The October 2010 newsletter - Text Version
Updated 29-May-2013 ==== Copyright (c) 2013 Corvairs of New Mexico
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OCTOBER 2010 / VOLUME 36 / NUMBER 10 / ISSUE #421
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EDITOR: Jim Pittman
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday 6 October 2010 at 6:00 PM
Highland Senior Center at 131 Monroe NE
THIS MONTH:
Dues Due ................................. Membership Committee
Drive a Corvair! ........................... President Pat Hall
September Meeting Minutes, Board Minutes ............. Art Gold
Letters to the Editor ........................ (Old Car Brakes)
Tri-State 2011 preview .......... Brenda Stickler & Robert Gold
Calendar of Coming Events .................. Board of Directors
We Won Again! Congratulations on Newsletter ..... Heula Pittman
More Chairpersons Needed ........................ Heula Pittman
Name Tag Etiquette ................................ Vickie Hall
Kirtland AFB BX Car Show ........................... John Wiker
ODE to a Fellow CNM Member ........................ Robert Gold
Sunshine Committee .............................. Heula Pittman
State Fair Car Show ............................... Robert Gold
Installing Velvetouch(tm) Brakes ................ Richard Finch
Seven, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago ................ Club Historian
COVER: We're at the 2010 New Mexico State Fair - Another Success!
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MEETING: First Wednesday of each month at 6:00 PM
LOCATION: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE, Albuquerque, NM
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President: Pat Hall 505-620-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com
Vice-Pres: Ray Trujillo 505-839-7436 ray @ bpsabq.com
Secretary: Art Gold 505-620-7434 rollerart @ gmail.com
Treasurer: Robert Gold 505-268-6878 beisbol30 @ msn.com
Car Council: David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 @ aol.com
Merchandise: Vickie Hall 505-865-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com
Membership: David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 @ aol.com
Sunshine: Heula Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu
Newsletter: Jim Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu
Past Pres: Mike Stickler 505-856-6993 sticorsa @ hotmail.com
Correspondent: Charles Vertrees 505-299-0744 vertrees @ swcp.com
Membership: Sylvan Zuercher 505-299-7577 opal.zue @ gmail.com
Emeritus: Wendell Walker 505-892-8471 defarge505 @ aol.com
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DUES: CNM: 12 months $25.00 -or- 26 months $ 50.00
CORSA: 12 months $45.00 -or- 26 months $ 90.00
CNM & CORSA: 12 months $70.00 -or- 26 months $140.00
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CORSA's home page: http://www.corvair.org
Steve Gongora's page: http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter871
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DUES DUE DATES FOR OCTOBER 2010
DUE LAST MONTH = INACTIVE 25-OCT-2010:
2010.09 Kay & Tarmo Sutt 1976.07
2010.09 Brenda & Hurley Wilvert 1992.10
DUE THIS MONTH = INACTIVE 25-NOV-2010:
2010.10 Debra & Jon Anderson 1992.10
2010.10 Barbara & Gordon Johnson 2001.06
2010.10 Mary Lou & Mark Martinek 1990.08
2010.10 Sylvia & Ray Trujillo 2003.08
DUE NEXT MONTH = INACTIVE 25-DEC-2010:
2010.11 Linda & Dick Cochran 2006.09
== MEMBERSHIP EXPIRED = INACTIVE AS OF 25-SEP-2010:
2010.01 Kim & Del Patten 1980.07
2010.05 Jack Bryan 1982.02
2010.06 John Myers 2003.05
2010.07 Geoffrey Johnson 2002.03
2010.08 Russ McDuffie 2008.08
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, if you send us the renewal
form from your CORSA Communique!
CNM's newsletters: http://www.unm.edu/~jimp
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BIRTHDATES
Dan Palmer October 3
Bill Reider October 17
Erica Anderson October 25
Jon Anderson October 27
Mark Jones October 28
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DRIVE A CORVAIR!
Pat Hall
SNAP, CRACKLE, POP
That sound is music to New Mexicans' ears, but it's not Rice Krispies. It's the
sound of roasting green chiles! That's a favorite with many in our great state
of New Mexico.
CORVAIR HERITAGE DAY -- OCTOBER 2nd, 2010.
It's the official birthday of Corvairs! We should all get our Corvairs out on
the road that day. We can show everyone that Corvairs are still going strong!
UP, UP & AWAY -- OCTOBER 3rd, 2010.
Roll down the windows or pop back the top. Crisp Fall air will make your "color
cruise" more refreshing and the colors that you will be seeing will be from
hundreds of balloons rising from the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta field. A
marvelous sight to see!
ELECTION OF OFFICERS -- OCTOBER 6th, 2010.
Please get your nominations in prior to the deadline. Voting for our officers is
a very important privilege that our members should take part in.
Thank you once again for listening. -- Pat Hall
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SEPTEMBER MEETING NOTES 09-01-2010
Art Gold
Meeting was called to order at 6:02pm, with 26 in attendance. Last month's
minutes were approved.
Officer Reports
Pat Hall (President) stated that he needs volunteers to be at the CNM
information table at the swap meet in Los Lunas at the end of September. At
least three members are needed. LeRoy Rogers stated that he will be at the swap
meet and could help. The table will provide interested parties with a CNM card,
information sheet, and the two applications for the club (CORSA and CNM). Chuck
Vertrees stated that he would be willing to volunteer for an information table
for the State Fair car show.
