The July 2009 Newsletter - Text Version
Updated 26-Jun-2009 ==== Copyright (c) 2009 Corvairs of New Mexico
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JULY 2009 / VOLUME 35 / NUMBER 7 / ISSUE #406
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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
June Meeting Minutes ..................... Chuck Vertrees 03
Birthdays and Anniversaries .......... Sunshine Committee 03
June Board Meeting Minutes ............... Chuck Vertrees 04
Stick to Vairs .................. President Mike Stickler 05
Taos Art and Tri-State Guide ............ Brenda Stickler 06
Working with Hollywood (NOT) ................. John Wiker 07
Can You Identify This Member? ............. Heula Pittman 08
Kit Carson Grave Site ..................... David Huntoon 08
Calendar of Coming Events ............ Board of Directors 09
Dummy of the Month (Clutch Cable) ........... Larry Blair 10
Old Route 66 Cleanup .................... Oliver Scheflow 10
Earthship Homes ........ Ollie Scheflow & Brenda Stickler 11
Random Taos Tri-State Notes ................. Jim & Heula 12
Seven, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago .......... Club Historian 14
COVER: Pat makes a Saturday top-down Monza run to Albuquerque
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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
NOTE: CORSA DUES GO UP AUGUST 1st 2009! See your CORSA Communique.
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
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DUES DUE DATES FOR JULY 2009:
== DUE LAST MONTH = INACTIVE 25-JUL-2009:
2009.06 Melba & Tommie J. Anderson 2008.06 motormeter30 @ aol.com
== DUE THIS MONTH = INACTIVE 25-AUG-2009:
2009.07 Jerry Goffe 1977.05 jgoffe20 @ comcast.net
2009.07 Geoffrey Johnson 2002.03 geoffj @ unm.edu
== DUE NEXT MONTH = 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 @
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!
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JUNE MEETING NOTES
Chuck Vertrees
Mike called our meeting to order at 19:05 (7:05 PM) at the Highland Senior
Center on June 3rd. There were 27 members present including all officers.
John Myers was introduced. He was a member a long time back and recently
decided it was time to rejoin CNM. He has a 1965 coupe. He ran into Cary and
that is how he decided to rejoin. He runs a sign shop. Also introduced was
new member, Mark Jones, who has a Monza.
Treasurer Robert Gold reported on the Tri-State. There were 116 adult dinner
tickets sold at $20 each, and 5 children's at $12.00 each. This equals
$2380.00 for meals. Other income from T-shirt sales, raffles, tours and so
on equaled $2339.00 and this totals an income of $4719.00 with still some
money to come in. All expenses equaled $4225.89. Therefore we made a profit
of $493.20 from the Tri-State. (Your secretary has a more detailed report if
anyone would like to see it.) Robert then reported that CNM had $4873.81 in
the checking account and $1137.26 in the GMAC account for a total of
$6,011.07. However, there are some checks from Taos that have not cleared
yet so this will soon be reduced.
Chuck Vertrees announced that just before the meeting he had received some
pictures on line from his grandson who was at Taos. He forwarded them to
everyone for whom he has an e-mail address. If you did not receive them and
would like to, please give Chuck your e-mail address so he can add you to
his mailing list.
Brenda Stickler gave a report on the Tri-State. There were 40 Corvairs at
the car display. There was a pretty good sized group from Utah. Brenda said
that, after our experience setting up and running this event, that we should
produce a "How to run a Tri-State" book. This would be similar to the book
we issued after our international convention in 1996. She needs to make up a
flow-chart. Everyone who had a job in the Tri-State, please write up what
your job was, how it went, any problems and how you would like to improve
your part. If you could get them in to Brenda as soon as possible then she
can put the book together by January.
Art Gold said that there was not too much happening at the Car Council
meeting. Next year is the Corvair's 50th anniversary. The Car Council and
Museum have been having a separate class for Corvairs for many years. If we
want to keep this we will need to have a better representation than we had
this year. The Tri-State next year will be the weekend of May 21st in Canon
City. There has not been a date set for next year's Museum Show so Art will
try to get them to have it on another weekend than the Tri-State.
Jim Pittman said that this is a short month and he will need to have
information in for the newsletter the Friday after the board meeting.
Jim was also on a committee that got together at Taos to discuss the
Boydston Award. At the meeting, Ollie Scheflow made a suggestion that each
club that will be hosting the Tri-State should also be in charge of that
year's award. CNM started the Boydston Award but Francis and Ruth were good
friends with many other club members. The award would be "owned" by the
Tri-State and not by just one club, and this should increase interest in the
award. Everyone seemed to be enthusiastic about the idea. Each club would
have its own rules for the award. Our membership was asked to discuss the
change, and it was moved that we would agree to the new policy. The motion
passed with no objections. For those who did not know Francis, check your
"Care and Feeding" book for information about the award. He was pretty much
"Saint Francis of Corvair" to many of us.
