The May 2016 newsletter - Text Version
Updated 24-Sep-2016 = Copyright (c) 2016 Corvairs of New Mexico
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MAY 2016 / VOLUME 42 / NUMBER 5 / ISSUE #488
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Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, First Place, 2005
Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, Third Place, 2010
Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, First Place, 2012
EDITOR: Jim Pittman
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, May 4th, 2016 at 7:00 PM
North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center, Wyoming & Carmel NE
THIS MONTH:
Mechanically Un-inclined ........................ Ray Trujillo
Dues Due ................................ Membership Committee
April Meeting Minutes .......................... Anne Mae Gold
April Board Meeting Minutes .................... Anne Mae Gold
The Museum Car Show Is Here! ..................... Robert Gold
A Very Rare Loadside ............................. Robert Gold
Rain Rain Rain (One-Corvair Car Show) ............. John Wiker
Montezuma Elementary Celebration .................. John Wiker
Treasury Report .................................. Robert Gold
Frostbite Tour Adventures (December 2000) ...... Mark Martinek
Fifty Years Ago .................................. Jim Pittman
Enjoy Driving Your Corvair (While You Can) ..... Paul Seyforth
Birthdays & Anniversaries ............... Membership Committee
Calendar of Coming Events ................. Board of Directors
May Issues, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago ....... Club Historian
COVER: Jim's 1966 Corsa Coupe Now Lives in Placitas, New Mexico
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OFFICERS and VOLUNTEERS
President: Ray Trujillo 505-814-8373 ray bpsabq.com
Vice President: John Wiker 505-899-3076 wikerj63 yahoo.com
Secretary: Anne Mae Gold 505-268-6878 beisbol30 msn.com
Treasurer: Robert Gold 505-268-6878 beisbol30 msn.com
Car Council: Robert Gold 505-268-6878 beisbol30 msn.com
Merchandise: Vickie Hall 505-865-5574 patandvickiehall q.com
Membership: Larry Yoffee 505-321-5909 corsa180 gmail.com
Newsletter: Jim Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp unm.edu
Old Route 66: Lube Lubert 505-256-9331 williamlubert gmail.com
Past President: Pat Hall 505-620-5574 patandvickiehall q.com
Past President: David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 aol.com
Past Vice-Pres: Tarmo Sutt 505-690-2046 tarmo juno.com
MEETINGS: First Wednesday of each Month at 7:00 PM
North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center, Wyoming & Carmel NE
INTERNET: CORSA's home page: http://www.corvair.org
CNM's newsletters: http://www.unm.edu/~jimp
Steve Gongora's page: http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter871
Larry Yoffee's home page: http://www.corsaturbo180usa.com/
New Mexico Council of Car Clubs: http://www.nmcarcouncil.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
DUES DUE DATES MAY 2016
INACTIVE ============================ INACTIVE DATE
2015.01 Darlene & William Darcy 25-FEB-2015
2015.02 Frank Stadler 25-MAR-2015
2015.08 Linda & Anthony Berbig 25-SEP-2015
2015.09 Lisa & Dan Thompson 25-OCT-2015
2016.03 Emma & LeRoy Rogers 25-APR-2016
DUE LAST MONTH ====================== INACTIVE DATE
2016.04 Art Gold 25-MAY-2016
DUE THIS MONTH ====================== INACTIVE DATE
2016.05 (none) 25-JUN-2016
DUE NEXT MONTH ====================== INACTIVE DATE
2016.06 (none) 25-JUL-2016
DUE JULY 2016 ======================= INACTIVE DATE
2016.07 Anne & John Wiker 25-AUG-2016
Send your Dues to:
CNM Treasurer c/o Robert Gold
1301 Valencia NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
Past due memberships become inactive after a one-month grace period.
The Club will mail in your National Dues if you send us the renewal
form from your Communique.
On 25-APR-2015 we had 44 active family memberships.
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MECHANICALLY UN-INCLINED
Ray Trujillo
Hello everyone!
As I awoke on the morning of Saturday April 9th at 7:00am to get ready to go to
our first Old Route 66 cleanup of 2016, I found that the west side of
Albuquerque was covered in fog formed by the previous day's accumulation of
steady rains. I thought the fog would quickly burn off but instead the rain
began to come down again. So I decided to call Lube Lubert to see if possibly
the weather might be different in his southeast part of town, but Lube informed
me that the weather conditions were no better there. It was decided that the
cleanup would be cancelled due to the rainy weather. I began to look forward to
the following weekend for CNM's Corvair-only car show to be held at the Smith's
grocery store just off Paseo del Norte at Wyoming.
Well, sure enough, the following Saturday was also a rain-out for our planned
car show. John Wiker informed us that he had taken his Corvair to the Smith's
that Saturday morning, just in case the weather might clear up and just in case
there might be other CNM members there as well. Anyway, no other Corvairs showed
up as the weather was once again dreary and wet. John said that it was a bad day
for a car show as most shoppers were basically just rushing into the store as to
not get very wet. John, thanks for at least trying and hopefully the effort it
took to get your Corvair to the planned car show will pay off in good karma on
the golf course!
Okay, let's move on to our upcoming club activities. On Saturday April 30th, Pat
and Vickie Hall have invited CNM members to a barbecue and potluck at their
"southern home" in San Antonio. They are located 3/4 of a mile north of the Owl
Cafe on New Mexico Highway 1. Let's hope the rain will not hamper this event.
