The August 2008 Newsletter - Text Version Updated 10-Sep-2008 ==== Copyright (c) 2008 Corvairs of New Mexico EDITOR: Jim Pittman NEXT MEETING: Wednesday 6 August 2008 at 7:00 PM Highland Senior Center at 131 Monroe NE THIS MONTH: Dues Due ................................. Membership Committee 2 July Meeting Minutes ........................... Chuck Vertrees 3 July Board Meeting Minutes ..................... Chuck Vertrees 3 Birthdays and Anniversaries ................ Sunshine Committee 4 First Scrap Metal Recycle Report ............ Pat & Vickie Hall 5 COVER: Convertible in the North Country ........... Jim Pittman 5 Give it All You Got to Get to the Top!!!! ....... Mike Stickler 6 Map to Pat & Vickie's for the TUNA ................. Google Map 6 Calendar of Coming Events .............. CNM Board of Directors 7 Fourth of July with the Sullivans .................. the Editor 8 All Clubs Picnic Preview (NMCCC) ................ James Clement 8 For Sale, Trade or Wanted ............................ Everyone 9 Old Route 66 Cleanup in July .................. Oliver Scheflow 9 Econo-Run in October - Preview ................. Chuck Vertrees 9 Gallons Per Mile .................................. Jim Pittman 10 August Potluck Preview and Map ..................... Dan Palmer 11 Changing Oil Isn't Simple .. Steve Goodman ROCKY MOUNTAIN CORSA 12 The 2008 State Fair Car Show - Be Part of History Robert Gold 13 AAH--OOH'--GAH-- Tech Tip Preview ............. Sylvan Zuercher 13 Graphs: Treasury & Web Page progress each monthh .. Jim Pittman 13 Seven, 14, 21, 28 Years Ago .................... Club Historian 14 COVER: Jim looks for elk in the Valle Grande caldera in April 1979 =[CNM]= PRESIDENT: Mike Stickler 856-6993 sticorsa @ hotmail.com VICE-PRES: Pat Hall 865-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com SECRETARY: Charles Vertrees 299-0744 vertrees @ swcp.com TREASURER: Wendell Walker 892-8471 defarge505 @ aol.com PROPERTIES: Ruth Boydston 821-1506 sg730 @ comcast.net CAR COUNCIL: Cary Hubbard 350-0483 bus63kombi @ gmail.com CAR COUNCIL: Art Gold 620-7434 rollerart @ gmail.com MEMBERSHIP: David Huntoon 281-9616 corvair66 @ aol.com NEWSLETTER: Jim Pittman 275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu DUES: CNM: 12 months $25.00 or 26 months $ 50.00 CORSA: 12 months $38.00 or 26 months $ 76.00 CNM & CORSA: 12 months $63.00 or 26 months $126.00 CORSA's home page: http://www.corvair.org CNM's newsletters: http://www.unm.edu/~jimp Steve Gongora's CNM page: http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter871 =[CNM]= MEMBER LIST & DUES DATE = 28-Jul-2008 DUE LAST MONTH, INACTIVE AS OF 25-AUG-2008: 2008/07 Jerry Goffe 1977.05 DUE THIS MONTH, INACTIVE AS OF 25-SEP-2008: 2008/08 Barbara & Gordon Johnson 2001.06 COMING DUE LATER: 2008/09 Kay & Tarmo Sutt 1976.07 2008/10 Debra & Jon Anderson 1992.10 2008/10 Guadalupe Arellanes 2006.10 2008/10 Mary & Art Hurley 2007.10 2008/11 Linda & Dick Cochran 2006.09 2008/11 Wibke & Robert Garrecht 2005.09 2008/11 Leslie & Kevin Sullivan 2002.07 2008/11 Nancy & Bernard Urbassik 2004.08 2008/12 Elizabeth & Mark Domzalski 1994.01 2008/12 Gayle & Richard Finch 2000.06 2008/12 Vickie & Pat Hall 2005.10 2008/12 David Huntoon 1994.11 2008/12 Walter Huntoon 1992.11 2008/12 Steve Johnson 2001.08 2008/12 Roger Pape 2002.12 2009/01 H. C. "Lube" Lubert 1987.10 2009/01 Carolyn & Dan Palmer 2006.01 2009/01 Emma & LeRoy Rogers 1975.07 2009/02 Carl Johnson 1974.04 2009/02 Lee & Bill Reider 1974.09 2009/02 Brenda & Mike Stickler 1976.07 2009/03 Robert McBreen 1989.11 2009/03 Sally Williams 2003.09 2009/04 Deborah & John Dinsdale 2000.02 2009/05 Melba & Tommie J. Anderson 2008.05 2009/05 Fred Riggs 2008.05 2009/07 Anne Mae & Robert Gold 1982.08 2009/08 Bob Philips 2007.06 2009/12 Diane & Robert Galli 2007.10 2009/10 Mary Lou & Mark Martinek 1990.08 2009/12 Kathy & Larry Blair 1985.11 2010/01 Marilyn & Richard Foster 1999.07 2010/01 Kim & Del Patten 1980.07 2010/02 Susanne & Larry Hickerson 2002.08 2010/02 Julia & Chuck Vertrees 1983.05 2010/02 Frank Stadler 1990.02 2010/02 Wendell Walker 1989.01 2010/04 Heula & Jim Pittman 1974.04 2010/05 Jack Bryan 1982.02 2010/05 Tracey & John McMahan 1983.12 2010/06 Joel Nash 1974.12 2010/08 Ruth Boydston 1974.04 2010/08 Mary Alice & Oliver Scheflow 1992.05 2010/09 Brenda & Hurley Wilvert 1992.10 2010/10 Sylvia & Ray Trujillo 2003.08 2010/10 Opal & Sylvan Zuercher 1974.12 2011/02 Kelly & Art Gold 2006.12 2011/03 Rita & Steve Gongora 1974.12 2011/03 Anne & John Wiker 2001.01 2011/04 Cary Hubbard 2006.02 INACTIVE AS OF 25-JUL-2008: 2007/02 Clay Keen 2006.02 2007/03 Clint Collins 2006.03 2007/04 Sandra & Jerry Chapman 2006.04 2007/05 Mike Hacker 2002.03 2007/06 Terry Price 1992.01 2007/11 Kathy & Doug Gadomski 1999.11 2007/12 Mark L Morgan 1974.04 2008/03 Geoffrey Johnson 2002.03 2008/04 Florence & Bill Hector 2006.04 NEW MEMBERS OR VISITORS Membership Committee Visitors at our July meeting were Mary & Richard Twilley. They were members back in the 1980s and Mary was our Treasurer in 1980. Perhaps they will get a new Corvair and join us? We'll send a newsletter to Clay Keen who is a former member, and we would be happy to hear that he is once again a Corvair driver and has joined us again. A visitor in April was Brian Rowe. He bought a low mileage 1969 coupe on eBay. We hope to see Brian again soon. =[CNM]= 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. The Club will mail in your National Dues when you renew, provided that you send us the renewal form from your CORSA Communique! =[CNM]= JULY MEETING NOTES Chuck Vertrees The meeting was called to order on 7/2/08 at Highland Senior Center at 19:10. There were 26 members and guests present. The minutes of the last meeting were approved as printed in the newsletter. Treasurer Wendell Walker reported that CNM had $1,010.53 in the checking account and $1,724.07 in the GMAC account for a total worth of $2,734.60. Geoffrey Johnson has contacted a possible new member. He is Ross McDuffey who has a 1965 Corvair. Guests present tonight were Dwight Simmons, a former member, and Richard and Mary Twilley who are