The February 2010 newsletter - Text Version
Updated 29-May-2013 ==== Copyright (c) 2013 Corvairs of New Mexico
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MARCH 2010 / VOLUME 36 / NUMBER 3 / ISSUE #414
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EDITOR: Jim Pittman
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday 3 March 2010 at 7:00 PM
Highland Senior Center at 131 Monroe NE
THIS MONTH:
Dues Due ...................................... Membership Committee
Drive a Corvair! ................................ President Pat Hall
February General Meeting Minutes 02/03/2010 .................. Staff
February Board Meeting Minutes 02/17/2010 .................... Staff
We Must Expect Posterity ............. Piet Hein (from the Internet)
J & R Vintage Auto Museum Tour ........................ Larry Yoffee
Is This Elvis Presley's Corvair? ....................... Vickie Hall
Birthdays & Anniversaries ....................... Sunshine Committee
It's Anniversary Luncheon Time! ............. Anne Mae & Robert Gold
CNM to Host 2011 Tri-State ........................... Heula Pittman
Unnecessary Unsafety ................................... Jim Pittman
Calendar of Coming Events ....................... Board of Directors
Installing a Clark's Air Conditioner ............ Richard Finch, SAE
Adjust Late Shifter ....................... Tech Talk by Jim Pittman
Late Shifter Tube Alignment ............ THE REAR VIEW February 1985
Batteries And Alternators ............. Steve Goodman (DENVAIR NEWS)
Seven, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago ..................... Club Historian
COVER: Larry Blair's 140-HP "Spyder" at the J & R Vintage Auto Museum
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ELECTED OFFICERS:
President: Pat Hall 505-620-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com
Vice-pres: Ray Trujillo 505-839-7436 ray @ bpsabq.com
Secretary: Art Gold 505-620-7434 rollerart @ gmail.com
Treasurer: Robert Gold 505-268-6878 beisbol30 @ msn.com
BOARD MEMBERS:
Car Council: Art Gold 505-620-7434 rollerart @ gmail.com
Merchandise: Vickie Hall 505-865-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com
Membership: David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 @ aol.com
Sunshine: Heula Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu
Newsletter: Jim Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu
Past Pres: Mike Stickler 505-856-6993 sticorsa @ hotmail.com
Correspondent: Chuck Vertrees 505-299-0744 vertrees @ swcp.com
Membership: Sylvan Zuercher 505-299-7577 flat6 @ hubwest.com
OTHER VOLUNTEERS:
Emeritus: Wendell Walker 505-892-8471 defarge505 @ aol.com
DUES: CNM: 12 months $25.00 -or- 26 months $ 50.00
CORSA: 12 months $45.00 -or- 26 months $ 90.00
CNM & CORSA: 12 months $70.00 -or- 26 months $140.00
CORSA's home page: http://www.corvair.org
Steve Gongora's page: http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter871
CNM's newsletters: http://www.unm.edu/~jimp
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DUES: CNM: 12 months $25.00 -or- 26 months $ 50.00
CORSA: 12 months $45.00 -or- 26 months $ 90.00
CNM & CORSA: 12 months $70.00 -or- 26 months $140.00
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CORSA's home page: http://www.corvair.org
Steve Gongora's page: http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter871
CNM's newsletters: http://www.unm.edu/~jimp
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DUES DUE DATES FOR MARCH 2010
== DUE LAST MONTH = INACTIVE 25-MAR-2010:
2010.02 Susanne & Larry Hickerson 2002.08
== DUE THIS MONTH = INACTIVE 25-APR-2010: (none)
== DUE NEXT MONTH = INACTIVE 25-MAY-2010:
2010.04 Deborah & John Dinsdale 2000.02
2010.04 Heula & Jim Pittman 1974.04
== DUE MAY = INACTIVE 25-JUN-2010:
2010.05 Jack Bryan 1982.02
2010.05 Tracey & John McMahan 1983.12
== MEMBERSHIP EXPIRED = INACTIVE AS OF 25-FEB-2010:
2008.04 Florence & Bill Hector 2006.04
2008.10 Guadalupe & Jim Arellanes 2006.10
2008.10 Mary & Art Hurley 2007.10
2008.11 Nancy & Bernard Urbassik 2004.08
2009.02 Carl Johnson 1974.04
2009.03 Sally Williams 2003.09
2009.07 Jerry Goffe 1977.05
2009.08 Marci & Gary Calabrese 2008.08
2009.11 Pam & Charlie Mann 2008.11
2009.12 Robert Galli 2007.10
2010.01 Kim & Del Patten 1980.07
Send your Dues to:
Robert Gold
CNM Treasurer,
1301 Valencia NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
Past due memberships will become inactive after a one-month grace period. The
Club will mail in your National Dues when you renew, if you send us the renewal
form from your CORSA Communique!
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DRIVE A CORVAIR!
Pat Hall
Drop $200,000 or so on a Virgin Galactic space flight. Test flights begin in
2010 with full-fledged launches starting in 2011. Start saving your pocket
change.
Now, let's get real. I did take a mini vacation, not to space but by flying to
Milwaukee, Wisconsin where I bought the kind of truck I've been wanting for a
long time. It is an older Chevy with a dovetail flatbed which is 28 feet long.