On Sunday May 15th, The NMCCC holds its annual Albuquerque Museum Car Show. It's
always a great show and the price is a reasonable $10. We'll meet at the
Sheraton Old Town parking lot at 7:00am and then we'll all drive in as a group.
I have always enjoyed this event as it has some of the most beautiful classic
cars I've ever seen.
Then on June the 3rd through the 5th, the Tri-State event will be held in
Montrose, Colorado. This year's host club is the Pikes Peak Corvair Club and for
all information regarding hotel, T-shirts and other details about the event go
to www.corvair.org/chapters/chapters809/ and check it out. I'm disappointed that
I won't be able to attend this year's Tri-State as we have a family wedding that
falls on that same weekend.
On a final note, thanks to Larry Blair for the two tech talks he did for the
club after the last two membership meetings. One was on camshafts and the other
was on piston rings. Remember if you have any tech topics you'd like to discuss
after our meetings just let me know so I can put it on the agenda.
Well, I guess that's enough said for now, so I hope to see you at the Hall's BBQ
and potluck!
Ray
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APRIL MEETING MINUTES - 2016.04.06
Anne Mae Gold
Call to order: 7:02PM
Approval of minutes: Approved
President: Ray reported on the Anniversary Dinner. Twenty-nine people attended.
Vickie Hall received the Ike Meissner Award. Ray received a letter from the
president of the Pikes Peak club. The attendance award will be done on a
percentage of club members basis. It will be based on family/member attendance.
He passed around the letter so that the membership could look it over. If a
couple attends, the member will count as a percentage of their home club.
VP: Ed Halpin and John have become e-mail buddies. Ed would like to remind our
membership to pre-register for the Tri-State. The pre-registration costs
nothing, go to www.corvair.org/chapters/chapters809/ the Pikes Peak club's web
page. It was brought up that there is no land address to mail the registration,
John mentioned that Ed is a member of our club and his personal address is on
our membership list. He would also like to be added to Robert's all club mail
list. John also asked those present who was planning on taking a car to the
Smith's car show. There are 5 possible attendees.
Treasurer: $5,036.85 with some checks outstanding.
Membership: Larry was not in attendance, nothing to report.
Editor: the deadline for the newsletter is Friday April 22. Please send him your
articles. The April newsletter was full of April foolery. Mark Morgan's drawing
of a super dooper Corvair race car graces the cover. Jim made it sound like this
was his last newsletter (it is not), the jibberish, misspellings of Corvair,
etc.
Car Council: Not much to report. The last meeting was an envelope stuffing party
for the Museum Car Show. Robert was told that although it is much appreciated
that our club does the Old Route 66 cleanup, the DOT is slow to pick up the
trash bags and locals like to run into them. Rob has volunteered to drive his
Loadside, collect the bags and take them to the transfer station. Ray suggested
that the bags be loaded in Lube's truck and he can dispose the bags in Ray's
business dumpster.
Merchandise: Vickie set out the merchandise that she has for sale. She turned in
$5.00 for a cookbook sale.
2017 Tri-State: Terry was not in attendance. There was nothing to report.
Upcoming Events:
APR 9 Old Route 66 cleanup at 8:30 am
APR 16 Corvairs-Only Car Show 10:30-1:00 at Smith's, 8100 Wyoming NE
APR 23 Annual Spring Thaw tune-up, oil change, at The Old Car Garage, 3232
Girard NE
APR 23 Rio Rancho Cabezon Park Car Show, cost is $30 per car
APR 30 Barbecue and potluck at Pat & Vickie Hall's "southern home" in San
Antonio, NM starting at 11am. Pat will be cooking hamburgers and hot dogs.
Vickie has the condiments. Please bring a side dish.
MAY 15 NMCCC Albuquerque Museum Annual Car Show meet at 7am at the Sheraton Old
Town (Hotel Albuquerque). The price is $10. The registration form is on-line.
JUNE 3-5 Tri-State in Montrose, CO.
Miscellaneous topics: Lube read a certificate from the DOT to our club in thanks
for our dedication to the Old Route 66 cleanup project. For the April 9th
cleanup, Lube reminded the membership to check the weather on Friday night. If
it rains on Saturday morning, do NOT come out.
Tech Talk: Larry Blair had a short talk after the meeting. He had pistons from
Clarks -- very nice -- and a set of piston rings. He had no idea which ring went
in each groove and went to Empire Engine Builders to ask. The answer was simple.
The 50/50 winner was Victor Sanchez. The pot was $10, $5 to Victor, $5 to our
treasury.
Adjournment: 7:44pm
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APRIL BOARD MEETING MINUTES -- 2016.04.20
Anne Mae Gold
Present: Ray, Jim, John, Lube, Robert, Anne Mae, Terry
Call to order at 5:01 PM
President: Old Route 66 cleanup was cancelled due to weather. Saturday June 11
is the next proposed time for the cleanup. Start at 8:30 AM. The Corvairs Only
Car Show planned for the Smith's on Wyoming & Paseo for Saturday April 16th was
attended only by John Wiker. He sat in his 1966 Corvair as people rushed by
giving him thumbs up, but none stopped to look at the car because of the rain.
