This page contains material from the August 2007 newsletter

Updated 22-Jul-2007 =-=- Copyright (c) 2007 Corvairs of New Mexico EDITOR: Jim Pittman NEXT MEETING: Wednesday 1 August 2007 at 7:00 PM Highland Senior Center at 131 Monroe NE THIS MONTH: Dues Due ...................................... Membership Committee July Board Meeting ............................ Charles Vertrees Mechanically Un-inclined ...................... Ray Trujillo Birthdays and Anniversaries ................... Sunshine Committee 2007 National Ultravan Rally .................. Richard Finch Car Council Report ............................ Robert Gold Calendar of Coming Events ..................... CNM Board of Directors July 4th Celebration Thanks ................... Mike Stickler 2008 Corvair Calendar - FINAL CALL! ........... Brenda Stickler Tech: Mightaswell Disease ..................... Steve Goodman Map to Villanueva ............................ Car Council Picnic For Sale, Wanted or For Trade ................. Members and Friends Herb Berkman's Biography ...................... Christy Barden Frostbite Tour Adventures 2000 ................ Mark Martinek In Memory of Herb & Terry ..................... http://www.rmrfi.org/ Where Have All The Leaders Gone? Lee Iacocca .. Book Review Seven, 14, 21, 28 Years Ago ................... Club Historian COVER: Fireworks Party at the Sticklers' Corrales Ranch on July Fourth =[CNM]= PRESIDENT: Ray Trujillo 839-7436 ray @ bpsabq.com VICE-PRES: John Wiker 899-3076 wiker @ aps.edu SECRETARY: Charles Vertrees 299-0744 vertrees @ swcp.com TREASURER: Wendell Walker 892-8471 defarge505 @ aol.com MEMBERSHIP: David Huntoon 281-9616 corvair66 @ aol.com NEWSLETTER: Jim Pittman 275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu PROPERTIES: Ruth Boydston 821-1506 CAR COUNCIL: Robert Gold 268-6878 beisbol30 @ msn.com DUES: CNM: 12 months $15.00 or 26 months $ 30.00 CORSA: 12 months $38.00 or 26 months $ 76.00 BOTH: 12 months $53.00 or 26 months $106.00 CORSA's home page: http://www.corvair.org CNM's newsletters: http://www.unm.edu/~jimp CNM's home page: http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter871 MEMBERSHIP DUES: 22-JUL-2007 Expired, Becomes Inactive 25-Jul-2007: Terry Price 2007-Jun Due This Month: Ray Trujillo 2007-Aug Sylvan Zuercher 2007-Aug Coming Due Next Month: Tarmo Sutt 2007-Sep Coming Due Soon: Lupe Arellanes 2007-Oct Jon Anderson 2007-Oct Expired, Now Inactive: Fred Edeskuty 2006-Feb Robert Moore 2006-Jun Lee Olsen 2006-Sep Dwight Simmons 2006-Sep Sally Williams 2006-Sep Joe Ashton 2006-Nov Clay Keen 2007-Feb Clint Collins 2007-Mar Geoffrey Johnson 2007-Mar Jerry Chapman 2007-Apr Mike Hacker 2007-May If your membership is due or has expired, please send your Dues to: Wendell Walker, CNM Treasurer, 301 Utah Meadow, Rio Rancho, NM 87124 Past due memberships will become inactive after a one-month grace period. Note that the Club will mail in your National Dues when you renew, provided that you send us the renewal form from your CORSA Communique! ON THE COVER: CNM members (and a few Corvairs) showed up at the home of Brenda & Mike Stickler in Corrales where we had blowing sand, good food, good conversation and a good view of countless fireworks displays across the city. Watercolor by Jesus Carlos Padilla Photos of cars in The Great Race in this issue by Robert Gold ================================================================================ Enchanted Corvairs Newsletter is published monthly by Corvairs of New Mexico, a chartered chapter of CORSA, the Corvair Society of America. Contents are copyrighted in the names of the Authors and CNM. Articles may be reprinted in any CORSA publication as a service to CORSA members provided credit to the Author and this Newsletter are clearly stated. All opinions are those of the Author or the Editor and do not necessarily reflect endorsement by CNM or CORSA. Material to be published should reach the Editor by the 15th of each month. Submit material as ASCII TEXT via e-mail to ( jimp @ unm.edu ) or in ASCII TEXT format on Apple II, Macintosh or MS-DOS disk, or submit a readable manuscript. I don't like MS Word documents (they are ten times as big as the text they contain) but no problem, I can read them, thanks to icWord 3.0. The same goes for RTF files. So, send what you have, I'll read it! Photographs including digital JPGs are welcome too! This newsletter was produced in a Microsoft-free environment using a 1989 Apple IIgs with GS/OS 6.0.1, a 1998 Macintosh G3 with OS 9.2, a 2003 Macintosh G4 PowerBook with OS-X and a 2003 iMac with OS-X. Software includes Bernie To The Rescue 2.6, Addressed For Success, ShadowWrite 1.3.4, Platinum Paint 2.0, Pointless and Harmonie for the Apple IIgs and AppleWorks 6, Photoshop CS, GraphicConverter 5.8, BBEdit 8 and InDesign CS 3 on the Macs. Printing is via HP LaserJet IIp and Apple LaserWriter Pro 630. Ask for more technical details if you are interested. Transportation requirements provided by Albuquerque SunTran, 1965 Corvair Monza, 1990 Honda Civic, 1996 Mazda Miata and 2003 Honda Civic. And when I'm 64, I'll get by with a little help from my friends. ================================================================================ =[CNM]= JULY BOARD MEETING Chuck Vertrees Regular readers of this newsletter will recall that we did not have a meeting in July (although quite a few members were gathered together at the Sticklers' to celebrate the Fourth of July on our regular first Wednesday meeting night) and therefore there are no meeting minutes this month. The Board meeting was called to order at 17:03 on July 10th at Business Printing Services. Present were Ray Trujillo, Robert Gold, Jim and Heula Pittman, and Chuck and Julia Vertrees. Ray said that pictures are starting to come in for the calendar, however, still more are needed, so send them in. Wendell was not present but sent the Treasurer figures to Ray who reported that CNM has $584.91 in the checking account and $2,582.91 in the GMAC account for a total of $3,157.82. Heula reported that the Sunshine Committee had sent a sympathy card to Herb Berkman's family. Herb died recently in an airplane crash in Colorado. Heula reported that the First Aid Kit for the Old Route 66 cleanup crew is ready and it will be given to Ollie Scheflow at the next meeting. She will get together with Lee Reider and Emma Rogers about what to do for our Christmas party. We are hoping to have it at the Kirtland AFB Officers' Club again. Sylvan Zuercher asked Jim to send newsletters to Paul West and Don Heath, possible new members that we met at Mike and Brenda Sticklers' July 4th shindig. Again a big thanks to Mike and Brenda for hosting the Fourth of July BBQ. The turnout was great and everything went well. There was lots of food and a great selection. From their yard you could see the Rio Rancho and the Balloon Fiesta fireworks displays plus all the many illegal fireworks going off all over Albuquerque. Robert Gold said that he was interviewed by a writer for the Albuquerque Journal, wanting to know all about CNM and the Corvair. Robert said that he seemed very interested and asked a lot of intelligent questions. Maybe he will put something about us in the newspaper. Robert said that the big thing talked about at the Car Council meeting was the upcoming Annual Picnic. It will be on August 5th which is the