This page contains material from the May 2004 newsletter.


Updated 30-Jan-2007 - Copyright (c) 2007 Corvairs of New Mexico. Volume 30 - Number 5 - May 2004 - Issue 344 EDITOR: Jim Pittman NEXT MEETING: Wednesday 05 May 2004 at 7:30 PM Galles Chevrolet, Lomas & University THIS MONTH: Dues Due Dave Huntoon Cookout Photos Jim & LeRoy April Meeting Notes Chuck Vertrees April Board Meeting Chuck Vertrees CNM Birthdays Sunshine Committee Car Council Report Art Gold Coming Events Calendar Everybody Cookout in Placitas the Editor Seven Years Ago Jim Pittman The Meissner Award Anne Mae Gold Thanks, CNM Lee Reider Thanks, CNM Ruth Boydston Tech Tip Steve Goodman Corvair Story Carl Johnson COVER: Yes, there were a few Corvairs at the cookout! =CNM= "If you've got a well-made plan, you can change it, but if you have no plan at all you're lost." -- Chris Bonington, on the group effort to climb Mount Everest by the South West face in September, 1975. Dues Expired or Due or Approaching Due: EXPIRED: Jay Ecclestone 2004-March THIS MONTH: John Myers 2004-May COMING DUE SOON: Gordon Johnson 2004-June Mark Morgan 2004-June Robert Gold 2004-July Dwight Simmons 2004-July Kevin Sullivan 2004-July Tarmo Sutt 2004-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= On Saturday April 17th a group of CNM members and friends gathered at Mark and Elizabeth's home in Placitas for an "After-Tax-Day" feast. Jim and LeRoy made a few photos, some of which are published in the newsletter this month. All who attended thought it was a great party! =CNM= Subject: Tri-State Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 20:19:04 -0500 From: Dennis & Debbie Pleau ( ddpleau AT earthlink DOT net ) PPCC need to get our T-shirt order in real soon and we haven't had much response from CNM. Please talk it up at your meeting tomorrow and let us know. We're going to make the initial order from the pre orders we receive. We're selling the shirts for cost +$0.50 and we're a poor club so we can't afford to be stuck with any left overs. They are only $12.00 each. We can order after the event but we will need to charge postage and most people want the shirt during the meet. We would also like to get a count for the banquet. If we have over 80 they will close the whole steakhouse for us, less than that we will be upstairs over looking the casino. We're not collecting money in advance, just a count. Please let us know as soon as possible. CNM will need to turn out in force as PPCC really wants the attendance trophy and is coming in mass. -- Dennis I almost forgot, this Tri-State will be remembered for its goody bags if nothing else. We were asked to bring our van to the meeting Sunday as all the goodies wouldn't fit in the Corvair. I think the van went home with its nose in the air, there was so much packed into the back! -- dp =CNM= April Meeting Notes Chuck Vertrees The meeting was called to order at 19:35 at Galles Chevrolet on April 7th. All officers were present. There were 25 members present plus 3 junior members. There were no new members to introduce but it was good to see past member Terry Price. Terry was a member for many years and then drifted away. We hope he will rejoin. The minutes of the last meeting were approved as printed in the newsletter. Treasurer Wendell Walker reported that CNM had $376.96 in the checking account and $2,369.65 in the GMAC account for a total of $2,746.61. Jerry Goffe said that the money was well spent on the Anniversary party and the great meal. Everyone seemed to agree. The Sunshine Committee reported that Sherry and Jay Ecclestone were celebrating their 30th anniversary. There was no report from the Awards Committee or the Constitution Review Committee. Robert Gold reported that he was unable to attend the Car Council meeting so his son attended in his place. The Council will attempt to get the Mayor to attend the Museum Show on 5/16 to hand out the trophies. They need volunteers for the show; CNM will volunteer to count ballots. There was a discussion on charging admission to the show but there was no consensus about trying to do this and the problems seemed insurmountable. There was discussion about the zoning laws as they related to the mayors proposal on old cars. More information is needed. The September 24-26 swap meet will be in Los Lunas. A person named Dan Miller is going to try and make a movie centered on a car. He will possibly wanting to either buy or rents cars. The