When Larry comes back, we will ask about rescheduling another show.
Vice President: John plans to attend the Montezuma Elementary School's "Sock
Hop" this coming Friday afternoon and evening.
Treasurer: $4,831.34
Membership: Larry was not in attendance. Ray will text or phone him to touch
base with him.
Editor: Newsletter deadline is Friday April 22 by 9:00 PM. No other significant
news.
Car Council: The last meeting was an envelope stuffing party. Robert will be
mailing out the CC newsletter this Saturday. Robert mentioned the problem with
trash bags not being picked up and plans to gather our trash bags, load them in
his Loadside, with a tarp, and take them to the dump.
Taos 2017 Tri-State: Terry has had several suggestions for speakers at the
Tri-State meet. He is going up to Taos on Monday to check things out. Jim will
send Terry a write-up that Joel Nash provided to us back in 2009 about the
"Enchanted Circle" driving tour near Taos.
Upcoming Events:
APR 23 Spring Thaw at the Old Car Garage, 3232 Girard NE.
APR 30 Picnic Pot Luck at the Halls' Southern Corvair Ranch.
MAY 15 Museum Car Show. Corvairs should meet at Hotel Albuquerque at 7:00 AM to
drive in all together.
JUN 3-5 Tri-State in Montrose, Colorado.
Adjourned at 5:30 PM
Note: No Board meeting in June.
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THE MUSEUM CAR SHOW IS HERE!
Robert Gold
It's hard to believe, but it's that time of the year again. The New Mexico
Council of Car Clubs will be hosting its 32nd annual Albuquerque Museum Car Show
on Sunday, May 15 at the Albuquerque Museum in Old Town at 2000 Mountain Road
NW.
The theme of this year's show is "Travel Along Old Route 66" and to honor the
"Mother Road" there will be a display of cars that could have been traveling the
road during its heyday.
A former CNM member, Geoff Johnson, will be displaying his just restored 1948
Pontiac.
Did I ever tell you that I had the honor of traveling down this historic road
during my college years in the late sixties in Missouri? I'd cruise in my shiny
1954 Chevy between St. Louis and Rolla, the home of the Missouri School of
Mines. The highway was going through its conversion to I-44, but enough of US 66
was still in use to make the trip an adventure. We tend to forget how
challenging Route 66 could be to traverse back in the day.
Anyway, to return to the Museum Car Show...
If you want to display your classic Corvair at one of the most exciting shows of
the year, all you need to do is show up by 7:00 am at the north parking lot of
the Hotel Albuquerque at 800 Rio Grande Blvd NW. We'll be heading out just after
7:00 for the show. Be sure to bring $10 with you for the registration and I
guarantee that you will have a ball swapping stories with the scores of car guys
who will be at the show.
See you there!
-- Robert Gold, Your Car Council Rep
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A VERY RARE LOADSIDE
Robert Gold
One of the things about being a car nut is that, over the years, I've found
myself incorporating car stuff more and more into my life. A case in point is my
membership in car clubs. It began in 1982 with our Corvairs of New Mexico club,
but over the years I added the New Mexico Car Council and most recently, the
CorvanAntics. My story today is about those nuts at CorvanAntics.
I recently received a request from those folks for short articles about members'
cars. Being unable to resist the opportunity to subject a new audience to my
ramblings, I dashed off an article about my beloved 1962 Loadside.
My article was mainly about how much I like the looks of the Loadside over the
lumpy Rampside. It ended with the following mantra, "I love my Loadside, I love
my Loadside, I love my Loadside." I sent the article off knowing it would be a
rare editor who would be willing to publish that sort of craziness.
You can imagine my surprise when Gary Moore, editor of the CorvanAntics
newsletter, quickly wrote me back. He said they would probably be publishing the
article, but they needed a bit more information. First of all they wanted an
additional picture that showed me and my lovely bride, Anne Mae. Secondly, Gary
asked me to check to see if my Loadside could be one of the super rare "Dual"
Loadsides.
His instructions were as follows:
"The test consists of sitting in the driver's seat and looking into the rear
view mirror. Lean to the right, if a loose nut appears in the mirror the
Loadside is a one of the rarest of the rare Dual Loadsides."
So I jogged out to the truck sat down in the seat and followed the directions.
To answer the question posed by Gary, all I have to say is that if you care to
see the "loose nut" just attend the next CNM meeting... and see me.
-- Robert Gold
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RAIN RAIN RAIN
John Wiker
Rain, Rain, go away, come again another day.
Most of us remember this refrain from years ago. Apparently all we need to do to
get rain in New Mexico is to schedule a Corvair event. First the road cleanup on
Saturday the 9th was cancelled because of a storm on Friday night. Then we were
to have a Corvair-only car show at Smith's on Paseo and Wyoming on Saturday the
16th. What a miserable day that turned out to be. I brought the bright yellow
"submarine" out of the garage and arrived at Smith's at 10:00, just before the
showers hit. Being an optimist, I was hoping someone else would be foolish
enough to show up. Soon my phone rang and it was Larry Blair. He had just lost
his tennis match and wondered if he should come on over. We both agreed that it
was hopeless, as most of the customers were hustling in out real fast to avoid
the rain and all I got was a few thumbs up as people drove past me in the
parking lot.