Sunday after our Wednesday meeting. It will be at Villanueva State Park. CNM has had campouts there in the past. The Pecos river flows along one side of the park. There is shade and shelters. The time is 11 AM to 4 PM. Hamburgers, hot dogs, etc will be served, starting at 12:00. There will be games with prizes, a cash drawing, door prizes, and lots of food. Bring the family since there is a playground for the kids. For those who would like to travel together, Phil Dankworth will be leading the parade from the Smith's store at Tramway and East Central. He will be there at 09:30 and will leave promptly at 10:00. Since it is a State Park, there is a $5.00 admittance fee per car. I think Jim will print a map elsewhere in this newsletter. Jim reported that Mary Lou and Mark Martinek have renewed their membership for another 26 months. We had no news of other membership changes. Upcoming events include a tech session at the August 1st meeting about how to install LED lights on a Corvair instrument panel. Saturday August 4th, the day before the Car Council picnic, is the day for our next cleanup of our section of "Old Route 66." Meet Ollie at the parking area about a mile east of Tramway and Central at 08:00. We should be finished before it gets too hot. Let's have a good turnout please. This will be followed by a CNM brunch. We'll decide on a location and it will be announced at the August 1st meeting. Probably the brunch will be at 10:30 or 11:00 and you don't have to be on the clean-up crew to join us at the brunch. Richard Finch has reported that there will be an Ultravan convention in Ruidoso in September. The Moriarty EAA fly-in and old car display will be on the 8th and 9th of September and is scheduled as one of our club activities. Those who went last year said it was fascinating. There will be more information later. Also in September is the State Fair Car Show (date not certain but we think it will be the 23rd) followed by the NMCCC Swap Meet in Los Lunas on the 28th - 30th. We discussed having club events that would involve driving some distance. Are we all getting old or is it that we are all too busy these days to drive an hour or two to a club event? Will we have an Aspencade this year? October is the election of CNM officers. If you are approached to serve, please give it thoughtful consideration. Also on the 7th is the Balloon Fiesta Car Show. This is a great deal because you get in with a good location and don't have to be there at Oh-dark-30. Again a big thanks to Mike and Brenda. The meeting was adjourned at 18:10. -- Chuck =[CNM]= MECHANICALLY UN-INCLINED Ray Trujillo Hello Everyone! Well the dog days of summer are upon us and since I've always heard that phrase I thought it would be an appropriate time to use it. I actually don't know where the phrase comes from or means so I was hoping that maybe one of you out there could explain "the dog days of summer" to me at our next membership meeting. Speaking of membership meetings and since we didn't have one last month due to the 4th of July holiday I thought it would be a good idea to tell you about a tech session that will be done immediately after our upcoming meeting. Dan Palmer will show us how he installed LED lights on his instrument panel, so his presentation should be very interesting. Also at the August meeting I will give you a preliminary look at the pictures I've received so far for our 2008 calendar. Remember it's still not too late to send in your favorite Corvair pictures or drawings for that project. Prior to our holiday break our meetings have been well attended and very informative so let's continue with the great turnouts. Now here's the activity schedule for next few months. The first weekend in August CNM has two activities planned. The first is an Old Route 66 clean-up scheduled for August 4th at 8:00 am and followed by brunch at 10:30 am at either the Golden Corral at Central near Eubank or Kokopeli's on highway 14 in Sandia Park. We'll decide by membership vote at the next meeting. Please remember you don't have to attend the clean-up to join in on the brunch. The very next day on August 5th the New Mexico Car Council will hold its annual picnic at Villanueva State Park at 11:00 am. If you'd like more information regarding this event please see the picnic article in this months newsletter. The next activity is not really scheduled yet but a possible Tuna Saturday for mid to late August could occur if enough interest warrants it. I know it is kind of short notice but I thought I'd mention the Tuna Saturday in my article this month in case any of you have a project you'd like to see get done. Just mention your project at the time it's brought up on the agenda during our meeting. Again, if we have enough interest we'll schedule it. Moving on, the month of September is busy for our club as well. On September 8th and 9th our newly added activity is the Moriarty EAA fly-in and old car display. I'll get you more details on this as they come in so stay tuned. September 28th-30th the NMCCC swap meet is scheduled again to take place in Los Lunas and this event seems to get more popular every year. As of right now we're hoping the State Fair car show for our club is the weekend prior to the 28th because it would be ideal for many of us if we could have those two events happen on separate weekends. On October 7th CNM's schedule includes the Balloon Fiesta car show. For those of you who don't remember last year the mass ascension of the balloons was cancelled due to bad weather so hopefully this year we'll get better weather. October is also the time of year our club elects its officers for the upcoming year. If you'd like to nominate yourself or someone for any of the offices please contact Sylvan Zuercher so he can have a list of candidates on election night. Even if you have previously held a position in this club, but especially if you have not held a position in CNM before, please strongly consider accepting a nomination that will help our great club continue to thrive. You know prior to being lassoed, I mean elected, into my position I never really did anything like this before and believe me I was scared to death about it. Anyway, Sylvan told me that there are a lot of people in the club who would help me when guidance was necessary so not to worry. Well someone has always been there willing to assist when needed so it hasn't been as horrifying as I once thought. My point is, don't let fear or anything else keep you from accepting a position in this very friendly and supportive club. As you all know, we did not have a membership meeting in July but instead were invited to Mike and Brenda Sticklers' beautiful home for a Fourth of July BBQ and to see the many fireworks displays visible from their yard. For those of you who didn't attend, a great time was had by all who came. Good food, awesome fireworks, and great company, what more could you ask for! Thank you Mike and Brenda for hosting such a great party! Now before I let you go, the person who can give me the explanation I enjoy the most regarding the phrase "dog days of summer," I'll gladly buy their favorite 66 Diner dessert and drink right after the meeting. Well I guess that's enough said for now so I hope to see you at the next club meeting. -- Ray PHOTO: The impressive cockpit of Robert's late coupe, on the way to a car