Prairie Capital Corvair Association. The Flat Six

Transcription

1 Prairie Capital Corvair Association P.O. Box 954 Springfield, Illinois The Flat Six September Officers President -Jim Allen (309) Vice-President Allen Monts (309) Secretary-Rhona Hall (217) Treasurer-Glen Rittenhouse (309) Membership-Chris Hall (217) Historian/Inventory Garry Biggs (217) FlatSix Editor Tim Mahler (217) Board of Directors Mike Hall (2017) (217) Dick Moon (2017) (309) Bud Laubach (2017) (309) Larry Jahn (2018) (217) From the President Bernie and I had a great time at the Fair. We had 9 Corvairs on display. A good turnout. Great weather, and a good time with PCCA members. There were a lot of people looking, and asking questions about the cars. Paul Beck s mid engine coupe was getting a lot of attention. It is a very nice car, with a lot of attention to the details. Thank you Paul for bringing it to the Fair. Mike Hall told us about a parade that takes place at 4:00 each day. He ask members to drive their cars in it. There were going to be 5 Corvairs going, until the battery failed in our Lakewood. Tim Mahler stayed behind to give us a jump. When we were running, the parade was gone. Dick Moon, Paul Beck, and Mike Hall were in the parade. Once the Lakewood was going, it we did not shut it off until home in the garage. It now has a new battery. I have been busy lately working on a Corvair Rampside for friend, and SMCC member John Carter. It was restored and assembled in Tulsa OK over the last year or so. It had a few bugs that needed to be taken care of. It has a 140 with a 4 speed. The shop in Tulsa that did the body, and paint is a collector car restoration shop. They did an outstanding job. Our next event is September 9th at the SOS show. It will be held downtown at the capital building. The same place as two years ago. Look for the information on where to meet before entering the show elsewhere in this newsletter. I hope to see a good group of our cars there. See you there. Jim Allen

2 Calendar of Events Meeting Location unless otherwise noted, PCCA meets at the Rochester Community Building located off Il Route 29 in Rochester Illinois. The community building is on the east end of Rochester at #1 Community Drive. PCCA Home Page may be found at August 26 September 9 Sept Sept 29-Oct 1 October 7 October 21 November 11 December 9 Loco-Motion Cruise-In/Show. Chatham Railroad Museum, 100 N State St. Chatham IL This is 1 block east of the square, 3 blocks east of Historic Rte 66. registration opens at 11:00am $10 donation to enter your vehicle. Trophies, goody bags, door prize drawings. Museum open (free) during the show. It s small but well worth the visit. Secretary of State Auto Show (It is back!!! ) Downtown Springfield. PCCA Chapter Meeting will be near the cars around 2 pm. To park together we need to drive into the show together. Meet Location 1: South Sixth Street Super Walmart off I-55 exit 93 (6 th Street exit) ready to depart for the show at 8:00 am. Route and additional info on p.8. Meet Location 2: Parking lot V next to Illinois State Museum Leave for show field at 8:15am From State House Inn - Take Adams west 1 block to College, turn left. Go 2 blocks,. Parking lot on left. See p8 for more. Leave the Parking Lot next to the Museum at 8:15am PCCA meeting at 2:00 pm to allow PCCA members to clean their Corvairs upon arrival and to permit the judges to complete their assigned judging tasks. Registration tent is open from 7-10 am the day of the show. Judging starts at 11:00 am. Awards officially at 4:00pm but has been earlier in the past. All Corvair Show hosted by Circle City Corvairs, Indianapolis. The annual Hoosier Show is back for year 2, transformed into a Corvair Only show. CCC makes this event a great show to attend. Ray Skillman Museum, Greenwood, IN Host hotel is the La Quinta Inn 5120 Victory Dr (south side of Indy off I-465) (317) Great Plains Round-up Oklahoma City, Embassy Suites host hotel, River Cruise, Corvair show hosted by the Central Oklahoma Corvair club. Event is always a good time. Fall tour to Ponitac Illinois to tour its many sites. A museum tour is definitely part of the tour, plus meeting, touring with other area CORSA chapters including Chicagoland Corvair Enthusiasts, Iowa Corvair Enthusiasts, Circle City (Indianapolis) and Show-Me Corvair Club. It should be a great tour. More details elsewhere in the newsletter. NOTE: Date changed moved to the third Saturday of the month PCCA Car Display and Chapter Meeting, Rochester Community Building 2-4:30pm PCCA Board Meeting, Rochester Community Building 1-2 pm PCCA Car Display and Chapter Meeting, Rochester Community Building 2-4:30pm PCCA Annual Christmas Dinner - Toni s Café Auburn, IL rte 104 and I-55. July The Western Pennsylvania Corvair Club will host the 2018 CORSA International 2018 Corvair Convention in Pittsburgh, PA! Held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Greentree just west of downtown Pittsburgh. For more Corvair Events Check the calendar on the CORSA Web site: Upcoming events are now on the home page, left side. Click on Events to see other future events.