I hope this trend does not continue on Saturday the 30th. I can hardly wait to
taste those hot dogs and hamburgers at Vickie and Pat Hall's southern Corvair
Ranch. Hopefully we can get lots of people to come down south to take advantage
of their hospitality, Rain or Shine. See you there.
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MONTEZUMA ELEMENTARY CELEBRATION
John Wiker
Friday evening from 5:00 to 7:30, the Montezuma Elementary school held a
celebration of its birthday. They asked the Car Council to put out a notice to
get some old cars there to help set the tone for an Old Fashion Sock Hop. I
arrived at 4:45, just in time for the first of a few showers. However, it did
not dampen the spirit the kids had about jumping into and out of my car for
their parents and other in-laws to take pictures and they really enjoyed blowing
the horn to scare the others around. I would estimate that there were about 200
people in attendance with about 125 kids. They had Rudy's BarBQue to eat and a
Shave Ice vender to serve desert. Needless to say, I ate for free for bringing
my car. About an hour into the "show" another car showed up -- a 1965 Imperial
4door hardtop. Not to brag, but the kids had no interest in that car. Few even
walked over to look at it since he closed it up and did not stay around to
"entertain" them. After the program moved into the gym for a slide show and
chorus and dance groups, I took the opportunity to eat. When the show ended, the
parents then came out ahead of the kids and acted like kids around my car. One
guy was dressed like Joe Cool with the sunglasses, jeans, hightop sneakers, tee
shirt and tie with a ball cap. Everyone but me had a chance to take pictures. My
camera was kicked under the seat and I went into a panic when I could not find
it, thinking the worse that in my hustle to keep everyone happy, someone walked
off with it. Much to my surprise, the principal walked out with it as some kid
turned it over to his dad who then gave it to her. I thanked her and finally at
7:30, I closed up the car and headed home. Lots of positive comments came my way
about the car and my handling of the kids. I had a ball as usual. Car needs to
be washed off from the rain and hand prints all over it so I can attend a
retirement home's family day tomorrow. I guess a good time was had by all.
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FAIRWINDS FAMILY DAY
John Wiker
I attended the Fairwinds Family Day on Saturday April 23rd. The purpose was to
get the young families to come to the Retirement/Rest area to join their elder
relatives for a day of fun and games so they could get them out of their rooms
and enjoy the outdoor activities. They had a live band to dance to, many game
activities to win prizes, free food and drinks and of course a small car show.
There were seven Model T's from their club, one Mercury Cougar, one hopped up
Ford Coupe, three military vehicles and of course my yellow Corvair. Lots of
visitors with stories as usual, kids who wanted to sit inside for the picture
taken by the elders for their Memory Wall.
After I started letting the kids in, the Model T club followed as well as the
military folks. The only cars not allowing even a "touch" were the Mercury and
the Ford Coupe. I was there from 9:30 to 2:00 and as I was putting my display
away, up walks an older Lady who proudly announced that she was 92 years old and
knew "all about those Corvairs."
Of course, I had to ask her for an example of her experience. She said, "I
worked as a clerk for Ed Black when his dealership was downtown on 4th Street.
I was responsible for making out the invoices for all Corvairs sold. I had all
the extras that customers wanted memorized and kept my manual Remington
typewriter busy." What a way to end the day! She really liked that I had the
original owner's manual with all the extra accessories listed as well as the
arrival inspection sheet that she used to have to include as an attachment to
the final bill.
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TREASURY REPORT ************* 03-26-2015 to 04-22-2016 ************* ROBERT GOLD
DATE CHECK# AMOUNT PAYEE DESCRIPTION BALANCE = $4,913.35
================================================================================
2016.03.29 2239 -$ 75.00 Julie Prium Being Ralph Nader -$ 75.00
2016.03.30 +$ 128.50 Dues M.Morgan 12 m CNM & CORSA $ 70.00
2016.03.29 +$ Deposit Polos $ 58.50
2016.04.05 +$ 70.00 Dues C.Johnson 12 m CNM & CORSA $ 70.00
2016.04.06 2241 -$ 45.00 CORSA Dues H.Wilvert 12 m CORSA -$ 45.00
2016.04.06 2240 -$ 45.00 CORSA Dues M.Morgan 12 m CORSA -$ 45.00
2016.04.08 2243 -$ 35.06 ALL-SPORTS Plaque -$ 35.06
2016.04.08 2244 -$ 115.45 J.Pittman Newsletter postage, 3 months -$ 115.45
2016.04.19 +$ 35.00 Dues J.Dinsdale 12 m CNM $ 25.00
2016.04.19 +$ Deposit 50/50 $ 5.00
2016.04.19 +$ Deposit Merchandise (one cook book) $ 5.00
========== ==== ========== =========== =========================================
2016.05.01 MAY NEWSLETTER = END OF PREVIOUS MONTH ==================== $4,831.34
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REPRINTED FROM ENCHANTED CORVAIRS VOL 26 NR 12 DECEMBER 2000
FROSTBITE TOUR ADVENTURES
Mark Martinek
The Santa Fe Vintage Car Club's Frostbite Tour started out at the J & R Auto
Museum at 10:00 on Saturday. CNM members in attendance were: Tarmo Sutt, with
two young exchange students, one from Switzerland and one from Brazil, in his
Corvair; Ilva and Wendell Walker in his Pantera; Debbie and Dennis Pleau and
family in Wendell's Charger; Julia and Chuck Vertrees and Mary Alice and Oliver
Scheflow, both couples driving modern autos; and Mary Lou and myself in her
Corvair.
