The. The Crew at the Annual Merry Christmas Party at the Air Force Academy s Falcon Club. Pikes Peak Corvair Club. Meeting. Sunday, January 10, 9:30

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1 The The Crew at the Annual Merry Christmas Party at the Air Force Academy s Falcon Club A Publication of: Meeting Sunday, January 10, 9:30 Golden Corral Woodmen and Powers Chapter 809 of: Volume 34, Number 3 January 2010 Page 1

2 2010 Officers President Steve Goodman Vice President Jon Anderson Secretary Pat Campbell Treasurer John Koll Membership Darren Darnell Drip Line Editor Paul Campbell PPCC MAIL LIST CORSA set up PPCC with a mail list. To subscribe, send an to Garrie Fox gfox80915@yahoo.com telling me you would like to subscribe and I will add you to the list. Same goes if you want to unsubscribe. This mail list is like a small version of the VV s. You send a message to ppcclist@corvair.org and it sends the message to everyone subscribed. The list is setup to block all attachments and convert all formatted text (HTML) to plain text to greatly reduce the chances of transmitting a virus. This list is intended to improve communication within PPCC. It will mostly be used to let us know about meetings, brunches and car shows, cars and parts for sale The DRIP LINE is a monthly publication of the PIKES PEAK CORVAIR CLUB, a chartered chapter of CORSA, the Corvair Society of America. Contents are copyrighted in the names of the authors and PPCC. Articles can be reprinted in any CORSA publication as a service to CORSA members provided credit to the author and this Newsletter is clearly stated. Deadline for submitting information to the DRIP LINE is the last Friday each month for the next month s publication. Submit information to pdtcamp@yahoo.com or mail to: the DRIP LINE c/o Paul & Pat Campbell 1716 E. Yampa St., Colorado Springs, CO All correspondence to the PIKES PEAK CORVAIR CLUB or its officers should be mailed to: PO. BOX 15034, Colorado Springs, CO Business card size ads, advertising business services of both members and non-members are $2.50/month. To save time and money advertisers are asked to send $15.00 for six months or $30.00 for one year s advertising. Simple classified advertising of CARS FOR SALE or PARTS FOR SALE or WANTED are free to members, non-members will be charged $2.50/ month. Send copies of larger ads to PO BOX Colorado Springs, CO for quotes on larger ads. All checks for advertisements should be sent to PO BOX Colorado Springs, CO Electronic copies of ads may be sent to Volume 34, Number 3 January 2010 Page 2

3 President s Notes By Steve Goodman Hello fellow PPCC members: By the time you read this it will be 2010 and let me wish everyone a happy and prosperous NEW YEAR. To go back into December, I would like to thank those who attended the Christmas Party at the Falcon Club. The attendance was down this year and I am not certain if it was the price of the meal or the fact that we have gone there several times and some of you may have tired of the location. In the last quarter of 2010 I am going to ask for a couple of volunteers to possibly find a new place for the end of year in The one topic of business at the brunch was the election of officers for I asked in September and November (October was a poor attended meeting due to the weather) and no one made any nominations or volunteered themselves. By acclamation the present officer slate will continue through The topic of door prizes was mentioned at the November meeting. It has become a habit to accumulate a lot of door prizes and make for a very boring and lengthy time after the dinner and awards to draw all of the numbers. It has also become the vogue for the other clubs to donate door prizes and it makes the total amount grow even more. It was decided at the November meeting to find several GOOD door prizes and focus on quality instead of quantity. Remember too that funding for the TRI- STATE really comes from two items, the raffle drawings. Ruth has made an afgan every year and sells raffle tickets, donating all of the money plus the materials and her time to the host club. To cater to the mens' taste things like car clocks/dioramas and other 'manly' items have been raffled through the years. In closing I want to again thank the officers of PPCC; Jon Anderson (VP)/Pat Campbell (Sec)/John Koll (Treas)/ Darren Darnell (Membership)/Chris Woodard (Webmaster) and the hardest worker of all Paul Campbell for a great DRIPLINE each month. And of course thank you PPCC members for attending the meetings and events when it is possible. Kermit Shields and Paul Campbell reported on the upcoming TRI-STATE in Canon City. One thing that wasn't mentioned Sunday was the need for us to find a recipient for the Boydston Award. If anyone knows of someone in the three clubs (PPCC/RMC/CNM) who personifies CORVAIR please let either the committee or an officer know, Blonde Logic Took scarf back to store because it was too tight! Couldn t label prescription bottles because bottles wouldn t fit in typewriter. Trapped on Escalator for hours because power out. Hates M&M s because they re so hard to peel. Volume 34, Number 3 January 2010 Page 3

