This page contains material from the November 2001 newsletter

EDITOR: Jim Pittman Albuquerque NM 87112 NEXT MEETING: Wednesday November 7th, 7:30 PM Galles Chevrolet, Lomas & University THIS MONTH: Dues Due Sylvan Zuercher October Meeting Notes Chuck Vertrees October Board Notes Chuck Vertrees Driver's Seat Robert Gold For Sale, Trade or Wanted Everybody Calendar of Coming Events Everybody Access to Galles Robert Gold CNM Ladies Anne Mae Gold Potluck and Raffle Anne Mae Gold Christmas Dinner Party Rita Gongora Seven Years Ago Jim Pittman Dinner with the Pleaus Jim Pittman State Fair Car Show Robert Gold Route 66 Cleanup Ollie Schflow Turn Signal Problem Dale K. Dewald (VV) COVER: Two Outgoing Presidents "Lottery: the tax a fool pays for wanting something for nothing." Michael Judge -- Wall Street Journal -- 1 August 2001 Dues Expired or Due or Approaching Due: Jack Bryan 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 LeRoy Rogers 01/2002 John Wiker 01/2002 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 Cover: Mark Domzalski, former CORSA president, being congratulated by Hurley Wilvert, former CNM president. == 14th annual Festival of the Cranes November 15 - 18, 2001, Socorro, N.M. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge for a program of events call 505-835-2077 No host old car tour meet at UNM Arena 9:30 a.m. Saturday, November 17 Lunch at Socorro, San Antonio, the Refuge, or bring your own picnic. Wildlife Refuge $3 per car. Information: Jim Clements 884-7912 == OCTOBER MEETING NOTES Chuck Vertrees The meeting was called to order at 19:30 on October 3rd at Galles Chevrolet. All officers were present except for Treasurer Wendell Walker, who was in Colorado. Wendell had sent his treasurer's report to the secretary; it showed that CNM had $272.48 in the Wells Fargo account, $2.00 in Bank of the West, and $5,085.11 in the money market account for a total of $5,359.59. The minutes of the last meetings were approved as printed in the newsletter. Sylvan introduced John Mattern who joined CNM in mid-year, but had been unable to attend the meetings before. Hurley announced that Galles had requested that in the future we should come in the back way. They have promised to have the gate open at 19:15. We will see! Hurley asked how many members had driven their Corvair on "Drive Your Corvair Day." From the show of hands I guessed that it came to about 80+ percent. Sylvan said that he wanted to apologize to Larry Blair for voting him out of a job during the mayoral election. Upcoming events were the Route 66 cleanup, which was to happen on October 6th. A sign up sheet was passed around and those who would help were asked to meet at the usual place at 10:00 AM. For new members who might not know what this is, CNM has a one-mile stretch of Old Route 66 in Tijeras Canyon that we clean three times a year. It usually only takes a few hours each time, depending on how many members turn out. (This one was the first that your Secretary and Julia have missed in over two years. We were in Colorado.) Other events that were in the future were the fall Aspencade tour to Northern New Mexico, and the meeting with Dennis and Debbie Pleau at Sadie's Restaurant for dinner. The State Fair Car Show turnout was very good. There were eighteen Corvairs on hand. This was so many more than were expected that everyone did not get a ribbon as promised. Del Patton got three with his Greenbrier, but anyone who knows his Greenbrier knows that there was probably some bribery going on. The music from Massive Rock was at a very low volume this year, for which everybody and their ears were thankful. There was no November event on the calendar so the board decided to leave it up to the membership. There were three possibilities, a trip to Truth or Consequences for a car show, a trip to Bosque del Apache or a potluck dinner. Jerry Goffe said that the grounds for the show in T or C were great and we could make the Bosque on the way down or on the way back. He offered to be the guide. After some discussion, the Potluck dinner won out and that will be our November event. There will be more information later. There was a presentation of a plaque to the past President of CNM, the past President of CORSA, and our Western District Representative, Mark Domzalski. Anyone who had been a CNM and CORSA member for a long time can recognize what a great job Mark has done and can appreciate the time that he has contributed. After the meeting, Mark gave a talk about the job with CORSA and the hopes for the future. The annual election of officers was the next business. Since there were no nominations from the floor, the nominated officers