This page contains material from the October 2001 newsletter.

EDITOR: Jim Pittman Albuquerque NM 87112 NEXT MEETING: Wednesday October 3rd, 7:30 PM Galles Chevrolet, Lomas & University THIS MONTH: Dues Due Sylvan Zuercher September Meeting Notes Chuck Vertrees September Board Notes Chuck Vertrees Driver's Seat Hurley Wilvert For Sale, Trade or Wanted Everybody Calendar of Coming Events Everybody Seven Years Ago Jim Pittman Thanks to Swap Meet Workers Mark Martinek Fix FC Throttle Cables Del Patten Dummy of the Month Dennis Pleau Dummy of the Month A-Nony-Mousse Dummy of the Month Richard Finch The End of the World as We Know It Jim Pittman Corvairs at the State Fair Photos by the Editor Repair Thermistor Jim Eastburn (VV) The First Convention Rick Norris (VV) Headrests Mark Corbin (VV) = "The tree of liberty must from time to time be watered by the blood of patriots" -- Thomas Jefferson There is an ancient Chinese proverb - "If you are seeking revenge, start by digging two graves." Dues Expired or Due or Approaching Due: Jack Bryan 09/2001 Lee Olsen 09/2001 Del Patten 09/2001 Jon Anderson 10/2001 Jon Lovett 10/2001 Joel Nash 10/2001 John Topp 10/2001 Glen Gollrad 11/2001 John McMahan 11/2001 David Huntoon 12/2001 Walter Huntoon 12/2001 Ollie Scheflow 12/2001 Wayne Ward 12/2001 If your membership is due or has expired, please send your dues to: Wendell Walker, CNM Treasurer, 301 Utah Meadow, Rio Rancho, NM 87124 Note: the Club will mail in your National dues when you renew, but only if you send us the renewal form from CORSA Communique! CORSA's home page: http://www.corvair.org CNM's home page: http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter871 CNM's newsletters: http://www.unm.edu/~casa Members at September Meeting. = SEPTEMBER MEETING NOTES Chuck Vertrees The meeting was called to order on 9/5/01 at 19:40 at Galles Chevrolet. The minutes of the last meeting were approved as printed in the newsletter. Treasurer Wendell Walker reported that CNM had $432.16 in the checking account and $5,070.86 in the money market account for a total net of $5,503.02. Sylvan Zuercher introduced new members John Stichman and Steve Johnson. Opal Zuercher had a stroke about two weeks ago. She is home and has recovered about 95%, and it will probably take 3 to 6 months for a full recovery. Ruth Boydston says her speech is just fine and they spend a lot of time talking. Hurley Wilvert says we need to thank Ruth for using her cabin and grounds for the campout. We should also thank Debbie and Ron Deck for their planning and efforts to make the campout a success. The rain dampened most of their efforts. It was suggested that next year we could have our campout in June instead of in the midst of our annual monsoon season. Ruth said not to worry about all the mud we churned up getting our cars out of her back yard and drive. She said the grass has grown back and needs to be mowed. We still should see if we can find a load of gravel for her. Robert Gold reminded us of the State Fair Car Show on Sunday 9/23. We will meet at 0700 at the Furr's on San Pedro and Central and go in together. Probably we will not have to pay if we go in as a group. We are expected to stay until 1600. The Classic Chevy Club will also be on display. Robert said he only received about one third of his ribbons but he has them all now. Mark Martinek announced that there will be a car show at the Veterans Home in Truth or Consequences on November 10th. This will be held to raise money for the many New Mexico veterans living in the home. See the Car Council report for more details. Hurley mentioned that October 2nd is national "Drive YOUR Corvair" day. Everyone should use one of their Corvairs for their daily driving. Tickets for the Farmington car raffle were on hand. They are $5.00 each. This is for a 1964 Corvair and the drawing will be on October 7th at their Car Show. Ruth Boydston announced that Dennis and Debbie Pleau will be in town on the 19th of October and that she though it would be nice to get together for dinner with them. This is a Friday night. El Pinto was suggested and a sheet was circulated for those that were interested to sign up. (For the new members who don't know who Debbie and Dennis are, Dennis was president of CNM and Debbie was the convention chairwoman when we sponsored the International Convention. They were both very active in CNM. They have moved to Colorado Springs.) Mark Martinek announced that the Museum Car Show in 2002 will be on May 5th. This will help avoid conflict with the Tri-State meeting. He also needs more help on the gate at the Car Council Swap Meet. Sylvan Zuercher announced the slate of officers for the coming year. Nominations are: Robert Gold for President, Larry Blair for Vice-President, Wendell Walker for Treasurer and Chuck Vertrees for Secretary. Members are reminded that nominations from the floor may also be made in October before the election. This must be done with the approval of the nominee. The meeting was adjourned at 20:18 and followed by a presentation on Computers and the Internet by Jim Pittman. = SEPTEMBER BOARD MEETING Chuck Vertrees The meeting was called to order at 17:20 on 9/19/01 at House of Covers. Present were Hurley Wilvert, Wendell Walker, Mark Martinek, Jim Pittman, Sylvan Zuercher, Steve Gongora and Chuck Vertrees. The minutes of the last board meeting were approved as printed in the newsletter. Wendell reported