The February 2021 newsletter - Text Version 

Updated 01-Feb-2021 ==== Copyright (c) 2021 Corvairs of New Mexico        

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   February 2021 / VOLUME 47 / NUMBER 2 / ISSUE 545 
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First Place, Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, 2005 & 2012
Third Place, Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award, 2010

EDITOR Jim Pittman

NEXT MEETING 	Regular Meeting: February 6th at 10:00AM
		CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 / CORONAVIRUS

THIS MONTH
  President's Letter: What's Up Dave .............. David Huntoon
  Dues Due Dates ........................... Membership Committee
  January Meetings Cancelled  .............. Covid-19/Coronavirus
  J & R Vintage Auto Museum Tour 6-February-2010 ... Larry Yoffee
  Spot the 'Vair ....................... Netherlands Corvair Club
  Treasury Report ................................. Steve Gongora
  Birthdays & Anniversaries ................ Membership Committee
  Owned Since New? ................. Contributed by David Huntoon
  Corvair Misconceptions ....... Mike McGowan via Chicago AIRHORN
  GM's Electrovair ........ Michael Gauthier via WESTWIND of L.A.
  The Pandemic is Getting Worse (*) ........... Holly Chan of CNN
  Calendar of Coming Events .................. Board of Directors
  February Issues, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago ... Club Historian

COVER: Visit to J & R Vintage Auto Museum -- 6 February 2010

* We are deluged with news stories, warnings and pleas about the
  pandemic. Here is one more. Are you doing your part to defeat it?

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OFFICERS and VOLUNTEERS
President        David Huntoon  505-281-9616         corvair66 @ aol.com
Vice-President   Tarmo Sutt     505-690-2046             tarmo @ juno.com
Secretary          Kay Sutt     505-471-1153             tarmo @ juno.com
Treasurer        Steve Gongora  505-220-7401      stevegongora @ msn.com
Membership       Linda Soukup   763-226-0707 feathersandfur.ls @ gmail.com
Car Council       Tony Berbig   763-226-0707      studeboytony @ gmail.com
Merchandise     Vickie Hall     505-865-5574  patandvickiehall @ q.com
Sunshine         Heula Pittman  505-275-2195             heula @ q.com
Newsletter         Jim Pittman  505-275-2195              jimp @ unm.edu
Old Route 66      Greg Nelson   505-400-8670            fesedu @ comcast.net
Past President     Ray Trujillo 505-814-8373   rtrujilloabq505 @ gmail.com
Past President     Pat Hall     505-620-5574  patandvickiehall @ q.com
Past President    Dave Allin    505-410-9668          dnjallin @ gmail.com

MEETINGS:  Regular Meeting for February
		CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 / CORONAVIRUS

INTERNET:  CORSA's home page  www.corvair.org/
               CNM's newsletters  www.unm.edu/~jimp/
  New Mexico Council of Car Clubs  www.nmcarcouncil.com/

SCHEDULE        CNM: 12 months = $25.00 or 26 months = $ 50.00
OF	      CORSA: 12 months = $45.00 or 26 months = $ 90.00
DUES	CNM & CORSA: 12 months = $70.00 or 26 months = $140.00

DUES DUE DATES FEBRUARY 2021

DUE LAST MONTH ================= INACTIVE DATE
2021.01       Fred & Brenda Edeskuty   25-FEB-2021

DUE THIS MONTH ================== INACTIVE DATE
2021.02     Linda & Anthony Berbig     25-MAR-2021

DUE NEXT MONTH ================= INACTIVE DATE
2021.03    Barbara & Gordon Johnson    25-APR-2021
2021.03        Kelli & Mark Morgan     25-APR-2021
2021.03    Sui-Fong & David Neale      25-APR-2021
2021.03        Emma & LeRoy Rogers     25-APR-2021
2021.03         Kay & Tarmo Sutt       25-APR-2021

DUE APRIL 2021 ================== INACTIVE DATE
2020.04      Deborah & John Dinsdale   25-MAY-2021
2021.04               Terry Hall       25-MAY-2021
2021.04       Janet & Steve Johnson    25-MAY-2021
2021.04               Lesha Kitts      25-MAY-2021

INACTIVE ======================== INACTIVE DATE
2020.02               Larry Yoffee     25-MAR-2020
2020.03             Natalie Robison    25-APR-2020
2020.04              Conner Siddell    25-MAY-2020
2020.06                 Art Gold       25-JUL-2020
2020.12               David Huntoon    25-JAN-2021
2020.12                 Lee Reider     25-JAN-2021

Send your Dues to:
	CNM Treasurer -- Steve Gongora
	8419 Palo Duro NE
	Albuquerque, NM 87111

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.

