Our Special Edition 30th Anniversary Newsletter, March 2004.
Updated 18-Jan-2014 ==== Copyright (c) 2014 Corvairs of New Mexico
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ENCHANTED CORVAIRS SPECIAL 30TH ANNIVERSARY -- MARCH 2004
CONTENTS:
Almost Thirty Years of Newsletters .. Jim Pittman
Group Photos: 10th Anniversary ...... Bill Reider
My First Corvair .................... Jon Anderson
Why CNM is a Success ................ Ruth Boydston
Know Your New Mexico Highways ....... John Dinsdale
My First Corvair .................... Mark Domzalski
Life in the Corvair Culture ......... Anne Mae Gold
A Corvair Built for (by) Two ........ Robert Gold
CORSA-certified Corvair VW Bus ...... Robert Gold
Corvair Brightness Shines Through ... Steve Gongora
The Corsa's New Engine .............. Geoff Johnson
Friends, Romans, Countrymen! ........ Bill McClellan
Thirty Year Anniversary ............. Lee Olsen
Why a Corvair? ...................... Roger Pape
My First Corvair .................... Bill Reider
CNM at its 30th Anniversary ......... Kay Sutt
Corvairs ............................ Tarmo Sutt
How I Came to Join CNM .............. Chuck Vertrees
My First of Eight Corvairs .......... Wendell Walker
What Might Have Been ................ John Wiker
My First Car ........................ Hurley Wilvert
A.K.A. The Blue Crud ................ Sylvan Zuercher
Lies, Damned lies and Statistics .... Mark Domzalski
New Car Fever ....................... Jim Pittman
30 Years of Corvair Members ......... Membership Committee
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
THIRTY YEARS OF NEWSLETTERS (ALMOST)
Jim Pittman
The publication you are reading is the 342nd regularly published issue of CNM's
Enchanted Corvairs Newsletter. If you multiply 30 by 12 you don't get 342
months but rather 360. Where are the missing 18?
Although we celebrate our birthday with the first tentative meeting of the club
(Sunday 17 March 1974) the newsletter did not get started until months later -
the first issue was dated January 1975. Also, in the early years we didn't
always get out an issue every month. So the count is not the same as the number
of intervening months.
Mark Morgan started our newsletter and published it until he left for active
duty with the Navy. Mark established its basic style: a cover with CNM and
CORSA logos and usually a drawing or photo illustrating something from the
club. Steve Gongora and Sylvan Zuercher helped put together newsletters when
Mark was not available and didn't take credit for their work. We had one or two
editors who didn't last long, but finally Glen Thompson took over the
editorship and carried on for over a year. Glen's efforts included both
adventure stories and technical articles. Many of our early newsletters
featured excellent and entertaining articles by our faithful Los Alamos member,
Ike Meissner.
Glen eventually had to give up the editor's chores to attend to his real job.
Somehow (I no longer remember how) I agreed to take over. My first issue was
number 29 dated January/February 1978. We have had a newsletter every month
since then, as well as an "extra" March issue for our 15th anniversary in 1989.
How do I do it? I really don't know. I sometimes say it's the little guy in the
back of my head who does all the work. But much of our ability to have a
monthly newsletter is due to help from several faithful members.
At first I typed everything up on my Smith-Corona, and sometimes I'd use an IBM
Selectric which made beautiful, sharp text. Typewriters provided plenty of
opportunity for re-typing to fix errors, as well as copious use of white-out.
In those days personal computers were just a gleam in the eyes of Jobs and
Wozniac, but I came to see a home computer as something I could justify buying
to make my newsletter production go easier. In April 1980 I bought an Apple II
and a Spinwriter printer for $6000 and gradually moved newsletter production
into the age of computing. I never used Word Star or MS Word - my favorite word
processor was called SuperText and it could only hold a document of 14,639
characters in memory at one time. So, I'd make up the newsletter as a series of
three or four files. In those days there was no thought of printing graphics. I
made a master copy of the cover with CNM and CORSA logos and the club's name in
big letters, then photocopied it for each month's issue, as well as blank pages
with logos for the rest of the newsletter pages. The articles were printed on
the Spinwriter, then literally cut and pasted onto the blank forms. Any
illustrations were also pasted in.
I got in the habit of keeping each month's newsletter on one 5-1/4-inch disk
and I'd keep about five old disks from previous months. At the start of each
month's work I'd write over the oldest disk with new material, so I always had
about four previous months as backups. For some reason it did not occur to me
to keep every previous month on disk forever, so at present there are no
computer-readable newsletters older than about December 1995. (They could be
scanned in if we wanted to go to the trouble.)
While the rest of the world went to IBM PCs or Macintosh computers, I stayed
with my Apple II, enhancing it with more memory and additional disk drives. But
finally the attraction of being able to print with different fonts in many
sizes and styles became irresistible, and I upgraded to an Apple IIgs and
started using a page-layout program, GraphicWriter III. Imagine Pagemaker on a
three-inch screen running at about 1/20th speed and you'll have some idea. But,
now I could have many fonts and many sizes! The Spinwriter was now useless so I
picked up a used HP LaserJet. I am still using that LaserJet today to print
mailing labels. The $3000 Spinwriter never faltered but I ended up giving it
away. Such is the pace of computing progress.
The Apple IIgs and GraphicWriter and LaserJet worked well enough to keep me out
of the modern computer world for several more years, but in 1998 I decided I
really should get a Macintosh. The one I picked was a G3 PowerBook - the best
computer I have owned. Now I could produce the newsletter with a real page
layout program. A year later when I got a Sony digital camera it suddenly
became easy to put photos into the newsletter: both the Sony camera and the
PowerBook used 3.5" disks with JPG files. I could go to a CNM event, take
photos, pop the disk into the PowerBook and instantly show them off. Then I
could take them home and put the better photos into the newsletter.
A few years ago the internet began to take off. Suddenly everyone had a web
page! When Steve set up CNM's page I thought we really should have back issues
of the newsletter on-line. It was either send the newsletter text to Steve
every month, or set up my own page. I set up my own page, gradually installing
text versions of back issues. I added some photos, but I didn't want to use too
many graphics because of the speed hit with complex graphics for those who have
to connect via telephone.
What's the future for Enchanted Corvairs Newsletter? Well, we get several nice
newsletters from clubs that are much closer to the leading edge of technology
than I am and we can take some hints from them. Several clubs are producing
newsletters in full color. Some clubs have quit mailing paper copies of their
newsletters and are putting them on a web page in PDF format. That means you
can look at them in all their glory on your computer screen, or print your own
copy on your color printer. I feel color printing is still too slow and too
expensive, and I think PDF files would take up too much space on my web page,
as well as take too long to download by phone. Also, we still have many members
who don't have internet access. So, for now, I prefer to keep on producing the
newsletter in black & white and mail it to everyone every month. For those who
care, it's fairly easy to find information from recent back issues on-line.
