This page contains material from the October 2000 newsletter.

MEETING TIME: First Wednesday of each month at 7:30 PM LOCATION: Galles Chevrolet, 1601 Lomas Boulevard NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110 PRESIDENT: Hurley Wilvert 281-1732 hurley.wilvert @ fmglobal.com VICE-PRES: Robert Gold 268-6878 beisbol30 @ hotmail.com SECRETARY: Charles Vertrees 299-0744 vertrees @ swcp.com TREASURER: Wendell Walker 892-8471 defarge505 @ aol.com MEMBERSHIP: Sylvan Zuercher 299-7577 zuerchero @ hubwest.com NEWSLETTER: Jim Pittman 275-2195 casa unm edu DUES: CNM: 12 months $15.00 or 26 months $ 30.00 CORSA: 12 months $35.00 or 26 months $ 70.00 BOTH: 12 months $50.00 or 26 months $100.00 ===== EDITOR: Jim Pittman NEXT MEETING: Wednesday October 4th, 7:30 PM Galles Chevrolet 1601 Lomas NE CONTENTS: THIS MONTH: Dues Due Sylvan Zuercher September Meeting Notes Jim Pittman Billiken Mark Morgan September Board Minutes Chuck Vertrees The Driver's Seat Hurley Wilvert Cars and Parts For Sale Everybody Coming Events Everybody August Campout Steve Gongora Seven Years Ago Jim Pittman Saving Another Corvair Richard & Gayle Finch Aspencade/Frostbite Tour Map Wendy Walker TECHNICAL: Cornering Camber Change Emerson (VV) Replacement Ignition Coil Rich Thompson (VV) Spark Plugs and Antiseize Norm Helmkay (VV) COVER: At the Galles Car Show - Steve Gongora ===== "A compression of time characterizes the life of the century now closing." -- James Gleick, FASTER 1999 "Anguish about time is an inevitable result of increasing wealth and education, which expands the menu of possible experiences without lengthening the day that must contain them." -- Jim Holt, WALL STREET JOURNAL 25 August 1999 DUES EXPIRED OR DUE OR APPROACHING DUE: Jon Anderson 10/2000 Jon Lovett 10/2000 Alicia Romero 10/2000 John Topp 10/2000 Doug Gadomski 11/2000 John McMahan 11/2000 Wayne Christgau 12/2000 David Huntoon 12/2000 Walter Huntoon 12/2000 If your membership is due or has expired, please send your dues to: Wendell Walker, CNM Treasurer, 301 Utah Meadow, Rio Rancho, NM 87124 Note: the Club will mail in your National dues when you renew, but only if you send us the renewal form from CORSA Communique! The CORSA Home Page: http://www.corvair.org CNM's home page: http://corsa.skiblack.com/chapters/chapter871 ===== PROSPECTIVE NEW MEMBERS Sylvan Zuercher At our September meeting our guests included Larry Hickerson who has a 1963 Rampside and a 1964 Rampside, and Dana Doyle and Glen Gollrad who own a 1965 Corvair convertible. We look forward to seeing Larry, Dana and Glen become new members of CNM. ===== SEPTEMBER MEETING NOTES Jim Pittman President Hurley called the meeting to order at 7:33 PM. All officers were present except Chuck who was in Alaska; also our sponsor Joe Trujillo was not here. Our guests included Larry Hickerson who owns a 1964 Rampside and Dana Doyle and Glenn Gollrad who own a 1965 convertible. We hope they will join CNM. We also had guests Jennifer and Marian who came to tell us about the Big-I reconstruction project. It was moved and seconded to accept last month's meeting minutes as published. Treasurer Wendell reported $422.33 in cash and bank accounts and $5,597.13 in our Money Market account for a total of $6,019.46. Wendell also provided a report on Ilva's condition which is much improved since her unfortunate illness in San Diego a few days ago. August Car Council meeting report by Mark Martinek. President Ken Halverson called the meeting to order. Treasurer's report: $7171.23 in checking and some $9000 in a CD at 6.7%. Checks were being prepared in the name of each club that had volunteers at the 1999 swap meet. The $50 can be distributed by each club as they desire. Contact Jerry Goffe if you are interested in a garage tour to a new location in Santa Fe. No fee will be charged to enter the Orphan Car Show on September 10. NMCCC Swap Meet: October 21 & 22. UNM is charging $500 per day for the stadium east parking lot, tailgate lot #2. Spaces will be side by side or front to back and will rent for $30. Open 6:00 AM Saturday through 3:30 PM Sunday. Volunteers are needed to mark spaces on Friday, to man the gates Saturday and Sunday, and to clean up Sunday afternoon. Each club providing volunteers will receive $50 to distribute as they see fit. (Mark said he'd be out of town for the next Car Council meeting and Jerry Goffe graciously agreed to sit in for him. Please give Jerry a list of volunteers before the meeting, and he will need to tell the Car Council our wishes for volunteering. Probably four hour shifts per club will be required. Wait - Steve Gongora volunteered to attend the next Car Council meeting to be held on the 4th Wednesday, September 27th. Will it be Jerry or Steve?) The Car Council picnic was not well attended. The Early Ford V-8 Western Nationals went well in spite of rain. Assistance from the Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau apparently is hard to get and some believe ACVB people routinely toss letters without reading. The Car Council pays $180.00 a year dues to ACVB but some are wondering whether member clubs are getting anything out of this. Jerry Goffe volunteered to meet with the ACVB staff and discuss the problem before the Car Council renews its membership. