This page contains material from the May 2003 newsletter

EDITOR: Jim Pittman NEXT MEETING: Wednesday May 7th, 7:30 PM Galles Chevrolet, Lomas & University THIS MONTH: Dues Due Sylvan Zuercher New Members Sylvan Zuercher April Meeting Chuck Vertrees Board Meeting Chuck Vertrees The Driver's (hot) Seat Robert Gold For Sale, Trade or Wanted Everybody Calendar of Coming Events Everybody CNM Ladies Anne Mae Gold Tri-State Meet Preview LeRoy Rogers Corvair Gathering at Mesquite Mark Martinek NM Car Council Report Mark Martinek Seven Years Ago Jim Pittman Pantera International Rebecca Sullivan TECH: 65 Corvair vs 66 David Brown, Corvair Houston COVER: Mark Martinek & Friend at Mesquite, Nevada Dues Expired or Due or Approaching Due: Jerry Goffe 2003-March Ruth Boydston 2003-April Gordon Johnson 2003-June Mark Morgan 2003-June Robert Gold 2003-July Kevin Sullivan 2003-July Richard Foster 2003-July 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! =cnm= PHOTO: Part of the long line of vehicles waiting to go onto White Sands Missile Range at Stallion Gate, April 5, 2003 ON THE COVER: (1) The ground zero monument at Trinity Site (2) Mark Martenek and friend at Mesquite, Nevada =cnm= NEW MEMBER by Sylvan Zuercher John Myers 333A Monroe NE Albuquerque,NM 87108 266-2434 A CNM welcome to John who has a 1965 Monza 110HP 2 door coupe. John is a graphic artist and has just recently purchased his first Corvair. Note for newsletter: Please remind all our members to bring their CORSA ballots for a bulk mailing to Bill Pierson. =cnm= APRIL MEETING NOTES Chuck Vertrees The meeting was called to order at 19:30 at Galles Chevrolet on 4/2/03 by Anne Mae Gold. As the last recipient of the Ike Meissner award, we asked Anne to conduct the meeting. There were 26 members present, two Gold children, who were as usual well behaved, and a Guest, Dwight Simmons who has a Corvair rail. New member John Meyers was also introduced, and I neglected to get any information about him. Look him up at the next meeting and make him feel welcome. The minutes of the last meeting were approved as printed in the newsletter. Treasurer Wendell Walker reported that CNM had $844.23 in the checking account and $4,871.93 in the GMAC account for a net worth of $5,716.16. There was no Car Council report given since Mark Martinek was not present. The report can be found on line, or a synopsis will be printed in the newsletter. The Museum Car Show on May 18th was discussed. We need to sign up those who will help count ballots. This is a cushy job that you don't want to miss with comfortable seats in a nice air-conditioned room. The club will need to go in together to be able to park together. It was suggested that CNM meet in the East lot of the Sheraton no later than 06:45 to leave at 07:00. There will be a $5.00 entry fee per car to be paid upon entering the show lot. Ollie Scheflow sent a note thanking the club for the fruit basket. He hopes to be ambulatory and able to come by the May meeting. Gayle Finch is in the hospital with a serious eye infection. We should send her a card and anyone with the time should drop by and see her. Wendell Walker has raffle tickets for the quilt to be given away at the CORSA International convention. Tickets are $1.00 each or six for $5.00. Jerry Goffe said that he had talked with past member Will Davis. Will says "Hello" and says he still likes CNM best of any Corvair club. The Corvair ladies will meet on the 12th and they will be looking at material. The meeting will be at Sylvia Goffe's. See details elsewhere in the newsletter. It was suggested that the recipient of The Ike Meissner Award routinely chair the next meeting after they receive the award. This will be discussed at the next board meeting. Steve Gongora mentioned some Video Production Tapes available. See Steve or go on line to www.classicsunlimitedvideo.com. Wendell said that he, Joe Montoya and others went to Moriarty to see the bunch of Corvairs that someone wants to sell. There are eleven of them and the owner wants $165.00 each for them and wants to sell them as a block. There are no titles. Wendell said they are basically junk. He said that there are some good windshields, bumpers, headlight bezels, etc. It would take about two weekends for a crew to strip off what was good. No further decision was made. The meeting was adjourned at 20:05. =cnm= APRIL BOARD MEETING Chuck Vertrees President Robert Gold called the meeting to order at House of Covers on 4/16/03 at 19:10. Present were Sylvan Zuercher, Robert Gold, Joel Nash, Jim Pittman, Rita Gongora, Steve Gongora, Wendell Walker, Bill Reider and Chuck Vertrees. Wendell Walker, as treasurer, reported that CNM had $896.51 in the Checking account and $4,871.93 in the GMAC account for a total worth of $5,768.44. Wendell also presented a workup on our expenses for the newsletter as opposed to our normal income. This brings up the question of whether we are charging enough for dues. The board will discuss this further at a later date. Steve Gongora will have a speaker at the May