The March 2021 newsletter - Text Version
Updated 01-Mar-2021 ==== Copyright (c) 2021 Corvairs of New Mexico
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March 2021 / VOLUME 47 / NUMBER 3 / ISSUE 546
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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
MEETING: March Actual (non-virtual) Meeting: March 6th at 1:00 PM
The Gongoras: 8419 Palo Duro NE Albuquerque NM 87111 505-292-5570
THIS MONTH
What's Up Dave: Our March Meeting ................ David Huntoon
Dues Due Dates .......................................... Editor
February Regular Meeting .......... Cancelled due to Coronavirus
February Board Meeting ................................ Kay Sutt
March "Special Anniversary Issue" ....................... Editor
* Old Route 66 Cleanup .............................. Anne Wiker
* You Can Use My Story ............................... Bill Heil
* Old Route 66 Cleanup Coordination ............. Gregory Nelson
* Another Story ...................................... Bill Heil
* What I did on my 2020 Pandemic Vacation .......... Vickie Hall
* My 1964 Monza ................................. Gregory Nelson
* Corvair Models .................................... Dave Allin
* Speedometer Cable .................................. Anonymous
* The Great Coronavirus-Covid-Flu-Pandemic-Scary Blues .. Editor
Treasury Report .................................. Steve Gongora
Birthdays & Anniversaries ................. Membership Committee
Calendar of Coming Events ................... Board of Directors
March Issues, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago ....... Club Historian
COVER: A Corvair at our Highland Center Meeting, March 2020
At right: Several Corvairs on a Garage Tour in February 1985
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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
MEETING: March Actual (non-virtual) Meeting: March 6th at 1:00 PM
The Gongoras: 8419 Palo Duro NE Albuquerque NM 87111 505-292-5570
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 MARCH 2021
DUE LAST MONTH ====================== INACTIVE DATE
2021.02 Linda & Anthony Berbig 25-MAR-2021
DUE THIS 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 Kay & Tarmo Sutt 25-APR-2021
DUE NEXT MONTH ====================== 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
DUE MAY 2021 ======================== INACTIVE DATE
2021.05 Lube Lubert 25-JUN-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
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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WHAT'S UP DAVE?
DAVID HUNTOON
Just a short column this month. The good news is we will start up our regular
club meetings starting in March. We're back! Steve and Rita have graciously
offered their home as a meeting place. March 6th at 1:00 pm. It will be in their
backyard and masks will be required. Latest word is, Bernalillo County is still
in the Yellow zone so gatherings of 10 or more people are not allowed. If more
than 10 show up the meeting will be short. There is not really much to discuss
except an overview of plans for the Tri-State.Should be great to get together
again. Last October was our last club meeting. It's been awhile....
MEETING: March Actual (non-virtual) Meeting: March 6th at 1:00 PM
The Gongoras: 8419 Palo Duro NE Albuquerque NM 87111 505-292-5570
In the coming months as the weather warms we will likely find a park location as
we did much of last year. Maybe even an inside location as conditions improve.
We need to start on our Tri-State plans by asking for volunteers and suggestions
to make the event happen. It will be nice to see our Tri-State friends again and
maybe some new faces will show up! Is "normal" on the horizon? Hope so.....
Thx, David --- Time to get those Corvairs cleaned up and back out on the road!
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SECRETARY'S REPORT FOR FEBRUARY, 2021
KAY SUTT
Once again, because of the Covid pandemic the February CNM Board Meeting was
held February 17 at 7:00 P.M. via Zoom. Present at the meeting were President
David Huntoon, Vice-president Tarmo Sutt, Secretary Kay Sutt, Treasurer Steve
Gongora, Tri-State Chairman Terry Price, Newsletter Editor Jim Pittman and Old
Route 66 Clean-up Chair Greg Nelson.
President David indicated he is scheduling the March General Meeting in person
for the first time in several months, subject to the NM State Covid guidelines:
masks, social distancing, etc. It will be held Saturday, March 6, at Steve and
Rita Gongora's house (outside, or in their garage, depending on the weather) at
1:00 P.M.