3 Corvair Exhibit at the Illinois State Fair Is it August? The temperatures, and humidity, have returned to Illinois summer like conditions. High 90s in temp and anywhere from 65% to 85% relative humidity. But for the State Fair the temp only reached 85 with a nice steady breeze. The Corvairs were once again parked in the shade between the old Rt66 association pad and the Ethnic Village. It was pleasant, especially in the morning. As would be expected with 50 year old cars, a couple of problems did arise. Not with the mechanical aspects of our normally reliable Corvairs, but with batteries. Allen Monts was aware that he had an issue with his before the show. Allen was in contact with Jim Allen and Mike Hall to have specific spares available, just in case. Jim brought a pair of alternators, one 1 wire and one 2 wire (internal vs external regulated alternators) under the premise that the charging system was not charging. Mike had a spare battery on hand. As usual, we met at the Steak and Shake on North Dirksen parkway for coffee and, for many, breakfast. Eight Corvairs wire in the parking lot drawing a lot of attention from other patrons to the restaurant. You must admit, it is not every day you see 9 Corvairs of all shapes and sizes in a parking lot together. The Ninth Corvair, Allen s Spyder, was still at hotel he stayed the night. Mike Hall brought him to Steak and Shake and Jim Allen took him back with those alternators in the back of his Lakewood. Bernie hitched a ride with Dick Moon to the fairgrounds and the remaining 7 Corvairs, led by Mike Hall s Rampside headed to the fairgrounds. We did not stay close together on the way to gate 4, but we all arrived inside the fairgrounds in a neat line as if we had. All well that ends well, right? Jim and Allen arrived about a half hour later. Jim had installed the externally regulated alternator on Allen s Spyder. Alternator on a 64 Spyder? Well, some modernization is allowed, and an alternator is a good starting point internally regulated eliminates that black box on the firewall and ups the reliability a tad too. Unfortunately, that was not enough. Allen replaced the battery on the show field when it proved the old battery was just done. Throughout the day, various fair goers stopped by the Corvairs for a look see and share stories. Or, just to ask questions. It was Seniors day, meaning those over 60, who would most likely recognize the Corvair, were being honored with free admission to the fair - a $10 savings. It was also Scouts day, which I had forgotten. This meant numerous visitors showed up in Scout uniforms it got them into the fair for free too. Robert Preston attended the Fair show this year. This is the first time I ve seen him at the fair. He has a very nice 63 Convertible. Under his front license plate he had a photo of his Corvair and a brief description of it in a nice frame. That was a good looking this is my Corvair exhibit. Paul Beck has his Corvate running sweet. It now has a LS7 motor in the back seat. The car is beautiful and his attention to details is fantastic. Jim pointed out some of those detail to me doing the show. Impressed was I. Those details really can make a car stand out in a crowd even if you don t notice them straight away. 3