upcoming events are the Presidents cookout at the Domalski's on 4/17 and the CNM Breakfast at Kokopelli's on the 24th of April. May has the Museum show on the 16th with breakfast at Little Anita's, and the Tri-State in Cripple Creek, Colorado on the 21st and 22nd. The International Convention is in June and the Campout at Ruth's has been moved to August. Awards were given to Dave Huntoon and Larry Hickerson who were unable to attend the 30th Anniversary party and receive the awards there. There was discussion about ordering shirts and jackets. Steve Gongora will check on what is available and bring samples to a future meeting. Steve also told about being contacted by a Tony August from Belen who has a 1960 2-door 900 for sale. He is the second owner. It is an automatic and has new tires and about 60,000 miles. There is more information on our web page. The meeting was adjourned at 20:13 and we went outside to see the Johnsons' new 140 engine. -- Chuck Vertrees =CNM= April Board Meeting Chuck Vertrees The meeting was called to order at 17:12 at House of Covers on April 21st. Present were Wendell Walker, Steve Gongora, Jim and Heula Pittman, Dave Huntoon, Sally Johnson, "Lube" Lubert, and Chuck Vertrees. The next regular meeting will be on Cinco de Mayo, Mark Domzalski will be out of town on LANL business, and the next board meeting will be on 5/19. Vice President Sally Johnson reported that the May meeting presentation will be on paint. She has not been able to set up presentations yet for June or July. A lot of possible presenters are not available when their kids are out of school. Upcoming events are the 4/24 CNM breakfast at Kokopelli's and a drive up the Turquoise Trail. May has the Museum Car Show on 5/16 with breakfast at Little Anita's after we get our cars parked. Also in May is the Tri-State meet on 5/21-22 in Cripple Creek, Colorado. June has the International Corsa Convention on 6/15-19, and July the Santa Fe Car Show on July 4th. A location for the CNM Breakfast has not been established yet in June or July. Treasurer Wendell Walker reported that CNM has $340.51 in the checking account and $2,369.65 in the GMAC account for a total worth of $2,710.16. Membership reported that former member Terry Price has rejoined CNM. There was no Car Council report. Heula Pittman reported that the Sunshine Committee has been keeping in touch with Lee Reider and she is doing well after her surgery. She is at home. The Awards Committee has not met yet. The Constitution & Bylaws committee has been working. Mark Domzalski will write up the report and then Larry Hickerson will go over it and rewrite what is necessary. Larry is an experienced legal writer. The board hopes to have the report at the May Board meeting, with the board's comments incorporated and approved in June followed by presentation to the membership at the July 2004 meeting. Old business that was brought up covered the upcoming activities for which no date had been set. There was no date for the August campout although Wendell said that Ruth had mentioned the first weekend in the month, which would be 8/6-8. This was accepted subject to Ruth's approval. Also in August the progressive dinner is planned. The 21st was the date chosen by the board, but the date is not in stone. The four that will host the event need to be contacted. The State Fair Board will fix the State Fair Car Show date. The Aspencade in October was discussed. The past several years it seems that we have delayed planning anything until the last minute, and then dumping it on Kay and Tarmo. It was agreed that this was not fair to them and that this year we need to do some planning earlier. It was agreed that we would work on this no later that July. It was decided that as previously discussed, we would not transfer any money from the checking account to the GMAC account at this time. Steve produced a catalogue with shirts and jackets. Sally will bring it to the May 5th meeting. New business discussed included mention of the Car Show this coming weekend. Joe Trujillo obtained some discount admission tickets for CNM. Because of the short time until the show, Steve will mention it on the Web site. Also Galles is having a car show on May 7-8. CNM needs to support our sponsor by showing some of our Corvairs. There will be food and cash prizes. This will also be mentioned on the Web site since it would be nice to have a good turnout. Steve emphasized that this is a