You know what that means, don't you? It means I can haul two Corvairs at the
same time. I flew to Milwaukee but I planned to drive the truck back to Los
Lunas, come rain or snow.
The down side of this adventure is that the engine and the transmission of this
truck gave up the ghost -- at a distance of a hundred twenty-five miles from
home. Now I've got my work cut out for me as I am going to rebuild both.
Now I know how expensive tow trucks are! What a disappointment.
Thanks to everyone for listening. See you at the March meeting.
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February General Meeting Minutes 02/03/2010
President Hall called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Sixteen members were
present but snow storms kept some away. Geoff took notes in Art's absence and
said he'd make them available to Art. Pat showed us the Tri-State traveling
attendance plaque, ready to take to Canon City. Ray asked for all nomination
forms for the Meissner Award to be turned in by 9:00 PM. Ray asked for
suggestions for future tech topics.
Robert reported our funds as $2,621.72 plus $1,157.39 for a total of $3,779,11.
No new members were known to us. Jim said the deadline for submitting items for
the newsletter was Friday 02/19/2010 at 9:00 PM.
Nine families (19 individuals) signed up for the Canon City Tri-State banquet.
LeRoy previewed the 02/06/2010 garage tour to the Range Cafe in Bernalillo for
lunch, then to J & R Vintage Auto Museum in Rio Rancho.
Discussion: where to have a club breakfast on 03/06/2010?
The club's anniversary luncheon was previewed: Romano's Macaroni Grill, 2100
Louisiana NE at 1:00 PM on Sunday 03/21/2010, $15.49 per person, bring door
prizes, Ike Meissner Award to be presented, vegetarian plate will be available.
Metal recycling collection for the year: before the April meeting, Pat will
bring his truck to collect any metal discards. No plastic.
Our first Old Route 66 clean-up will be Saturday 04/10/2010, call Ollie at
897-2611, breakfast afterwards to be determined.
Our next TUNA will be at Pat's place in Los Lunas, 58 Avenida Valencia,
04/17/2010 where Alan Gold will demonstrate Powerglide repair. Larry found a
taker for his collection of old CORSA Communiques and old Auto Restore
magazines.
The meeting was adjourned and Jim presented a tech talk on late shifter repair
and adjustment. Many of us re-convened at the 66 Diner.
These minutes compiled from Pat's printed agenda and Heula's & Jim's notes.
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February Board Meeting Minutes 02/17/2010
Pat called the meeting to order at Ray's place at 5:00 PM. Ray reported the
Meissner Award was ready for presentation at our 03/21/2010 Anniversary
Luncheon. Robert said the meal would be exactly $20 per person.
We did not know of anyone attending the last Car Council meeting but David said
he'd attend the next one on 02/24/2010 at the Old Car Garage at 7:30 PM. Other
members may attend as well.
Robert reported our funds as $2,856.72 plus $1,157.39 for a total of $4,014.11.
No new members were known to us. Jim said the deadline for submitting items for
the newsletter was Friday 02/19/2010 at 9:00 PM.
A sample copy of the Canon City Tri-State T-Shirt order form was shown and will
be available to interested members at future meetings. T-shirts will be $13
each, XXL $15 each. The sign-up sheet for the banquet meal will also be
available at future meetings.
Pat called for discussion of the Three-tier plan for CORSA (see your Communique
for February) and Jim said this would not affect us very much, but we as a
chapter should support CORSA to help keep it viable. There was discussion about
the difficulty of keeping one's CORSA and CNM dues synchronized and Jim said any
member could pay CNM for more or fewer months than 12 or 26 in order to
synchronize dues dates. How to find out your dues dates? Look at the member list
on-line, or look at your CNM newsletter mailing label.
We discussed our 100% CORSA requirement from the constitution. Jim said the
member list on-line contained the latest dues dates for both CORSA and CNM and
it was up to the board to enforce.
Pat called for discussion of the suggestion, first brought up at the January
board meeting, that CNM take the 2011 Tri-State instead of Denver (they will be
busy putting on the 2011 CORSA International Convention and they will take the
2012 Tri-State) and we all agreed we could and should do it. Jim said he would
inform the Denver and Colorado Springs of our decision. Brenda was already
starting the process of getting it set up at Red River, New Mexico, tentative
date June 3-4-5, 2011. A large car show would be going on that weekend and we
could participate as a "Corvair Club" and be in line for awards.
Vickie said as property manager, club items such as patches and license plates
were available. She gave Robert $49 for recent sales.
These minutes compiled from Pat's printed agenda and Heula's & Jim's notes.
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Our Greatest Achievement -- Piet Hein
"We must expect posterity But it should change its attitude
to view with some asperity to one of heartfelt gratitude
the marvels and the wonders that when thinking of the blunders that
we're passing on to it; we didn't quite commit."
from Piet Hein; Grooks.
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J & R Vintage Auto Museum Tour
Larry Yoffee
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 signif-icance. 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.
Lastly, 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
domestically -- 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.
Check out the J & R VINTAGE MUSEUM web page: http://www.jrvintageautos.com
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Elvis Presley's Corvair?
Vickie Hall
A few weeks ago Pat received a phone call from Albert in Florida. He told Pat
that he had a 1965 Corvair and he was looking for someone to rebuild the engine.