Heula Pittman said that it should be brought up that our own Pat Hall was
the recipient of the Boydston Award in Taos this year. He has done a lot of
work, both for the chapter and for the Tri-State. Pat and Vickie both ran
games at the Tri-State and the winners were recognized. She said that the
Sunshine committee was tired. Heula and the Sunshine committee were the ones
responsible for the decorations, registration "goodie" bags and many of the
door prizes.
Kudos should also go to Bill Reider for the 2009 Taos Tri-State logo design
for the T-shirts.
Sylvan Zuercher gave a history of the Tri-State. It started in 1976 in
Montrose with the idea that it would be held there each year. The name
"Tri-State" referred to the three clubs from Albuquerque, Denver and Salt
Lake City. However, after the initial event, nothing came together until the
gathering was revived in Montrose in 1986. After that, it has been held
every year and has evolved into the meeting it is now.
Future events include the July 4th celebration in Santa Fe. We think the car
show on the plaza will happen and we expect to have a good time.
We have been invited to a Potluck at Charlie Mann's place on Saturday the
18th of July. Details will be in a later edition. Charlie has about 32 cars
to look at after we eat.
The question came up as to the correct cost of the club's front license
plate. The board will have to make a ruling on this. Jim was not able to
find a price mentioned in any past meeting notes in his newsletter back
issues.
Brenda said that there were some bookmarks, patches, magnets and a few
shirts left over from the Tri-State available for sale.
The meeting was adjourned at 20:00 and several of us went to a rather
crowded 66 Diner.
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July HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes to nine CNM members:
Debra Anderson ... July 6
Mark Domzalski ... July 8
Tarmo Sutt ....... July 8
Larry Blair ...... July 15
Leslie Sullivan .. July 18
Richard Foster ... July 20
Gayle Finch ...... July 27
Richard Finch .... July 29
Kay Sutt ......... July 31
July HAPPY ANNIVERSARY wishes to two CNM couples:
Anne & John Wiker ..... July 6
Linda & Dick Cochran .. July 18
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JUNE BOARD MEETING
Chuck Vertrees
THE MEETING WAS CALLED to order by President Mike Stickler at 17:05 on
6/17/09 at Ray Trujillo's print shop. Present were Ollie Scheflow, Dave
Huntoon, Robert Gold, Ray Trujillo, Pat & Vickie Hall, Jim & Heula Pittman,
Mike & Brenda Stickler, "Lube" Lubert, Wendell Walker and Chuck & Julia
Vertrees.
V.P. Pat Hall said that he thought CNM needed more events. In the discussion
it was suggested that it was time for some more TUNAs. Dave Huntoon said he
had been contacted by a possible new member who lives in the South Valley.
He contacted Dave because he was leaking oil and it was probably coming from
around the pushrod tube O-rings. Dave suggested that possibly we could have
a TUNA on O-ring replacement on the pushrod tubes. Another possible topic
was on steering boxes. Bill Reider indicated to Pat that he might be
available to run a TUNA on that subject. We would have a meal, either a
breakfast before or a lunch after, the TUNA. We will see how many members
might be interested in one of those subjects.
Robert Gold reported that CNM had $2,997.28 in the checking account and
$1,137.26 in the GMAC account. He is still having trouble with GMAC. They
act like we are too small for them to be bothered with. If Robert cannot
reach a meeting of minds with them we will probably need to find another
place for our money. The only advantage is that GMAC pays pretty good
interest compared with other places. Mike Stickler said that he had
contacted Galles and our annual sponsorship stipend was being worked on, so
we should be receiving a check before long.
Dave Huntoon reported that there was a possible new member, as mentioned
above. Also we signed up a new member at the last meeting, Mark Jones. John
Meyers was introduced at the last meeting as a past member. Whether he
contacted Sylvan about joining, Robert didn't know. Maybe John is a new
member.
Jim Pittman passed out a great COLOR special report on the Tri-State. It
looked like a newsletter but Jim said it was just a report. He intended to
give a copy to all CNM members who went to the Taos Tri-State. It's also on
Jim's web page, so anyone can view and download a copy. You should at least
go look at it. Jim will also send a copy to the presidents of all attending
clubs with the suggestion that their members can check it out on line. The
regular newsletter deadline is Friday the 19th. Jim does not have a
newsletter article on the Tri-State as yet but a couple of people said they
would get one for him in time.
Jim circulated a cover letter that he had sent to the Taos Pueblo Head of
Security who had arranged for the photographs of all of the Corvairs in
front of the Pueblo on Sunday morning. With the letter Jim sent him a CD
with many photographs made at the Pueblo.