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	PRESIDENT'S LETTER -- What's up Dave?

	Hope everyone is doing well. There is some good news out there. I know
of several people who have received their vaccine shots already. That rollout
should speed up as time passes. The Tri-State is back on the calendar for
October this year. Good news there! I think our regular club meetings can happen
again by April. Weather should be better and outdoor meetings should be possible
even if indoor locations are not available by then. I am a little disappointed
that few members have expressed interest in online club meetings. Board meetings
will continue online to manage routine business events. Other than that things
are pretty quiet for us and many other organizations. I.E. other clubs. Be ready
to think about what you can do when the Tri-State occurs. We will need your help
to make it successful.

	Stay safe and optimistic, David Huntoon

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COVER STORY: we have been to the J & R Vintage Auto Museum several times. In
February 2010 Larry Blair arranged for us to meet at The Range restaurant in
Bernalillo for lunch before going to the Museum. It was a fine lunch.  Then
we drove across the river to the Museum in Rio Rancho for a great tour. The
original report from the February 2010 issue of Enchanted Corvairs newsletter
is on page 4. Here are a few more photos from that tour.

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	J & R Vintage Auto Museum Tour
	Larry Yoffee   --  6 February 2010

On our agenda for Saturday, February 6 was a tour of the J & R Vintage Auto
Museum in Rio Rancho. I had heard that it is a long-time tradition for Corvairs
of New Mexico folks to have a "garage tour" every February and I was looking
forward to seeing what they were like.
	Following a well attended lunch at the Range Cafe in Bernalillo (Larry
Blair and I recommend the green chile chicken stew), the crew set out to Rio
Rancho to find the museum. Personally, I thought I knew where it was and had
actually gone there a few years ago only to find it closed, but Rio Rancho has
grown tremendously since then and it was harder to find now. Fortunately, we did
find it, and it was well worth the trip there.

J & R features over 70 mostly pre-war vehicles of historic significance. Some of
these classics have competed in the Great American Race, including the 1995
winner, a 1917 Marmon. This interested me personally because I thought Marmon
produced only trucks, one of which my uncle owned several years ago.

In addition to the pre-war vehicles, several post-war and 1960s era vehicles
were displayed. One vehicle in particular that impressed me was a 1948 Ford
convertible in wonderful condition. I don't recall having actually seen this
body style as a convertible.

It was also interesting to me to listen to other club members relate their
particular knowledge, experience and memories of certain cars and what they
meant to them.

J & R also has a really nice selection of die cast models, books and automotive
memorabilia. I usually give my little grandson at least one die cast model car a
year, and now I have a new source to go to when I want to look for unusual and
sometimes hard to find models.

I would have liked to tour their restoration shop which seemed closed. Through
the window we could see that they had at least six projects going all at various
stages of completion. That didn't seem to be an option and no one was working
that day in the shop.

There's something about vintage (and aren't we all of a certain vintage)
automobiles that has a certain appeal to all and a reminder of where we have
come from: technologically, stylistically and as a reflection of our societal
changes over time.

The only thing that seemed to be missing was the building dedicated to the
display and celebration of one of the most important cars ever produced -- The
Chevrolet Corvair!

Overall, I would recommend to other members who were unable to join us or have
never been there to take the family and spend some time viewing and reading
about the vehicles in this fine collection.

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Photo from the Netherlands Corvair Club publication "Corvair Mail" of December
2020. The photo is from the movie Playtime, directed by Jacques Tati, 1967.

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Happy Birthday Wishes to February CNM'ers:
	Bob Kitts
	Anthony Shortle

Happy Anniversary Wishes to February CNM'ers:
	Rita & Steve Gongora
	Diane & Tony Lawyer

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TREASURY REPORT FOR 12-14-2020 to 01-31-2021
DATE      CHECK#    AMOUNT PAYEE       DESCRIPTION                     BALANCE = $7,217.93
========== ==== ========== =========== ========================================= =========
2021.01.03 2787  $   20.00 Roadrunner  Vickie & Pat Hall - Roadrunner  $   20.00 $7,237.93
2021.01.03 3183  $   30.00 Roadrunner  Steve & Rita Gongora Roadrunner $   30.00 $7,267.93
2021.01.03 1961  $   50.00 Roadrunner  Curtis Shimp - Roadrunner       $   50.00 $7,317.93
2021.01.03 7657  $  100.00 Roadrunner  Tarmo & Kay Sutt - Roadrunner   $  100.00 $7,417.93
2021.01.03 6065  $   50.00 Dues        R.McBreen      26 m CNM         $   50.00 $7,467.93
2020.12.14 2396 -$  200.00 ROADRUNNER FOOD BANK - Donation Check      -$  200.00 $7,267.93
2021.01.06 6099  $  100.00 Roadrunner  Heula & Jim Pittman Roadrunner  $  100.00 $7,367.93
2021.01.06 2397 -$  100.00 ROADRUNNER FOOD BANK - Donation Check      -$  100.00 $7,267.93
2021.01.16 elec -$   10.00 NM State    Annual Corporation Report 2020 -$   10.00 $7,257.93
========== ==== ========== =========== ========================================= =========
2021.02.01 FEB NEWSLETTER  ===================================================== $7,257.93