Greg Nelson is preparing to get CNM's Old Route 66 Cleanup project for the 2021
season started, so stay tuned for details.
David has seven name tags to distribute to new members at the next meeting. The
club is proceeding with a bulk printing of 40 more name tag blanks for new club
members, since our supply has run out -- Thanks to the number of new members CNM
has included during the last year!
David Neale, our English CNM friend who bought Bill Reider's car, has been under
the weather, so we send him our wishes for a speedy and complete recovery.
President David indicated he is working on an econo-run for April. He
anticipates it will be about a 40-50 mile/one hour event -- Covid compliant, of
course. Details will follow when they are finalized.
The major topic of tonight's discussion was the Albuquerque Tri-State Meet,
which CNM is hosting October 15-17 in Albuquerque. We are becoming more
confident by the day that it will actually occur at that time after two previous
cancellations due to Covid-19.
David has submitted the Tri-State ad to the CORSA Communique, so we should see
more activity soon after its publication.
Larry Blair has agreed to get in touch with NASA astronaut Harrison Schmitt, the
NM native son who was the last person to walk on the moon. Mr. Schmitt was our
scheduled banquet speaker, and Larry will ensure he is still available for our
October event.
The official Tri-State website is being updated with correct dates and
information for people wishing to contact us online. Tarmo will work with Tami,
our website manager, to ensure the site is correct.
Dave Allin has indicated he intends to attend the meet. He will be working from
his home base in Oklahoma to try to ensure we will still be able to offer hot
air balloon rides on the Saturday morning of the event.
Vickie Hall has the registration bags essentially complete, awaiting final event
time schedules.
Lupe Arellanes and her daughter are still onboard to work on the T-shirts and
registration desk scheduling. Lupe has a new embroidery machine, and she is
working on ideas for some other fun merchandise to offer at the event.
The raffle quilt is not complete, but Kay Sutt will be working on that, with the
assistance of Anne Wiker and Lupe Arellanes.
There was discussion about re-designing the logo, since the one we had for 2020
is now literally 'dated' so stay tuned for more details.
The newsletter deadline is Friday, February 26, at 9:00 P.M. Thanks, as always,
Jim Pittman!
The meeting was adjourned within the Zoom 40-minute limit.
Members are reminded that you are all welcome at all Board meetings. If you wish
to attend a Zoom meeting of the board, email Kay Sutt at suttkay@gmail.com to
request an invitation to join the discussion.
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STRIKE TWO
GREGORY NELSON
ROUTE 66 CLEANUP CREW COORDINATOR
Even though the trash clean up season on Route 66 ended last October, I had
planned to do regular checks and cleanup during the winter months. I managed to
pick up two bags worth on a 1/2 mile single-side section in early November 2020.
I planned on returning on the January and February Federal Holidays that fall on
a Monday: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Presidents Day. Unfortunately, both
holidays saw extreme weather events. I will have to find a nice 'warm' Sunday at
the end of February or early March for my next session. I did complete the
paperwork with the NMDOT to transfer the trash pickup coordination from David
Huntoon to myself.
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* MARCH SPECIAL ISSUE
* JIM PITTMAN
Traditionally, March is the month for our anniversary celebration. Last year on
Saturday March 7th we had a very nice party. It was the last time the club
freely met with no worries about the Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic. After the
April 2020 issue of the newsletter new material soon dried up and your editor
resorted more and more to bringing back articles and photos that appeared in
past issues from -- as I have called it -- the club's Golden Years.
With no Anniversary Party scheduled for 2021 I thought it would be appropriate
to publish a special March "Anniversary Issue" and I asked our members for help.
By email I asked Club members to tell what they had been doing during the
pandemic by sending me sentences, paragraphs or articles to "celebrate" their
Great Covid Pandemic Year. I suggested these topics:
* How my family and I are coping with the pandemic.