good opportunity to show off the club and to help out our sponsor. Steve also mentioned a couple of Corvairs that are for sale. One is on Candelaria near Valley High. No more is known about this one. The other is a 1962 4-door, re-paint red with a white top. It belongs to James Chavez at 877-8330. That is all that is known. The meeting was adjourned at 18:28. -- Chuck Vertrees =CNM= Corvairs of New Mexico wishes to extend a BIG Happy Birthday to the following members who celebrate their special day in May: Jerry Goffe Anne Mae Gold Mary Lou Martinek Mary Alice Scheflow Brenda Wilvert Three of our CNM couples celebrate wedding anniversaries this month: Mary Lou and Mark Martinek Julie and Chuck Vertrees, 55 years! Mary Alice and Ollie Scheflow, 53 years! We are still missing some birthdates and wedding anniversary dates from our list. If any of you can help fill in the blanks, please let any member of the Sunshine Committee know. Have a special "Sunshiny" kind of day today! Heula / Anne Mae / Elizabeth / Kim =CNM= Car Council Report (3-24-2004) Art Gold There is much to tell from the 24th of March meeting of the Car Council. No time to waste, so we shall just jump into the specifics of the meeting of the car collector's elite. First off, there was much discussion concerning the much anticipated "Car Show," at the Albuquerque Museum slated for May 16th. A "tentative" flier has been created for the show, which will be out in the next newsletter of the Car Council. Admission??? Yes, there is admission, but only for those who do not show a car. Also, admission is free to those who are over 65 and under 12. The mayor might be making an appearance at the trophy ceremony following the show. The show is also in a dire search for volunteers. A last bit of information for those interested in the Model Car genre; they will be there too. Secondly, the issue of the zoning law pertaining to "old" or "abandoned" cars on private property of the car collecting/restoring was a rather hot topic. A letter has been written to the mayor concerning this grave dilemma. The council decided, on a unanimous vote, to mail the letter and hopefully beat this unjust regulation. Thirdly, THE SWAP MEET. Well, the swap meet is scheduled for the weekend of September 24th in lovely Los Lunas. Discussion included keeping the swap meet in Los Lunas for a number of years to maintain continuity and drum up more business, which has yet to be decided. Space was also an issue, since there are only 30 "big" spaces available (10 ft X 12 ft) for those who have a grand desire to bring in a trailer or two. A vote was cast to decide what should occur with the swap meet details. The vote concluded in allowing the Car Council committee to decide the details. Finally, on a more sensitive level, November 13th is the day for the show in El Paso, Texas. This show is presented by the VA of El Paso. A small fee is placed on those who want to show, $10. This fee is allows those interested to show as many cars as that person can transport to El Paso. Try to enter, since it is for a noble cause. Volunteers are needed. Well, my time at the Car Council meeting was quite the experience. Hopefully the information provided will aid you in your car collecting/restoring/musing pleasure. -- Art Gold reporting. =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 | : : 1 2 3 4 5 | : : : : 1 2 3 | | 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | | 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 | 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 | | 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 | 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 | 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 | | 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 | 27 28 29 30 : : : | 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 | | 30 31 : : : : : | : : : : : : : | : : : : : : : | ============================================================================ Wed 5 May 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Fri 7 May ....... Galles Chevrolet Car Show - Joe Trujillo - 766-6800 Sat 8 May ....... Galles Chevrolet Car Show - Steve Gongora - 256-0551 Sun 16 May early! Albuquerque Museum - Car Council Car Show - Robert Gold Sun 16 May 8:30 AM CNM Breakfast meeting - Little Anita's in Old Town Wed 19 May 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 21 May 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Fri-Sat-Sun 