meeting to talk about auto air conditioning. The idea for having the recipient of the Meissner award running the next meeting was brought up. There were two problems: first, Roberts Rules of Order do not cover such a thing, and second, it was brought up by some present that they would have no interest in running the meeting in the event that they were the recipient. The feeling was that the latter feeling would probably fit more than one member. (I have done it but I don't look forward to doing it.) The idea was dropped. Joel suggested that we send a note of "Thanks" to our speakers. Steve will generate a form. We received an e-mail from Dennis Pleau about a new Corvair book that his club had ordered that was sold right out. Joel said that he had a copy and would bring it to the next meeting so we could see how many members might want a copy. We could have everyone who wants one sign up before we order. Bill Reider reported on progress on the Tri-State meeting. The meal at the banquet will be 10 to 12 dollars. There is no information yet on children's prices. There will be a choice of one of three entrees. You will get a card at registration with your choice and will put it at your place so you will get what you want. Special meals can be arranged with advance notice. We still have to check on a sound system, and will check with Jerry Goffe so he could bring his if necessary. There are only five rooms left at the Microtel, and they are all smoking. Shirts were the next item under discussion. White or yellow are available, the yellow are $1.00 more than the white. I think the decision was to go with the yellow. The Tri-State design will be on the back with a small logo on the breast. The breast logo will be only words. There will be both t-shirts and golf shirts available. We are continuing to try to get some information from Denver on how many of what size they sold at Grand Junction, but have not had success yet. There will be a sign up sheet passed at the May meeting so we can get an idea of what CNM members will need. The patches will be silk screened and will cost $4.95 each. Embroidery would be much more expensive and takes months to get. They are done in China. The unanswered question at this point is how many patches will we need... Dave Huntoon is the winner of the design competition and the board is still discussing what prize will we give him. The car display in Raton will be in the historic district. The streets are about 80 feet wide and they will close off a block for the display. The tourist bureau in Raton is putting goody bags together. If anyone can get anything for the goody bags here, let the board know. We adjourned at 19:00. =cnm= SUBJECT: CORVAIR CLUB ATTENTION Monday night at 6:30, Steve Gongora's mother, Marie Gongora passed away. There was a viewing at Fitzgerald & Son Funeral Home, 3113 Carlisle Blvd. (Carlisle & Candelaria), at 7:00 PM, Fri. April 11. Mass was held Saturday at 10:00 AM at The Church of the Risen Savior, on Wyoming just south of Paso Del Norte, on the West side of Wyoming. The Corvair Club sent a plant and Flowers. Sincerely, Wendy Walker =cnm= FROM THE DRIVER'S (HOT) SEAT Robert Gold I first want to express my sincere sympathy to the Gongora family for their recent loss. I always feel helpless to properly express my feelings when such events occur. I guess the best thing to say is to restate Rita's comment to me that her family felt the love expressed to them by the Corvair community. I think we should all feel good how this Club is there to support our members in many ways. I don't know how many of you remember a Mayor of Albuquerque who distinguished himself by not showing up for many public events. He was dubbed the "stealth" Mayor. Well, in recent weeks I seem to be following in that Mayor's footsteps. First I did not participate in the trip to the Trinity site, a trip that I had enthusiastically supported. It seems that in the Gold family our motto is "Soccer not Bombs". As good parents are required to do, my wife and I chose to sit on the sidelines and cheer our children on. So to add to my stealth reputation I was unable to be at the April meeting. I could say that I had no choice about attending a safety conference in Phoenix. I also could say that my participation in the conference was important to my position as Safety Officer for the USGS. Well, I could say that, but in reality my main focus was being able to attend opening day at Bank One Ballpark and being able to see Hodeo Nomo defeat Randy Johnson. You know we all have our standards. Anyway, I want to apologize for my lack of committment to the Club in recent weeks. All I can say is that from what I hear, my wife, Anne Mae, more than adequately filled in for me at the meeting. Unfortunately Anne Mae is not willing to make that position permanent at the next club elections. As General William Tecumseh Sherman said when he was approached to run for President, "If nominated I will not run, If elected I will not serve." I guess that's why we didn't have a President