Jim and Heula also altered our 2009 Corvair CNM birthday card to make a set
of "Thank You" notes. Brenda will arrange to send a them to all the people
in Taos who helped CNM so much. This also included many CNM members who went
out of their way to make the meeting a success. I will mention Anne May Gold
and Dan Palmer particularly at the banquet, and am probably leaving out
others who should be thanked for all their efforts. Jim put a lot of
statistics about the Tri-State meetings on the back page of his report. Of
the entire Tri-State meetings he can find records for, the Taos meeting had
the largest attendance. He's not sure if it also had the most Corvairs on
display. Probably not, but records for many Tri-States in the past were
never adequately reported.
Heula Pittman said that the Sunshine Committee has been sending out birthday
cards as usual. (They also did lots of work preparing for the Tri-State. All
of those decorations and many door prizes did not just magically appear.
There was a lot of work involved.) Heula also wants more pictures of members
when they were young for the "Guess Who" section in the newsletter.
The question came up as to what items were supposed to be given to new
members. Two items are a name tag and a copy of the "Care and Feeding" book.
We need to decide on this. Someone mentioned CNM front license plates. Ruth
Boydston has just a few left. We discussed whether we should have a sale to
get rid of them, and then order some new ones? This was put on hold and Mike
will check with Steve Gongora to see if he was the one who ordered the last
batch. If so, how much would it cost to get a new batch, possibly with a new
design. This led to discussing the section in "Care and Feeding" that lists
the items available from CNM and their prices. It was decided that there
would be a disclaimer that all prices are subject to change.
Heula suggested that at each meeting we should have a time for Ruth Boydston
to mention the CNM wares that she brings to the meeting. Many members do not
know what is available from Ruth.
Brenda Stickler wants to put together a small book on how to put on a
Tri-State or similar meeting. There are so many things that need to be done
that might not be remembered. Everyone that had anything to do with this
Tri-State should please put together a small piece about what they did, the
way it worked out and any problems that needed to be solved and how they
were solved.
It was suggested that in future Tri-States the items considered for the
"attendance trophy" should include not only attendance of people but also
the number of Corvairs that were driven by members to the event.
Future events are the July 4th car show in Santa Fe and also the picnic and
car show at Charlie Mann's. More detailed information will be elsewhere.
It was suggested that we could possibly have a TUNA on August 15th at the
Hall's in Los Lunas. Kevin Sullivan let us know earlier that there will be
an Ultra Van meeting in Santa Fe in September. Also in September there is
the EAA air show and car show at the Moriarty airport. Over the last three
or four years, several of our members have attended and reported having a
great time. Perhaps Richard Finch will be flying up in his Corvair-powered
airplane?
Robert Gold said that the ribbons for the State Fair show on September 27th
are all lined up, so make your plans now to be at the old Furrs parking lot
at San Pedro and Central at 7:00 AM on that Sunday!
The meeting was adjourned at 18:10.
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STICK TO VAIRS
Mike Stickler
I AM SURE EVERYONE who attended the Taos Tri-State had a great time. This
year's event had the highest attendance on record, along with a tremendous
turnout of top-notch Corvairs. Many thanks to all of the members who helped
to make it a memorable event.
This year I planned to be at the Tri-State in a Corvair. Unfortunately the
1962 Greenbrier that I planned to drive started running poorly just before
the event and I didn't want to risk taking it. I suspected a loose valve
seat. When I got home and started the tear down I found that the valve seats
were fine, but worn rings and valve guides were the culprits. There was a
lot of carbon build up resulting in low compression.
It's time for another rebuild, and with 140 HP heads this time around. High
tech coatings have caught my interest lately and if the budget allows I may
try them as a way of lowering engine heat. My goal is to be in the State
Fair Car Show this year. A fun event that all of you should participate in.
Our club has been known for a great showing at that event each year.
Pat Hall is working on getting some tech sessions scheduled for later this
year. Our club is blessed with many "Corvairologists" who are willing to
share their expertise.
I am looking forward to going over to Charlie Mann's home to view his North
Valley classic car collection. I hope to see you there!!!
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TAOS ART -- TRI-STATE GUIDE
Brenda Stickler
YES, OF COURSE you thought you had gotten the last of my Taos articles.....
But: The only group I have not thanked is the "Jump In" group. Once we
arrived at the Taos Tri-State, and all the heads of each sector organized
what their particular group was in charge of, we were so, so thankful for
the people who jumped in and did vital things for our Tri-State. At
registration, at the car show, counting ballots and at the banquet, members
from our club filled in any gaps we had and that is why we love this club
so, so, much!!! This unsung Jump In group truly made us look like a well
running, well restored Corvair!!
Also, do look at Jim's wonderful statistics page from the Taos Tri-State.
Our club sent out "Designer Corvair" thank you notes that Jim reworked from
our current Birthday card into a "Thank You" card with our impressive
Tri-State logo on the back. I do cherish my pot holder, magnet and book
marker as quite a reminder of such a great time spent in Taos. (Thanks
Heula.) Of course I hit the JACK POT and won the beautiful purse our
talented Kay Sutt had made as one of our raffle items. Ruth Boydston's
amazing quilt went to Colorado to the very lucky Anderson Family. Our CNM
treasurer has stated that these drawings did make it possible to have an
actual cash flow for this Tri-State.