show. =[CNM]= SUNSHINE COMMITTEE Four CNM members celebrate birthdays this month. Happy Birthday wishes go to each of you: Joel Nash ......... August 8 Steve Johnson ...... August 10 Lee Reider ....... August 11 Bernard Urbassik ..... August 24 President and Mrs. Trujillo celebrate their wedding anniversary on the 7th of this month. Congratulations, Sylvia and Ray! =[CNM]= REPORT OF THE CAR COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 27, 2007 Robert Gold Corvairs of New Mexico was well represented at this month's Car Council meeting. Cary Hubbard and Art Gold were there to make sure I didn't make any dumb remarks. I can happily report that they succeeded. Anyway, this meeting began with a speaker who kept our attention throughout his report. He was Carl Garcia, a field enforcement person for the City's zoning commission. He's one of those guys who makes sure that we homeowners do the right thing. A couple of years ago I got a letter from one of his fellow inspectors informing me that the weeds in the alley behind my house were too tall. Of course the letter came when I was out of town, so I had about a day to correct the infraction before I would be sent to the "big house." Of course it was about 100 degrees when I got out there and cut the grass. You know that when they tell your neighbor to cut his grass it's just fine but when they tell you to do it it's unfair. Well enough about me and more about Carl's talk. As you may have guessed, Carl wasn't there to talk to us about cutting weeds, he was there to talk to us about storage of cars on our property. It seems that the State of New Mexico and the City of Albuquerque have laws governing the storage of cars at residences. However, contrary to a commercial I saw a couple of years ago, someone isn't going to come with a tow truck and take your perfectly restored 1966 Corsa convertible away just because it is an old car. They can take your car only if it is inoperable and after the citation issued by the inspector goes through a judicial process. The question really is, what makes these guys issue a citation? Based on Carl's talk I can report that your major source of paranoia should be a hostile neighbor. There are only a dozen or so inspectors for all of Albuquerque, so these guys aren't cruising the streets randomly looking for violators. They generally are responding to complaints. So what are they looking for? They're looking for "inoperable" cars visible from the street anywhere on your property. That means also in your back yard. What they mean by "inoperable" is a car without a critical body part like a fender or a hood or trunk, or a car with a flat tire. But don't despair about the tire. If they cite you, all you have to do is air up the tire. Carl emphasized that the goal is to correct the infraction, not make a federal case out of it. However, if you don't correct the problem, the citation is referred to a court and you'll have to deal with the judge. So what do you do to make sure that that mean 'ole inspector doesn't write you a ticket? Oh by the way, if you have out of date tags the city inspectors don't care, that's the responsibility of APD. Anyway, the goal is to keep your "parts" car hidden. A car cover is nice. Also, bushes or a wall can shield you car. Just don't make it obvious, and for sure don't get you neighbors angry, 'cause they can make your life miserable. Finally, I know I didn't cover everything here, so if you have any questions, you can call Carl at 924-3838. I thought he was really brave to give that number out. With the city inspector's talk out of the way the council meeting turned to its normal business matters. Under old business was a report of the Museum Car Show. As any of you who attended the show would know, the show was a real success. The weather was great and everyone had a great time. Connected with that report was the announcement that the volunteer luncheon was scheduled for Sunday July 15 at the Pizza Inn in Corrales. Anyone who had volunteered in support of the council's activities would get a free meal. Bob Agnew then gave a report on the Great Race that will be coming through Albuquerque on July 10. The City folks decided that there was no need to make a big deal out of a bunch of very expensive classic cars engaged in a grueling road race. Unlike most cities which accorded the racers "lots of love," our hometown made a donation, then turned its attention to other matters of state. Bob Agnew thought that approach was missing the point of having a event of such stature in our area. He then described what he suggested we do for the racers. But before I tell you about that I want to vent a little about a similar oversight by the City a few years ago. In 2001 the Hot Rod power tour came through town. This was the third year in a row that we were treated to the event. I entered my V8 Corvair in the tour in 1999 and 2001. Unlike this year's Great Race, the Power Tour had hundreds of participants. The 1999 event was an amazing scene with cars of all description parked all along both sides of Central downtown. It made me proud that Albuquerque accorded this event so much interest. Thousands of spectators were able to stroll down Central and see cars that normally you would only see in magazines. But by 2001 the City changed its approach and when the tour participants arrived they had to park in parking lots well off of Central. It is hard to believe, but several hundred cars literally disappeared from view. I still can't believe how the city treated the Tour. It came as no surprise that Hot Rod didn't have much good to say about Albuquerque that year and that we haven't seen the event in town since then. I wish the administrators in the city would understand that the car culture is a big deal both financially for the city and for our national prestige. So back to Bob Agnew and this year's Great Race. Cars from the race are scheduled to arrive on July 10 at about 5:45 in the afternoon at the Embassy Suites at I-25 and Lomas. Bob arranged for about 30 local cars to park with the racers in the suites parking lot. The 30 spots are offered on a first come first served basis starting around 1:00 pm. If you don't get a spot you can still park in the area and see all the cars. The plan described was to have an "ice cream social." So if you can, come out and support the event. Lastly, we discussed the All Clubs Picnic coming up on August 5. I would refer you to the council's web page at nmcarcouncil.org for information about the picnic and other upcoming events. That about does it for this month's report. Tune in next month for more fun and games. At the Board Meeting I gave Jim some photos of the cars in The Great Race. Here are a few of the photos. It was simply awesome to see the cars and to realize that they were being driven coast to coast in this race. How'd you like to do that in your favorite Corvair? -- Robert =[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 ============================================================================ | | | | | August | September | October | | | | | | : : : 1 2 3 4 | : : : : : : 1 | : 1 2 3 4 5 6 | | 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 | | 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 | 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 | | 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 | 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 | 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 | | 26 27 28 29 30 31 : | 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 | 28 29 30 31 : : : | | : : : : : : : | 30 : : : : : : | : : : : : : : | ============================================================================ Wed 1 Aug 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Wed 1 Aug ....... Tech Talk: Dan Palmer on LED bulbs in instrument panels Sat 4 Aug .... AM Old Route 66 Clean-up - Ollie Scheflow Sat 4 Aug 10:30 AM Club Brunch -- Golden Corral -OR- Kokopeli's -- which? Sun 5 Aug 11:00 AM NMCCC All Clubs Picnic - Villanueva State Park Wed 15 Aug 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Fri 24 Aug 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Wed 5 Sep 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Wed 5 Sep 7:00 PM We need a slate of candidates for October's election! Tue-Sat Sep 4-8 Ruidoso National Ultravan Rally - Howard & Marsha Boso 480-288-2636 (Apache Junction, AZ) 480-518-4103 (cell) Sat-Sun Sep 8-9 Moriarty EAA Fly-in and Old Car Display - Richard Finch 505-585-8035 (Tularosa, NM) Wed 19 Sep 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Fri 21 Sep 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Fri-Sun Sep 28-30 NMCCC Swap Meet in Los Lunas oldcarnut1932 @ earthlink.net Wed 3 Oct 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Sat 6 Oct .... AM Old Route 66 Clean-up - Ollie Scheflow Fri-Sun Oct 5-6-7 35th N. M. Antique Auto Tour - Hobbs, NM - 505-393-3228 Sun 7 Oct ....... Balloon Fiesta Car Display madmike @ swcp.com 505-323-6022 Wed 17 Oct 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Fri 26 Oct 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman =[CNM]= JULY 4TH CELEBRATION THANKS Mike Stickler You never know what the winds will blow in, but on the 4th Brenda and I really lucked out. As heavy winds started - in came our favorite people, who share our love for Corvairs. Thanks for the food you shared. We were touched by phone calls of thanks and even thank you cards. With close to thirty people in attendance it was quite a celebration. Thankfully the wind died down after we ate and we could see the professional fireworks displays and a few legal fireworks from our own group. Now, our new casa feels more like home. Times like this make you want to end the night saying "God Bless America." -- Mike Stickler =[CNM]= 2008 CORVAIR CALENDAR -- FINAL CALL!!! Brenda Stickler Yes, the August meeting is when we need you to bring in your favorite photo of Corvairs for the vote at the September meeting for our 2008 Calendar. You can E-mail us your photo(s) that month. Send them to Ray NO LATER than the 20th of August. Some of you WE do not remember seeing you WITHOUT a camera in your hand at most functions? Are you holding out on us? Yes, all procrastinators can now keep their title and get them in now. ( Ray @ bpsabq.com ) I will be glad the last week of August to meet, pick up or have pictures brought to our house. There will be a poster with all of the pictures displayed on it at the September meeting and ballots will be made up for this exciting event. (No chads involved!!!) We are grateful that graphics are being worked on for the bottom border. Thanks again for all of your support. -- Brenda Stickler =[CNM]= MIGHTASWELL DISEASE Steve Goodman MIGHTASWELL disease strikes most car hobbyists as well as home and yard enthusiasts and probably anyone else involved in fixing something. It happens when you just can't figure out a place to stop because: "While you are doing this little repair job you 'mightaswell' replace that other small part next to it." This escalates quickly because there is always one more place that something might fail later, so you "mightaswell" keep repairing and replacing. There are many small cases of "mightaswell" and the most common are things like: Since I am replacing the plugs and points I 'mightaswell' replace the cap and rotor and wires. Now that makes sense. When the disease gets worse I "mightaswell" rebuild the carbs, and since I have the carbs off I "mightaswell" remove the fan shroud and re-torque the top cover. Hmmm, I "mightaswell" replace the fan bearing since I have everything off. The worst case of "mightaswell" disease that I can think of is a customer at the shop who started out replacing the oil return tube 0-rings. As he kept taking more pieces off the engine, he ended up rebuilding the entire engine and continued with the transaxle. His first symptoms of "mightaswell" disease showed up in 1995, just before I moved to Golden. The car is still apart in his garage in 2007. One of these days I hope he will say he "mightaswell" start assembling the car so that I can drive it before there is no more fuel. (Reprinted from Rocky Mountain CORSA's Denvair News, August 2007) =[CNM]= = = = = = = = = = = = = FOR SALE, TO TRADE, OR WANTED = = = = = = = = = = = = = NOTE: Please tell me if any of these are obsolete and should be removed! - Jim = = = = = = = CNM ADS ARE FREE TO MEMBERS, $5.00 TO NON-MEMBERS = = = = = = = NOTE: Without your $5.00 payment, your ad won't be in the published newsletter. = = = = = = = = = = = = FOR SALE, TO TRADE, OR WANTED = = = = = = = = = = = = = ====== WANTED: 1964 Carter YH carburetor -- for 1964 Spyder. Larry Blair 505-821-1386 ======== FOR SALE: Corvair Parts or Cars -- Pat Hall -- Los Lunas, New Mexico I have 30-plus Corvairs. Some can be restored. Some are parts only. I have lots of parts already off cars. I have four cars that I drive: 1963 Spyder conv, 1964 Monza coupe, 1965 Corsa coupe & 1960 Monza coupe. I will sell parts or cars. Corvairs are my Hobby. For more information contact Pat Hall at 505-620-5574 or send e-mail to: patandvickie @ peoplepc.com ======== FOR SALE: 1 FC rear end, 4-speed .................................... $40 1 4-speed tranny .......................................... $15 1 Motor stand including rear end .......................... $35 Complete NOS set of late model chrome wheel well moulding $75 Bath cleaner on stand ..................................... $35 1 Set of 2 drive-up ramps off lift -- heavy -- you haul it Call my cell phone ......... 505-385-3333 ......... Jerry Goffe ====== WANTED: 1964 Monza ext trim - what have you? Nice to NOS condition. Early front shaded windshield. Inner right and left front floor pans or sections. Robert Philips ........... rp96rp@aol.com ............ 898-1255 ====== WANTED: Where is my old 1966 Corsa turbo (gold) that Fred Edeskuty of Jemez Springs sold years ago? Robert Philips ........... rp96rp@aol.com ............ 898-1255 ====== WANTED: Late model front bumper ....... Hurley Wilvert ....... 