Sherman and won't have a President Anne Mae Gold. I recently saw on the History Channel that the Mona Lisa was not really considered a national treasure by France for many years. In fact there was a period when the painting hung at the Louvre with absolutely no protection against theft. The result was that the painting was stolen and it was several years before it was recovered. Why, you may ask am I talking about the Mona Lisa in this column? Why you probably ask do I say a lot of things in this column? Anyway, the point is that the French had a treasure and they didn't realize it. Well, Corvairs of New Mexico has a little unappreciated treasure too. It is in the form of the April edition of our newsletter. Our world class editor, Jim Pittman, had an inspiration to "put one over" on the club members and maybe he succeeded too well. What he did was devise an alternate cover for the newsletter that will live in CNM history. I suggest that you take out your copy of that newsletter and look at what he came up with. His use of a Mustang picture to highlight the cover is akin to the Hatfields putting up a picture of the McCoys in their home. I'm considering changing my column name to "From the Hot Seat" due to my inability to recognize how funny the cover was. My suggestion is that this issue be considered for submission to CORSA for the newsletter contest. I think the folks who judged last year's contest would think that the car at the top of the cover was just another Corvair model. This issue of the newsletter would give them something to think about (if they do think). Good going Jim!!! Now is the time in my column when I relate the latest story of my quest to give my 74 VW Bus more power. In an earlier column I mentioned I replaced the plug wires and then replaced the harmonic balancer in my attempt to get those 110 horses to show themselves. After that I did a tuneup, but still a fast bicyclist could beat me off the line. Well, I finally got serious and turned to the CNM club experts Bill Reider and Sylvan Zuercher. At no cost to me these guys imparted the wisdom of the ages and I took note. Armed with their suggestions I brought my bus to Dave Langlois and had him convert the ignition to the "Ignitor" type. I also had him look for vacuum leaks (he found one), and he worked on the carbs. I can now report that it WORKED. I step on the gas and away I go! I feel like a kid again. I wonder if Sylvan and Bill have any suggestions for thinning hair. I think they're on a roll. It's good to be a CNM member. As is my habit in recent months I took some time and did a search on the world wide web of the words Johnson and Corvair. My result this time made me appreciate CNM even more. The result that I looked at was a listing for the Ozarks Classic Corvair Club out of Battlefield, Missouri. Scott Johnson was the contact for the club, but the other information listed was more interesting. The listing said the club was for "Corvair car enthusiasts" and that there was no child care available and that there were no volunteer opportunities associated with the club. Hmmmmmmm.... it sounds like this group is not very family friendly, nor do they take much time to help the community. Folks, we really have something special in our club. We LIKE families and we take the time to make our community better by doing activities like the Route 66 cleanup and our support of the Car Council swap meet. I really hope that the listing for the Ozark club was not accurate and that they are as lucky as CNM and have more to do than "play with cars" Go CNM!!!! I want to remind everyone that the upcoming month of May is an active one for the club. On May 18th we'll be showing our best at the Car Council Albuquerque Museum car show which will this year actually takes place at the Albuquerque Museum! Secondly, don't forget that we're traveling up north at the end of the month to host the Tri-State in Raton. Based on what Bill Reider reported at the Board Meeting this will be one of the best ever. My problem is deciding which car to bring. I wonder if anyone would notice if I had Sara (6) and Javier (8) drive cars too? I guess not, I remember that imposing Highway Patrol officer who roams the area around Las Vegas. It looks like there will be only one Gold entry. Anyway, I hope to see you there. I guess that's it for now. I'll see you at the next meeting on Wednesday, May 7 at 7:30 -- Robert Gold =cnm= ============================================================================ 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 ============================================================================ | | | | | M a y | J u n e | J u l y | | | | | | : : : : 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | : : 1 2 3 4 5 | | 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 | 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | | 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 | 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 | 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 | | 