June meeting at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park

Transcription

1 June meeting at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park Heart of America Corvair Owners Association see page 2 Kansas City Area Corvair Society of America June 2011 Volume 47 Issue 6 Editors Gary and Helen Moore The May Meeting By Gary and Helen Moore The day had been hot and windy, with the temps near 90 and the wind gusting to 30 miles an hour. Even so, a good number of Corvairs were outside Paul and Jack s with the early models outnumbering the lates seven to four. For the earlies, Don Barta was there in his bronze Monza convertible. Scot Allison drove his Spyder, and Sharri & Kirk Johnson came in their Monza station wagon, Miss Scarlett. Ray Sego drove his red Monza convertible Punkysue, while Mike & Sandy Dawson drove their green Monza coupe. Cliff & Sheila Carlino came in the Spyder and I got to drive Helen s red Rampside. For the lates, Kevin Koch and Kim & Wes Mellies had driven their Corsa convertibles while Tim & Kim Macko came in their Monza coupe. Reid & Marina Miermaster drove their marina blue coupe, Koritsi (Greek for girl). Maybe the late model owners will have a better showing at the June meeting at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park. The meeting had a good crowd with 32 members in attendance. Paul and Jack s owner, Mark McNelly, is working with us to accommodate our growing club by moving in more tables and moving out the ATM machine. He has also installed two new rooftop A/C units to keep the room cool. President Scott Allison brought the meeting to order. It was announced that HACOA member Ted Utz had lost his home in a fire on May 8. Authorities did not know the cause of the fire, only that it had began in the front of the home. No one was injured in the blaze. The Savannah fire department and rural fire district using four crews and seven trucks fought the fire for two and half hours to bring it under control. Secretary Kat King had no minutes to read, that chore having been suspended during last month s auction. Treasurer Cliff Carlino announced that there was $6551 in the treasury. Newsletter editor Helen Moore asked for those with projects to please take photos and write up a progress report for the newsletter. Webmaster Travis Bolton said there were new ads on the website, several members have been taking advantage of the classified section of the website. Tool Crib Master Ken Ragan said he has parts and club tools for rent, cheap! The club received thank you notes from the Ragan Family and the Susan G. Komen cure for cancer group for the donations from the April Auction. The Round Up is falling into place. See Round Up Reports page 9. Bill Bennett was not able to be at the meeting for the cruise report. Kim Mellies, Show and Parade chair, passed around a sign-up sheet for the Excelsior Springs Waterfest. The Waterfest Parade is Saturday Morning June 25. Staging for the parade begins at 9 a.m. and the parade begins at 10 a.m. The Car Show is Sunday, June 26; registration is from 9 till noon with a $20 entry fee. Also on the 26 th is the Kansas City Art Institute s Art of Concours Car Show featuring some of the finest cars in the Midwest including Jack Hill s Monza convertible. General admission to the show is $12 and proceeds go to the school for scholarships. The after meeting presentation was given by Mary Reichert from the Heartland Honor Flight group. Honor Flight is a national organization, which flies WWII vets to Washington to visit the WWII Memorial and Arlington National cemetery, along with many of the other national memorials in the area. Ms. Reichert gave information about the trip the veterans take, how to donate to the organization, and how to apply to attend, either as a veteran or a helper.