281-1732 ======== FOR SALE: 1962 Corvair Station Wagon. Mark from Reliable Chevrolet called and let us know that someone back east put some money into this car for brake work and never came back. Mark has the title and the car is for sale. The bill came to $2500.00 but Mark is entertaining an offer. Call him at 338-5932. -- Steve =[CNM]= To: Steve Goodman - Rocky Mountain CORSA - Denver Here is the biography I did for Herb's Memorial Service on June 30, 2007. Feel free to use any or all of it in a story about Herb. I'll try to get a photo to you as soon as I can. ---- Christy Barden, Boulder, Colorado HERB BERKMAN'S BIOGRAPHY Christy Barden ( ChristyBarden@cs.com ) Herb was born on December 1st, 1936 to Edith and Sam Berkman, their first child. For the first 12 years of his life they lived in the town of Middletown, Delaware. Herb's dad worked for his grandfather Jake Rudnick who owned a livestock sales company he started in 1927, Rudnick Sales Company. "Everything For the Harness Race Horse" was their motto. His sister Mim came a few years later. In 1947 his family moved to Dover to be near their grandparents. Herb never liked the business, but when he was old enough to work, he worked on the farm. Remembering one summer, his father took him to the farm. He showed Herb a bucket of grey paint and said "Herb, see that grey paint? It's in the buckets now, by the end of the summer I want it all on the barns." That was Herb's career as a farmer. He loved to talk about taking his father's 1951 Oldsmobile and drag racing other kids and winning. The Olds at that time had that hot rocket engine. I don't think his father ever found out about that activity. This is also where his interest in automobiles began. He also became interested in model airplanes, building and flying them. His room at home was filled with model aircraft. He even joined the Civil Air Patrol when he was in high school, but his mother would not let him fly. After high school he attended the University of Delaware and graduated with an engineering degree. He was a fraternity boy during this time, not getting the best of grades, but having the best of times. After graduation and after receiving a draft notice, he accepted a job with Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica doing critical defense work. It kept him out of the draft. He was doing acoustical testing of the jet engines on the DC-8 jet transport at Edwards Air Force Base the in Mojave Desert. He lived in Redondo Beach and had a TR-3 sports car. He started doing sports car rallies, going to parties and skiing almost every weekend in the winter. That is where he met his wife Jonni, on the ski slopes at Mammoth Mountain. It was December 30th, 1960. They were in a ski class together and the instructor was doing a mediocre job and Jonni asked if he was going to teach them anything else. Not satisfied with his answer, she said he would like her money back. Herb was impressed. Who was this girl being hidden behind that big parka? He ask her to join him for a New Year's celebration which was the next evening. She declined, for she was spending this week with another guy. She gave him her address and phone number in Los Angeles where she lived with her parents. So they started dating. Her parents didn't care too much for him, driving that sports car, living that wild single life, and he was Jewish. But Herb prevailed and they were married on May 25th 1962. A marriage that would last 45 years. He traded his TR-3 in on a used 1961 Corvair at Felix Chevrolet. They set up housekeeping in a one bedroom apartment north of Inglewood. Jonni got a job with Reynolds Metals Company and Herb worked at Northrop Aircraft, which was closer to home. Then Herb landed a job with Martin Marietta. So they moved to Colorado in November of 1962 using their Corvair. They travelled there via Canada and slept in the back of the Corvair that Herb had fixed up for sleeping. They lived in Littleton, Jonni got pregnant and they skied at Vail for its opening season. This was familiar territory for Jonni for she had spent her freshman year at CU Boulder. They moved back to Los Angeles to be near Jonni's parents. They bought a home in Canoga Park in March of 1963. Herb got a job with Litton Industries. Their first child Jennifer was born August 14th 1963. Then he took his final job at Hughes Aircraft which was only 3 miles away from home, he could come home for lunch. Jamia, their second daughter, was born on April 24, 1967. This was a time when his driveway was full of Corvairs, they seemed to come and go. He even put a Corvair engine in a VW bus, and had several other Corvairs. He bought his 1965 Corsa coupe in 1975. The family still owns this car today. He won two Edward M. Cole awards (with the Corvair club) with that car, once in San Diego in 1978 and then again at Flagstaff in 2002 with same car. This award is based on the combination of the scores in a concourse, autocross, road rally and economy run. His daughters went to high school driving Corvairs. Herb became active in the Corvair Society of America (CORSA). He was a charter member of CORSA West (a Los Angeles chapter) and became Vice President of the National Organization in 1978 and President in 1979. At this time there were about 8,000 members across the country. They came to Colorado for ski vacations every year, the entire family is into skiing. Eventually both of his daughters moved to Colorado. He has had a ski boat for many years, and each summer the family would go to Lake Powell. His daughters have been water skiing since they were 2 and 5 years old. Jennifer has her own ski boat today. Herb was also a member of the Toastmasters International in 1971 and has been active in that organization over the years as a Club President, Area Governor, and occasional competitor in Toastmasters speech contests. In 1986 he was runner-up in the Humorous Speech Contest of the Toastmasters Region II, which encompasses the Southwestern United States and Hawaii. Over the years he has been active in many automotive hobby and motorsports organizations. In 1985-86 he was head of the Southern California Council of Sports Car clubs and Regional Executive of the Sports Car Club of America. He also raced his 1965 Corsa coupe in slaloms and autocrosses. He and Jonni did all night road rallies to Las Vegas with the kids asleep in the back seat. Herb had many and varied interests besides his work, his cars and his public speaking. Around 1991 he started pursuing a secondary career as a television commercial actor. He had parts in "Flotsam & Jetsom" and did a TV sitcom pilot, a commercial with actor Author Hill, and some Little Theatre productions in Los Angeles. In 1984 Herb started his flying activities. He began flying at Bud Wallen Aviation at the Van Nuys Airport. He joined the EAA chapter there and was active with them. He joined a flying club that flew Cessnas and did quite a bit of flying. He was active in the "Young Eagle" program, flying young people on their first flight and had done over 100 Young Eagle flights. He can be considered an Aviation Buff for he is always reading and studying stories of pilots of WWI and WWII and has an extensive collection of books signed by the authors. In 1994 the Hughes company went through some reorganization and Herb took a job in Tucson with them and moved his household there. He was active with the Tucson Corvair Club and also the EAA chapter there. This is where he and Terry Langen met and started doing the announcing for the Copper State Fly Ins together. All of this time Jonni was still commuting to Los Angeles for her work as an accountant with a CPA there. Herb retired from Hughes on June 29th, 2000. Then he and Jonni started traveling. Jonni had attended Colorado University at Boulder in 1959 so she was familiar with Colorado. Jennifer had attended CU Boulder from 1982-86 and graduated with a degree in psychology. Jamia attend UC Berkeley on a softball scholarship and she received her degree in Criminology at