were elected by acclamation. Those elected were, President, Robert Gold; Vice-president, Larry Blair; Treasurer, Wendell Walker; and Secretary, Chuck Vertrees. Jerry Goffe suggested that the first act of the new president should be to get rid of his Cardinal's baseball shirt. And with that the business meeting was adjourned at 20:00. -- Chuck == OCTOBER BOARD MEETING NOTES Chuck Vertrees The meeting was called to order on Wednesday October 17 at 17:10 at House of Covers. Present were Sylvan Zuercher, Robert Gold, Steve Gongora, Mark Martinek, Jim Pittman, Wendell Walker, John Wiker, and Chuck Vertrees. The notes of the last meeting were approved as printed in the newsletter. Treasurer Wendell Walker reported that CNM had $364.48 in the Wells Fargo checking account and $5,096.16 in the money market for a total worth of $5,460.64. (Later Wendell amended these figures to $235.27 and $5,331.43.) There was no Car Council report. OLD BUSINESS There were only six members who turned out for the cleanup of Old Route 66. This made quite a lot more work than normal for those who did make it. There were quite a few cement blocks scattered along our stretch this time. Let's be sure and have a better turnout for the spring cleanup. It was reaffirmed that the Club treasury was paying for the plaque for Mark, although quite a few board members wanted to contribute to the cost. Robert suggested that we have a raffle each meeting to help raise money for the treasury. Wendell has the tickets that have been used in past raffles. We will need to secure items to raffle and determine if the membership would be interested. No further action was taken. Wendell said that CORSA has been very slow in cashing checks that he sends them. He said that he would contact Sarah by e-mail about this. Will Davis told Sylvan that he has joined Sarah's club in Florida after she asked him to join. Will will be a good member to any club he is in. The Shidoni trip went well. The food at Gabriel's was very good and the tour of the foundry and art exibits was fantastic. Thanks to Steve and Tarmo for organizing this event. The November potluck dinner was discussed. If we had it on the first Saturday after the meeting this would make it on the 10th, which would conflict with the CNM Ladies' meeting. It was decided to have it on Saturday November 17th instead. Time will be 1800 (6:00 PM) at House of Covers. There will be more complete information elsewhere in the newsletter. NEW BUSINESS John Wiker came to the meeting to offer the board a possible alternative to our current meeting place. As everyone knows we have been having a lot of problems with Galles Chevrolet's security. John has access to the ROTC building at Del Norte High School. It is basically equivalent to a doublewide trailer with seating for 30 people, video, internet link, a VCR, it is on the ground floor and it has a snack and soda machine. It does not have a bathroom. Easy access is from San Mateo and it would be available until 2400 at night. This would give plenty of time for tech sessions. There are five speed bumps to the parking area, which is quite large. We would lose $400.00 a year from Galles and there would not be a wall that we could use to hang plaques, etc. The question is, have we lost members because of access problems at Galles. Club attendance has been down lately. The board will arrange to tour John's facility. We need to have a heart to heart talk with Galles. Steve will set up a time for some CNM officers to meet with Joe Trujillo first, and after that with the new manager at Galles. We need to solve the problems of stability and our access. We received a letter from the Car Council thanking us for our participation in the swap meet. The Car Council show at the Albuquerque Museum will be on May 5th next year. Hopefully this will solve any problem with a conflict between it and the Tri-State for that year at least. In further discussion of our schedule next year it was decided that we would move the campout to June or July and make the annual Car Council picnic one of our scheduled Club events. Rita Gongora will check on how we are to get on base at Kirtland AFB for the Christmas Brunch during this time of heightened security. Possibly we can provide a current membership list to the guards. The "Care and Feeding of Your Corvair" booklets were brought up. Lon Wall wants another 100 and Clark's wants 50 to 100. We have 32 on hand. Bill Reider wants to update the booklet before it is reprinted. He will need two to three months to update it. Sylvan will send Lon 20 right now to hold him until the new ones arrive. There was a discussion of costs and it was decided that