As for me, maybe I can keep doing this for a few more years. When I stop to
think about it, I do take a lot of pride in the newsletter. Let's hope the
little guy in the back of my head doesn't go on strike for a while yet.
-- Jim Pittman
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
OLD CNM PHOTOS
Bill Reider
For our special 30th Anniversary Newsletter we solicited articles from our
members on a variety of topics. We hope you like the articles. We found a few
old photos. The one on this page is from an outing in 1982 or so. The photo on
page 13 is from our 10th Anniversary Party in 1984. Some of the people in the
photos are still around - how many do you recognize? Photos by Bill Reider
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
MY FIRST CORVAIR AND WHY I CHOSE IT
Jon Anderson
Back in 1981 I was in high school and just itching to have a car. I was really
looking at Mustangs, Chargers or 'Cudas. The ones available in the area where I
lived were going to require a bit of work and money, the latter something which
a high school sophomore usually doesn't have.
My family had about 19 non-running Corvairs in a junk yard behind my father's
shop. These cars had been sitting about seven years or so. At the time I really
wanted to have a car that didn't look too bad and was inexpensive.
The car I chose was a 1965 Corvair 500 coupe. This car had a 110 hp engine with
a three speed! The three speed had to go, so I found a four speed and converted
it over with all the necessary parts from a junker that we had in the yard. The
car did not run all the time and the interior was trashed by a family of mice.
I really had my work cut out for me!
This is where I began to learn about cars. My father was from the school of "If
you're going to drive it, you'll know how to fix it!" I was not pleased with
this concept. The engine in the car had had an attempted rebuild. (The heads
were on backwards.) That was about as far as the P.O. went. Six months later I
finally had it running and was driving it to school. For the time being, an old
Army blanket served well for a front seat cover. I finally had wheels!
I still have this car today. Many improvements have been made along the way to
make this car a blast to drive. It seems as though the project is never done!
Happy 30th Anniversary, Corvairs of New Mexico! - Jon Anderson
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
WHY I LIKE AND THINK CORVAIRS OF NEW MEXICO IS A SUCCESS
Ruth Boydston
I have belonged to several different clubs but none compared to Corvairs of New
Mexico. We meet each month and have a get together each month to do something
different.
I've known every member for 30 years and most all of them are my family. I see
some but not all and some are gone.
Francis said while he was selling parts, they were a great bunch and he had
never had a bad check from any. That's what makes them a good family.
Even the women get together and while stitchin' and bitchin' there's never
fighting nor complaining.
How could you not love them all? It's wonderful to be a part of them (the Club).
-- Ruth Boydston
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR NEW MEXICO HIGHWAYS?
John Dinsdale
Once or twice a year Deborah and I travel by auto to and from Mesa, Arizona. We
usually travel to Mesa from Denver in one day using the fastest possible route.
For the return trip we usually use two days and take our time. For example, in
October 2001 we took a side trip to the Gilman tunnels on NM state road 485.
Overnight stops have included Delta, Durango, Farmington, Grants, Socorro,
Santa Rosa, Las Vegas and Angel Fire.
Last March we stopped overnight in Grants. The following day our route from
Grants to Raton totaled 347 miles traveling 17 different highways. Can you
figure out our route from Grants to Raton? The answer will be given in next
month's newsletter. Hint: one NM state road was like NM 485 (not found on any
of my NM road maps). - John Dinsdale
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
MY FIRST CORVAIR
Mark Domzalski
I remember having my first ride in a Corvair in about 1964. My folks had sent
my sister and me from St. Clair Shores, MI to visit with our cousins in
Mattoon, IL during the summer of 1964. My Uncle Bob had a 1962 Greenbrier for
his clan. My first ride in a Corvair, that I remember, was that Greenbrier with
my Aunt driving my seven cousins and my sister and me out to her father's farm.
My first Corvair was a 1962 Rampside purchased in Portland, OR, before
Elizabeth and I moved to NM. I purchased the Rampside from Bob Slusher in 1992,
I think. I drove the Rampside in the Portland area and it was my transportation
to NM when I moved in September, 1993. When I first started driving it, it had
an 80HP engine with the typical 1:3.89 ratio rear end. Just prior to moving to
NM, the 80HP got sick and a 110HP was transplanted.
I drove from Oregon City, OR to Jerome, ID, to Farmington, NM to Placitas over
the Labor Day holiday in 1993. Elizabeth stayed in Oregon to sell our house and
supervise the packing for our move. The trip was pretty uneventful. The
official speed limit was still 55 and the 1:3.89 rear end did well over the
hills and mountains.
Elizabeth and our furnishings arrived the first weekend in October and we moved
into a small rental house in Rio Rancho. About six weeks later I was commuting
in the Rampside and suddenly there was a crunch and no power to the rear
wheels. The engine was running fine, but no power. I found that by moving the
truck a little, I could get some power to the back wheels and get to about 25
or 30 MPH before the rear end disengaged. I made it to our house safely.
Not knowing anything about CNM, my first call was to Bob Slusher in Portland.
Bob immediately told me to call Bill Reider and Sylvan Zuercher, whom he had
met previously. I called them both and learned that it was likely that my
spider gears had failed. Not to worry, I could order parts, but there was a CNM
get together at Dennis and Debbie Pleaus' that very weekend and Dennis probably
had a differential I could buy. I made my way to the Pleaus' that weekend and
met a bunch of CNM folks. Dennis had a complete 1:3.55 differential with a
broken transmission mounting ear. For $15 as I remember, I loaded up the diffy
and thanked folks and made my way home to start the transplant on the Rampside.
I swapped the 3.55 into the old 3.89 housing, in the process learning lots from
Sylvan about setting up differentials. After getting back on the road, the 3.55
rear end quickly became my favorite.
With that experience behind me, I made my way to the next CNM meeting and
joined CNM. The rest is history.
By the way, that Rampside lives on. A few years later, I had the opportunity to
purchase Francis Boydston's Rampside, which I did. The old Rampside sat for
quite a while. In the mean time, Steve Gongora had done much work in helping me
with upgrading the interior of my new Rampside. Steve and Rita bartered with me
and we made a deal. I installed a Boydston long block 110HP engine in that
Rampside and the net result is that my First Corvair lives on as the newest
utility/service vehicle at House of Covers. -- Mark Domzalski.
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
A LIFE IN THE CORVAIR CULTURE
Anne Mae Gold
Okay, so my husband Robert keeps telling me that I have to write an article for
the 30th Anniversary Newsletter. I have been racking my brains for a Corvair
story, but nothing really jumps out. Since I met Robert, Corvairs have been a
part of my life. On our first date, which was a double date and he didn't
drive, he asked if I had noticed the car he was driving when we met. No. I was
busy explaining baseball to a German visitor, not checking out cars. I did
realize that these Corvairs meant something to him so I had better pay
attention.