also former members. Mary served as CNM treasurer back in 1980 and 1981 and Richard used to record amazing fuel mileage scores at our econoruns. We would love to have you all back. Cary Hubbard reported on the Car Council meeting. There were 318 entries at the Museum car show and there were lots of compliments about the show. The web site was discussed and the criteria have been sent to the company who will set it up. There will be 2 to 3 weeks required for setup. There will be web site training available so that NMCCC staff can easily update the web page. The All Clubs picnic is set for August 10th at Villanueva State Park, the same location as last year. The park ranger said there will be no open fires. There will be a $5.00 fee per car. The swap meet is set for September 26-28 at Morris Field in Los Lunas. Swap meet fliers are ready for the printer. It was suggested that car clubs get active with SEMA Action Network to help draft legislation to protect the interests of car hobbyists in the state. A signup sheet was circulated to get members to come to the Old Route 66 cleanup on July 12th. Other upcoming events are the Palmers' Mountain Potluck Dinner on the 23rd of August and the TUNA at Pat's garage in Los Lunas on the 30th of August. A lunch after or during the TUNA is a possibility. Other events for members to attend or work on include the State Fair in September and a Econorun in October -- if Chuck can put it together. Pat mentioned that this was the last night that membership could be renewed at the old dues rate. Cary Hubbard will put an article elsewhere in this newsletter about the trip to the International CORSA Convention by him, Art Gold, Sally Williams and her new Corvair driver (in about 15 years). As a show-and-tell, Cary brought part of a Corvair head which was from an engine that had been sitting outside for about 33 years. It was totally frozen up. It was so rusted and corroded that nothing would come apart and Cary said after resorting to ever-larger hammers with little success, he finally took a saws-all to the engine and brought in a fragment so we could see the inside of the head. Dave Huntoon brought in two items which he had procured from someone who was doing away with some of a Corvair collection. I am sorry that I did not make a note of who the person was. There was a 1960 Corvair shop manual in pristine condition and a dealer's brochure which looked as if it had just come from the dealer. These were to be auctioned off with the money going to the club. The shop manual ended up going to Pat Hall for $20.00 and the brochure to Cary Hubbard for $30.00. Dave Huntoon told about finding a Model A Ford driver who was driving across the country. Dave took him to get some parts and then towed him up North 14 to a garage who worked on Model A vehicles. He towed him uphill at about 25 mph with the van with no problems, other than the slow speed. They found out that the ignition on the Model A was pulling about 15 amps which was just frying everything. They got it fixed and the man and his Model A went on their way. The meeting was adjourned at 19:50. =[CNM]= JULY BOARD MEETING NOTES Chuck Vertrees The July board meeting was called to order at 17:00 at Ray Trujillo's shop. Present were Dave Huntoon, Robert Gold, Pat and Vickie Hall, Jim and Heula Pittman, Wendell Walker, Chuck and Julia Vertrees and Ray Trujillo. Mike and Brenda Stickler were not at the meeting because they were in California for a visit with their son before he goes overseas with the Navy. Vice president Pat Hall reported that the July scrap collection and sale went very well and he turned over $349.10 to Treasurer Wendell Walker as the proceeds from the sale of old metal that members brought in. Maybe we can do this again to help the treasury. Wendell reported that CNM had $1,010.53 in the checking account and $1,724.07 in the GMAC account for a total of $2,734.60. This does not include the money that Pat gave him at the start of the meeting. Wendell said that he would transfer about $500.00 from the checking account to the GMAC account so it could make more interest. On the topic of finances, it was brought up that there have been problems in the past when members needed to conduct financial affairs during the meeting. It disrupts what is going on and it is confusing when several people are all giving Wendell money, often for different purposes, at the same time. It was suggested that the treasurer could have a supply of envelopes and pre-printed forms so members could put their name, the dollar amount and the purpose of the payment on the form, then put form and cash or check in the envelope and give it to the treasurer to be accounted for later. Wendell said the form could be printed on the envelope and he would print up some envelopes. Another IMPORTANT financial item. As you know, our Constitution requires that CNM members hold concurrent CORSA membership. Many of us find it convenient if our CNM and CORSA memberships come due at the same time, and we renew both organizations for the same time period - either 12 or 26 months - to keep them synchronized. For a long time our policy has been that if a member pays our treasurer for both CNM and CORSA dues, we will mail in the CORSA dues for the member. This will not work unless the member brings in the renewal form that is included in the CORSA Communique before the expiration date. You must bring in that form when you pay your CORSA dues. It is not Wendell's job to make out a duplicate of the form you did not bring. No new members were known to us and there was no Car Council report. Heula said that things were normal with the Sunshine committee. Upcoming Events: The Car Council's All Clubs Picnic is on Sunday August 10th at Villanueva State Park. Those who want to convoy should meet at the Smith's parking lot at Tramway and Central starting at 8:30 AM. The departure time will be 09:00 AM sharp. The convoy should be a lot of fun also. The fee to enter the park is $5.00. More information: Sid Sommers at 857-0154 or Karen Campbell at 294-6000, jaxsidsom@comcast.net or karencampbellwithrt66@hotmail.com