The June 2009 Newsletter - Text Version

Updated 04-Jun-2013 ==== Copyright (c) 2013 Corvairs of New Mexico

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   JUNE 2009  / VOLUME 35 / NUMBER  6 / ISSUE #405                      
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      EDITOR: Jim Pittman
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday 3 June 2009 at 7:00 PM
              Highland Senior Center at 131 Monroe NE
THIS MONTH:
 Dues Due ................................... Membership Committee 02
 May Meeting Minutes ................................. Jim Pittman 03
 Birthdays and Anniversaries .................. Sunshine Committee 03
 Civil War Battle Re-enactment at Valverde ........... Larry Blair 04
 May Board Meeting Minutes ........................ Chuck Vertrees 05
 Stick to Vairs .......................... President Mike Stickler 06
 Taos Tri-State Team Tribute ................... Taskmaster Brenda 07
 Can You Identify This Member? ..................... Heula Pittman 08
 For Sale or Wanted ..................................... Everyone 08
 Calendar of Coming Events .................... Board of Directors 09
 Albuquerque Museum Car Show .......................... John Wiker 10
 Albuquerque Museum Car Show ...................... Sally Williams 10
 Close Cover Before Striking [Out] ................... Larry Blair 11
 Albuquerque Museum Car Show ....................... David Huntoon 12
 Albuquerque Museum Car Show ......................... Jim Pittman 13
 Seven, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago .................. Club Historian 14
COVER: John Wiker & a Distinguished Visitor at the Museum Car Show 01

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  PRESIDENT: Mike Stickler    856-6993         sticorsa @ hotmail.com
  VICE-PRES: Pat Hall         620-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com
  SECRETARY: Charles Vertrees 299-0744         vertrees @ swcp.com
  TREASURER: Robert Gold      268-6878        beisbol30 @ msn.com
 PROPERTIES: Ruth Boydston    821-1506            sg730 @ comcast.net
CAR COUNCIL: Art Gold         620-7434        rollerart @ gmail.com
 MEMBERSHIP: David Huntoon    281-9616        corvair66 @ aol.com
   EMERITUS: Sylvan Zuercher  299-7577            flat6 @ hubwest.com
   EMERITUS: Wendell Walker   892-8471       defarge505 @ 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
             BOTH:   12 months  $63.00   or   26 months  $126.00

   CORSA's home page:  http://www.corvair.org
Steve Gongora's page:  http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter871
   CNM's newsletters:  http://www.unm.edu/~jimp

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DUES DUE DATES FOR JUNE 2009:

== DUE LAST MONTH = INACTIVE 25-JUN-2009:
2009.05 (none)

== DUE THIS MONTH = INACTIVE 25-JUL-2009:
2009.06   Melba & Tommie J. Anderson   2008.06     motormeter30 @ aol.com
2009.06                Fred Riggs      2008.06                  @

== DUE NEXT MONTH = INACTIVE 25-AUG-2009:
2009.07               Jerry Goffe      1977.05         jgoffe20 @ comcast.net
2009.07   Anne Mae & Robert Gold       1982.08        beisbol30 @ msn.com
2009.07            Geoffrey Johnson    2002.03           geoffj @ unm.edu

== DUE AUGUST = INACTIVE 25-SEP-2009:
2009.08        Marci & Gary Calabrese  2008.08                  @
2009.08                Russ McDuffie   2008.08         russ.mcd @ msn.com
2009.08                 Bob Philips    2007.07           rp96rp @ aol.com

== DUE SEPTEMBER = INACTIVE 25-OCT-2009:
2009.09         Kay & Tarmo Sutt       1976.07            tarmo @ juno.com

== DUE OCTOBER = INACTIVE 25-NOV-2009:
2009.10         Debra & Jon Anderson   1992.10     jbanderson65 @ hotmail.com
2009.10     Mary Lou & Mark Martinek   1990.08       mjmartinek @ juno.com

== DUE NOVEMBER = INACTIVE 25-DEC-2009:
2009.11        Linda & Dick Cochran    2006.09                  @
2009.11    Pamela & Charles Mann       2008.11                  @

== MEMBERSHIP EXPIRED = INACTIVE AS OF 25-FEB-2009:
2008.04     Florence & Bill Hector     2006.04                  @
2008.10     Guadalupe & Jim Arellanes  2006.10                  @
2008.10          Mary & Art Hurley     2007.10                  @
2008.11     Nancy & Bernard Urbassik   2004.08                  @
2008.12               Steve Johnson    2001.08                  @
2009.02                Carl Johnson    1974.04                  @
2009.03               Sally Williams   2003.09       stripepike @ mac.com

If your membership is due or has expired, please send your Dues to:

        Robert Gold,
        CNM Treasurer,
        1301 Valencia NE
        Albuquerque, NM 87110

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!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MAY MEETING NOTES
Jim Pittman

Promptly at 7:06 PM President Mike called the meeting to order. Chuck was not
present, so your editor took notes. Robert was not present, but Art assumed the
Power of the Purse for the night. Vice President Hall was in his usual chair. We
hope Chuck and Robert are okay.

Brief introductory remarks by our president had to go unrecorded because your
scribe was busy preparing the list of attendees to be circulated for legally
valid signatures. Likewise, the "For Sale" sheet had to be started on its
rounds.

