The May 2011 newsletter - Text Version Updated 21-May-2013 ==== Copyright (c) 2013 Corvairs of New Mexico ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MAY 2011 / VOLUME 37 / NUMBER 5 / ISSUE #428 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, First Place, 2005 Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, Third Place, 2010 EDITOR: Jim Pittman NEXT MEETING: May 4th, 2011 at 6:00 PM Highland Senior Center at 131 Monroe NE THIS MONTH: Dues Due...................................Membership Committee "AIRTIME".........................................David Huntoon April Meeting Minutes..................................Art Gold April Board Meeting Minutes............................Art Gold Old Route 66 Clean Up............................Ollie Scheflow Red River Roster Committee Heads.................Brenda Sticker Birthdays and Anniversaries..................Sunshine Committee Cruise-in, Car Show Season Has Arrived.............Larry Yoffee Calendar of Coming Events....................Board of Directors Black Paint Aids Cooling? Not Good Idea..Bob Helt - Vegas Vairs Not a Joking Matter: Ernie Kovacs' Lakewood.........Robert Gold Seven, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago..................Club Historian COVER: (top) Robert Gold's Georgeous Rampside Graces Our Street COVER: Larry Yoffee's Turbo 180 Corsa at a recent Club Breakfast ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MEETING: First Wednesday of each month at 6:00 PM LOCATION: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE, Albuquerque, NM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ President: David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 @ aol.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: John Wiker 505-899-3076 wikerj63 @ yahoo.com Merchandise: Vickie Hall 505-865-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com Membership: Larry Yoffee 505-321-5909 corsa180 @ gmail.com Sunshine: Heula Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu Newsletter: Jim Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu Past Pres: Pat Hall 505-620-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com Past Pres: Mike Stickler 505-856-6993 sticorsa @ hotmail.com Correspondent: Charles Vertrees 505-299-0744 vertrees @ swcp.com 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 CORSA's home page: http://www.corvair.org Steve Gongora's page: http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter871 Larry Yoffee's home page: http://www.corsaturbo180usa.weebly.com CNM's newsletters: http://www.unm.edu/~jimp ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DUES DUE DATES FOR MAY 2011 == DUE MAR = INACTIVE 25-APR-2011: 2011.03 Rita & Steve Gongora == DUE APR = INACTIVE 25-MAY-2011: 2011.04 Deborah & John Dinsdale 2011.04 Cary Hubbard 2011.04 Lee & Bill Reider == DUE MAY = INACTIVE 25-JUN-2011: 2011.05 Elizabeth & Mark Domzalski 2011.05 Connie & Robert McBreen 2011.05 Leslie & Kevin Sullivan == EXPIRED = INACTIVE AS OF 25-FEB-2011: 2011.01 Darlene & William Darcy 2011.01 Wibke Garrecht 2011.02 Richard Finch 2011.02 Kelly & Art Gold 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! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PHOTO CAPTION: Look at the right side! This is a "Loadside" not a "Rampside" and is not something you see just every day. Photos made at our April board meeting. Owner: Alan Gold ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "AIRTIME" David Huntoon Hello Corvair comrades. Well, things are getting busy. I am thinking mostly of our Tri-State event in Red River starting Friday June 3. At the next club meeting we will pass around sign-up sheets asking you to volunteer some time. The registration desk and hospitality room can always use some help. Even if it is only a few hours it will be appreciated. Car show and dinner too. We also will try to organize a caravan to Red River for both Thursday and Friday. The usual meeting place for caravans has been just north of the Bernalillo/Placitas exit on I-25 north. Starting time to be decided. There may also be some who will want to caravan back on Sunday. We'll see about that at the Tri-State. Also, we should collect and distribute cell phone numbers for that added confidence factor. (Who remembers years ago when we communicated by CB radio, and we all had to learn to imitate the Truckers' CB Lingo? "Ten-four from the Back Door!") This month, May, is the museum car show. Always a big event and a good showing of Corvairs would be nice. The car show people also need some volunteers to count ballots for the awards. Not a bad job at all. Even if you can not bring your Corvair, stop by anyway. Tremendous amount of nice vehicles, enough for any car nut. As a follow