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 PM. CORSA report by Mark Domzalski: there was nothing to report; it's the end of summer and nothing is going on. Mark said to read your Communique for excellent coverage of the Convention. Tarmo remarked that he had read it on the way down to Albuquerque, prompting someone to ask whether he could drive, read, look at the scenery and talk on his cell phone at the same time. Tarmo replied that traffic gridlock provided the opportunity to do all these things and more. Hurley mentioned the August campout, prompting a flurry of comments on what a great event it was. Debbie Deck praised Ruth for providing such a delightful venue for a campout. Debbie said Ruth was the perfect host - she did everything except wash our cars. Ruth promised to do better next year. Hurley mentioned the car shows - beautiful cars - about 140 cars - described in some detail by Sylvan & Hurley. Someone asked what's going on with the Wheels Museum and Wendell said he had not heard word one on that - perhaps they don't like him. He admitted he hadn't looked at their web site. Mark Martinek said - they are looking for an outstanding Corvair to go in the fund-raiser car show for the Wheels Museum - they will charge $50 for it. This is the "Albuquerque on Wheels" car show to be held Saturday September 23rd. Steve Gongora reported that the order for our new license plates has been submitted and they are in production now; maybe we'll have them at the next meeting. Steve also talked about the Galles Chevrolet car show and the three $100 prize winners. Steve also mentioned the tour of Tour of Lucy the Ultravan at 7th and Mountain Rd on August 20 which included a nice art exhibit; he said the art was to be seen on their web site. Collector car order: We had eleven people sign up to order them so far. If anybody else wants to order or verify their order, see Steve ASAP. The cars are a special series of Nr 4 Fitch Sprints. Hurley said to go ahead and send in the order. NEW BUSINESS: CNM shirts order - embroidered logo - sign-up sheet - about $25 to $30 - need minimum order. Jerry Goffe modeled the shirt. Some comments were heard about the desirability of alternate colors and/or sizes. Elections are next month. Although all the officers are prepared to run for another term, anyone who'd like to run is welcome to step forward. Sylvan said we will have nominations from the floor at the October meeting with the usual provision of no railroading! We have an excellent crop of officers, but the Club can always use some new (younger) blood. Robert Gold reported on the State Fair Car Show. This will mark CNM's Third Annual return to the State Fair car show. We are all signed up on time; we have our spot on Heritage Avenue on Sunday September 24, the last day of the Fair. We'll meet at Furr's at San Pedro & Central SE at 7:00 AM. It will be $2.00 to get in. We'll have 15 novelty classes; 1st 2nd 3rd place for each class. Everybody should get a prize! Mark Martinek mentioned a 1965 black Corvair for sale; call 293-8590. Steve reported three non-running 1963 Corvairs for sale in Las Vegas. The meeting adjourned at 8:15 and your temporary secretary left early to go on an extensive tour of the vast Galles back lot, looking for someone to open the back gate. Meanwhile, our guest speakers Jennifer and Marian told the remaining membership about the Big-I rebuild. ===== BOARD MEETING NOTES Chuck Vertrees The meeting was held at House of Covers on September 20th at 17:00. Those present were Hurley Wilvert, Robert Gold, Sylvan Zuercher, Steve Gongora, Jim Pittman, Wendell Walker and Chuck Vertrees. The minutes of the last board meeting were approved as published in the newsletter. Treasurer Wendell Walker reported that as of September 20th CNM had $335.62 in the checking account and $5,624.96 in the money market account for a total worth of $5,960.58. Those present were reminded of the State Fair show on Sunday, and Robert reported that it looked as though we would have eleven cars to show. We are to meet at Furr's on San Pedro and Central and go in together at 7:30 AM. Robert has not been able to get in touch with the man from the "Route 66" association. Sylvan said he had an article with the e-mail address and would get it to Robert. The representative from the Animal Humane Association told Robert that they would like to work with CNM on the Route 66 project. At this time it looks as though the Animal Humane Association presentation will be at our November meeting. Robert will try to have the "Route 66" representative at the December or January meeting. Steve Gongora reported on the many things that he had been able to accomplish since the last board meeting. The license plates are almost ready and will probably be available at the next regular meeting. The check and order for 12 model cars from the Florida convention has been sent, and they should be in shortly. The last order for CNM shirts has arrived and Steve will bring them to the next meeting. They are running $35.75 each because the order was only for six shirts. Steve also has a registration form for the November Fan Belt Toss and Swap Meet in California. There is no report on the new business cards. (Many members who don't attend board meetings may not realize how much work Steve does for CNM with