Ray Trujillo (Vice President) stated that the topic this month is nominations of
candidates for office, and he emphasized that we must make sure to inform the
person of a nomination. Nominations are due in to the club by the next board
meeting (September 15th). Ray also stated that he is the individual to be
informed for the one minute tech tips, and he has set up the 66 Diner for the
group to meet tonight after the regular meeting.
Art Gold (Secretary) stated that he will handle the tax exempt status on the
e-postcard.
Robert Gold (Treasurer) stated that the assets are $2,632.00 in the Cash Account
and $1,171.92 in the Ally Account for a total of $3,803.92. Chuck stated that
the 50/50 revenue goes to the Sunshine Committee. The winner of the 50/50
tonight was Ruth Boydston who said she had never won anything before.
Committee Reports
Dave Huntoon & Sylvan Zuercher (Membership) have two potential members that they
have contacted. One of the individuals is still in Louisiana and the other they
have called but have so far not been able to contact him.
Dave Huntoon (NM Car Council) discussed the upcoming swap meet in Los Lunas. The
Council has been generating good revenue for Ronald McDonald House Charities. He
also stated that the Balloon Fiesta car show is coming up and it is free to
attend, provided the interested party shows a car.
Jim Pittman (Editor) stated that this is a long month, and the deadline is
Friday September 24th, State Fair weekend. He also stated that former member Joe
Lite passed away recently. Jim thanked Tarmo Sutt for sending wonderful pictures
of his trip to Red River. The photos are on Jim's web site.
Heula Pittman (Sunshine) stated that they are looking really great at the
moment. They had a meeting in the last month. She also stated Steve Gongora fell
from a ladder and broke a couple of ribs, and he is in "mega pain." Heula stated
the committee will buy gifts for the children of club members.
Vickie Hall (Merchandise) stated that she still has merchandise for sale. She
gave Robert Gold $7.00 for recent sales.
Upcoming Activities/Events
September
09/24,25,26/2010 - NMCC 32nd Annual Swap Meet in Los Lunas at Morris Field -
Friday the 24th is vendor set up at 1:00pm - Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th is
the Swap Meet - come early. Volunteers include Pat Hall and the Golds on
Saturday morning (25th) and more will be welcome.
09/24/2010 - Meet for the State Fair Car Show - 6:30am - Robert Gold - 268-6878
for information. There will not be as many ribbons given out this year due to
the sluggish economy. Everyone will receive a participation ribbon. Participants
will receive tremendous parking and free admission to the State Fair.
October
10/03/2010 - Balloon Fiesta Car Show - 7:30am - meet at the Alameda Overpass on
Edith
10/06/2010 - Election of Officers.
10/09/2010 - Old Route 66 clean-up - 9:00am - Brunch afterwards at Golden Corral
and it is the last one of the year. Handled by Ollie. We have no word yet on
when/whether our sign at the western end of our mile will be replaced. Robert
has the old sign but it is well and truly broken.
November
Ray will check with Rita & Steve Gongora to see if they will sponsor a potluck
this year at House of Covers.
December
12/04/2010 - Christmas Party at Roper's Restaurant - 5:30pm - 8810 Central SE -
handled by Rita Gongora.
Old Business
Lube Lubert stated that the National Guard weekend F-16 retirement is only for
military or retired military, not the general public. There is however a car
show on Saturday, September 25th.
Brenda Stickler (Red River 2011 Tri-State) stated that the accommodations in Red
River are very nice, but emphasized that the lodging is "apartment style" or
"condo style" not a regular hotel/motel. The Lifts West is centrally located in
Red River and is in close proximity to the car show. There will be a free
banquet room at the Lifts West. Book early. Reserving a room requires a deposit.
Tarmo Sutt has a friend who lives in Red River who may be able to help us if we
have planning problems. Brenda intends to communicate all details to the two
Colorado clubs as needed.
Meeting adjourned at 6:55pm
Submitted by Art Gold
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SEPTEMBER BOARD MEETING 09-15-2010
Art Gold
Meeting was called to order at 5:03pm. There were eleven members present. None
of us complained about the weather which was beautiful.
Officer Reports
Pat Hall (President) made introductory remarks about a person in Alabama who was
trying to get "every Corvair within 500 miles" to attend a Dallas car show. He
also stated that Jim is a wonderful editor.
Vice President (Ray Trujillo) stated that he went by House of Covers to contact
Steve & Rita Gongora. He has set a tentative date for the Bingo/Potluck/Auction
Night for November 6th, 2010 at 5:30pm. Ray also stated that there have been no
nominations for officers so far.
Art Gold (Secretary) stated that he got his Chevelle back and it brought him to
the meeting! Also, he is working on a logo for the Tri-State, and will hopefully
have it for the next regular meeting.
Robert Gold (Treasurer) stated the funds are as follows: Checking $2,632.00 and
Ally $1,174.14 for a total of $3,806.14.
Committee Reports
Dave Huntoon & Sylvan Zuercher (Membership) Sylvan not present, Dave stated that
he attended the Moriarty EAA Fly-In last weekend.
Dave Huntoon (NM Council of Car Clubs) stated that the council is working on the
Los Lunas Swap Meet. He also stated that he has banners available for the Swap
Meet and the State Fair Car Show and will bring them. Pat Hall stated that our
Belen member, Bill Darcy, will be attending the Los Lunas Swap Meet. Bill has
not been able to attend our meetings, so those who go to the swap meet will be
able to meet him.