4 Brian and Sue Sellyer arrived in their 66 Convertible. Jim and Beulah Collier drove the wonderful Maroon 65 coupe. Dick Moon was solo this year in Miss Juliet - his 63 four door sedan. Jim and Bernie Allen were in the reliable 61 Lakewoon wagon. Tim Mahler showed up in his 66 Corsa Coupe and Allen Monts was driving his 64 Spyder Convertible. Oh. Mike Hall led the parade with his 62 Rampside. Hmmm 5 early model Corvairs and only 4 late models. WOW. I am not accustomed to that. Usually the late models outnumber the early models. And even better, for a public facing display such as this, the variety of models was exceptional. For the first generation models there was a four door sedan, a wagon, a Rampside, and two convertibles, one being a Spyder. The second generation had three coupes and a convertible with two coupes modified - one into a fantastic Vairy-8 and the other with Fitch Sprint items. We missed an early coupe and a greenbrier. Maybe next year. The fair has a daily parade at four. Mike Hall invited the Corvairs to participate. The Clydedales had left for their next engagement which left room for Corvairs. Including Mike Hall, 5 of us eventually agreed. The parade started near where we were went down Illinois and Grandstand avenue making a right turn around the track. The Corvairs could use Gate 6 to exit the fairgrounds and get on Veterans Parkway towards I-55 or I-72. The parade included a team of miniature horse pulling a wagon a wagon with a scale version of the main-gate, about 5 or 6 antique tractors and the Corvairs. Unfortunately, only 3 of the 5 Corvairs actually participated. Another Battery opted to declare itself dead. This time, Jim Allen s battery in the wagon refused to turn the starter. Cutesy lights, after an 45 minute wait can draw done a battery especially one that is weak. Jim had two small portable battery jumpers with him. The first one he tried was new and he hadn t read all the instructions. So he grabbed the one he was familiar with but it lacked a full charged to jump the battery. Fortunately, Tim stayed behind too and had jumper cables with him. Remember it was also Scout day, be prepared is the motto, right? We got Jim started, put everything away and exited gate 4 as usual we were too late for the parade. The parade ended about 10 minutes after we had left the fairgrounds based on the partial conversation I had after I had left. It was a good day. The obstacles were easily overcome new batteries are part of the expense of the hobby. Tim will need one before the SOS show for his 64 at it decided to fade into nothingness too. Hope to see everyone at the SOS Show. It should be another great day. 4