we would send them at the same price as last time. The meeting was adjourned at 18:40 to see if we could cure Jim's fuel pump leak. -- Chuck Vertrees == FROM THE DRIVER'S SEAT Robert Gold I feel that since this is my first column as President of Corvairs of New Mexico I ought to give the club members a description of my history in terms of Corvairs. Unlike most of you I did not have a Corvair growing up. In fact in my formative years I owned a Mustang (I'm glad I saw the light and traded it off!). In the early 1970s I read an article in Hot Rod Magazine about a mid-engine V8 Corvair and that began my Corvair interest. That was when I was living in Tennessee. It wasn't until ten years later when I moved to Albuquerque that I began my search for that V8. Dave Langlois, my Corvair repair guru, suggested I stay with the normal drive train since those V8s were pretty tough on the rear end gears. So I bought a 1966 Monza and I was on my way. The main problem with my interest in Corvairs is that I wanted to own ALL of them. That has resulted in my family's current stable of seven cars that includes a 1965 Monza, a 1966 V8 Corsa, a 1964 Monza convertible, a 1961 Rampside, and the only CORSA-certified 1974 Corvair Volkswagen Bus. That Bus was part of the Club's picture that graced the cover of CORSA magazine before we hosted the National Convention. Lastly, I have to mention my wife, Anne Mae, owns her own 1961 Lakewood that she drives every day. After almost twenty years as a member of this club I felt it was time to give something back to the club for all the good times I have had. I am amazed at the variety of events that we offer to the members and it is this variety I hope to continue and enhance. As many of you know, my wife helped start up the CNM Ladies (sometimes called the stitch and bitch club) to better serve the needs of the women associated with our car club. I also want to take this time to thank the outgoing president, Hurley Wilvert, for his dedicated service to the club over the past two years. I don't think many of you realized how much effort Hurley had to put into his work as President. His "day job" had him on the road most of the time. In spite of this he was still able to fulfill his duties as president. I hope I can do the job half as well as he did. Thanks Hurley. Of course I don't want to forget the past year's Board of Directors or those individuals who oversaw the Club's many events. These are the people who make Corvairs of New Mexico the great club it is. So as I look forward to the next year I want to encourage you all to help the newly elected officers and me in providing the activities and technical support that will benefit all our members. -- Robert Gold == * * * * * * * * * * * * FOR SALE, TRADE OR WANTED * * * * * * * * * * * * * RADIO INSTALLED: Where to go? John L Matten WANTED: Rocker panels. John L Matten FOR SALE: 1962 Greenbrier. 140-HP and 4-speed. $1500. Mike Stickler 344-2039 FOR SALE: 1960 Monza coupe -- $650.00 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 suspicion with less that 27000 miles. Assembly & Shop Manuals for the '60 Corvair. Extra gas heater parts. FOR SALE: 1966-67 Corvair -- $1250.00 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 ============================================================================ | | | | | N o v e m b e r | D e c e m b e r | J a n u a r y | | | | | | : : : : 1 2 3 | : : : : : : 1 | : : 1 2 3 4 5 | | 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | | 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 | 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 | | 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 | 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 | 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 | | 25 26 27 28 29 30 : | 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 | 27 28 29 30 31 : : | | : : : : : : : | 30 31 : : 2 0 0 1 | : : : : 2 0 0 2 | ============================================================================ Wed 7th Nov 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 10th Nov 1:00 PM CNM Ladies - at the Golds' - 1301 Valencia Dr NE Thu 15th Nov 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman - EARLY ! Sat 17th Nov 6:00 PM Pot Luck Dinner - House of Covers - Details below Wed 21st Nov 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Sun 2nd Dec 10:45 AM Christmas Dinner - Kirtland AFB - Rita Gongora Wed 5th Dec 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Wed 19th Dec 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 21st Dec 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Wed 2nd Jan 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 