Rob bought a junkie car, obviously he had a vision that I didn't share! He
stated that he was going to sell Black Beauty (a '64 Convertible) in order to
finance the make over. I hit the roof! What! Sell that gorgeous car that I've
been riding around in like a movie starlet! I bought the car! Rob said he'd
give it to me, but I insisted that I pay him and have the title in my name.
After all, we weren't married and it was the first time I'd bought a second
car. Anyhow, I stomped through junkyards carrying a toolbox helping Rob find
parts for "Cornado" (the Corvair- Tornado Frankenstein). Later I'd cruise in
Black Beauty. What joy!
"Cornado" turned out to be a great looking car. I kept Black Beauty until I
spied the Lakewood ("Eeyore"). I made Robert buy me that car and I traded him
BB's title for the station wagon that I currently drive. I didn't notice Rob's
Corvair that first night, but I sure do notice them now. I can't really imagine
not having one. They are cute, they work well, and everyone seems to have a
story about a Corvair. Even though I'm in a parking lot, I stop and listen to
the story. My kids often give me a hard time for talking to strangers!
So it comes down to the fact that I now tease Rob that if he ever leaves me,
I'll just hang out by my Lakewood and pick up some nice man with a Corvair
story! That way I'll still have a Corvair household and Corvairs of New Mexico!
-- Anne Mae Gold
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
A CORVAIR BUILT FOR (BY) TWO
Robert Gold
As we celebrate our 30th anniversary as a car club, I found myself reflecting
on my 20+ years of club membership. Unlike many CNM members I did not have a
Corvair during my younger years. What I had was a dream that came from the
pages of Hot Rod Magazine. In the early 70's when I was living in Nashville I
read an article about the mid-engine V8 conversion of a Corvair. The car had
lots of power and great handling characteristics.
Jump forward 10 years and here I was in Albuquerque, the land of the rust free
car. So I set out to get a Corvair and turn it into the car of my dreams. Well,
after I bought my first Corvair I began to learn about the drawbacks of the
conversion, so I just stuck with the stuff the factory supplied. But I still
had that dream of the V8 monster two-seat car.
Ten years later I had the wonderful experience of meeting my true love Anne
Mae. We hit it off right away and in no time she and I were regulars at the CNM
meetings. I had told her about my V8 dream. The more I described it the more I
wanted one. Well, I still remembered the drawbacks of the mid-engine design.
But then I learned about this other design -- the Toronado conversion.
You take the monster big block engine and transaxle out of an Olds Toronado,
hack and slash and weld on a late model Corvair and you're all set. I even went
as far as to get a set of plans from Joel Nash. But alas, I am not a welder or
fabricator, so the cost of having someone else do the work for me was too much.
But, by a happy coincidence I learned about a V8 project car that was sitting
up in Rio Rancho. Anne Mae and I drove up there and $2,000 later, my project
was underway.
Well, I guess you're now asking yourself- "What's the point of this story?"
Since Jim Pittman told me I couldn't take up too much room with this tale I'll
get to the point immediately. Little did I know that what I bought was not
simply a Corvair project for myself. What I got was something that Anne Mae and
I would work on together.
I discovered when I dragged her to junk yards all over town looking for various
parts, she didn't complain. In fact she knew a fellow teacher who constructed
race cars and he was able to make the car actually work right. Between our work
on the car and the good times we had with the club -- well what can I say -- it
was true love.
So the result was I got the car and the girl - all because of Corvairs and CNM.
So as I ponder our club's anniversary I realize that this club will always be
special to my family. Thank you so much, Corvairs of New Mexico.
-- Robert Gold
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
THE WORLD'S ONLY CORSA CERTIFIED VW BUS
Robert L Gold
One of the things that has always impressed me is the variety of Corvairs owned
by CNM members. My preference has always tended toward the unusual like the 140
HP late model 500 owned by Jon Anderson and Del Patton's outrageous "Plum Crazy"
Corsa. For the most part these cars share one characteristic - they have
Chevrolet manufactured bodies.
In the mid-80's I had a chance to purchase a vehicle that took the
nontraditional a bit further. I was at Dave Langlois' shop and came across a
'74 VW bus powered by a 110 Corvair engine. The bus was for sale and it was
love at first sight. I began driving the bus everywhere, but the CNM crowd
didn't really warm to the VW idea. They lumped it into the "X" brand car
category.
This snobbery was to end in 1996 when CNM hosted one of the most successful
National CORSA Conventions ever. The host club was allowed to supply a cover
for the CORSA magazine. The great minds at CNM decided to stage a photo shoot
that would spell the word CORSA with actual Corvairs. The result was to be
photographed by Jerry Goffe from a helicopter.
On a weekend morning a mass of CNM'ers met at the old K-mart parking lot on
Lomas and under Bill Reider's expert direction began to spell out CORSA. There
was just one hitch -- the letter R was to be made up of Forward Controls.
However, we were a vehicle short. It was then that my VW went into Corvair
history. I pulled the VW into the gap and the letter was complete. The picture
was taken and there along with all the Corvairs was my VW on the cover of CORSA
magazine.
No more X car designation for my bus. It had been on the cover of the National
Corvair magazine -- the only Corvair certified VW bus in history!
-- Robert Gold
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
CNM BRIGHTNESS SHINES THROUGH
Steve Gongora
It all started with a neighbor's friend noticing my Corvair. Bill Seno said
there were some people meeting at a garage on Isleta and Bridge. It was Duncan
Puett's garage where I attended my first Corvair meeting in the summer of 1974.
Bill Seno used to be Mike Stickler's roommate. He was an innovative individual
who first saw the advantage of the having a functional spoiler on the front of
the Corvairs. He used to manufacture them from metal and sell them for other
members. I bought one, of course, and later improved it with the Garvin
Industries full ground effects front end. I installed it on my red 1965 Monza.
My $175.00 special.
The Corvair was one of the cars where innovation and updates go hand in hand. I
didn't care about originality or how it affected the value. I just enjoyed the
cars. Our founder, Pete Colburn, installed Ford Capri seats in his Corvair 500.
Jim Pittman put 14" rims on the rear to improve traction and took out the rear
seat lean-back to reduce weight and increase gas mileage. Ike Meissner was
always tinkering and finding out ways to improve the cars mechanically. Sylvan
Zuercher and Bill Reider were always tweaking the cars for better performance
and economy. Ask Bill about his trophies in the Econo-runs.