that CNM had $530.16 in the Wells Fargo checking account, $2.00 in the Bank of the West checking account and $5,070.86 in the money market account for a total of $5,603.02. It was brought up that the Secretary of CNM received two letters from CORSA, one dated in June and the other in August. These were received together on 9/17. They were to inform us of two CORSA members who might want to join a local chapter. As it happens, these were the two new members that Sylvan introduced at the last meeting and were already CNM members before we received the mailing from CORSA. The board is going to suggest that instead of sending the letters, both Sylvan and your Secretary have E-mail. It would be more expeditious and cheaper to notify one of us this way. The subject of the driveways at Ruth's cabin was brought up. Ruth says they are all back to normal, but the board felt we should still continue to look for an inexpensive source of some gravel for them. We could have a paving party some weekend. Future events were the next items to consider. The December Christmas party is all set unless the base remains highly restricted. That will just have to wait and be seen. Possibly a positive guest list will have to be supplied. The October event will be a tour to the Shadoni bronze works as mentioned in a past newsletter. Those going can meet at the usual place: the Placitas exit on I-25 at 10:00, then we'll convoy to Santa Fe meet Tarmo Sutt. Lunch will be at Gabriel's and then on to Shadoni. November is open. We considered the car show in T or C, which was mentioned at the meeting (175 miles one way), a November 17th trip to Bosque del Apache, or a potluck dinner. It was decided to ask the membership at the October meeting which they would prefer. It was decided to check for some alternatives to El Pinto for the meeting with Debbie and Dennis Pleau. Wendell will let Jim know in time for the newsletter. The swap meet gate coverage by CNM was good. We had enough members turn out. There was discussion of the problems at the September meeting. The entrance was closed before the 19:30 meeting time. The security people are very uncooperative and seem to regard us as a nuisance to them. Does Galles still want us? The board needs to get together with Joe Trujillo and see what can be worked out. The entrance gate should stay open until 20:00 and we would plan to leave as a group at about 21:15. We need to know where a specific entrance and exit would be. Galles also has a new general manager, so we need to redirect our newsletter mailing. Robert Gold had mentioned to Hurley that new members should have more information on planned events. Old members know what is meant by a "Funkana" but new members would not. It was agreed that the Secretary would give more information when reporting on planned events. A request from Cactus Corvair Club (Phoenix) has been received about their planned raffle for the 2002 Flagstaff convention. They will raffle a 1966 convertible with auto and A.C. They want us to buy tickets in lots of 100 for $200.00 and sell them for $2.50 per ticket. A decision on this was tabled until a later date. The meeting was adjourned at 18:30. = FROM THE DRIVER'S SEAT Hurley Wilvert Next month you will have a new president and I will again be a regular member of the club. I feel privileged to have been president the past two years. Whenever things needed to be done, there was always someone there to do it, and they did. I have never been a member of an organization with so many people willing to help out. You all deserve to be proud of your club and your participation in it. Thank you all for making my terms as president enjoyable and fruitful. Our next president and other officers will be fortunate to serve with this group and I hope you all will be at the October meeting to cast your vote. The slate of candidates is elsewhere in the newsletter. If you would like to run for office or would like to nominate someone not on the slate, please come to the meeting. As this column is late, as it often is, I had to stop in the middle of preparing my '61 Monza for the State Fair Show tomorrow to get this off to Jim. Again, I thank all of you for two great years as president. - Hurley Wilvert - President = * * * * * * * * * * * * * FOR SALE, TRADE OR WANTED * * * * * * * * * * * * FOR SALE: 1962 Greenbrier -- $900.00 Call Mike Stickler 344-2039 Needs work on engine. FOR SALE: 1960 Monza coupe -- $600.00 Call Bill Reider 299-4597 Needs ground up restoration. Automatic, Radio, gas heater. Powder coated engine shrouding. Full set of '60 Monza wheel covers. Extra front & rear suspension with less that 27000 miles. Assembly & Shop Manuals for the '60 Corvair. Extra gas heater parts. FOR SALE: 1966-67 Corvair -- $1200.00 Call Bill Reider 299-4597 Automatic recently rebuilt. 