Next Meeting - Thursday May 4 th 7:00PM - Black Bear Diner Hwy 680

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1 The Official Publication of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Corvair Society of America --- Chapter 947 Dedicated to the enjoyment, history and preservation of the Chevrolet Corvair produced from 1960 through This unique, rear-engined, air-cooled automobile WEB grabs as much attention today as it did 50 years ago! VOLUME 285 MAY 2017 Look for us on the Web! Letter From the Editor 3. Treasurers Report 4.. Coming Events 4.. SFBA Corsa Meeting Schedule Spring Fling Photos 11 Corvair Classifieds A Proud Mike Lewis With His Beautiful Spyder Next Meeting - Thursday May 4 th 7:00PM - Black Bear Diner Hwy 680 at Sycamore SFBA Valley Corsa -May 2017 Rd in Danville page 1

2 Letter From the Editor I hope you were able to attend our last meeting. We had seven members and four guests, which was way more than I was expecting because of the rain. When I got to. the restaurant I found that the back room (where we normally meet) was completely taken over by another group. So we used an empty section of the restaurant. Thinking the attendance would be low, I initially said 6 or so may show up. But as more and more came, we kept adding tables and chairs. In the end we had 11 people. The staff handled our group very well as always. Afterwards I spoke with the banquet manager thinking they might be upset with the way our group kept expanding but they weren t. He just wanted to be sure they were more prepared next time. So I let him know our schedule (first Thursdays at 7) and normal attendance (8 to 12 depending on weather and traffic) and while we preferred the back room (so we don t bother others), then section we had tonight also works. I also left him a copy of the newsletter, who knows maybe he will want to join us? Current SFBA Corsa Officers President Joshua Deitcher, 375 Harris Ave, Rodeo CA (510) Vice-President Harry Kypreos, 7840 Creekside Dr, Dublin, CA HKypreos@epicor.com Secretary Treasurer Membership Clark Calkins, 1907 Alvarado Ave., Walnut Creek, CA (925) CaCalkins@astound.net Paul Lacey, Blackberry Hill Rd, Los Gatos, CA (408) pdmlacey@cs.com Committees Harry Kypreos (address above) Library Newsletter Dave Newell, 1481 Hamrick Lane, Hayward, CA (510) Clark Calkins (address above) Editor At Large Tony Richards Advertising Internet Web Paul Lacey (address above) CaCalkins@astound.net Of special note this evening is we had four guests show up! First off Chris Rogers came with Josh. Chris was a member maybe 15 years ago and has many Corvairs. His latest is a Spyder Convertible he just picked up from someoneclose by in Vallejo. Twenty years ago the owner had the car painted (for about $5k) and then the generator went out. He took then generator off and had it rebuilt but never put it on. The car has just sat in the garage ever since. As I recall Chris said he (see Letter... on page 7) On The Cover: At the Spring Fling inn Suter Creek, Mike and Toni won Best Early Closed for their very pretty Coffee Brown Spyder. Congratulations! I am guessing that this picture was taken after they got home. The Spyder Web is published twelve times a year by SFBA Corsa, Chapter 947 of the Corvair Society Of America (CORSA). The group meets monthly on the first Thursday at 7:00 PM at Black Bear Diner on Sycamore Valley Rd in Danville except for special occasions. Membership costs $25/yr (membership in CORSA, $38/yr, is encouraged). An associate membership (newsletter only) is avialable for $15/yr. Memberships begin on January 1 of each year (first year is prorated). Advertising space in the Spyder Web is available for $50/yr (1/4 page), $75/yr (1/2 page), and $100/yr (full page). Business card size ads are $25/yr but do not include a subscription to the newsletter. All material should be sent to the editor (address above) or ed to CorsaNews@Bigfoot.com. Material must be received at least two weeks prior to the next meeting date. USE OF MATERIAL: Written permission from the Editor is required for all original material for any use other than reprinting in a Chartered CORSA Chapter newsletter. Permission must be sought in advance for material reprinted herein. page 2 SFBA Corsa - May 2017