Our club is made up with an incandescently bright group of people who have
continued to keep this car on the road with their improvements and
enhancements. I, for one, have been able to use them in my cars. Electronic
ignitions, fuel pumps, link shifter kits, powder coated parts, interior
updates, and so on. Driving my Corvair is something I look forward to. There
aren't too many cars left from the sixties that can be driven on a daily basis.
The Corvair has been shining in this category, at least with me. There is
hardly a day that passes that I am not driving a Corvair.
I'm sure if you look at any CNM member's car you can find that the car has been
enhanced in some manner and most likely, it is someone in the club that was
instrumental in the idea or helped with the installation. I hope that the
suppliers will keep up with the demands of us daily drivers and continue to
offer improved engine parts to let us drive our Corvairs for years to come.
-- Steve Gongora
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
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 Larrys 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
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
FRIENDS, ROMANS, COUNTRYMEN;
THIS IS ABOUT A CORVAIR
Bill McClellan
Back about 1978 I was to retire and the Corvair bug had already bitten me; it
seemed only logical to find a run-down Corvair to fiddle with. Luckily two or
three subjects were spotted at House of Covers and on stopping were told about
my Corvair. It was parked in a young lady's yard near Anna Kaseman; so upon
giving her $150 we towed our masterpiece home. It kept us busy in our spare
time for several months.
First things first, so Sylvan did a complete engine rebuild plus the four-speed
and differential. Now in full retirement we needed new tires, windshield, paint
job and upholstery. Marian, later on, complained about the hard clutch pedal so
the transmission was replaced with an automatic powerglide.
The more time and money we spent on this 1964 500 coupe, the more we
appreciated it. The members of Corvairs of New Mexico helped me enjoy this
vehicle and were a big help in maintaining it. Marian and I felt like we were
part of the Corvair family -- and do to this day. -- Bill McClellan
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
THIRTY YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Lee Olsen
As a kid growing up in central Kansas I saw lots of cars but most were either
sedans or farm pickups. Once I got in high school I became more aware of the
cars that kids like. I never paid much attention to Corvairs because there were
so many V8 muscle cars around. It was some 30 years later that I became
familiar with Corvairs to the point of being obsessed with them.
My first car was a 1963 convertible that had been repainted a baby blue after
starting life as a white car with a red interior. The guy had taken the motor
out and had it overhauled but had never put it back in the car. I ended up
buying the car with absolutely no idea about where all the odd-looking shrouds
and pieces went on that car. As luck would have it, the old gentleman who lived
behind my shop was a retired Chevrolet mechanic who still had his 1963
Greenbrier. Mr. Todd had shop manuals and a wealth of knowledge about Corvairs.
He really liked them when they came out, although many mechanics hated to see
them come into the shop. To make a long story short, he gave me lots of
guidance and I successfully installed the engine and had it running like a
song.
As we all know, once you have a Corvair you soon have a small collection of
them, or at least a small storage shed full of parts. That first car was
purchased in 1995 and since then I have bought several parts cars and bought
and sold several running cars. I guess I am very lucky, maybe I should buy more
lotto tickets, but I found my current love, Yenko Stinger number "YS 044" in a
junk yard close to home! I have restored it to like new condition. I have sold
the 1963 after a 5 year affair to take a new convertible mistress, a 1966 Corsa
convertible. I hope to restore it in the next couple years, although it is a
running, driving car now. It shouldn't be near the job as the Yenko.
Thanks CNM and happy anniversary. -- Lee Olsen
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
WHY A CORVAIR?
Roger Pape
Recently my son (an avid stock car racer and currently restoring a '71 Mustang
Mach I, 429 Super Cobra Jet) asked why I chose to restore a Corvair. Unable to
answer his question immediately, made me do some soul-searching. Why not an
Olds 442, Chevelle SS or a Mustang? Even though I like lots of other cars, my
history has led me down the Corvair path.
Most of my life was spent in the cold flat lands of Nebraska. In the mid 60's I
was a married man with two small children and a weekend musician who needed a
vehicle that could accommodate my family and my band that wasn't too expensive
so I bought my first Corvair. As I recall it was a 1964 Corvair Greenbriar
window Van. After removal of the 3rd row bench seat, it served my family and my
band well for nearly 5 years. In that time, a spare fan belt was all it needed
until one New Years Eve we finished the gig to find the temp was -20 degrees.
Needless to say, the band van wouldn't start. Finding ourselves 80 miles from
home, we found a friend to push us about 15 miles until it started. The gas
heater worked good at slow speeds but was starved by the engine at higher
speeds. Cold enough to see our breath and wrapped in blankets, we finally made
it home.
As a teacher at a local business college in the 70's, one of the sales men
convinced me to buy his daughter's wrecked 1963 Corvair Monza coupe. My plan
was to build a Corvair dune buggy using only Corvair parts. The end result was
a turbocharged dune buggy using a modified VW gas tank and VW wipers and a
clutch that would not release. Lack of money, time and clutch release caused me
to put it in storage on dad's farm. At this point, I was hooked by the Corvair
bug and began looking for a Corvair convertible. Finally after about 10 years
of casual looking I found a 1964 Corvair Monza Spyder convertible. Unable to
restore it at that time, I parked it in one of dad's farm building for almost
20 years. My collection of Corvairs that didn't run began to grow until early
last year, as a winter project, my son and I rebuilt the dune buggy. Thanks to
Steve Gongora for the nice recover on the rear seat and thanks to my son for
the right flywheel to get the clutch to release. Then at Thanksgiving, while I
was in Nebraska to visit my mother, my son called to say he got my 1964
convertible Corvair running for the first time since I bought it. This was his
Christmas present to me.
I guess my answer to his original question would be; "Why not a Corvair!"
-Roger Pape
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
MY FIRST CORVAIR
By Bill Reider
I bought my first Corvair in August of 1962. It was a Monza convertible, white
with red interior and a black top. I'll bet you're wondering why I bought this
car. The family and I had been on a trip to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and I had
seen a number of ads for the new Corvair convertible on the trip and I though
that one would be a neat second car. I had always wanted a convertible and this
looked like a great way to go. At the time we had a 1959 Chevy Station Wagon.
It was great for hauling the kids around, going on location at the studio, etc.
We also had a 1953 Chevy Bel Aire coupe, which was a nice car but was getting a
little tired.
Every day I drove to the near north side of Chicago (20 miles one way) so we
really needed another reliable car. I would take the Corvair if I weren't going
on location. I drove the Corvair about eighty percent of the time. I purchased
this car from Nickey Chevrolet in Chicago. They had sponsored a few racing
teams and had quite a hi-performance department. While the car had a Powerglide
transmission, it did have some hi-performance options. It had heavy-duty
suspension, metallic brakes and a 110 hp engine. I really enjoyed driving this
car, it was fun to drive and handled like a champ.
After a about a year I figured that I would like to make it go a little faster.