5 Secretary of State Auto Show. Downtown Springfield around the new state Capital Information and Directions SOS Show has several classes for Corvairs including Stock and Modified plus a Display class PCCA Meeting at the show. Bring lawn chairs. Host Hotel is the State House Inn, 101 E. Adams St. Springfield - about 2 blocks from the show field. (217) Downtown Springfield has good eateries, just not usually open on Saturdays. To park together, we will need to meet before going downtown. Meeting location 1: South Sixth Street Super Walmart off I-55 exit 93 (6 th Street exit) ready to depart for the show at 8:00 am. We will head north on 6 th street to Lawrence avenue, turning left. After 6 blocks we will turn right on Spring street, just past the Vinegar Hill Shopping Mall, and 2 block past 2 nd street. This will take us to the Illinois State museum and the V parking lot on the left where we will meet up with those staying downtown. Those at the Host Hotel on Adams Street Take Adams west 1 block to College, turn left. cross Monroe (show field is on the left) at the Capital Viisitor Center (another block and half) turn into the V parking lot (entrance past the middle of the block stop light). This is between Boone's Saloon (good food) and the Illinois State Museum. If you miss the entrance, continue to the light at the corner, turn left, and left into the parking lot. Meeting location 2: State Parking Lot V neat the Museum departing at 8:15am, The entire group should be able to travel easily to the show field, as a group. Head East on Edwards, toward the museum, 1 block and you are at second Street. Turn left to enter the show field. Have FUN. PCCA meeting at 2:00 pm to allow PCCA members to clean their Corvairs upon arrival and to permit the judges to complete their assigned judging tasks. Several PCCA members are judges including current Chief Judge Mike Hall. Danville car show - Photo by Tim Mahler The only Corvair I saw at the large Danville Car show was Larry Jahn s 63 Spyder Convertible. I talked to Larry while I was running the Howl at the Moon 8 hour endurance run. Both are held annually on the same day in August at the Kennekuk County Park. This was the first year I was able to see the cars before they all left. I believe Larry was enjoying the concert when I strolled through the cars. There were some nice cars there. From Larry: This is a annual event to raise money for educational buildings for the Vermilion County Park District. The car display had almost 300 cars from three car clubs. Clubs include Champaign Corvette Club, Illiana Antique Auto Club, and Westville Auto Dogs. A cruise through Danville to the VA Hospital for veterans to view cars. Cars are not judged but they have a lot of nice door prizes including an anonymous gift of $ was over $800. This was the 10th year and I have participated 8 years. They feature live music from noon till nine. They have cheese burgers and tomatoes served from 3:00-7:00. This year they served over a thousand burgers. LBJ Cars And Parts for Sale FOR SALE: (February 2017 Newsletter) 1963 Corvair Monza Conv. / Power Top - all new mechanical parts and new seal kit on top / Factory A/C with replacement compressor /engine overhauled by Jim Allen /extra set of tires with rims /red body & interior / $15,500..Rob Preston For Sale (non Corvair; May 2017) :Completely rebuilt heads for a Buick 225 V-6. May fit others. Everything new, still in shrink wrap from the machine shop. The heads were from a 1965 Buick Special. Will include the carburetor, intake manifold, cam shaft, and exhaust manifolds with y-pipe with purchase of heads. Looking to get $550 for them, which is what I have just in the machine shop work. If you are interested, make us an offer! Lyle Rigdon

6 PCCA Member News and Notes Lyle Rigdon Update: I am finally home. I wouldn't wish 12 days in ICU on anyone... even though everyone involved in taking care of us (Lonny and I) was just as kind and caring as you could ask for. I truly feel that quick thinking on the part of the Conveinient Care Doctors (who immediately nailed what was wrong) probably saved my life. I'm not cured yet, and they tell me it may take weeks or months for the blood pooled in my brain to completely resolve itself (If ever). In the meantime I am following doctors orders for complete rest. No work, no straining, and no driving. We had planned to visit dear friends of ours in Carbondale for the eclipse, but that is clearly out... Darn it. Take care, thanks for checking in on me, and give everyone a big hug for us at the next meeting. The cards and text I received meant more than you will ever know! Regards, Lyle Jerry and Thelma McKenzies: Jerry plans to take the '65 to a cruise-in on Saturday evening - at a K-Mart less than a mile from us. (Every second Saturday evening.) A couple weeks ago the Ocala paper featured a Corvair and its owner. He's not a CFC or CORSA member but is the vp of Twilight Cruisers which holds a monthly cruise-in the first Saturday in Belleview (30 miles south). Jerry sent him a letter with registration for the September CFC Corvair Affair. Thelma PCCA is again on Facebook as a group...actually, I think PCCA was there all along, and the editor duplicated a past group. Just the one again. Facebook, group name Prairie Capital Corvair Association. I will try to post upcoming events there as I remember. Not a very good FB user, but I try. Knights Action Park Car Show Report and Photos from Shelby Berta Paul Beck entered the Knights Action Park car show and his was the only Corvair I saw. Monmouth Car Show Report from Jim Allen I did not think about pictures. There were a record number of cars. over Allen Monts, and I both won $50.00 door prizes. The weather was perfect. PCCA Corvairs attending were our Lakewood, and Dale Kuykendal s 66 silver car with the grill fired up. There was another Corvair, a late CT. I do not know who it belonged to. Jim Allen John Carter s new Rampside is getting some fine tuning by Jim Allen. It is a gorgeous Rampside with a speed. 6