V.P. Pat reported that he had picked up the Tri-State jacket patches and brought
them to the meeting, and all who saw them pronounced their quality to be good.

Art donned his Accountant's cap and reported that we had a checking account
balance of $1,886.35 and a GMAC account balance of $1,831.35 for a total worth
of $3,717.70 before deducting any fees, taxes, special expenses or lost loose
change.

Mike asked if we had any new members and several voices called out, We have
Sylvan back! Sure enough, Ray had borrowed Sylvia's big black Lexus SUV to go
get Sylvan and bring him and his wheelchair to the meeting. Sylvan said he was
glad to be able to come, and thanked all who contributed to the purchase of his
Tri-State T-Shirt. He said he was doing much better and promised by Saturday
morning to be his normal, nasty self -- his words, not mine. He said he hoped to
be able to attend future meetings but he won't be able to go to Taos.

Treasurer Art magically transformed himself into Car Council Rep Art and
reported on a pleasant, productive meeting. There's lots of money right now. The
web site has been figured out and it looks great and all should look it over.

Art said they have a new hosting service: Go Daddy dot com -- which fact one
would never discern by looking at either
	http://www.godaddy.com/
or
	http://www.nmcarcouncil.org/
but never mind, just go on over to
	http://www.nmcarcouncil.org/
if you wish to know the latest about Car Council doings.

Art said much of the meeting was devoted to plans for the May 17th Museum Car
Show. There is a budget shortfall but this year there will be trophies for
Corvairs. Next year maybe not? Bill interjected that we need to bring up the
fact that 2010 is the 50th Anniversary year for Corvairs and next year for sure
Corvairs should have special recognition.

Art continued by telling us that this year is the 25th anniversary of the
Albuquerque Museum car show, and it is the 100th anniversary of the Ford
T-model, so Ford Motor Company will be prominently featured at the show. In
fact, a flock of Ford Fans is furnishing a Ford T-model flivver, figuring they
will take it apart and put it back together again during the course of the show!
And then someone remarked that this would be done with water pump pliers, a
crescent wrench and a few assorted rusty screwdrivers. Maybe they'll need a
hammer or two as well. We must all go to the show and find out!

Anyway, Corvair owners who wish to compete for attention with the T-Models
should meet at the usual place, the northern end of the parking area of the
Marriot Hotel or whatever that big hotel is on Rio Grande Boulevard just north
of Old Town. Show up at 6:45 or so and be prepared to enter the grounds "en
masse" by 7:00 to 7:15. Don't be late if you want to park with the rest of the
Corvairs! Security guards are to be on duty by 10:00. I suppose that's when
civilians can start looking at the cars, or maybe that's when no more cars can
get in. Food vendors will be available just off-site.

Your editor reported that this is a weird newsletter month because our meeting,
our breakfast at Roper's, the museum car show and the board meeting all happen
before the newsletter deadline of Friday the 22nd, a full month already! And
then our "Big Event for May" at Taos happens and it will have to be reported on
in the July newsletter. Also mentioned: a couple of articles about the pending
"Cash for Clunkers" legislation, one telling about its benefits, one warning of
its probable costs, that were found on the Internet. Check the News Items page
if you want to read about it. Or, do your own google search.

Sunshine Committee Report: We are still collecting door prizes -- just got a
rare 1969 model Corvair kit for a prize. Tarmo will be bringing in some State of
New Mexico Tour Guides. We will stuff bags on Saturday the 16th.

Brenda reported on preparations for the Tri-State. Fortunately we had enough
money to order a T-Shirt for Cheryl at the Taos Kachina Hotel. There was
discussion about the Care & Feeding books. We had mailed some to Clark's and
Bill did not plan to print a new edition until after the Tri-State. Should we
take any books to the Tri-State? Wendell pointed out that by vote we had agreed
not to sell the book ourselves since we were providing them to Clarks' and to
Underground for sale there. So, no Care & Feeding books need go to the
Tri-State. Yes, we have received gift certificates from Clark's.

Brenda further reported that there were only seven spare rooms and we aren't
entirely sure how many rooms have been reserved at the moment. At least 59 and
probably a few more. She said that the absolute, final deadline for ordering
T-Shirts was Monday -- that must be May 11th. If you have a last-minute need to
order shirts, let Steve Gongora know before then!

Brenda repeated that we WILL need help with registration! Please check with
Ollie for when you can help with registration. It starts Friday from noon to
7:00 PM and continues Saturday morning from 6:30 to 8:30 AM by which time all
will be getting ready for the car show or tours or shopping.

How much do the tours cost? Earthship Homes: $5.00 regular, or seniors $3.00 and
students are also at the $3.00 rate. Taos Pueblo: $8.00. Note that Earthship
Homes don't normally have weekend tours, so if you want to go to both places,
plan your own visit to Taos Pueblo on another day.

The banquet will be buffet style and at registration we should record a choice
from all among prime rib, mandarin chicken or vegetarian. Prices are $20 for
adults, $12 for children, babes-in-arms free. Hmmmmm.... don't go there.