e-mail. Saturday August 23 at 18:00 will be the Mountain Potluck at Dan and Carolyn Palmer's house near Tijeras. Details and a map are to be found elsewhere in this newsletter. Saturday August 30th will be a TUNA day at Pat Hall's in Los Lunas. Starting time is 10:00 AM. The primary topic will be to learn how to clean out the drains on late models so that the rocker panels do not rust out. Other technical topics are likely to come up, so if you have questions, bring them. Also Pat will have a lot of his cars, in various conditions, uncovered and available for you to check out. A lunch is on the agenda, possibly at the restaurant we all enjoyed last time, and members may choose to go back to Pat's for more tech talk after lunch. In recent years several members have attended the EAA Fly-in at Moriarty in September. This year it is Friday - Sunday, September 12-13-14. On Saturday the 14th there will be a classic cars display, so bring your classic Corvair to join the group. A pancake breakfast is available starting at 8:00 AM. The breakfast is inexpensive and of course in addition to seeing the old cars, there will be some fabulous aircraft, large and small, old and new, to be seen. Sunday September 21st is the date for the Sate Fair Car Show. As usual we will meet on the Southwest corner of Central and San Pedro (used to be the Furr's parking lot) so we can go in together. Also as usual, there will be lots of awards. Robert Gold always does a good job of setting this up each year and all who participate report having a great time at the Fair. There will be two events in October. The first is the Old Route 66 cleanup on the first Saturday of the month, the 4th. The other event will be an Economy run on the 11th which is the following Saturday. I do not have all of the details worked out on the Economy Run as yet. The distance will be a little over 73 miles. There will be uphill, downhill and level roads along the route. There will be a time limit so that someone cannot do the whole thing at 25 mph. There will be an award for best in Standard Transmission, Automatic Transmission, Forward Control and Ultravan. I am planning a late lunch in the mountains. More information will follow later. After the meeting we heard about a proposal for a third event, an "Aspencade" and caravan to Embudo (north of Espanola) for lunch and to see a new museum of old service station artifacts. There may be more information on this soon. The question is, how many of our members would like to make a 225-mile round trip at current fuel prices? Many of us have certainly enjoyed such "Aspencades" into the northern New Mexico mountains in years past. Ray Trujillo is planning a November 8th Bingo Night Fund Raiser, and Rita Gongora has the December 6th Christmas Dinner and Party in hand. You'll hear more about these events as the time for them approaches. There being no other business the meeting was adjourned at 17:50. -- Chuck Vertrees =[CNM]= HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Five of our CNM members celebrate this month: Nathan Williams August 3 Joel Nash August 8 Steve Johnson August 10 Lee Reider August 11 Bernard Urbassik August 24 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Two of our CNM couples celebrate this month: Marilyn & Richard Foster August 5 Sylvia & Ray Trujillo August 7 =[CNM]= FIRST SCRAP METAL RECYCLE REPORT Pat & Vickie Hall We want to thank everyone who participated in CNM's first recycling Project at our July meeting. There were ten members and one non-member (Vickie's sister) who donated various metal parts. These were parts or objects lying around with no expectation of use that would possibly eventually be thrown away. CNM's income from this scrap metal was $349.10. This is a significant addition to the club treasury. With this first project as an example of the potential of making money from throw-aways, keep saving those tin cans, aluminum cans and any other metal throw-aways you may come across. We will organize another recycling date at a future date and add more to CNM's treasury. -- Pat & Vickie =[CNM]= CONVERTIBLE IN THE NORTH COUNTRY Jim Pittman On the cover we see a 1965 Corsa convertible near Valle Grande on a trip to Bandelier National Monument back in April 1979. The red convertible was not photoshopped into the picture -- your editor actually used to own a Corvair convertible and actually used to drive it with the top down - if only occasionally. The car is, alas, long gone - it went to Colorado where it got a perfect paint job, a new top and an air conditioner - but for several years in Albuquerque it served my sports car needs pretty well. I bought the car in 1972 for $500. The owner had just picked up a nice 1965 Mustang and I profited from his opinion as to which was the better car! It was arrest-me-red inside and out with a white top and was in pretty good shape. Closer inspection revealed that it had been in a severe accident but had been competently repaired. Believe it or not, I later met the original owner's brother who told me the car was a high school graduation present and his sister drove it faster than her ability warranted. I'm guessing that even though she survived and the car was repaired, she felt much better after she traded it for a new 1966 Mustang! If so, that's fine by me. The engine ran great after an overhaul by Francis, especially after I replaced the original 1965 secondaries that were prone to flood out or, more likely, to stick shut. A 140 runs much better with four idling carbs! Before long a lot more of the running gear had been transformed: fast steering arms, Koni shocks, metallic brake shoes and fat Pirelli tires were added in an attempt to make me feel as if I were driving my old MG-B again. But a "sports car" it was not. I have never been a true convertible person and the New Mexico sun greatly inhibits any desire I may have to cruise around topless. I always hated the long and tedious minutes it took to get the top up or down - the boot cover was a bear to fasten securely - so most of the time I drove the car with the top up. (My MG-B's