110 engine with recent valve job. New black carpet needs to be installed. New black headliner needs to be installed. New black rear package area carpet needs to be installed. New black dash pad. White bucket seats in good shape, rear seats need recovering. Dual master cylinder installed. Needs battery & paint. Body straight. * * * * * CNM ADS ARE FREE TO CNM MEMBERS, $5.00 TO NON-CNM MEMBERS * * * * * ============================================================================ C O R V A I R S o f N E W M E X I C O C O M I N G E V E N T S ============================================================================ | | | | | O c t o b e r | N o v e m b e r | D e c e m b e r | | | | | | : 1 2 3 4 5 6 | : : : : 1 2 3 | : : : : : : 1 | | 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 | 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | | 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 | 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 | 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | | 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 | 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 | 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 | | 28 29 30 31 : : : | 25 26 27 28 29 30 : | 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 | | : : : : : : : | : : : : : : : | 30 31 : : : : : | ============================================================================ Tue 2nd Oct all day Today is "Drive Your Corvair Day" Wed 3rd Oct 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 6th Oct 9:00 AM Route 66 Cleanup - Ollie Scheflow Sat 13th Oct 10:00 AM Aspencade to Gabriel's and Shodoni Foundry, Tesuque. Leave from I-25 and the turn off to Placitas at 10:00. Sat 13th Oct 11:00 AM CNM Ladies - TBA Wed 17th Oct 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 19th Oct 5:30 PM Dinner with the Pleaus - Sadie's Restaurant - 6230 4th NW - see notes below! Fri 26th Oct 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Wed 7th Nov 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 10th Nov 1:00 PM CNM Ladies - TBA Fri 16th Nov 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman - EARLY ! Wed 21st Nov 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Sun 2nd Dec 11:00 AM Christmas Dinner - Kirtland AFB - Rita Gongora Wed 5th Dec 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 8th Dec 1:00 PM CNM Ladies - TBA Wed 19th Dec 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 21st Dec 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman = Sun 5th May 2002 - Albuquerque Museum / NMCCC Car Show "Cinco de Mayo" Fri-Sun 17-19 May 2002 - Tri-State Meet - Grand Junction, Colorado Wed-Sat 26-29 Jun 2002 - CORSA International Convention - Flagstaff, Arizona TBA ......... Aug 2002 - NMCCC All-Club Picnic Sadie's can't do separate checks, but they agreed that all drinks will be cash, and the menu items will be itemized so we can easily tell what we ordered. Sadie's is on 4th Street just south of Osuna. Turn east at the light at Solar NW to go right into Sadie's parking area. = SEVEN YEARS AGO IN C.N.M. Jim Pittman October 1994 Volume 20 Number 10 The introduction of the 1960 Corvair was our cover theme: a showroom with customers staring pensively into the trunk (no engine!) and the engine (no trunk!) of the revolutionary new car. There was also a drawing of a Fitch Phoenix - which few of us have ever seen. New members were David Asher of Tucson and Steve West of Las Vegas, NV. President Del ran the meeting; V-P Dennis was in Oregon. Will said the bank was keeping $1048 for us, of which $168 was earmarked for Convention expences. Bill Reider reported on the upcoming swap meet and the just-past all-club picnic. Our next meeting was to feature a pot-luck dinner and an auction of junque or possibly old treasures and was to be held at House of Covers. This year's Aspencade was to be a trip to Rancho de las Golondrinas halfway between Albuquerque and Santa Fe near I-25. And our State Fair car show replaced a Funkhana as our September event. President Del said farewell after two years in office but vowed to continue competing with Sylvan for his proper place in car shows despite the acknowledged superiority of the famed "Blue Crud" in that category. Del also contributed an article from a Lions Club publication lamenting the death of an active club member, SOMEONE ELSE, the person who actually did all the work in the club. A lesson for our times? An unsigned Dummy of the Month article described an FC transmission assembled so as to keep the backup light switch turned on at all times. This caused a big surprise when the vehicle's owner installed a backup safety beeper and it wouldn't quit beeping! Mark Martinek reported on the State Fair car show; twelve Corvairs showed up, the most cars for any club present. The CNM Exhibitor's Choice trophy vote was a tie between Mary lou's 1963 convertible and Jon Anderson's 1965 500 coupe. Debbie Pleau's VAIRS IN THE AIR report covered out patch/logo design, CORSA rules and regulations and a calendar of tasks and deadlines. Fourteen Years Ago: Vol 13 Nr 10 The October 1987 cover loudly proclaimed ELECTION! We had $701 to spend. Bert Romer reported on the upcoming swap meet; five spaces were reserved for CNM members. We planned a trip to Carlsbad to see the bats and stalactites and stalagmites. The library van was ready for sanding and all were invited to help. LeRoy conducted another fun-filled auction. Outgoing president Clayborne reviewed the accomplishments of his administration. Mark Morgan reported on freeway road rage in California. The club planned an Aspencade to the Boydston's cabin in the Pecos. Sylvan previewed the November Architecture Tour and LeRoy reported on the Christmas dinner. A tech tip noted the value of a 4-ounce tube of special Positraction lube to quiet down a noisy rear end. Twenty-one Years Ago: Vol 6 Nr 10 The October 1980 cover showed a drawing of a 1965 Corsa convertible, the star of Jim's "Autumn Rally" story which concluded in this