Will anyone be interested in a caravan to Taos, either Thursday, Friday or
Saturday morning? Mike & Brenda, Pat & Vickie and maybe others plan to go up on
Thursday. For a Friday caravan, meet at "the usual place" on I-25 just north of
the overpass to Bernalillo and Placitas. Be there in time to head north at 9:00.
Tarmo and John talked about the correct turn-off in Espanola to take the best
route to Taos. Maybe we will have a map? Those with Internet skills will no
doubt google Espanola to find the better route: more scenic or more direct. Some
of us know about the scenic "High Road to Taos" via Nambe, Chimayo, Truchas,
Penasco, Ranchos de Taos. Larry Blair said he would not be able to leave until
Saturday morning; does anyone else want to caravan then?

Dan Palmer made a scouting trip to Taos and said there will be no "parade" but
never fear, it is to be replaced with a "cruise" that will be just as good, or
better, and there will be motorcycle escort. He brought back some items for our
registration bags and promises of cooperation from several local businesses.

Vice President Pat said the Saturday May 9th breakfast at Roper's Restaurant on
Central just east of Wyoming is all set. Show up with your Corvair by 9:30.

Later Summer Activities: Don't forget our Saturday June 6th Old Route 66
clean-up starting at 8:00 and afterward go to our breakfast/brunch/lunch at the
Golden Corral on Central near Eubank. For July, there's the Fourth of July Car
Show in Santa Fe (it's a Saturday) and sometime we'll have the Charlie Mann car
show and pot luck. Stay tuned. If you have ideas for other club activities, let
officers or board members know.

Larry Blair told about going to Las Cruces for the re-enactment of the 1862
Civil War battle at Valverde near the Rio Grande and Fort Craig. Celebrations
included a debate between Yankee and Rebel colonels, a fashion show where ladies
were dressed up in the garments of the era, a fandango dance, and of course the
uniform-and-cannon-filled battle enactment. Bring earplugs! The cannon are loud.
This event is held annually in late February and maybe the club would like to
attend next year. By the way, the Confederates won the battle of Valverde but
were later defeated at Glorieta, leaving the New Mexico Territory solidly on the
Union side for the rest of the war. Trivia: the New Mexico campaign was part of
the backdrop for the 1966 motion picture The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Rent
the movie and learn some history (as seen through the eyes of a modern Italian
director, anyway) while the man with no name defeats the bad ugly characters.

Sylvan circulated a list to determine who had -- and who had not -- name tags.
We'd like to be sure all members, husbands, wives and children who want name
tags get them. Especially in time for the Taos Tri-State.

After information about a place called PJ's north of Montano that used to do old
car restoration, president Mike called for a motion to adjourn which came
promptly at 7:48 and then some of us looked at art work in the senior center
(very nice!) and some looked over the Corvairs in the parking lot (three or four
early models) and several drove down Central through the very busy University
area to the 66 Diner for an hour of stories of olden as well as new times. At
the last minute, Russ McDuffie showed up to tell us about his new convertible
top and his plans to drive his Corvair to Taos.
   (By the way, Larry Blair did not send me these genuine original Matthew Brady
Jr. Civil War photos. They were actually captured by a former CIA agent using
secret methods on the Internet. You can take just one look at the scenes of
battle and tell which side is gonna win.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MAY BOARD MEETING NOTES
Chuck Vertrees

The meeting was called to order at 17:05 at Ray Trujillo's print shop on May
20th. Present were Jim & Heula Pittman, Ollie Scheflow, Robert Gold, Mike &
Brenda Stickler, Ray Trujillo, Dan Palmer, Russ McDuffie, Pat & Vickie Hall,
Steve Gongora and Chuck & Julia Vertrees. Again, a reminder that any CNM member
is welcome to the board meeting which is always held the second Wednesday after
the regular meeting.

Treasurer Robert reported that we had $1,692.69 in our checking account and
$1,837.26 in our GMAC account for a total worth of $3,529.95. He said that we
must keep at least $1,000.00 in the GMAC account to keep it active. Someone
asked whether our money was safe with GMAC, given the current economy and
possible government bailout of GM.

Robert said that he understood that GMAC had essentially been changed to a bank.
Someone asked whether our money was insured by the FDIC. Robert said he would
find out. He reported that we had received the money from Clark's for the last
batch of "Care and Feeding" books that we had sent them. We had decided
previously that we would not sell any of our remaining "Care and Feeding" books
at the Tri-State.

As neither Art nor Cary was present Robert discussed the Albuquerque Museum/Car
Council car show. There were only six Corvairs (five were CNM cars) at the show
which was a pretty poor showing, especially considering that this show did not
conflict with the Tri-State. Jim said that there always seems to be a good
turnout of Corvairs at the State Fair car show, so what is the difference
between the State Fair and the Museum show? Robert said that the State Fair is a
"state fair" while the car show is just for people interested in cars. The Car
Council has been keeping a separate class for Corvairs, but unless we have a
better showing they will probably not continue this separate class.

Next year, should we try to get the Car Council to feature the Corvair because
of its 50th anniversary? If so we'd have to get a much better turnout than we
had this year. We don't know at this time whether next year's Tri-State will
conflict with the Museum show. The Colorado clubs always want to have the
Tri-State before June because that is when hotel room rates go up. We think that
if you work at it you can get excellent rates like we are having in Taos this
year.

Heula said that a group met on Saturday and had the goodie bags, excuse me,
registration bags, filled. She and Jim need some help in transporting everything
to Taos. A reminder: we also need to plan on baked goodies for the registration
room. Possibly rather than bringing them they could be bought in Taos.