such projects as these.) Steve also announced that anyone who wants one can get a free "cue-Cat" at Radio Shack. For those who don't know, this is the latest attachment for your computer which will read bar codes and bring up a company's web page without having to go through typing in the "www.com" routine. Joel Nash does not have the time to be a political representative for CNM. They are taking much of his time at the hospital and clinic. We will check several other members who may be interested. The Santa Fe Vintage Car Club, of which Wendell is a member, has issued an invitation for CNM and VMCCA to join them in their Frost Bite Tour on October 21st. This would take the place of our Aspencade. Robert had talked to Tarmo Sutt about our tour and he may also have heard of this. Robert will contact Tarmo, and suggest that we join the Santa Fe Club on their tour instead of having ours alone. The board thought that this would be a good idea. The group would meet at the Joiner Museum at 10:00 AM then go out N.M. 44 to San Ysidro, have lunch in Jemez Springs, then continue to the old railroad tunnel next to the river. Then we could go on to Santa Fe and home, or return home by the same route. A couple of us thought we might like to go on to Los Alamos and see where the fire had been. Wendell said that VMCCA had gotten some club shirts that were pretty reasonable and that he would check into the source and cost. The CNM web page is in need of updating. However since Dennis Pleau has moved to Colorado Springs we cannot expect him to continue being our webmaster. Right off hand the board does not have someone to take over, so we are open to volunteers. To be webmaster, you'd need the appropriate editing software and access to the web site. The meeting was adjourned at 18:15. ===== FROM THE DRIVERS SEAT Hurley Wilvert Well the weather is changing. Time to get those lower sheet metal covers back on so your heater will work. This weekend is the State Fair Car Show. Robert Gold has done a great job getting us in the show. I will be driving one of Robert's cars that he so graciously offered me. I would be too embarrassed to show one of my own. Maybe someday. I was reflecting this evening on why I still am fascinated with Corvairs. I still can see my first car, a 1960 500 coupe, turquoise blue, 3-speed, 80-hp wonder. It was great! I kept it immaculate, unlike my current cars. That car was so much fun to drive. I still remember just going for a drives on the weekend just so I could drive the car. I drove it to my first job. I went off to college in that car. The quest for even more style and performance lead me later to my first Monza, a '61 4-speed, 98-hp. Man, a 4-speed transmission was cool. And, to me it was fast. I drove my first child home from the hospital in that car. Good memories were made in Corvairs. Remember yours? It will be great to see some fine examples of those cars this weekend at the Fair. What's also great are the comments that people passing by make about them. Many of them have good memories that were made in Corvairs and seeing the cars revives those memories. That's a great thing to see. Remember, next months meeting is election of next years officers. Come out and vote. I look forward to seeing all of you. Hurley Wilvert - President ===== FOR SALE, TRADE OR WANTED FOR SALE: 1962 Rampside. Was running poorly when parked about 5 years ago. Needs engine rebuild and synchros in the transmission. Has almost new tinted windshield with no pits or scratches. Included is a new front grill, two doors with glass and complete set of Clark's fuzzys and rubber molding for the doors. I am not able to rebuild it myself anymore. Make me an offer. Chuck Vertrees 299-0744. FOR SALE: 1961 Rampside with camper. 74,167 miles. $4500.00 with camper or $4000.00 without. Ruth Boydston 821-1506 FOR SALE: 1965 Monza 4-door $500.00 Dennis Pleau 345-0351 CNM ADS ARE FREE TO CNM MEMBERS, $5.00 TO NON-CNM MEMBERS ===== SEVEN YEARS AGO IN C.N.M. October 1993 Volume 19 Number 10 The cover showed a late Corvair with a Jaguar, yes, a Jaguar V-12 installed in the front, yes, in the front. Bill McClellan reported that we mailed 14 newsletters to New Mexico addresses and 28 to out-of-state addresses. President Del ran the meeting. Will Davis said we had $1,228 in the kitty. New members were Scott, Deann and Andrew Kimble, owners of a 1967 Monza. Activities coming up: a tour to Red River, a car show at the Atomic Museum, a car show at the State Fair, an Aspencade in October, a Funkhana in November, the Great Western Fan Belt Toss and the Christmas party. We had a great time at the Villanueva campout. Five CNMers went to a car show at Peralta. We were about to have our first planning meeting for the 1996 CORSA Convention at the Pleaus' residence. Kay and Tarmo previewed our Aspencade to Embudo Station. Dennis reported on the San Jose convention, including decisions made about the 1996 convention, and Debbie provided our first article on planning for the convention, including a "Vairs in the Air" logo designed by Bill Reider. LeRoy reported on the State Fair show; there were seventeen Corvairs. Elliot Knapp's 1906 one-cylinder Cadillac was at this show. First, Second and Third were Tarmo's 1965 Corsa, Bill Lawless' 1966 Corsa and Bill Reider's 1965 