* The Corvair activities I have managed to participate in.
* Interesting Corvair maintenance or restorations I have done.
* Why do I prefer: Earlies. Lates. Vans. Pickups. Wagons. Any!
* Why I am still a Corvair enthusiast.
* Suggestions for Corvair Club activities for the rest of 2021.
Several members sent in articles, so for this ANNIVERSARY ISSUE we are able to
present several special stories. Thanks everyone, and I hope our readers enjoy
them! (If you did not get your articles to me in time, there's always next
month.)
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* YOU CAN USE MY STORY IF YOU WANT
* BILL HEIL
I joined this club a few months ago. I had been thinking about getting some kind
of classic car, and one day it dawned on me, why not another Corvair. I had met
Dave and Tony at a coffee shop in Cedar Crest and they stirred up my interest. I
have had a few Corvairs in the past, the latest bunch in the 1980s and early
1990s. I had at least four running and licensed at that time, a Greenbrier, a
1966 coupe, a 1963 convertible and a 1963 coupe. In fact, the 1963 coupe was my
daughter's first car.
I started looking around for a car and Dave put me on to Pat Hall. He has a lot
of cars for sale. I got close to buying one from him, but stopped the process to
consider what I really wanted, early or late model, convertible or coupe, and
the big thing, how much work I wanted to do. Had to realize I was a bit older
(85 to be specific) and I really didn't want to do any real serious work, like
overhaul engines and crawl under cars. Somehow at 85, this does not appeal to me
very much. Also, the Covid situation has stopped all club activities, so there
wouldn't be any opportunities to meet and socialize with other Corvair people.
Remember that in the 1980s, used cars were cheaper and in better condition. I
never had to overhaul an engine, or replace whole brake systems, or replace
rotting wiring, and even in Florida, the cars were young enough that there
wasn't too much rust. I hardly ever paid more than $1,200 to $1,500 for a good
running car, and only painted one, the Greenbrier. (I never sold one for a lot
of money either.) Although there at the last I paid quite a bit for a very nice
original 1966 four-door, 110 with powerglide. I think it was $2,500, but can't
be sure. I think the late four-doors are really beautiful cars, but somehow
after I bought it, I didn't like it, so I didn't keep it long.
I have found at least four Corvair groups on Facebook, and I am learning a lot
about the Corvair world of today, and how much work one can get into now that
these cars are 50-ish years old. I am enjoying these discussions and even can
chime in with a suggestion at times, even though it has been 25 years. The cars
are still the same.
Hopefully the late spring will bring increased activity and the right car will
make itself known to me. (And at the rate I am not spending money during this
lockdown I can afford something that doesn't need a lot of work, one that I can
just drive and enjoy.)
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* OLD ROUTE 66 CLEANUP
* ANNE WIKER
I've only gone on one road cleanup, but enjoyed the side benefits immensely. I
found money, bottle caps (which I collect for cancer treatments) and other items
that could be recycled. One of the ladies with us found a good floor mat for her
truck. I was jealous. I also got exercise and fresh air that I wouldn't have
gotten otherwise.
In addition, now I don't have to look at the trash when I drive Route 66 home.
Most of all, I thoroughly enjoyed the company of the others on the cleanup and I
found the benefits far outweighed the cost of a couple of hours of my time and
getting up early.
The rest of you should try it. It's fun. Anne
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* ANOTHER STORY
* BILL HEIL
The first Corvair I bought in 1984 was a 1963 convertible. Bought it from a
friend for $1,000. It had a nice body, good upholstery, a good top and a solid
body. It needed brake work. I had to replace all the wheel cylinders and the
master cylinder. After I got it running I realized the rear tires were wearing
like crazy. I did some research and found that someone had put a late model
4-speed in it, and they somehow are longer that the others, so the rear wheels
were seriously toed in and scrubbing big time.