3 Minutes of the Last Meeting April 6, 2017 Following diner the meeting was called to order at 8:37 by President Josh Deitcher. This was a little later than usual as the conversations were so interesting it was a shame to stop! We had seven members and four guests in attendance. The guests were Chris Rogers from Vallejo, Mike and Toni Lewis from Lafayette, and Daniel from Brentwood. You probably recall that Chris Rogers and his Grandfather John Saunders were active SFBA members many years ago. Both were Club presidents more than once when we met in Orinda. Mike and Toni were the ones that had the large stash of Corvair parts for sale a year or two back in the Spyder Web and Daniel happens to be the individual that bought all of Mike and Toni s parts and has many Corvairs and Corvair powered projects. An interesting group to say the least! T-Report: Paul did not make it this evening, but Clark reported that the bank balance stood at around $3500 as of this morning not counting recent newsletter expenses of around $150 which haven t been turned in. The idea is to drum up more interest from like-minded Bat Area folks. Along these lines Chris ask if we still had the Corvair window cards. The answer is yes but the addresses for SFBA and Valley have to be updated as both clubs have dropped their PO boxes to save $$. Clark will bring what he has to the next meeting so we can see what we need to do to resurrect these. New Business: Josh, through a vender at work, got some SFBA patches made up. The idea was to have something that could be put on shirts, jackets, etc. He asked for adhesive patches thinking they could be ironed on. The samples came back and they looked good but they had stocky adhesives. Great for tool or lunch boxes, but they would have to be sewn on clothes. He will check with the vender to see what they can do. The idea was to get a few made and sell them for $5 or so with the profit going to the Club (they will cost about $3 each depending on volume). In years past Lu Goni had patches made up and there may be extras lying around somewhere. Maybe Seth knows. Josh is also looking into t-shirts and jackets with the SFBA logo. Events: The Capital City Spring Fling in Sutter Creek is coming up the end of this month. Several said they were planning on attending. The VairFest in Arroyo Grande will be in June. Josh and others would like to go but weren t sure. It s quite a drive. Josh and others went to the last Good Guys show (Pleasanton?) and reported there were a couple of Corvairs for sale in the Car Coral. They were highly customized. Josh said not my style. A threat of rain kept the crowds down which was nice. Others reported on the Billetproof Car Show in Antioch last year. Apparently lots of interesting cars. This is held at the fairgrounds and is scheduled for Sept 16 this year. Mike mentioned that at a car show in Orinda, a very nice Corvair showed up. (see Minutes... on page 6) Membership: Harry reported no new memberships this month. But he will be sending our guests membership applications. Old Business: Last month it was determined that we would solicit newsletter ads by offering a free, one year business card size ad to any car related enterprise that wanted one. After a year the advertisers could decide to continue the ad for the small fee or not. Seth would draft the letter and Clark would supply some potential advertiser names. This got off to a good start and Clark and Josh will check to see where we currently stand. The Facebook page (SF Bay Area Corvair Owners) that Josh set up a month or so ago is off to a great start. Treasurers Report April 2017 Paul Lacey Checking Acct. Cash/Checks Beginning Balance $ $00.00 Income Membership Renewals $0.00 Expenses Newsletter (3 months) ($156.60)(*) Ending Balance $ $00.00 (*) These newsletter expenses have not been turned in yet. Balance as of 04/24/2017 stood at $ SFBA Corsa -May 2017 page 3

4 Coming Events May 4 th May 21st June 1 st June th June 27- July 1st Regular SFBA meeting, Black Bear Diner, 807 Camino Ramon, Danville,CA Friendship Day car show. #3 Lagoon Dr, Redwood Shores. Gates open at 8:00 AM with the usual $15 fee. Regular SFBA meeting, Black Bear Diner, 807 Camino Ramon, Danville,CA VairFest Corvair Car Show in Arroyo Grande hosted by Central Coast CORSA. Corvair Society of America International Convention The Vairs Stop Here to be held in Independence, MO. Sponsored by Heart of America Corvair Owners Assn. See convention SFBA CORSA Meeting Schedule 2017 Thursday Jan 5, 7:00 PM Thursday Feb 2, 7:00 PM Thursday Mar 2, 7:00 PM Thursday Apr 6, 7:00 PM Thursday May 4, 7:00 PM Thursday Jun 1, 7:00 PM Thursday Jul 6, 7:00 PM Saturday Aug 5, 12:00PM Thursday Sep 7, 7:00 PM Thursday Oct 5, 7:00 PM Thursday Nov 2, 7:00 PM Saturday Dec 9, 7:00 PM SFBA/Valley Club Picnic at Quarry Lakes Park, Fremont, CA SFBA Holiday Dinner, Location & Date to be determined. page 4 SFBA Corsa - May 2017