My first endeavor was to put a 4-barrel on the car. I purchased a manifold from
JC Whitney and got a Carter 4 barrel carburetor from my local parts store.
After installation I worked on it for about 6 months and finally figured out
that this was not the way to go. The carburetor is just too far from the heads.
Then after doing a lot of research I got a 4 carb kit from JC Whitney. It was
the John Fitch setup. While there was the Eelco setup as well, I liked the
Fitch design better because you could leave the carb linkage in the stock
configuration. I had to change the linkage for the 4-barrel setup and it was a
pain. I traded in my 4-barrel carb and purchased 4 Corvair primary carbs. This
configuration worked great. I could get off the line quicker, got better gas
mileage and increased my top speed from 90mph to a little over 100mph. This was
true miles per hour.
Once I was in upper Michigan on location after I had installed the new setup
and though I would give it a try. In upper Michigan you could go miles and
miles without seeing anyone. I was cruising along on a two-lane highway at
about 75 and thought this would be a good place to see how fast the car would
go. I pushed down on the gas petal and let it go. The speedometer went up past
100 and was buried, but the tach showed 5000+rpm. This would indicate that we
were going at least 100+mph. After a few miles I cut it back to 75 and
continued down the road. This was on bias ply tires, and needless to say a
Corvair can get a little squirrely on those tires. Most people today don't
realize what an improvement radial tires can make. After driving on radials I
would never drive on anything else, at least for general driving. I got my
first set of radials on my 1967 convertible, but that's another story.
After working on this car and learning a great deal about Corvairs I became
really hooked on the Corvair. Over the years I tried a lot of different things
and had a lot of fun working on it.
I keep this car with the 4-barrel setup until I traded the car in on a 1967
Corvair convertible. Another great car, another great story. - Bill Reider
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
CNM AT ITS 30TH ANNIVERSARY
Kay Sutt
When Jim asked for a short comment about what the 30th anniversary of CNM means
to Tarmo and me, I spent a lot of time thinking about what to say. I thought
about all the car meets and dinners, all the cars and all the trips we've taken
with the club.
But in the final analysis what CNM means to us is: Francis & Ruth Boydston,
Mark & Elizabeth Domzalski, Wendell and Ilva Walker, Del & Kim Patten, Fred and
Brenda Edeskuty, Jerry & Sil Goffe, Michelle Goffe, Jim & Heula Pittman, Steve
& Rita Gongora, Steve & Ruth Goodman, Dennis & Debbie Pleau, Robert & Anne Mae
Gold, Bill & Lee Reider, LeRoy & Emma Rogers, Sylvan Zuercher, Mike & Brenda
Stickler, Larry & Kathy Blair, Chuck & Julia Vertrees, Bill Hector, Ike
Meissner, Mark & Mary Lou Martinek, John and Tracy McMahan, and many more
wonderful people.
Because, to us, that is really what CNM is. It's about all the friends we have
made and depended on all these years. Tarmo's and my second date was attending
a cookout with CNM in 1977, so I've known these people almost as long as I've
known my husband. Our joys and sorrows have been shared with these terrific
folks. It's not many people who can say they've had such good friends for
almost 30 years.
Cheers, and congratulations, to CNM and its members. I don't know how this
organization has become so close over the years, but I suspect we are the envy
of the rest of CORSA (and most other clubs and organizations).
I hope we can continue another 30 years, times 3, enjoying our friends,
widening our group of friends and remembering those who are no longer with us.
-- Kay Sutt - 02/14/2004
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
CORVAIRS
Tarmo Sutt
I have always loved cars. My first remembrances of car interest are looking at
Motor Trend at the grocery store while my mother was shopping. Next I remember
having myself taken to visit the new car dealers in September when the new
models came out. I was less than ten at the time. One memory that is still
clear in my mind is looking at the new Corvair rear compartment where the
engine and the spare tire shared space. I remember that this Corvair was a blue
1961 sedan.
Then as time went on, I got my first Corvair in 1973 - it was a 1965 Corsa
turbo coupe. Then came others. In 1976 I got involved with CNM and all of its
fine folks. Kay and I had our second date at a CNM event in the Sandia
mountains. This was in the spring of 1977. We then acquired a 1965 Corsa coupe
with 140 HP engine from Francis for Kay to drive.
We kept on being CNM members, going to events and arranging events. Now, years
later, we find that we have all grown up together, watched people meet, seen
our friends have families, and the families have also grown up. And most of the
club members are still together, now old friends. Yes, we meet monthly and talk
about everything, even Corvairs. These days not so many of us drive Corvairs on
a daily basis anymore, but we still love them and we tend to them.
From this great little car, came this great group of people. - Tarmo Sutt
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
HOW I CAME TO JOIN CNM
Chuck Vertrees
In 1978 I bought a 1962 Rampside from one of the pharmacists that I was working
with at University Hospital. Her husband was being transferred to the Pentagon
and they had more cars than they could drive and tow, so I bought their
Rampside.
Before that we had had two Corvairs, a 1963 coupe that was a driver for the
kids, and a 1962 Greenbrier with 80 hp and 4 speed and three seats. I made
quite a few additions to the Greenbrier, but that is another story. It was
great for hauling around a family with five kids, and we made a few long trips
in it. We finally traded it in on a 10-passenger station wagon with a big V-8
so that we could tow a camping trailer.
The Rampside had been painted shortly before I bought it and it looked pretty
good. I was using it as my daily driver to go to work at the hospital. One of
my youngest sons' friends, whose name I do not now remember, asked if he could
borrow it if he waxed it, to enter in the State Fair Corvair show.
He shined it up real nicely and took it to the Fair, and he brought me back a
first place trophy for Trucks and Vans. (I understand that it was the only
entry in that category.) Until that time I had not heard about a Corvair club
or any other car club in town. In fact, I had never been in any car club in my
life. A few months later, and I do not remember the exact date, I attended a
meeting in the basement of Ed Black's Used Car office.
I have been coming to Corvairs of New Mexico club meetings ever since. And all
because I was willing to lend out my Rampside so as to get a free wax job.
-- Chuck Vertrees
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
MY FIRST OF EIGHT CORVAIRS
Wendell Walker
The first of many Corvairs in my life was a 1962 coupe, purchased by the
Postmistress of a small town in Illinois. She allowed a 16 year old boy to
drive it into Danville, Illinois for a car wash that his school was sponsoring.
On the way he had to navigate an S-turn in the road. You put an S-turn and 16
together and you have a condition called "Roll-Over."