Well, I knew someone who had a 1964 sedan he was disgusted with, couldn't get it
running, so I bought it for $200. It was a PG car, but that didn't bother me a
bit. I swapped the engine and trans as a package and while I was at it swapped
the better 1964 rear suspension. I guess I had to change the dash too to get the
PG shifter. I had to take out the clutch and brake pedals for the appropriate PG
stuff. It all worked well. I also found 14-inch aluminum wheels for this car. As
I remember they were scrap yard wheels from a Dodge Challenger, anyway it was
the small car built by Mitsubishi for Chrysler. They had four lugs with the
right offset. The only thing I had to do was install longer studs in the brake
drums. When I was through, this was a nice car. It drove well and handled well.
After all that, I sold it for meager $2,000 when I retired. That was also quite
a while ago.
That's all my stories for now. -- Bill
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* WHAT I DID ON MY 2020 PANDEMIC VACATION
* VICKIE HALL
I can't say that Pat and I have missed out on very many experiences during the
Pandemic. We've been home-bodies together for many years. We do miss not being
allowed to gather for our CNM meetings and other events such as car shows and of
course getting together for a meal with lots of conversation.
I read this in the newspaper and thought it was clever enough to repeat. "I just
got the coronavirus vaccine because of some weird national system that seems to
give preference to people who are already half-dead. I don't mean to be morbid
or ungrateful, but at 75, statistically speaking, the vaccine will probably
allow me to exist only through the first Kamala Harris administration."
The last article I read said that "Shedding tears can help relieve Pandemic
stress."
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* 1964 MONZA
* GREGORY NELSON
I have had my 1964 in the garage this winter working on replacing the trunk lid
weather stripping. That stuff was hard as cement and took longer than I thought.
That is ok; this is supposed to be one of my retirement hobbies (I have 2 years,
10 months, 16 days to go). I have also replaced a myriad number of smaller
items; applied paint-over-rust to the battery box (I plan to replace it in a few
years), replaced the driver seat cover (actually House of Covers did the work),
bead blasted the ash trays in the back seat and gas cap cover, bought a new
glove box, installed a 3" extension kit for the driver's seat (now I can get
into the car a bit easier). I need to take the car back to Dave's Repair for a
quick check but once he is done, my next projects are replacing the weather
stripping around the doors and in the engine area.
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* CORVAIR MODELS
* DAVE ALLIN
Due to the pandemic, the local Corvair club has suspended meetings, and lately
the weather has been so bad I don't want to take my car out on the road, so I
have turned to my scale model collection. Most of my Corvair models are plastic
kits in the standard 1/25 scale that began with the dealer promos issued back in
the fifties. I am trying to have at least one example of every body style, but
I'm still short of that.
I was lucky recently to acquire a couple of old built kits that were restorable.
One was the 1961 four-door, issued only as a promo. It came with some
replacement parts from Modelhaus, a now-defunct company that produced
reproduction parts for model cars from the fifties and sixties. The body was in
excellent condition, and had been molded in factory-correct Corona Cream, so I
simply polished it, painted the interior, and added the chrome.
The 1964 Spyder coupe was a kit that had been built back when it was new, but
fortunately it had never been painted and the builder had used minimal glue, so
I was able to disassemble it and restore it to better than new condition. It had
been molded in yellow, but because I had to fill some holes where there had been
mirrors and spotlights, I painted it. It's not the correct shade of yellow for
that year, but I never really cared for the Buttercup that was used by the
factory.
The other models are ones that you may have seen before. The red 1962 Monza
coupe is an exact replica of my first Corvair, purchased in 1965. The 1961
Lakewood is a resin kit, but is not exactly like my real 1962 Monza wagon, which
was white with a grey interior. The Late models include the replica of my
current car, which is running fine. There is also a custom I did years ago, a
1969 convertible I built by cutting the top off a coupe kit, and the highly
modified Speedster model I did for CORSA. The Monza GT is a 1/20-scale Japanese
kit that isn't very accurate (it has a generic V-8 engine in it).