The only way I know to duplicate success, is by sharing what we know. I am
asking all who headed a function for this Tri-State to write a description
of what you did and let us know what could have been improved. Once I have
compiled a complete set it will be reviewed and revised by our Tri-State
experts from the past. I want it to be a basic book that even our "Young
Guys," who we are blessed that have joined our club, can help us run the
next, now scheduled to be Tri-State 2012. Any ideas where to hold this
Tri-State? Let us know.
We heard wonderful things from the other clubs about our Tri-State. Our club
is one well-maintained Chevy engine!!!!
Thanks again to everyone for all of your assistance and support. -- Brenda
SPONSOR WINNER HOW MANY ATTENDED?
YEAR LOCATION CLUB CLUB CNM RMC PPCC BONNEVILLE OTHER TOTAL
==== ================= ======= ====== === ==== ==== ========== ===== =====
1976 Montrose CO RMC (?) ? - - - - - -
1986 Montrose CO CNM CNM 25 16 9 - 12 62
1987 Ouray CO RMC (?) ? - - - - - -
1988 Canon City CO PPCC ? - - - - - -
1989 Red River NM CNM CNM - - - - - -
1990 Durango CO RMC RMC ? - - - - - -
1991 Gunnison CO PPCC RMC 21 41 14 - 11 87
1992 Las Vegas NM CNM CNM 56 35 12 - - 103
1993 Alamosa CO RMC RMC ? - - - - - -
1994 Pagosa Springs CO PPCC RMC 24 27 19 - - 70
1995 Red River NM CNM CNM ? - - - - - -
1996 Montrose CO RMC RMC ? - - - - - -
1997 Gunnison CO PPCC ? - - - - - -
1998 Lake City CO CNM CNM 39 36 12 - 24 111
1999 Salida CO RMC RMC - - - - - -
2000 Albuquerque NM CNM CNM 55 42 11 - 8 116
2001 Manitu Springs CO PPCC RMC 27 48 39 - 5 119
2002 Grand Junction CO RMC RMC 17 39 17 - 29 102
2003 Raton NM CNM CNM 41 25 31 - - 97
2004 Cripple Creek CO PPCC PPCC 18 34 42 - 13 107
2005 Ouray CO RMC RMC 18 39 33 - - 90
2006 Montrose CO CNM CNM 37 28 29 - 12 106
2007 Monte Vista CO PPCC RMC 16 29 24 - 5 74
2008 Pagosa Springs CO RMC RMC 15 46 25 - 18 104
2009 Taos NM CNM CNM 42 37 18 7 18 122
2010 Canon City CO PPCC - - - - - - -
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WORKING WITH HOLLYWOOD (NOT)
John Wiker
WELL, YESTERDAY, Tuesday June 2nd, was interesting to say the least. There
had been a call for "old cars" for a crew filming a TV show with an "Old
Route 66" theme. I decided to attend with my 1966 Monza coupe.
Things started to go wrong even before we showed up. First, the location was
changed from the Route 66 Diner to the Route 66 Malt shop on the other side
of town. They also changed the show time from 11:30 to 09:00. It reminded me
a lot of my military days, and "Hurry up and wait" was the theme of the day.
The star, Samantha Brown (from the show "Samantha Brown's Great Weekends" on
the Travel channel) was an hour late for the first shot at the malt shop. In
the first scene she was to go inside and order a malt, talk to the owner,
then come outside and do some interviews with the owners of old cars as they
were standing by their cars.
The automotive stars of the show were a 1956 Buick and a 1962 Plymouth
Valiant. Samantha spent most of her time at these two cars. I began to get
excited when the producer approached me and asked me to have the name of my
car handy for her to stop to talk to me about it. Of course since the name
of my car is "Betsy" that's what I told him. So, when Samantha came toward
me to talk about my car, she took one look at the engine cover and
exclaimed, "Oh my, it's a Corvair!"
The director said, "CUT!" Thus ended the session at the malt shop!
Then we had to go a few blocks east to film at an old hotel for an hour or
so while Samantha was inside pretending to register. Then it was east on
Central with the cars making loops at every other major street, so that the
film crew could get ahead of our cars and continue filming what would look
like our "journey." Well, at least that was Plan A.
No one had arranged for cops to escort us. As a result, at every traffic
light more and more non-players with non-classic cars got right in the
middle of the "shoot" and therefore we never actually managed to make a
loop. The poor photographer was going nuts trying to get photos of the old
cars without modern cars in the way! It was mission impossible!
We finally stopped at the corner of Central and San Pedro (in the same lot
where we always meet when we are going in to the State Fair) for another
group shot where the star is saying goodbye as she "left" -- which she
really did not do.