Corsa, coupes all. Kay's 1964 convertible got best engine, Mary Lou's 1963 convertible got best paint and Jeff Newman's 1961 Rampside got best interior. FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: The October 1986 cover featured a Corsa dash with racing steering wheel. A famous scene from a John Wayne movie reminded us it was time for elections. Clayborne ran the meeting and we had $856 in the bank. We planned to have our November meeting in Santa Fe. The library van was ready to bring into town where we could do some body work. Bill and LeRoy reported on their trip to the CORSA convention in Grand Rapids. Jim outlined the history of our publication, Enchanted Corvairs Newsletter, from Mark Morgan's first issue in December 1974 to the present. Kristin Romer reported on the scavenger hunt, won by new members Pam & Paul Clark. We had no tech tips this issue, but Billiken showed us his military surplus radar detector. TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO: The October 1979 cover showed Corvairs at the State Fair (one was a Fitch Sprint) and inside were fourteen more photos. Ruth Boydston's 1964 light blue Monza convertible won best of show. The Club was about to buy full-color 1980 calendars from the North Texas club. We had more discussion about CORSA's 100-percent solution. Carl Johnson reported on the CORSA convention in Detroit. Les Campbell, our former secretary, wrote to us about life with Corvairs in Connecticut. Ike Meissner reminded us of ways to avoid or at least cope with the problems of water in gasoline. ===== ============================================================================ C O R V A I R S o f N E W M E X I C O C O M I N G E V E N T S ============================================================================ | O c t o b e r | N o v e m b e r | D e c e m b e r | | 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 4th Oct 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 21st Oct 10:00 AM Aspencade / Frostbite Tour to Jemez Springs Wed 18th Oct 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 20th Oct 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Wed 1st Nov 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE Sat 11th Nov 10:00 AM CNM Ladies - meet at Debbie Pleau's - Antiques! Wed 15th Nov 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 17th Nov 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman - One Week early! Wed 6th Dec 7:30 PM Regular Meeting - GALLES CHEVROLET 1601 Lomas NE ... ... Dec ........ CNM Christmas Party - TBA Wed 20th Dec 5:00 PM Board Meeting - House of Covers Fri 22nd Dec 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman Sun 31st Dec 2000 11:59 PM: The actual last minute of the Twentieth Century! Sat 13th Jan 2001 CNM Ladies - meet at Anne Mae Gold's =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= NEW MEXICO COUNCIL OF CAR CLUBS CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS October 7 Ruidoso Annual Car Show October 7 VMCCA Moriarty Wildlife Tour October 6 - 8 Collector Car Weekend (Farmington) Swap Meet October 8 SWMS Big Brother / Big Sister Barbecue & Car Show October 13 - 14 SWDBA Drag Boat Racing at Elephant Butte 505-296-0542 October 22 SW Packards' Chimayo Tour October 22 - 27 VMCCA Millennium Chrome Glidden Tour (Tucson, AZ) October 20 - 22 Fifth Annual Swap Meet of South East NM (VVMCC/ACE/CARS) November 11 Truth or Consequences (NM) Veterans Center Car Show November 18 Festival of the Cranes Tour - Bosque del Apache Refuge July 20-22 2001 75th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee Festival of Route 66 Albuquerque Convention & Visitor's Bureau 505-247-9101 ASPENCADE WITH SANTA FE CLUB Wendell Walker The Santa Fe Vintage Car Club has invited us to tour with them, Saturday October 21st, on their Frostbite Tour. This so well coincides with what our Club had planned for the Aspencade Tour that the Board decided to combine the two tours for more cars and more new friends. We will meet the SFVCC cars at the J&R Vintage Auto Museum, located on highway 528 just south of SR 44. This is the Joiner Museum north of Rio Rancho. The Meeting time is 10:00 AM at the museum, we will tour the museum, and proceed west on SR 44, stop in San Ysidro and may go through the Winery there. Follow SR 4 north to SR 290, visit Ponderosa, return to SR 4, turn on SR 485 and travel to the Gilman Tunnels (I understand that this is partly paved and partly a gravel road but a very nice side trip), return to SR4 and stop in Jemez Springs for lunch. Two choices for lunch, bring your own and eat it OR dine in one of the two good restaurants in Jemez Springs. After lunch go to Soda Dam for a look, follow us to Valle Grande, Pojoaque, Santa Fe, OR any way you wish back HOME. See map for more info. - Happy Touring - Wendy Walker CNM LADIES Anne Mae Gold Our many thanks to Brenda Stickler for inviting us up to her "cabin" in the Jemez. We all had a great time. The view was beautiful, the food was filling and the company was fantabulous... as always. We missed those of you who could not make it and hope that we get to see you soon. We were very happy that Brenda Edeskuty joined us and hope she enjoyed herself. She showed us many of the quilt tops that she and others in her quilting group have made. Their goal