Brenda has contacts for the tours in Taos. Those planning to go on a tour will
need to sign up at registration.

Ollie will run registration and it looks like he will have enough help, but more
can always be used. Registration will close at 19:00 (or 7:00 PM) Friday night
and will run Saturday morning from 06:30 to 08:30. The cruise through town will
start at 09:00 and circle back to the hotel for the car show. At registration
money will be collected for T-Shirts and the T-Shirts that are prepaid will be
given out. Also this is where you will register for the Saturday night banquet.
It is not necessary to indicate what entree you want since it will be a buffet.
Also if you are showing a car this is where you will register and receive a
number for your car. As you can see, Ollie can use LOTS OF HELP!

Dan has been very busy! The Taos Police Chief is all excited about our coming.
There will be two motorcycles accompanying the cruise. It is not a "parade"
because that would require insurance, but a "cruise" is OK. Clark's has some
items coming to Dan. NAPA is well prepared to supply some door prizes. It was
moved and approved that if the NAPA representative was at the banquet, he could
have a few minutes to talk about NAPA. Dan has contacted Checker and AutoZone
and they are still on hold while checking upstairs. The local Chevrolet dealer
said that he would also do something. Dan also went by the Chamber of Commerce
and left them some schedules. He has contacted the Taos newspaper and they will
run something, and they want some photos to run. That is being taken care of.

Ray has printed up some very nice "Certificates of Participation" which can be
handed out at the appropriate time.

Dan also said that there is a lot of construction going on at the major
intersection in town. He has worked out a nice circular route that will
circumvent this problem. He will talk to the Police Chief about this.

Steve brought a T-Shirt and a Golf shirt to show us how well the logo on the
back turned out. We agreed they looked great and everyone is going to want at
least one.

Upcoming events start with the Old Route 66 cleanup on Saturday June 6th, the
weekend after we get back from Taos.

July 18th, a Saturday, is scheduled for the Pot-Luck at Charlie Mann's place. It
was decided that we would start to meet about 10:00 AM and plan to eat about
noon. There will be a grill if you want to bring something to cook. Charlie will
also have a bunch of cars to look at.

Russ said that his son works with a group called the New Mexico Hydrocephalus
Foundation. They are planning an affair on October 17th. This is just a few
weeks after the State Fair show. They have also contacted several other car
clubs and would like to have a fund raiser by asking people to vote for their
favorite car and selling them a ballot for a dollar. We will add this to our
calendar as a possibility and take it up at a meeting. The location is a park on
Rio Grande Boulevard north of Montano NW.

Pat said that there is a "66 Cruise" in Bosque Farms on the second Saturday of
each month. They meet near the Wells Fargo Bank and there are usually some
interesting cars. After meeting they usually go somewhere. Pat said our members
would enjoy participating.

The meeting was adjourned at 18:15 also known as 6:15 PM.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
STICK TO VAIRS
Michael Stickler

I'm looking forward to the trip to Taos and I have been getting the Greenbrier
ready to go. I have been driving the Greenbrier with non-stock (Noisy!) mufflers
for a long time but the stock (Quiet!) mufflers are now installed. And guess
what -- with the lower decibel levels I am now aware of a faint rumble coming
from the blower bearing! I'd better replace that before our Taos trip.

A lot of members have worked hard to make our Taos Tri-State a success and I
know it will be well attended.

Speaking of failed bearings, it looks like the wheels are about to come off at
GM, soon to be renamed "Government Motors." It's fortunate for us that we no
longer rely on Chevrolet for spare parts, since the Corvair was orphaned long
ago. We Corvair owners have had to learn independence and self-reliance, and
these qualities will become required survival tools in the future. As Washington
furiously greases the wheels of commerce in order to revive our economic
movement, let's hope we don't all drown in its excess grease.

Speaking of excess, the old car tour and pot luck at Charlie Mann's house will
be a great event for us in July. Charlie has quite an extensive and impressive
collection of old cars and "car stuff" in his barns that our members will find
interesting and many of us will admire. Of course, there will be excess calories
at the pot luck, as our car club family surely knows how to provide quite a
spread with many varied dishes to share.

Brenda and I are glad that we will have both of our sons with us at the
Tri-State. With Andrew in the Navy and Kyle in management at his store, having
the four of us together for a full weekend is rare. All we need is outstanding
weather and we will have such an enjoyable time with our great friends and
family at the Tri-State. Maybe our Friday night Native American Dancers can
insure great weather for us.

I hope to see all of you in Taos!!!! -- Mike

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TAOS TRI-STATE TEAM TRIBUTE
Taskmaster Brenda

Well, before I start on my long overdue tribute to the fine members who were the
Wheels and Bearings to keep this Tri-State on track, there are some final loose
ends to tie up.

Any late-comers who cannot make it to the hotel before the 8:30 AM Saturday
Morning "Last Call" to register can still get banquet tickets. The hotel will
have them at the front desk and will sell them for us, on Saturday only, from
8:30 AM until 5:00 PM. Our fabulous hotel crew will even have a running roster
as to whom they have sold the tickets to so we can balance our books... while we
play.

Those who are late but want to buy T-shirts or extra Tri-State jacket patches
will find them at the Car Show at the Kachina Lodge hotel. The hotel policy is
that the rooms will be available between 2 PM - 3 PM on your check-in day. Some
of us may luck out and find that our rooms will be ready a little earlier, but
please be courteous to the fine staff at our host hotel. They have really worked
hard to give us a first-class experience in Taos.