21-22-23 May Tri-State meet - Cripple Creek, Colorado Wed 2 Jun 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 5 Jun 1:00-4:00 CNM Ladies - Ruth Boydston's Wed 16 Jun 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 25 Jun 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Sun 4 Jul early! Santa Fe Plaza Car Show and Breakfast Wed 7 Jul 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Wed 7 Jul 7:30 PM We want to decide on an Aspencade Tour destination! Sat 10 Jul 8:00 AM Route 66 Clean-up - Oliver Scheflow Wed 21 Jul 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 23 Jul 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Sat 24 Jul 8:30 AM CNM Breakfast - TBA Sat-Sun Aug 7-8 CNM Campout - Ruth's place in the Pecos - more later =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= GALLES CHEVROLET CAR SHOW - May 7-8 2004 Steve Gongora Joe Trujillo, our sponsor at Galles Chevrolet, needs CNM to add to their Car Show on May 7th and 8th. I told him we could show the Corvairs as a group on Saturday, May 8th. As in the past, winners are awarded cash prizes in increments of $50.00. It is such a treat to participate. Call me at 256-0551 or call Joe Trujillo at 766-6800 for more information. This is a fun event and a chance to show our stuff. -- Steve =CNM= Cookout in Placitas The car on the cover is the famous 1966 Corsa that Jim Pittman bought new, picked up in Detroit and then drove to Fairbanks, Alaska. A year later he drove it via the Alaska Highway all the way from Fairbanks to Alamogordo - about 5,000 miles in ten days. A year after that its 180-HP engine was replaced by a 140-HP that was modestly but carefully and effectively modified by Richard Finch. The car later went coast-to-coast more than once and as far north as Montreal and as far south as Chihuahua and in between times made several trips in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. Many years later, with a nice 1965 Monza and a 1996 Miata in the back yard, Jim decided against "restoring" the rather tired Corsa for the third or fourth time and sold it to Mark Domzalski. Imagine Jim's surprise a few days later to find Mark driving his supposedly worn-out 150,000-mile "First Corvair" to a Tri-State meet in Colorado! Mark claimed it ran great. Since then it has made many trips between Placitas and Los Alamos and has participated in several car shows. No doubt it has a lot of life left. Why, then, is it on a trailer, you ask? Well, Mark was driving a tad briskly one day recently and it overheated, so it was deemed wiser to stop than to press on and melt the engine. Later a trailer ride brought the car back home to Placitas. And there it sat when Jim walked to the end of the porch to see whether a photo of CabezOn was possible through the wind-blown dust. Yes, it was, and the 1966 Corsa and trailer became this month's cover model. Mark says soon it will get some minor repairs or an engine rebuild, whichever seems appropriate. We were at Mark and Elizabeth's for the "after-tax-day cookout" on Saturday April 17th. It was such a treat to brave the dust and wind and threats of rain and drive "out in the country" to Placitas and have a carefree afternoon with lots of good food and lots of good company. Remember the phrase from the Old West song: "where never was heard a discouraging word"? Well, on April 17th that became true life for us. The complexity of modern life has us all running around frantically to keep up with all the things we think we have to do, and we never seem to be able to take the time to really enjoy the company of our dearest friends. Thanks to Mark and Elizabeth we had a wonderful opportunity to do just that. Something like 38 people showed up, there was more than enough fabulous food, the conversation was carefree and relaxing, and we even got to hear a one-hundred-year-old record player. Thanks to all our wonderful CNM members for making afternoons like this possible. -- Jim Pittman =CNM= SEVEN YEARS AGO Jim Pittman Seven Years Ago - May 1997 - Volume 23 - Number 5 The cover showed another Mark Morgan fantasy: a Corvair-based Prowler. President Domzalski ran our meeting and a car show in Roswell was announced. Bud Knapp was back after surgery and was doing well. Wendy said we had $7033 to save or spend. The Museum car show and the Tri-State conflicted this year and all not going to one were asked to go to the other. We got $25 from the Car Council for