We made two loops around the shopping center for the photographer who was
supposed to film us as if we were coming down Central. That did not work out
well because the poor guy was overcome from the heat. It turns out that he
was from Seattle or someplace cold, and he thought our weather was hot! He
ended up fainting dead away and then getting first aid from the crew, as
well as some sun screen from yours truly to get him through the rest of the
day.
A three-piece Mariachi band showed up for local color. They climbed into the
back seat of the star's convertible. They began to play music as if they
were escorting her out of town.
Unfortunately the person recruited to drive the car was not at all practiced
at using an old stick-shift, and in trying to start off popped the clutch
rather abruptly. The car gave a lurch and the Mariachi band members nearly
fell off the back of the convertible!
Plan A called for us to go to Tramway and Central and then go through some
development north of Central and go down a side street. We were to stop at
the location of one of the very few remaining patches of the actual original
Route 66 concrete roadbed. I was looking forward to that, but as the clouds
rolled in and the storm approached, that plan went out the window.
Samantha Brown was now all tired out and ready to quit. We were all
summarily dismissed with no more than a "Thank you all for coming" wave
goodbye. Yes, we did all this driving around for most of the day for no
reward whatsoever, other than being privileged to observe how Hollywood goes
about shooting a TV show.
At one point the non-CNM early model Corvair that was in the Museum show
showed up and the owner pushed himself up to the front of the procession. So
I expect that there may be more of him on the TV show than of me. We will be
e-mailed as to when the show will appear next year on the Travel channel.
Maybe by then we'll feel like watching it. But don't look for the star of
the show, Samantha Brown, to come up to me and blurt out, "Oh my, it's a
Corvair!"
Remind me not to try this again. Once is enough for me to know that someone
else from our club can "enjoy" it next time. I always seem to pick the
"winners" when it comes to stuff like this.
-- John Wiker
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAN YOU IDENTIFY THIS MEMBER?
Heula Pittman
Here is the eighth entry in our series "Can You Identify This Member?" for
you to guess. As was the case in previous months, this photo was made long
before the person featured ever gave a second's thought to Corvairs. It was
also before the person dropped the nasty nicotine habit.......
If everyone will give me a photograph from an "earlier life" then this
contest could go on for quite a while! For example, if I were to get
thirteen photos in all, we could end the contest and award the prize at our
36th anniversary celebration in 2010. If I get more than thirteen photos
then we could have a second cycle of prizes.
So, give me your photos and keep your list up to date. You can e-mail
digital photos at ( jimp @ unm.edu ) or you can give me your photographs, I
will scan them and I will return them to you. Remember, this is a contest,
so no fair sharing guesses with others! -- Thanks, Heula
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KIT CARSON
David Huntoon
HERE'S A LITTLE information about Kit Carson, whose grave is located about
100 yards from the Kachina Lodge in Taos. I discovered it while riding my
bicycle around Taos on Saturday afternoon. I will not try to recount his
life, those interested can easily research that information.
What interests me is the amount of travel people like Kit Carson did in
those days. From what I can tell these are the places he visited or stayed:
Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, California, Idaho, Chihuahua, Missouri, New
Mexico, Washington, Oregon, Washington DC, California, DC again, California,
New Mexico, Texas, Colorado.
All this while traveling by horseback or, maybe, by stagecoach and maybe
much later, by railroad.
People like Kit Carson must have had iron/steel/titanium constitutions in
those 19th century frontier days!
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============================================================================
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
============================================================================
| July 2009 | August 2009 | September 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 | 1 | 1 2 3 4 5 |
| 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 |
| 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 | 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 |
| 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 | 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 | 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 |
| 26 27 28 29 30 31 | 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 | 27 28 29 30 |
| | 30 31 | |
============================================================================
Wed 1 Jul 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Wed 1 Jul 8:30 PM (time approx.) after our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner
at 1405 Central NE (between University Blvd and I-25)
Sat 4 Jul early! Fourth of July Celebration on the Plaza in Santa Fe
Sat 4 Jul early! Pancake Breakfast on the Plaza in Santa Fe
Sat 11 Jul 6:00 PM Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starting at Bosque Farms
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 (time approx.) after our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner
at 1405 Central NE (between University Blvd and I-25)
Sat 8 Aug 8:00 AM Our third "Old Route 66" cleanup of the year
Sat 8 Aug 9:30 AM CNM Breakfast - to be arranged - suggestions?
Sat 8 Aug 6:00 PM Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starting at Bosque Farms
Sat 15 Aug 9:00 AM Breakfast at Sopa's in Bosque Farms.....
Sat 15 Aug 10:00 AM ... followed by a TUNA session at Pat & Vickie Hall's
on replacing your leaking O-rings with new Vitons
Wed 19 Aug 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Fri 21 Aug 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
Wed 2 Sep 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Wed 2 Sep 8:30 PM (time approx.) after our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner
at 1405 Central NE (between University Blvd and I-25)
Sat 5 Sep 9:30 AM CNM Breakfast - to be arranged - suggestions?