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	Fwd: VirtualVairs Digest, Vol 192, Issue 5
	To: Jim Pittman (jimp@unm.edu)
	From: David Huntoon (corvair66@aol.com)
	Date: Mon 1/4/2021 9:57 AM

Jim,
Found this interesting. It's a thread about owners who have had their Corvairs
since new. Check the Jim Davis message. -- Later, David

	From: David Marlatt via VirtualVairs
	To: (virtualvairs@corvair.org)
	Date: Thu, Dec 31, 2020 12:13 pm
	Subject: Re: (VV) How many bought their Corvairs new and still have
        them?

I guess I didn't buy my '61 Monza Coupe new either seeing as I wasn't born
yet and technically it was given to me... My great uncle bought it new in San
Francisco, later selling it to his brother-in-law, my grandfather, in Baker OR.
My grandfather fixed it up a little bit and then gave it to me in '82 when I
turned 16... The first thing I did with it was take a young lady on a date that
night and the next day drove it 444 miles from Baker back home to Janesville, CA
with my parents following in their '72 AMC Matador. Today it sits in my shop in
Lakeside, CA patiently waiting for me to fix it up again... I'm gonna try to
keep it in the family, I've got a few years though, my eldest grandson just
turned one last month.

Dave Marlatt -- Lakeside, CA -- '61 Monza Coupe, '63 Corvan, '63 Greenbrier,
'64 Monza Convertible, '64 Monza Convertible (parts car)

Byron LaMotte -- South Wind
4501 World Farm Rd.
Oxford, Md. 21654

	From: James Davis (hurricanehazel16@gmail.com)
	To: Byron LaMotte (bhlamotte@gmail.com)
	Date: Sun, 3 Jan 2021 20:03:44 -0600
	Subject: Re: (VV) Have owned a Corvair from new until today (without
	interruption)

Add my name to the list. I was driving my wife's 1962 Monza convertible, Feb
21,1965, when Sally Matty Doyl decided to turn left on US-87 just south of
Plainview, TX. I shortened the car 18 inches. It soon became obvious that I
needed a new car, as our other car was 1962 Fiat 600D. Back home in Albuquerque,
I searched for a 1965 Corvair Corsa convertible. Three were available in the
local area. Two were evening orchid turbos and one was a 140. The 140 was Danube
blue with white top, 4-sp with light blue metallic interior, deluxe seat belts,
push button AM radio, rear antenna and posi. No other options. The price was
$3,050 including licence and tax.

I was a 1LT over 2 making $410 including housing and subsistence, so it was a
big purchase for me and my pregnant wife. Ms. Doyl's insurance company settled
for $1,250, so the cost was $59 per month to Commercial Credit Corporation plus
USAA charged me $30 semiannually for insurance. I took delivery of the car in
the Gallis showroom on March 3, 1965. It was showing 13 miles on the odometer.
The car currently has 318,000+ miles. The rust was removed (daily driver in
northern Maine for 10 years) and repainted by Micheal LeVeque in 2011. It has
been coast to coast 3 times towing one of my Fiats. It currently has its third
top (both replacements installed by me 1974, 2008) and is on its third interior
(last two installed by me 1986, 2019). It is still my biggest and most powerful
car.

Jim Davis

	From: Byron LaMotte via VirtualVairs
	To: (virtualvairs@corvair.org)
	Date: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 at 5:30 PM
	Subject: Re: (VV) Have owned a Corvair from new until today (without
	interruption)

Paul, NJACE has their monthly Zoom meeting yesterday. We had a "Show and Tell"
session in which all attendees were encouraged to display any Corvair-related
item of interest. Items ranged from an original "Dinky" model to an aluminum
ashtray from the Massena foundry. But our two original-owner members showed
their original purchase invoices which they had saved for 55+ years! A total of
8 were reported... pretty small group. I'm sure there are more. If you hear of
others, please let me know.