Toward the end of the conversation, I heard Pat say, Elvis Presley's car! Well
that got my attention so I started asking questions. Albert said that he bought
the "red" Corvair at an auction and that inside the car were lots of Elvis
memorabilia.
Albert sent pictures of the car but he must have removed the contents because I
didn't see anything relating to Elvis Presley.
After spending way too much time at the computer, I found several locations that
make reference to Elvis owning a little red Corvair and possibly two of them.
"To Priscilla Presley, before they were married and when she was still in high
school, Elvis gave her a red Corvair so that she could drive herself to school."
"When Elvis and Priscilla got together, Elvis picked her up in a little red
Corvair."
"Elvis gave Priscilla a red Corvair, her first car, as a high school graduation
gift."
As Benjamin Franklin once said, "Believe none of what you hear and half of what
you see."
"BELIEVE IT OR NOT"
Now what I believe to be the best part of this article is the following quote:
"You can't buy a new car today," swears French Lewis, "for anywhere near the
money, that's as good as an old Corvair."
----- Vickie
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SUNSHINE COMMITTEE
Nine CNMers celebrate birthdays this month:
Barbara Johnson March 2
Walter Huntoon March 3
Linda Cochran March 9
Julia Vertrees March 11
Hurley Wilvert March 11
Vickie Hall March 17
Russ McDuffie March 19
Kim Patten March 24
Brenda Stickler March 26
Two "Golden" couples celebrate anniversaries this month:
Anne Mae & Robert Gold March 13
Kelly & Art Gold March 26
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It's Anniversary Luncheon Time!
Anne Mae & Robert Gold
I suspect many of our most recent CNM members don't know that we started as a
car club 'way back in 1974. That was when I had just finished college and was
looking forward to what the world held for me. I had a whole lot of black curly
hair in those days. Now here we are in 2010 ready to celebrate the 36th
anniversary of the club. What hair I have left is now gray, but one thing that
has remained the same is that the Corvair is still a really neat car to drive
and gets lots of looks from folks as we roll along. So I'm asking all of you to
join me for our anniversary luncheon to be held on Sunday, March 21 at 1:00 pm
to celebrate our years together. The luncheon will be held at Romano's Macaroni
Grill at 2100 Louisiana Blvd NE, near I-40 and Louisana NE.
My lovely wife Anne Mae and I stopped by the restaurant a few days ago and
discussed things with their manager. We'll have a nice quiet room to ourselves
with a choice of all sorts of different meals. The price of the meal is exactly
$20.00 including drink, tax, and tip. LeRoy Rogers has volunteered to set up a
nice railroad
display featuring the Corvair. In addition you'll get a chance to win a door
prize! One thing the club will need to do is give the restaurant a count on the
number of meals 24 hours before the luncheon. I'll be circulating a signup sheet
at the March meeting and emailing a reminder with the menu to the club members
in early March. If you are planning on coming PLEASE sign up on the sheet or
email me at beisbol30@msn.com or phone me at 268-6878.
I encourage you to join us for all the fun. Remember this is when we present the
Ike Meissner Award so we want to have a good turnout to support that hard
working club member. Give me a call if you have any questions.
-- Robert Gold
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CNM to Host 2011 Tri-State
Heula Pittman
Several weeks ago John Dawson (president of Rocky Mountain CORSA) and Steve
Goodman (president of Pikes Peak Corvair Club) asked us if we'd take over the
2011 Tri-State instead of Rocky Mountain, which will be busy running the 2011
CORSA International Convention.Then Rocky Mountain would take the 2012
Tri-State.
Several CNM members have talked about this proposal and the consensus is that we
should and can do it. At the February 17th board meeting we officially voted to
do it, and several of us are working on the first steps. At present, we will
most likely go to Red River, New Mexico and the target date is June 3, 4, 5.
We'd be glad for anyone who wants to help with planning and running this event
to volunteer to help!
Trading dates for a Tri-State has been done before. In 1996 we were running a
CORSA convention in Albuquerque (June 17-23) and the Denver club hosted a
Tri-State in Montrose, Colorado on May 10-12. Several CNM members went to the
Montrose Tri-State and it was a good one. Sylvan remembers that there was a good
turnout, but we don't have a record of the numbers who attended from each club.
In 2000 we went out-of-turn to take that year's Tri-State, held in Albuquerque.
The reason we did that was, the Museum/Car Council car show planned to have the
Corvair as the featured car of the show and we wanted to have the Tri-State be a
part of that Museum/Car Council car show. This worked out well and many
Tri-State Corvairs were in the show.
Do you want to help? Let us know!
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Unnecessary Unsafety
Jim Pittman
Back in 1965, in the middle of the glory days of the American automobile, Ralph
Nader published his book "Unsafe at Any Speed" and started his crusade to
improve the safety of automobiles. The popular notion is that Nader was
attacking the Corvair and only the Corvair, but anyone who actually reads the
book will realize that he pointed out many "unnecessarily unsafe" features found
throughout the industry. On one point I am in total agreement: he mentioned
instrument panels and dashboards that were often brightly finished with chrome
and glossy enamels which reflected sunlight or the light of oncoming motor
vehicles into the driver's eyes. Usually, the only reason for this was styling.