Jim Pittman (Editor) stated that the deadline for the newsletter is Friday the
24th of September. Jim also stated that there have been recent e-mails from
CORSA Chapters, mostly relating to the 100% CORSA rule. He also attended the
Moriarty Air-Show. Ray Trujillo commended Jim on his October 2001 Nine-eleven
article "The End of the World as We Know It" which Jim made available on his web
page. Pat Hall remarked that he had not received his September Communique yet,
and Jim stated that members can look for the CORSA Communique online.
Heula Pittman (Sunshine) reminded board members that CNM won third place in
CORSA's newsletter competition this year. Heula reminded us that the newsletter
won 1st place in 2005, and there have been 420 newsletters in the history of the
club so far.
Vickie Hall (Merchandise) stated that she does not have any business to discuss.
New Business
Brenda Stickler (2011 Tri-State) was not in attendance but had phoned in new
information. Heula said that we have a report that the club should not plan to
use the banquet hall at Lifts-West since it is too small. Brenda is working on a
list of other possibilities. She may recommend that we order about 25 T-shirts,
partly depending on the design of the T-shirts for the other car show. Brenda is
still working on odds and ends, and some positions are still vacant. Those will
be listed elsewhere in the newsletter.
Old Business
Robert Gold stated that he did not attend the VW show at the start of the State
Fair, but did lend out our stanchions, and the VW Club was impressed both by the
fact that they had stanchions, and that they were of such high quality. Robert
also stated that he has obtained the prize ribbons for our show at the Fair.
Chuck Vertrees stated that he had printed out a few informational handouts
concerning the Corvair to be handed out at the Swap Meet and at the State Fair.
Lube Lubert stated that the F-16s at Kirtland AFB will not be retired but will
go to a different base when they are phased out on the NM Air National Guard.
Meeting adjourned at 5:44pm -- Submitted by Art Gold
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Subject: Newsletter article
From: beisbol30 @ msn.com
Date: 2010-Sep-02 08:32:11 MDT
A VERY SHORT STORY
Robert Gold
This is a story that was related to me by my daughter Sara. We were driving to
the last CNM Rt 66 Cleanup when we saw a caravan of 1920's cars puttering down
Old Route 66.
Sara turned to me and said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you about what I saw. Last
week there were a bunch of those type cars going down the street and I saw some
of them run into each other."
After a little questioning, Sara said there were three or four of them that had
a chain reaction collision. Ouch! I guess with those primitive brakes you don't
want to follow too closely behind the guy in front of you. I know it made me
feel good about having Corvairs and their "modern" systems. -- Robert Gold
JIM REPLIES:
Robert & Sara,
Thanks for the story. I am curious to know more. Where were the cars, how many
were there, what kind of cars were they, and could you tell what started the
accident where they ran into each other?
Robert, I do not consider Corvairs to have "modern" brakes. Oh, they may have
better brakes than a 1921 Ford, but nowhere near as good as the brakes on even
the cheapest modern car.
I remember my 1965 Corsa convertible scared me on more than one occasion. I had
installed metallic brake shoes and they should have been very effective.
However, this convertible had a bad case of "cowl shake" where the front
suspension vibrates in renance with vibrations of the rear suspension. On a
gravel road this could lead to the wheels bouncing excessively. Then, if you put
on the brakes, it gets worse! Several times it felt like I was going to bounce
sideways right off the road.
This car also had a bad case of the right rear brake locking up when hot.
Dangerous as well as embarrassing! I had several brake experts including Francis
try to cure this and they did not succeed. All in all, I was relieved when I
finally sold the car.
I do have to say that my original 1966 Corsa turbo coupe with factory heavy-duty
suspension, factory fast steering and Velvetouch metallic brake shoes never
exhibited any brake problems, cold or hot, during the 140,000 miles of sometimes
pretty hard driving I did with this car.
My 1964 Austin-Healey and my 1965 MG-B both had front disk brakes and when I
bought the new 1966 Corsa I was aware that all-drum-brakes were marginal and I
was prepared to install better quality shoes. In 1990 when I bought a Honda
Civic, I was happy to find it had excellent disk brakes -- they have not given a
moment's problem during 20-1/2 years.
Disk brakes in general don't "pull" to one side and have little tendency to
"fade" when hot. Installing good quality metallic brake shoes on a Corvair --
with good smooth brake drums -- can bring Corvair brakes up to adequate for
normal use. The problem is, you can't get good quality metallic shoes for
Corvairs anymore.
My current Corvair, a 1965 Monza coupe, has okay but not above average brakes.
But, I don't drive fast or stop hard any more so I think I can live with it.
-- Jim
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TRI-STATE 2011 - RED RIVER, NM - PREVIEW
Brenda Stickler & Robert Gold
Here's what to expect for accommodations at our 2011 Red River NM Tri-State.
Hotel: Lifts West
Phone: 800-221-1859,
e-mail: Liftswest@hotmail.com
Virtual tour for rooms: http://www.liftswest.com
"Say that you are with the Corvair Tri-State Group when calling in."
Red River is a beautiful town located in the mountains of northern New Mexico.
The area draws many visitors for skiing and other mountain activities. Our host
Complex, Lifts West, is centrally located in Red River. This will allow those
attending the event easy access to the charms of the town as well as a venue to
continue our pleasant Tri-State traditions.
As an added feature of the weekend there will be a large car show taking place
adjacent to our accommodations.