Paul Siano

	From: Eric Taylor (corveric@me.com)
	To: (virtualvairs@corvair.org)
	Date: Mon, 4 Jan 2021 08:43:48 -0800
	Subject: (VV) Owned a Corvair from new until today.

Not precisely on topic, but related.

This concept of owning a Corvair since new is a bit tough for us who were born
the same year as our Corvair. It took me twenty years after getting my driver's
license to find, appreciate and afford a toy car and get the old car bug. It
took another eight years of going to car shows marvelling at peoples automotive
gems before I found my defining vehicle - it turned out to be a Rampside.
Something about working for a living and bringing up kids got in the way of
toys. I have had many other toy cars, and they have all come and gone although I
still have a '63 Lemans coupe and a '71 Triumph GT6 which play second and third
trombone to my Rampside.

I do appreciate that there are people so focussed as to purchase and keep a car
for a long period of time. I manage to keep most of my cars for ten to fifteen
years but then they get moved on for one reason or another. I can say that my
Corvair is the first vehicle I have ever owned that I intend to keep to the end.

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	REPRINTED FROM
	CHICAGO AIRHORN
	NOVEMBER 2020

McScellaneous Ramblings -- Mike McGowan

Misconceptions

Today's bedtime story is technical, but it is not useful to improve your Corvair
nor aid in driving it. This is merely informative. Misconceptions and
misinformation abound, regarding how the Corvair works or doesn't work. One of
the most misunderstood areas is the swing-axle rear suspension on the early
models. It is a compromise in design which even Ralph Nader, a lawyer with no
driver's license, recognized to be problematic. I cannot help you to improve it,
but the next time you argue with some troll at a car show or on the Internet, at
least you will have a better understanding of how it works.

Please don't misunderstand me, there is nothing wrong with the Corvair
suspension under normal driving conditions. The problem is that when people
exceed reasonable speeds as well as their own driving skills, they try to blame
the novel design of the Corvair. Following are three aspects of the swing-axle
suspension that are misunderstood because they are unusual.

Camber Compensators

This device is a springy bar that installs transversely between the rear wheels,
attached at a free pivot in the center and to both suspension arms. It is not a
suspension spring that holds up the weight of the car, and you can tell this
because when you install or remove it, the car's ride height does not change. It
has no effect on body roll and so applies no force when one wheel goes down and
the other goes up. When both wheels go up together (car squats down), it adds
slightly to the spring rate which is the force resisting movement. When both
wheels go down together the bar actually resists that movement, working against
the suspension coil springs which push down. This fights the dreaded "axle
jacking" when large suspension movements raise the rear of the car and move the
swing axles into large camber angles.

Camber compensators were an aftermarket solution to the nasty behavior of
swing-axle suspensions at their limits. First made for Volkswagens and Porsches,
there was a version for Corvairs made by EMPI (Or was it IECO? Or EELCO?). I had
one on my old Spyder convertible. It was a bolt-on design, using brackets to
attach the ends to shock absorber bolts. The center attachment was problematic
since there was no fitting on the bottom of the differential. A convoluted
bracket pressed against there with one loose pivot bolt through the leaf spring,
then the bracket went back and over/around the exhaust pipe to attach to
bellhousing bolts. Mine broke there, I imagine that most of them broke
eventually.

For 1964, Chevrolet devised a transverse leaf spring with a proper mount cast
into the differential casing and end mounts built into the swing arms. This
appears exactly like the camber compensator, but it is completely different. The
distinction is in the spring rates. The Chevrolet leaf spring is much stronger
and is preloaded (bent) to actually hold up 40% of the car's weight on the rear
axle. The coil springs are much weaker, only 60% of the 1960-63 springs' rate.
This reduces roll stiffness, which is the car's resistance to leaning sideways
when you go around a corner fast. Some roll stiffness is a necessary feature,
but it also reduces cornering traction for that axle. So decreasing rear roll
stiffness actually improves traction at the rear which is a good thing on a
Corvair. The 1964 cars all got an anti-roll bar on the front axle, which
restores the roll stiffness and moves slightly more traction to the rear. That
reduces oversteer which is an improvement.