In 1966 when my Corsa coupe was still new, I came to believe that the various
"bright metal" parts inside the car were unnecessarily distracting in certain
conditions. I used to do a lot of night driving and I wanted a minimum of light
sources inside the car. I turned the instrument panel down to the lowest
setting. The black upholstery, headliner, instrument panel and glove box were
great, except for the shiny unpainted rings around the instruments. I got some
model airplane flat black and painted out those rings. I painted the radio bezel
and knobs black. I put black tape on the shiny chrome near the vent window.
Later when I got my first Corvair that had a shiny chrome horn ring, I cut off
the ring part, filed it smooth and painted the whole thing flat black.
In modern times I still dislike unnecessary chrome details inside or outside of
cars -- when the sun is the wrong way, they send blinding beams your way, either
reflected off the windows or directly into your eyes.
In recent years there has been a lamentable trend toward more chrome around tail
lights. I do not understand those ridiculous "white" taillight lenses where you
can't see any red until the light goes on. With some cars you can hardly tell
which is the front or back!
These days we all know the warnings about driving while "celling" and we are
told that talking on your cell phone is just as dangerous as driving drunk. So,
we keep a sharp eye out for cell-using drivers and give them plenty of room. We
hope they will run over someone else, not us. Well, we need to take the same
care around chrome-bedecked vehicles.
Just a few days ago I came close to running into another car. The brand-new
Prius ahead of me was equipped with those "white" tail light lenses surrounded
by plenty of chrome, and the sun was hitting these highly reflective surfaces
just the wrong way, so I was getting an eyeful of reflections. I did not see the
brake lights until I had run right up to the rear of the car! I had to brake
pretty smartly to avoid actually hitting him.
Now, honestly, this near miss should not have happened, chrome and sun
reflections and "white" lenses notwithstanding. I should have been more
attentive to the actual speed and deceleration of the Prius. Depending entirely
on other cars' brake lights or turn signals is not enough to keep safe. If I had
been a half second later at slowing down I would have been telling some cop
about the invisible brake lights.
I hate the tendency to add chrome bling to cars. Late Corvairs are much better
at having a minimum of chrome, compared to other mid-sixties GM cars.
Unfortunately the fifties fad of heavily chromed cars has never gone away and
seems to be worse than ever these days. We all need to drive so as to keep these
death-ray vehicles well away from our safety zone!
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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
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| March 2010 | April 2010 | May |
| 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 |
============================================================================
Wed 3 Mar 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Wed 3 Mar 8:30 PM (time approx.) after our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner
at 1405 Central NE (between University Blvd and I-25)
Sat 6 Mar 9:30 AM CNM Breakfast - to be arranged - suggestions?
Sat 13 Mar 1:00 PM Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starting in Bosque Farms at the
Wells Fargo Bank. This is every second Saturday.
Wed 17 Mar 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Fri 19 Mar 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
Sun 21 Mar 1:00 PM Anniversary Luncheon at Romano's Macaroni Grill
2100 Louisiana NE - price exactly $20.00 per person.
Anne Mae & Robert Gold - 268-6878 - beisbol30 @ msn.com
= MEISSNER AWARD: The Award will be presented at the Anniversary Dinner.
Wed 7 Apr 7:00 PM Pat Hall: scrap metal recycle project as a fund raiser.
Collect your scrap metal and bring it to the meeting.
Wed 7 Apr 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Wed 7 Apr 8:30 PM (time approx.) after our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner
at 1405 Central NE (between University Blvd and I-25)
Sat 10 Apr 9:00 AM First Old Route 66 Clean-up of 2010.
Brunch afterwards? Ollie Scheflow 897-2611
Sat 10 Apr 1:00 PM Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starting in Bosque Farms at the
Wells Fargo Bank. This is every second Saturday.
Sat 17 Apr 10:00 AM TUNA at Pat Hall's place, 58 Avenida Valencia, Los Lunas
conducted by Alan Gold who will show us how to diagnose
and repair Powerglide transmissions.
Wed 21 Apr 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Fri 23 Apr 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
Wed 5 May 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Wed 5 May 8:30 PM (time approx.) after our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner
at 1405 Central NE (between University Blvd and I-25)
Sat 8 May ....... Albuquerque Tour - organized by Chuck Vertrees. Time and
starting point to be determined. The end point will be
at a restaurant where we'll have lunch.
Sat 8 May 1:00 PM Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starting in Bosque Farms at the
Wells Fargo Bank. This is every second Saturday.
Sun 16 May 10:00 AM NMCCC and Albuquerque Museum 32nd Annual Car Show
Albuquerque Museum, 2000 Mountain Rd NW, Albuquerque
Wed 19 May 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Fri 21 May 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
Fri-Sat-Sun May 21-22-23 The Tri-State will be held in Canon City, Colorado.
Sponsored by Pikes Peak Corvair Club, Colorado Springs, CO.
= BOYDSTON AWARD: Sponsored by the Pikes Peak club.
============================================================================
2011: 20-23 July - Rocky Mountain CORSA - Denver - CORSA Convention
============================================================================
More activities: New Mexico Council of Car Clubs: http://www.nmcarcouncil.org
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Installing a Clark's Air Conditioner
Richard Finch, SAE
I have been patiently waiting for GM (Government Motors) to give me a new 2010
Cadillac CTX, one that is painted candy apple red and with a V-6 engine and 6
speed automatic transmission and paddle shifter, but so far no luck. I am not
eligible for a bailout in the form of any new vehicle due to the fact that all
my Corvairs are not capable of less than 25 to 30 miles per gallon as with some
of the cash for clunkers deals where a car must be getting 8 to 10 miles per
gallon.
