark Martinek told about a trip to a Corvair
gathering in St. George, Utah in Mary Lou's 1964 convertible. Many things went
wrong, even before they left on the trip! Richard Finch told about rescuing an
Ultra Van. He provided tidbits about the design and maintenance of Ultra Vans as
compared to "ordinary" Corvairs. Del Patten wrote about our progressive dinner,
Laura Wilshire previewed the 2002 Grand Junction Tri-State, and tech tips told
how to use an Etch-a-Sketch.
1995 Vol 21 Nr 4 #235
The cover: A cartoon transcontinental railroad scene was an April Fool joke.
V.P. Bob Beasley ran our meeting. Guests were Chuck Gauna who had a 1964 sedan
and Ralph Larkin who wanted to sell a set of wire wheel covers. Will Davis
reported $1408 in the bank. Bill Reider reported on the NMCCC meeting. The Giant
Oil Company sponsored a Route 66 Festival. The August picnic was planned for the
Elks Campground. VMCCA planned a picnic at Cochiti. An audit of CNM finances was
pending. More harmonic balancer cores were needed to make a club order. We
discussed how harmonic balancers prevent fractured crankshafts. Convention
planning was going into high gear after the Dallas convention was over. Steve
had new business cards. Ollie said the Club should be involved in some public
service activity, for example, the Low Riders contributed to Toys for Tots.
Tech: The pros and cons of vapor injection. Repairing window winders. An order
for new Clark's catalogs. Larry Blair said we should ask him about his Radial
Keratotomy. He visited the president of Cactus Corvairs in Phoenix. The Arizona
folks were interested in attending our Tri-State events. Sylvan previewed our
trip to Travertine Marble Works in Belen and the Red River Rendezvous II
Tri-State in May. Many tech tips included: vapor injection, replacing a brake
cable, driving instead of storing, replacing fuel pumps, tightening loose horn
buttons, fixing erratic auto upshifts, and, finally, a toy Corvair on the back
just like those toy tanks they used to print on the inside of KIX cereal boxes.
1988 Vol 14 Nr 4 #151
The cover depicted the battleship NEW MEXICO. The ship survived kamikaze attacks
and its bell is now at the University of New Mexico. A guest was "Mark Twain" at
our March meeting. Our CORSA membership was only 50 percent. We planned to go to
Canon City for the Tri-State. Francis was putting together a group purchase of
electric fuel pumps. Tech tips told how to deal with the unpleasant smell of
leaking gasoline.
1981 Vol 7 Nr 4 # 67
The cover: our friendly dragon was in trouble for pouring honey on a police
car as an April Fool trick. We had 26 members and guests at our meeting. Robin
DeVore brought in a front suspension for a show-and-tell talk on alignment by
Jim Haskew of Beeline Safety.
FORTY-NINE YEARS AGO
On April 10th, 1974 Corvair owners met at Pete Colburn's
home. Our goal was to start a new Corvair club. We called it
Corvairs of New Mexico.
Attending were:
Francis Boydston
Pete Colburn
Rick Grable
Dale Housley
Carl Johnson
Mark Morgan
Jim Pittman
Duncan Puett
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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.
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=END=