2 Social Calendar at a Glance Co-Chairs Don and Irmajean Barta Date Event Venue City Saturday, June 4 Working Tech Session Mike and Sandy Dawson s Oakland Ave., Belton MO see page 9 Tuesday, June 14 Meeting in the Park Sar Ko Par Trails Park 87 th St. and Lackman Rd. Lenexa, KS. Sunday, June 16 Antique Car, Tractor Lathrop Show Grounds Lathrop, MO and Engine Show Saturday, June 25 Waterfest Parade Downtown Ex. Springs Excelsior Springs, MO Sunday, June 26 Waterfest Car Show Downtown Ex. Springs Excelsior Springs, MO Sunday, June 26 Art of Concours Car Show Kansas City Art Institute 4415 Warwick Boulevard, Kansas City, MO Saturday, July 9 Thunder In the Valley Thunder Valley speedway Grain Valley, Mo Tue-Sat July CORSA National Convention The DoubleTree Hotel 7801 E. Orchard Rd, Greenwood Village, CO F-S-S, Sept 30-Oct 2 Great Plains Corvair Round Up The Elms Resort 401 Regent Street, Excelsior Springs, MO Friday, December 2 HACOA Holiday Party Kevin and Ada Koch s Prairie Villiage, KS Working Tech Session Saturday, June 4, :00 Until You Are Finished Oakland Ave, Belton, MO Take this opportunity to enjoy some great socializing, get to know other members, and most important, get any last minute checks or repairs completed before the convention in July at Denver. I have a pre-trip check list available anytime upon request. Bring your own hand tools; I will supply anything you don t have, including Corvair specialty tools, all types of meters and tune up tools, air supply and air tools, acetylene torch, wire welder, hydraulic press, etc. (Supervision available from multiple sources.) If you want to tackle a big job and start early, let me know. Brake replacement requires turning drums: I can have exchange items ready if you let me know ahead of time; a couple of days just to make sure. Bring a chair; grill food, soft drinks and adult beverage will be furnished please bring a dish or snack to share. Grilling begins at 4:00 New Hamburger Recipe. Please RSVP to insure food and beverage supply and I will all potential attendees of any changes. Mike Dawson , mdawson1961@sbcglobal.net June Meeting in the Park Come to Sar-Ko-Park Trails Park located 1.3 miles east of or 1.8 miles west of I-35 on 87th Street just east of Lackman Road in Lenexa, KS. In the past this has been a sack lunch affair, and everyone is welcome to bring whatever they like. This year we are trying something different, a pizza party. Bring your favorite pizza or contact Wes Mellies to bring one for you. Hope to see you and your Vairs there. page 2

3 The Preventive Maintenance Series by Mike Dawson This is the first in a series of articles that will possibly help in diagnosing common (and uncommon) problems that can occur during Corvair operation. Most of you will recognize one or more that have already caused head scratching. 1. Powerglide transmission torque converters will leak down over time in a car that is not driven, overfilling the pan. Fluid will usually leak out of the shifter cable seal or a separation in the cable casing and leave a large puddle. Driving the car will cure the leak until the next time the car sits idle. Visual inspection will usually help you determine what is leaking. Change the 0-ring and/or seal up the cable with an epoxy compound after cleaning and using sandpaper. 2. A mysterious dead battery on early model cars can be caused by the wire reinforced heater hose touching the stud and battery cable on the back of the starter solenoid. This can occur on late models, but less likely due to clearances. 3. Late model dashboards are plastic with a single ground strap to a screw under the dash on the left side of the column. Loss of that ground causes erratic gauge operation and strange light combinations. 4. A light howling noise when the engine is cold is usually the fan bearing. Grease it early with the tool that most clubs have available or buy one from a vendor. (Editors note: Fan bearing greasing tool is shown on page tools-4 in the Clarks catalog and is available from our club s tool crib.) 5. Plugged up crankcase vent tubes on any Corvair will cause oil to come out of the dipstick tube or any weak gaskets. It also will spit oil into the air cleaners and can cause pinging. Clean both the upper and lower tubes with a frayed speedometer cable. Gas in the oil will cause the same symptoms, check for leaking carburetor needle and seats, failed choke pull offs or an internally leaking fuel pump which could be missing the boss that prevents gas from going into the crankcase. 6. A rusty fuse block can cause the ends of fuses to get hot and melt the filament during normal current draw. When you check them, use an ohm meter if there is any question. Also fuses made in China will melt at the caps instead of the middle and appear to be good. Again use an ohm meter. 7. Flooding conditions (black smoke, rough running) at a cold start up can be a failed choke pull off. This also will dilute the oil with gas. 8. A ruptured vacuum modulator on Powerglides will cause a low reading on the dipstick when it is full. A failed modulator will also cause white smoke and pinging as it gets worse. To check: pull the lower hose connection and check for fluid. Also, check the level with the engine running and then shut off the engine and see if the fluid level comes up substantially in the tube. 9. A totally dead electrical system on an early model can be the 10 gage wire in the multi connector at the left front side of the engine compartment. Corrosion in the connector causes an instant total electrical failure. The cure is to solder in a bypass wire; the connector was only placed there for assembly purposes. 10. To lengthen the life of a late model speedometer cable, do not bolt the support bracket to the fender. Instead, use a wire tie to suspend it from the brake line. Too short a radius will break the casing and let water in. More Next Month- page 3