The 1961 Monza coupe model and the Yenko Stinger model were ones I built and
then sold on eBay. The '61 required a lot of work. As you may know, GM planned
to introduce the convertible in 1961, but at the last minute delayed the
introduction until 1962. AMT, the model maker, had already produced the molds
for the '61 convertible, and had to scramble. They added a separate roof and
rear window to the kit, and advertised that the model could also be built as a
"custom" convertible. The separate roof and rear window were not really correct,
and I did a lot of bodywork on the model to make it look semi-decent. The Yenko
Stinger I sold because the blue paint wasn't the right shade after it dried. I
have another kit that I will build as a Stinger some day. A guy in California is
working with me to produce scale "Hands" wheels which can be used for Stingers
and Sprint models.
The Rampside was a resin kit my regular customer sent me to build for him. It's
a very good kit, but the price has really gone up. It was originally available
for $80, but is currently selling for $200. Someone else is producing body
shells to convert the Rampside kit to a Corvan or to a crew-cab pickup. Correct
me if I'm wrong, but the FC never came as a crew cab.
Recently on eBay I have missed out on auctions of models I really wanted. I lost
auctions for two different Modelhaus resin kits of the 1966 four-door, and also
an auction for a built 1963 Monza convertible. I'll keep trying, since those are
the only two body styles I don't have.
A company called NEO is now producing very nice 1/43-scale diecasts of the main
FC models. I have just ordered the red and white six-door Greenbrier (from
Poland), but they also sell a turquoise and white Rampside and a light blue and
white Corvan. The models are not cheap; expect to pay around $100 each, and most
are only available from European sellers.
As I write this, the street in front of my house is still a foot deep in snow,
but it is supposed to warm up over the weekend. Maybe next week I'll be able to
take Goldie for drive. It's also time to do an oil change and figure out why
it's hard to roll down the front window, but easy to roll it up. My new outside
mirror is starting to flop again every time I close the door. I found a
suggestion on an online forum that I want to try: use clear lacquer on the ball
joint. I'll let you know if it works. Dave
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TREASURY REPORT FOR 02-01-2021 to 03-27-2021 =============================================
DATE CHECK# AMOUNT PAYEE DESCRIPTION BALANCE = $7,257.93
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2021.02.03 3183 +$ 25.00 Dues D.Huntoon 12 m CNM +$ 25.00 $7,282.93
2021.02.03 1961 +$ 50.00 Dues L.Rogers 26 m CNM +$ 50.00 $7,332.93
2021.02.03 7557 +$ 50.00 Dues F.Edeskuty 26 m CNM +$ 50.00 $7,382.93
2021.02.03 6065 +$ 25.00 Dues L.Reider 26 m CNM +$ 25.00 $7,407.93
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2021.03.01 MAR NEWSLETTER ===================================================== $7,407.93
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Happy Birthday Wishes to March CNM'ers:
Dave Allin
Jim Arellanes
Tony Berbig
Linda Cochran
Vickie Hall
Barbara Johnson
Lesha Kitts
John McMahan
Lloyd Piatt
Brenda Stickler
Joel Yelich
Happy Anniversary Wishes to March CNM'ers:
Josie & Leroy Alderete
Anne Mae & Robert Gold
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* SPEEDOMETER CABLE
* ANONYMOUS
Well, our editor asked what Corvair projects we were working on during the
shutdown so I thought I'd tell about my speedometer cable.
One time long ago I put in new shock absorbers on both ends and while I was
under the car I happened to look at the back of the left front wheel -- this is
a '65 Monza -- and as you know on the lates the speedometer drives off the front
wheel not off the transmission the way the early models do.
Much to my surprise I saw that the cable coming out of the back of the wheel
housing had a bad kink. It was bent at an angle just a little ways beyond the
back of the wheel. But, the speedometer had been working fine. But I knew that,
with that much of a kink, it was going to fail sooner or later.
So, this being back in the days when Chevrolet dealers still carried Corvair
parts, I went down to Galles and asked for a new speedometer cable. They had
them in stock and I bought one.