issue. Jim used to fantasize that he'd get this story published in Road & Track magazine alongside a Peter Eagan article, but it will probably never happen. There were several tech tips in this issue. Could you really mix leaded regular with unleaded regular to get a higher octane fuel for Corvairs? Could you really change an early model from generator to alternator without a major re-wiring chore? Could you determine what metric size tire to buy from our handy tire size chart? Could you fix a broken clutch cable with our instructions? Could you believe that 1969 windshields are different from other late-model Corvair windshields? = THANK YOU, CORVAIRS OF NEW MEXICO MEMBERS Mark Martinek The attached letter of thanks was received today from the NMCCC. I wish to add my thanks to the CNM members who volunteered to work at the latest swap meet. The members who signed up were: Del Patton, David Huntoon, Steve Gongora, Jerry Goffe, Chuck Vertrees, Robert Gold, Bill Reider and Wendell Walker. If I missed anyone who showed up to work the gates I apologize. I myself had to go to work and was unable to help out at the swap meet. Once again thanks to all who helped out. Mark Martinek - CNM Representative to the NMCCC - 505 275-3271 = New Mexico Council of Car Clubs PO Box 37324 Albuquerque NM 87176 Mark Martinek NMCCC Representative Corvairs of New Mexico 10112 Pitt NE Albuquerque NM 87112 September 17, 2001 Dear Mark, The entire state of New Mexico regards the NMCCC Annual Fall Swap Meet as a tradition, and eagerly anticipates this grand gathering of Car Guys. This is not only a tradition, but also the sole fund-raising activity of the NMCCC! The Council of Car Clubs exists to support this state's numerous automotive organizations, and depends entirely on support from every club to succeed. On July 31, we organized a TEAM to accomplish the many activities associated with our annual Fall Swap Meet. A TEAM means that no one person, or one club will be charged with all the work. A Swap Meet this large requires a lot of active participation to succeed -- therefore, we are most pleased that the Corvairs of New Mexico accepted this challenge and attended to the gate for the afternoon shift on Saturday. Please thank your volunteers publicly for us. We were late in asking for your help, and we are therefore very grateful that you were able to provide the necessary volunteers. On behalf of the Council of Car Clubs, and all of the state's Car Guys, thanks to you and your Club for your help! Sincerely, Ken Halverson John Doran = TECH TIME: FC THROTTLE CABLES Del Patten I know, I know and you're right of course! What I could say in tech terms about a Corvair you could lose on the head of a pin! But I am not responsible for this one so don't blame it on me! Seems I was reading the VV stuff one day and someone mentioned they didn't have WOT (I do know what that means by the way, do you?) on their FC. So I go looking in my handy Clark's catalog and lo and behold, it looks like there are two versions of the FC throttle cable! One uses a bell crank at the transmission and a rod from there to the engine... that's the late version I think much like all the cars. The other and the one I have uses a bell crank up front under the gas pedal and then it is one long cable back to and through the firewall and then to the bell crank on the throttle cross shaft. So I start to look at the physics of the thing... and in spite of the fact that I know nothing of the various laws of physics, even I came quickly to the realization that there was no way to adjust the combination of parts to get WOT! I must be missing something, I say to myself, and so I call our resident bomb maker Mark to see what it was I missed seeing, as he also should be having a problem with WOT on his Rampside. Sure enough he does have the problem and said he hadn't found a solution, but started muttering things about solenoid operated gizmos... after he said I wasn't losing my mind, I quit listening while I was ahead! But then I got to thinking about there had to be a solution and... wait... Wendy knows all and sometimes even shares that knowledge with me! I'll ask Wendy! Well, believe it or not, he didn't believe that GM would be that stupid till he looked for himself... so then he starts muttering to himself and sure enough, he comes up with a marvelous solution! "We'll cut the pedal rod (by the way, my spare rod was shorter than the one on the GB at the time) and make it longer giving it more throw!" Now how's that for an easy solution folks? And by golly it worked! I can now virtually (and in my head too) race up the canyon going home! Well, I can if there is a tail wind... a big tail wind! So the next time you notice that your particular FC seems to be unable to open wide for cocoa puffs, drive over to Wendy's... bring your own 5/16" (or was it 3/4") bolt since he is out of them now and I am sure he'll fix you right up! Bring a cold Sam Adams with you and he might even grind the welds smooth! I think this solution will work even if you do have the late version with the bell crank on the transmission... but you might want to check with a certain retired engineer we all know and love! = Subject: DOMC From: Dennis & Debbie Pleau (dpleau@efortress.com) To: casa unm edu Cc: del.patten@plk.af.mil, lblair@albuquerque.nm.gov I almost qualified for the DOMC club today. I put a carb together without putting the cluster