top was such a pain to put up or down that most of the time it stayed down and I covered the cockpit with a tonneau cover to keep blowing dust out. But it did not seem feasable to fit a tonneau to the Corvair.) This car was actually very comfortable on the highway - road-hugging weight, maybe? Francis' engine rebuild, with a bolted, balanced flywheel and a new clutch, was terrifically smooth and quiet. In addition to trips to Taos and points north and to Alamogordo and points south, I made a trip to the Grand Canyon in February 1976. The red Corsa waited patiently in the snowy South Rim parking area while my friends and I hiked to the bottom, camped overnight, then hiked back up the next day. Brake problems, a tendency to "cowl shake" if the road surface was less than perfect and the difficulty of dealing with the top eventually led me to want to sell the convertible. That left room in my back yard for Dale Housley's nice 110-HP 1965 coupe! But that is a story for another time. =[CNM]= GIVE IT ALL YOU GOT TO GET TO THE TOP!!!!! Mike Stickler As a young teenager, with two other teenage brothers, we always had a number of used cars around the house. The 1961 Monza was the favorite, but that was Mom's car and loaned out only occasionally for Proms or first dates. The last pick was the Nash Metropolitan. It had good green paint and looked OK, but the #3 spark plug would often get fouled with oil and thus it had no power. It was Dad's routine to pull that plug every Saturday and clean it, thus restoring full power for a few days. I recall one Friday night going shopping with Mom at Fedway's downtown. She liked that department store because they had rooftop parking for their customers. For some reason I can't recall, we took the Nash Metropolitan and headed downtown to Fedway's and its lofty parking. When we turned off of Copper Avenue onto the ramp leading up to the roof parking area, Mom really gunned it. The effort was in vain. With the #3 plug fully fouled the Nash made it only half way up the ramp. Another attempt ended in a similar smokey failure. The parking lot attendants came up to the Metropolitan after Mom had backed it down to the street again. Mom insisted that she could make it to the top with just a little help. A plan was put into action as the attendants stopped traffic on Copper and Mom backed the Metropolitan all the way across the street to the opposite curb. She revved the engine to the max and blasted up the ramp again. Fortunately there were two attendants posted at the top to help push the car the last thirty feet. I don't know if you can find great service like that today, but I'm sure their help was rewarded with many years of Mom's customer loyalty! And after that incident, Mom always drove the Corvair when she went shopping. Happy Corvairing!!! =[CNM]= Remember how to get to Pat & Vickie Hall's for the TUNA on Saturday August 30th: Go south on I-25 from Albuquerque Take Exit 215 (Isleta Casino exit) Go south on NM 47 Go about 9 miles (count 9 traffic lights) Turn left on Valencia Road Go about 0.6 miles Turn right on Avenida Valencia Road Go about 0.3 miles Turn right to stay on Avenida Valencia Road Look on right for 58 Avenida Valencia Rd Problems? Call Pat at 865-5574 See all of you at 10:00 AM! =[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 | : 1 2 3 4 5 6 | : : : 1 2 3 4 | | 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 | 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | | 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 | 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 | 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 | | 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 | 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 | 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 | | 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 | 28 29 30 : : : : | 26 27 28 29 30 31 : | | 31 : : : : : : | : : : : : : : | : : : : : : : | ============================================================================ Wed 6 Aug 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Sun 10 Aug 9:00 AM Leave from the Smith's parking lot, Central & Tramway NE to caravan to Villanueva State Park for the All Clubs Picnic.Wed 20 Aug 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Fri 22 Aug 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Sat 23 Aug 6:00 PM Potluck Dinner at the Palmers' in the mountains - Page 11 Sat 30 Aug 10:00 AM TUNA and Garage Tour - Pat Hall's in Los Lunas Wed 3 Sep 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Fri 12 Sep 8:00 AM Moriarty EAA Chapter 179 Fly-in and Old Car Display Wed 17 Sep 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Fri 19 Sep 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Sun 21 Sep early! State Fair Car Show -- Robert Gold -- 268-6878 Fri-Sat Sep 26-27 30th NMCCC Swap Meet in Los Lunas / Car Show Wed 1 Oct 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Sat 4 Oct 9:00 AM Our last "Old Route 66" cleanup for the year. Lunch? Sun 5 Oct early! Balloon Fiesta Car Show -- more on this later. Sat 11 Oct 10:00 AM Econo-run - date tentative - Chuck Vertrees Sat Oct ....... Aspencade to Embudo - Museum Visit - has been proposed Wed 15 Oct 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Fri 24 Oct 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Wed 5 Nov 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Sat 8 Nov 6:00 PM Bingo Night at House of Covers - Ray Trujillo Fri 14 Nov 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman - EARLY THIS MONTH! Wed 19 Nov 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Wed 3 Dec 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Sat 6 Dec 5:30 PM Christmas Party: Perennials Restaurant: San Mateo & Osuna Wed 17 Dec 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Fri 26 Dec 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Wed 7 Jan 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Wed 21 Jan 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Fri 23 Jan 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Fri-Sat-Sun 29-30-31 May 