up to last month's column. Yes, everything has resumed normal status. All vehicles operational, thank you very much. Well, actually the VW now has the engine out and sitting on the floor. That may qualify as making my statement that all is normal a bit of a stretch, but progress is progress. Slow though it may be. Everybody take care and think about that volunteering thing. later, David ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ APRIL MEETING NOTES 04-06-2011 Art Gold Meeting came to order at 6:04pm, with 21 in attendance (and Wendell Walker too!) Officer Reports President - Dave Huntoon introduced two new members, Angela "Angie" Fraleigh and Wesley "Wes" Heiss, who drove up from Roswell. Vice President - Ray Trujillo had no report. Treasurer - Robert Gold thanked Ruth for all of her efforts at the anniversary dinner. He reported that the club cleared $30 at the dinner. He also stated that the funds in the checking account are $4,417.82. Committee Reports Membership - Larry Yoffee stated that there is really nothing new, but is interested in organizing Corvair cruises, or going to such events with other car clubs. It would get the club some visibility. Larry also stated that there is video of the anniversary dinner on his website. He would like to set up a table at car shows and other locations with the club banner, application forms, business cards and back issues of the newsletter, in an effort to increase visibility and recruit new members. NM Car Council - John Wiker stated that the council has designated CNM to be vote counters. The by-laws did pass: 25 clubs voted and the result was 24 for and 1 against. The council discussed the Museum Car Show at the Albuquerque Museum in May. There is now a display-only category for the show. The Spring Thaw at Worldwide Automotive is Saturday (4-16-11) starting at 8am and lasting till 4pm. It's a good opportunity to get your "old car" serviced. Editor - Jim Pittman stated that he has CNM Newsletter CDs for sale for $15 at the meeting, $20 if mailed. The deadline for the newsletter is Earth Day, Friday 4-22-11. He said it was great to see Wendell in attendance. Sunshine - Heula Pittman stated Gayle Finch passed away on March 9th. She also stated that the Martineks are going to try to go to the Tri-State. The registration bags stuffing will be occurring soon (4-23-11), and about 80 bags will be produced. She stated that door prizes are accumulating, and that "everything is clicking really good." Merchandise - Vickie Hall stated that she has sold two license plates and a Care and Feeding Book for a total of $15.00. Tonight's 50/50 Winner: Larry Yoffee ($19.00) which was donated to the Sunshine Committee. Heula called to our attention that the nominations for the Boydston Award are due this meeting. Ray had only two nominations so far, although some members had forgotten to bring their nominations. A motion was made to extend the deadline for the submissions for the award. They may be mailed to David in time for the next board meeting on April 20. Ray will then collect all nominations forms and organize a meeting of the committee to select this year's award. (The committee is made up of the last three winners from our club: Pat Hall 2009, LeRoy Rogers 2006, Wendell Walker 2005.) Jim wanted to discuss the Boydston Award. He said that it was primarily a Tri-State function and it was apparent we had all forgotten about it. He suggested we discuss it at the board meeting and consider dropping the Award due to lack of interest. He gave some history of the Boydston Award and how it has been handled and how it originated. At the Taos Tri-State in 2009 it was decided that each of the three clubs (CNM, PPCC and RMC) would be responsible for the Boydston Award when they hosted a Tri-State. This year it is our turn. Vickie suggested that we all introduce ourselves to the new members. These introductions are always interesting because we hear about cars or projects that our members have or had. Activities April (4-9-11) - Old Route 66 clean up at 9am - meet at the I-40 bridge on NM 333. (4-16-11) - CNM Breakfast at Furr's 9am - 2004 Wyoming, north of Indian School. May (5-15-11) - Albuquerque Museum Car Show -- be there BEFORE 7:00 am! June (6-3-11) - Red River Tri-State. Friday - Saturday - Sunday. (6-11-11) Old Route 66 Clean-up. 8:00 AM. Meeting adjourned at 6:55pm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ APRIL BOARD MEETING NOTES 04-20-2011 Art Gold Meeting came to order at 5:04 PM. OFFICER REPORTS President - Dave Huntoon began with reports. Vice President - Ray Trujillo stated that there are six nominations for the Boydston Award, and he is passing them on to Pat Hall, chair of the selection committee, to get the plaque