12th Jan 11:00 AM CNM Ladies - Mary Lou Martinek's Wed 16th Jan 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 24th Jan 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman - Christmas Eve? = 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 = =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= == Access to Galles Chevrolet for the November Meeting -- Robert Gold As many of you are aware we have had problems entering the Galles Chevrolet grounds for our last several monthly meetings. It seems that a particular security person for Galles has not been receptive to our presence. Because of this, several members have had to park outside of Galles and walk some distance to the meeting room. Steve Gongora and I have talked to Joe Trujillo about this matter. Joe is quite concerned about this problem and has talked to the Galles security people about it. The result is that we should have clear sailing into the lot for the November meeting. The plan is to have the back gate open and available for our entrance from 7:00 to 7:45 pm. This should allow all those attending our meeting to park on the Galles grounds. It has been requested that we plan to exit the grounds at approximately the same time after the conclusion of the meeting. Hopefully this will solve our access problems. Please give me a call if you have any questions. Thanks -- Robert Gold - email: beisbol30@aol.com -- phone: 505-830-7930 == CNM LADIES -- Anne Mae Gold Hello to all the Corvair Ladies! The family and I just got back from the Aspencade to Tesuque. What a great experience! Many thanks to those who pulled that together; I know it's good when my kids are excited about it! Well, we haven't met for a while now. September saw most of us at the State Fair Car Show, October has us in Tesuque, November... how about we get together at my home! Mark it down now! Don't let another moment pass, pencil it in on your calendar NOW! Saturday, Nov. 10, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, at 1301 Valencia Dr NE. Call me at 268-6878 if you need directions. Bring a project you're working on, good conversation and your little bodies on over. December we will not meet due to the Christmas Brunch, and January we will meet at Mary Lou Martinek's home. Mary Lou, let me know if the second Saturday, January 12, is clear for you. As always, I'd like to extend an invitation to all of the female members of the Corvair Club to join us in a fun afternoon. I look forward to seeing you all in my home again! -- Anne Mae == POT LUCK AND RAFFLE IN NOVEMBER Anne Mae Gold The Corvair Club will be having a potluck on Saturday, November 17, 2001. Come on down to the House Of Covers (115 Richmond NE) at 6:00 pm. Please bring a hot or cold dish. Plates, cups, napkins and cutlery wil be provided for you. You will need to bring your own choice of drink, although Steve and Rita do have a soda machine at HOC where you can purchase a nice cold drink. We'd also like to have an auction that evening, so if you have a "white elephant" you'd like to be rid of, clean it up and bring it with you. Any unsold items get to go back home with their owners. Nothing is too big or too small for the auction, you are only limited by your carrying capacity! Come on out for a fun evening! If you have any questions, please call me at 268-6878. -- Anne Mae Christmas Dinner Plans -by- Rita Gongora == Our Christmas dinner is on! As planned, it will be at the Officers' Club at Kirtland AFB. Due to the current heightened security at military installations, it is imperative that we go in as a group. What we will do is meet at the parking lot at the entrance to KAFB (Wyoming gate) at 10:45 AM. We'll check in and enter the base as a group. In the past we have had Christmas dinners at the Kirtland Officers' Club and we have always had a great time. This year should be even better, so plan to join us! For any questions, call Rita at 292-5570. == SEVEN YEARS AGO IN C.N.M. Jim Pittman November 1994 Volume 20 Number 11 The cover showed a late rear suspension, courtesy of the shop manual. New members were Fred & Susan Roach and David Huntoon; David's father Walter was already a CNM member. President Del started the meeting. We had $973 in the bank. Dennis said so far he had received ten completed questionnaires telling what members want to do in the coming year. Bill said there would be a car show at the Atomic Museum. Bill told us he wrote a letter to the editor of the Albuquerque Journal pointing out errors in their coverage of the recent appearance of Ralph Nader; they later published his letter. We held our election. Our new officers were Larry Blair, Bob Beasley, Chuck