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 | 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 | 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 | | 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 | 29 30 : : : : : | 27 28 29 30 31 : : | | : : : : : : : | : : : : : : : | : : : : : : : | ============================================================================ Wed 7th May 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 10th May 1:00-4:00 CNM Ladies - no meeting this month Sat 18th May 6:45 AM Albuquerque Museum/NMCCC Car Show Wed 21st May 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 23rd May 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Fri-Sat May 30 - 31 Tri-State Meet - Raton, New Mexico - Bill Reider Wed 4th Jun 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 14th Jun 1:00-4:00 CNM Ladies - TBA Fri-Sun Jun 13 - 15 Campout in the Pecos - Ruth Boydston Wed 18th Jun 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 20th Jun 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Wed 2nd Jul 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 4th July early! Santa Fe Fourth of July Car Show on the Plaza Sat 12th Jul 1:00-4:00 CNM Ladies - TBA Wed 16th Jul 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Tue-Sat July 15 - 19 CORSA Convention - Carlisle, Pennsylvania Fri 25th Jul 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= =cnm= CNM LADIES Anne Mae Gold What a crazy month April was! I'd like to extend condolences to the Gongora Family on the loss of their beloved Marie. Many of us attended the memorial service. It was lovely. This incident showed me once again just how small the world is. I have a student teacher this year and her clinical supervisor is Robin Hazen, Steve's uncle through marriage! Anyhow we were unable to get it all together to actually have an official meeting, if we ever really have one! At the memorial we did get a chance to discuss if we should try to get together in May. It was pretty unanimous that May is hard, what with graduations, Museum car show and Tri-State. So we will just have our informal get togethers in May at any and all activities where we see each other! In June we will be up in Pecos for our annual CNM Campout. Most of you will be at Ruth's, we will be down the hill at our spot. We don't have much level ground, but that will be more space that can be used! I look forward to seeing you all! Ta Ta for now! Anne Mae =cnm= TRI-STATE MEET UPDATE LeRoy Rogers Bill Reider, Hurley Wilvert and I went to Raton on 4-10-03 to finalize details for the Tri-State Meet. The information that has already been published in the Newsletter is still correct. The event is scheduled for May 30 and 31, 2003. The host motel (Microtel Motel) blocked all their rooms for the meet. As of 4-10-03 there were five smoking rooms rooms left. Fifty-six rooms had been rented. The Microtel Motel is located at 1640 Cedar Street and their rates are $44.95 plus tax for a room with two queen size beds and $53.95 plus tax for a suite which consists of a room with one queen size bed, a kitchenette and a couch that makes into a double bed. When you make reservations mention the Corvair Meet to get these rates. The phone number is 505-445-9100. Two alternate motels are recommended. The Super-8 at 610 Cedar Street, phone 505-445-2355 and the Motel-6 at 1600 Cedar Street, phone 505-445-2777. I do not have 2003 room rates from them yet. There is also an RV park available in Raton. It is Summerlan RV Park at 1900 South Cedar, phone 505-445-9536. The show and shine event will be held on Saturday from 9 to 12 AM on historic Main Street, near the railroad station. We hope to have a police escort from the motel to the show site. The cars will be judged by the participants in the best early, best late and best FC classes. Best of Show will be awarded to the car with the most votes. There will also be a hard luck award and an award for the person who drove the furthest. There will be several fun awards to be determined by two or three volunteers. At Approximately 1 PM there will be a driving tour to Capulin Volcano National Monument. It's about 35 miles from the motel. The road is paved all the way to the top. For those who have to pay there is a $5 per car charge. The banquet will be held at Domingo's of Raton, 1903 South Cedar, on Saturday at 6 PM. The last 100 yards or so of the road to Domingo's is gravel. The cost of the banquet is $15.00 per plate. That includes tax and tip. You will have a choice of Santa Fe chicken, roast beef with mushroom sauce, and barbecue spare ribs. All choices come with dessert, brownies with ice cream or baked custard with raspberries. Registration will be on Friday from 1:00 PM until whenever it seems late enough to stop. There will be snack trays and chips and dip in the registration area. T-shirts, golf shirts, and patches will be on sale at the meet with the show logo printed on them. We do not have a price for these items yet. =cnm= CORVAIR GATHERING AT MESQUITE, NV 21-23 March, 2003 Mark