is to gift each family who lost a home to the Cerro Grande fire with a hand made quilt. Both Kay and Debbie volunteered to piece quilt tops too! What wonderful women we have in our club. We are also concerned about Ilva and hope she and Wendell are doing well, if there is anything we can do please contact one of us (Anne Mae 268-6878). We'd like to make you some food, but are afraid of the dietary restrictions that Ilva may have. The schedule for the next few months is as follows. We will not meet in October so that we can all get together for the Aspencade that Tarmo and Kay are planning. We thought it would be nice if we made it a picnic type lunch and we gathered as one big, happy, Corvair family. See the newsletter for more info on this. Thank you Kay and Tarmo! We thought it would be fun to spend the November meeting doing an antiques crawl through the north valley and refresh ourselves by attending a wine tasting tour at one of the vineyards... either Gruet or Casa Redona. Any preferences or suggestions... call me. We plan on meeting and parking at Debbie Pleau's house (we figure if we plan it, the house will sell!) on November 11 at 10:00 am. From there we will carpool to the antique shops, etc. Plan on a longish day, dress for comfort! The December meeting will be the Club's annual Christmas meal at the base. January we will begin all over again. We will meet the second Saturday of January, 2001 at my house. More details to come. The core group of us that meet for the CNM Ladies have really bonded. The friendship, company, camaraderie and talk are heart warming and refreshing. I, for one, am always in a better mood for having met with the group. I do hope that more of you are able and moved to meet with us. Always feel that you have a place in our circle! Thanks... Anne Mae ===== SAVING ANOTHER CORVAIR! Richard & Gayle Finch - Tularosa, New Mexico Actually, Dennis and Debbie Pleau "saved" the little 1964 Monza convertible several years ago when they bought it from Frederico and Rebecca Garza and parked it at the Pleaus' great house in Albuquerque. Gayle and I merely took possession of it last Saturday and towed it home to Tularosa. For the past 12 months or more, Gayle and I had been looking for an early model Corvair convertible for Gayle to drive as her daily-driver car. Her current daily driver is a 1991 Chevy Cavalier convertible with 135,000 miles on the odometer. It isn't worn out yet, but the way we both look at the car situation is that as long as we are driving a convertible to Corvair events, it might as well be a Corvair. My daily driver is a 1965 Corvair 4-door with over 250,000 miles in its record book. Our 1969 Corvair powered Ultra Van only has 27,500 miles on its odometer. We have been very busy moving from Santa Barbara to Tularosa and trying to attend car shows and air shows for our book business, and we did not find an early model convert that was near us until last month when we saw Dennis's ad in the "Enchanted Corvairs Newsletter." Last month I called Debbie and Dennis and we made a deal for me to buy their 1964 convertible. Dennis said it was towable and I made a date with him to pick it up last Saturday. The drive from Tularosa to Albuquerque is 220 miles and takes 4 hours including a food stop in Corona, NM. We arrived at the Pleaus' really nice house at 11:45 AM and saw the yard and driveway full of Corvairs. Well, there were only three of them there. After giving the 1964 Monza a general look over, Dennis and I started removing the front bumper and hooking up the custom made tow bar. By 12:30 we had the bar hooked to the Corvair and to our 1991 convertible and had the rear auxiliary light bar attached. Dennis jacked up the rear of the Monza and I crawled under it with a quart of 90 wt transmission oil and put most of it in the dry transmission. I could see a leak at the shifter shaft seal that warned of a low oil level in the tranny. The differential dip stick showed oil in the operating range. Dennis told me that he had driven the Monza to his house several years ago and that the handling was really squirrely and that the engine was running rough. The body showed rust spots at three fenders, indicating previous body work from replacing three fenders. I did not see any other damage and when I was under the car to fill the tranny, I saw very little rust except under the driver's side floor. There were two baseball-sized holes there. The trunk floor was not even rusted through. Several really positive things showed in the cursory inspection at the Pleaus' house. The original jack and lug wrench were in the trunk. The wsw bottle was intact and even had a small amount of factory fluid still in it. The three wire wheel covers were factory options. The odometer showed only 59,485.0 miles and this seemed pretty accurate as backed up by several repair receipts in the glove box. After we visited for just a few minutes, Gayle and I said goodbye to the Pleaus and drove off for Tularosa. We stopped about one mile down the road on 2nd Street and I checked the temperature of the front and rear wheel bearings and brakes on the Monza and the tow bar hookup. Everything seemed fine, so we drove on to the Winrock Center to shop for lawn mower parts. I checked the Monza wheel bearings again there. Next, we