4 By Gary and Helen Moore When we arrived at the Mellies place for the first ever Dust Off we were greeted by a banner over the driveway (complete with feather dusters!) and a double row of Corvairs parked along the front lawn overlooking Leavenworth Road. There was no mistaking where the party was! After being directed to our parking spot in the row, we went to drop off the food and find the rest of the party. Photo by Kim Mellies The weather was cool and looked like it could threaten rain, so most everyone had taken refuge in the double-car garage turned dining hall. There we found grilled burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, pasta salad, a fruit bowl, deviled eggs, soup, and some of the best baked beans ever tasted. For dessert, there were cookies, brownies and a fabulous cake with the Mellies Scooby Doo Van printed in icing baked by the Mellies friend Doris Fischbeck. Besides hanging out with the regular HACOA members, we also met new people, thanks to Wes Mellies idea of advertizing the event on Craigslist. It being cool and damp outside (although it never more than sprinkled once) no one was in a hurry to leave the food. Nobody but the kids was tempted by the pool either. The swap meet portion of the Dust Off was held on a chalkboard with for sale items listed on one side and wanted items on the other. Mike Dawson brought several correct size sets of whitewall tires that he had available. Reluctantly Gary listed his red 1965 Monza coupe and it found a new home. The Mellies advertised yard games as part of the planned fun. The group photo shoot was nearly as much fun as a game and we got to drive our Vairs around the yard. First we lined them all up near the road arranged by color. Then it was decided that there was a better spot down the hill so everyone got in their Vairs again and lined up in a kind of a horseshoe at the bottom of the hill. First we shot photos of just the cars, and then we added the owners waving and finally everyone gathered in the middle to bow and dance a little bit of the hokey pokey. The Mellie s dog, Roxy, just didn t know what to do about all this nonsense. Silly humans! Photo by Mel Clingan page 4

5 In typical art teacher fashion Helen arranged the cars in a primary triad color scheme. For those not up on your color theory all that means is, red, yellow, blue, red, yellow, blue, etc. Pretty, hey? All the Corvairs parked on the front lawn drew attention from the travelers on Leavenworth Road. A grandmother passing by called her seven-year-old grandson to let him know the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine was there. The boy, parents in tow and carrying his own Scooby Doo stuffed toy, arrived during the group photo shoot. He was delighted to get to sit in the Mystery Machine and we were glad to let him pose for us. It was then time for the Brilliant Speech part of the event. Members and visitors broke up in several groups to discuss the finer points of owning a Corvair. From this we picked up a new member or two. At last, it was time for the cruise, and we lined up our cars (once again, driving all over the lawn) and headed for the Legends Shopping Center. We got a lot of smiles and thumbs up from the shoppers as we passed by. Once we got back out on the highway, everyone headed for home his or her own way. Was a good time had by all? Let s see, we got to visit with Corvair friends, eat good food, drive Corvairs, visit with new friends, and then we got to drive our Corvairs some more. Yes, a very good time was had by all. page 5