This may be a good place to say that we may need ice chests at the registration
table, for Friday only. If anyone can bring one or two, that would be much
appreciated.

There will be a roster of restaurants in the area at both the front desk and at
registration. Yes, there is normal American style fast food and there are also
some great economical burrito style diners that are really good. If you have a
need for medical refrigeration the hotel has four soda size refrigerators
available to be put in your room -- ask at the front desk. There is plenty of
ice for the rest of us for our ice chests. Each room does have a coffee maker.

To The True Turquoise Taos Tri-State Team that made this 2009 event possible, I
am so grateful. Many of you do not realize that 75% of my volunteer group looked
me up and ASKED to do their job. The rest said "yes" without hesitation when I
requested their help. For those of you who gave these people advice,
encouragement and direction, we truly have valued your assistance.
Our Talented Teams were:
 Bill Reider - logo designer;
 Pat Hall - cruise, car show & jacket patches;
 Heula Pittman - goodie bags and raffle coordinator;
 Sunshine Committee - banquet decorations;
 Dan Palmer - door prizes;
 Ray Trujillo - Taos Newspaper announcement;
 Ollie Scheflow - registration;
 Rita Gongora - T-Shirts;
 Cheryl Webster - Kachina Lodge special events coordinator;
 Jim Pittman - our editor;
 Tarmo Sutt - CORSA advertisement;
and all that was left for me was the banquet coordination and the two tours to
plan. Please, personally thank all of the above volunteers for their
dedications. I truly was fortunate to work with each and every one of them.

Ta - Ta to Taos --- Taskmaster Brenda

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES
Sunshine Committee

June HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes to:

Larry Hickerson  June  9
Chuck Vertrees   June 15
Jonathan Reider  June 20
Rita Gongora     June 24
Heula Pittman    June 24
Robert Gold      June 30

June HAPPY ANNIVERSARY wishes to:

Carolyn & Dan Palmer      June  5
Susanne & Larry Hickerson June  7
Heula & Jim Pittman       June  8
Debra & Jon Anderson      June 13
Gayle & Richard Finch     June 16

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAN YOU IDENTIFY THIS MEMBER?
Heula Pittman

Here is the sixth entry in our series "Can You Identify This Member?" for you to
guess.

-- Thanks, Heula
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=============================================================================
Newsletter Advertisements are FREE to CNM members & $5.00 to non-members.
Without your $5.00 payment, your ad won't be in the published newsletter.
=============================================================================

FOR SALE: Accel HEI w/Vac/Adv Distributor
          SBC, ACC # 59107  $200.00
          Coil ACC # 140003 $200.00 for small block Chevy V-8
          Call H. C. "Lube" Lubert cell 505-400-3680

FOR SALE: 1965 Corvair Corsa convertible. Fully rebuilt high compression 140.
          New top. Paint presentable, needs interior. $7,000.00
          Call Geoff Johnson - 505-350-0483

FOR SALE: 1960 Corvair Coupe. Red in color. Runs good. looks good.
                                                           $4000
         1964 Corvair Convert. Silver. Runs good. Fair interior, very good top.
               New tires.                                  $4000
         1965 Corvair Corsa Coupe. 140-HP. Black in color. Runs good, needs TLC.
                                                           $3500
       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
       Rebuilt carburetors, various years & prices  $ 50 and up! (with exchange)
                  Lots of other parts available for cars and vans.
       Pat Hall - Los Lunas, NM 505-620-5574 (cell) or patandvickiehall @ q.com

FOR SALE: 1966 Corvair 500 4-door sedan. 3-speed, 95-HP. White, red interior.
          Rebuilt engine and suspension. Runs well, good paint, fairly original.
          Rust & damage free. $5,000. ............... Call Cary at 505-350-0483

FOR SALE: 1961 Corvair 700 Lakewood - no engine/tranny - nice clean car.
          Factory red & white paint. Rust in front floor board from rubber mats.
          $1,500 or best offer. Have title. ......... Call Cary at 505-350-0483
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
============================================================================
  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
============================================================================
|                        |                        |                        |
|        June 2009       |        July 2009       |       August 2009      |
|  Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa  |  Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa  |  Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa  |
|      1  2  3  4  5  6  |            1  2  3  4  |                     1  |
|   7  8  9 10 11 12 13  |   5  6  7  8  9 10 11  |   2  3  4  5  6  7  8  |
|  14 15 16 17 18 19 20  |  12 13 14 15 16 17 18  |   9 10 11 12 13 14 15  |
|  21 22 23 24 25 26 27  |  19 20 21 22 23 24 25  |  16 17 18 19 20 21 22  |
|  28 29 30              |  26 27 28 29 30 31     |  23 24 25 26 27 28 29  |
|                        |                        |  30 31                 |
============================================================================

Wed  3 Jun  7:00 PM  Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Wed  3 Jun  8:30 PM  The 66 Diner at 1405 Central NE
SAT  6 Jun  8:00 AM  Our second "Old Route 66" cleanup of the year
Sat  6 Jun  9:30 AM  CNM Breakfast - Golden Corral on Central near Eubank
Sat 13 Jun  6:00 PM  Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starting at Bosque Farms
Wed 17 Jun  5:00 PM  Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Fri 19 Jun  9:00 PM  Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman

Wed  1 Jul  7:00 PM  Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Wed  1 Jul  8:30 PM  The 66 Diner at 1405 Central NE
Sat  4 Jul  .......  Fourth of July Celebration on the Plaza in Santa Fe
Sat  4 Jul  9:30 AM  CNM Breakfast - to be arranged - suggestions?
Wed 15 Jul  5:00 PM  Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Sat 18 Jul 10:00 AM  Picnic / Car Tour with Charlie Mann - more details later
Fri 24 Jul  9:00 PM  Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman

Wed  5 Aug  7:00 PM  Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Wed  5 Aug  8:30 PM  The 66 Diner at 1405 Central NE
Sat  8 Aug 10:30 AM  CNM Breakfast - to be arranged - suggestions?
Wed 19 Aug  5:00 PM  Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Fri 21 Aug  9:00 PM  Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman

Sat 10 Oct  9:00 AM  Our fourth "Old Route 66" cleanup of the year
Sat 17 Oct  8:00 AM  Car Show at a Park on Rio Grande Blvd near Los Ranchos
                     Support Hydrocephalus Association. Contact Russ McDuffie

=============================================================================
See the New Mexico Council of Car Clubs Web Site for more "NMCCC" activities:
                          http://www.nmcarcouncil.org
=============================================================================

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MUSEUM CAR SHOW (1)
John Wiker

The Annual Museum car show was held on Sunday, 17 May 2009. Thank goodness the
strong gusty winds of yesterday were not here today! It was a beautiful day. The
area was quite packed with vehicles. Apparently, not having the area behind the
wall as in years past put a crimp in the style of those who like to arrive late.
There were extra cars who were in great shape parked on the street that could
not get in and could not enter. I saw a beautiful 1956 Ford station wagon that
looked like it came off the showroom floor. It should have won its class in my
opinion, but it was not in the show.

We Corvair folks once again were both clever and lucky with our early arrival
plan. We saved a spot for the late arrival of Art Gold and he was lucky to get
in. Of course we had to put up with the harassment from the organizers because
we parked crooked and over the lines as we have always done in the past to give
more room for people to wander around our cars. We were disappointed in the
number of club cars that came. We only had five. We will lose our class next
year if we don't support our initiative to have the 50th birthday of the
Corvairs in the front honor spots, as the Model-T's did this year. They had 17
cars. We probably need about 15 to make this work. IF the Car Council organizers
allow us to do it next year.

The highlight of my day was a visit from the Mayor to my car. As the photos
show, he spent some "quality" time with me as I showed him all my original
paperwork, etc. Of course, like everyone who stopped by Sunday, he had a few
Corvairs in his family sometime, somewhere.

The awards went off typically late as usual. I volunteered to stay to "pick up
the lumber" if we won anything. Ray Trujillo and his son Julian took 2nd and 3rd
place, once again losing the popularity vote to the Roadrunners Club with their
token Corvair. According to our expert vote counter, Art Gold, I took 4th, Sally
took 5th with the Corvair-Toronado V-8 and, Art finished dead last. But at least
everyone got votes this year.

We, as a club, really need to get on board next year. Otherwise, we will find
ourselves linked with the other Big Chevy's and therefore we will have no chance
of winning anything!

Respectively yours, John Wiker

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MUSEUM CAR SHOW (2)
Sally Williams

The day opens clear and a bit dewy. The sprinklers had run over night, leaving
my car covered in mud and water spots. I had spent the previous day washing the
car in the cold and windy storm. I get the baby up and we head out to the car
show. I discover that the carwash across the street from my house is not open at
6:30 on a Sunday morning. I find one that is open, only to find out that the car
wash terrifies the baby.

With a clean car we show up at the Sheraton at 7:00, only a few minutes late due
to our looking for a car wash. We only have a few participants this year. John
Wiker is here in his georgeous yellow coupe, Art Gold and Ray Trujillo are here
in their late model 'verts, Julian Trujillo has brought his early model 'vert,
and I am in Geoff's "Corvair/Toronado" V-8. When we go in we see that there is
another Corvair at the show that isn't part of our club. It is a decent 1963
blue coupe. There are a couple of CNM cars missing due to illnesses, making our
turn-out mediocre. Soon all 370 spaces set up by the Car Council committee are
full and they are turning away cars that are showing up late. We settle into our
spots and begin watching the passers-by who always have interesting things to
say about Corvairs.

This year the car I most wanted to drive home from the show was a silver 1953
Porsche, followed by a 1953 Corvette. This year's special display was the Ford
Model-T, celebrating its 100th anniversary. There were some really nice ones.
They also had one disassembled into pieces to show all of the components, and
then they put it back together. Model-Ts were amazingly simple vehicles,
compared to our Corvairs, and our Corvairs are simple compared to modern cars.

When it got warm we went through the Museum to look at the new exhibit on the
historic Alvarado Hotel. I didn't see much of it, though, because the baby was
getting bored at that point.

Next year is the 50th Anniversary of the Corvair. Those of us who were at the
show were discussing that we need to propose this anniversary as the special
display for the Museum Car Show next year. We will need to field at least 12-15
cars. This should be fairly easy for us to do, as our normal turn-out is usually
around ten vehicles. If you have any interest in doing the display for next
year, contact me or Art Gold and we will try to organize it.