So, I have decided to convert my newest acquisition, a 1963 Monza Coupe, to air
conditioning. I therefore bought a brand new Clark's Corvair Parts air
conditioning kit to install in my daily driver car.
Clark's advertises the kit as one you can install in one or two week-ends and I
believe that, because back in the 1956 year time period, I was a Buick service
technician and the service manager expected me to install air conditioner kits
in new 1956 Buicks in less than one working day. I did just that, and the a/c
always worked just fine for the new car customers. I even had to cut a hole in
the top of the dash so the dash vent could be installed. I also had to hole-saw
two holes in the firewall to run the Freon lines through. I also had to vacuum
down the system before I added Freon (tm).
Getting the Monza ready
There are several things that must be done to any Corvair before installing the
Clark's Air Conditioner Kit. The rear engine mount on early models ('60-'63)
must be replaced with a special one that makes room for the rear a/c pulley.
Also, the rear harmonic balancer should be replaced with a rebuilt one to
prevent problems from deteriorated pulleys later on. So, I put the 1963 coupe
over the pit in the floor of my shop so I would have working room under the car.
Then I removed the rear engine pulley which happened to be the cast iron one,
not the 2-piece one that must be used. I also installed the special rear pulley
for the a/c belt. While I was under the car, I pulled the oil pan and put in a
new pan gasket to prevent leaks later. The kit recommends using synthetic engine
oil to keep the engine running cooler than before. (The a/c takes air through a
condenser that is mounted to the lower side of the engine lid, which causes the
engine to run warmer when the a/c is used.)
And because the engine in a 1963 Corvair is now 47 years old, I replaced the
engine perimeter seals which were hard and leaking air. To do that, I removed
the metal strips that the seals are attached to and painted the metal parts
before installing the new fabric seals.
I also had been saving a pretty, chrome plated top engine shroud that I had
picked up at the Palm Springs swap meet about five years ago. Before I replaced
the top shroud, I installed a 1964 magnesium blower fan and a new aluminum fan
pulley. The 1963 fan was a stamped steel unit and it was very heavy.
I also removed the engine rear accessory housing and cleaned it up and installed
a new gasket and oil pump gasket and rear crank seal. I wanted the engine to
look good and not leak oil. (At this point, I should have, could have, would
have, removed the entire power train and renewed all the gaskets and seals, but
the shoulda, coulda, woulda was too late.) And of course the generator had to be
replaced by a late model 1978 GM 1-wire alternator. To make the alternator match
the chrome shroud, I bought a new chrome alternator from Summit Racing and
converted it to Corvair use by using an end plate and fan from a 1965 Corvair
alternator. Now if I ever need to, I can replace the alternator anywhere on the
road by just buying a rebuilt alternator for a 1978 GM car and swapping the
pieces that are special to the Corvair.
While I was at it, I cleaned the carburetors, installed new gaskets and
installed new chrome plated fuel lines that I bought from Clark's. This car was
advertised as being cleaner than new and was for sure rust free and dent free.
It deserved to be made to look as good as possible. The paint was re-done in
1973 and was shot in Imron so that it looks like it has a clear coat on it.
The engine appears to have had new O-rings installed recently because I found
the valve cover hold-downs had been installed upside down. The car has not
leaked a single spot of oil since I purchased it in September 2008.
Installing the air conditioner pieces
The first thing I did was to hold the form-fitting fiberglass condenser to the
bottom of the engine lid and put in the self drilling holding screws. That
worked out great and the install time was about 20 minutes. I also drilled the
two holes in the engine firewall where the two a/c hoses are to go through to
the under side of the body. I then went up to the trunk and drilled the two
holes in the trunk shelf where the two hoses go through to enter the car's
interior under the dash. That took another 20 minutes.
I then drilled the two holes where the 1/4" bolts fit to hold the evaporator
under the dash. The next item to be installed was the receiver-drier that fits
on the wall just under the fresh air vent. Those screws are self-tapping and are
easy to install with a driver bit in a battery powered drill. That took less
than 30 minutes.
My version of a John Fitch dash
I have constructed a reproduction of a 1963 John Fitch dash with speedometer,
tachometer, fuel gauge, cylinder head temp, exhaust gas temperature and volt
meter plus new directional lights and a powerglide shifter. I decided that this
new dash unit just had to go in this car to make it like a 1964 Fitch Sprint car
from the '60s.
To be continued.......
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Adjust Late Shifter -- Tech Talk
Jim Pittman
Some of us, if we learned to drive a fifties or sixties British sports car, like
a shifter that is precise, smooth and effortless. The typical Corvair shifter is
sloppy, crunchy and difficult. It's not just because of the location of the
transmission in the back and the shifter in front. More than likely your late
shifter just needs two new parts and a few simple adjustments to work much
better.
Bronze bushings are easy to install and can make the shifter action more precise
and positive. Other new and remanufactured parts are readily available from
Clark's. The above drawing of late shifter parts is copied from Clark's catalog.
Your first chore is to look at your shifter and the drawing and understand how
the shift mechanism works. If you are lucky you may have only minor problems and
you won't have to disassemble very much to be able to make a big improvement.