headed out toward Moriarty on I-40 and I got a taste of the squirrely handling of the Monza. After getting the car home, I discovered that it had good radial tires on the rear and 78 series bias-ply tires on the front plus totally ineffective rear shocks. Mixing radial tires with bias-ply tires is asking for poor handling. The secret to getting the Monza to track behind the Cavalier was to stay on the road and not make any brisk steering inputs. We stopped for gas at Moriarty and I checked the wheel bearings again there. We also stopped in Carrizozo to take pictures at a wrecking yard and I again tested the wheel bearings. On any trailer or car towing trip, I feel of the rear axle part that shows at the wheel and I feel of the grease cup on the front wheels. If the hubs feel hot, then I know I have a wheel bearing needing grease or worse yet, about to go out. The Monza made the entire trip without a single problem. After we got the car home on Saturday evening, I parked it and rested. On Sunday morning I disconnected the tow bar from the Cavalier so we could drive the Cavalier to church. On Sunday afternoon, I began taking out the seats, carpet and cleaning out the New Mexico "sunshine" (dust). I must have vacuumed out a gallon of dust and washed out another gallon of dust with the garden hose! I found that the rust in the driver's side floor was caused by the large rubber boot around the speedometer cable being grossly out of place. Every time the Monza drove through a water puddle, the left side floor would get a dose of muddy water in through the speedometer cable cut out. Then the muddy water would stay in the carpet and rust the floor on that side of the car. On Monday I put a spare battery in the car and actually motored the engine over several revolutions to prove that it was not seized. The car is now parked under our carport with a "real" car cover over it, and it is very clean now. I must have spent 12 hours washing dust out of every crack and crevice. Glove box records show that the car was sold new at Curry Chevrolet in Scarsdale, NY. The 110 hp engine number shows it was manufactured in April 1964. Then it was owned for several years by Joseph and Mary Lite of Albuquerque before Frederico Garza bought it in 1990. I could not find who had purchased it new. Gayle and I plan to start restoring the Monza in December. We will install air conditioning in it like Mr. Del Delaney had done in his 1962 Monza, and use it for our primary, daily transportation. Our Siamese cat turned her nose up at it when we brought it home all dusty and dirty, but as I continued to wash it and clean it up, she has now taken to taking naps on top of its black rag top. Sleeping on it means that she has accepted it. I will write more about the car as we start to restore it. Gayle and I really like the car and are glad we decided on buying an early model. ===== Subject: SUGGESTIONS FOR A DEAD RINGER FOR A DELCO REMY COIL (VV) From: "Rich Thompson" ( RThompson @ mirro.com ) Folks, have I got something for you!! In searching for a coil for my Spyder that you have heard all too much about its gas leak problems, I wanted a NOS piece. No luck in finding one, of course, but what I did find is so incredibly close, it is not funny. If you want a Delco dead ringer, buy an Accel performance ignition coil, part #8140. This coil is the exactly the same height, length, width, and exactly the same shaped bakelite plastic top as the Delco piece (with the Delco Remy script, of course) and I do mean exact. You would swear that Accel bought the molds from Delco for the top end to make their coils. The slight differences: 1. No Delco script. 2. The terminals do not have the removable little metal brackets that the Delco had, but if you have a Delco coil, take the ones you have off, clean them, and put them on the Accel. 3. There are four small release holes in the plastic for the mold found near the terminals at the top of the bakelite end. They are still present in the Accel in ghost form, but have been filled as the mold was modified (?). 4. The bottom of the Delco metal can had a ring set put into the base --the Accel base is smooth. The big difference: the coil is yellow (although the bakelite is black). You can spray it the correct gloss of black and you will have an extremely stock looking coil with better performance to boot. This coil also comes in a chromed can version for you Modified folks, too. All the other coils I have seen from major vendors are too short/too long and importantly, too wide to fit into the stock coil bracket. They may be able to squeeze in, but you can not use the connecting bolt behind the coil that connects the two sides of the bracket together. With the Accel coil, you can do this just like the Delco. It is the only replaceable part in my engine compartment that is not a NOS AC/Delco piece, but it sure looks like one! I paid about $25 for mine at Advance Auto. Try it, you'll like it! Rich The judges will have to look very hard to not see this is not a Delco coil. I fooled a fellow Corvair nut here. He saw it from a foot away and said "Hey, you found a Delco!" ****************************** This message was sent by the Corvair list, all copyrights are the property of the writer, please attribute properly. To