Vertrees and Will Davis. Larry's column "NOXIOUS FUMES" asked us to support the Pleaus in their planning for the convention, to help educate each other on technical issues and to have fun and fellowship in meetings and events. Rita Gongora previewed the auction and pot luck next month, Debbie Pleau reported on Convention planning and called for help with the cook book project, and Del Patten contributed a book report on AMERICAN CARS by Leon Mandel (1982). Technical stuff this month included: restoring old speakers; keeping those late tail lights burning; fixing a "cranks but won't start" problem; looking for a potential short in the wiring harness under the late tunnel cover. Fourteen Years Ago Volume 13 Number 11 The November 1987 cover, borrowed from another club, showed a nice early sedan in front of a classic Greek-style door. We had $713 in the bank. The Car Council made $2000 in the September swap meet. Francis asked how many were going on the Aspencade to his cabin in the Pecos. We thanked Milton for being our sponsor at Ed Black's Chevrolet. Our election gave us new officers: Bill Reider, Bill Hector, Chuck Vertrees and Brian Zolna. One of our goals for a club event was to go to Las Vegas (New Mexico) to see the famed Montezuma Castle. Sylvan previewed the Architecture Tour. LeRoy presented a financial statement for the past twelve months; we spent more than we took in. Steve presented us with a fun football quiz. Mark Morgan sent the Club a clever card announcing the arrival of two new Naval Aviators, Marilyn Dorothy and Caitlin Delorez. He called them "Twin OK-3s" and the card included a neat drawing of a carrier task force with two A-6 aircraft in the landing pattern. Twenty-one Years Ago Volume 6 Number 11 The November 1980 cover was a sketch of a proposed two-seater Corvair by Les Campbell, our former secretary who left dry New Mexico for humid and salty Connecticut. He reported on "Corvair Day" at the famous Lime Rock race track, home of John Fitch, the Corvair Sprint and the Fitch Phoenix. Tech tips included: replacing interior door panels, installing a Vega clutch disk (and why you'd want to), cleaning mufflers with WD-40 and steel wool and checking the year your engine was made by noting the number stamped on the oil cooler. == DINNER WITH THE PLEAUS Jim Pittman On October 19th Debbie & Dennis & the boys were to be in town, on their way from Colorado to Disneyland. Several CNMers decided nothing could be better than to get together for dinner. At first we planned to go to El Pinto in the north valley, but that location was vetoed as not likely to have good food, so we settled on Sadie's Restaurant on north Fourth Street. Several of us showed up early and the rest dribbled in as the sun was going down on a beautiful autumn day. We had a very informal and pleasant visit with the Pleaus and talked over olden times (the Convention, the Tri States) and future times (the Fan Belt Toss, the Tri States, Virtual Vairs) and current events (what about that UNM professor, what about the Middle East war, what about the mayoral election) and maybe other things. Sadie's was crowded but we had the large back room almost all to ourselves so we could wander around and chat or gossip as we wished. Personally, I found the food mediocre, but the evening was just fine. We were delighted to see some of our Colorado friends again and have a concise and congenial congregation of CNM comrads. I made no attempt to get a list of names, but a few photos came out okay. Y'all who couldn't come missed a good time. -- Jim == STATE FAIR CAR SHOW Robert Gold Another successful State Fair Car Show is now history. In the best turnout to date, 18 gleaming Corvairs met on Sunday, September 23 at the Furrs' parking lot. What was really great was that in line with the tradition set in past Fair car shows, we were able to enter the fairgrounds without having to pay admission. We parked in our assigned area along Heritage Drive and enjoyed the absolutely perfect day at the Fair. Concerning the judging of our cars, I first want to thank David Huntoon for his good work in the judging of the best early car, best late car, and best forward control. I also want to recognize the club members who did the novelty class judging. Lastly thanks to my son Javi who did a fine job doing the Best Gold Family Car judging. The following summarizes the judging results: 1. Best car- early (1960-1964) 1st Leroy Rodgers 1960 Monza 2nd Mary Lou Martinek 1963 Convertible 3rd Geoffrey Johnson 1963 Monza 2. Best car- late (1965-1969) 1st Steve Gongora 1966 Corsa 2nd Roger Chavez 1968 "500" 3rd Jerry Goffe 1965 Corsa Convertible 3. Best Forward