2009 - Tri-State Meet - Taos, New Mexico ============================================================================= See the New Mexico Council of Car Clubs Web Site for more "NMCCC" activities: http://www.nmcarcouncil.org ============================================================================= =[CNM]= JULY 4TH COOKOUT WITH THE SULLIVANS Several CNM members and friends gathered at the Corrales residence of Kevin and Leslie Sullivan on the Fourth of July evening. If you were not sure which house it was, you only needed to catch a glimpse of the white Ultra Van to know, This must be the place. The weather could hardly have been better and we shared good food, interesting conversations and views of various fireworks displays. We enjoyed seeing their wonderful house with its unimpeded view of the Sandias. Towering thunderstorms could be seen in the distance to the southeast but none came near to dampen the fireworks. In the "It's a small world" department, at least two people present had spent time at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi and we enjoyed comparing notes on this excellent small college. Thanks to Kevin and Leslie and to those who prepared tasty treats for all of us. =[CNM]= Subject: UPDATES ON EVENTS From: oldcarnut1932 @ earthlink.net Date: 2008-Jul-24 12:09:49 MDT The All Clubs Picnic is still on track for Sunday August 10th at Villanueva State Park. Instructions have been sent around. If you want to go with the group, meet at the Smith's Grocery at Tramway and Central starting at 8:30am; departure is promptly 9:00am. There will be a truck and trailer at the end of the line in case anyone has problems. Chuck Logan has secure property in Moriarty, in case anyone needs a place to leave a vehicle temporarily. Chris Padilla has family located about 5 miles from Villanueva that can help if needed. It is about 90 miles one way. We will have a gas stop to make sure everyone has enough gas to get there and back. No one will be left behind. A group is planning on making a circle trip and returning through Romeroville and Santa Fe. The Route 66 Rodders have been working hard on this, and we plan on having a great time. Don't be left out. Please get in touch with Karen at karencampbellwithrt66 @ hotmail.com or call 294-6000 and give her an estimate of how many people to expect from your club. We want to make sure we have enough food. Also, any side dishes, door prizes or games are appreciated. Don't be left out. Last year we had a truly gala affair, and this year should be just as good or even better. See you there! If you need the directions or a map again, please e-mail oldcarnut1932@earthlink.net, and I will forward them. =[CNM]= OLD ROUTE 66 CLEANUP Oliver Scheflow This was our third cleanup this year - Saturday July 12th. We had a beautiful day to work, not too warm and no wind. The cleanup went very well and we were finished by 9:30. The only difference in items picked up this time was, there seemed to be an unusual number of miniature whiskey bottles. It had rained earlier in the week but things had dried out enough so as not to affect the cleanup. Participating were: Jim Arellanes, Pat Hall, David Huntoon, Dan Palmer, Jim Pittman, Gordon Johnson, Ollie Scheflow and John Wiker. The next pickup and the last of this year will be Saturday October 4th starting at 9:00 AM. Thanks to the participants this month. All members are welcome to join us and I hope to see you in October. -- Ollie =[CNM]= = = = = = = = = = = = FOR SALE, TO TRADE, OR WANTED = = = = = = = = = = = = = Without your $5.00 payment, your ad won't be in the newsletter. Tell me if any of these are obsolete! = = = = = = = CNM ADS ARE FREE TO MEMBERS, $5.00 TO NON-MEMBERS = = = = = = FOR SALE: Four new Firestone 185/80-R13 radial tires, whitewall, mounted and balanced on original late Corvair 5-bolt, 13-inch x 5.5-inch rims. They'll work with early Corvairs too but you'd have to remount on your wheels and re-balance. Speedometer error may be negligible. New tires in this size are becoming impossible to find. $400.00 for tires and rims. $300.00 for just the tires. I can deliver locally. Jim Pittman 275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu FOR SALE: 1962 Corvair Loadside pickup .......... $6,500.00 -or- Make Offer! I have first title on this vehicle -- about 60,000 miles I rebuilt the engine about 2,000 miles ago -- excellent condition! Call my cell phone .............. 505-385-3333 ....... Jerry Goffe FOR SALE: 1963 Greenbrier -- runs, drives. Complete original truck. 80-HP with four-speed. Body OK. Call Cary at 505-350-0483 $1,500 FOR SALE: Rebuilt bolted flywheels $200 with exchange Rebuilt differentials starting at $250 with exchange Rebuilt late rear axles - 1965 $100 with exchange Rebuilt late rear axles - 1966-1969 $100 with exchange Lots of other parts available for cars and vans. Pat Hall - Los Lunas, NM 505-620-5574 (cell) or patandvickiehall @ q.com =[CNM]= ECONO-RUN IN OCTOBER Chuck Vertrees Due to popular demand, I have laid out a possible route for an economy run. The distance is just over 73 miles. I would plan on ending the run at Kokopeli's Restaurant (just north of Cedar Crest and the Crest Road) for a late lunch. Those who are interested may want to go to see Tinkertown after lunch. The economy run will be set up for four classes: Standard transmission, Automatic transmission, Forward Controls and Ultravans. I will drive the route at least once more to see how much time it will take while staying close to the posted speed limits. Extra time (over the time I determine as the standard) will be allowed, but there will be a penalty for taking longer than the standard time. In other words, you can't run the whole route at 25 MPH to get better economy and be able to finish in time. The route is a combination of level, up hill and down hill. Some of the roads have been covered in earlier rallies but not all. There is not yet a definite date but at the board meeting we all leaned toward Saturday October 11. There are two gas stations at Central & Tramway where everyone can gas up. Then after the run everyone