But you know I was not in a hurry to put it in. The speedometer was working
fine, not a wobble in the needle, and after all the work I did installing a
Corsa dash in this Monza I really did not want to crawl under the dash again
until I had to. So I just put it off. I pitched the new cable in the trunk and
waited for a failure.
Now I knew something about Corvair late model speedometers because a few years
after I bought my new 1966 Corsa the speedometer quit working. Well it was out
of warranty by then so I had to get it fixed myself. I pulled the hub cap off
the left front wheel and there was the problem: the little plastic insert inside
the hub cap had cracked and wouldn't turn the cable any more. I got a new cap
from Ed Black's to fix that problem and the speedometer went back to working. I
never had any more problems with that car's speedometer. Well, actually, the
speedometer itself failed a couple of times, but I was able to find a shop in
Albuquerque who could replace the little gears inside that had chewed themselves
up.
And by the way, talking about things failing on new cars, seems like there were
a lot of things on that new 1966 car that failed too soon. I got some fixed
under warranty, like the clock, but some waited till the warranty was over to
fail. But, once I got all those little aggravations fixed the '66 was very
reliable and trouble free. But I did have to do a lot of little fixes and
adjustments when it was new.
Well, anyway, starting about last March we were in this epidemic and couldn't go
places and by now I was retired and looking for something to do during the
shutdown. I thought about that kink in the speedometer and decided to finally
fix it. I put the car up on jack stands and got under the front and looked it
over. I couldn't figure what had made that kink. The cable has to flex quite a
lot as you steer left or right, but you know it's designed to do that. I saw
that the cable had a clamp holding it onto the suspension subframe. I got to
thinking that maybe that clamp was what was making the cable have to bend too
much, especially when the wheel turned left.
So when I went to replace the cable (I won't tell you how painful it was to do
all that crawling around under the car and all that squeezing under the dash at
my age, but I managed it) I did not re-attach that clamp. I thought about it. I
thought it probably really did need a clamp, but maybe I could come up with a
clamp that would, you know, flex a little better.
Feeling like maybe I had learned something years ago from Francis Boydston, I
scrounged around for a piece of springy steel, bent it into a sort of S-shape
and fastened the cable's clamp to one end, then fastened the other end to the
frame.
Well now, how did this new clamp work? We have been snowed in for a while so I
have not driven the car since I replaced the cable, but I turned the steering
wheel all the way both ways and it looks like the cable with my home-made clamp
is going to work fine. And come spring, or at least a spell of warmer dryer
weather, I will find out.
So maybe I got something useful out of this darned epidemic shutdown after all.
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* THE GREAT CORONAVIRUS-COVID-19-FLU-PANDEMIC-SCARY BLUES
* JIM PITTMAN
It's been a year,
Twelve months unprecedented in the history of the nation,
And we're still here,
Although we've all been forced to do the longest hibernation.
We cannot meet,
Without maintaining distance from the presence of a friend,
We cannot greet,
No hugs or shaking hands will be allowed, not now, and n'er again.
The leader said
Don't worry, just one person coming in from China, it will be okay,
And then he said,
By April, you know, we'll be fine, by miracle this flu will go away.
Our governor declared,
No classes for a while, wear masks, be distant, wash and scrub your hands,
But businesses dispaired,
No money to be made, but we must pay our rent though customers are banned.
We can't be sick,
No visits to the ICU or even to our doctor's waiting room,
And oh so quick,
We've had to learn to navigate on-line appointments with our docs by Zoom.
The grocery stores
Are now off-limits for all paranoids and those whom panic has affected,
Although their doors
Are guarded by employees making sure all customers will enter well-protected.
The kids are here,
Exhausting all their games and books and toys, as well as mom's defenses,
No school this year,
The kids and kin when they stay in are driving everyone to lose their senses.