Count on needing new bushings and a new coupling pin, though, with some
disassembly required.
Here are some of the things that could go wrong.
* 1. The pins holding the shifter (35) in the shifter base (38) could be worn.
Tapered bearings can be used for new pins. The shifter base must be
disassembled, worn pins removed and new pins pressed in. Sylvan Zuercher had a
great article in our March 1998 newsletter covering all the details.
* 2. The lubrication inside the shifter base (38) could be missing, hardened or
gummy, making for "stiff" operation.
* 3. The shifter base (38) could be too loose or too tight where it bolts
through shims (1 and 2) through the car's floor pan to the head of the shifter
tube (3), or it could have dried-out or gummy lubrication. If too tight, the
shifter tube head won't be able to slide along the car's floor pan as the
engine/transaxle moves in its rubber mounts under normal operation.
* 4. The lubricant in the shifter ball-to-cup mechanism could be missing,
solidified or gummy, making for "stiff" operation.
* 5. The front and rear bushings (23) could be missing from the shifter tube,
allowing the inner rod to move sloppily and to rattle.
* 6. The shifter tube (3) could be bent from previous encounters with stumps or
bolders, making it hard for the inner rod (4) to slide or rotate.
* 7. The cardboard liner between the outer shift tube (3) and the inner rod (4)
could be full of rust or wet and distorted, causing excessive friction when
shifting.
* 8. The stabilizer rod (20) could be adjusted too high, too low or too far
sideways, putting excess stress on the inner rod and the rear bushing, thereby
causing excess friction.
* 9. The coupling pin (13) or the holes in the coupler (12) could be worn,
leading to sloppiness. The hole in the transmission pin is probably okay.
* 10. The rubber insert inside the coupler (12) could be dried out and slipping,
allowing the inner shaft to rotate relative to the coupler.
* 11. The coupler (12) could be fastened to the inner tube (4) too close or too
far from the transmission, making the shift lever lean too far forward or too
far backward from the driver.
Start by putting your car up on four secure jack stands. Take off the left rear
wheel for more working space if you want but it's not necessary. Crawl
underneath, take off the belly pans and look at the mechanisms, front and rear.
It helps greatly to have an assistant who can sit in the driver's seat, put in
the clutch, and slowly shift through all the gears while you watch the movements
of the parts below.
Once you have examined your shifter mechanism you may be able to guess what
parts and adjustments are needed. If your car already has bronze bushings, you
can probably make an improvement by just adjusting the coupler. If your bushings
are shot, then order some new parts, including a Clark's bronze bushing kit, new
plastic shifter base (1), rubber bushings for the stabilizer rod (20), and new
rubber boots. Budget time for disassembly, cleaning, reassembly and alignment
By the way, I find the sheet metal screws holding the belly pans in place are
very easy to strip out and I don't know of a satisfactory repair.
With new parts in hand, start by taking the belly pans off the car, then remove
the shift tube from the car. Remove the coupler from the inner rod, then pull
the inner rod out of the shifter tube. Remove and discard the inner cardboard
tube.
Install bronze bushings according to Clark's instructions, making sure they
don't bind the inner rod. Careful filing and crocus cloth are good for this. (If
you are adept at brazing, you may prefer to braze them in place instead of
drilling and tapping holes for the eight tiny screws.) Remove rust, then paint
the shifter tube and inner rod as needed.
Clean all the moving parts and put new grease where needed. Check the condition
and lubrication of the floor shims top and bottom, then loosely install the
shifter base with shims through the floor to the shifter tube head. Install the
shifter tube stabilizer rod loosely at the rear. Back at the front, tighten the
shifter base just snug enough that it won't rock sloppily side-to-side, but
loose enough that it can slide front-to-back along the floor pan.
Gradually tighten up the nuts holding the stabilizer rod bushings so the
stabilizer rod holds the coupler in approximate alignment with the shifter pin,
then install the coupler's pin to the transmission's shaft. Go back to the
driver's seat and try moving the shift lever to see if you can engage all the
gears. Leave the shift lever in first gear for a 4-speed or reverse gear for a
3-speed.
Go below and pull out the pin from the coupler. Does the coupler now want to
move up or down or sideways? If so, adjust the stabilizer rod nuts and bushings
so the stabilizer rod holds the coupler so that it's looking squarely at the
pin. Tighten everything up securely. Put in the pin, a washer and a cotter pin.
Go up and check shifter action.
For those lucky enough to have shifters with all parts in good shape, this one
adjustment could make an enormous difference in shifter feel.
The position of the shift lever forward-to-back relative to the driver's
position can be adjusted over a certain range. Loosen the clamp holding the
coupler to the inner tube and adjust the front-to-back position of the lever to
suit, then tighten the clamp.
It's a good final touch to install all new rubber boots to keep some of the road
dust out of the moving parts.
Now, if you are confident of your work, install the belly pans and go take your
car for a test ride. What you are aiming for is, the shift knob will easily and
positively move the mechanism to engage every gear, with minimum effort but with
very little slop and looseness. The bronze bushings will ensure part of this,
and careful adjustment will take care of the rest.
The drawing (above) of the early shift mechanism is included for comparison.