Lifts West is not a traditional hotel. It is a condominium complex containing a
varying range of accommodations that are individually owned and furnished. The
condo-miniums are offered for rental to the public and are managed by the Lifts
West company. This allows them to offer rooms that should meet the need of even
the biggest groups of visitors.
We have arranged for a block of 30 rooms to be reserved for the Tri-State at
Lifts West at $63.00 per night. These rooms contain one bed. The size of the bed
varies from room to room. There are 56 additional single bedroom rooms available
at the complex for the normal seasonal rates. Single room rates in Red River
typically range from $71 to $80 per night.
Most of the accommodations in Red River are of the Lifts West variety. However,
for those who are interested in a traditional motel there is a Best Western
located very close to Lifts West. Best Western has about 30 rooms available at
normal seasonal rates.
Several members have visited Lifts West and agree that it is perfectly located
for our meet and that the complex has all the amenities we would require,
including a pool, wireless computer access and cable TV. The parking area is
perfectly suited for our traditional car show. The other car show will be held
right next door. There is a banquet hall on site but we are advised that we
shouldn't plan to use it.
For those of you who plan to attend the Tri-State we suggest you make your
reservations as soon as you can. The reserved block of rooms should go fast.
You'll need to tell the Lifts West staff you are reserving a room with the
Corvair group. There will be many people in town for the larger car show, so the
other rooms in Red River should be snatched up quickly.
Due to the variety of rooms at Lifts West we encourage you to call the complex
for a description of the available rooms. You can also go to their web site for
a "virtual tour" of the complex. Rooms should be reserved by the end of March
2011. The complex requires a deposit of one night's room cost to reserve a room.
We hope this description gives you a clear idea of how much fun a Tri-State in
Red River can be. The weekend should be filled with all sorts of wonderful
things to do. This will be a great opportunity for us Corvair people to show off
our cars to a variety of car enthusiasts. Red River is a great place for our
clubs to get together. We hope to see you there.
Robert Gold and Art Gold made a fact-finding trip to Red River this summer. Kay
& Tarmo Sutt and two other couples went to Red River and stayed at Lifts West
this summer. All report very pleasant accommodations and a very pleasant town.
Please contact us to help:
Brenda Stickler
phone: 505-856-6993
email: tounce66 @ msn.com
Robert L. Gold, PE
phone: 505-268-6878
email: beisbol30 @ msn.com
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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
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| October 2010 | November 2010 | December 2010 |
| Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa |
| 1 2 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 | 1 2 3 4 |
| 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 | 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 |
| 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 | 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 | 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 |
| 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 | 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 | 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 |
| 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 | 28 29 30 | 26 27 28 29 30 31 |
| 31 | | |
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Sat 2 Oct ....... CORVAIR HERITAGE DAY (Corvair's official birthday)
Sat 2 Oct through Sun 10 Oct -- Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
Sun 3 Oct 7:30 Meet at Alameda overpass on Edith for Balloon Fiesta car show
You'll see a lot of neat cars, and get a great view of balloons ascending!
Wed 6 Oct 6:00 PM ELECTION OF OFFICERS AT OCTOBER MEETING
Wed 6 Oct 6:00 - 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Wed 6 Oct After our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner, 1405 Central NE
Sat 9 Oct 9:00 AM Fourth Old Route 66 Clean-up of 2010. Brunch afterwards
at Golden Corral. More info: Ollie Scheflow 897-2611
Sat 9 Oct Second Saturdays: Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starts in Bosque Farms at the
Wells Fargo Bank. 1:00 PM in Winter, 6:00 PM during Daylight Time.
Wed 20 Oct 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Fri 22 Oct 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
Sat 9 Oct Register Deadline
San Diego Corvair Club, PO Box 420495, San Diego, CA 92123-0495
Fri 29 Oct 33rd Annual Great Western Fan Belt Toss & Swap Meet
============================================================================
Wed 3 Nov 6:00 - 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Sat 6 Nov 5:30 PM Auction and Potluck -- more details when available.
Sat 13 Nov Second Saturdays: Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starts in Bosque Farms at the
Wells Fargo Bank. 1:00 PM in Winter, 6:00 PM during Daylight Time.
Wed 17 Nov 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
17 Nov 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman - EARLY THIS MONTH!
Tue 30 Nov MEISSNER AWARD: Deadline for recommending changes to rules.
============================================================================
Wed 1 Dec 6:00 - 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Sat 4 Dec 5:30 PM Christmas Party at ROPER'S RESTAURANT, 8810 Central SE
Sat 11 Dec Second Saturdays: Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starts in Bosque Farms at the
Wells Fargo Bank. 1:00 PM in Winter, 6:00 PM during Daylight Time.
Wed 15 Dec 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Wed 15 Dec MEISSNER AWARD: Deadline for the board to decide on changes to rules.
Fri 24 Dec 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
Fri 24 Dec MEISSNER AWARD: Nomination Form will be in the January newsletter.
============================================================================
Wed 5 Jan MEISSNER AWARD: Nomination Form is in the January newsletter.
Wed 5 Jan 6:00 to 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Sat 8 Jan Second Saturdays: Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starts in Bosque Farms at the
Wells Fargo Bank. 1:00 PM in Winter, 6:00 PM during Daylight Time.