6 photo by Kim Mellies HACOA Shows Off at the Northwest Missouri Street Rods Car Show The threat of rain dampened our Northwest Missouri Street Rods Cruise and Show as far as attendance but I said, God s will be done the farmers needed it more! HACOA showed up in force and proved Vairs Rule! We literally dominated the show. Most received gifts (and there were some real nice ones). Scott received welding gloves and vice grips to go with the welding helmet he won last year. He said he d return next year for the rest. The climax was the Top Ten award given to Don and Barb Wagner s red 65 Corsa convertible. Our seven Corvairs lined the runway at the entrance of the park. Shining and displaying our HACOA banners, we were the welcome committee. We were perfectly positioned to watch the parade of entrants slowly cruise in front of us. Fourteen of us gathered under three young maples, chilled out with the music, and enjoyed one another. I worked registration, which was across from the Vairs, and saw that even the foot traffic was impressed with us. Civic Center Park is absolutely beautiful with completely flat, manicured lawns, mature trees, and wide drivable walkways. The historic City Hall is a magnificent stone building with wide steps leading up to a grand veranda and cement balustrade surrounding it. That was the hub of our show. To the south, we viewed grassy Museum Hill, with its ornate antebellum mansions at the top overlooking the staircase up to the Statue of Liberty. Just to the west is St. Joseph s landmark, the Pony Express Statue. The grounds also boast an ornate water fountain, flower gardens, and our Police and Firefighters Memorial. We just had a wonderful day. Wished you all could have joined us. by Kat King Car Star chose Don Wagner s Red Convertible as one of the Top Ten cars in the show. City Kansas Area photo by Kim Mellies Sandy and Mike Dawson stroll past the Corvairs. page 6

7 Novice Installation of an Aftermarket Cruise Control I ve wanted to install a cruise control on my Corvair since I saw by Reid Miermaster one installed on Mike Dawson s late model at the first club event I attended. Marina and I like to take long rides in the Corvair and I plan to attend as many of the Wichita Tuna events as I can, so long distance comfort has been a goal lately. As with most projects that I m considering, I ran it by Mike and asked a lot of questions about his installations. Nothing I heard, saw or read made it seem too difficult, so I started shopping for a unit that met the basic guidelines that Mike had given me. I ended up finding a Cal Custom (Zemco) ZT-12 aftermarket unit on Craigslist locally. It was brand new in a very dusty box from 1983 for $75. I scanned through the instructions before buying it and confirmed that it did not require any magnetic pickups. It was black) that connect to the actuator unit and one yellow wire that simply 4 wires to the engine compartment and 4 in the cabin. The connects to the negative lead of the coil. I used the same wire colors wiring harness that came with the unit would not be long enough to in my trailer cable and wrapped up the extra pair. I then connected reach from the cabin to the engine compartment so I decided to buy the two brown wires of the cruise control harness to the two sides of 30 of 6 conductor 16 gage trailer cable to run through the tunnel the brake switch using zip locks. I ran the fused orange wire of the for another $30. I only needed 4 conductors ($24), but I chose to unit to the accessory lead on the fuse block and then connected the go ahead and run the 6 wire type so I d have 2 spare wires for future unit s green lead to ground. There was also a blue wire for lighting up projects. the control unit so I connected it to the brown & black wire for the The next step was to spend two weeks walking around the car heater control light. There were actually 5 connections in the cabin trying to figure out exactly how everything was going to go together. but the blue illumination wire was optional, so I didn t mention it Really, I was just trying to talk myself into getting under the car to above. I mounted the control unit on the turn signal arm and routed run the trailer wire. I didn t want the car out of commission for long, its flat wire down the steering column and over to the fuse block so this would be a two part install. area. This completed the cabin wiring so I connected all the pieces Once I had the car up on jack-stands, I disconnected the battery together and tucked it up under the dash and secured it with zip-ties and removed the two tunnel cover panels. There were lots of screws and Velcro. and I got plenty of dirt in my hair, but it was actually a pretty easy Next I moved to the engine compartment. The instructions task. I decided to start at the engine compartment on the passenger said to decide on the best point to install the actuator cable so side and lay out enough cable to wrap all the way around the engine that it would be able to pull on the throttle but not interfere with compartment alongside the factory harness. I routed the cable out normal operations. Once again, I went down and looked at Mike s through the same grommet that the factory harness passes through installation. He had used a simple piece of angle bracket bolted to and I left a small stress relief bend on the inside of the engine the alternator support bar as the mounting point for the actuator compartment. I put my cable directly alongside the factory harness wire, so I followed his lead and did the same. The cruise unit has a up to the two piece plastic grommet where it enters the side of the 2 length of beaded chain and an eyelet that slipped directly over pan and used plastic wire wraps and the factory metal cable tabs to the throttle shaft link pin, so all I did was place the throttle return keep them together. spring back in place to hold it all together and that part was done. I pulled out the bottom half of the plastic piece at the tunnel Next I had to decide where to mount the actuator so the cable had entrance (it may have been rubber at one time) and carved a round no tight bends. It just happened that it fit nicely just to the right of notch in the top of it that was big enough to pass my cable through. the distributor and I was able to use the muffler hanger bolt to hold I put the cable through directly below the factory harness and pushed it down. The instructions said to set the high idle position and then the plastic piece back up into the slot to hold it in place. I continued remove most of the slack at the chain end, then tighten everything to follow the factory harness up the side of the heater duct to the down. The hardware install is done. point where it crosses to the other side of the tunnel. Getting the The unit needs vacuum to work, so I cut the piece of rubber remaining 15 feet of cable fed over the heater duct and down the hose coming from behind the fan up to the air cleaner and installed other side of the tunnel was the hardest part of the job. From that a tee junction. I ran the vacuum hose off the tee and around the point on, I just continued following the factory harness up through passenger side of the compartment to the actuator unit. The last task the floor behind the heater duct. This required removing the metal was to clip, strip and put ends on the 4 wires that I had used in my heater vent cover and disconnecting the defroster duct connector trailer cable. The remaining 2 wires were once again wrapped up tube so I had room to get my cable in the same position as the factory and stashed. I ran the red, white and black wires to the actuator harness. Once it was in place, I put the heater duct back together, unit and routed the yellow wire to the negative terminal of the coil. bolted the metal cover back in place and then screwed the pans back The instructions said I was done and referred me to the operator s on under the car. I checked to make sure I hadn t left any tools lying manual. After a short 5 step test in the driveway, I was off down the around and took a short drive to celebrate. Hardest part done. road to see if it worked correctly. Amazingly, it all worked Vairy well! The next task was hooking up the wiring harness. I used a 4 It was a two day job and although I wouldn t want to do it often, it conductor PC power supply plug set to connect the cruise control really wasn t complex or difficult. I m still a novice, but I d be happy harness to my trailer wire. The cruise unit has 3 wires (red, white & to assist anyone who also wants to install cruise in their Corvair. page 7