Control 1st Mark Domzalski 1962 Rampside 2nd Robert Gold 1961 Rampside 3rd Del Patten 1961 Greenbrier 4. Best daily driver Mark Domzalski 1962 Rampside 5. Show stopper Steve Gongora 1966 Corsa 6. Best custom work Doug Morgan 1965 Corsa Turbo 7. Best Interior (stock) David Huntoon 1966 Corsa Coup 8. Best Interior (custom) Mark Domzalski 1962 Rampside 9. Farthest form a 100 point car Del Patten 1961 Greenbrier 10. Highest mileage car Mark Domzalski 1962 Rampside 11. Car I would most like to drive home Doug Morgan 1965 Corsa Turbo 12. Most Chrome Robert Gold 1964 Monza Convertible 13. Best White Car Steve Gongora 1966 Corsa 14. Furthest Distance Traveled to Show Kim and Del Patton 1961 Greenbrier 15. Judges Choice Mary Lou Martinek 1963 Convertible 16. Emptiest Gas Tank Leroy Rogers 1960 Monza 17. Longest Continuous Ownership Jerry Goffe 1965 Corsa Convertible 18. Worst Glass Anne Mae Gold 1961 Lakewood (Eore) 19. Most Decals David Huntoon 1966 Corsa Coup. 20. Best of Show - Best Gold Family Car Robert Gold 1965 Monza 4-door One more thought about this show. In my humble opinion the car that I feel made the greatest impact was no doubt Del Patten's striking 1961 Greenbrier. It truly stood out among all the cars on display. Thank you everyone for your help and support in putting on this show. See you again next year! -- Robert Robert L. Gold, PE USGS Public Information Officer email- beisbol@usgs.gov phone- 505-830-7930 FAX- 505-830-7998 5338 Montgomery Blvd. NE, Suite 400 Albuquerque, NM 87109 "It could be worse... It could be raining!" == ROUTE 66 CLEANUP Oliver Scheflow The Club held its third and last clean-up for the year on Saturday October 6. Participating were: Steve Gongora Dave Huntoon Jim Pittman Bill Reider Ollie Scheflow The weather forecast was for high canyon winds, but we experienced only slight wind, warm temperatures and clear skies. We finished before the wind came up. At least one worker said that it was the best weather for trash picking he had ever seen. The amount of trash was relatively light, too -- except for a number of cement blocks that apparently had fallen off a truck. Steve and David wore themselves out gathering the broken blocks up from both sides of the highway and piling them up in several mounds off the roadway at intervals of 50 feet or so. Days later Steve was still feeling muscles he didn't know he had. Bill Reider found a good specimen of an animal skull -- a dog or coyote. Thanks to those who attended and my condolences to those who could not come and thereby missed the best trash-pickin' day we are likely to see for some time. - Ollie == Subject: Re: turn signal problem - LONG (VV) From: "Dale K. Dewald" (dkdewald@up.net) Sender: owner-virtualvairs@skiblack.com At 20:29 05/10/2001 -0400, jerold wrote: > I have a 63 Monza with a part-time turn signal problem. The > right turn signals work all the time. The left turn signal does > not work when it is cool or cold. No response... When weather is > HOT - (80+), the left signal works sometimes. Appears to be a > metal shrinkage/expansion problem? Other ideas how to approach?? Hello Jerold, I believe you are correct that thermal expansion is the cause for your strange turn signal problem. However, I think it is due to the expansion/contraction of the plastic (much higher CTE than metal) parts of the turn signal switch. This switch is nothing fancy -- just a set of phosphor bronze spring contacts that get pushed together by a plastic cam. If out of adjustment, these can cause all kinds of weird problems ("turn signals work, but brake out on left rear despite new wire, bulb, socket, secure ground, etc"). The following is a descriptions for servicing the turn signal switch that I had posted last year: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A couple weeks ago I was doing an oil change, lube job, and quick function check prior to entering a TSD rally with my wife's '65 Monza. Turn signals and tail lights were okay but the right side brake light was out. This could not be a bulb or socket problem because the right rear brake wire and filament are the same as the turn signal -- which was working. Thus the problem must be upstream. However, the brake light circuit and stop switch must be working because the left side brake lamp lights up just fine. So what is in between? The turn signal assembly. The turn signal assembly can be thought of as a pair of double pole, double throw switches, one for left and one for right, with the front turn signal and dash lights operated from the "front" pole and the rear brake/turn lights operated off the "rear" pole. With the assembly in the off position, the front pole is not