Sat 12 Sep 6:00 PM Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starting at Bosque Farms
Sat 12 Sep early! EAA Fly-In (and old car display) Moriarty Airport
Sun 13 Sep early! EAA Fly-In (and old car display) Moriarty Airport
Mon 14 Sep ....... Ultra Van meet in Santa Fe -- more information later
Wed 16 Sep 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Sun 27 Sep 7:00 AM Get ready for the State Fair Car Show
Fri 25 Sep 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
Fri-Sat-Sun 25-26-27 Sep NMCCC 31st Annual Swap Meet in Los Lunas
Wed 7 Oct 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Wed 7 Oct 8:30 PM (time approx.) after our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner
at 1405 Central NE (between University Blvd and I-25)
Sat 10 Oct 9:00 AM Our fourth "Old Route 66" cleanup of the year
Sat 10 Oct 9:30 AM CNM Breakfast - to be arranged - suggestions?
Sat 10 Oct 6:00 PM Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starting at Bosque Farms
Sat 17 Oct 8:00 AM Car Show at a Park on Rio Grande Blvd near Los Ranchos
Support Hydrocephalus Association. Contact Russ McDuffie
Wed 21 Oct 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Fri 23 Oct 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
=============================================================================
See the New Mexico Council of Car Clubs Web Site for more "NMCCC" activities:
http://www.nmcarcouncil.org
=============================================================================
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DUMMY OF THE MONTH
Larry Blair
A FEW MONTHS AGO, I started to notice hard shifting. I crawled underneath
and adjusted the clutch rod swivel, expecting another few thousand miles
before having to do it again. Not to be.
After adjusting it two more times in only a two month period, it got so bad
I couldn't shift into reverse without shutting off the engine.
I pulled the tunnel covers to check the clutch cable, but it looked OK.
Still, something nagged at me [perhaps experience?] so I disconnected the
cable at the rear end for a closer look. Sure enough, at the pulley at the
front of the tunnel, the cable was frayed. Some strained muscles and scraped
elbows later, I removed the cable, and discovered that at two of the three
pulleys, the cable was partially broken, and had stretched probably a half
inch.
I replaced it with the spare I have had ever since I broke one some years
ago, adjusted everything by the book, and solved the problem.
Lesson? When things start to go wrong, don't wait too long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OLD ROUTE 66 CLEANUP
Oliver Scheflow
THE CLUB HELD ITS SECOND clean up exercise of 2009 on D-Day, the sixth of June.
We had a couple drops of rain before 8:00 AM but that ended and we had
perfect weather. A light cool breeze and thin clouds filtered the sun for us.
There was a large turn out of helpers and very little trash for a change,
which allowed us to finish up a little after 9:00 AM. We then adjourned to
the Golden Corral on Central for breakfast where the conversation was about
improved auto engines and airplanes. The trash was very "ordinary" in that
no one reported finding anything of particular interest.
Those persons participating this time were: Robert and Javier Gold, Pat
Hall, Dave Huntoon, Gordon Johnson, Mark Jones, Lube Lubert, Dan Palmer, Jim
Pittman, Ollie Scheflow and John Wiker.
Thanks to all who helped. They say more hands make quick work. I hope to see
you for the August 8th clean up. Remember, more hands make easier work!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EARTHSHIP HOMES - HOMES YOU WON'T GET TIRED OF
Ollie Scheflow & Brenda Stickler
YES, THOSE OF US who went on the Earthship Homes tour have a new definition
of "Green Homes." When your tires go bald and you have to buy new ones...
Have you ever said? "I'll save these old tires... I can turn them into a
home someday." Old tires, stacked, filled with compacted soil = sturdy walls.
The Earthship Home not only had the recycled walls, solar gain windows,
rain-water collectors and a D.C. refrigerator; it even brought the "garden"
inside the home. We weren't told how much the batteries cost to run all the
systems... but we were impressed that they never received utility bills. The
demo house had ten automotive size batteries. Windmills on top of the homes
were the size of nice indoor fans but were part of the energy source for the
homes. The roof also had solar panels.
Roof-caught rain water was stored in a cistern. This water for drinking,
cooking and bathing was stored and treated. After use, cooking and bathing
water was used to water vegetables growing in the house. Toilet water was
filtered and treated and used for outdoor watering.
Part of the home structure was built into the earth itself to help maintain
a constant ambient temperature. Around the tires even soda cans were used
with the impacted soil and cement mixture. The compacted soil-filled tires
had a superior insulation "R" value as compared to the conventional walls of
most homes.
Taos is the headquarters for "Design and Build Services" world wide. Houses
and lots are also for sale in the Taos 600-acre community.
The Sticklers were a little concerned during this tour when Kyle, their
oldest son, was so impressed with this green life style, that he said
something to the effect of "Wow, when Andrew and I pick out your retirement
home, we will look for some nice comfortable used tractor tires for you."