ready, and the winner will be decided by the Tri-State. Secretary - Art Gold stated that every Tuesday there is a car show event at the Owl Cafe and maybe CNM could get exposure there. Treasurer - Robert Gold stated that the account has $4,479.38. (We learned that the white-with-red-stripe Corvair pickup belongs to Alan Gold and it is a Loadside, the most-rare Corvair model of all.) COMMITTEE REPORTS Membership - Larry Yoffee stated that he is trying to get more exposure for the club with fliers (last Sunday, and 10 were given out), and has placed an ad on Craig's List for the club. NM Car Council - John Wiker did not attend the meeting. The next NMCCC meeting is a week from tonight. Editor - Jim Pittman discussed the topic of 100% CORSA membership for CNM members. We are close: two of our members are grandfathered, two are past due, and one who is past due will soon leave the club. The rest are presently paid-up CORSA members. Jim gave Larry a list of the members. We continued to discuss membership. Jim said over the years we have had many people who joined, attended a couple of meetings and then did not come back. We don't know why. He suggested calling these members to remind them about the meetings. Larry stated that he would be willing to perform phone calls and perhaps send out postcard reminders. There was also a discussion about recently "inactive" members and what efforts we should make to get them back. Brenda Stickler suggested maybe members near to each other could ride together. Ollie mentioned that there have been no tech talks lately. Robert reminded us that the room at the Senior Center is reserved at 5:30, and tech-talks could be before the membership meeting. Discussions continued with possible power-point presentations about carburetors. Discussions continued with brainstorming ideas at the membership meeting. Sunshine - Heula Pittman stated that Brenda Wilvert had surgery recently. She also stated that the registration bags are being filled this Saturday. Merchandise - Vickie Hall had nothing to report. CONTINUING BUSINESS Ollie Scheflow stated that the Old Route 66 clean-up in June conflicts with the Tri-State dates. Therefore the clean-up will be moved from the first weekend to the second weekend. That will be Saturday June 11th. Starting time will be at 8:00 AM. Tri-State Preparations - Brenda handed out a draft agenda. The Corvair car show was decided by the car show committee to be from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, with the ballots being due at 12:00 noon. She continued to discuss name tags, and other jobs, i.e., registration, popcorn, caravan cards, hospitality. She showed us a box of 100 name tage, donated by Wendell Walker. Board members looked at the proposed registration forms, and there was a suggestion to make the header in a larger font. More about the banquet: who will be manning the door? Rita Gongora had volunteered and Javier Gold volunteered to help. Russ McDuffie will be the emcee. Brenda will have the final agenda in every bag, and it will be on the bulletin board. There are four rolls of tickets in different colors. Meeting adjourned at 6:24 PM. Submitted by Art (The Magnificent) Gold_GoBack ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PLD ROUTE 66 CLEAN UO Ollie Scheflow The club held its first clean up of 2011 on Saturday April 9th. The weather forecast was for a dry day with winds gusting to 55 miles per hour. Unfortunately, the forecast was right on. I thought the wind would blow the bags open. Instead it collapsed and twisted them which made it extremely difficult to get trash inside! John Wiker said he tried putting something heavy in the bottom, thinking that would hold the bottom of the bag down, but it did not help! More than once we had bags upended and trash dumped out by the wind. All in all it wasn't a good day to pick up trash. Those participating this time were: Robert & Javier Gold, Dave Huntoon, Lube Lubert, Ollie Scheflow and John Wiker. Thanks to all of you who helped and I hope to see you for our next (let's hope: not so windy) clean-up party in June. The date will be Saturday June 11th. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RED RIVER ROSTER Brenda Sticker Committee Heads: Media Contact.................................Tarmo Sutt Registration....Ollie Scheflow, Jim Pittman, Robert Gold Registration Bags..........................Heula Pittman Name Tags & Popcorn.......................Wendell Walker Hospitality......................Brenda & Hurley Wilvert Car Show.............Pat Hall, Larry Yoffee, Gold Family Banquet..................................Brenda Stickler Door Prizes & Distribution........Rita Gongora, Kay Sutt Banquet MC.................................Russ McDuffie We have one month to finish all the loose ends to make this a successful Red River Tri-State. We do not expect the Committee Heads listed above to do all of the work. So, we are counting on the members who are not listed above, but attending the Tri-State, to pitch in and help us. There are two-hour shifts that need to be filled in for registration -- sign up sheets will be at the next Club meeting, or you may call the people listed as Committee Heads. There are hospitality needs: homemade treats, dips and chips, fruit etc to be shared with all participants. We also need persons to come in and help every few hours to put out more food as needed, and tidy up here and there. Contact Rita if you have not already handed in your door prize to her. The Car Show needs hands to help set up and get the cars lined up. If you have been Master of Ceremonies or have ever helped organize a Tri-State banquet, then you can help Russ with the evening agenda so no important item will be overlooked. We at Corvairs of New Mexico have always prided ourselves on the quality of Tri-State Events, and our dedicated members are the key to keeping this tradition alive. I want to thank all who have been Committee heads and all the volunteers who will assist this amazing group. We hope you and your family will enjoy your time at Red River. It has been quite a while since we have enjoyed visiting this town. Formal registration starts at HIGH NOON on Friday, JUNE 3RD... we will look forward to seeing you there. (If you arrive before high noon on Friday, well, you will probably be able to find the registration crew as they train each other by registering the early birds.) Your "Task Master Brenda" says "Hats off to each one of you... job well done!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ten CNMers celebrate birthdays this month: Mary Alice Scheflow May 2 Marilyn Foster May 11 Tommie J Anderson May 15 Samantha Wilvert May 19 Stephanie Wilvert May 19 Jonathan Reider May 20 Pat Hall May 22 Brenda Wilvert May 23 Mary Lou Martinek May 26 Anne Mae Gold May 28 We Say to Six Couples: "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!" Mary Lou & Mark Martinek May 1 Mary Alice & Ollie Scheflow May 6 Leslie & Kevin Sullivan May 13 Melba J & Tommie J Anderson May 19 Lee & Bill Reider May 27 Klaudia & Steve Sanchez May 29 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CRUISE-IN AND CAR SHOW SEASON HAS ARRIVED Larry Yoffee Sunday, April 17th, I was joined by Russ McDuffie, Leroy Rogers and our CNM club president David Huntoon for Spring 2011 "Cruise-N-Schmooze" #5 hosted by the Old Car Club of Albuquerque at the Sonic Drive-In on San Mateo. Robert Gold and Geoff Johnson dropped by to say hi and were both driving Rampsides. They didn't show but I'm sure got noticed for what they were driving. Thanks to all who attended. We had a lot of fun. We displayed the CNM banner, answered questions and gave out about 10 or so flyers to interested spectators. Overall, we got a lot of interesting questions and positive comments as always it seems. So, here we go! Second Saturdays are the Cars and Coffee at Grace Church on San Antonio. And third Saturdays are Cruise-In's at the Sonic on San Mateo. Now, originally I had planned to do informal impromtu Corvair only cruise-ins at various places around town. I have since changed my mind and believe that what is already planned as mentioned above is enough public exposure. In addition, these cruise-ins attract a lot more people than if we were to do our own and they're free to show. All we have to do is show up and try to park together. As your new membership committee representative, it is my intention to show up at these gatherings and continue to promote Corvairs of New Mexico by displaying the banner, having newsletters and Communiques available, hand out informational flyers and have membership forms available should someone make a request. I will send out an email to CNM members regarding these events and request that you attend if you can. It's always nice to have a variety of models and years. If you would like to view a slide show or watch a short video of us at this Cruise-N-Schmooze, please go to my website: www.CorsaTurbo180USA.com then find the menu and click on Corvairs of New Mexico. Larry Yoffee -- Membership Committee ============================================================================ 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 ============================================================================ | May 2011 | June 2011 | July 2011 | | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 | | 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 | 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | | 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 | 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 | 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 | | 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 | 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 | 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 | | 29 30 31 | 26 27 28 29 30 | 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 | | | | 31 | ============================================================================ Wed 4 May 6:00 to 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Wed 4 May After our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner, 1405 Central NE Sat 14 May 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. Sun 15 May 10:00 AM Albuquerque Museum / New Mexico Car Council Car Show Wed 18 May 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Fri 20 May 9:00 PM June Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman ============================================================================ Wed 1 Jun 6:00 to 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Wed 1 Jun After our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner, 1405 Central NE Thu 2 Jun .... TRI-STATE EVENT - Red River, NM - Corvairs of New Mexico x:xx AM Caravan to Red River - meet at Bernalillo/I-25 exit .... Some will arrive early and start setting up .... As available, the Tri-State registration volunteers will practice registering those who show up early. Fri 3 Jun .... TRI-STATE EVENT - Red River, NM - Corvairs of New Mexico x:xx AM Caravan to Red River - meet at Bernalillo/I-25 exit 7:00 AM Tri-State early risers continue setting up 12:00 NOON 9:00 PM Tri-State Registration / Hospitality Room 9:00 PM Red River Neon Car Parade Sat 4 Jun .... TRI-STATE EVENT - Red River, NM - Corvairs of New Mexico 6:30 AM to 8:30 AM Tri-State Registration continues 9:00 AM Tri-State Corvair Show - Line up at Lifts West 10:00 AM Red River Car Show starts 12:00 NOON Ballots for Tri-State Corvair Show deadline 1:00 PM Tri-State Corvair Show ends - free time 5:30 PM Red River Raffle Cash Drawing 6:00 PM Tri-State Corvairs Banquet at Lifts West BOYDSTON AWARD will be presented at Banquet 9:00 PM Red River Neon Car Parade Sun 5 Jun .... TRI-STATE EVENT - Red River, NM - Corvairs of New Mexico .... Tri-State Corvair participants - breakfasts and farewells 10:00 AM Red River Car Show Awards Presented 11:00 AM Lifts West Hotel Check-out Time Sat 11 June 8:00 AM Old Route 66 Clean-up - Ollie Scheflow Sat 11 Jun 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 Jun 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Fri 24 Jun 9:00 PM July Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman ============================================================================ Wed 6 Jul 6:00 to 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE Wed 6 Jul After our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner, 1405 Central NE Sat 9 Jul 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 Jul 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE Fri 22 Jul 9:00 PM August Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman TUE-SAT 26-30 July - Rocky Mountain CORSA - Denver - CORSA Convention Get more information from Rocky Mountain's web site: http://rockymountaincorsa.com/ Click on their Denver Eleven page or download their 2-page flyer: http://rockymountaincorsa.com/CWAPromo.pdf ============================================================================ Sun 14 August ........ NMCCC All Clubs Picnic: Nambe Falls again this year. ============================================================================ Fri-Sat-Sun 23-24-25 September -- NMCCC Swap Meet, Los Lunas, NM. ============================================================================ More activities: New Mexico Council of Car Clubs: http://www.nmcarcouncil.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tarmo Sutt suggested a tour to Glorietta (east of Santa Fe) to see a collection of old guns, some as recent as The Great War of 1914-18. Is there any interest? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This Month's Puzzle: pbein vebja refqb agarr qabna gvser rmrqh rgbnv epbby vatun whfgz nxrfh erlbh epbei nveqb ageha ybjba bvyun Who Can Solve the Puzzle? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PAINTING ENGINE PARTS WITH BLACK PAINT TO AID COOLING by Bob Helt - Reprinted from Vegas Vairs Vision - May 2011 I just read another discussion on the internet where nearly everyone seemed to be in agreement that painting engine parts with black paint would be a great idea. In fact one person even wanted to use wrinkle paint on his valve covers to add surface area. Wrinkle paint, in case you are not familiar, is the heavy-thickness paint that wrinkles on the surface when it dries, such as that on the 1965-66 Corsa dashes. There might be several reasons why one would want to paint engine parts. The first might be to retard, or prevent, rust from forming. This could be an excellent thing if the part involved is not of concern for being adequately cooled. In addition, painting adds to appearance and might be desirable for show purposes. But painting for reasons of improving cooling is often a bad mistake, and there is considerable misinformation about this subject. Let's talk about heat and heat transfer for a moment. There are three common ways that heat is transferred (as in cooling an engine). The first is via conduction whereby the heat travels thru a medium. This is how heat in the cylinder head might be transferred to the adjoining crankcase or to a mounted fuel pump (a possible cause of vapor lock). Unfortunately, while the heat in the engine is transferred to all adjoining parts, it it not reduced or dissipated, but mostly equalized in the engine parts. The second method of heat transfer is via convection. In this case the transfer occurs from one medium to another as occurs when air is moved past a heated object. The best example of this is the use of a radiator in a liquid-cooled car. Air of a lower temperature passing over a heated body picks up the heat from that body and the air temperature is raised. In reality, nearly all cooling of the Corvair engine is via convection. No other method is possible. The last method is via radiation. The sun is our best example here. It radiates heat and light. Radiation occurs when a body is heated to a very high temperature. (typically greater than 2000 degrees F.) It will then transfer heat from the hot body to a lower temperature one via radiation. This can occur without an intermediate medium such as air between the two bodies. That is why a black car will be hotter than a white one when being heated by the sun's rays. Heat transfer theory states the darker of the two bodies are the more effective the heat transfer. Thus the designation of "black bodies" being the most effective for this type of transfer. But for this to work, remember the radiating body must be at an extremely high temperature, greater than about 2000 degrees. So this leaves out the Corvair engine as a source of radiation. From the above discussion, you can see the confusion that exists. The Corvair engine is actually cooled by convection and having any paint on the cooled surface acts as an insulator, retarding the heat transfer, no matter what color the paint is. Plain and bare surfaces are best for maximizing the heat transfer via convection. No paint will improve this. Black paint only works for heat generated by radiation. Note that there are some space-age coatings that will aid in convection heat transfer but these are not what are being discussed here. VHT-type paint is designed to tolerate high temperatures but otherwise acts as an insulator to retard any heat transfer. So the lesson here is that paint of any color is a heat transfer retardant and will hurt cooling in a Corvair engine. And the thicker the paint coating, the worse the heat insulation. [ Your editor says: heat transfer in a Corvair engine is complex and Bob makes some statements that I disagree with. Radiation, for example. Any two objects at different temperatures that are close to each other will always experience some transfer of energy from the warmer to the colder object via radiation. How fast and how much energy is transfered depends on several factors, including the absolute temperatures of the two objects, the nature of the surfaces, and the presence of any reflective or insulating material between the two. Some surfaces radiate better than others. In general, a good radiator is a good absorber, while a good reflector is a poor radiator. Human skin, for example, is a very efficient absorber, a very efficient radiator, and a poor reflector, while shiny aluminum foil is a very efficient reflector but a very poor radiator and a very poor absorber of radiated energy. Other things equal, the greater the temperature difference, the more energy is transferred. At "room temperature" the heat transfer is via infrared radiation. As the temperature of an object increases, the peak wavelength shortens, eventually reaching visible light wavelengths. As an object heats up to become red-hot, then yellow-hot, then white-hot, most of the energy transferred is still in the infrared range! The "color" of an object is very different in the infrared range as compared to the visible range. Bob's point is that adding black paint to a cast iron or cast aluminum surface minimally improves its ability to radiate