-- Sally Williams

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MUSEUM CAR SHOW (3)
Dave Huntoon

I had plans to bring the yellow 8-door Corvan to the Museum Show this year, but
that didn't quite work out. I went to the show anyway to see what was new and to
give a work out to my new digital camera.

Firstly, we should thank Sally, Art, John, Ray and Julian for getting up so
early to make the show with their Corvairs. It was a nice sunny day and you
really need sunglasses when viewing Johns' yellow late model coupe. Actually,
"bright" is not a strong enough adjective. Very nice John.

The Model-T's had a big turnout this year as it marks the 100th anniversary of
that make. Twenty Model-T's and one that was in pieces waiting to be assembled
after lunch. I did not see the finished project, but I think it only took three
different size wrenches.

Rolls Royce, Bentley, Lincoln, Chrysler, Hudson, Terraplane, Airflow were some
of the more unique makes. For some reason the Brit group was absent this time.
They always have a nice turnout with flags and banners and picnic baskets and
such. Not this year. Lovely Corvettes including a '54 in Pennant Blue. Big group
of T-birds (ten?) all of them '57s except for a single '55. I am always
impressed by the T-bird guys. Lovely cars and I especially like their pastel
colors. Green, coral, and blue. Good stuff.

It was a good day with great cars. Glad I went.

-- your roving reporter, Dave Huntoon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MUSEUM CAR SHOW (4)
Jim Pittman

My 1965 Monza, with its cracked windshield and weary paint, didn't want to go to
the car show. I drove the Miata to Old Town to take a few photos. At the Museum
I saw David examining a Model-T. Did you ever drive one of these? he asked. No,
I replied, I think the only old Ford I got to drive was a Model-A. I remember
the terrible shimmy in the steering. If you ever drove a Model-T you'd remember
it. You'd have to have a lesson on working the pedals, and the gas and spark
controls. You'd remember. They are pretty basic cars, pretty simple. I'd like to
have one, just to, you know, have an old simple car like that.

Making a mental note to look for the Model-T that was disassembled to be put
back together, I headed along the edge of the show area, peering along each row
to look for the Corvairs. There's one! But it's the one that belongs to another
club. Lots of cars here, just like last year. Lots of people too.

Finally I see a few Corvairs, a long way up from their usual spot. I take a few
pictures. Try to get some good shots of individual cars, so I can e-mail a
picture or two to the owner. Funny how so many people politely stop so they
won't get in the photographer's line of sight. No, go ahead, I tell them. I'll
shoot around. I got some photos of John but did not notice who he was talking
to. He told me later that I missed my chance to shake hands with Marty. Well, I
got a chance to shake hands with Bruce King years ago. That was my
highest-ranking political contact ever.

I intended to go up and down every row to look at every car, but I just ran out
of energy. I stopped to look at a yellow British car. The sign said, 1972 TVR
Vixen 2500M, 250,000 miles, original owner, original paint, daily driver. You
don't see that very often. Next to it is a beautiful 1960 MG-A with alloy
wheels. Someone comes up and says to the owner, I used to have one of those.
Yes, he says, everyone used to have one! I ask the owner about those alloy
wheels. He says, Did you ever own one of these? Yes, I say, I did. I tell him
about the MG-A my Air Force boss and I went to buy from the school teacher in
Yellow Springs, Ohio back in 1965. No top, many dents and scratches, a broken
spark plug, badly synchronized SU's and a gummed-up fuel pump. But it ran fine
after we installed new spark plugs, points and condenser, synchronized the carbs
and rebuilt the fuel pump. Boy, what a shifter on that MG-A... short, positive
and quick, like a toggle switch.

Similar stories were told throughout the day. I used to have one of those, my
uncle had one like that, that looks like my grandpa's car. My girlfriend had one
of those in college, we drove it all the way to California once.... Every car
here has at least one story. These cars bring back many memories.

The Museum Car Show is an Albuquerque treasure. Any red-blooded American who
lived through the last half of the twentieth century can find plenty of memories
here. And we can find plenty of inspiration to come to next year's show with our
own restored piece of history. Hey, did I ever tell you about that time when....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dummy of the Month -- by -- Larry Blair
CLOSE COVER BEFORE STRIKING [OUT]

A couple of months ago I dropped a valve seat in my politically correct 1964
convertible. [I say politically correct, because it is green.] I have no idea
why the valve seat popped out. I had "staked" the seats when I rebuilt the
engine 20,000 miles ago. It happened sort of gradually, while I was driving.

Anyway, after Dave Langlois put another head on the engine for me, I took the
car out for a spin. As I was tooling up I-25 at 70, I noticed the head
temperature gauge creeping up past the 400 degree mark. When I accelerated to
75-80 to get out of a traffic cluster, it hit 450+ degrees. I eased off onto my
going home exit, and the temperature dropped, but not by much.

As I cruised on home, Bill Reider's recently reprinted article came to mind: the
one in the April 2009 issue where he talks about things to do to keep your
engine from overheating. Well, when I rebuilt that engine a few years ago, I
took extra care to clean out all the flashing, so I didn't think that would be
the problem. And I didn't think Dave monkeyed with the carbs to lean out the
mixture.