Martinek Mary Lou, Bonita & I departed early in the morning (2:15 AM) on 21 March en route to the Corvair Gathering in Mesquite, NV. After experiencing rain and snow just east of Grants, NM, we had beautiful driving weather. Our route took us to Flagstaff, AZ then north on US 89 and then west on US 89A across the north rim of the Grand Canyon, then in to Utah to I-15. This is the same route we have previously used to go to St George, UT for other Corvair Gatherings. The roads were dry with very little snow along the higher reaches. It was sunny for the whole trip. We stopped for gas in St George, UT where the lowest price was $1.699 a gallon. This was much better then the anticipated cost of $2.00 a gallon in NV. Gas in Mesquite actually ranged from $2.009 to $2.189. We arrived in Mesquite around 3:00 PM in time to register for the event and to wash our Corvair before attending the reception held in the Eureka Casino. I was surprised to see Mary Lou, myself & our Corvair in full color on the Gathering schedule hand out. Snacks, soda pop and bottled water was provided for the reception. Entertainment was provided by a magician and Elvis impersonator, Kerry Summers (see cover photo). His magical acts and Elvis impersonations were well received by all in attendance. Scale model Corvairs were used as table center pieces. The car show was held Saturday morning in the Eureka Casino's parking lot. Although over 34 people registered not all arrived or showed cars. Mary Lou counted 27 Corvairs on display. There were no 4-door sedans or station wagons. I believe there was a Rampside and a Loadside and a Corvan, one special interest coupe, two early closed, four late closed, nine early open and eight late open. We didn't get a count of the Spyder models. Participants were from all over, primarily from the Bonneville Club but also from Oregon, California, New Mexico & Nevada. They gave the breakdown at the Saturday night shindig but I didn't write it down. Beautiful plaques were awarded Saturday night after hearing from two guest speakers: Lon Wall and Ed Corson. As I was enjoying myself I failed to get the names of all the winners and their cars. I do know that the special interest entry won a plaque for Special Interest and for People's Choice (see attachment 3). The early closed winner was the chameleon sedan from Nevada. At the closing the center table centerpieces were awarded to participants. Each registered car had been assigned a number. A miniature bingo ball dispenser was used to select the winners. Eight centerpieces were given away. Our number was 14 and people on each side won. The final winner was number 34, Del Patten. He does better when he doesn't show up. Begrudgingly I accept the centerpiece for him and hand carried it back to Albuquerque. (I asked Steve G. to present it at the next CNM meeting with biting comments, as I will be out of town and won't be able to do it myself.) I was able to speak and issue an invitation for all to attend the Tri-State meet in Raton. Several people indicated they would try to attend. Sunday morning we set off for Laughlin, NV. We stopped in Las Vegas only to attend Mass. This was a lucky occurrence as one of the tie downs had come lose and our Corvair was hanging lose. After reinstalling the tie down and going to Mass we continued on to Laughlin. We spent the night at Don Laughlin's Riverside Casino RV Park, our favorite spot in Laughlin. After a great meal in the Prime Rib Room we attended the Debbie Reynolds show. Somehow in the short time we spent there we were able to ensure that Nevada residents wouldn't have to worry about paying state income taxes for another year at least. Monday morning we continued on home without incident. Once again we were able to travel to and enjoy the Corvair Gathering without incident, unlike last year's trip. Mary Lou & Mark Martinek - mjmartinek AT juno DOT com (505) 275-3271 =cnm= NMCCC REPORT 23 APRIL 03 1. Jim Clements called the meeting to order at 7:38 PM. 2. The Treasurers report was omitted. 3. The Show on Wheels to be hold at Sandia Motorsports complex 26 - 28 June was discussed. a. Spaces for the swap meet will be rented for $25.00 early registration and $30.00 late. Set up will be Friday, the sale Saturday & Sunday. The council will retain all except $5.00 per space. There will be no charge for admission or parking. b. A no commission car corral will be held. The charge is $50.00 per vehicle. c. A car auction will be conducted by Bently Auction. Several estate cars are expected to be auctioned off. 100 to 120 cars are expected. Sellers will be charged $50.00 per car. A $20.00 bidder fee is in effect. d. The car show will be held Sunday, 9 AM to 4 PM. e. The Shelby convertible will be raffled off. f. The NMCCC is responsible for the swap meet and car show only. 4. The NMCCC 19th Annual Car Show was discussed in detail. A sample ballot, Entry Form, flyer and information letters were passed out. (see Attachments). Volunteers are still need to man the entry points and to assist in parking vehicles. Call Jim or Joyce at 884-7912 or J. Duran at 298-0111 if you want to volunteer. A roster on CNM members that volunteered to count ballots was turned in to J. Duran, Secretary. 5. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 PM. Submitted by: Mark J Martinek, CNM Representative to the NMCCC mjmartinek AT juno DOT com (505) 275-3271 =cnm= SEVEN YEARS AGO Jim Pittman Seven Years Ago - May 1996 Volume 22 - Number 5 On the cover, a fantasy Monza / Ferrari melding by Mark Morgan. Mark Domzalski ran the April meeting and we had new members Lisa Meissner, Angela Goguen and Peter Vellero. We had a total of 825 in the bank. Bill Reider reported on plans by the Car Council for the Museum car show, a picnic and the swap meet. A car show at Nob Hill was mentioned and a musical event at Inez Park was to include ten nice classic cars. On the Convention front, Bill reported we had sold 1,383 raffle tickets so far, bringing the convention treasury up to $5,882. The raffle car was just about done. A training session was scheduled for convention workers. A refined version of the convention rally was done and members volunteered to run the route to check for last-minute errors. The club planned a tour to Trinity Site but apparently no one made it this time. The latest Dummy-of-the-month award went to an unnamed member who went to get some 3/8 coarse bolts to mount the starter on an engine. On returning from the bolt store, he could not find the starter. After searching the entire garage and innumerable storage boxes, a visitor pointed to the starter already mounted on the engine. Ollie Scheflow reported on possibilities for our "Adopt-a-Highway" project. Possibilities included a section of I-25, a mile of Tramway or a mile of old Route 66. Our tech talk was presented by Tracy Bates of Albuquerque Brake and Alignment on front and rear wheel alignment. At the board meeting we decided to aim for old Route 66 for our highway cleanup project. We also discussed starting a club web page and expertise from the membership was solicited. Fourteen Years Ago - May 1989 Volume 15 - Number 5 A map of the April rally as seen by Christopher Barbarone was our cover art. VP Tom Martin ran our meeting. Discussed were the museum car show, the Car Council picnic, the Aspencade, the Library Van, orders for Clark's catalogs and an effort to get our Corvairs on television. We had a report on a weekend trip to Alamogordo and Cloudcroft for a party by the Otero Sports Car Association. LeRoy conducted a fun auction and netted the club $57. President Bill Hector told about a child who asked "What kind of car is that?" and on being informed it was a Corvair Spyder, drew a blank. Bill said it was too bad modern cars had no soul or personality. Finally, a newspaper article from the San Diego Evening Tribune told the true story of Ralph (who?) and related how a senate subcommittee proved the Corvair innocent of the charges leveled against it in 1965. Twenty-one Years Ago May 1982 - Volume 8 Number 5 The cover showed two Corvair fans underneath their car which had apparently broken down on the way to the mini-convention in Phoenix. Bob Wilson of Cylinder Heads, Inc. gave a talk on reconditioning Corvair heads. Norm Brand reported on the four Corvairs that went to Phoenix and the actual mechanical difficulties encountered along the way. Jim Pittman continued his story on "Why I own a Corvair" with a description of the steps taken to keep the 1966 turbo Corsa running through the Alaska winter in Fairbanks. Twenty-eight Years Ago - May 1975 Volume 1 Number 5 The cover featured a convertible Corsa running an Ohio rally in 1966. Yes, the navigator really did do his calculations with a six-inch slide rule. At our meeting we worried about money and how to get some: could we obtain a Corvair to raffle; could we design and sell Corvair license plates; could we set up car clinics and charge to have car problems diagnosed and repaired? Jim provided a tech tip on engine air exhaust doors. In an interview Jim provided some interesting stories on driving various sports cars after deciding not to buy a 1964 Mustang. =cnm= * * * * * * * * * * * * * FOR SALE, TRADE OR WANTED * * * * * * * * * * * * * FOR FREE: 1960 Front Suspension - Free Wendell Walker 892-8471 SPRING CLEAN-UP in the yard. Lots of Corvair parts. Very reasonable. Mike Stickler 344-2039 FOR SALE: 1953 MG-TD. Needs to be assembled. A great buy. Jerry Goffe 345-3100 FOR SALE: FC windshield, small bullseye, light wiper scratch, no cracks, $100 FC rear window, small delamination, $25 Larry Hickerson 296-1636 FOR SALE: 1955 Ford Crown Victoria Mark Martinek 275-3271 FOR SALE: 1991 Honda Civic EX 4-door sedan, automatic, air, AM/FM/cassette, great Michelin tires, 60,200 miles, all maintenance records. Yes, the timing belt has been replaced. White, blue interior, great condition. This is a mid-sized car, it does NOT have air bags, has fuel injection so it has reasonable performance, good gas mileage. Real freon A/C. $4,000.00 Jim Pittman (w) 277-8131 (h) 275-2195 * * * * * CNM