unsubscribe, mailto:majordomo @ skiblack.com with "unsubscribe virtualvairs" (without the quotes) as the first line of the message. To post, mailto:virtualvairs @ skiblack.com. For help, mailto:vv-help @ skiblack.com. ****************************** ===== Subject: SPARK PLUGS AND ANTISEIZE (VV) From: "Norm Helmkay" ( uv408 @ msn.com ) The Jaguar owners club has nearly a whole book on spark plug, aluminum heads, HEI ignition, etc. I've made a mini digest below, but if you want to read the whole thing, go to: http://www.jag-lovers.org/books/xj-s/05-Ignition.html Also note, BMW motorcycles endorse the use of anti-seize for plugs. Norm "Champion copper anti-seize user" Helmkay SPARK PLUG REPLACEMENT: Ain't nuthin' easy about this job. Note that it is much easier on the pre-H.E. because the spark plugs are vertical. On the H.E., the plugs are tilted toward the center just enough to make the job truly miserable. Before installing the new plugs, it is recommended the time be taken to carefully inspect the threads. Competition is fierce among the plug manufacturers and they generally cannot afford to spend a lot of time and effort making perfect threads every time. One small burr on a steel spark plug can wreak havoc on the threads in the aluminum head. Be sure to use anti-seize compound on the threads. Do not use normal grease, as this may hamper proper grounding of the plug, and it also may get hot and form a crust that makes it even harder to remove the plugs. And do not use a graphite-based lubricant, as graphite may react with the aluminum and weaken it. When installing spark plugs, it is helpful to use a piece of 3/8" hose to get them started. Press the hose firmly over the top of the plug and use the hose to feed them into place and thread them in finger tight. Then the hose can be pulled off and a socket used for final tightening. There are warnings not to tighten the plugs past 8 ft-lb of torque. 8 ft-lb is not enough to turn the plugs loosely in the threads unless they have been recently cleaned and chased, but the point is well taken. It is an aluminum head, and tightening "three grunts" is both unnecessary and costly. Just tighten until you feel them seat, make sure they're snug, and quit. STRIPPED SPARK PLUG HOLES: Since you have read this book, used anti-seize compound on the spark plug threads, and didn't overtighten, you will never strip spark plug threads. However, the PO or the idiot you've been taking the car to for service may not be so careful and leave you with plugs that simply won't come out without bringing the threads with them. Aaargh! The official Jaguar fix involves recessing, drilling and tapping the holes for larger threads, installing an insert, and installing a small pin to prevent the insert from unscrewing. SPARK PLUG INDEXING: Does "anal-retentive" have a hyphen? If you answered yes, you may be interested in knowing that "indexing" spark plugs may improve performance in the H.E. engine. Please do not use a lead pencil to mark the plugs. Graphite conducts electricity, and will cause "tracking" down the side of the ceramic and short out the spark plug. Your engine will run much worse than before you indexed the plugs. ****************************** This message was sent by the Corvair list, all copyrights are the property of the writer, please attribute properly. To unsubscribe, mailto: majordomo @ skiblack.com with "unsubscribe virtualvairs" (without the quotes) as the first line of the message. To post, mailto:virtualvairs @ skiblack.com. For help, mailto:vv-help @ skiblack.com. ****************************** ===== CAMPOUT - AUGUST 4TH, 5TH, AND 6TH by Steve Gongora ( stevegongora @ houseofcovers.com ) The camping was supposed to start on Friday August 4th, 2000 but everyone made the push on Saturday morning on the short trek up to Ruth Boydston's cabin. Chuck and Julia Vertrees had rushed to the Bernalillo stop at 7:15 AM only to find an abandoned meeting place. He continued on to Ruth's to catch up only to find that they were the first family to get there. I guess everyone had the same idea and started later, both in a day late and a later hour. Sorry about that Chuck. The Gongoras and Pleaus caravanned up a couple of hours later. Debbie drove her Ford van trailering her pop-up tent and Dennis followed in his 65 Monza. Dennis was headed up to Colorado Springs after the campout to start his new position at Intel. The Decks, the Pattens, and the Wilverts got to Ruth's cabin just minutes after we arrived. I'm surprised that we didn't see each other on the highway. Ruth had set up a large tent just in case it rained. Everyone set up camp and all pitched in to make each site look like they just came from a Boy Scout School. The afternoon brought the company of the Golds, the Domzalskis, and Mr. Jerry Goffe and Kaluha, the dog. After all settled in we took turns surveying the community with the "Turtle". The "Turtle" is the small gas powered 4-wheel transport that Ruth uses to travel from cabin to cabin in the area. The kids had a blast. Debbie Deck had activities for all the campers. The "fishing tournament" had everyone fishing for items on a special list she had put together. This was a sort of scavenger hunt from copper wire to paperclips. The winners were tied and the prizes went to the Gongoras and Ruth