in. I was going to nominate myself for this exclusive club, but before I got around to it, I read Del's mindless drivel in the September issue of the Enchanted Corvairs Newsletter and decided I don't want to be in any more clubs which would have Del as a member, than I all ready do. I decided I do not qualify this time because I found the cluster laying on the bench before I installed the carb. I'm going to be much more careful in the future to make sure I don't have to join Del in this club. -- Dennis Subject: RE: DOMC Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2001 07:23:11 -0600 From: Patten Del R Civ AFRL/PKP (Del.Patten@kirtland.af.mil) To: 'Dennis & Debbie Pleau' (dpleau@efortress.com) Hey, I resemble that remark!! And don't forget that Larry Blair is the current president of the DOMC!! And I hear he is looking for a vice president, Dennis!! We may have to take up at our next meeting whether your faux paux qualifies you for DOMC membership... While Mr. Murphy usually takes care of our membership gains, we have a little-known membership clause that says anyone can nominate another for membership (little known because I am the membership chair and I just made it up!) and I think I am going to nominate you!! Of course, we will have to put your name before the membership for a vote but I don't think that will be a big problem! I think Larry and I are the only current members and we would love the company of a man like you who has demonstrated that he can get the job done!! The more the merrier!! Or in the case of the DOMC, the more the messier!! -- Del = OPEN LETTER TO "ANY-OLD-MOUSE" A-Nony-Mousse - aka "The Shadow" Dear Mr MOUTH, OOpth, excuth my lispth, MR, MOUSE, To paraphrase Lamont Cranston: Who knows what MISCHIEF lurks in the hearts of man? The SHADOW knows! Your last month's misdirected invective at a certain City Official prompts this confession since confession is purported to be good for the soul. This much maligned City Official is not the author of the article refered to in your snappy comback. I, alone, crafted that missive. To purge yourself of this indiscretion, I suggest that you arise early some morning and facing the rising sun,raise your arms and chant the following until you feel cleansed. OWAH --TAYGOO -- SIAM. In the best tradition of Mack Sennett movies, you have been hit by a CUSTARD pie. I hope that custard is one of the foods that you prefer as in the Free to a Good Home ad on page #9 of the September newsletter. I commend you on your status as CEO of the DoMC since those many MISTEAKS in repairing Corvairs have qualified you for this position. However, it is hoped that these cumulative MISTRAKES have increased your knowledge of correct proceedures by this time. I do encourage efforts to remain as CEO and to add new members to the DoMC since we all learn by sharing information about these sometimes monumental errors such as "Where is my starter?" By the way, my dictionary was "COPWRITED" in 1997 and I still try to learn something every day (I'm a slow learner) and "I still ain't chawin Terbacky Nuther". Sincerly, A-Nony-Mousse aka The Shadow = DOMC (DUMMY OF THE MONTH CLUB) APPLICATION Richard Finch I hereby do make both an honest and humble application to be inducted into Del Patten's elite club of DUMMYS. I understand that making the same dumb mistake at least twice will assure the new applicant of consideration for Del's elite club. My first dumb mistake occurred in 1976 when I owned a 1963 Corvair 95 Van. Owning the Van was not the mistake. The Van had a "Super Turbo Air 102" horsepower car engine in it because the original owner had overheated the original engine. I also overheated the 102 horsepower engine before I discovered that the thermostat doors were trapped closed by the rear engine mount sheet metal. (Actually, that was a huge mistake too.) The 102 horsepower engine was running on 4 cylinders so I decided to pull out the car engine and replace it with a good running 1961 80 horsepower van engine with the dip stick in the rear. I did a really nice job of cleaning up the 80 horsepower van engine and installing it in the van. I transferred the carburetors and ignition system off the 102 horsepower engine. And guess what? The "new" 80 horse engine that had been running on all six cylinders suddenly would only run on 4 cylinders just like the car engine that I pulled out! Well....... any dummy would immediately recognize that the reason both engines would only run on 4 cylinders had to be bad spark plug wires that I took off the first engine! Dumb, Dumb, Dumb, right Del? My second dumb mistake (only the second one in my entire life mind you) occurred when I began driving our 95 horsepower Ultra Van about three years ago. I did a very complete overhaul on the engine, including NOS pistons and cylinders, turned the crank .010" and all those good things. But the new engine would not start. No spark. So I rebuilt a used distributor of unknown origin and we drove the 95 horsepower engine for over 17,000 miles. It ran good on the highway but it was always hard to start and it always died at stop signs. I rebuilt the 1969 carburetors 3 times and it changed very little. It did not ping going up hills and it got 16 to 18 mpg which is good for a 5,000 lb. Ultra Van. I checked the dwell several times to see how the points were wearing and it always came out at 30 degrees, so I ignored the distributor as a