We put aside
All plans for meetings, TUNAs and the Tri-State meeting's Albuquerque cheer,
We pinned our pride
On theories we'd be safe by June or by October. No? Then maybe by next year.
Now it's next year,
Five labs have vaccines speedily developed just to save us, super quick,
But now we fear
We may not get them in our arms in time to keep ourselves from getting sick.
So we stay home
And read, stream movies, wear out decks of cards, try recipes we've seen,
And get our food
By home delivery brought by masked and business-like rescuers, oh how keen.
We hear some say
There's never been a time like this before except, wait, Black Death? Sicknesses in plenty,
And we could say
Oh, Cholera? Smallpox and Typhus? Polio? SARS, HIV, Ebola? Dreaded flu of 1920?
How long can this go on,
We ask ourselves while checking all our sources for the latest news so formal,
And on the telephone
We fret to friends that surely this will go away and not become ..... our new normal?
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| March 2021 | April 2021 | May 2021 |
| 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 | 1 2 3 | 1 |
| 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 | 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 |
| 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 | 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 | 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 |
| 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 | 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 | 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 |
| 28 29 30 31 | 25 26 27 28 29 30 | 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 |
| | | 30 31 |
============================================================================
SAT 06 MAR 1:00 PM MEETING: March (non-virtual) Meeting in afternoon
Location: Gongoras' 8419 Palo Duro NE Albuquerque NM 87111 505-292-5570
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.
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 <<
============================================================================
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 <<
============================================================================
SAT 05 JUN 10:00 AM Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED
WED 16 JUN 5:00 PM Board Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED
WED 23 JUN 7:30 PM NEW MEXICO CAR COUNCIL MEETING: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED
FRI 25 JUN 9:00 PM Deadline for items for January 2021 newsletter
MON 28 JUN >> TARGET FOR PRINTING AND MAILING JULY NEWSLETTER <<
============================================================================
SAT 03 JUL 10:00 AM Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED
WED 21 JUL 5:00 PM Board Meeting: >>>>>>>> TO BE DETERMINED
FRI 30 JUL 9:00 PM Deadline for items for the August 2021 newsletter
MON 02 AUG >> TARGET FOR PRINTING AND MAILING AUGUST NEWSLETTER <<
CANCELLED International CORSA Convention, San Diego
============================================================================
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 [ MARCH 2021 VOL 47 Nr 3 ISSUE 546 ]
Jim Pittman
2014 Vol 40 Nr 3 #462
COVER: Compare the shapes of a blue early coupe and a red modern car. We had
logo and T-shirt designs for the Chama Tri-State. David shared a 1964 receipt
for $6.41 for Corvair work. John Wiker told about joining several 1960s cars for
a Hollywood movie filmed in Albuquerque. Wendell thanked us for his 95th
birthday party. From a 2012 Vegas Vairs issue: drilling holes in engine shrouds
for better cooling. Tarmo provided photos when he helped Pat move old Corvairs
from Santa Fe to Los Lunas. We published the nomination form for this year's
Francis Boydston Award.
2007 V.33 N.3 #378
COVER: Tarmo and Wendell discuss the 1966 turbo Corsa restoration. Jim's Air
Force boss Bill Kaufman told about restoring his 1970 Lotus Elan. He warned of
spending money on a "classic car" only to have it die of "Garage Rot"! Jerry
Goffe and Mark Domzalski organized another tour of Bosque del Apache but no one
phoned them to say they wouldn't be there - and no one showed up. I hope members
of our club never do such a thing again. Mark and Elizabeth Domzalski were going
to Washington, D.C. for three years. Robert Gold reported on the Car Council's
web site. Debbie and Dennis Pleau learned that the Intel plant in Colorado
Springs would be closing. President Ray Trujillo reported on a garage tour and
TUNA at Jay Hurtz's collection and at Cary Hubbard's garage. We saw lots of
non-Corvair vehicles and had a great time. Tarmo told about how he came to be
restoring a 1966 Corsa turbo convertible, a project that lasted some 12 years.