4 Mr. Webster defines 'fret' as to "wear away or rub". It is also a term used today by automobile diagnostics to indicate a poor connection that still looks perfect. When a connection is barely loose such as a ground cable or even a battery terminal the phenomenon that happens is a thin film builds up slowly between the two parts and after a period of time resistance is formed because the two pieces are not 'metal to metal' anymore. Typically the high resistance causes heat which actually accelerates the corrosion process and in fact the higher the voltage the more heat is generated, to the point that in a 20amp circuit the fuse can actually fail due to the high current draw caused by the resistance. Small voltage items such as a radio aren't affected as much due to the lower current draw. Unfortunately in many cases, the outside view of the connector still looks to be in perfect condition. In fact the connection may still feel 'pretty tight' to the feel and only by some vigorous movement will the cable or wire actually show some movement. Normally it takes a quality ohmeter to find the higher resistance placed on a connection like this. In fact using a typical VOM will not necessarily indicate a higher resistance than the connection next to it. The symptoms are not easily recognized during operation of your car either. Again, the accessories that draw lots of current are the ones most affected by the high resistance at a connection. Starter and headlights and heater motor are the ones that come to mind. If you have an unmolested Corvair, there will be either a lock washer or a star washer on the battery cable to the starter solenoid. Also a start washer on the ground cable to the engine. The reason for using star washers is clear, the edges of the washer 'dig in' to the metal to ensure a good contact as well as 'lock' the connectors in place. Also even the small connections on the starter solenoid (solenoid and ignition) contacts use star washers from the factory. There was obvious concern on the part of GM of ensuring total contact of those wire connectors. Noticing that I refer to wire vibration numerous times; when you see a wiring harness properly made the wire are contained in a wrapped loom for strength and the open piece of wire to the connector is very short when exposed as a single wire. Using clamps and wire ties to hold the wires securely is part of the key also, notice how stock wiring harnesses are tied and bound to frame rails etc. Another source of connections that could loosen up is the use of crimp connectors instead of actually soldering the wire to the connector. If the correct size connector for the wire gauge is selected PLUS a high quality pair of crimping pliers is used the crimp connector should be perfect. Many times the terminal end selected is not correct and/or the pliers do not give a wide spread crimp and problems develop as time and road vibrations march on. The use of solder and then a small slip of shrink tube for insulation is the best, albeit more time consuming solution for the most trouble free wire to terminal end joining however. Continued on page 8 Volume 34, Number 3 January 2010 Page 4

5 Great to Be With Friends During the Holidays Volume 34, Number 3 January 2010 Page 5

6 1960 Corvair Is Named Motor Trend's "Car of the Year" I the 50-year lifespan of Motor Trend, no more widely recognizable symbol has emerged from its pages than the words "Car of the Year." Since its first appearance in 1949, Motor Trend's Car of the Year award has become the longest-running award program in the automotive publishing world. "Car of the Year" remains the most prestigious and coveted prize in the industry. In retrospect, one of the most controversial cars ever to be named Car of the Year was the '60 Chevrolet Corvair. Its appropriateness for the award as the most significant engineering achievement of the model year made it a natural choice. The Corvair, a revolutionary departure from previous domestic car fare, introduced a number of innovations to the American scene, including a rear-mounted, air-cooled aluminum flat-six engine, rear transaxle, and four-wheel independent suspension with front and rear components each mounted to their own subframe (subsequent models included convertible, wagon, and even minivan). Seldom do you see this many significant technological strides on one vehicle. The Corvair enjoyed moderate popularity in its early years, but suffered from some supposed handling problems that inspired Ralph Nader to make it the focal point of his consumer safety campaign against Detroit, labeling the Corvair "Unsafe at Any Speed." This untimely attack sounded the death knell for GM's smallest car, and it was retired from production in '69. The ensuing controversy led to the formation of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and a greater government involvement in consumer products of all kinds. Volume 34, Number 3 January 2010 Page 6

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8 Continued from page 4 One last example that comes to mind is the license plate light on a LM. The wire comes out of the heavy harness and as a single wire goes upward to the hinge on the engine lid. At that hinge there is a male/ female connector and it is attached to the side of the hinge. Now everyone who has owned a LM car has found the license plate light failed OR a wasted fuse on the tail light/dash light circuit that is traced back to that wire at the hinge broken from the connector and hanging loose. Take a few minutes and look under the dash and inside the engine bay for loose wires and wires hanging down with no support. Use some wire ties to tightly hold that loose wire against the wiring loom or something strong as a brace. Wiring faults can cause accessories to fail and even worse have an overload which starts a wiring fire. First Generation Ralph Nader Corvair Reprinted from Corvaircorsa.com The first generation Corvair had a swing-axle rear suspension similar to that of the Volkswagen beetle. Critics maintained that the design was inherently unstable. They charged that under certain conditions in hard cornering, the outside rear wheel had a tendency to tuck under the car, sometimes resulting in roll-over. The results of a federal study released in 1972, three years after Corvair production ended, concluded that the Corvair was safe. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) exonerated the Corvair. John Doswell Mary Gieseker Pon Edwards Laura Wilshire Chevrolet began improving the Corvair's suspension in By 1964, engineers added a transverse camber-compensating spring, much improving the handling over previous years' models. Meanwhile, as Chevrolet worked toward the introduction of the second generation Corvair for the 1965 model year, it was determined a new Corvette-style rear suspension would replace the early design. The result was a Corvair with superb stability and cornering ability. Volume 34, Number 3 January 2010 Page 8

9 The DRIPLINE Membership Dues Now Due Past Due Ken Brown Burt Hayes John Neal Don Smith Mike Wiltrout Due December EJ Obermeyer Laura Wilshire Teresa Phillips Michelle Broyer Due January Jon Anderson Mike Barnett Terry McKenna Due February Mark King John Koll Please remit $25.00 to Pikes Peak Corvair Club, P.O. Box 15034, Colorado Springs, CO Any questions, please contact Darren Darnell at Volume 34, Number 3 January 2010 Page 9

10 The DRIPLINE THE DRIP LINE PO Box Colorado Springs, CO First Class Mail SEND TO: Place Address Label Here Volume 34, Number 3 January 2010 Page 10