After touring the museum and enjoying doughnuts at the museum we set out for the
Ponderosa Winery. Because of the semi nice weather all the convertibles left
with the tops down. At the winery the group was separated into two groups; male
and female. While the men toured the winery the women sat and tasted the wine.
Then the roles were reversed, the women toured while the men sipped. Both groups
had the opportunity to purchase the wines of their choice. Several bottles of
wine departed with the tour group.
When we departed the winery for the two tunnels on NM Rte 485 the two exchange
students joined Mary Lou and me and rode in the back seat with our stuffed
mouse. It was like having the grand kids with us again. We made the journey
through the tunnels without incident and spent a few minutes on the far side of
the tunnels enjoying the scenery, taking photos, and visiting with the other
drivers. The exchange students decided they had enough of the open-air ride and
decided to continue on with Tarmo. We departed when we were advised that large
trucks and machinery were moving down the road and could not get by us.
Once back on NM Rte 4 and realizing that the rest of the group was heading on to
Jemez Springs, Mary Lou and I decided to return to Albuquerque. As it was a
little cooler now and looking like rain, I pulled off the road to raise the top.
After raising the top I tried to start the car. It fired and ran for only a few
seconds and then died. Just like I was out of gas, which could not be as I had
filled the tank in Bernalillo.
While I had the motor compartment open and was pondering why the car would not
start Wendell and a few other members of the group stopped to see what was
wrong. After giving a brief description of the problem, i.e., It starts but dies
like it is out of gas, Wendell removed one air cleaner and observed that gas was
being pumped in. Being the trusting soul that I am, I double-checked Wendell's
observation.
We then decided that it might be an electrical problem. I removed the
distributor cap and observed that the points apparently weren't opening. After
resetting the points I again tried to start the car with the same results.
Because of the constant attempts to start the car the battery was now getting
rather weak so one of the group had an Emergency Start kit that we hooked up,
but this too failed to start the car.
I decided to call it quits and call a wrecker. Almost everyone had a cell phone
with them and offered to call 911 or a wrecker for us, but as Mary Lou and I
both had our cell phones with us I declined the many offers. This was a mistake,
as they departed before I attempted to place a call. Only after dialing did I
learn that I could not transmit from the road. Looking around I realized I would
have to climb to the top of the nearest hill in order to call.
After huffing and puffing my way to the top of the hill I placed a call to 911.
An Albuquerque operator took the initial call. Because of the location they
transferred my call to 911 in Bernalillo. However, the Bernalillo operator could
not hear me so I gave up on 911. I then contacted the Good Sam Club Emergency
Road Service operator and arranged for a wrecker.
After making my way back down the mountain I decided to see if the gas pump
really was pumping gas. I disconnected one line at the T-connector and had Mary
Lou run the starter. Gas came flowing out. I reconnected it and disconnected the
other line at the carburetor. Again gas flowed when she tried the starter. I
pulled the filter and blew through it. There did not appear to be any
obstruction in any of the gas line components.
After reconnecting the gas line and filter I pulled a plug wire to see if the
engine was getting any spark. This time when Mary Lou tried the starter the car
started with no problem on five cylinders. After getting a couple of jolts from
the spark plug wire I got it reconnected. I turned the car off and restarted it
several times without any problems. I decided to re-climb the mountain and
cancel the wrecker. You guessed it, halfway up the hillside I see the wrecker
arriving. Back down I go.
Since the wrecker had come from San Ysidro I asked him to follow us that far
just in case it stalled again. The car ran fine and we had no other problems all
the way home.
So what was the problem? Was it a vapor lock? Can a Corvair vapor lock in
50-degree weather? Why did our Corvair die?
Commentary by Mary Lou
While Mark was up the mountain calling for help I kept noticing down at the
bottom of the hill that we were stopped on, people kept driving out of a place
with a white fence so I got curious and thought maybe would be a pay phone there
or someone to help with a call. I walked down there and found much to my relief
(pun intended), no phone but an outdoor privy.
This was at the National Fishing access called Las Casitas; it also had a cement
walking trail towards a river (?) with lots of wild grasses. I was tempted to
check it out but was concerned that Mark would get the car going and leave me
there, and anyway all the wine was in the car.
Anyway I would like to go back when we didn't have to hurry and check Las
Casitas out and the tunnel and view from there some time in the future, like
next spring.
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I am proposing a feature for our newsletter called "CorVairiations
from the Norm" and I am encouraging our members to contribute. Tell
us your adventures while owning and driving a Corvair. They don't
have to be horror stories, just fit with the title of the by-line.
Please contribute so we'll have a story every month. - Larry Yoffee
Photo:
Viewing the Grand Teton Mountains on June 15, 1966 near Jackson Hole, Wyoming
FIFTY YEARS AGO
Jim Pittman
All Corvair fans have stories of their first Corvair and I'm sure many of your
stories are more epic than mine. My story starts on May 20th, 1966 when I picked
up my new 1966 Corsa turbo coupe in Detroit, and I have been a Corvair owner
from that day to this. In fact, since I learned to drive in my dad's 1941 Ford I
have only spent about ten driving years without being a Corvair owner. That's a
sobering thought!