problem. But one day this past August, I found my timing light in a packing box (we just moved 18 months ago and we are still un-packing), and I checked the timing. It was 37 degrees at 3,000 rpm, but when it idled down like at a stop light or when it was being started, the timing went to 12 degrees but suddenly dropped to 2 degrees past tdc. Every time I revved it up and then let it idle, it would do the same thing. You are surely saying to yourself by now that it was DUMB of me to not check the timing the first day we drove it 3 years ago. I still feel very dumb for driving a 5,000 pound Corvair vehicle for 3 years with a bad distributor. Let this be a lesson to ALL who drive Corvairs. Your ignition system may be the real reason that your Corvair will not blow away Mustangs anymore!!!! So , please, please mister Del, can I be admitted to your elite organization of DOMC members? But I have NEVER forgotten to put the oil filler cap back on a Corvair. That would be just too dumb for words. Richard F Finch (finchbird@juno.com) = THERMISTOR, FIXED IT (VV) From: Jim Eastburn (engine103@uswest.net) To: "virtualvairs@skiblack.com" (virtualvairs@skiblack.com) Well as you loyal readers may remember, I snapped the threaded portion off the top of my thermistor. Well after taking it to three or four instrument shops and explaining to them what it was, it was back home to see what I could do. First, I filed the remaining thread stub flush with the flat metal part at the base of the threads, put the thermistor in a drill press vice and center punched the top. Using a 1/8 drill bit began to slowly drill a hole straight down the porcelain. First thing that happened is that little silver base popped off, kinda like drilling the head off a screw. I continued down for 3/8 of an inch. With the 1/8 drill bit, you remove all of the post from the porcelain. Went to the hardware store with my modified thermistor and had the guy get me a 3/4 inch brass screw that would just fit with a bit of side wall pressure and a couple of nuts to act as jam nuts. Went to the automotive store and got some adhesive for rear window defogger repair because they say its "highly conductive" and put some of it into the drilled hole, inserted the screw and tightened. The next day I used some JB weld to bond the screw with the porcelain. Today, I used a clip to ground the thermistor to the engine block and a clip to the sending wire. Turning on the ignition and using a Bernz-o-matic, I slowly by passing the flame back and forth, heated the probe to 300 deg. let it cool and then heated it up to 400 deg. Yahoo, it works. total repair cost, 24 cents. -- Jim E. = THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT Jim Pittman I had arrived at work and was just starting up Netscape when the phone rang with the terrible news. I clicked on ABC News but the page wouldn't come up. After trying a few more sites that wouldn't come up I finally got the Daily Telegraph (London) and there was the story. The second airplane had just crashed into the World Trade Center. Soon people gathered at the television set in our conference room. During the day we came and went, watching the endless replays and the apparent absence of meaningful news. It was just like the Challenger disaster. We couldn't believe it and at the same time we believed it all too well. I changed my radio from KHFM to KUNM to listen for news bulletins and tried to get my regular work done. Every time someone called our office with a computer problem I felt like saying, Don't you know everything has changed and your little problems don't matter anymore. Two days later my old Air Force boss from 1961-1967, long retired, sent me a one-line e-mail. It was simply "What is there to say?" Well, I had digested a lot of news by then and I confidently replied as follows: 1) Ich bin ein New Yorker. 2) With all this talk about the World War II generation and the Founding Fathers being so great (and they were) and our generation being so lazy/decadent/selfish/worthless (and we are) it is truly amazing to see all the people in New York gathering to help each other out any way they can; to hear about lines of blood donors stretching around the block at every blood center in every city all around the country; to hear interviews with stranded travelers who didn't gripe about not being able to get to their destination but instead express sorrow and concern for the people who had lost their loved ones; to hear the (formerly despised) Mayor Giuliani of New York standing at the center of the spotlight, saying exactly the right words that needed to be said for every new development. Maybe under the right ("wrong") circumstances there's still a little of the World War II Great Generation left in us--maybe even a lot, if we can learn how to look for it. 3) Men on one of the hijacked airliners quietly planned how to overcome the hijackers and at least foil their plans to crash into the White House or the Capitol, even though they fully expected to die in the process. 