Some parts are similar to the late models but some are quite different.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1965 - 1969 SHIFT TUBE ALIGNMENT
Reprinted from THE REAR VIEW (Green County Corvairs) February 1985
Improve the action of your shifter and the life of the shifter tube bushings,
especially the rear one, by correcting shift tube misalignment. The stabilizer
rod acts not only to steady the end of the shift tube, but also to help keep it
aligned with the transmission. As the motor mounts sag with age, however, the
rod may actually be trying to force the shift tube out of alignment.
To check the alignment, remove the pin connecting the shifter to the
transmission. Note that both shift tube bushings must be in place to accurately
align the shifter tube. The shifter yoke should fit so it is in line with the
shaft of the transmission without rubbing on the sides or requiring any force to
hold it in position. Most likely when you remove the pin the yoke will drop
below the transmission shaft and force will be required to hold it in place.
This force is what causes wear on the shifter bushings, and makes shifting
harder than it ought to be.
Shown below are the two styles of bracket that were used to mount the end of the
stabilizer rod to the late transmission crossmember. The 1965 style used a flat
bracket while the 1966-1969 style had a bracket with a "dimple" that acted as a
ball-and-socket joint to provide an alignment adjustment. The 1965 style could
not be adjusted for any angle other than 90 degrees to the bracket.
To align the bracket on '65s you can bend the bracket by using a small jack
placed under the shifter tube end of the stabilizer rod. Remove the pin from the
shifter yoke and jack up on the rod until the yoke is about 1/4" above the
transmission shaft. Release the jack and check the alignment. The yoke and shaft
should meet so the pin can be installed without any force required. If not,
repeat the Jacking process until they align. You may need to loosen the two
bolts holding the bracket to the crossmember to make sideways adjustments.
To align 1966-1969 models you can still use the jack method, but first loosen
the ball-and-socket joint at the transmission end of the stabilizer rod. Jack
the shift tube end of the rod to the proper alignment, then tighten the nut
before releasing the jack.
(Editor's note: In addition to the alignment described above, the ease and
precision of your late model's shifting can be improved by replacing the plastic
bushing at each end of the shift tube with brass or bronze bushings. They are
readily available from Clark's.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Batteries And Alternators -- Denvair News -- February 2010 -- Page 5
Steve Goodman
The last installment ended with the promise of sources of battery drains
(shorts) and poor electrical connections. Let's start with voltage loss first.
Common Short #1
The most common battery drain is the drivers' side heater hose, especially on
the early cars (except '60 which had no heater hose). From the factory there was
an insulator sleeve that protected the wire wound hose from contacting the top
(Batt) post of the starter solenoid. It was a piece of foam rubber that was
destined to fail in short order, either from weather or from hose replacement.
If not installed on the hose the thin material of the heater hose will wear
though and the wire will be in contact with the B+ battery cable. It has always
been a wonder to me that the wire doesn't get so hot as to burn the car down but
it never seems to get that bad, just a slow drain overnight is typical of every
one I have seen.
Common Short #2
The next common short is from accessories such as the radio not being wired to a
'keyed' source and the glove box light. The glove box light can be troublesome
to find, I always turn off the shop lights and then the light can be seen
through the gaps in the closed glove box door. Stop lights can stay on, almost
always the fault of a poorly adjusted switch, and the windshield washer pump has
the ability to fail and short to ground. Generally voltage drains can be found
by unplugging wiring plugs or removing fuses, each time checking with the test
light as I outlined last month.
Wire Connections
Now let's examine wire connection problems that will cause the starter to either
be inoperative or work slowly. First of course is the battery connections, cable
ends to posts. Sometimes even though the outside of the clamps looks pretty
good, there is a film between the post and the inside of the cable clamp.
Removing the cables and using the correct post/clamp cleaner, which actually is
a pair of wire brushes, will have them shiny in no time.
HINT: always remove the ground cable first, then if your wrench slips and
touches the car frame/body no sparks will fly.
Grounding Issues
Ground connections are sometimes overlooked. The 60-64 used a large braided
cable from (-) to the frame rail and then over the engine. Replacements are
round cables but the theory is the same, there must be a good connection between
the frame and the engine. The 65-69 used a round cable from the (-) to the
engine and a smaller connection to the frame rail. Don't depend upon the small
ground braids on the 65-69 cars, those are too small to carry the load of the
battery during starter operation.
One other thought about poor grounds, if the normal ground connections fail the
voltage can be taken through emergency brake cables, clutch cables and even PG
shift cables. Those are guaranteed to fail in a short time, the wire strands are
tempered and lose their strength when heated up.
The 60-64 models had poor harness connectors. They just pushed together. When
one side slipped a bit due to careless mechanic hands or hitting too many
potholes, the plugs would separate. The most common is the plug located in the
engine bay. The large 10ga red wire that goes from the Batt connection on the
voltage regulator into the plug and then forward to the ignition switch is
notorious for breaking apart. The voltage draw is high enough on that large wire
that it will arc and start to build up residue on the contact points, plus burn
away just a little bit at a time. Eventually the time will come when the entire
car is dead.
What can be worse is when the plug splits itself apart that last tiny bit as you
are driving down the road; the car is instantly dead with nothing at all working
such as lights etc. The key to keeping this from happening is to check the plug
occasionally to ensure the two parts are enjoined. Many make a repair of
splicing the feed wire outside of the plug so it is connected in a more
permanent manner.