7 Prairie Capital Corvair Association (PCCA) Membership Form March 1, 2017 thru February 28, 2018 Type of Membership Individual $17 Family $20 (2 adults at one address plus children under 18) Apply a $5 discount for receiving the electronic version of the newsletter and other correspondence. If joining after August 31, dues are: Individual $8.50, Family $ If applicable, the discount is $2.50. Name Spouse/ 2nd Adult Street Address City, ST ZIP Home Phone Cell Phone(s) CORSA Membership ID Spouse/ 2nd Adult Address(es) Spouse/ 2nd Adult Cars, Corvair and other Other interests PCCA strongly encourages membership in CORSA. Do you want/need information about CORSA? Y / N Return the completed form and dues to:glen Rittenhouse, PCCA Treasurer 1804 Columbus Dr, Pekin IL OR to PCCA Treasurer P.O. Box 954 Springfield, IL MINUTES OF MEETING August 14, 2017 PRAIRIE CAPITAL CORVAIR ASSOCIATION The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance as usual at 1:05 p.m. President Jim Allen asked Treasurer Glen Rittenhouse for his report. Our checking account balance was $4, There were no expenses in the last month to report. Our savings account balance is $5.00. Our cash on hand is $ Jim asked for a motion to approve the treasurer s report. The motion was made by Jim Collier and seconded by Brian Sellyer. The motion carried. Rhona Hall and Chris Hall were unavailable at the meeting to give the secretary report and Membership report, respectivefully. Old Business. Mike Hall mentioned that PCCA approved getting a banner flag like the one for CORSA for PCCA. He needs a check for $125 to get the order placed. Glen and Mike will get together to do that. New Business: The SOS Show registration is available. Some members have received it from various shows, some may have gotten them in the mail. Most have not because the box with the forms was mis-labeled and not checked for it s contents. Available day of the show or at ths SOS Web site. Lyle Rigdon has been in the hospital for several days with bleeding on the brain. The exact cause is unknown but it does not appear to be getting worse. Meeting Place: The library adds new programs regularly making reserving the room increasingly difficult. PCCA may want to consider finding an alternative location. October meeting is set for October 21 (1 week later than usual) and November is the 11th (normal weekend day). Allen Monts introduced his granddaughter visiting from Germany. Mike Hall invited everyone to participate in the daily fair parade. Staging at 3:30, parade starts at 4:00pm 50/50 drwawing was held and surprise Allen Mont s Granddaughter won The meeting was moved to be adjoined by Allen Monts seconded by Bernie. Approved. t is Jim thanked everyone for coming to the Turkey Festival and, especially those who brought a car and noted that we have a great day for it. Jim also thanked Glen for making our meeting room possible. 7

8 Five Way Corvair Cruise-In, Pontiac Saturday, Oct. 7 th,2017 FAQ s: 5-Club Corvair Cruise-In Who: What: Where : When: Overview: 10:00am Prairie Capital Corvair Association, Chicagoland Corvair Enthusiast, Circle City Corvair s, Show-Me Corvair Club, Iowa Corvair Enthusiasts Pontiac Corvair Cruise In Downtown Pontiac, Illinois Saturday, Oct 7th The plan is for this to be a very laid back end-of-the-summer get together before our Corvair s are put to sleep for the winter. No formal prizes, no show stress, not another dash plaques you don t need, just a fun day in Pontiac. During the morning, there will be time for everyone to mingle and get to know one another before we head off on the walking tours of the museums and wall murals. Arrival downtown square. Reserved parking on the square if you drive a Corvair. Otherwise, side street parking is available. A sign-in table will be available in the parking area. Set your GPS for: 503 W Howard St, Pontiac, IL (Courthouse Address) 10:00 to 12:30 Sign in, check out the Corvair s and mingle!! Self-guided walking tour of the downtown area to include three museums, murals, the courthouse and the farmers market. See the links provided below for additional for info on each museum. Route 66 Museums Military Museum : [WWII 754th Field Artillery Battalion Group on display] Pontiac Car Museum [Additional buildings/cars open just for us] Wall Murals (Farmer s Market nearby too, Courthouse) 1:00 Lunch at Edinger s Filling Station Reserved 423 W Madison St, Pontiac, IL (815) :30 Depart at your leisure! Room Reservations for those who may want to arrive early or stay over: Quality Inn W Reynolds Street The block is under Corvair Club they should mention that Rooms are on hold until September 7 th The rate is $94.99 King bed or $89.99 for 2 queen beds. Museum Links: Website: Visitors Guide: Museum Guide: Mural Guide: Map: 8