When I got home, I checked the thermostat doors. The left door was slightly open
while the right one was closed. So maybe the left head (the one Dave replaced)
was a little hotter. I know when thermostats fail, the door stays open. So I was
puzzled. Why was the engine so hot?

I opened the deck lid to check the engine, and was met with a blast of hot air.
PROBLEM REVEALED! I had forgotten to replace the carburetor warming plates,
which I had dutifully taken off last fall. This is a 1965 engine with 1964 sheet
metal, which has cover plates on both sides. With the warming plates off, the
car was just recirculating a lot of hot air through the engine. DUMMY.

I replaced the plates, and it runs much cooler now. Maybe the replacement head
is not as well deflashed, but I can check that out. The lesson is to run a
pre-flight check every spring and fall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SEVEN YEARS AGO -- Jim Pittman

SEVEN YEARS AGO - June 2002 - Volume 28 - Number 6 - Issue 321

On the cover, Corvairs were stopped at a pass in the mountains on the way to the
Tri-State in Grand Junction, Colorado. Wendell reported $5581 in the bank. The
Car Council was planning a big car show at Los Lunas in June. Mark said that
CORSA would have an annual "best newsletter" award. We voted to quit giving a
free license plate to new members. Jerry complimented Steve on the new CNM web
site and recommended that all should take a look. Several members took advantage
of John Wiker's offer to host a carb tune-up session at Del Monte high school,
and we learned about the mysteries of the Uni-Syn. A tech session to inspect
wheel bearings was proposed. President Robert asked why, when he nearly depleted
the city's water supply by washing all his cars in one afternoon, a big
rainstorm should come along the next day? Someone suggested he could hire
himself out as a rainmaker. Wendell reported on the preparations for, and
caravan to, the Grand Junction Tri-State. Many photos illustrated the article.

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO - June 1995 - Volume 21 - Number 6 - Issue 237

This issue reported on the Tri-State Meet in Red River and we had no fewer than
45 photos! We mailed a copy of the newsletter to everyone who attended this "Red
River Rendezvous II" event. Larry ran our meeting. Will accounted for our money:
$125 in the convention account and $1186 in the bank. But, there were lots of
Red River expenses to come out of that. Several automotive events were
previewed, many of them centered on the same 19-21 May weekend. Corvair
Underground inquired on a quantity discount price for Bill's CARE & FEEDING
book. Our regular meetings at the Pleau residence to plan for the convention
were getting into high gear. A cookout "in the unspoiled wilds of Placitas" was
announced and all were invited.

Larry Blair reported on the Tri-State event. Some will remember the Corvair
Caravan coming up behind a slow-moving house near Taos. We had 33 Corvairs in
our parade. Wayne Christgau drove 1,130 miles from Iowa in his famous 1967
Monza, and others came from distant Texas, Oklahoma and California. Mark had a
broken valve spring and Ben Benzel lost a 2-spinner wheel cover. All ended well
and we all resolved to attend the 20th anniversary event next year in Montrose.

TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO - June 1988 - Volume 14 - Number 6 - Issue 153

Our cover feature was about an attractive rear-engine GM car full of technical
innovations which unfortunately faced an early demise... no, not the Corvair,
the Fiero. Jim predicted that the just-cancelled Fiero would one day become a
classic. Has it? Maybe it needs another 21 years. We had $722 in the bank and
were making plans for the Tri-State in Canon City. Bill brought in a $15
"CORVAIRS PARKING ONLY" sign to sell. Tom Martin wrote a short story telling how
he helped build a cabin in the Pecos Wilderness and hauled water to mix concrete
in the trunk of his new 1961 Monza coupe.

TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO - June 1981 - Volume 7 - Number 6 - Issue 69

On the cover our happy CNM dragon cavorted in a swimming pool improvised in the
back of a Loadside pickup. We raised our dues to $10 a year. A slalom in Los
Alamos was planned, as well as a flea market event to raise money. Ten of us won
trophies in the Car Council car show. Your editor gave a table of inflation
rates for the last 16 years and said that $3,000 for a well- equipped Corvair in
1966 was equivalent to spending $8,500 on the new car of your choice today. Tech
tips: How to get stubborn brake drums off and how to make your Corvair quieter.
Your editor wrote about "Slaloms and Car Shows" and suggested that taking your
car to a slalom was a great way to learn how to keep control of your car in an
emergency situation, and it was fun, too.

THIRTY-FIVE YEARS AGO

(No newsletter yet) Our third meeting was held at Ed Black's Chevrolet on May
7th, 1974.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Subject: Corvair Newsletter
   From: oldcarnut1932 @ earthlink.net
   Date: 2009-Mar-28 11:23:27  MDT
     To: jimp @ unm.edu

Hello Jim,

I just read your April newsletter, and I want to thank you for the chuckles.
Love the activities list for April. The poem about the compacts is great!

As a heads-up, we are tentatively planning on the 2010 Museum show to feature
American compacts: Corvair, Falcon, Valiant all will have 50 years under their
belt. The Corvair Club can start coming up with ideas for their display in the
front row, and we may add a Falcon or Valiant if we find one! We know of a
couple of each, but don't know if we can get their attention. Anyway, I'm sure
the Corvairs will outnumber the other brands. We were just discussing yesterday
what next year's theme will be. Date will be May 16, 2010.

Thanks for the giggles.

Joyce --- oldcarnut1932 @ earthlink.net

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

=END=