Wed 19 Jan 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Fri 21 Jan 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
============================================================================
2011: 3-4-5-June - Tri-State Event - Red River, NM - Corvairs of New Mexico
============================================================================
2011: TUE-SAT 26-30 July -- Rocky Mountain CORSA - Denver - CORSA Convention
============================================================================
2011: August -- All Car Clubs Picnic will be held at Nambe Falls again.
============================================================================
See the New Mexico Council of Car Clubs Web Site for more "NMCCC" activities:
===================== http://www.nmisso.com/nmccc1.htm =====================
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WE WON AGAIN--YEA!!
Heula Pittman
Congratulations to our Newsletter editor, Jim Pittman! Yes we did it again, our
Enchanted Corvairs won the Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Awards contest
for 2010, Third Place. Our newsletter won FIRST Place in 2005! So that makes us
"TWO TIME WINNERS" by my definition!
The September 2010 issue of the CORSA Communique, page nine gives the story. Our
congratulations go to Heart of America whose newsletter won First Place and to
Bay State Corvairs' Vair Force who came in at Second Place in this year's
competition.
Here's a little bit of the history of our newsletter. Mark Morgan became our
first editor with Issue Number 1 in January, 1975. After Mark left to join the
Navy there were a few skipped issues before Jim took over as newsletter editor
for January/February 1978, Issue # 29. He has continued as editor without a
break through the present installment, Issue Number 421. This number does not
count two Special Anniversary issues: our 15th anniversary special in March 1989
and our 25th anniversary issue in 1999. The 28-page March 2004 Anniversary issue
and the 18-page Taos Tri-State Report of July 2009 should be counted as
super-sized special issues.
I believe that a good newsletter is the lifeline and glue that holds an
organization together. Each month this vital publication provides officer names,
phone numbers and e-mail addresses; a reminder of dues due; minutes of our
meetings; a brief treasury report; a calendar of upcoming events; excellent
member reports of recent club events; a listing of items for sale, trade, or
wanted; useful and informational tech tip articles; snapshots of the club's
history at seven, 14, 21, 28 and 35 years ago; and much more.
We thank all of you who have contributed articles over the years and hope for
your continued support in years to come. You see, this is "our" newsletter and
without your contributions, it would no longer be successful.
There aren't enough adjectives to describe our editor. It could be said that I
am a wee bit prejudiced, you think? But hey, what can I say but, he's the BEST!
He spends many, many hours at the computer all month long typing, researching,
correcting, deleting, adding to and polishing. He makes many phone calls to
verify information with members, to confirm dates, times of events and so on.
His goal is to make everything as accurate as possible.
Jim is committed to publishing a GREAT newsletter each month. He won't settle
for a mediocre one. And guess what folks--that takes a lot of time, energy and
dedication. I appreciate his efforts and I know you do too. Thanks, Mr Editor
for a job well done, and congratulations on winning CORSA's award again, even
though we think you should have won FIRST Place again!
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MORE CHAIRPERSONS NEEDED
Heula Pittman
Some of our positions as chairpersons are already filled. But there are still a
few people needed to head our different committees for the Tri-State. Please
look over the list and if you are interested in either serving on one (or more)
of these committees or if you would be willing to serve as chair in this
capacity, please let Brenda Stickler or me know. Following is a list and a short
description of each category where we need help:
1) Registration: Ollie Scheflow, Jim Pittman and Robert Gold
2) Registration Bags: Heula Pittman
3) Name Tags and Popcorn: Wendell Walker
4) Car Show: Art Gold and Pat Hall
5) Banquet: Brenda Stickler
6) Hospitality Room: We need a person who will be responsible for seeing that
there are enough refreshments for the hospitality room. Many of us donate
cookies, brownies, chips, dips, cold drinks and so on and in fact, some
"goodies" have already been promised.
7) Door Prizes: We have always have a
great selection of door prizes for our banquet on Saturday evening. This person
would contact Clark's Corvair Parts, Inc. to see about the donation of
certificates and/or other prizes. This person would contact both Albuquerque and
Red River merchants for donations. Then this person would set up a display of
all prizes Saturday afternoon prior to banquet time.
8) Media Articles: This person would need to write a short article(s) to be
published in the local newspaper (Red River area) advertising our Tri-State and
briefly outline some of the events of the weekend.
9) Tech Session: We would really like for some of our Corvair guys to plan to do
a tech session at our Tri-State this year. It has been some time since this has
been done and we feel that this can be a terrific learning experience,
especially to our newcomers.
Logo Contest:
The deadline for LOGO submissions is at the general meeting, October 6th.
We hope to get several of your ideas so that a decision can be made soon.
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FOR THE RECORD
The side of the body on which to place a name tag, based on etiquette rules, is
the right side of your shirt or jacket so people see it directly when they shake
your hand.
Contributed by Vickie Hall
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SIXTH ANNUAL KIRTLAND BX CAR SHOW
John Wiker
The 6th Annual Kirtland BX Car Show was held at Kirtland AFB on 4 September 2010
from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. There were 114 registrations, but only about 100 cars
showed up. There were seven categories of cars to enter. I chose the Original
category since I really have not had a "real" retrofit done to my car as of yet.
There were 27 cars in that category. Needless to say, a Roadrunner that looked
like it came off the show room floor beat me out for the second year in a row.
My bad luck continued when I found out that the first 30 cars to register for
the show got a free T-shirt and a dash magnet. I will give you one guess who was
number 32 on the list. Oh well, the weather was great and my Corvair was the
only Air Breather at the show. Lots of lookers, but no one interested in joining
our club, nor did anyone take a business card to get back to us later.