Axle Limiting Straps

For the 1962 model year, Chevrolet was looking for expedient ways to remedy the
Corvair's oversteering behavior. They finally offered a front anti-roll bar,
which should have been standard from the beginning. Unfortunately it was not
very stiff, and only optional at extra cost. The other gimmick they tacked on
was a pair of sturdy straps that tied each rear swing arm to the body subframe.
These were measured to limit the extent of downward movement by the axle. It was
observed that in hard cornering, the Corvair would jack up at the rear and swing
the suspension arm downward into large camber (tire leaning sideways) angles.
So, the strap should restrict this, I suppose. But how? Newton's second law
tells us that any force creates equal and opposite reactions, so the same force
through the strap pulls the body down and the wheel up. When the body rolls and
lifts, can the wheel hold it down? I don't think so, the wheel and suspension
arm weigh a small fraction of the car, and the tire cannot pull upwards on the
pavement for extra grip. When the strap pulls up on the axle, the tire just
lifts off the ground. Maybe that tire wasn't providing much cornering grip, but
that drops to zero when it's not touching the road.

Besides, the shock absorbers were already designed to limit the axle drop. So if
you have a 1962 Corvair with this wacky feature, keep it as a historical
curiosity but don't expect it to help you stay on the road.

Swiveling Wheel Bearings

All 1960-64 Corvairs and FCs have a swing-axle rear suspension. The inner end of
the axle pivots on a universal joint, and the outer end is held in the
semi-trailing arm by a wheel bearing that has a slight amount of freedom to
pivot. Many Corvair owners think, if they think about it at all, that this
freedom is necessary so that the axle can pivot in the bearing as the suspension
goes up and down. This is not true. The geometry of the suspension is well
designed. The swing arm is so named because it swings at about a 45-degree angle
to the direction the wheel rolls. It pivots on two bushings. The crucial feature
is that if you draw a line through those two pivot points and extend that line,
it goes right through the U-joint that is the inner pivot of the axle shaft. It
is like the three hinges on the front door of your house: as long as they line
up, the assembly will swing freely. You could weld that wheel bearing solid and
the arm/axle assembly would still move up and down easily.

The need for some freedom in the bearing alignment is for entirely different
reasons. One is wheel alignment; there should be slight toe-in which angles the
axle to the bearing. Actual alignment depends on shims locating the powertrain,
which are sometimes mis-adjusted or just missing. Furthermore, the powertrain is
rubber-mounted and the trailing arm bushings are rubber, so there is
considerable tolerance for movement. In theory it might be possible to set
things up so a non-swiveling bearing would work, and in fact that was tried long
ago when the correct bearings were unobtainable. But that requires diligent
adjustment, probably wrong wheel alignment, plus some luck.

So just maintain your Corvair the way Chevrolet intended, and enjoy driving it.
If you are like me, you enjoy it a little more for knowing how it works.

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	REPRINTED FROM WESTWIND, CORSA WEST OF LOS ANGELES
	GM's Electrovair Is The Precursor To The Company's Electric Future

	BY MICHAEL GAUTHIER JULY 4, 2020 FROM Carscoops

General Motors is embarking on an all-electric future, but the journey won't
happen overnight. That isn't too surprising, but GM has been working on electric
vehicles for more than  a century. We told you about the XP 512E a few months
ago, and now we'll take a look at the 1964 Electrovair.

As the name suggests, the car was based on the Corvair, which itself was pretty
interesting as it was rear engined and air-cooled. The Electrovair took things
even further as the engine was replaced by a 90 hp (67 kW / 91) electric motor
that was powered by 450-volt silver-zinc batteries.

While those specifications aren't impressive these days, the car was developed
to test the feasibility of electric vehicles and the capability of the batteries

Two years later, GM followed up with the Electrovair II, which boasted a number
of improvements.  One of the biggest was a more powerful electric motor that
developed 115 hp (85 kW / 117 PS). This  was nearly a 28% improvement over the
original motor and it helped the Electrovair II to hit a top speed of 80 mph
(129 km/h).

That wasn't the only change, as the model featured more powerful 532 volt
silver-zinc batteries that provided a range of 40-80 miles (64-129 km).

A few years later, GM's electric vehicle technology was shown to the worid when
the Lunar Roving Vehicle landed on the moon in 1971. GM partnered with Boeing on
the project and it appears that event will be commemorated on the GMC Hummer EV,
as previous reports have suggested the electric pickup will have a topographical
map of the Sea of Tranquility, where Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong landed on
the moon.

The Electrovair was never intended for  production as the technology simply
wasn't there yet, but it can be seen as paving the way for GM's modern EVs like
the Chevrolet Bolt and the upcoming Cadillac Lyriq.

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	www.cnn.com/2021/01/15/health/covid-19-pandemic-getting-worse/index.html

	Don't ignore this headline: The pandemic is getting worse.
	What happens next is up to you
	By Holly Yan, CNN -- 6:52 AM ET, Fri 15-Jan-2021

(CNN) Despite hopes of widespread vaccinations this year, experts warned the
start of 2021 would be a very rough time in this pandemic.