For many years my original lemonwood yellow 1966 turbo Corsa was "my best car
ever" and I bought and sold several other cars, some Corvairs, some Brand-Xs,
before I was willing to part with my original. Some of these cars were a red
1965 MG-B, a 1965 TR-4, a 1965 Corsa 140 convertible, another 1966 Corsa 180
coupe, a 1966 Monza 110 sedan, a 1965 Corsa 140 coupe, a 1965 Monza 110 coupe
and a 1967 Monza 110 sedan with A/C and Powerglide.
Nothing can bring back the feeling of setting out from Dayton in June 1966 with
my new turbo Corvair equipped with a set of new Michelin-X radial tires, headed
for adventures in Alaska. Nothing can bring back the feeling in 1967 of heading
down the Alaska Highway with Alamogordo and Holloman Air Force Base in my
sights, thinking nothing of cruising at 75 along nearly deserted New Mexico
highways. Nothing can bring back the feeling of leaving the Air Force in 1969 in
my familiar and comfortable Corvair with its new Finch engine, heading "back
east" with ambitions of graduate school and a career as a famous scientist ahead
of me.
By 2002 I realized I would never again attempt to restore my original Corsa and
on the cover you can see a photo of that car at Mark Domzalski's place shortly
after he bought it. That car took me some 150,000 miles, 98,000 of that with the
Finch-modified four-carb engine, and for years after I bought it there was no
new car available in America that I would have swapped it for.
Alas, times change and the automotive world of 2016 is very different from that
of the late sixties and the early seventies. My last Corvair, the 1965 Monza 110
coupe, still runs, but it's not the car the 1966 Corsa was with its performance
options and a blueprinted engine. And, the Monza is fifty-one years old (that's
one-hundred-two in human years) and feeling every hour of those long years.
Now that all this time has gone by, I realize that, while I never made it to
become a famous scientist, I can take pride in helping to found Corvairs of New
Mexico and in my forty years of editing a fine newsletter for the club. The
original Corvair is long gone, but my Corvair career may not be quite over. So
far, so good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
REPRINTED FROM: THE DENVAIR NEWS -- VOLUME 42, ISSUE 4 -- APRIL 2016
ENJOY DRIVING YOUR CORVAIR (WHILE YOU CAN)
Paul Seyforth
It seems that most of us really enjoy driving our vehicles. Just check out any
roadway in the US, including our own in the Denver metro area. It's been
engrained in us since we were old enough to walk. With driving comes freedom and
also the enjoyment of mastering a powerful machine (500hp anyone?). Our entire
economy and social structure is built on being able to hop into our autos at any
whim and drive to the corner store or across the country. But times are changing
and progress is marching on. Automated or self-driving cars are right around the
corner. Google, Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Mercedes Benz are investing
millions if not billions of dollars on research to produce the ultimate smart
car. Very likely when they arrive they will not be sharing the road with human
driven vehicles.
Why? Why the big push to get us from behind the wheel? Two reasons; first, we
are not very good drivers. Despite advances in automobile safety design of the
last twenty years the number auto accident fatalities have increased 28% from
2005 to 2008, the 15 to 28 year old age group is to blame mainly due to
distracted driving, climbing to 33,000 in 2014. Computer driven cars do not
become distracted by a cell phone or a wailing child in the back seat, or some
jerk that just cut you off. Two million accidents a year, 95% caused by human
error. Second reason, our infrastructure; roads bridges, parking space has not
been or will not be able to keep up with the ever increasing volume of traffic
on our roads. Especially the cities. There is just not enough room, enough space
to increase the size of the roadways and parking spaces required for all the
cars when cities like Denver likely double their size by 2050. Smart cars are
already here. Google driverless cars have put on over 1 million test miles. A
Tesla S recently drove from LA to NY City in 2 days, 95% steering itself. Elon
Musk predicts his cars will drive themselves in 3 years. These advances did not
happen overnight. We have been losing more control over our automobiles than you
may realize. Stability control, anti-skid braking, steering by wire, lane
control, and radar assisted cruise control are making our cars so much safer.
Within a year or two with the advent of radar/infrared controlled automatic
braking tail-end collisions will be a thing of the past. Pedestrians will
appreciate it too. A major advance V2V (vehicle to vehicle) technology will be
available soon. Cars will communicate with other vehicles in the area to avoid
collisions. Think of a car running a red light warning its neighbors to avoid
the intersection. Add GPS positioning so the car knows where to go and software
to tie everything together and the car is ready to take over the driving. It's
been just 12 years since the U.S. government funded the first competition for
self-driving vehicles. Not one of the entries made it to the finish of the 150
mile course. The second year 23 of the 50 cars finished, the fastest one
averaging 19 mph. Loaded with cameras, sensors and the like they looked like Mad
Max machines. Today with all the progress having been made, U.S. Transportation
secretary announced a $4 billion fund to advance self-driving research and to
dismantle regulatory barriers that might slow development. How are they going to
get us out from behind the wheel? It may be easier than you think. By 2035,
which is a target date, most of my generation that grew up with cars will be
gone. The millenniums will be in charge. This is the generation that grew up
with the smart phone. Most see driving cars as operating an appliance. In
addition most of us (90%) will be living in a urban environment where cars in
general are more of a liability than an asset. Think of New York City, or really
any city with the parking problems we already have. Then add up little
incentives like the cost of drivers licensing and insurance. Throw in the
improvements in public transportation and you'll find a society ready to step
from behind the wheel. Well, at least for many of them. There will be a problem
or two. How about the $200 billion auto insurance industry? Or the $100 parking
industry? The $300 billion after- market repair business? The 3 million truck
drivers, cabbies and so on? Much of that will fade away. Not sure what will
happen to the car collector hobby. It will still exist but on a smaller scale.