will fill up at the station at Frost Road and North 14. The recommended technique is to fill until the nozzle clicks off. To be a fair comparison, each car should be filled at the same pump. Indicated gallons and dollars will be recorded for each car. We'll go to Kokopeli's for lunch and to figure the scores and award trophies. -- Chuck =[CNM]= GALLONS PER MILE Jim Pittman In these times of high and rising fuel prices, there is a greater need to pay attention to saving money while still being able to get to places we need to go. For example, we may quit driving "just for fun" and only drive for "serious purposes" like going to buy groceries. We may leave the car at home during the week and take the bus to work. We may get together with friends and start a car pool. We may combine several chores and do them all at once, saving multiple trips. We may try to accelerate more gently, brake more gradually and stay below 55 MPH on the freeway. Or, we may think about trading in our old gas guzzler and getting a thrifty "economy" vehicle. How do we decide which car to get? And is it economically worth the trouble? Can we get the answer from the EPA mileage numbers on the window sticker of our target car and compare them to what we get with our present ride? Tune your browser to http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/ and you'll find an interesting article by CNN's Julia Griffin about measuring fuel consumption. In a recent study published in the journal Science, Richard Larrick and Jack Soll of Duke University concluded that the measure "miles per gallon" is misleading to those trying to decide on the most economical vehicle. If you just look at the EPA sticker, you may not save as much money as you would expect. For example, let's say that John drives to work in a 10-MPG Dodge Ramcharger and is thinking of switching to a 15-MPG Corvair Rampside. Let's say that Mary goes to work in a 25-MPG Camry and is thinking of switching to a 50-MPG Prius. If they both drive the same distance every day, who will come out ahead in saving money on fuel during the coming year? Well, going from 10 to 15 is only one-and-a-half times better, but going from 25 to 50 is two times better! It looks like Mary will save more than John on gas during the next twelve months. Not so, say Larrick and Soll. If we'd state the fuel economy of these four autos in terms of gallons per hundred miles we'd quickly see that our initial conclusion is wrong. In the example above, John would be changing from 10 gallons per 100 miles to 6.7 gallons per 100 miles, saving 3.3 gallons of gas in 100 miles. Mary would be changing from 4 gallons per 100 miles to 2 gallons per 100 miles, saving 2 gallons of gas. At $4.00 per gallon, John would save $13.20 while Mary would only save $8.00 for that same 100 miles. If they both drive 10,000 miles in a year, John's change of vehicles saves him $1,320 while Mary's saves her only $800. In Larrick and Soll's study, two groups of people were asked to choose which vehicle to buy to maximize saving on fuel costs. Each group was asked to decide whether replacing Vehicle "A" with Vehicle "B" was better or worse than replacing Vehicle "C" with Vehicle "D". One group was given the EPA fuel economy ratings of the four vehicles in terms of miles per gallon: Vehicle "A" = 15 MPG, Vehicle "B" = 19 MPG, Vehicle "C" = 34 MPG, Vehicle "D" = 44 MPG. The other group was given the same EPA fuel economy ratings for the same vehicles, but they were stated as gallons per hundred miles: Vehicle "A" = 6.67 G/100Mi, Vehicle "B" = 5.26 G/100Mi, Vehicle "C" = 2.94 G/100Mi, Vehicle "D" = 2.27 G/100Mi. Imagine you were in one of these groups. Which would you choose as "best" -- going from "A" to "B" or going from "C" to "D"? Do the arithmetic to convince yourself these numbers are stated correctly. Larrick and Soll say the "right" answer is moving from a vehicle with 15 MPG to one with 19 MPG, and they report that the groups who were told the vehicles' fuel efficiencies in MPG chose the "wrong" answer 75% of the time. The groups who were told the vehicles' fuel efficiencies in GPM made the "wrong" decision only 36% of the time. The researchers would advise us to calculate the "Gallons per 100 Miles" figure for any vehicles we are considering and use those numbers for comparison. The arithmetic is simple: just divide 100 by the stated MPG number. Armed with these numbers, compare your vehicles to help you decide. Since I keep track of all my gas mileage, I can tell you which of my cars it would be wiser to drive to pay the minimum in gas costs, for example, if gasoline is $4 a gallon and I want to drive 65 miles to Santa Fe and back: AVERAGE AVERAGE RELATIVE RELATIVE COST TO DRIVE TO CAR MPG Gal/100mi. COST ECONOMY SANTA FE AND BACK ============== ======= =========== ======== ======== ========================= 1990 Honda Civic 34.8 2.87 1.00 1.00 (130*4*2.87)/100 = $14.92 2003 Honda Civic 33.9 2.95 1.03 0.97 (130*4*2.95)/100 = $15.34 1996 Mazda Miata 27.8 3.60 1.25 0.80 (130*4*3.60)/100 = $18.72 1965 Corvair 17.5 5.71 1.99 0.50 (130*4*5.71)/100 = $29.69 So, you tell me: which column tells you most clearly about the cars' relative economy, the Miles per Gallon column or the Gallons per 100 Miles column? And go back and look at the Larrick and Soll example I made up. If somehow our friend John could handle the psychological and social burdens of changing from his 10-MPG Ramcharger to a 50-MPG Prius, holy cow, he'd be saving $3,200 a year! =[CNM]= Subject: AUGUST 23 POTLUCK From: danpal @ swcp.com Date: 2008-Jul-23 13:54:06 MDT To: jimp @ unm.edu The CNM Potluck on Saturday August 23 will be at 5:30 PM. Our house is East of the Manzano's; 587 Juan Tomas Road (281-7275) * Travel East on Freeway I-40 through Tijeras Canyon to Sedillo Exit 181; * Continue East on Old Route 66 for one mile, * Turn right on 217 (South) for 4 miles, * Turn right on Juan Tomas Road (West) for 3/4 mile to #587 (Pinon Alto Lane) * Turn right (North) through the circle to driveway 587. We will have coffee, tea, sodas, breads, chips & dips. Bring your favorite main