	It turns out the first two weeks have been abysmal.

The United States just shattered its all-time records for the most Covid-19
infections, hospitalizations and deaths reported in one day:

*  On January 2, a record-high 302,506 new infections were reported in one day,
according to Johns Hopkins University.

That's an average of 3.5 people getting infected every second.

*  On January 6, a record-high 132,447 patients were hospitalized with Covid-19,
according to the Covid Tracking Project.

Many hospitals are now filled beyond capacity, meaning even those without
Covid-19 -- say, car accident victims -- might not get immediate care.

*  On January 12, a record-high 4,462 Covid-19 deaths were reported in just one
day, according to Johns Hopkins.

A Boeing 747 can carry about 400 passengers. That means in one day, US deaths
from Covid-19 were on par with 11 jumbo jets crashing, killing everyone on
board.

	Why is this happening?

People are letting their guard down due to pandemic fatigue. And many of those
who are sick of taking precautions are getting sick.

Now that the weather is colder, more people are socializing indoors. And the
coronavirus primarily spreads during close contact with others through
respiratory droplets -- produced when someone talks, coughs, sings or even
breathes.

Sometimes, viral particles can "linger in the air for minutes to hours," the US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

"These viruses may be able to infect people who are further than 6 feet away
from the person who is infected or after that person has left the space," the
CDC said.

	Socializing indoors with anyone outside your bubble -- even
	just one friend -- is risky. Gathering with multiple friends
	indoors can be dangerous.

"If you go to a party with five or more people, almost certainly there's going
to be somebody with Covid-19 at that party," said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the
National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

One reason why the coronavirus spreads so easily is because people can be
contagious without knowing they're infected -- and can pass along the virus
without looking or feeling sick.

The CDC estimates more than 50% of all infections are transmitted from people
who aren't showing symptoms.

"This means at least half of new infections come from people likely unaware they
are infectious to others," the agency said.

	What's the difference between asymptomatic and
	pre-symptomatic spread?

And just like doctors predicted, holiday travel and gatherings have triggered
new waves of infections, hospitalizations and deaths.

Fallout from the holidays could still ripple across the United States for weeks
to come.

"It takes two to three weeks for patients to get sick enough to need the
hospital after they've gotten the virus," said Dr. Anish Mahajan, chief medical
officer at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Even though Christmas was less than three weeks ago, "we're already full."

"We don't have any more ICU capacity," Mahajan said. "All of the hospitals in
the region are putting ICU patients in unusual places in the hospital just to
find room for them."

Some patients have been put in hospital break rooms, parking garages and gift
shops.

	Then there are newly
	identified variants

New for 2021: The United States has confirmed at least 76 cases of a highly
transmissible variant of the coronavirus that was first detected in the United
Kingdom.

Those US cases were found in 12 states: California, Florida, Minnesota, New
York, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Texas, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wisconsin
and Georgia, according to CDC data posted Wednesday.

But the real numbers could be much higher because the United States lags behind
dozens of other countries in the proportion of Covid-19 cases that are analyzed
through genetic sequencing.

And the United States ranks 61st in how quickly virus samples are collected from
patients, analyzed and then posted to an international database to find new
variants.

Earlier this month, a CDC official said the agency plans to double the number of
samples it sequences by mid-January -- with a target of 6,500 per week.

Understanding the genetic makeup of a virus and how it changes is critical to
ensuring vaccines remain effective.

	All viruses mutate over time,
	and new variants are common.

But scientists advising the UK government have estimated that the variant could
be up to 70% more effective at spreading than others.

While it may be more transmissible, there's no evidence this variant first
detected in the UK is deadlier or causes more severe disease.

But the strain first detected in the United Kingdom isn't the only one causing
concern.

A variant first detected in South Africa has been shown it might be able to
escape some of the antibodies produced by a Covid-19 vaccine.

That strain was first spotted two months ago in South Africa and has been found
in 12 countries. As of Thursday, it has not been detected in the United States.

	Why can't we all get
	vaccinated soon?

The vaccine rollout is happening more slowly than expected.

The Trump administration initially said it aimed to vaccinate 20 million people
by the end of 2020.

That didn't happen. Not even close.

As of Thursday morning, about 10.2 million vaccine doses had been administered,
out of roughly 29.3 million doses that have been distributed across the United
States.

And the two vaccines distributed in the United States right now -- from
Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna -- require two doses for each person.

The federal government recently said it will stop holding back doses kept in
reserve -- intended to help guarantee second doses -- so more people can get
their first dose faster.

	When can you get vaccinated?

It depends on your health, job and where you live.