heat, and the layer of paint certainly acts as an insulator. Anyway, there's no significantly colder surfaces for most parts of the engine to radiate to. The presence of the paint will definitely reduce the convection transfer of heat to the stream of cooling air. So paint, black or not, is generally a bad idea for cooling. Any effort and cost you may want to expend on painting would be better spent on de-flashing all finned parts and making sure they are clean. Valve covers and oil pans can radiate some heat to colder objects, so if you must paint them, use the thinnest layer of black paint you can apply. Finned aluminum valve covers and oil pans should be efficient cooling components, but negatives include higher cost, increased weight and reduced ground clearance. Remember that the flow of oil removes much heat from the inside of the engine, so be sure oil passages are open, change the oil and filter regularly, and remove debris from the oil cooler fins. Thermostats should be working properly. They should be closed when the engine is cold so that cooling air flow will be reduced for faster warm-up time, but should be fully open when the engine is up to operating temperature. ] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOT A JOKING MATTER --- ERNIE KOVACS, ALAN GOLD AND THEIR CORVAIRS Robert Gold I really enjoy stories about Corvairs and their owners. The passion we have for our cars easily translates into great narratives. That's one of the reasons I enjoy reading the CORSA Communique. The technical articles are sort of lost on me, but I can relate to all those stories documenting the restoring of special cars and the tales told of various Corvair roadtrips. That being said, there are stories that can both fascinate the reader and also horrify at the same time. One of those tales has to do with the demise of one of the most popular comedians of his time, Ernie Kovacs. For any of you who are under 50, the name Ernie Kovacs is probably a new one to you. He came along in the 1950s when TV was a relatively new thing. His willingness to use the new medium in inventive and innovative ways made him both popular and respected. One of the bits I remember from his TV show had to do with a person disappearing into a bathtub full of water occupied by an attractive woman. This was well before the rise of "special effects" in the media so to the public at the time Kovac's work was fresh and fascinating to watch. Not only was Ernie brilliant and funny, he also had a certain magnetic quality. This was proven when he married an actress named Edie Adams who gained fame through White Owl cigar ads with their punch line "Hey big spender spend a little dime with me". She was glamorous and beautiful. So what we have is a brilliant comedian with a beautiful wife. What makes it better was that Ernie also liked Corvairs. With all his wealth and fame he chose to drive a Corvair Lakewood. With that as background I'd like to now turn to a conversation I had with my brother, Alan. We love to tell car stories to each other and on this occasion Alan related to me his tale of driving a Lakewood in the rain. He told me that he was driving in the rain at a relatively low speed when the car skidded and slid into a telephone pole. It hit on the drivers doorpost. This probably saved Alan from being injured. After he cleared his head Alan was actually able to drive away before the authorities arrived. Alan's story got me thinking about Ernie Kovacs. I remembered something about Ernie and an accident in a Lakewood. I immediately consulted the internet and got a story that was eerily similar to Alan's. As it turns out Ernie Kovacs died in an accident involving his 1962 Lakewood on January 12, 1962. He was driving home from a meeting when his car skidded into a light pole. It was estimated he was driving over 50 mph when he skidded. The pole hit the car in the same spot that Alan's car was hit. The difference in the accidents was the speed of impact. If Ernie had been driving a bit slower, like Alan, he might have survived. Another part of Ernie's story centers on an unlit cigar found at the scene. A legend has grown up that Ernie, who was known for smoking big cigars, was reaching for the cigar when he lost control. We'll never know.... I hope this story educates our younger club members (under 50!) about a personality from the early years of TV. For myself, this story makes me thankful that my brother wasn't driving his Lakewood any faster. -- Robert Gold ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ YEARS AGO -- Jim Pittman 07 - MAY 2004 Vol 30 Nr. 5 # 344 Jim's 1966 Corsa of Alaska & Finch fame had moved to Domzalski's. Past member Terry Price visited at our Galles meeting place. Treasurer Wendell