our work at the swap meet. We planned to vote on the amendment to the constitution for the 100% CORSA membership proposal. We eagerly looked forward to a tour of the Journal Center. The "Care Chair" position for the "Fellowship Committee" was accepted by Rita Gongora. President Mark reported that the CNM Convention Report had been sent off to CORSA. The report offered to other clubs planning a convention a compilation of possible pitfalls and suggested solutions to avoid them. A new member was Boedean Belt. President Mark's letter remarked on the reappearance of Winter which froze apricots that had believed Spring was here a month earlier. Planning ahead, Kay and Tarmo were looking at Lake City, Colorado for the 1998 Tri-State. Chama was our backup location. Mark reported on rebuilding a differential for his Rampside and this chore included trivia such as the fact that your Corvair shop manual includes an illustration of differential gears that are backwards! Why? Because the illustration was actually from a Chevrolet truck differential, and as we all know, our differential gears run the opposite way. Ollie reported on another Route 66 cleanup, Sylvan had a "ten-cent" tech tip, and Mark Morgan's Billiken cartoon characters had Sylvan setting out to replace a Pittman arm bushing with a nylon bushing. Wait, that's spelled "Pitman" isn't it? Fourteen Years Ago - May 1990 - Volume 16 Number 5 The cover sported a 1965 Corsa coupe. Guests were Dale & Marilyn Dewald from Illinois. New members were John Folkerts and Barry Oxford. A returning member was Joe Ashton. We were preparing for a Tri-State meet in Durango, a Museum car show, an All-Chevy show and a picnic at Carolino Canyon Bill Reider reported that he and Jim Pittman had obtained Clark's cross-referenced parts list and would make printed copies available. Tom Martin's column, La Ventana, profiled Bill McClellan who bought his first Model-T for $10 and his first Corvair, a 1964 500, for $150. Bill and Marian owned a welding business in Kalamazoo, Michigan before moving to New Mexico. Tech tips, mostly from the Houston club, included: preventing water getting into your brake fluid; installing differential yoke seals correctly; modifying the floor pan to install later starters on a 1960 car; preventing damage to your Powerglide due to over-filling. Twenty-one Years Ago - May 1983 - Volume 9 - Number 5 Our cover shower a Corvair front suspension. President LeRoy presided at the April meeting and we had $343 to spend. At our board meeting we discussed insurance at CNM events and our bid for the 1987 CORSA convention. Bill Reider speculated on what we'd do if our Corvairs had to pass the new county emissions standards. A tech tip from Uniroyal defined a number of tire terms. Twenty-eight Years Ago - May 1976 - Volume 2 Number 5 Glen Thompson edited. We had a new meeting place: Ed Black's Chevrolet, in the basement of the Used Car Sales building. We also moved our meeting time to the first Wednesday of each month. We planned a "convoy" to Bandelier National Monument via Santa Fe and return via Valle Grande. We discussed a flea market fund-raising activity. Plans were being made for the meeting with the Denver and Utah clubs in Montrose, Colorado. A detailed tech tip by Ike Meissner told exactly what obvious, not-so-obvious and downright crazy steps one could take to enter and win an economy run. =CNM= Ike Meissner Award - Anne Mae Gold On Saturday, March 27, 2004 Corvairs of New Mexico celebrated their 30th anniversary. At the banquet we awarded the Ike Meissner Award to Larry Blair. Being last year's recipient, I was in on the selection of this year's recipient. The last three recipients get together and based on service to the club, attendance, Corvair "spirit," and other top secret attributes, the three of us (Anne Mae, Rita and Ollie) came up with a short list of candidates. Let me tell you, we had a tough time keeping it short. Luckily we never came to blows, the three of us are a pretty laid back trio. We arrived upon our candidate... Larry Blair. Larry can usually be found driving around in a very nice Corvair. He has served as past president and vice-president. He has contributed to the club in many ways and we just wanted to let him know that we are aware of it. Congratulations Larry! So many of you are deserving... and I'm sure we will get to some of you soon. Keep attending the meetings, drive your Corvairs, wear your name tags