When people do not drive it will be difficult for them to relate to when driving
was fun and in cars that were meant to drive. In the meantime take your Corvair
out and enjoy driving it. If you happen to see a driverless car along the way
resist the urge to bump it off the road. It won't do any good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Five Special CNM'ers have May Birthdays:
Anne Mae Gold
Pat Hall
Mary Lou Martinek
Mary Alice Scheflow
Brenda Wilvert
Four Special Couples Have a May Anniversary:
Mary Lou & Mark Martinek
Lee & Bill Reider
Mary Alice & Ollie Scheflow
Leslie & Kevin Sullivan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
============================================================================
| May 2016 | June 2016 | July 2016 |
| 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 04 MAY 7:00 PM Meeting: NORTH DOMINGO BACA MULTIGENERATIONAL CENTER,
at Wyoming & Carmel, north of Wyoming & Paseo del Norte NE.
After the meeting, we may go to "JASON'S DELI" at 5920 Holly Ave. NE.
SAT 14 MAY to SUN 02 OCT ----- Route 66 Exhibit at The Albuquerque Museum
SUN 15 MAY ....... Albuquerque Museum / NMCCC 32nd Annual Car Show
WED 18 MAY 5:00 PM Board Meeting: HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER at 131 Monroe NE
FRI 20 MAY 9:00 PM Deadline for items for June 2016 newsletter
WED 25 MAY 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING OLD CAR GARAGE 3232 GIRARD NE
============================================================================
WED 01 JUN 7:00 PM Meeting: NORTH DOMINGO BACA MULTIGENERATIONAL CENTER
FRI 03 JUN Tri-State == Montrose, Colorado - Sponsor Pikes Peak Corvair Club
SAT 04 JUN Tri-State == the Holiday Inn Express has been confirmed
SUN 05 JUN Tri-State == Stay tuned for phone numbers, T-shirts, other details
* HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS = 1391 S. Townsend Ave. Montrose, CO 81401 970-240-1800
* Room rate: $99 + tax includes hot breakfast buffet.
* Mention "Pikes Peak Corvair Club"
* Contact = Chris Kimberly = 775-830-4739 = chriskimberly@hotmail.com
* More information == http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter809/
WED 15 JUN ........ No Board Meeting This Month! Necessary business by email.
WED 22 JUN 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING OLD CAR GARAGE 3232 GIRARD NE
FRI 24 JUN 9:00 PM Deadline for items for July 2016 newsletter
============================================================================
MON 04 JUL Early! Fourth of July on the Plaza in Santa Fe
WED 06 JUL 7:00 PM Meeting: NORTH DOMINGO BACA MULTIGENERATIONAL CENTER
FRI 08 JUL ........ Collector Car Appreciation Day - N. M. Council of Car Clubs
WED 20 JUL 5:00 PM Board Meeting: HIGHLAND SENIOR CENTER at 131 Monroe NE
FRI 22 JUL 9:00 PM Deadline for items for August 2016 newsletter
WED 27 JUL 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING OLD CAR GARAGE 3232 GIRARD NE
============================================================================
SUN 14 AUG ....... NMCCC Picnic - Oak Flat Picnic Area, South 14, Tijeras
============================================================================
SUN 18 SEP State Fair Car Show --- CHECK ON DATE AND TIME!
FRI-SAT 23-25 SEP NMCCC Swap Meet, Los Lunas
============================================================================
See the New Mexico Council of Car Clubs Web Site for more "NMCCC" activities
======================== http://www.nmcarcouncil.com/ ======================
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SEVEN YEARS AGO May [ MAY 2016 Vol 42 Nr 5 Issue 488 ] Jim Pittman
2009 Vol 35 Nr 5 # 404
Our cover showed a red Lakewood owned by Cary Hubbard. Robert reported $3,188. A
guest was Mark Jones. The Martineks planned a visit soon. Brenda outlined plans
for the Taos Tri-State. Heula's "Identify This Member" from childhood pictures
featured a boy and a girl. But who were they? Tech Tips illustrated differences
between 1960 and later fuel pumps, too-long TRW lifters, clean glass with
Prep-Sol number 3919, get GM nuts for aluminum wheels, a 45-year-old engine
cart, and we all said NO! to Armor-All.