4) There's really a good chance for "good" to win out over "bad" because the vast majority of people will support the "good", while only a small minority will support the "bad", and if the "good" will only get their act together, they will prevail in the long run. Even Nazi Germany with all its military and ideological and psychological power did not win out in the end. 5) A lot more Americans now have some small appreciation for what Israel and Palestine and Northern Ireland have been living through for years. We need something to make us realize we are all citizens of Planet Earth and this was a significant lesson. Will we learn it? 6) NATO actually invoked the clause that says an attack on one member nation is considered an attack on all, committing all to come to the assistance of the attacked nation as best they can. 7) The BBC just reported that five of the trapped fire fighters were freed, essentially unhurt, from the wreckage. They had been sitting in an SUV buried under concrete and steel rubble. Well, later Item 7 turned out to be a false rumor. There have been precious few rescued alive from the rubble. But there seem to be hundreds of amazing stories of escape and rescue before the buildings collapsed. In the eleven days since that indelible September 11th, many images, stories, rumors and opinions have come and gone via the TV screen, the web browser screen and the newspaper and magazine page. I now know a lot more about Afghanistan than I ever wanted to know. I have learned some of what I needed to know about Islam. I have tried to process some of the many lessons of History that are out there for anybody with an eye to see and an ear to hear. It is really early in this thing for any certainties to emerge, but some observations may be in order. Last Saturday ABC News had a two-hour program with Peter Jennings and a bunch of children and a few adults. The format was, the kids would ask questions, other kids or adults would supply answers and the adults would amplify or modify the answers. Many of the questions and answers reflected pockets of ignorance we all have that we need to educate ourselves about. I thought this program would be a great teaching tool for helping our kids--and us--understand what has happened and there should be an effort to get a tape of the program for use in schools. There has been a lot of effort by everybody to emphasize that the enemy is not Muslims or Arabs, but criminals who hate America and western civilization in general and want to provoke a conflict between their brand of fundamentalist religion and the rest of the world. After the umpteenth time seeing the 767 dissolve into a cloud of flame I couldn't help thinking, Now we really know what it looks like for an airplane to crash into the proverbial immovable object. And we won't ever need to see this again. Newsweek arrived full of color photographs and articles about the disaster. No doubt there is much useful insight in the articles. So far I haven't been able to read any of them. The New Yorker magazine arrived with a solid black cover. The stories seem to be excellent. I need about a week's time-out to read them. The President's speech to Congress was outstanding. Not only did George Bush rise to the occasion, saying the right things in the right way, but it was perfectly clear that the country, through our representatives, was united behind him. After years of reading about our country's war experiences, trying to understand how we got into wars, what we did in wars and how we recovered from wars, I now have some small appreciation for the way the country changed on December 7, 1941. From being isolationist and smugly aloof from other nations' conflicts, we became avenging soldiers, intent only on winning the war and destroying the enemy. We now have some sense of that unity. We are hurt, all of us, by the hurt to New York and Washington. We are ready to fight. And of course, "May God be with us" is on every lip. But wait.... The enemy say they believe in God too. We are all on a yo-yo ride, bouncing from a shock of disbelief in what we were seeing, to a sense of overwhelming awe and joy at the thought of such heroism, to a mind boggling puzzle about how to come to grips with the enemy, to a dread and fear of the conflicts that must come. Over and over the television images alternated between destruction and heroism: irrational destruction, fire fighters plunging into the wreckage, ordinary people coming together to help each other. Generosity and brotherhood overcoming fear and uncertainty was the order of the day. But when we took a break from the unrelenting news to drive up in the quiet foothills and stop at one of the picnic areas near the La Luz trailhead, what did we see but dozens of beer bottles and cans, recently scattered everywhere. What unspeakable behavior. Was this done by people who, when we have a disaster in our city, will become heroic rescuers and protectors and sharers and comforters? Why do I find it so hard to believe it could be so? Okay, we picked up as many of the bottles and cans as we could reach and hauled them down to the dumpster. Does this make us somehow morally superior to the litterers? Maybe--maybe not. We tossed the bottles in the dumpster; we carried the cans home--to be turned in for cash. After years of serious study and thought, by the age of twenty-one or so I came to a satisfactory opinion about religion--I hadn't any. In all the years since I have had no reason to change my mind. I have cynically looked askance at organized religion and at religious people as if they were simply afflicted with superstition. Well, during the last eleven days maybe I've found a spark of "religion" lurking in my psyche somewhere. It has popped up unexpectedly. Like when I heard that at