at the meetings... yep, those sign in sheets are for a reason! Beware... Larry, Rita and I are keeping our eyes peeled. Who knows where the shadow of Ike Meissner goes! -- the 2004 Meissner Committee =CNM= April 13, 2004 Dear CNM family, Thank you so much for the lovely, bright spring flowers that awaited me as I arrived home from the hospital, and for your good wishes, concern and offers of help. You are all so special! Love, Lee Reider * * * * * * * * * * * * * FOR SALE, TRADE OR WANTED * * * * * * * * * * * * * * WANTED: 1964 Chevy Biscayne Station Wagon - parts car. V-8, 3-speed, 4-speed, Auto. H. C. "Lube" Lubert - cell 505-400-3680 WANTED: 1962, 1963, 1964 Corvair Spyder convertible - 4-speed, 180-HP turbocharged. Bob Sully 2216 Alamogordo NW Albuquerque NM - 505-831-9460 FOR SALE: 1961 Monza coupe, '66 110-HP engine, Powerglide. New interior, needs paint and minor body work. Price negotiable -- Hurley Wilvert 281-1732 FOR SALE: 1968 Monza coupe, 110-HP rebuilt engine with 4 carbs, Powerglide. New paint, good interior. Price negotiable -- Hurley Wilvert 281-1732 WANTED: Two carb cross shafts - Sylvan Zuercher - 299-7577 FOR SALE: Yellow Tri-State T-shirts - $10 - XXL $12 Call Bill Reider Yellow Tri-State Golf Shirts - $14 - XXL $16 299-4597 * * * * * CNM ADS ARE FREE TO CNM MEMBERS, $5.00 TO NON-CNM MEMBERS * * * * * =CNM= Thank You from Ruth Ruth Boydston I would like to thank my second family for the prayers, cards, food, flowers and phone calls. The first week I was home, my first family took care of me. I wasn't very friendly then, but I hope I'm doing better now. I was really glad to see everyone at the 30 year reunion. I was also glad to be back at the April meeting. Thank you very much for putting up with me. Love you all, Ruth =CNM= YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS by Steve Goodman ROCKY MOUNTAIN CORSA Another story that will seem unbelievable or completely ridiculous about our favorite car, the CORVAIR. One of the most typical mistakes in ownership of a CORVAIR is to let a tire shop or service station mess with your tires. I promise that you will have 32 psi in all four when you pick up the car. Many times, in order to combat the wandering feeling that the car had with way too much air in the front tires, was to add some weight to the front. That way the front end would weigh as much as a full sized CHEVY!! Among the weights that I have seen used through the years are SBC cylinder heads (not one or two but as many as six) or cinder blocks and bricks (careful laying of bricks will gain about 100 lbs or more or more if neatly spaced from fender to fender). Also sandbags used to be in vogue - sometimes the entire trunk was filled with them. But the most creative was the car trunk that was filled with pea gravel and river rock.The owner told me that by using the gravel and rocks he could "adjust" the proper weight so that the car would handle correctly. Incidentally, I made him remove much of that "handling aid" before I would replace a parking light socket and bulb. He couldn't understand why the CORVAIR designers would stick those bulbs so far down in the trunk well. I also had a customer who carried concrete in the trunk. When the concrete hardened and he hit a large pothole, the concrete fell through the rusted out trunk bottom and high-centered the front suspension of the car in the middle of a main street here in Denver. TECH TIPS by Steve Goodman ROCKY MOUNTAIN CORSA Grease is a great tool aid. The type I prefer to use is the black moly grease, commonly sold in either small "tubs" or in tube form. The black moly has a very high water resistance. I keep a small acid brush handy and whenever I am installing a bulb in a tail light or park light socket or the headlght sockets, I swipe the brush across the terminals. Just a light coating will do and it will keep the contacts from corroding for a very long time. Wipe a little around the bulb socket ground contacts also. It will help keep the small ground prongs clean too. Next use for black moly grease is as a gasket sealer. I put some grease between thumb and fingers and coat the cork valve cover gaskets as well as many of the paper gaskets in CORVAIR/VW/PORSCHE engines. The grease will act as a sealer and the best part is that the gasket won't stick to either the head or the valve cover when removed. Also, just push the head of a small bolt or screw into the grease and then stick it into the