5 2017 Spring Fling Photos by Josh Deitcher Happy Monday! I made the trip to the Sutter Creek Spring Fling last weekend put on by Classic Corvairs of River City. It was a very nice turnout in a very picturesque setting. Sutter Creek is a truly beautiful little town and the event was well attended by Corvair owners and spectators alike. The weather held out, warm but mostly overcast. Seth was vending and I ran into Steve and Heather Heeter. New members Mike and Toni Lewis were there with their coffee brown Spyder. They won a trophy for best early closed. Being there with my three year old meant an early exit for me, so I was unable to chat with them. Toni posted the award winning pic on the facebook page and I included it with the attachments. When I departed, I counted 24 total Corvairs and that included two rampsides, a Greenbrier, an UltraVan and even an early Fitch Sprint!!! South Coast Corsa member Greg Vargas drove up from Los Angeles in his gorgeous black Corsa. I thought you would find the pics interesting and may want to include them in a future newsletter. It would be great if we could have a multi-vair presence at the show next year. A good topic for a future club meeting. A nice 63 Finch Sprint turbo convertible. A close-up of the Sprint logo. Nice! Very nice turn out with lots of Corvairs. The Early Section I suppose. See more photos on page 7. SFBA Corsa -May 2017 page 5

6 Minutes... I believe this is Steve Schnier s 64 Spyder. Josh said that Martinez has a car show every so often and lately a Corvair has been showing up. There was a Low Rider show in Vallejo and Chris took his Corvair (I am not sure which one) and he took second place in some category. A neighbor with a 68 GTO took first. Mike got an award at Hot August Nights in Danville last year with his Corvair. There seems to be lots going on in the area so if you happen to hear of a local car event, let Clark know so he can mention it in the newsletter. Tech: Mike mentioned that the Spring 2017 edition of Hagerty was titled Will the Corvair Kill You?. They took an early stock Corvair with 30k original miles (I guess it was a sedan 80hp, 3 speed) put on new tires and gave it to a professional driver and said put it though it s paces around a course. The driver was very impressed and found that it handled as well or better than other cars of the same era. When Mike wanted some parts rechromed, he took them to a place in Modesto. Decent price, good job (I didn t catch the name you will have to ask him). Also he said he bought new headlight bessels from Clark s - $125/ each. Ouch! But at least they have them! When his car needed to be painted a while back he took it to Concord BMW. It cost $9200 but he wanted a good job and just didn t want to do it himself. Not sure how much body work was involved. Marc noticed that when he last moved his Corvair, the tail lights stayed on. Not the brake lights. When he moved it back they went off. Strange. What could it be? Mike said it sounds like a wiring harness issue. Marc also said that his oil leak, as reported last month, seems to have stopped. And no there is still oil in the engine. Someone mentioned that they had tracked down a pesky electrical issue to a wire running behind the rear license plate. Steve said he drove down to LA to pickup a rebuilt trans from Walt Keller (?). Cost $250 plus his old trans. Great deal. Steve said he has had lots of orders for his Corvair Tin Tail. Originally he expected this to be a freebie with only a few takers. Also he almost found a place to rent to work on his cars. The owner had it on the market for a year and would be flexible on the rent. But just at the last minute someone else came by and rented the space. So now he is still looking. Chris mentioned that his grand father (John Saunders) had a 66 with glass pack mufflers. These wer so loud that they couldn t hear when the car was pinging. Then one day going up a hill it blew a hole in a piston. Corvair engines don t tolerate pinging very well. Daniel said that he had been looking for a V8 Corvair and someone in LA has one that was about 80% done. This guy was an aircraft mechanic and used Eldorado parts. He said the first $2500 take it. Daniel drove down and was at his door at 8 in the morning. Bought it sight unseen! The subject of classic car insurance came up. Most had this but a few had regular insurance as they drove their Corvairs on a regular basis. I personally have had good luck with JC Taylor but those with Hagerty were also very satisfied. Good price, good coverage, no hassles. Chris mentioned that he bought a Corvair that had been sitting for many years and had been registered for most of the time. The DMV wanted $900 to register it but Chris had read that when buying a car over 25 years old for the first time you don t have to pay the back registration. It ended up costing him only $80! Swap & Sell: Steve brought in a prototype of his Corvair USB drive. A nice 65 Coupe. They look pretty neat. He is still going over some final issues with the manufacturer. He has setup a web site ( and is taking orders. They are made of molded rubber and come in various sizes (4gb to 64gb) and any of the stock 15 colors. The meeting was adjourned around 9:20 PM. Respectively submitted, Clark Calkins, secretary page 6 SFBA Corsa - May 2017