Now the car might have run right off the showroom floor last week! The
nomination form for this year's Boydston Award took up two pages.
2000 V.26 N.3 #294
COVER: Editor Jim was hard at work preparing a cover photo for our March 26th
Anniversary. Deborah & John Dinsdale of Aurora, Colorado were new members. Fran
& Steve Lesher bought a 1966 Monza. Hurley presided at our meeting, and looked
forward to snow-less top-down spring weather. Wendell reported $6206 in the
treasury. A garage tour and a progressive dinner were planned. Many events were
reported from the Car Council. Anne Mae reported on quilting sessions for the
Ladies. Jim reported in some detail how he puts the newsletter together each
month, as big a mystery then as now. So far the newsletter has rarely starred
Slim Pickins and we actually won an award at a CORSA convention, so something
must be going well. Sylvan gave us a history lesson in the form of a Dummy of
the Month article. He hinted that possibly new members could be added to this
exclusive club-within-a-club. All you had to do was admit to installing a clutch
backwards, cross-wiring your distributor leads, or gasketing and torquing an
engine top cover BEFORE installing the fan. Will Davis was in town for a visit
and told us about the hot and humid weather in Florida where he works for NASA.
1993 V.19 N.3 #210
COVER: a 1965 sedan. President Del ran the meeting. We planned car shows, garage
tours, a 3-R Museum meeting, a dinner meeting, and orders for golf shirts and
jackets. Sylvan was reported to be much improved after heart surgery. Road &
Track had an article on oxygenated fuels; it did not address water pollution
issues. Steve Gongora told us how he got started with Corvairs: his cousin
Richie had one. Then his dad bought a 1961 Corvair for Steve and his sister to
drive to school. Steve has owned many Corvairs since then, including specially
equipped Corvans for use in his business, House of Covers! Tech tips from other
publications told about the various kinds of smoke from an engine and what they
meant, that little 1/8th inch gas line from the fuel filter on turbos and how it
could be a fire hazard, and how a combination of air bag and seat belt enhances
your safety -- when you ride in a modern car.
1986 V.12 N.3 #126
COVER: the GM Electrovair, an experimental battery-filled electric car. It never
got to market, but provided some research data. President Clayborne presided and
LeRoy reported $590 in the bank. Bill Reider wanted to know how many "daily
drivers" were in the Club so he could write an article for CORSA. CNM had an
unusually high percentage of "daily drivers" in the Club. Bill Hector and LeRoy
Rogers were preparing to set up a Club library. As a ploy to get articles for
the Newsletter, a questionnaire on "My First Corvair" was prepared by Karen
Souza. Our garage tour was a success thanks to LeRoy Rogers, Doug Malecki and
Phil Maloof. It was snowy but we got to see a demonstration of painting
techniques and a large number of fifties Cadillacs. Kim and Vickie Owen drove up
from Alamogordo for the occasion. Mark Morgan continued his report on "Driving
in Westpac" by telling us what it was like to drive in Japan and describing the
(mostly tiny) cars, vans and trucks we don't see over here. Carl Johnson told us
what to do with old head nuts: put them on the studs on top of the new head nuts
to keep the rust and dirt off! A tech tip on late model rear wheel bearing end
play finished up this issue.
1979 V.5 N.3 #42
COVER: a Mark Morgan drawing of a Corvan. VP Norm Brand ran the meeting and our
treasurer said we had $404 in our account. Bill Reider gave a talk on ignition
cables and their importance. We planned a birthday party for May 13. We finally
voted on a new name and "Enchanted Corvairs" became the official name of our
Club Newsletter. Jim suggested a number of topics for people to write articles
for the Newsletter. We had several tech tips: hard starting due to a too-short
rotor, looking for vacuum leaks in carburetors, cleaning out fuel lines, making
your flashers click louder, and diagnosing a poor tail light ground. Finally, we
had a letter from a Spyder owner living in Brazil who enjoyed reading our
articles in CORSA Communique.
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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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