dish, vegetable, salad, or dessert. See you then. Carolyn and Dan Palmer =[CNM]= CHANGING OIL ISN'T SIMPLE Steve Goodman Changing oil is a small routine right? Well, let's examine the procedure and see what all is involved. Obviously getting the rear of the car in the air is the first step. Well, actually the first step is get the engine to operating temp or close to it. It makes the oil easier to drain as well as floating away some of the debris and particles mixed with the oil. Whether using ramps or jacks (and stands) the engine needs enough ground clearance for the drain pan and to reach the plug. Using an open end wrench usually ends in failure, the easiest tool by far is the correct size socket and ratchet. Needless to say, having a shop rag in your hand helps when the hot oil starts running down the ratchet handle. After the dirty oil has settled into a drip from the engine, the next obstacle faced is how to remove the filter [which is still full] without dripping all over the rear of the engine. Also the task of trying to remove some of the oil from the cooler is present and both problems can be fixed at the same time. Remove the coil wire from the distributor cap so the engine won't start and run. Next just use your ignition key to turn the engine over 2 or 3 times, about 10 seconds each time. This action pumps much of the oil from the cooler as well as the filter. Now to be on the safe side you can wrap the filter with a plastic baggie and then unscrew the bolt and remove the filter. I might add that using the baggie is essential if the engine has A/C or smog and I will add one more suggestion for those filters, I use a long 3/8" extension and a U-joint socket and go from the coil side of the engine behind the crank pulley and remove that filter bolt. I never remove the bolt on top that holds the adapter to the engine. Lastly check to ensure that the old O-ring/gasket seal has been removed with the old oil filter. I take a couple of steps before starting to pour oil into the engine. The first is to ensure that the drain plug is back in place with a good gasket and correctly tightened. NEVER walk away from the engine before ensuring the plug is tight. Next ensure that the fresh gasket is under the filter bolt. I pour oil into the filter on all engines without the 90 degree fittings. Whether I fill or not, I lube the outer gasket with oil and then tighten the filter bolt to spec. I also lay out the amount of oil I need so I don't lose track of how many quarts I have already dumped into the engine. This is aimed at the oversized oil pans too, it is easy to forget how many more quarts are needed if you are tossing empty bottles into the trash basket. Lastly, twist the oil cap in place and start the engine and let it idle. While it is idling go back and look carefully and at length around the oil filter for leakage. Watch the gasket under the bolt too. Let the engine idle for several minutes before getting the car on the ground and ready to drive away. Be sure to write your mileage down so you know when to have all this fun the next time. REPRINTED FROM: DENVAIR NEWS - JULY, 2008 - PAGE 6 =[CNM]= THE 2008 STATE FAIR CAR SHOW -- BE A PART OF HISTORY Robert Gold For those of you who haven't been following the latest saga of the State Fairgrounds in Albuquerque, it looks like it is only a matter of time before the fairgrounds will be taken over for other uses. A committee has been appointed by the Governor to propose what to do next with the land. This coupled with the move of horse racing to east of the mountains means that your chance to see the State Fair the way it is now is drawing to a close. If you want to be part of history please make plans to join us for the CNM State Fair Car Show to be held on Sunday, September 21. I'll have more details about the show in next month's CNM newsletter. -- Robert Gold =[CNM]= AAH--OOH'--GAH AAH--OOH'--GAH --- It's Klaxon Horn time again. Sylvan Zuercher There will be a Tech Talk after the August meeting on torque values for the Corvair engine and what pitfalls to look for before engine reassembly. 1. Learn why the Shop Manual values are out of date. 2. There will be handouts for the block and head torque patterns. -- Flat6 (but sometimes only firing on 2 or 3 cylinders) =[CNM]= TREASURY & WEB PAGE Jim Pittman Do you like graphs? Do you like history? Here are graphs that illuminate recent history in our club. The one on the left shows the number of "hits" on my web page each day (averaged for 30 days) since I started recording, three years ago. The one on the right shows our treasury balance each month from just before the Albuquerque CORSA Convention until last month. It has a second graph showing the increase or decrease each month. Maybe these graphs can tell us something about the progress of the club. But what? =[CNM]= SEVEN YEARS AGO Jim Pittman Seven Years Ago - August 2001 - Volume 27 - Number 8 - Issue 311 The cover highlighted the Galles Chevrolet Car Show and inside there were photos from the Nob Hill Car Show. Our July meeting was at Casa Chevrolet. The treasury held $5,613. Mark Domzalski said he was looking forward to his retirement--from being CORSA president. We had a great Mystery Tour, a great Galles Car Show, a great Santa Fe Plaza Car Show and a great Nob Hill Car Show. Wow! Bill Reider showed us what to do when a tap breaks off flush with the surface of an aluminum head: make a special tool. Hurley Wilvert told about driving from Cincinnati to California many years ago and thinking as he passed through Albuquerque that it would be a nice place to live. Ah, memories of driving on Old Route 66 long before the I-40 freeway! Hurley said when we were out picking trash on Old Route 66 and a bicycle rider thanked us. Makes your day when that happens. Debbie Deck previewed our upcoming campout in the Pecos. Robert Gold primed us to get our cars ready for the State Fair Car Show. Del Patten told us how to avoid losing the oil filler cap. Richard Finch told us about obtaining and restoring a good 1964 Monza convertible. A tech tip from Seth Emerson (Virtual Vairs) told about foolproof