ADS ARE FREE TO CNM MEMBERS, $5.00 TO NON-CNM MEMBERS * * * * =cnm= 65 CORVAIR VS 66 David Brown - CORVAIR HOUSTON This interesting bit of trivia recently consumed about 30 -- 40 messages on the Virtual Vairs email list. The 1965 and 1966 Corvairs (excepting FCs, of course) appear pretty similar, in fact almost identical at first glance. Most of us know a few of the basic differences, but here is a compiled list of everything that the worldwide email list could come up with (let me know if you come up with any missed!): MECHANICAL CHANGES 1. Updated Saginaw transmission was introduced in 66 for both 3 & 4 speeds (the 65 was not a Borg Warner, as some believe) 2. New manual transmission cross member 3. Carburetor linkage setup was changed from 65 to 66 on 140 secondaries (with lock-out mechanism) 4. New type coupler for steering column with improved firewall mounting for safety 5. New style rear engine motor mount 6. AC condenser relocated, available on 140 hp models including Corsa in 66 7. Some larger shroud bolt attaching holes on cylinder heads 8. Transaxle dipstick in 65 was gone in 66 CHANGES TO AVAILABLE OPTIONS 9. A/C not available on 65 Corsas; was available on 66 Corsas 10. Shoulder belts became available as option mid-run during 66 11. Headrests first available from factory in 66 12. Padded dash standard in 66 13. Two-speed wiper standard in 66 14. Quick steering a new option in 66 15. Four way flasher a new option in 66 COSMETIC AND FUNCTIONAL FEATURE DIFFERENCES 16. Tire sizes were changed for the 66 model year (6.50 x 13 to 7.00 x 13) 17. Different wheel covers 18. New one piece wheel well molding in 66 19. New plastic front "spoiler" lower valance 20. New style rear lower exhaust grill and trim insert 21. The 65 sheet metal "mystery" box on engine air inlet shelf was gone in 66 22. Battery hold-down went from a clamp that screwed down over the top of the battery to one that attached at the base 23. Two-piece grille inserts on 65 changed to single one-piece grille on 66 24. Unique 65 tail lights vs "Cigar Band" tail lights. (Early 66s were thin band) 25. Corvair insignia on hood in 65 vs insignia next to driver's headlamp, 66 26. New Style Monza cross 27. Red paint on 65 front trunk lock bezel vs blue paint on 66 27a. Front trunk lock bezel more tapered on 65 vs more triangle-shape on 66 28. Belt-line pinstripe on 65 Corsas vs no factory pinstripe in 66 29. Different paint colors available 30. Different upholstery pattern on seats and interior panels; 65 had door map pockets while 66 did not have door map pockets 31. Thicker padded sun visors in 66 32. Silver pinstripe around edge of crinkle painted instrument cluster on 65 33. New style rear hood emblem for 110 HP, 140 HP and 180 HP engines. On turbo models, the arrows on the 66 logo chase each other in clockwise fashion vs counterclockwise for 65 34. Rear power antenna was available in 66 (very rare) 35. New turbo air cleaner sticker in 66 36. New headlight buckets - bezel attach brackets that were attached to head- light backing plate now moved to the bucket body 37. Headlight regulator moved upright, instead of at an angle =cnm= PANTERA INTERNATIONAL, SPRING 1998 Rebecca Sullivan During my recent visit to his Rio Rancho, New Mexico home, Walker recalls his Pantera's plight like a grandfather (that he is) to his grandkids. Wendy (as he is called by his close car buddies) has seen and heard it all. He could quite possibly give Wilkinson and Quella a run for their restoration money. How? Wendy has restored many cars before, and bought a certified TOTALLED '72 Pantera (#027) 24 years ago when he was 55 years young. Discovered behind a filling station in Urbana, Illinois, "MY XTC" (his license plate) was an absolute wreck, but Wendy saw through the pile of crumbled metal and rusty parts and had a friend place a bid with the insurance company. How #027 became totalled and the story of its recovery are now etched in Panteras of New Mexico (PNM) club folklore, a story to be transferred from generation to generation of New Mexico enthusiasts, shared only this once as an exclusive to PI readers. As told to Wendy, the previous owner was impressing his son-in-law passenger at a speed of 100 mph and became airborne at a "T" intersection in Urbana, Illinois, dropping fourteen feet below, and rolling end over end. MY XTC landed on all fours between two feuding young men who had separated from their fist fighting duel for a moment. Both driver and passenger walked away unscathed thanks to wearing seatbelts. An inventory of parts and other known survivors follows. Wendy tells PI, "I knew that the transmission and engine were worth at least $2500 and that the salvage yard would be offered the first bid. I told my friend who had experience dealing with insurance companies I'd pay $1500..... I don't know if that was actually what the insurance company who had title to the car received and I never asked my friend what he offered, but I got the car with 5000 miles on it for $1500. Soon after, Wendy had it trailered over to