Cal State Northridge. She also has a computer science degree from Regis University. So with all this Colorado experience they realized they had a history here. So they moved to Brighton in March 2004. The fact that both of their daughters lived here also helped. Here he build a large garage to hold all of his toys, cars, trailers, RV, and all his stuff (every man's dream). When Herb arrived in Colorado he wasted no time in getting active in Corvairs and flying. He joined two local EAA chapters, Rocky Mountain CORSA (the local Corvair Club) and the Antique Airplane Association of Colorado, where he became Vice President. He and Terry Langen began doing the announcing duties for the Rocky Mountain Fly Ins here in Colorado. He became active in this organization as well. He really loved flying and finally bought into a RV-6A aircraft based at Erie Airport in December of 2006. They also joined the "Rambl'n Rec's" an RV club in Denver, using their Motor Home to attend gatherings with the group. Herb became secretary of this organization as well. The 2007 Rocky Mountain Fly In was held at the Front Range Airport on June 22, 23 and 24th. Terry Langen came up from Tucson again to help in these duties. They really made a great team as co-announcers for this event. On Monday June 25th Herb took Terry for a ride in the RV-6A. They went up to Greeley for lunch and never returned. The airplane crashed and burned on what we believe was an approach to the Greeley airport. We have no information at this time as to what was the cause of the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will be doing an investigation to determine the cause of the accident. Herb's family was very happy to have him in their lives. They wouldn't have changed anything about him, for he was perfect in his imperfections. He was a man loved by all, never raised his voice or swore. A true renaissance man! Good bye Herb, it was truly wonderful, and thank you for all that you have given to others. Christy Barden June 30, 2007 =[CNM]= (The following Mark Martinek story originally appeared in the December 2000 issue of ENCHANTED CORVAIRS. It seems appropriate to reprint it now -- Ed) FROSTBITE TOUR ADVENTURES Mark Martinek The Santa Fe Vintage Car Club's Frostbite Tour started out at the J & R Auto Museum at 10:00 on Saturday. CNM members in attendance were: Tarmo Sutt, with two young exchange students, one from Switzerland and one from Brazil, in his Corvair; Ilva and Wendell Walker in his Pantera; Debbie and Dennis Pleau and family in Wendell's Charger; Julia and Chuck Vertrees and Mary Alice and Oliver Scheflow, both couples driving modern autos; and Mary Lou and myself in her Corvair. After touring the museum and enjoying doughnuts at the museum we set out for the Ponderosa Winery. Because of the semi nice weather all the convertibles left with the tops down. At the winery the group was separated into two groups; male and female. While the men toured the winery the women sat and tasted the wine. Then the roles were reversed, the women toured while the men sipped. Both groups had the opportunity to purchase the wines of their choice. Several bottles of wine departed with the tour group. When we departed the winery for the two tunnels on NM Rte 548 the two exchange students joined Mary Lou and me and rode in the back seat with our stuffed mouse. It was like having the grand kids with us again. We made the journey through the tunnels without incident and spent a few minutes on the far side of the tunnels enjoying the scenery, taking photos, and visiting with the other drivers. The exchange students decided they had enough of the open-air ride and decided to continue on with Tarmo. We departed when we were advised that large trucks and machinery were moving down the road and could not get by us. Once back on NM Rte 4 and realizing that the rest of the group was heading on to Jemez Springs, Mary Lou and I decided to return to Albuquerque. As it was a little cooler now and looking like rain, I pulled off the road to raise the top. After raising the top I tried to start the car. It fired and ran for only a few seconds and then died. Just like I was out of gas, which could not be as I had filled the tank in Bernalillo. While I had the motor compartment open and was pondering why the car would not start Wendell and a few other members of the group stopped to see what was wrong. After giving a brief description of the problem, i.e. "It starts but dies like it is out of gas" Wendell removed one air cleaner and observed that gas was being pumped in. Being the trusting soul that I am, I double-checked Wendell's observation. We then decided that it might be an electrical problem. I removed the distributor cap and observed that the points apparently weren't opening. After resetting the points I again tried to start the car with the same results. Because of the constant attempts to start the car the battery was now getting rather weak so one of the group had an Emergency Start kit that we hooked up, but this too failed to start the car. I decided to call it quits and call a wrecker. Almost everyone had a cell phone with them and offered to call 911 or a wrecker for us, but as Mary Lou and I both had our cell phones with us I declined the many offers. This was a mistake, as they departed before I attempted to place a call. Only after dialing did I learn that I could not transmit from the road. Looking around I realized I would have to climb to the top of the nearest hill in order to send a message. After huffing and puffing my way to the top of the hill I placed a call to 911. An Albuquerque operator took the initial call. Because of the location they transferred my call to 911 in Bernalillo. However, the Bernalillo operator could not hear me so I gave up on 911. I then contacted the Good Sam Club Emergency Road Service operator and arranged for a wrecker to be sent out. After making my way back down the mountain I decided to see if the gas pump really was pumping gas. I disconnected one line at the T-connector and had Mary Lou run the starter. Gas came flowing out. I reconnected it and disconnected the other line at the carburetor. Again gas flowed when she tried the starter. I pulled the filter and blew through it. There did not appear to be any obstruction in any of the gas line components. After reconnecting the gas line and filter I pulled a plug wire to see if the engine was getting any spark. This time when Mary Lou tried the starter the car started with no problem on five cylinders. After getting a couple of jolts from the spark plug wire I got it reconnected. I turned the car off and restarted it several times without any problems. I decided to re-climb the mountain and cancel the wrecker. You guessed it, halfway up the hillside I see the wrecker arriving, so back down the hill I go. Since the wrecker had come from San Ysidro I asked him to follow us that far just in case it stalled again. The car ran fine and we had no other problems all the way home. So what was the problem? Was it a vapor lock? Can a Corvair vapor lock in 50-degree weather? Why did our Corvair die??? ================= A description of the problem: "It starts but dies like it is out of gas." Mark asks, How could it be vapor lock at 50 degrees in December? ================= COMMENTARY Mary Lou Martinek Hi! Jim, I changed my mind for