In the coming weeks and months, the US Food and Drug Administration might grant
emergency use authorization to other vaccines -- such as those from Johnson &
Johnson and AstraZeneca.

But either way, millions of Americans will have to wait months before getting a
vaccine.

	What all this means for you

If you want to get life closer to normal (and more quickly), it's time to double
down on safety measures:

*  Wear a mask in public and every time you're around someone who doesn't live
with you. If there's a chance for infection within your home, wear a mask at
home, too.

*  Don't count on a negative test result as a way to "safely" see friends or
relatives. You can test negative but still be infected and contagious.

*  Keep social distancing. Wash your hands frequently. And don't think you're
invincible -- even if you're young and healthy.

	Covid-19 can be a
	prolonged illness, even
	for young adults.

"We see severe illness among healthy, young adults with no apparent underlying
causes," Hotez said.

"Whether that's due to ... a higher dose of the virus, whether they have genetic
alterations they don't know about -- we just don't understand," he said.

"So, we can't reliably predict who's going to handle this virus well, and who
doesn't."

	CNN's Elizabeth Cohen, Maggie Fox, Michael Nedelman and Amanda Watts
	contributed to this report.

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SAT 06 FEB 10:00 AM Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED

WED 17 FEB  5:00 PM Board Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED

WED 24 FEB  7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED

FRI 26 FEB  9:00 PM Deadline for items for January 2021 newsletter
MON 01 MAR  >> TARGET FOR PRINTING AND MAILING MARCH NEWSLETTER <<

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SAT 06 MAR 10:00 AM Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED

SUN 14 MAR  2:00 AM Set your clocks ahead an hour. No worries, we will get the
           hour back after tolerating a one-hour jet lag experience in November.

xxx xx MAR xx:xx xx 47th Anniversary Party: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED

WED 17 MAR  5:00 PM Board Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED

WED 24 MAR  7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED

FRI 26 MAR  9:00 PM Deadline for items for January 2021 newsletter
MON 29 MAR  >> TARGET FOR PRINTING AND MAILING APRIL NEWSLETTER <<

============================================================================

SAT 03 APR 10:00 AM Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED

WED 21 APR  5:00 PM Board Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED

WED 28 APR  7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED

FRI 23 APR  9:00 PM Deadline for items for January 2021 newsletter
MON 26 APR  >> TARGET FOR PRINTING AND MAILING MAY NEWSLETTER <<

============================================================================

>>>>>>>  36TH ANNUAL TRI-STATE CORVAIR MEET -  POSTPONED DUE TO PANDEMIC <<<<<

SAT 01 MAY 10:00 AM Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED

WED 19 MAY  5:00 PM Board Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED

WED 26 MAY  7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED

FRI 28 MAY  9:00 PM Deadline for items for January 2021 newsletter
MON 31 MAY  >> TARGET FOR PRINTING AND MAILING JUNE NEWSLETTER <<

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

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SEVEN YEARS AGO [ FEBRUARY 2021 VOL 47 Nr 2 ISSUE 545 ]
Jim Pittman

2014 Vol 40 Nr 2 #461

COVER: We are at Henrietta's Restaurant, Los Lunas for a great breakfast. David
Huntoon showed a 1964 photo of his family and their maroon Corvair. Making plans
for the Chama Tri-State. Robert Gold told about dead batteries and a totaled
1998 Mitsubishi. Wendell Walker invited us to his 95th birthday party. TECH: an
article from Minnesota's LEEKY SEAL told about the hazards of ethanol in
gasoline in our older cars. This month's Burma Shave takeoff: YOUR CORVAIR'S NOT
A MODERN TOY TO MOST OF US THAT IS A JOY Corvair Power!

2007 V.33 N.2 #377

COVER: Thirty years' worth of February covers. Ice and snow kept our January
attendance down. Several activities were previewed: a Bosque tour, a breakfast,
a garage tour and a TUNA. We met Del Patten at the Owl Cafe. Sylvan Zuercher
gave a talk on early model Corvair turn signals. Ray Trujillo reserved a room at
Papa Felipe's for our anniversary. The Sticklers invited us to watch Fourth of
July fireworks. Ray told us he found two AM radio stations with 40s-70s music:
1550 K-JOY and 1600 Oldies. Perfect for Corvair radios! The Car Council web page
was up. Jim mentioned the Newsletter CD. Steve Goodman previewed the Mesa Vista
Tri-State. An article on the Corvair thermostat.