valve lifter adjustment - cold! And Bob Helt (Virtual Vairs again) answered that age-old question about the 1964 Spyder: why are the larger displacement 1964 turbo engines still rated at 150 HP, the same as the 1962-63 turbos? If you don't know, and if you care about turbocharging, you should go back and read this short article. Unfortunately Bob did not explain how the same displacement 1965-66 Corsa turbos got upgraded to 180 HP. Fourteen Years Ago - August 1994 - Volume 20 - Number 8 - Issue 227 The cover showed the old Spanish church ruins at Quarai with a Greenbrier parked out front. This was an early attempt at scanning a photograph and printing it as a computer graphic. President Del ran the meeting, Steve Schulthis and Bill Palmer were guests. Treasurer Will said our bank account stood at $823. Bill Reider reported on the Car Council; the Museum car show went well; plans were underway for a picnic and a swap meet. Rita Gongora told us about plans for a trip to Rancho de las Golondrinas near Santa Fe in October. We had another econo-run in the Manzanos mountains. A tech session on throttle linkage adjustment by Dennis Pleau was a big success. Del's car was the guinea pig, and it is running much better now, thanks very much. Five CNM cars were at the July 4th Santa Fe Plaza Car Show. The bad part: having to get up at Oh-Dark-Hundred to make the drive up to Santa Fe. The good part: the Porta-Potties smelled better this year. Dell announced steps taken by the Board to raise money: having raffles, having an auction, charging for the annual Villanueva campout. Mike Stickler reported on our econorun. Seventeen CNMers showed up and the best overall was Dennis Pleau's 1963 coupe with 34.17 MPG. Steve Gongora reported on a Galles Chevrolet car show on a hot June 18th. Dennis showed us how to disassemble, clean, repair and re-assemble windshield wiper switches. Other tech tips told what to do if your engine seemed crooked (look for a broken bolt holding the transmission to the cross member) and how to free up your emergency brake cables (squirt 'em with WD-40 to clean) and how to just look over all the various parts under your car while you are under there fixing that bad bolt (look for dangling wires, frayed cables, loose or badly adjusted thermostat doors, cracked rubber boots, cracked or leaking hoses or fittings, etc). Finally, there was a mail-in survey form so the Board could learn more about our membership. Did anyone reply? Twenty-one Years Ago - Aug. 1987 - Volume 13 - Number 8 - Issue 143 The cover showed an early convertible. President Clayborne ran the meeting. Our August meeting was to be be held at THE RAFTERS, a restaurant in Santa Fe, on a Sunday afternoon. We had only $664 in the bank. Of course, that was real money back in 1987. Car Council business: the swap meet was being planned and there was wishful thinking about getting the city to finance a car museum. Clayborne told us about seeing one restored Albertosaurus and two restored antique fire trucks at the Natural History Museum, all while enjoying ice cream. The arrivals of future Corvair driver Megan Jennifer Lawless (6 June 1987) and future Corvair driver Emily Rose Gongora (9 July 1987) were announced. Mark Morgan's Billiken cartoon character demonstrated four-wheel steering on a Corvair. The results were not good. Bill Reider's CARE AND FEEDING column discussed carburetor jet size as related to power and economy. One goes up while the other goes down. He also listed part numbers for outside mirrors. Finally, do you want to give Corvair scoffers a definitive report on the 1972 exoneration of the Corvair by the United States Government's Department of Transportation? It's on the last page of this issue, as a reprint of a 1980 MOTOR TREND article. Yes, Ralph's rants were refuted, item by item, after tests by the DOT. Twenty-eight Years Ago - Aug. 1980 - Volume 6 - Number 8 - Issue 59 The cover featured a cute runabout with a rumble seat. My dad had one of those in his courting days. Your editor asked our members for articles, jokes, photos, drawings, or any other grist for the newsletter mill. President Reider ran the meeting. Members planned to go to Moriarty to help with their Fourth of July parade. Francis mentioned a new body shop in town: the CAR & TRUCK FACTORY, owner: Bob Phillips. Sylvan told us about the need for the right proportion of tire pressures for front and rear tires. President Bill talked about tire choices for our Corvairs -- there were a lot more in 1980 than now! Technically speaking, you should soak a new pilot bushing in motor oil for a couple hours before installing it. Finally, your editor provided a short story about a rich executive's plans to re-manufacture 1964 Spyders -- in the twenty-first century. =[CNM]= Enchanted Corvairs Newsletter is published monthly by Corvairs of New Mexico, a chartered chapter of CORSA, the Corvair Society of America. Contents are copyrighted by the Authors and by Corvairs of New Mexico. 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 are not necessarily endorsed by Corvairs of New Mexico or by CORSA. Material submitted for publication should reach the Editor by the 15th of each month. Submit material as ASCII TEXT via e-mail ( jimp @ unm.edu ) or in ASCII TEXT format on computer disk, or submit a readable manuscript. I do not like MS Word documents or RTF files, but no problem, I can read them. Send whatever you have, I'll read it! Good quality photographs, especially digital JPGs, are welcome. Please, do not photoshop your digital JPGs -- send the originals. This newsletter is ecologically produced in a Microsoft-free environment. I am still printing mailing labels using a 1989 Apple IIgs with Bernie To The Rescue and Addressed For Success. The newsletter is assembled using a 2003 Macintosh G4 PowerBook and a 2004 Macintosh G5. Software includes OS-X, AppleWorks, Photoshop CS, GraphicConverter, BBEdit and InDesign CS. Printing: HP LaserJet IIp and HP LaserJet 2600n. If you care, ask for more details. Transportation provided by 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. =END=