a friend, Sam Biser (who is now 85), in nearby Danville, Illinois. "Sam was the guy everybody knew. If a car was pretty far gone, they'd go to Sam." According to Wendy. Sam, who had just lost his trusted assistant in a motorcycle accident a few weeks before, wasn't up to touching the remains. The two of them walked around the car a couple of hours and Sam didn't say a word. Wendy says he thought Sam was mad at him for something, but Wendy's hopes were rewarded with - finally a sound. "I can fix it!". After a few days, ol' Sam made a deal with Wendy that with his assistance, he would pull the body back into shape. Wendy agreed and admits that he tried to run the show. Wendy would say, "If we just grab here and pull under this.....", but ol' Sam just shushed him and made him agree to assume an assistant's role. Wendy agreed to pay Sam $100 a day (probably $400 by today's standards) for his efforts and after seven days, what were the battered remains of fine Italian styling were on their way to becoming driveable once again. With the exception of a few fenders and some minor replacement parts, and modifications Wendy fabricated himself to improve its performance over the years, the car Wendy now drives (that is when he's not cruising in his '63 Caddy) is held over from that mangling moment.. "The roof, doors and glass are all original. So is the frame, transmission, engine, seats and so on....it's all stock." Even though the frame buckled down to about 4" off the ground, no structural integrity was lost. Wendy is also proud to point out that in replacing the mangled fenders, the left and the right rear fenders' curvatures didn't match, so the left rear fender was reformed from a template of the right rear fender. One, real magnesium, wheel had a four inch section of the rim broken out, but at $180 each at the time, Wendy chose to have it welded and built up with magnesium rather than buy a new one. No one can tell the difference. The weld is flawless. During restoration, Wendy found the worst rust he had ever seen. Remember, it only had 5000 miles on the salvaged wreck. He was outraged by the results. Due to the car's being on the deck of the boat during transit and collecting all that saltwater spray, he says he could fit a baseball through a wide hole which developed through his rockers. He is quick to point out that the manufacturers saved around $125 a unit for not dipping the body with rust protection. Ford later replaced the rockers, gas tank and inside fenders free of charge after receiving Wendy's complaint letter. After several months of getting the undercarriage ready for the road, Wendy did all of the stripping, filling, sanding and painting himself. No longer interested in its original red appearance, Wendy chose a Silver which later made way for its present Deltron urethane Flame Red (an original Chevrolet Corvette color). "MY XTC" has 59,000 miles on the odometer and was a daily driver for five years. During the regular usage, Wendy has fabricated and replaced the original radiator in 1976 with a standard design used on American cars, side tanks (inlet top left-outlet bottom right) and changed the water pump sheave to a 5" diameter to aid cooling. Wendy runs his Goodrich TA tires from the original Cleveland 351 Cobra Jet with Holley fuel injection, Ford single clutch with centrifugal lockup, and electronic distributor ignition. He rides on Koni shocks and an all urethane suspension. Headers and muffler are by Hall. The most unusual feature of this back-from-the-dead machine is the Lincoln Mercury keyless entry system which includes the trunk. At last, a non-jarring and secure trunk system that doesn't require a bungy cord for backup and looks clean and tamper proof. How many Pantera owners can pop the trunk from the cockpit!!! A rare and elegant feature indeed. Wendy even removed the spare tire platform so the trunk could easily accommodate two sets of golf clubs! The interior was prepared by a local New Mexico outfit "House of Covers" and is baseball-white leather with Subaru harnesses. Wendy is no stranger to the New Mexico show circuit and has the scrapbook and trophies to prove it. Over the years, he has owned 63+ cars ranging from a 20's Ford to a prized '75 DINO 308 GT4 which he still owns. His '72 Pantera has placed in every show entered except one. The current Walker collection also includes a partially restored '71 Dodge Challenger convertible, a '70 'Cuda, the '63 Caddy convertible and the DINO. His wife, Ilva, drives one of the only cars ever purchased new: an '88 Mazda RX7 that he stole on an '81 Corvette trade which he also restored. At 79 years, Wendy is full of play and spunk. The chronology of his life is based upon the order of ownership and restoration of the many cars he has been intimate with in his lifetime. Back in the 70's he fell in love with the Pantera and swears, "It's the best car I've ever owned." A car, created incredibly ahead of its time. Reprinted from a article by Rebecca Sullivan. Published by Pantera International, Spring 1998