socket or screwdriver blade. The grease will hold the screw in place while trying to reach into a far dark place. =CNM= Corvair Story Carl Johnson There we were, checking our mail while home on a break from the summer's archaeological work. Pete Colburn? Oh, he found us through the CORSA mailing list. All eleven New Mexico members. Meet to talk Corvairs? Many of us had driven and learned about Corvairs long before we found each other here in CNM. We hadn't simply spent a few years driving "a car" and dumped it for something else. We liked our cars. So here we are , with all those organizational concepts--social, educational, mechanical, philosophical, and economic; all organized around Ed Cole's car. I got into Corvairs because I saw the advantages of the Greenbrier over anything else for short trips around town and for long trips, with carrying and camping abilities. We bought an FC, a Corvan, and used it in exactly those ways. It and other Corvairs ever since. It was many years before I did much driving in the cars; the microbus is just so convenient. We built this house on Griegos Road with the original Corvan, called Blue Bus. It is a 1961. Lumber, windows, appliances, loose pumice, flooring, etc. Wire, pipes, sewer lines, no problem. We did have to draw the line at vigas. Twenty-five fir logs 20 feet by 10 or 12 inches diameter might have crushed Blue Bus! They were delivered from Taos by big truck. Locally, we carried ten much smaller vigas in Blue Bus. We rented a flatbed truck to haul home the logs of an abandoned Navajo hogan after having paid for and dismantled it near Smith Lake. The hogan is a partially attached room of the house. To return to origins. The Army taught me about air-cooled engines as a helicopter mechanic. On leave in 1958 I visited a family friend in Germany. Lots of Volkswagens. Dietrich drove his to show me around Trier and the Mosel River Valley. In 1960, Father and my brother each bought VWs while I was in college. Living at home and often sharing cars, I quickly learned the advantages of the VW over our "old Detroit" fare. I often used our VW on long trips into northern Minnesota and Wisconsin for archaeology and canoe trips. Great gasoline mileage. Small body? So what. It was easy to take care of. Big problem such as a broken clutch cable on the far side of town--easy. Early synchro practice for potential problem on Corvair. Summer work at the University of Minnesota's garage brought me face-to-face with Greenbriers! I had barely heard of these nifty vehicles. Much like the VW microbus, but more powerful. There they were, for me to service. Part of the University fleet, they had been purchased for use by a family friend. The two Greenbriers spent summers being beaten up on gravel roads in Mexico on Dr. Warner's ornithology field trips. The best birding seems to be on the worst roads. That situation was the case in Minnesota when I took his class. Years and classes passed. There were occasional rides in Corvair cars and a VW bus. Graduation was in 1964 after which I drove my 1955 Mercury wagon to Guatemala for more archaeological studies and to make a film of a work camp sponsored by the Society of Friends. My 1960 trip for summer classes in Mayan archaeology had been in my 1952 Chevy. It was January 1966 when we arrived in Albuquerque, my newly married wife Ann and I. We both had jobs and needed a second car. It was time for the Greenbrier! We soon found out at the Chevrolet store that the FCs had been discontinued. We didn't want a poor substitute, so we looked around at the used market where we found Blue Bus, a 1961 Corvan. It was, indeed, a used car. After one trip to Mexico City, and much other highway driving, it needed a new engine. I'm still not sure why it suddenly began to slurp oil as we left Mesa Verde National Park, but I suspect collapsed rings from overheating of hard driving with 10-30 oil; consequent viscosity improver-shearing and breakdown?? The folks at Galles tried to get me a 1965 or '66 engine, also a 4-speed transmission and positraction 3.55 rear axle. A car engine arrived in a big crate, so we drilled the crankcase and welded in a one-inch aluminum pipe stub. Looks and works just like the proper FC crankcase. I put it all together and into the car. It worked great! Experience has caused some changes. I no longer use the 3.55 axle in FCs. Too much engine heat. I still use 205-15" tires, but use 3.89 axle and the early fan