Enough said, I found my car, sitting at a filling station, up for an auction
sale. Bought the car for $300. The roof was smashed so far down that I couldn't
see out through the windshield, only about 5 inches above the trunk lid. "No
problem, I'll drive it home" I told the filling station owner. Besides, I
didn't have enough money to pay him a tow charge. With my head out of the
window, I managed to get the thing home. I was in the process of building a new
home and this was the first item to be moved in. Ilva (my wife) was, to say the
least, not happy. Several weeks later, after we moved in, I decided to look for
a new top. Tops were hard to find, so I cut off the old top, pulled the
windshield posts up into place, put in new glass, and decided to drive the car
to work. Well, there were no squeaks or rattles, the doors closed good, and the
car seemed to drive straight. I drove it every day until I could afford a top.
Several weeks later I found another coupe and called the insurance company. I
offered them $100 for the car (fire damage) and told them I only wanted the
top. Bought it, removed the top, towed it to a junk yard and told the owner
that he could part the car out for 50% of anything he sold. I made over $200 on
that agreement. Now for the best part. The car was so well built that it didn't
miss its top, so I replaced the top of the windshield with a convertible bow
and made the new top into a removable hard top. I set up pulleys in my garage
to lift and hold the top above the car so that I could drive it either with the
top or without. Later I made the back quarter window like a convertible so the
rain wouldn't come in, since there was no pillar support or frame around the
doors. I have only heard of one other Corvair ever having this feature. The
last time I saw the car it had had two more owners, and was sitting outside a
garage waiting to be restored. I hope it is still around.
Later I bought two more Corvair wrecks and made them into a Spyder. I sold the
completed car for $400 and bought a $25 1968 junker. I salvaged the motor and
rear end for a kit car (that I never finished) and we moved to NM with the
parts. In New Mexico I found a 1963 convertible for sale and used the motor and
other parts for this convertible. I converted the engine to 140 HP. I joined
Corvairs of New Mexico, the greatest club I have ever been in to date. You all
know the rest of the story. -- Wendy
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN, OR, IF I HAD ONLY KNOWN
John Wiker
I grew up in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. My family did not have a car
until I was about eight years old. My dad used "relative" transportation to get
back and forth to work and my mom used the public bus transportation.
What a car that first one was - a 1951 Henry J, America's first compact car,
complete with hatchback, fold down rear seat, four cylinder with overdrive and
we got about 50 miles per gallon on 25 cent a gallon gas.
As the family grew to six members, that small car could not carry all of us.
Even though seat belts were not in fashion yet, getting four kids in the rear
seat was a pain. So we grew to a 1957 Chevy Nomad station wagon, 283 V-8,
rolled leather interior, rear facing third seat. It was in this car that I took
my driver's test and passed it the first time.
In 1960 I got my first real job in a restaurant/bakeshop located two bus rides
and two hours by bus away and it cost $2 to get there. That was two hours worth
of work down the drain each way. So it was time for me to get my first
"wheels." I can't believe my dad picked out a "dream" car, not a hog or ancient
mariner. It was a 1953 Mercury two door hardtop, pale green with rolled yellow
leather interior, a see-through roof and one of those gigantic continental
spare tires on the back. Its only drawback was that is was a flat head straight
eight and was, as you know, an oil eater.
Meanwhile my mother wrecked the Nomad and we moved up to a 1961 Chevy Impala
four-door sedan. Boy did it ride great.
As I was graduating from college in 1967, my sister asked me to go car shopping
with her so she would have transportation after I left for the military. What a
bargain we found in a 1964 Corvair Monza four-door, with that special bronze
paint job and automatic lever drive.
This was my first meeting with the Corvair family that I left until the year
2000, when I got my 1966 Monza that has become a work in progress for the last
four years. Just when you think you are done, something else crops up. This
time it was a broken clutch cable in the middle of the freeway. Seems these
Corvairs have a personality of their own. Just when you are comfortable and
don't pay them much attention, they "bite" you and wake you up. But how else
are we to get a "fix" for our later years change of life. Let's face it,
everyone needs a hobby. The older we get, the more expensive our hobby becomes.
- John Wiker
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
MY FIRST CAR
Hurley Wilvert
My first car was a beautiful 1960, turquoise blue, 500 coupe, 80 hp three speed
manual shift Chevrolet Corvair. I didn't choose it, my father did. I had wanted
a car so badly in high school and now I was going to college and I needed a
car. I think I had told my father about Corvairs, the economical, not too fast,
small car that Chevrolet had just come out with, but I didn't think he would
ever buy me one. I suppose it was because we had a Chevrolet at the time, I
don't really know. I didn't know he bought it until I came home one day and it
was sitting in front of the house. I could hardly wait to drive it and when I
did it was all that I had expected and more. Even though it was only 80 hp and
a three-speed, it was GREAT!
I loved that car and drove it everywhere until one day I went to pick up a
friend. We were headed somewhere and I decided to change lanes. I failed to
notice the guy in the station wagon on the side road waiting to pull out. I
moved to the right just as he pulled out and he hit the right rear quarter
panel. My dad wouldn't believe that it was not all my fault. He had the body
damage fixed and shortly thereafter the rivets on the flywheel started to
loosen and rattle. Dad took it to the dealer who replaced the flywheel, at my
father's expense, telling him it came from "Jackrabbit" starts. How can you do
"Jackrabbit" starts with an 80 hp motor in a rear wheel drive car? Well that
was it. Dad sold the "Sports Car" and bought me a 1953 Chevrolet four-door, but
that's another story. -- Hurley Wilvert
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
A.K.A. THE BLUE CRUD
Sylvan Zuercher
Having owned, fixed up, driven, sold and parted out coupes, four-doors,
convertibles, station wagons, panel vans, Greenbriers, and Rampside Corvairs,
produced from 1960 thru 1967, there was a favorite. It was a faded light blue
110 H.P. four-speed 1964 Monza.
It was bought at a Corvair storage lot as a basket case for a non-negotiable
price for $252.00. There was a substantial dent in the right rear quarter
panel, a sagging headliner, cracked upholstery and worn carpeting. The engine
was in boxes in the trunk and on top of the folded down rear seat back. The
owner assured me the engine parts were all there. Yeah, Right! They were, but
the parts were a mixture of '63, '64 and '65 years. After a long and
frustrating time, it was built, bench tested, put on a floor jack, rolled out
of the garage onto a 3/4" plywood covering the gravel driveway and installed.
Later on I rebuilt the starter, generator, distributor, tranny, rebuilt and
upgraded the differential to a 3:55 and rebuilt a pair of '66 carbs, installed
one of Bill's bolted, balanced flywheels with pressure plate, put on shocks, a
set of brakes and put on a set of 185/80 radial tires. After all this it became
a real powerhouse workhorse.
A bolt-on hitch under the rear bumper served to tow Corvairs around
Albuquerque, from Los Alamos, Socorro, to Carrizozo, and the trunk carried
several engines to various destinations including Farmington.