8 CLARK S- MORE THAN PARTS. Clark s Corvair Parts 400 Mohawk Trail, Shelburne Falls, MA FAX: clarks@corvair.com Wister, OK Fred's Classic Auto Radios & Clocks 7908 Gillette St. Lenexa, KS SALES & SERVICE I buy: 1947 thru 1979 (no imports) Radios-Clocks-Parts Clock Movements Repaired or Converted to Quartz Get control over your computer! RAY CURTIS Desktop and Laptop Repair Network Installation Hardware and Software Upgrades Photograph Repair Video Tape to DVD conversions Windows Linux Mac Computer repair Digial Imaging phone: raze_pc_repair@sbcglobal.net SERVICES I sell: Tubes Speakers Vibrators NOS Parts BENNETT PRO SOUND DJ SERVICE Experienced Disc Jockeys specializing in Wedding Receptions, Class Reunions, Company Parties, or any special occassion MUSIC FOR ALL AGES Cell: (816) Bus. Phone (816) Leave Message The Tool Crib Tool Deposit Rental Fee Harmonic Balancer Puller $3.00 $1.00 Ramps, Auto $4.00 $1.00 Torque Wrenches: 1. ½ drive ft/lb $15.00 $ /8 drive in/lb $15.00 $2.00 Floor Jacks and Stands $25.00 $3.50 Ring Groove Cleaner $3.00 $1.00 Dwell-Tach Meter $5.00 $1.00 Greaser: Fan bearing and idler pulley $5.00 $1.00 Hubs: Rear Towing for LM Powerglide $5.00 $1.00 See more items for sale at C L A S S Y F I E D S Rebuilt Corvair starters with solenoid $90.00 exchange price Members list your items for free at New Tires for Sale: One set of 5 185/80R13 narrow whitewall Handkook $80 each. One set of 5 185/80R13 narrow whitewall Sigma Tempest $85 each. Any number of 185/80R13 narrow whitewall Maxxis $93 each. This is the carry out price from Belton barters considered. Mike Dawson, mdawson1961@sbcglobal.net Also Available: For sale: Internally regulated 63 amp Corvair Alternators $85.00 exchange price Contact: Ken Ragan Ragan Enterprises 212 Warner Rd Bonner Springs, KS kenragan@sbcglobal.net Professionally rebuilt Corvair clutch disc on a welded center Borg & Beck core with a thickness of.325. $45.00 exchange price with same core. page 8