the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, they played the Star Spangled Banner. It most recently came to the surface last night when I heard Willie Nelson and a platoon of Hollywood stars singing "America the Beautiful." But you know what, most people wouldn't call it Religion. They'd call it Patriotism. = PHOTOS (not shown here) A few of the cars and most of the people who brought their Corvairs to the State Fair on Sunday 23 September 2001. I did not attempt to get a list of people or cars but there must have been at least a dozen Corvairs. Perhaps we'll get a report at the October meeting. Thanks to all who came! = MEMORIES OF THE 1ST CONVENTION From: "Rick & Janet Norris" Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2001 20:56:00 -0500 Ah yes... the first Corvair Convention. I remember it well... or as well as I can from thirty years ago. My good friend Allen LaDriere and I decided to drive to Chicago for the convention after we got off work on a Thursday. After all, I was the very first, newly elected President of CORSA and I felt I should be there. It was July 22, 1971 when we set out for the Windy City. I don't remember how long it took to get there but we stopped and slept in the car which was a 1964 Spyder convert. I don't know how we did it but you would need a come-a-long to get me out if I tried it today! I remember when we arrived at Arlington Park Towers in Arlington Heights, IL we were very excited but realized we were alone as far as Corvairs went. There weren't any anywhere! We were early but as the day wore on they started to arrive in droves. From Friday evening till Saturday afternoon it was a constant flow of incoming Vairs. I remember how excited we all were. I still feel that same excitement today when I arrive at a Convention. It's funny now but back then they were hoping to get at least 200 people. CORSA membership was a shade over 400 then! This was the first time I met Richard Langworth, Tony Fiore, Woody Schwartz, and others as I missed the first organizational meeting at Richard's place months before but had been working with through the mail and on the telephone. It was an intense weekend to say the least as we had media coverage from two networks, a bunch of newspapers and several magazines. One of the guest speakers was Byron Block, one of Nader's toadys. He got heckled pretty good but nobody offered to punch him out. Believe me there were more than a few folks there that would have done so if asked. The feeling of "us verses them" was very strong. There was no in between. We had the first membership meeting at 4:00 on Saturday in the large banquet room. It broke up at 6:30 and the banquet began at 8:00. I was on the dias and I got my turn to speak but I have no idea of what I said. It must have been real important!! I remember the two Corvair films we saw were "Daring The Darien" and some commercials made for TV. The Concours got going at 10:30 Sunday morning along with the autocross at 1:30, both of which were held at the Arlington Park horse racing track parking lot. It was a good way from the hotel as we had to drive to it. The trophy presentation was at 7:00 and that was the beginning of many more wild weekends of Corvair fun! I'm excited already for the coming 30th time! If you want to see some pictures to go along with this narrative of that first event go to my web site listed below. Damn I was a handsome devil then! Rick Norris First President, CORSA 1971 E-Mail ricjan@earth1.net Web Page www.earth1.net/~ricjan = (The reference to lclc at the end is lower case larry claypool. larry isn't known for using capital letters too often.) -- Dennis Subject: Re: HEADRESTS (VV) From: Mark Corbin (airvair@richnet.net) To: "Steven J. Serenska" (sjs@banksurance.com) CC: virtualvairs@skiblack.com Sender: owner-virtualvairs@skiblack.com The interesting thing about the headrest (head restraint, as they are later called) is that every year had its own specific design, with the '69's having two distinct designs. The 1966 (bench-bucket) was essentially a long square block with a single blade post into the center of the seatback top. The '67 (Astro bucket) was a contoured pad similar to '68-9 pads EXCEPT that it was taller in height, narrower in width, and thicker in depth, AND is distinguished with a little ducktail on the lower back edge. The '68 and '69 pads are similar to one another BUT the mounting post is totally different, one to another. The '68 and earlier posts are tapered at the end, with a small "L" shaped projection on the opposite side. It was made so that it could be pulled up to the top, where the projection would act as the stop. Then it could be twisted toward the right side of the seat, and the taper would allow the projection to slip free of its catch. The head restraint would then be able to be pulled out. The 1969 instead used a straight blade and notches on the side, with a spring release on the top plate for releasing the restraint. The difference between the first design and second design '69 restraint is that the latter also includes a small bend in the blade that tips the pad forward toward the seat's passenger. It makes for a more comfortable (and safer) design. The option was available starting in 1966 and made standard at the start of the 1969 model run, even though Federal law didn't mandate it until Jan. 1. I once shot some Polaroid pics of all 5 designs, and gave copies to lclc. -Mark =end=