connected, but rear light pole is connected to the brake light circuit. When the turn signal assembly is flipped to the right or left, the front pole of the switch on that side makes contact with the turn flasher circuit, while at the same time the rear pole breaks contact with the brake circuit and makes contact with the turn circuit. Put another way, electricity from the brake light switch flows to the turn signal assembly and is there connected to each rear light through the "off" poles of the turn switches. When a turn signal is activated, the brake circuit on that side is interrupted and connected instead to the turn circuit. Unfortunately this is harder to describe than it is to draw or visualize. What was wrong with my wife's car was that electricity from the brake circuit was not passing through the "off" contact of the right turn switch. This meant I needed to get at the switch to see why this contact was broken. The steering wheel needs to be removed to get at the turn signal assembly. Mark the location of the steering wheel with respect to the shaft and be sure to disconnect the battery before proceeding. Refer to the shop manual for instructions concerning the particular year of the car. Remove the turn signal stalk. [The following instructions apply to the 1965-66 standard steering column.] The turn assembly is attached to the column trim shell with three screws and is retained by a split plastic sleeve on the steering shaft. Remove the screws and use a small screwdriver to spread the sleeve enough to slide it off. If the switch is not obviously broken, it can be partially disassembled in the car, but you need room to work. The assembly can be slid up past the end of the steering shaft by gently feeding and working the wires up the plastic conduit that runs along the bottom of the steering column. Do not pull hard on the turn assembly; it is made of plastic which, after 35 years, has likely become very brittle. On the back side of the turn assembly there is a washer head screw which retains the "C" shaped canceling arm. Remove the screw and gently pull the canceling arm straight out from the assembly. This may take some careful effort because the 35 year old white grease lubricating these parts is probably now the consistency of glazing putty or worse. The turn switches are nothing more than a set of molded in brass studs connected to the wires leaving the back of the assembly, and two mirror image pairs of bronze spring contacts. Look at the canceling arm and note that there is a diamond shaped post the pushes against one or the other U-shaped contact, lifting it from the brake circuit post and pressing it against the second spring contact and the front turn contact post. The turn signal circuit is fed through the second spring contact. Check to make sure all of the posts and spring contacts are clean. I found a bit of dirt (it looked like a bit of dried grease) had gotten between the brake circuit post and the U-shaped spring, causing it to burn and oxidize a bit. I carefully removed the U-shaped spring with a needle nose pliers and cleaned it up with a bit of 600 grit SiC paper. I then used a small, folded bit of SiC paper to clean the post. After reinstalling the U-shaped spring, I temporarily reconnected the battery and tested continuity of the brakes and the operation of the switch by pressing each U-shaped contact with a screwdriver. Satisfied it was working properly, I scraped and rubbed off as much old grease as I could, then put a dab of Sil-Glyde silicone based grease on the canceling arm post and on the two detent pawls. Remember to disconnect the battery before reassembly. Reassembly was the reverse of disassembly except that I stopped prior to refitting the steering wheel and briefly connected the battery to confirm operation of the brakes and turn signals. I also gave the center bearing a small shot of lube with a grease needle and placed a dab of Sil-Glyde on the canceling cam. Now both brake lights light and the turn signal assembly operates smoothly and silently. % Dale & Marilynn Dewald % Hancock, (UP) MI % 65 Corsa 140/4 - down for % transaxle repairs % 65 Monza 110/4 - wife's summer % car, driven daily % 64 Greenbrier 110/4 - decent % daily driver % 65 500 4DR 110/PG - restoration % in progress % 65 Corsa 140/4 - SCCA ProRally % construction project ****************************** This message was sent by the Corvair list, all copyrights are the property of the writer, please attribute properly. To unsubscribe, mailto:majordomo@skiblack.com with "unsubscribe virtualvairs" (without the quotes) as the first line of the message. 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