with full fins. I used to drive 80 mph in those days. Oil temperature of 365 degrees isn't good. I also dropped the positraction unit after having destroyed two on rough and rocky roads. It is too weak a design for some of my uses, pushing the somewhat heavier microbuses. Eventually I got hold of two of the low speed first gear units which were supplied with some 1961 FCs. Ratio for first and reverse is 4.25:1 vs about 3.65:1 on the common four speeds. Mine are now housed in 62-63 carriers to get away from the weak reverse detent of the 1961 design. I've hit reverse in error often enough myself. It becomes dangerous when a novice Corvan driver does that at the intersection of Cerrillos Road and St. Francis Drive in Santa Fe. Edite Cates was momentarily lost; a dangerous moment for us all, herself, three kids, her husband and me. Get rid of that problem reverse detent! I acquired more Corvairs. Then the prize, when it became available from another archaeologist, Bill Sundt. Brown Bus is a 1964 Greenbrier with air conditioning. Ann had left. There were several lovely girlfriends... Before long I found a woman even better than any car, the mother of Sally and Geoffrey. Zoe, also known as Paddy, and I drove Brown Bus to Guatemala that year, 1972. On the dashboard we checked off the few remaining Corvairs which we saw along the way. Only eight total. We were elated to find an in-use match to our bus parked on a Guatemalan mountainside. Meanwhile, 1972 was a big year in other ways. Various people were beginning a Corvair family. Alvin Jones told me of a little advertisement for CORSA. I joined. Next summer we got Pete Colburn's letter. I told him we had parking space here along the irrigation ditch; tell everyone to come over... so it goes... what do we call us? Oh my. Decisions... We're still here and still driving our Corvairs. National group and super local friends. We learn a lot from each other as we mix and match our experiences and solutions to problems. Brown Bus is still my favorite automobile. It is together and up and running today. I don't drive it every day because I haven't figured out how to get truly high fuel mileage from it! Maybe fuel injection? Stay tuned, though it might have to wait until my next life. Brown Bus languished for many years. The turbo engine began to smoke near the end of the Guatemala trip. Prior use in a dune buggy had worn it out. After limited use for a year or so, it was parked for a long time waiting. And waiting. Its "wheels didn't squeak" as it sat. Others were in good condition for a lot of commuting to Portales and back. Life repeatedly intervened. The kids needed more and more of my time. They enjoyed working with me on the cars after about age two. Be careful--check transaxle oil after your car sits a while. Shifter shaft leaked just a little. As we prepared to move back to Albuquerque, I hitched the bus behind something else I was driving. The pinion shaft bearing lasted five miles before lock up. Brought on a trailer, the car waited longer. Then, time to do it. New TRW pistons and rings, rebored cylinders from Francis Boydston, and milled heads which Francis had found somewhere. The improved squish works; it never pings on regular. Lots of power, perhaps more than turbocharger. Now it's really right; air conditioning, heater improved with better blower motor and lots of insulation on the ducts; transaxle with 4.25 first gear and 3.89 axle, tires 205-15, and the good cooling fan. Perhaps holding it to 75 mph will help it have a long life. It still gets onto the rough roads just fine. For field trips, collecting rocks or doing archaeology, the forward controls go almost anywhere that a regular pickup truck can go. A four wheel drive SUV might get me one-quarter mile farther along some of the worst roads I've ever needed; however, I can get off my butt and walk that far. I don't like to scar the land with my new tracks. I have been known to take my small sacrificial pickup truck into some known difficult areas. And if you'll look at the underside of our light blue '62 two door coupe you will observe that it has been in some very bad places. Use it carefully, but don't baby it! Proud of our club? Emphatically yes! We are all keeping the club together, and we are proudly passing our collective knowledge to the next generation. Our team goes forward. Perhaps little did Ed Cole realize just how successful his team's product could be. -- Carl =CNM=