Maybe we should start saving our old 13" Corvair tires to use in building
our new "green" houses?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RANDOM TAOS TRI-STATE NOTES
Jim & Heula
SOME OF US DROVE our Brand-Xs. Some of us hauled a favorite Corvair on a
trailer. Some of us found other modes of transportation. Some arrived on
Thursday the better to get a head start. Some arrived on Friday, ready for
fun. Some weren't able to get there until Saturday. We all came to Taos,
hoping for yet another mystical, low-key, relaxing Tri-State like so many we
have had during the last twenty-three (or is it thirty-three?) years.
Find your room and unpack. Go looking for old friends. Admire the shiny
Corvairs pulling into, it seems, every parking spot on the premises. Where
to go for supper? Who wants to ride with me? Do you know how to get there?
We ended up going to Michael's Kitchen, not two blocks away from Kachina
Lodge. (They provided a couple of $20 gift certificates for door prizes at
the banquet.) We had a fine meal and had a great time visiting with our
friends, old and new. In the evening, folks gather to see the Native
American dancing.
Next morning, find breakfast. We say, at the Kachina Lodge is okay. Not too
bad and it's convenient.
It's soon time to line up for the "parade" that is really a "cruise"
following the motorcycle escort. Line 'em up. Head out for the cruise,
several people taking photos from every angle. We'll see parts of Taos we
may not see otherwise. Hmmmm, some of us would rather be driving just a
little bit faster to keep our Corvair engine happy.
Back at the Lodge, have to move several Brand-Xs that didn't get the word
that this is a Corvairs-only parking area for a few hours today.
Walk around the parked Corvairs. They all look so clean, it's hard to
believe they get driven every day. Some of them do, for sure. Some are even
driven during the winter. Why not? We tend to forget the famed
rear-engine-weight bias of our favorite cars and how well they can handle
snow. Pretty soon, with global warming, this feature will be useless as we
drive on the snowless January highways of the Southwest.
Try to get at least one photo of each car. Some demand more than one. Front
quarter view. Rear quarter view. Interior and instrument panel. Engine
compartment. Hmmmmm, need to get another photo, from the other side of this
engine compartment.
Nice original-looking Spyder engines. Nice, modified-looking 140s. Well, it
must be admitted, a few have traces of road dust and, dare I say it, the
traces of oil spills in the past that didn't quite succumb to the cleaning
process. Well, you wouldn't want to see my Monza's engine. Spider webs and
dust, mostly.
Pat is organizing games: Fan Belt Toss, O-Ring Toss. Who'll try? Sign up
here. No, it does not cost anything, it's just for fun. Three tries for
warmup, then five tries for score. It's harder than it looks! Who's next? Go
sign up and try it again. Maybe you'll do better next time.
Going on a tour? Which one? There's lots more to see in Taos. How will we
have time to see everything? Dave has the right idea. He packed a bike in
his yellow 8-door Corvan and while the Corvan is in the car show, he can
ride around everywhere. He'll probably see things that many of us will never
see in Taos.
Well, it's time and the car show is breaking up. Maybe we can relax and rest
a bit...
Oops, somebody needs to tally up all the paperwork. How many people from
each club? Can we count the Andersons from Colorado Springs - they are
members of our club too. Guess not. They'll have to be counted as Pikes Peak
members.
Before you know it, the afternoon has turned into evening and it is banquet
time. Dan does a great job being Master of Ceremonies. Anne Mae
enthusiastically pushes door prizes. If you don't like this one, something
else will come along. Say, wanna trade? Oh, that one was great, wish I'd
gotten it.
Awards. Speeches. We can hear in the back, part of the time. Never mind,
we'll talk to our neighbors.
Pat Hall receives the Boydston Award. Pat makes a tearful thank-you speech.
We have to go with the Tri-State tradition of awarding Mexican Hats to new
members of the Mariachi Group. Got to keep renewing this group every year!
We need to know where next year's Tri-State will be. Maria and Kermit tell
us: Canon City, Colorado. Or is that Canon City? Either way, it's near the
Royal Gorge. Plenty of mountain scenery to see there!
We learn that the Taos Pueblo people have invited us out to come out to the
Pueblo tomorrow morning for a photo opportunity. We leave our Brand-X and
catch a ride with Kay and Tarmo. Eighteen Corvairs line up in front of the
ancient adobe buildings and there's a "feeding frenzy" of digital images
being recorded. We'll think about this high point of our weekend in northern
New Mexico many a time during the next twenty-something years.
Time to head for home. Fill up with Chevron's best, it's not that expensive
yet. Can you believe this weather? Just perfect, the entire weekend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SEVEN YEARS AGO
Jim Pittman
Seven Years Ago - July 2002 - Volume 28 - Number 7
Your editor read about the new Mazda MX-5 Miata in 1989, drove one in 1990,
but did not buy one until 2002. Better late than never, the blue-green 1996
Miata appears on our cover. New members this month were Leslie & Kevin
Sullivan who owned an Ultra Van.