I have some pictures on my camera that I will try to share over the net with
you, if I only knew how. I have the cable to hook my camera to the computer but
have lost the intructions on how to download, save and then attach to send. If
you could help me out, I would appreciate it greatly. I hope this is enough info
to add together for a story in next month's newsletter.
By the way, congrats on placing third in the annual CORSA Newsletter contest. My
Communique arrived yesterday, September 3rd.
John Wiker sends
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ODE TO A FELLOW CNM MEMBER
Robert Gold
For those of us who have reached "middle age" we probably have many experiences
that translate into a bunch of fun stories. However, we also have seen things
that come and go that make us sorta sad. That's how I feel when I think about
one of our members, Geoff Johnson.
When I joined the club in the early 80's I knew little about what made our
wonderful cars tick. All I knew was they they were beautiful and I wanted to own
them ALL. Anyway, as the years went on and I tried to keep my cars running, I
realized I had certain abilities to fix things, such as electrical and interior
work, but heavy duty engine/suspension work wasn't in the mix.
I quickly learned to identify those CNM members who could do certain repairs and
the ones who would be willing to help me. That's what's wonderful about being in
our club.
No member stands out greater in my eyes than Geoff Johnson. I was President of
the club when I became friends with a very young Geoff Johnson. He had great
credentials. He had grown up with Corvairs and was the son of a charter member
of our club, Carl Johnson. I had seen Geoff around as a little kid when his
father took him to meetings with his sister Sally. But things changed while I
was President. Geoff volunteered to help with computer issues for the club and
then he started participating in club-sponsored technical activities.
One thing led to another and Geoff spent more time over at my house working on
cars and feasting on my wife's cooking. His touch was magical. I still marvel at
his knowledge and skill.
As time went by, Geoff became my friend, but even neater, he bonded with my son
Art. Two second-generation club guys hanging together. It was just great!
But alas, things can't last forever. Geoff got more responsible jobs at work and
had less time to play with my cars. Then Art introduced Geoff to Anne and in an
instant the two were inseparable. Seconds later they were married and then the
proud parents of two future Corvair mechanics.
As many of you know, once families start up, many of our previous activites take
a back seat (you like my car pun?). So it was with sadness I saw Geoff focus his
energies where they should be, on his family. I just missed having him around.
Geoff now continues his new journey in life as a husband and father. I wish him
much happiness. The kind of happiness he brought me through Corvairs.
-- Robert Gold
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
STATE FAIR CAR SHOW 2010
Life in Real Time -- Robert Gold
I know that most of the long term CNM members have read my descriptions of past
State Fair Car Shows. In fact I marvel at the fact that I've been involved with
this event for 13 years! Anyway, most of those writeups have been done a few
days after the show. That is after I have had a bit of time to ponder things and
then commence to write what I saw.
This year, that is not the case. As Jim Pittman so aptly described things, this
month is a "long month" for the newsletter. What that means is that submissions
for Jim's award-winning newsletter are being accepted for an extra week. That's
good for most of the members, but not so good for me. This "long" month means
that the State Fair Car Show happens in time for inclusion in the October
newsletter.
So here I sit at the State Fair composing my description for you. I now know
what those professional columnists feel when they are faced with a short
deadline. With that in mind here is my description of today's car show. Once I
get this thing written I can go for my yearly fry bread fix!
For past shows, my approach was to focus on something special to get folks to
wake up early and enter the show. That has been a winning approach most of the
time. In fact, last year's 50th anniversary celebration of the Corvair was so
good, I had no great expectations for this year's get together. I did suggest
that we try to get a good sampling of all the 'Vair models, but I didn't feel
that such an approach would really fire up our members. I shouldn't have
worried. The club folks did themselves proud again this year. When the caravan
from the Gold house pulled into the parking lot at the old Furr's cafeteria...
by the way, the building is now gone! I've always thought it would funny to give
directions and include some landmark that is really not there anymore!
To get back to the subject at hand... So when we arrived at the now missing
cafeteria we were met by a host of Corvairs ready for the drive into the Fair.
The total count was a new record of 17 'Vairs!
Again this year, the weather was just great from the beginning. I'm wondering if
we'll ever be hit by that rain bug that always seems to hang around in
Albuquerque during Fair time. Chalk up another rain-free event for 2010. I
imagine that if the city fathers ever wanted to insure good weather for an event
all they would have to do is to hire our club to hold a car show on that day.
After posing for the group shot, we motored into the fairgrounds and set up in
our assigned spot, right in the middle of the Fair. And to think, we not only
get in free, the State Fair gives us the best parking you can get. I spent
several years in Tennessee, and there they would say that we, "fell into a tub
of butter".
As they say in all those infomercials, "But wait! There's more!" After getting
in free and then parking a VIP spot, Craig Vencill, our Fair contact guy, was
there with all those free ribbons. It's wonderful when a plan comes together.
Speaking of ribbons, now it's time for me to thank the CNM members who helped
with the car judging. Without you guys I'd probably be still judging cars into
Monday,
As long as I'm thanking people I want to recognize some of my friends who turned
out and drove cars for me so I could finally get most of the Gold family cars
into the Fair. It is a real drag to have nice cars and not be able to share them
with other people. One of my gripes about living in Albuquerque is that there
are a lot of great cars hiding in garages around town. We need to take those
beauties out and let everyone see them.