There was participation in Economy Runs, Rallies, Architectural Tours, SCCA
Slaloms (a daughter won a 1st place trophy), drafting semis and a few drag
races with rumbling V-8's with jacked up rear ends.
There were times when I'd had it up to here with work problems at the shop, so
a drive out to Edgewood or Rio Puerco in my faithful blue '64 Monza would make
the sun shine again.
Fondest memories are from a 1986 Tri-State trip to Montrose, Colorado. Zipping
up U.S. 550 over the mountains was gratifying. There was a competition for the
worst looking Corvair. Our esteemed Editor once referred to my car as "clapped
out" so I figured winning was a cinch. Wrong! Second place. We both were
crushed.
We flew with joy over the mountains on the return trip until we got to Durango,
when, GASP, a generator bearing let go. I guess the Monza gave up for not
winning... Sunday afternoon and parts houses were closed. No alternative but to
press on. The bearing noise got louder and I begged, pleaded, cajoled, promised
and threatened in order to inspire the car to get me home. It did. The next
morning, the bearing was replaced. Later on I changed to an alternator.
The odometer was turned back to zero when the engine was rebuilt and after
trips to California and Montana, it read just over 100,000 miles and retirement
time came around. Dave Langlois got the still very strong engine and Mark
Domzalski got the differential which, who knows, may still be running to Los
Alamos. Other good parts were also salvaged.
With fond memories, so long, farewell, THE BLUE CRUD rides off into the sunset.
-- Sylvan Zuercher
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
LIES, DAMNED LIES AND STATISTICS
Mark Domzalski
Corvairs of New Mexico has been a Chartered Chapter of the Corvair Society of
America since 1974.
In 30 years, there have been 17 CNM Presidents. Seven have served one year,
seven have served two years and three have served three years. Who are they?
In 30 years, there have been 20 CNM Vice-Presidents. Eleven have served one
year, eight have served two years and one has served three years. Who served
three years as CNM Vice-President?
In 30 years, there have been 8 CNM Secretaries. Four have served one year, one
served two years, two served three years and one has served 19 years. I bet you
know who the long time CNM Secretary is.
In 30 years, there have been 13 CNM Treasurers. Six served one year, two served
two years, three served three years, one served five years and one has served
nine years. I bet you know the longest serving CNM Treasurer.
In 30 years, there have been 3 CNM Newsletter Editors. Two served two years and
one has served 26 years. If you don't know who our Editor Emeritus is, I'll
personally buy you a membership in another CORSA Chapter...
In 30 years, CNM has or has had 17 members who have served in multiple elected
positions including the Editor job. For CNM's first five years, the Secretary
and Treasurer were combined into one position. No CNM member has ever served
all elected positions and Editor. Only one CNM member can claim to have served
all elected positions. I know who that is, do you?
Of the Charter Officers two are currently members. Who are they?
Nine CNM members have accumulated five or more years of elected or Editor
service to CNM.
All these answers and more at the Banquet!
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
NEW CAR FEVER
Jim Pittman
Director Jerry Brown's "Good Old Days" article in the February 2004 CORSA
Communique told of looking forward to September each year to see what the new
crop of cars would look like. Boy, did that ring a bell with me. As a high
school student I was always eager to see the new cars every fall.
I learned at an early age that the family Ford was not the only kind of car
there was. On visits to Grandpa's house it was a ritual for the boys to wander
among the parked cars to look them over. Some of the aunts and uncles would
have newer cars than ours, and some even had cars that weren't Fords. These
exotic machines had to be inspected and compared. Instrument panels got a close
look. We were impressed if the speedometer indicated a higher top speed than
the one in the family car. We believed if the speedometer went to 100 MPH the
car would go 100 MPH, and if it indicated 80 the car would only do 80.
We'd look at Fords that were newer than ours with envy. We'd look at the
Chevrolets with a blend of indifference and disdain. (However, we'd secretly
admire the crank on the Chevy's vent window - the vent window on the Ford had
to be pulled open by hand.) An aunt who had a Pontiac or Oldsmobile was
obviously higher up in the economic world than we. An uncle who had a Henry J
or a DeSoto must have been some kind of far-out radical. It was impossible to
imagine one of my relatives owning a Cadillac or Lincoln. Only a banker (or the
owner of the Ice Cream plant in town) could own one of these.
One day in September 1956 my dad was doing some electrical work for the Ford
dealer. After the dealership closed down on Friday evening and we finished up
our work, the dealer invited my dad and me to the back area of the dealership
to have a look at the brand new Fords that had just come in. They wouldn't be
seen by the public until the grand opening next week. Those 1957 Fords were
sure different from last year's models! This was a thrill for me, and it must
have thrilled my dad too, because the dealer soon sold him a new 1957 Ford.
I was brought up to be a Ford man and to buy a new Ford every two years, but
when I got my 1966 Corvair everything changed. By the time I was comfortable
with my Corvair it was obvious there was never going to be another new model.
But that was okay by me because I was making minor modifications to my car to
make it even better. I began to tune out the September new car introductions.
When I saw the new cars or read about them in the car magazines, they held
little attraction for me. I knew I already had the perfect American sports car.
By 1974 when we started the Corvair Club it seemed even more clear that we had
the world's most desirable cars, and we'd better join forces with other Corvair
owners. Not only could we help each other keep our cars running forever, but we
could enjoy the company of others of like mind. When you meet someone and they
find out you are a Corvair person, you can tell instantly whether they are
positive or negative toward Corvairs. What a joy to find so many delightfully
positive people who shared our automotive philosophy!
Up until 1989 or so I found myself "frozen in time" as far as automobiles were
concerned. My 1966 Corsa was just about a perfect match for my transportation
needs. I didn't need to look longingly at the new cars every September. I just
needed keep my 1966 Corvair in good shape to have a better car than any of the
new ones that might come along. It's true that in 1989 I added a Honda Civic
to my collection or Corvairs, but even now, with comfortable, quiet, reliable
air-conditioned Honda Civics to drive around in, my Corvair is somehow exotic
and special.
There is no describing how important it has been to have the members of
Corvairs of New Mexico to share my automobile experiences and beliefs with.
To find that most of them have been great people and good friends was just
icing on the cake!
How could I not take the greatest pride in editing the newsletter, going to
board meetings, attending club events and helping support this group of people
for the last thirty years!? So I offer my sincere thanks to all of you
wonderful friends. May we keep the club going another thirty years!
- Jim Pittman
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=
COMPLETE CNM MEMBER LIST
How many members have we had during the last 30 years? Probably more than
you'd think. Here's a list. How many do you know? Did we leave anyone out?