adding a postscript to the article from Mark. First, it was State Road 485 that the tunnel was on, not 458 like Mark typed - probably just slipped on the keys there? While Mark was up the mountain calling for help I kept noticing that down at the bottom of the hill that we were stopped on, people kept driving out of a place with a white fence, so I got curious and thought maybe there would be a pay phone there or someone to help with a call. I walked down there (about two blocks) and found much to my relief (pun intended), no phone but an outdoor privy. This was at the National Fishing access called Las Casitas; it also had a cement walking trail towards a river with lots of wild grasses. I was tempted to check it out but was concerned that Mark would get the car going and leave me there, and anyway all the wine was in the car. Anyway I would like to go back when we didn't have to hurry and check Las Casitas out and the tunnel and view from there some time in the future, like next spring. - Mary Lou =[CNM]= IN MEMORY OF HERB & TERRY http://www.rmrfi.org/ IT IS WITH very heavy hearts that we announce the tragic loss of two dear friends - Herb Berkman and Terry Langen, our event announcers. Both perished Monday in an airplane accident near the Greeley airport while they were out together doing what they loved, taking a flight on a sunny day in Colorado. The two have joined up in Denver to announce the RMRFI for many years, longer than most of our current staff members and volunteers have been in place. Together, they were the voice of the RMRFI and their aviation insight, humor and anecdotes helped form the friendly personality of our event. They were a big part of our collective heart and soul. Herb Berkman of Brighton was very well known in the aviation community throughout Denver. He is survived by his wife and two children. He was a very generous man, and we will always remember him with that ever-present smile on his face and for his willingness to give his time to the causes he believed in. Terry Langen lived outside of Phoenix, Arizona. He also is survived by his wife and two children. Terry worked for over 20 years as a locomotive engineer most of that with the Santa Fe railroad. He retired 10 years ago secondary to an injury. His dream from childhood was to fly and build his own plane. He and his wife had plane parts for a Mustang on their porch. He was truly a renaissance man. He could discuss music, physics, or fishing. He was very talented as a wood worker, as well as wiring electrical, fixing plumbing, cooking a gourmet meal or nursing a baby kitten. He was a generous man putting family and friends first. Together Terry and Herb also announced the Copperstate Regional Fly-In in Casa Grande, AZ for many years. Terry was also involved in taking on their marketing for this year's event. MEMORIAL FUND There has been a memorial fund established at 1st Bank of Colorado. Anyone wishing to make a donation to the Berkman/Langen Memorial Fund may do so at any 1stbank location. We wish for their families and friends to have the opportunity to grieve in peace and remember Herb & Terry in happier times. We also extend our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the entire Berkman and Langen families at this very difficult time. http://www.corvairs.org/HerbBerkman.htm WE ARE SADDENED to relate that Herb Berkman was tragically killed in an aircraft crash of his RV 6A home built airplane. He was on final approach to runway 34 at Greeley Colorado on the morning of June 26, 2007 when the aircraft hit some power lines. The news reports indicated that there might have been some unusual engine noises before the impact. The aircraft nosed over and hit the ground with an ensuing fire. Both occupants perished in the crash. Terry Langen from Tucson was Herb's passenger. They both had spent the weekend at the Rocky Mountain Fly-In held at the Front Range airport south of Denver International Airport. They both have been doing the announcing duties together for a few years at the fly-in there. Herb will be missed by all of us in the Tucson Corvair Association. We wish his family the best in this most difficult time. Godspeed, Herb. =[CNM]= WHERE HAVE ALL THE LEADERS GONE? Lee Iacocca (Book Review by Jim Pittman) Somehow, since I'm a Corvair enthusiast, this book reminds me of Ralph Nader's UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED. Why? Because the first chapter of Iacocca's book may be viewed in the same way that the "Corvair Chapter" of Ralph's book was viewed. Everyone will focus on that chapter and the rest of the book will be ignored. And that's too bad, because both books have useful things to say in the other chapters. With UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED, many people were all too happy to read the message of the book as, The CORVAIR is unsafe, so we'll kill the Corvair and all will be well. With WHERE HAVE ALL THE LEADERS GONE, we polarized citizens will either see a cheap bashing of the idealistic, real-politick record of the current administration in Washington, or we'll read it as validating our belief that this administration has made a series of cynical and tragic political blunders during the last six years. The non-Corvair chapters in Ralph's book asserted some hard truths about needless hazards in automobile design, and indeed significant improvements in automobile safety may have resulted. Lee's book includes lessons for seeing our problems more clearly and may include lessons for addressing those problems. Iacocca is looking at problems from the point of view of a businessman who's an unabashed car guy. He thinks we used to do things a lot better: Saving the free world during the forties. Building the best cars during the fifties. Winning the cold war during the eighties. And he's telling us we should still be able to rise to our true potential in the future. He wants to us to ask ourselves, if we aren't doing better now, why not? SECTIONS OF THE BOOK: 1. Where Have All The Leaders Gone? We just aren't living up to our history and our founding ideals. We don't seem to have real leaders any more. If there's a problem, we build another bureaucracy. We cut corners. We aren't honest. We don't pay attention. We don't know history, current issues or facts about other countries. We don't bother to vote, or when we do, we base our vote on 30-second TV ads sold to us like soap or SUVs by slick salesmen. 2. Where Have All Our Friends Gone? Iacocca says we should read and heed Dale Carnegie on making and keeping friends in our dealings with other countries. He asks how we let a series of lies lead us into a disastrous war in Iraq, how we can ensure truly "free" trade world-wide, how we can reduce our addiction to oil. Maybe Lee is now sorry he helped design and sell all those muscle cars and vans over the years. 3. Is Capitalism Letting Us Down? In case you don't know how huge our national debt is and how we owe tons of money to foreign countries, read this section. Lee rants about Daimler's buy-out of Chrysler, complains about outrageous CEO compensation and outlines ways he thinks we could revive the American automobile industry and revive the nation's middle-class working families. 