2002 Vol 28 Nr 5 # 320
Our cover showed Mary Lou's 1964 convertible, photo by Mark Martinek. President
Robert Gold ran our meeting. A guest was Jim Matthews, a former CNM member,
original owner of a 1964 sedan with 29,000 miles. Wendell said the treasury held
$5,243.19 but he had not yet received a statement from GMAC. Mark Martinek
reported that Car Council plans were ongoing for a car show in Los Lunas. An
"Old Route 66 Car Show" was coming up in July. Mark Domzalski reported that the
Flagstaff International CORSA Convention was right on schedule. The Corvair
Ladies Group was organizing a progressive dinner. An ad in the For Sale section
listed hundreds of items that Bill Reider was offering for sale. Our 2003
Tri-State crew (Bill Reider, LeRoy Rogers, Hurley Wilvert) went to Raton to
finish preparations. All was well. We organized a caravan to the 2002 Tri-State
in Grand Junction, Colorado. Technical demonstration: Bill Reider gave some tips
on rebuilding carburetors. Some of these tips would come in handy at our
Saturday April 27 Carburetor Tune-up Session at Del Norte High School. President
Robert said since the weather was warming up he'd have to start using premium
gasoline to keep his Corvairs from "dieseling" when turned off. Is this a tech
tip? Is there a better way to prevent dieseling? Ollie Scheflow told us about a
cruise to South America which included going around the Horn. That must have
been quite the adventure. Jon and Debra Anderson and children were in
Albuquerque. Several of us met at Sadie's Restaurant on Friday evening, March
29th for a nice visit with them and enjoyed talking about Corvair activities
past, present and future. The Andersons enjoy living in Colorado Springs but we
believe their hearts are still in New Mexico. Your editor received a nice letter
from former member Robin De Vore who happened across our web page and read all
the back issues! The De Vores were about to retire to a farm in South Australia!
The topic of "Dummy of the MonthClub" was updated by Del Patten and Chuck Sadek
via Virtual Vairs. Finally, Mark Martinek gave us a classic article on a trip to
a Corvair gathering in St. George, Utah. All Corvair fans are advised to re-read
this article about his amazing adventure.
1995 Vol 21 Nr 5 # 236
Our cover had a drawing of a Lakewood. Larry Blair ran the meeting. Joe Ashton
and Ted Yachik were visitors and both joined CNM. Several upcoming Car Council
events were mentioned. Dennis Pleau said we were trying to get copies of the
budgets from recent conventions to guide our convention plans. We needed a
"convention handbook" but had to write our own! CNM belt buckles, rebuilt
harmonic balancers and new Clark's catalogs were on order. Our tech talk was
about early turn signal repair. Thanks, Larry!
We planned a tour of the Travertine Marble plant near Belen. A report on the
tour described the snowy April weather and the amazing marble saws and other
equipment we saw. Lots of tech tips: use TWO steering wheel covers to make a
fat, easy-to-grip wheel; replace your old cracked shifter boot with a new one
from J.C. Whitney; beware over-filling your Powerglide; add a bushing to make
your late shifter work like an early one. And, Otto Mechanic visited a shrink to
help him deal with his obsession with automobiles. The visit was a success, but
not the way Mrs. Mechanic intended!
1988 Vol 14 Nr 5 # 152
Our cover showed an Austin-Healey 3000, your editor's first sports car in 1964.
He sold it in 1966 to buy a new turbocharged Corsa coupe! We had $684. The
Tri-State in Colorado and the Museum Car Show were the same weekend this year.
Bruce Phillips (Professional Paint Supply) gave us an excellent talk on painting
your car. Bill Reider answered the question, "What is a tune-up?" and provided
an extensive check list. A good reference.
1981 Vol 7 Nr 5 # 68
Our cover drawing represented a 1960 sedan. We worried about insurance costs and
the state of our treasury and schemed ways to make money. We discussed
participating in a slalom or Fun-Khana in Los Alamos in July. Jack Bryan put on
our April econo-run. Richard Twilley and his 1963 coupe were far ahead of the
pack with 38.37 MPG; Pittman's 1965 Corsa convertible 140 and Lawrence's 1966
Monza coupe 110 tied for second place at 32.41 MPG. The best automatic was
Reider's 1965 coupe 110 at 30.32 MPG. Boy, those were the days.
A tech tip: Dick Hartje (San Diego) told how an apparently good scissors jack
let a car crash down with no warning! Dick said, never get under a jacked-up car
until it is blocked with sturdy jack stands.
1974 (no newsletter yet)
The new club met at Duncan Puett's shop and admired his Corvair-powered dirt
track race cars.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Enchanted Corvairs Newsletter is published monthly by Corvairs of New Mexico,
chartered Chapter #871 of CORSA, the Corvair Society of America. Copyright by
the Authors and by Corvairs of New Mexico. Articles may be reprinted in any
CORSA publication as a service to CORSA members, provided credit to the Author
and this Newsletter is clearly stated. All opinions are those of the Author or
Editor and are not necessarily endorsed by Corvairs of New Mexico or CORSA.
Material for publication should reach the Editor by the 15th of the month. Send
material via e-mail ( jimp @ unm.edu ) or submit a readable manuscript. I prefer
ASCII TEXT, but MS Word or RTF are fine. Photographs are welcome. I still print
mailing labels with a 1989 Apple IIgs on a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet IIIp. The
newsletter is composed using Apple computers. Software includes OSX, AppleWorks,
Photoshop CS, GraphicConverter, BBEdit and InDesign CS. If you care, ask for
more details. Transportation: 1965 Corvair Monza, 1990 Honda Civic, 1996 Mazda
Miata and 2016 Honda Civic. When I'm 64, I'll get by with a little help from my
friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=END=