reported $2,746.61. Jerry Goffe said the money we spent on the Anniversary party was well spent. Upcoming: President's cookout at the Domzalskis' on the 4th and our Breakfast at Kokopelli's on the 24th. Art Gold reported on the Car Council meeting. The Constitution & Bylaws committee had been working. Mark Domzalski will write up the report, then Larry Hickerson will go over it and rewrite as necessary. Galles Chevrolet Car Show: May 7-8 2004. Joe Trujillo, our Galles sponsor, needed CNM cars. On March 27, 2004 we celebrated our 30th anniversary. We awarded the Ike Meissner Award to Larry Blair. Steve Goodman's "You won't believe this" Rocky Mountain CORSA reprint said one of the most typical mistakes in ownership of a Corvair is to let a tire shop or service station mess with your tires. You'll have 32 psi in all four when you pick up the car. Steve said, grease is a great tool aid, especially black moly grease which has a very high water resistance. Corvair Story: Carl Johnson told about getting a letter from Pete Colburn in 1974. "He found eleven New Mexico members through CORSA's mailing list. Meet to talk Corvairs? Many of us had driven and learned about Corvairs long before. Here we were, with concepts - social, educational, mechanical, philosophical, and economic; all organized around Ed Cole's car. I got into Corvairs because I saw the advantages of the Greenbrier over anything else for short trips around town and for long trips, with carrying and camping abilities. Proud of our club? Emphatically yes!" 14 - MAY 1997 Vol 23 Nr. 5 # 260 Cover: another Mark Morgan fantasy: a Corvair-based Prowler. President Domzalski ran our meeting and a car show in Roswell was announced. Bud Knapp was back after surgery and was doing well. Wendy said we had $7033. The Museum car show and the Tri-State conflicted this year. All not going to one were asked to go to the other. We got $25 from the Car Council for our work at the swap meet. Amendment to the constitution for 100% CORSA membership was up for a vote. We planned a tour of the Journal Center. The "Care Chair" position for the "Fellowship Committee" was accepted by Rita Gongora. Mark reported that the CNM Convention Report had been sent off to CORSA, including solutions for problems when planning a convention. A new member was Boedean Belt. We had a sudden reappearance of Winter which froze apricots that thought Spring was here a month earlier. Planning ahead, Kay and Tarmo were looking at Lake City, Colorado for the 1998 Tri-State. Chama was a backup location. Mark reported on rebuilding a differential for his Rampside. The Corvair shop manual has an illustration of differential gears that are backwards! Why? Because the illustration was actually from a Chevrolet truck differential. Our differential gears run the other way. Ollie reported on another Route 66 cleanup, Sylvan had a "ten-cent" tech tip, and Mark Morgan's Billiken cartoon characters replaced a Pitman arm bushing with a nylon bushing. 21 - MAY 1990 Vol 16 Nr. 5 # 176 Cover: a 1965 Corsa coupe. Guests: Dale & Marilyn Dewald from Illinois. New members: John Folkerts and Barry Oxford and returning member Joe Ashton. We were preparing for a Tri-State meet in Durango, a Museum car show, an All-Chevy show and a picnic at Carolino Canyon Bill Reider reported that he had obtained Clark's cross-referenced parts list and would make printed copies available. Tom Martin's column, La Ventana, profiled Bill McClellan who bought his first Corvair, a 1964 500, for $150. Bill and Marian owned a welding business in Kalamazoo, Michigan before moving here. Tech tips from the Houston club included: prevent water getting into your brake fluid; install differential yoke seals correctly; modify the floor pan of a 1960 car to install later starters; prevent over-fill damage to your Powerglide. 28 - MAY 1983 Vol 09 Nr. 5 # 092 Cover: a Corvair front suspension. President LeRoy presided and we had $343 to spend. We discussed insurance at CNM events and our bid for the 1987 CORSA convention. Bill Reider speculated on whether Corvairs could pass the new county emissions standards. A tech tip from Uniroyal defined a number of tire terms. 35 - MAY 1976 Vol 02 Nr. 5 # 016 Glen Thompson edited. Our new meeting place was Ed Black's Chevrolet: the basement of the Used Car Sales building. We moved our meeting time to the first Wednesday of the month. We planned a "convoy" to Bandelier National Monument via Santa Fe and return via Valle Grande. We discussed a flea market fund-raising activity. We planned to meet with the Denver and Utah clubs in Montrose, Colorado. A tech tip by Ike Meissner told all the steps one could take to win an economy run. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~