4. Can America Be Great Again? Our faults as a society: We have become "overeating, pill-popping, TV-watching, iPod-wired, shop-a-holic, attention-deficit-disordered" losers headed for extinction. We should be training our children in leadership qualities such as responsibility, accountability, discipline and community spirit. Iacocca names three men who were most influential on his career and leadership experiences -- one was Robert McNamara, perhaps the best manager at Ford, who taught him discipline. Since this book appeared, Iacocca has been criticized for being a grouchy old man whose lifelong business practices contributed to our present dilemma. Certainly the man who sold a generation of young people on the Mustang and other muscle cars must take some responsibility for our present culture of oil addiction. But who can blame him for looking at the direction our society is headed and claiming he knows better ways? I cannot think of Nader's book without feeling that, partly because of the consumer-oriented movement he started, many aspects of our lives really are safer today than they used to be. But, this same consumer-oriented movement may have contributed to our present tendency to feel we must have no risk at all in life, to feel that anything we do that goes wrong has to be somebody else's fault, to act as if we must sue anyone who does something we don't like. Iacocca's book gives many examples of what's wrong and gives suggestions about what we should do -- but where have we heard all this before? If we have been paying attention, we have all seen these bad things. If we have been paying attention, we have all read and heard many suggestions for doing better. Why do we persist in our self-destructive behavior? Is our society still truly the American dream imagined by our founding fathers and by generations of farsighted leaders? Or have we allowed ourselves to become a fundamentally different people, bound for indifferent mediocrity? Perhaps neither Ralph nor Lee is providing us with satisfying answers to these questions. =[CNM]= SEVEN YEARS AGO Jim Pittman Seven Years Ago - August 2000 - Volume 26 - Number 8 - Issue 299 Our cover featured five photos at a recent Route 66 clean-up party. Billiken said we were lucky to have such a wide range of mechanical skills in our club. We met for July at Galles Chevrolet and had no new members. Wendell said we had $6,057 in the treasury. Mark Martinek reviewed many topics discussed at the Car Council meeting. Plans for a summer camping trip were complicated by the no-burn rules in effect everywhere due to the drought. Our after-meeting tech talk was on converting your early model from generator to alternator. Several people had contacted club members recently about selling Corvairs, including the 1965 Monza coupe formerly owned by Bud Knapp. Your editor fantasized about his adventures at the latest trash pickup day on Old Route 66. Not everything he told about was made up, but some details were rather hard to believe. Your editor also told a sober tale of unintended acceleration and how he didn't run into anything when it happened. We devoted three pages to a discussion from Virtual Vairs on just who or what was responsible for the demise of the Corvair. No, it wasn't Ralph Nader - thus spake the folks on Virtual Vairs. Finally, there was a map showing how to get to Ruth's place in the Pecos, and the copy of the famous swimming pool picture Del supposedly found. Fourteen Years Ago - August 1993 - Volume 19 - Number 8 - Issue 215 The cover showed a map to help us get to our summer campout spot at Villanueva State Park. President Del ran the meeting. Will told us we had $1289 to save or spend. A second edition of The Care and Feeding of Your Corvair was hot off the press. New CNM jackets were in. Debbie Pleau was all set with our proposal for the 1996 convention. After the meeting we had a presentation on synthetic oil. Kim previewed the Villanueva campout. Del reported on the Tri-State at Alamosa where a good time was had by all, especially by the well-fed mosquitoes. Four Corvairs were on display at the Santa Fe show on July 4th and several other interesting cars were to be seen, notably a big gray Bugatti. After the car show we found that jackets in July were a good idea at a picnic at the Santa Fe ski area. Tech tips included how to repair your gas gauge sending unit and buying a Ford Granada muffler for your FC vehicle. Speaking of FCs, some Corvair truck trivia was provided by Tim Palmer of CORSA Northwest. Twenty-one Years Ago - August 1986 - Volume 12 - Number 8 - Issue 131 August had a Chevrolet ad for a 1963 Monza coupe. President Clayborne ran the meeting and told us about the phenomenon of getting half our yearly supply of rain in a five-minute thunderstorm. Does your Corvair float? We had $863 in the kitty. A picnic and a couple of car shows made up our Car Council news. A "new" member was Dale Housley who was one of the CNM founders back in 1974, but his job with the State Police took him away from Albuquerque for a number of years. He was driving a sharp 1965 Monza coupe. After he found a Corsa coupe to restore, he sold the Monza - it is now sitting in your editor's back yard, always ready and eager to go to CNM meetings and events. LeRoy was in the hospital for angioplasty and hoped to be home soon. Sylvan claimed higher gas mileage than was reported in last month's newsletter and claimed his Corvair had a record-breaking number of dents. Your editor reported on the econo-run to El Morro and Grants. National Park rangers told us about "Inscription Rock" and its place in the settlement of the West. Fine examples of graffiti from the last four or five hundred years are to be seen on the cliff face. Don't add yours, though, unless you are either very rich, ineffably famous or a hundred years dead. We hiked up to the top of the cliff to see ancient pueblo ruins and to see the marvelous view over the landscape. After filling up and calculating the winning mileages (my yellow 1966 Corsa 140 got 33.7 MPG) some of us headed home while others went looking for the natural arch on NM 117. It was impressive. Carved on the rocks were some definitely twentieth-century graffiti. A great trip. Twenty-eight Years Ago - August 1979 - Volume 5 - Number 8 - Issue 47 Cover drawing by Mark Morgan showed a Yenko Stinger race car. There was no July meeting but "minutes" included a report on the Moriarty Fourth of July trip which included nine Corvairs. Sylvan reported that Fred Yuricic (eleven years old) had a sweet-running engine he rebuilt. Dan Simpson says he rebuilt a Powerglide transmission and it was an interesting job. Our summer dinner party at Bella Vista was a success. The magazine Car Collector & Car Classics featured the Corvair in its August 1979 issue. Ike Meissner provided an excellent article on the ammeter, why every Corvair needs one and why it is better than a voltmeter. Jim had an article on what you can tell about your car's electrical system with a voltmeter. A tech tip from Houston told where to look for those pesky bell housing oil leaks. Finally, Jim editorialized about the national energy crisis and what we all can do to, if not cure it, at least survive. We quoted from Patrick Bedard of CAR AND DRIVER magazine: don't worry about acceleration, worry about braking. You have to accelerate to get where you're going, but every touch of the brake is wasted gasoline. Therefore, always drive so as to minimize braking. =[CNM]= =END=