9 The President s Corner by Scott Allison Happy May! Since the last meeting, there have been fun car things to do every weekend. Gary and I did miss the May 14 meeting with the St. Louis, MO and Springfield, IL clubs but we would still like to plan something this summer with their clubs. We ve talked about meeting them half way for a day or even a night if there is enough interest. They are currently talking to a member that may host a BBQ. If you have any ideas we would enjoy hearing them. The First Annual Dust Off was a huge success. John and Linda have a beautiful place very conducive to the event and Linda s potato salad in and of itself will keep me coming back. Oh yeah, and there lots of members and cars there too did I mention the pasta salad? I counted 14 Corvairs and 28 people including six guests; of which at least one is now a member. Many pictures of the event are on the web-site for your viewing pleasure. Thank you to Linda, John, Kim, and Wes for putting on such a great event, I look forward to next year. Another group that knows how to put on a show is Northwest Missouri Street Rods (NWMSR). The annual car show in St. Joseph was the place to be. Out of the 64 cars (if my count is correct) seven of them were Corvairs and we had 12 members present. The give-a-ways were a treat and the weather was near perfect. Thanks to Kat and the NWMSR for good day. With the June meeting being in the park we will likely have another short business meeting and spend the remainder of the time talking about the work to be done prior to the Great Plains Corvair Round Up. Please bring any questions, comments, and/or suggestions to the meeting as the event is closer than we think; three more meetings before the Round Up after June. We will be drawing for the final room upgrade so please make your hotel reservations before the June meeting to be in the drawing. The suggestion has been made that everyone who cares to participate could bring a pizza of their choice to the meeting in the park. Or, you can let Wes Mellies know and he will be happy to add your order to his and bring it to the meeting for you. Please remember that any beverages, adult or otherwise, can not be in glass containers if we are to follow park rules. Check the calendar for the many upcoming events. If you know of an event that isn t on the calendar, please let Gary Moore know, or add it to the calendar on the web site yourself. Vairy best wishes, Scott Round Up Reports Mark Whitman: Committee Chair for Hospitality Room I want to thank all those who signed up to help out in the Hospitality Room during the May meeting. As we get closer to October we can iron out a schedule that is acceptable to everyone. In April we toured the facility and I think we have a very good room for the hospitality suite. At the March meeting we took a vote to have the club purchase the items needed for the hospitality room, and I know several others have volunteered to supply some items to supplement the cost to the club. Around August we will put together a list of what items members would like to donate so we can budget club money. Don Wagner: Concours Chair In the tally room I will need 3 laptop computers and people to run them along with a printer and paper. I will need 14 volunteers for judging and a person to run sheets between the judging area and the tally room. Please contact me if you can help. Gary Moore: Museum Chair We will have a area of approximately 1200 square feet available for the Corvair exhibit at the Excelsior Springs Museum. The exhibit will be divided up into three displays, Corvair, CORSA and HACOA. If you have items that would fit into one of these areas let me know. I am looking for signs, posters, old photos, dealer items, plaques, magazine articles, just about anything that is Corvair related. page 9

10 Heart of America Corvair Owners Association Oakland Ave. Belton, MO Winner of the 2010 Tony Fiore Memorial Chapter Newsletter Award Editors Gary and Helen Moore VairCor is the official publication of the Heart of America Corvair Owners Association, the oldest incorporated, continuously active single marquee Corvair club and Chapter 640 of the Corvair Society of America. The HACOA membership fee is $15.00 annually, payable January 1. CORSA membership is required. Heart of America Corvair Owners Association monthly meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm at Paul and Jack s Restaurant, 1808 Clay Street, North Kansas City, MO Social time begins at 7:00.