Other words of caution: check the routing of your clutch and emergency brake
cables through the tunnel and toe board. It is easy to have the wire loom get
loose and move into the path of the moving cables.
If you add electrical circuits to your car, make certain the wires are wrapped
together and tied in the same area as the stock wire loom, it is tight quarters
inside the tunnel and another wire loom takes up room that GM didn't make
allowance for.
Something that always makes me cringe is seeing an ammeter wired into the car.
The wires going forward and back are hot constantly and an easy source of shorts
and wear though the insulation; if you want to monitor your battery add a volt
meter instead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SEVEN YEARS AGO -- Jim Pittman
Seven Years Ago - March 2003 - Volume 29 - Number 3 - Issue 330
Our cover showed a proud Wendell Walker with his 1964 convertible. At our
meeting our treasury was said to hold $5,780 and change. Robert Gold and Tarmo
Sutt reported on the wonders to be seen at the Barret Jackson auction in
Phoenix. We had reports of Corvairs available for sale and a report on the
poorly-attended trip to Bosque del Apache. Robert Gold's long "president's
column" not only told about the awesome Phoenix auction but went over the
nicknames given to all his cars by family members. That was quite a list. We
included the minutes of the January Car Council meeting in our newsletter. They
said they'd have a speaker on "clunker laws" at their next meeting. Do you
suppose they anticipated the "Cash for Clunkers" program of 2009?
Steve Gongora reported on a great visit to Bode Aviation out at Double Eagle
Airport. We were invited by Steve Johnson who works there. LeRoy Rogers told us
the latest news on the Raton Tri-State. Chuck Vertrees provided a story about
how his brother built his first car: a Ford Model A coupe. Both brothers learned
more than they bargained for from this experience. Finally, there was a series
of anecdotes from the internet about how small sports cars (like Miatas) are
invisible to the drivers of big American cars and trucks. It's still true! And
now we have the added distraction of cell phone use while driving.
Fourteen Years Ago - March 1996 - Volume 22 - Number 3 - Issue 246
On the cover: your editor working on the newsletter with his Apple IIgs
computer; photo by Bill Reider. Chuck Vertrees provided meeting minutes. We
welcomed Francis Boydston back to the meeting after a hospital stay. We welcomed
new member Mickey Payne. We suggested that CORSA should have a newsletter award
and some of those present thought CNM would easily win it. Treasurer Will Davis
said we had $606 in the convention account plus $529 in the bank. We looked
forward to several car shows and a Route 66 show at Nob Hill next year. Chuck
Vertrees previewed a photo rally, really a dry run for the convention rally, to
be held in March. The raffle car was almost done and it looked great. Bill
Reider said we had already sold $500 worth of raffle tickets. We planned to vote
for Mark Domzalski for CORSA Western Director. Ray Battaglini spoke briefly
about the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ohio. Bill Nelson gave a talk on
lubricants and Pennzoil products.
Mark Domzalski said we were all trying to finish up planning for the convention
and still have time to go to Montrose for the Tri-State. LeRoy previewed our
garage tour to see the Phil Maloof car collection and to see Jim Pittman's
newsletter production facilities. Tech tips: Mark Domzalski told about ignition
coils that could stand up to an electronic ignition, and Bill Reider discussed
getting the best wheel and tire combination for the Corvair.
Twenty-one Years Ago - March 1989 - Volume 15 - Number 3 - Issue 162
On the cover a Rampside was pulling a trailer with a CNM birthday cake. New
members were Joe Ashton and Jim Gould, and "Bob" Gold returned to CNM. President
Bill Hector was still trying to get annual Corvair mileage figures from our
members and Clayborne Souza was still trying to get designs for a Red River
Tri-State patch. For enthusiastic students of English and puzzles, Tom Martin
said that 133 words could be spelled using the letters to MISTLETOE. Kem Owen
continued his series of articles on his V-8 Corvair coupe, discussing his disk
brake installation.
In March 1989 we had a special 15th Anniversary edition newsletter featuring
classic articles from the previous fifteen years.
Twenty-eight Years Ago - March 1982 - Volume 8 - Number 3 - Issue 78
The cover was a jumble of letters that spelled out a secret message for the
reader to decode. Richard Twilley had a mystery Monza which went "THUNK THUNK"
from the rear wheel. He managed to find the surprising cause of the noise before
it disrupted his happy marriage. Your editor presented part 1 of a story about
"Why I own a Corvair" instead of a Mustang. Yes, in another universe your editor
was a lifetime Mustang owner.
Thirty-five Years Ago - March 1975 - Volume 1 - Number 3 - Issue 3
On the cover, a photo of a decal on the back of Glen Shakel's VW van: "Power by
Chevrolet!" Chevrolet Corvair, that is. Editor Mark Morgan interviewed Glen to
learn more about the conversion. Glen was very pleased: he found more power, no
handling problems and only a modest loss of fuel economy. Because of a temporary
"economic crisis" we lost our meeting place at Ed Black's, but Hector and Steve
Gongora came to the rescue and offered us space at House of Covers. We planned a
party for our first birthday. Coming up: trips to Bosque del Apache, to Denver
for a "Western Convention" and to Seattle for the 1975 CORSA Convention.
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