7 Letter... happened by one day and seeing the Corvair talked to the owner who said that...he should probably just sell it. Chris asked what price he had in mind and the owner said maybe $1000. Well Chris, trying not to act too excited, gave him $1200 and hauled it away. Great deal! Amonst his several Corvairs, Chris still has about 13 motors at his storage after selling s to someone working on a Devin who was replacing an 80 HP engine. Also this evening Mike and Toni from Lafayette came to join us. You may recall that they had many Corvair parts for sale a year or so ago. An ad ran in the October 2015 newsletter. Mike and Toni own several Gold Coin car washes in the area and have several cars including an early Corvair or two. They are entering their car in the Sutter Creek car show and when they sent in the application, for category they put down custom as they weren t sure what they wanted and the car isn t stock. They got a call from the organizer saying they didn t recognize that category. They were expecting early or late open or closed categories which Toni hadn t heard of. She finally realized that early-open was the most appropriate category for them. The remaining guest this evening was Daniel from Brentwood. Daniel was the one who purchased all of Mike & Toni s parts a year or so back. An interesting gentleman who has done lots of things with Corvairs like dune buggies and boats. Daniel sat at the opposite end of the table from me so I couldn t catch all of what he talked about. But he had a lot of interesting Corvair stories and I am hoping we will hear more in the future. Half way through dinner Toni asked casually what the Club did. We mentioned the local Corvair events, our annual picnic, tech sessions, and Holiday Dinner in addition to the monthly meetings. Chris mentioned that years ago SFBA and Valley would have friendly competitions at Malibu Grand Prix in Redwood City. Lots of fun. She asked if we ever drove en mass to events. We use to, it was said, but not in the last few years. Bill Sweet use to organize drives to events in Sacramento or even as far as Cambia. But since his death no one has taken this task over. Maybe we can resurrect this endeavor. Out of curiosity Mike ask what kind of Corvairs we all had and what we all did for a living so we went around the table and it turns our we have a real eclectic group with lots of turbos and 140s and we do everything from IT Management to Chemist to Heavy Equipment Operator. Mike asked what experience we had with 140s and dropped valve seats. Most had stories to tell but Phil said that his 140 Corsa has 130k miles and has never had the heads off (knock on wood). That s amazing! Rob sent me an with an interesting idea. What if we asked members to say how they got interested in Corvairs. I bet there would be lots of fascinating stories for the newsletter. This is a great idea. We will talk about this at the next meeting. In the mean time, who wants to go first? Our next meeting will be Thursday, May 4 starting around 7:00 PM. It s getting to be that time of year when more Corvairs should be showing up as the weather is warm and staying light much later. If you remember last year we met on May 5 and the parking lots were jammed because of the special Cinco de Mayo festivities at Maria Maria s across the street. That shouldn t happen this year. Hope to see you there. Oh yes, and drive your Corvair! Looks like Hal Turner s Rampside with a Greenbriar. The Late Section, lots of entries. Even more photos on page 10. SFBA Corsa -May 2017 page 7

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10 I am guessing this is Vance Piper s 62 with see thru trunk lid. Let your opinions be known! page 10 SFBA Corsa - May 2017

11 Corvair Classifieds CORVAIRS FOR SALE 63 Monza convertible. PG/140hp engine. Minimal rust. Needs full restoration. $2,500/bo (415) (05/17) 65 Corsa Coupe. Turbo body with 140 motor. Original black paint, dropped valve seat, new seats & carpet, suspension upgrades. Asking $1450. Red Bluff area. Call Skip Polacchi (530) (04/17) CORVAIR PARTS FOR SALE Walt Anderson has the following parts for sale. These are NOS GM parts in original boxes. He is located in Oakland, call for details (510) , jwanders@ cwnet.com (04/16) License Lamp Housings, FC & Lakewood. Part # (2) $50/pair Exhaust Valves (2) with keepers fir FC and Turbo. Part # $20 Oil Cooler - 8 Plate Part # $25 Skip Polacchi has the following parts for sale. Parts are located in Red Bluff & Santa Rosa. Best to call evenings (530) Besides these listed parts Skip also has many more engine parts, heads, cams, cranks, posi, turbo. All new or rebuilt. F/C Turned brake drums (2) - $20 F/C Front door NOS L&R lock latch - $30 Corsa Communiqués + Quarterlies, $ Rear Air Grill (NOS) $ Read Air Grill, very good. $ Rear Axles with good bearings. $55 each 1964 Turbo Carb Kit, NOS major kit. $65 Early Bumper Guards, Reconditioned 4 complete sets. $180 per set Early Bumper Guards, used - very good, 4 complete sets. $100-$120 per set. Bill Thomas 4 carb heads (1 pr), angle port exhaust, all new parts $ R+L Rear Control Arms (1 pr) w/rebuilt axle bearings w/backing plate. $300 both. All New Engine parts from crank to heads for a 145 cu motor $650. Late 110 Rebuilt Motor, TRW STO pistons, long block no carbs, dist, alt $800. SFBA Corsa -May 2017 page 11

12 SFBA CORSA 1907 Alvarado Ave Walnut Creek, CA FIRST CLASS To: page 12 SFBA Corsa - May 2017