for collecting 14 items each from the list. Everyone brought dishes and meat and were treated to a feast for dinner. I'm sure the neighbors could get a whiff of the meat cooking. After dinner, we sat around the campfire. The copper wire, from the scavenger list, was to be used to throw in the fire. Debbie showed us that the copper wire gives a beautiful green glow. The event was such a hit that we all are looking forward to next year. ===== CLICK AND CLACK ARE CLUELESS (VV) by Dennis Pleau ( dpleau @ efortress.com ) No, I'm not going to repeat their previous stuff about the Corvair being one of the worst cars of all time. They opened up their mouths again and showed their ignorance. In their column in today's Albuquerque Journal, they answered a question from Kevin with a 1965 Monza 110 "pancake six-cylinder engine." Kevin's problem is that about five seconds after he turns off the engine he gets a loud backfire. He has replaced the carburetors which did not solve the problem. He is using cheap Midas mufflers and they keep burning out. He says he can get a better muffler but it will cost $100. He wants to know if the better muffler will solve the problem. Click and Clack diagnose the problem as run-on or dieseling and say "These cars are famous for it" and "They run so hot that even after the ignition is turned off, it's possible for the combustion process to continue -- sometimes for many seconds!" Ray had a friend who had a Corvair and he worked on it ONCE. They turned down the idle to half what it should be and it still ran on for 15 to 20 seconds. They go on to mention that when a car runs-on gas continues to be sucked into the cylinders and some of it burns but most of it doesn't and when it get to the hot muffler -- KABOOM! They go on to say that run on is caused by idle speed that's too high, an engine that's too hot, timing that is too far advanced [after the key is turned off?? Maybe it is hot because of the advanced timing] or a combination of the three. While nothing above is wrong except for the part about Corvairs are famous for run-on, if they really wanted to help Kevin out they could have helped him a lot better with some more information like: Kevin, 110 hp Corvairs have 1960s technology high compression engines. They need the best quality highest octane fuel you can buy to keep from detonating or running on, or some engine modifications. Join the Corvair Society of America (CORSA) (www.corvair.org) and your local Corvair Club. Order the 1965 shop manual from a Corvair parts vendor. Order the CORSA technical guide and the supplement from CORSA. Attend a meeting of your local Corvair chapter and ask questions. Most Corvair people are always willing to help out. If you have a computer, join the VirtualVairs, a Corvair mail list discussion group (www.vv.corvair.org). If you join CORSA and ask questions on VirtualVairs you most likely will even get an answer to your questions from Larry Claypool who is recognized as one of if not the most knowledgeable Corvair experts in the world. As for the muffler, buy one from Larry, Lon, Cal, David or Larry (names order drawn out of a hat to protect my bias), or from one of the other Corvair-only vendors and you will get the proper muffler for your car for far less than $100. The Corvair is one of the most fun cars to drive you can own. -- Dennis ****************************** This message was sent by the Corvair list, all copyrights are the property of the writer, please attribute properly. To unsubscribe, mailto:majordomo @ skiblack.com with "unsubscribe virtualvairs" (without the quotes) as the first line of the message. To post, mailto:virtualvairs @ skiblack.com. For help, mailto:vv-help @ skiblack.com. ****************************** Subject: CAMBER CHANGING DURING CORNERING (VV) From: sethracer @ aol.com To: fastvair @ egroups.com Eric Schakel ( eschakel @ earthlink.net ) writes: ) I've apparently missed the geometry issue with the Crown lowering ) bracket. Why re-drill? What dimensions apply? Why doesn't the ) vendor fix this if it's such an obvious flaw? The Crown bracket wasn't flawed when designed and built in the late 1960s. The intent was to maintain a flat contact patch on the outside wheel with the wide bias-ply tires of the era. Also it was intended to be used with a lowered, very stiff, roll-controlled (via Crown bars!) suspension, and major league static negative camber. What has obsoleted that design is the change in tire technology. Today's tires, especially the street radials that most people run, do not need that amount of negative camber to be effective. Three degrees of negative camber, with the higher pressures of todays radials, will cause a smaller contact patch on the rear, not the hot set-up. If you set a Crown bracket equipped car at a street ride height, and small, say 1 degree negative, static camber, when the suspension travels through its curve in "enthusiastic" driving - the camber change due to body roll and suspension compliance can cause positive camber and strange contact patches. The relocation of the mounting hole back up towards the original point will regain most of the original camber pattern change. This is all "in my opinion" and yours may vary, etc. PS - The Crown bracket makes a very effective transaxle shield! - Seth =end=