2000 V.26 N.2 #293

COVER: Our board members. President Hurley ran the January meeting, at the top
of the long flight of stairs at Galles Chevrolet. We had $6,128.18 in the
treasury. Dennis told us about the new CNM web site. A "women's auxiliary" was
getting organized. LeRoy planned a March garage tour. Coming: a progressive
dinner; a trip to Santa Theresa to see an aircraft museum; the State Fair car
show; new CNM license plates; the Tri-State; a Bar-B-Q; a camping trip; a
potluck & auction; a summer film festival; an auction in Scottsdale, Arizona;
the latest word on "Horseless Carriage" license plates; the disposition of the
club library and the library van. Billiken's Corvair was Y2K-compliant but had
software bugs. An article by Del reported on the latest mechanical snafus and a
wet camping trip. We reprinted a classic article from January 1988 called "Dark
Intrigue" in which Tom Martin told about getting New Mexico's very first Corvair
shipment at Galles-Grosbeek Chevrolet, September 25, 1959. A Virtual Vairs tech
tip on "Flippin' belts" told us how to make our fan belts live long and prosper.

1993 V.19 N.2 #209

COVER: Last month's sad wreck was all fixed up. President Del presided. New
members were Bruce Heim and Frank Stadler. Will Davis reported $1,137. Sylvan
had heart surgery at Lovelace. Bill Reider received the 1992 Ike Meissner Award.
We planned a February garage tour and a March dinner meeting. We took orders for
club golf shirts. Jerry showed a video from a recent trip to the Northwest
Territories. LeRoy previewed the special March meeting at the Tool Museum. Our
feature article this month was "My First Corvair" by Bill Reider who told about
the 1962 Monza convertible he bought at Nicky Chevrolet in Chicago. Not content
with what GM put on the car, he soon had it equipped with four carbs, trombone
exhausts, Mallory dual-point distributor and a fan belt tensioner. Tech tips
included closing body seams with "High Tech Leak Check Seam Sealer"; painting
the bottom of your car with "Hammerite Rust Stop Metal Finish Paint"; building a
handy holder for cans of spray paint; removing tie rods; removing tie rod ends;
removing steering knuckles and front springs. We also had several Otto Mechanic
cartoons and a political article passed along by Francis on American jobs going
overseas.

1986 V.12 N.2 #125

COVER: A map of Guam with Corvair by Mark Morgan. President Clayborne ran the
meeting. A new member was Brad Bobotis. LeRoy reported $556 in the bank. We
planned a garage tour, a "snow trip" and a caravan to a Phoenix mini-convention.
There were new Clark's catalogs. George Morin described electro-chemical
nickel-plating techniques and passed around several samples. Clayborne asked
what the meaning of "economical" was to the original GM engineers who designed
the Corvair. Did they mean a low coefficient of drag? Good fuel economy? Or did
they mean an inexpensive car to buy and maintain? Mark Morgan, touring the world
with the Navy, sent us an article he called "Driving in WESTPAC, Part 1: Guam"
and it included some notes on Hawaii. Apparently there's a lot of automotive fun
to be had on a small island with a speed limit of 35 MPH. Bill Reider's column
on Corvair repair discussed brakes and how to maintain them. First, get good
quality shoes. Another tech tip was an illustrated article on towing the 1965
Corvair.

1979 V.5 N.2 #41

COVER: George Morin and his award-winning 1964 Monza. We raffled a set of NGK
spark plugs. We had $396 in the bank. A new member was Stan Johnson. We planned
a birthday party in March, a Winrock car show in April, a State Fair car show in
September and an Aspencade-Econorun in October. The Club's new posts of
Treasurer and Membership chairman were filled by Francis Boydston and Ike
Meissner respectively. We discussed a Club purchase of bulk items such as spark
plugs, oil and air filters and wheel bearings. We still had no official name for
the Newsletter. Jim listed eight functions of the Newsletter and asked for
suggestions for improving it. In an article entitled "These are the Good Old
Days" Jim argued that we were at a fortunate point in the life of the Corvair:
our cars are still new enough that we can afford to drive them every day, and
still numerous enough that parts and repairs are available. Ike Meissner
provided an article on adjusting timing for driving at high altitude with
regular gasoline. Tech tips: Using a rocker panel from a 1969 Camaro on a 1965
Corvair; checking the inner front wheel bearing for fit BEFORE installing;
adjusting the front wheel bearings; and using a short piece of 7/32" hose over
the end of a new spark plug to avoid cross-threading.

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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. The newsletter
is composed using Apple computers. Software includes Mac OS-X, AppleWorks,
Photoshop CS, GraphicConverter, BBEdit and InDesign CS. If you care, ask for
more details. When I'm 64, I'll get by with a little help from my friends.
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