When Robert Gold called our meeting to order at Galles Chevrolet, Jim had to
take notes as Chuck was elsewhere. Wendell told us about $37.28 in Wells
Fargo, $5011.03 in GMAC and a total of $5048.13. Mark Martinek said the Car
Council mostly focused on the big car show in Los Lunas. We learned of a
story about Wendy that appeared in the Rio Rancho newspaper. Mark Domzalski
said he had turned everything over to Dennis Pleau and was no longer listed
on CORSA's board of directors. We planned a weekend trip to Ruth's cabin in
the Pecos despite forest fire danger. The CORSA convention was all set for
Flagstaff. Our board meeting mostly talked about a possible caravan to
Flagstaff and programs at future meetings.
Robert Gold's presidential column told us how he hitched a ride in Wendy's
red Pantera and got to Ruth's cabin in record time -- but with hardly any
luggage. Then he told about having the presidential briefcase stuffed with
old, useless paperwork. Then he asked members to send in their stories of
"Corvair Catastrophes" or at least, interesting mishaps that would liven up
the newsletter. Anne Mae let us know that the Corvair Ladies group was still
very much active and having a lot of summer fun. Finally, four pages (with
photos) told everything you could possibly want to know about your editor's
progress from a 1952 Ford into the world of sports cars. The 1966
turbocharged Corsa definitely qualified, says Jim, as one of those sports
cars.
Fourteen Years Ago - July 1995 - Volume 21 - Number 7
The cover showed a patriotic 13-star flag. The stars were made of Monza
emblems and the stripes were made of Greenbriers. President Larry ran our
meeting. Treasurer Will reported $1296 in the bank. Our recent audit of the
books found no discrepancies; caution, however; the audit was NOT conducted
by a major national auditing firm. Bill reported on Car Council activities
and plans. We had new Clarks catalogs. Jerry said those who went to the Red
River Tri-State missed a really nice Albuquerque Museum Car Show. Corvair
belt buckles were on the way. Larry reported that he took the wheels off one
of his Corvairs and was promptly busted by the city zoning people for having
a "junker" in the front yard. Cars in the front gotta be in running
condition! Billiken and Bill the Cat drove 26.6 hours to New Mexico and had
to stop in Clovis. We had several tech tips from other clubs: Fuel Pumps, No
Oil Pressure, Emergency Brake Cable Removal, No Fuel or Spark, Water Hose
for Corvairs, Pitfalls of O-Rings.
An article from an Iowa CORSA member told about working in an aluminum
foundry back in the 1960's, casting Corvair engine parts.
Twenty-one Years Ago - July 1988 - Volume 14 - Number 7
The cover showed a 1965 sedan. How can you tell from the drawing that it's a
1965? We had $596 in the bank. The museum car show was nice and Larry's
green 1964 convertible Spyder took first place. Jerry provided a video of
the trip to the Tri-State at Canon City. Tom Martin further reported on the
event. LeRoy said we'd have an auction in July and listed items. Sylvan
announced he would be putting on an Econo/fun Run to Las Vegas, NM in
September.
Twenty-eight Years Ago - July 1981 - Volume 7 Number 7
The happy CNM dragon led a patriotic Fourth of July parade and a Corvair
convertible was the featured car. No one showed up with a key so we had our
meeting in the parking lot at Ed Black's. The weather was good. LeRoy
reported on the recent car show, the recent auction, and the recent Los
Alamos slalom. Robin DeVore told us about TRW lifters that are just a smidge
too long, but you could set your valve lash two turns past zero to
compensate. Richard Twilley gave us a table of MPH vs RPM for various tire
sizes and rear axle ratios.
Thirty-five Years Ago - July 1974
Alas, what we did at our fourth meeting (June) and fifth meeting (July) has
been lost to history.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAR DISPLAY & PICNIC POT LUCK
Charlie Mann
My wife, Pam, and I want to welcome CNM to our home to see my collection of
classic cars. This event will be at our North Valley home on July 18th starting
around 10:00 AM. We will have the yard gate open so you can walk right back and
IÕll show you around.
Our address is 518 Pueblo Solano NW which is West off of 4th Street, north of
Osuna and south of Ranchitos.
We are just south of both DanÕs Boots and Saddles and Z-Coils on 4th Street.
I will have our grill going if any of you bring meat you would like to have
barbequed for you. It would be perfect if everyone would bring a sizable side
dish to share with all. Of course, all picnics need: Chips & Dip, Potato Salad,
Toss Salads, Cheese/Meat Tray, Watermelon, Fruit Salads, Veggie/Dip Tray and
various deserts. Some of you may surprise us with treats we have never tried
before.
Our driveway always has an array of older cars so you can easily spot our home
on the South side of the street in the Þrst block. Come have fun. We are looking
forward to having you out here.
Charlie Mann
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=END=