9 MINUTES OF MEETING Prairie Capital Corvair Association Saturday, July 15, 2017 The July meeting of the Prairie Capital Corvair Association was held in Decatur, IL, at one of Speed Lube locations owned by Mark Allen and his wife. They were very hospitable hosts and fed us a delicious lunch of pizza, salad, drinks, and cookies. Jim called the meeting to order at 1:15 p.m.. He stated that there were three reports: Rhona posted the minutes of the last meeting in the newsletter. Glen provided his treasurer s report. Glen detailed the transfer of petty cash money to the checking account. He also reported that a $50 gift certificate for Lyle Rigdon was purchased for Clark s Corvair Parts to express the chapter s thanks and appreciation for serving as our president for the last two years. This should have been presented to him at the Christmas party, but it was accidentally overlooked. The chapter regrets the omission. Chris Hall provided the membership report. We have 41 current mailing addresses and 75 addresses. One of our members (unidentified) made the motion that the reports be accepted as presented. The motion was seconded by Bernie Allen, and the motion carried. Jim asked for new business. Mike reported that we will attend the Illinois State Fair. Everything will be as it usually is. We will have our car show at the Fair on August 14. Ne needs to know how many are coming. Mike stated that down the street we will have a Corvair Museum next to the Chevrolet Museum. We will be the host chapter responsible for this display and hopes we are ready for it. He cited some items that will come here for the museum. There will be a cost to the Club to do this. It will cost $3000 a month to do this. He reported that he visited a museum in Coralville, IA, about having it there, but they wanted too much money for us to be there. Bernie asked what this entails. Mike stated that Ray? knows a lot of people, and this is a good thing. He also discussed the new people coming on board to replace Mike and Harry. Mike stated that the other board members tried to find somewhere we could go, but they had no luck. Dick Moon asked about regular donations to make this happen. Mike stated that the papers have not been written yet, but it will have a one-year lease, and CORSA s attorney will be working with this. Bernie asked what items could be placed in the museum. Mike stated that we are looking for something interesting and exciting. Glen stated that he thought this is one of the best public relations things we could do. He believes it will be a great thing. Jim told of someone he knew that had? Mike stated that we have been told that the few things that are still at the museum in Ypsilanti need to be removed, so they could be moved to the new museum. Bernie asked about insurance, and Mike explained that it is handled through CORSA. Mike stated that the museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 9 am. To 5 p.m. on Sunday. Jim discussed the video tape he has. His tape got lost, and he found another one on the internet and bought it and had a DVD made of the material that was on the tape. Mike reported that he is still the President of CORSA, Jerry Brown is Vice President; Brian Blackwell is the Secretary; and Paul Sergent is still the treasurer. Harry is staying to do conventions, and will continue to operate the computer programs that we need under the umbrella of the convention contract. I didn t see who made the motion to close the meeting, but Brian Seyler seconded the motion, and the motion carried. The meeting ended at approximately 3:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Rhona Hall, Secretary 9

10 Prairie Capital Corvair Association P.O. Box 954 Springfield, IL 62705