-- Jim Pittman, Sylvan Zuercher & David Huntoon
Joy & Ben C. Abeyta
Bert Adair
Neil Alessio
Nick Alexandrow
Seth Allen
Debra & Jon Anderson
Judy & Gregg Armstrong
David Asher
Shirley & Joe Ashton
Dorian & Diana Atwater
Al Audleman
Christopher Baca
Brian Ballou
Robin Barber
Robert J. Beasley
Ken Bell
Chu Sun & Boedean Belt
Don & Alice Bennett
Tony Berbig
Kathy & Larry Blair
Brad Bobotis
Phil Boulerice
Samuel Bowe
Wil & Betty Boyd
Francis Boydston
Ruth Boydston
Debra Boylan
Tom Bozone
Mark Braddock
Norm & B.J. Brand
James F Breeden
Dennis R Brink
Sharon & Jack Bryan
Ken Burgess
Raymond Burns
Noel C Calkins
Les Campbell
Paul & Pat Campbell
Skip Cargill
Diana & Bruce Carlin
Bob Carlson
Tony Castillo
C. C. Caudle
Isidro Chavez
Roger Chavez
John Cheek
Wayne Christgau
Andy Ciupryk
Paul F Clark
Dick Cochran
Paul & Nancy Coffman
Pete Colburn
Clint Collins
Greg Corazzi
Tamara & Anthony Couture
Chris & Rick Covington
Joel Craig
Kathy Craig
Bill Davis
James D Davis
Sachiko & Willard Davis
Don DeHerder
Kurtis DePue
Robin DeVore
Debbie & Ron Deck
William Denison
Mark Deters
Sheldon Dike
Deborah & John Dinsdale
Dave Doleshaw
Elizabeth & Mark Domzalski
Darin Doucette
Rick & Jan Dragoo
Eugene Drye
Oster Drye
Mark Dzuba
Sherry & Jay Ecclestone
Brenda & Fred Edeskuty
Karl L Elsner
Kenneth Farmer
David Farrell
Gayle & Richard Finch
Bill & Sandra Finke
Fred & Lee Fish
John H Folkerts
Marilyn & Richard Foster
R Jay Fries
Tony Fuller
Kathy & Doug Gadomski
Johnnie Galassini
Frederico Garza
James Giblin
James Godlevski
Sylvia & Jerry Goffe
Angela Goguen
Alan Gold
Anne Mae & Robert Gold
Dana & Glen Gollrad
Hector Gongora
Rita & Steve Gongora
James Gould
Rick Grable
Terry Gray
Merton Grigsby
Gregory & Laura Gundzik
Mike Hacker
Dutch Harrison
Robert Harvey
Larry Haynes
Harold Hays
William, Florence Hector
Sylvia Hedrick
Bruce Hein
Robert E Herrera
Susanne & Larry Hickerson
Chuck Hollingsworth
M Dale Housley
David Huntoon
Doris & Walter Huntoon
Mike & Joan Hurst
Nicole James
Paul & Sally Jayson
Lawrence, Geraldine Jiron
Barbara & Gordon Johnson
Carl Johnson
Geoffrey Johnson
Janelle Johnson
Sally Johnson
Steve Johnson
Faye & Clint Jones
Lavell Jones
James Kamicar
Clay Keen
Jerry Kendall
Scott & Deanne Kimball
Pat & Dan King
Thomas M King
David Kirsch
Elliott "Bud" Knapp
Randall Knoblanch
Carolyn Krchmar
Brooks LaGree
David Langlois
Bill & Betty Lawless
John Lawrence
LtCol Rupert Leonard
Fran & Steve Lesher
Terry & Margi Lingle
Joseph & Mary Lite
Denis & Dee Long
O. C. Love
Kathy & Jon Lovett
H. C. "Lube" Lubert
Bob Lucas
Linda Lucero
David R Lucia
Bryan Mager
Douglas Malecki
Tom Martin
Mary Lou & Mark Martinek
John Martinez
Eric Mather
Alice & John Mattern
James R Matthews
Robert McBreen
Marian & Bill McClellan
Tom McClure
John McMahan
Tracey & John McMahan
Eric Medcalf
John Meissner
Lisa Meissner
Marlee Meissner
Greg Mewhinney
Mack & Marleen Milner
David Monroe
Tony Monti
Beryl & George Montoya
Jim Moore
Doug Morgan
Mark L Morgan
Sandy & George Morin
Jerry D Morris
Dan Moss
Donald II Myers
John Myers
Erik Myhren
Joel Nash
Jeffrey & Joan Newman
Robert Nugent
Robert & Iva O'shaunesy
Kevin Olley
Lydia & Lee Olsen
Kem & Vicki Owen
Darold Owens
Barry Oxford
Francis J Pallister
William Rona Palmer
Roger Pape
Stephen D. Parker
Bruno Parks
David Patten
Kim & Del Patten
Mickey & Billie Payne
Lee Pendras
Bob Philips
Heula & Jim Pittman
Debbie & Dennis Pleau
Toby Ponce
Bruce & Susan Porter
Dawn & Dan Post
Ernest Preciado
Terry Price
Mark Pringle
Duncan Puett
Joseph G Quintana
Steve Randock
John W Raulerson
Lee & Bill Reider
David & Tami Revor
Bill Riley
Philip Rivera
Fred & Susan Roach
Thomas Roback
Robert Robinson
Emma & LeRoy Rogers
Bert & Kristin Romer
Alicia & Monica Romero
Markus Rothmeyer
Harry Rowlands
Sal Roybal
Dean Sanborn
Milton F Sanchez
Marcus & Michelle Sanders
Robert Sapp
Col. Hal Schafer
Mary Alice, Oliver Scheflow
Jacob Schlessinger
James Scoughton
Leo Shaw
Johnny, Veronica Silva
Dwight Simmons
Danny L Simpson
Lenard B Skulley
Robert Slater
Karen, Clayborne Souza
John S Spangler
Frank Stadler
Paul & Bruce Stark
Kris & John Stichman
Brenda & Mike Stickler
John Stockman
Patricia Striebich
Leslie & Kevin Sullivan
Kay & Tarmo Sutt
G. W. Jay Thomas
Glen A Thompson
Missy Threet
John & Lynn Throne
A. G. Thul
John (Tate) Todd
John Topp
Sylvia & Ray Trujillo
Richard & Mary Twilley
Wayne Uhl
H. Ed "CH" Valerio
Peter Vallero
Jerry Vance
Val Jr Vaughn
Julia & Chuck Vertrees
Ilva & Wendell Walker
Judy & Wayne Ward
Megan & Jason Ward
Paul & Melody Wasmund
James Watson
Mike Watts
Bert Weil
Steve West
George White
Anne & John Wiker
Brenda & Hurley Wilvert
Michael Wood
John C Wyatt
Philip Wye
Ted Yachik
Fred Yuricic
Kevin Zeilman
Brian Zolna
Hilda Zouhar
Opal & Sylvan Zuercher
=CNM=30th=ANNIVERSARY=