So, many thanks to: Amy and Kiera McNary, Annette Saiz, Javier Ortiz, Amanda
Ortiz, Hilda Alvarez, and Chuck Vertrees.
Now is the time I would like to recognize everyone who got up so early to enter
their cars in the show. It's support like this that keeps me going from one Fair
to to the next.
Here is a listing of who came and what they drove:
1. The Golds 1962 Rampside
2. The Golds 1962 Greenbrier
3. The Golds 1965 Corsa Convertible
4. The Golds 1961 Lakewood
5. Javier Gold 1964 500
6. The Golds 1966 Corsa
7. Larry Hickerson 1963 Rampside
8. The Golds 1961 Rampside
9. Larry Yoffee 1965 Corsa
10. Pat & Vickie Hall 1964 Spyder
11. The Golds 1965 Corsa Convertible
12. Tarmo Sutt 1965 Corsa
13. John & Anne Wiker 1966 Monza
14. Mike & Brenda Stickler 1962 Greenbrier
15. Anne & Geoff Johnson 1965 Monza 4-door
16. Art Gold 1964 Monza
17. Bob McBreen 1964 Monza
Next I need to recognize the best of the best cars at our show. What follows are
those purple ribbon winners. Congratulations to all of you who drove the best on
Sunday.
1. Best car - late (1965-1969) Tarmo Sutt 1965 Corsa
2. Best car - early (1960-1964) The Golds 1961 Lakewood
3. Best Forward Control Larry Hickerson 1963 Rampside
4. Best Gold Family Car Javier Gold 1964 500
Well, I did it! I managed to get this article written in time for October's
newsletter. Oh yes, I forgot one last thing. I want to thank all you members one
more time for your support at this year's show. I just hope next year it won't
be one of those "long" months. See ya next year. -- Robert Gold
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INSTALLING VELVETOUCH(TM) BRAKES
by Richard Finch, SAE
In a previous article, I wrote about installing grease fittings in 1965-1969
rear axle housings to avoid having to press out, pack with grease, and press the
axle back together again along with the chore of shimming the bearing clearance
each time, thus saving lots of time and, not least, saving lots of money by not
buying new wheel bearings every few months.
I also know that my method has kept me from being stranded on the road many
times by bad rear wheel bearings in the past 41 years of Corvair ownership and
almost daily driving. At the same time, I have saved myself from having to
perform brake shoe replacements every few years, as I have not done a brake job
on my 1965 Corvair 4-door in the same 41 year period! HOWEVER, I did not have
totally trouble free brake performance during the same 41 year period. I
unknowingly used regular brake fluid when I did the brake job back in October
1969. Today, I would use silicone brake fluid which does not attract moisture in
brake cylinders and lines.
I need to clarify the fact that since I retired over 10 years ago, I drive my
1965 Corvair to the local airport 5 days a week. The trip is 20 miles one way
and 40 miles round trip, but I seldom drive to the airport on Sunday. However, I
do drive on town errands and the occasional trip out to the city dump, pulling a
trailer behind my 1965 Corvair 4 door. Thus, I can say that I do really use my
Corvair on a regular basis. I must be rather easy on my brakes to be able to get
such good brake mileage out of my Corvair.
# The instructions that came with my Velvetouch brakes said not to use the
self-adjuster when installing them, but as you can see in the attached picture,
the left rear wheel still has the self adjuster installed as does the right side
rear brake. I never did experience any trouble with the front or the rear brakes
as a result of my leaving the self adjusters installed.
# Rumors held that using the sintered iron and brass Velvetouch brakes would
wear out the brake drums much faster, but as you can also see in the attached
picture, my rear drums have almost no noticeable wear showing. On regular brake
jobs, it is usually necessary to manually adjust the brake shoes to be able to
remove the drums, but not on my car.
# Rumors held that Velvetouch brakes were not very effective when they were
cold, but that they would hold better as they warmed up. I never found this to
be true, but I did enjoy "feeling out" the Velvetouch brakes by driving to 100
mph and then stopping as fast as I could, which was really quick! (That was back
in my younger years when I was 50 years old.)
# One really big benefit of Velvetouch brakes is that they are not affected by
water when I drive through large, deep puddles of water when it rains. The brand
is every bit as effective when they are wet as when they are dry.
Unfortunately, Velvetouch brakes are no longer available for some reason, likely
because they have some asbestos in them along with the sintered brass and
sintered iron. Too bad, because mine are really good. As you can see in the
attached picture, my brake shoes are less than 50% worn out at over 405,510
miles! My drums are as good or better than new at the same mileage and at 41
years of use.
The negative thing I mentioned was using regular brake fluid when I did the
installation over 41 years ago. That fact caused one front wheel cylinder to
leak in 1986, and the left rear wheel cylinder to leak in the year 2010. This
fall, I will have new wheel cylinders installed on all 4 wheels and I will put
in silicone brake fluid and fully flush all the lines. That should stop all
future brake problems at least as long as I am living!
One footnote: my father-in-law liked my Corvair brakes so well that he talked me
into doing a Velvetouch brake job on his 1964 Pontiac Bonneville in 1970 with
drum brakes, and that car stopped better than his new 1970 Bonneville did, and
it came with disc brakes!
Today, the best brakes I can find, are from Clark's Corvair Parts. They sell a
Kevlar bonded or riveted lining that is advertised to be better than stock, but
I have not tried them yet. (See page 141 of the 2007-2012 Clark's Catalog.)
Next month, I will have an article about my wooden, home-made, engine removal
and installation cart that I have been using for over 48 years with no problems.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"YEARS AGO"
Jim Pittman
7. October 2003 - Vol 29 - Nr 10 - # 337
On the cover, CNM members stood in front of Albuquerque's "Owl Cafe" at a club
breakfast. Jim took meeting notes. Robert Gold reported on attending a Car
Council meeting with Mark Martinek. Sylvan Zuercher introduced two new members:
Sally Johnson and Ray Trujillo. We welcomed Los Alamos member Dick Foster. A
visitor was Bobby Bentz. Wendell Walker reported a total of $5,462. CNM was well
represented at the Car Council picnic. Board business included a suggestion that
we set up a committee for the Boydston Award. Chuck Vertrees provided an LBJ
joke. Ask him about it.
Robert penned his swan song as CNM president, saying he had enjoyed his tour of
duty. Larry Blair planned to tell us about combat engineering in Vietnam next
month. Dennis Pleau reported that the Pikes Peak club now had a web page.
Finally, we reprinted Steve Goodman's "Corvair Aging Tips" borrowed from the
DENVAIR NEWS. Steve gave many tips of little but important things to do to keep
our Corvairs young and healthy.
14. October 1996 - Vol 22 Nr 10 # 253
The cover showed a Mark Morgan fantasy: a Forward Control, articulated steam
locomotive. President Mark Domzalski ran our meeting. Treasurer Will Davis said
we had $1,541 without counting convention funds. Bill Reider (Car Council) said
that the state fair people called up the VMCCA president to apologize for the
misunderstanding at the state fair car show and to assure him that next year
VMCCA cars will be welcome. Several car shows around town were mentioned. Mark
brought a busted input shaft for us to marvel at. Ollie Scheflow had an
appointment for safety training for the Old Route 66 cleanup. Your editor
reported on participating in the first cleanup event, September 14. The negative
aspects of dealing with all that nasty and thoughtless littering were offset by
the beautiful vegetation and rocky mountain scenery.
A major article this month was "Keystone Blues" by Mark Morgan who continued his
"Driving in..." series with his experiences in Pennsylvania. I can't adequately
summarize Mark's article here. This series of articles addressed a lot more
about a location than just driving. They deserve to be re-read from time to
time, especially if you think New Mexico drivers are really bad. Not so, said
Mark, drivers elsewhere are often worse!
21. October 1989 - Vol 15 Nr 10 # 169
The cover drawing showed how to remove that pesky late model headlight switch
shaft: you need small, flexible fingers. The State Fair was to have a collection
of 1964 and older cars, but our econo-run was set for the same date. We formed a
committee to decide whether to send our newsletter to other clubs. We planned an
Aspencade to the Santa Fe area this year with a picnic at Hyde Park. President
Bill Hector listed the ten most common questions he got when driving around in
his Corvair. Tom Martin's LA VENTANA column focused on your editor, following
his career from college to Air Force to graduate school to computer expert of
sorts. Tech tips swiped from other clubs (yes, we used to publish tech tips
years ago) included how to guard against getting a defective fuel pump, how fuel
pumps work, how to clean a cloudy convertible window, door panel clips from
Horizons or Colts, and using diesel fuel as a parts cleaner.
28. October - 1982 - Vol 8 - Nr 10 - # 85
The cover showed Norm Brand, Robin DeVore, Francis Boydston and LeRoy Rogers and
a nice early model. We had $394 in the bank and some Clarks' Catalogs to
distribute. CNM formally applied for the 1987 CORSA convention. We did not get
it. Jack and Sharon Bryan hosted a picnic at Doc Long's campsite in the Sandias
that we all enjoyed. We learned that a new Corvair club was starting up in
Roswell. Tech tips included a chassis tuning chart (thanks, Tucson) and an
article on keeping your turbo carb working right (thanks, San Diego) not to
mention (thanks, Houston) a paragraph on the sorrow you'd feel if you bought
shock absorbers that were too long for your car and they beat the mounting
brackets to death.
35. October 1975 - Vol 1 - Nr 9 - # 9
The cover highlighted the Denver CORSA convention with a photo of the "Nader
Hater" Corvair. Steve Gongora provided an excellent article on the convention,
as well as a report on his first try at driving his Corvair in an autocross. Not
one but two V-8 Corvairs showed up at our meeting. We were ordering front
license plates with the club logo. Nick from Albuquerque Glass spoke to us on
getting windshields and window glass for Corvairs and offered member discounts.
Jim Pittman reported on a new book by Richard Finch, HOW TO KEEP YOUR CORVAIR
ALIVE, and recommended it to accompany your copy of Bill Fisher's HOW TO HOT-ROD
CORVAIR ENGINES. James Breeden gave us a tech tip on the difference between
early and late throwout bearing collars. He described the expensive noises that
could result if the wrong one was installed! Note that "early" includes the 1965
and "late" is the Saginaw-equipped 1966-1969 models.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ERRATA
CURTIS SHIMP ( clshimp@q.com ) I had a typo in the article that I sent you.
The rear tires that I use on my Corvair for my Interstate cruising are
215/65 x 15". I can't remember what I typed for the the article - I think
265/65 x 15". I am not sure there even is such a size and I think the
knowledgeable reader would have recognized the error.
Curt
=END=