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The Fanbelt is published monthly by the New Jersey Association of Corvair Enthusiasts (NJACE), Inc. P.O. Box 631, Ridgewood, NJ 07451.
Deadline for contribution is the 20th of each month. Classified-style advertising of interest to Corvair owners is available, free of charge, to all persons.
A commercial ad can be placed in an issue of the Fanbelt for $50 per full page, $30 per half page, $20 per quarter page, and $10.00 per business-card.
(Generally, classified advertisers are those offering individual cars and/or a limited number of parts, while commercial advertisers are those offering
services and/or parts from stock. NJACE reserves the right to make this determination). All advertising must be PC-compatible or type-able copy.
NJACE is a chapter of the Corvair Society of America (CORSA), Inc., P.O. Box 607, Lemont, IL 60439. Meetings of NJACE are held periodically
at locations and times as announced in this newsletter. All interested persons are welcome. Additional events and activities are held throughout the
year. Membership in NJACE is open to individuals and families. Information and applications are available at any meeting or by writing to NJACE,
P.O. Box 631, Ridgewood, NJ 07451, or by visiting www.corvair.org/chapters/njace.
August 2018
The Grandstands of Pittsburgh’s Heinz Stadium loom over the Corvair Car Display during last week’s CORSA Convention
It’s August... The Dog Days of Summer!
No additional club activities (except this Saturday’s breakfast) until September
Monthly Breakfast this Saturday, August 4, at the Empire Diner, 9:00 AM
page 2 August, 2018 the FANBELT
President’sMessageby Brian O’Neill
Roberta and I went toPittsburgh for the2 0 1 8 C O R S A
convention. Originally, thatwasn't the plan.
As many of you knowmy youngest grandson is now the proud owner ofa 1965 Monza coupe. He lives in Columbia,South Carolina, and when he found out that theconvention would be in Pittsburgh he wasexcited. He had a plan. He would drive up toPittsburgh and his grandparents would meet himthere and we would all would enjoy theconvention.
Well, you know what they say about the bestlaid plans of mice and men. After we had madearrangements to go to convention and alsoworked very hard to make sure that the trackevent the Northeast Corvair Council was holdingon Monday of convention week at PittsburghInternational Race Complex was a success; thegrandson lands an internship for the summer andcan't go to the convention. Well, maybe nexttime.
The track event was a success in spite offorecasts for rainy weather. At the drivers’meeting people were asking me what was theplan because they were convinced we wouldhave rain that afternoon. I told them not toworry. I had sacrificed a chicken early thatmorning and there would be no rain. I wasalmost right.
As I left the pits to head out on the track as thelast car of the day to take time I got a fewraindrops on my windshield. I thought maybe Ishould have sacrificed a bigger chicken, but bythe time I completed my warm-up lap the rainhad stopped.
On Tuesday we moved to the convention hosthotel. A really big place! Three towers with over450 guest rooms. Unfortunately, the CORSAconvention was not the big deal with themanagement that it has been at some other
hotels. Roberta and I did the dinner cruise,which was very nice. It was one of the longerdinner cruises and the food was good. I went tothe Pittsburgh Pirates game against the NewYork Mets. I'm happy to report that the NewYork Mets beat up on the Pittsburgh Pirates witha final score of 12 to 6.
The best part of all convention was seeing oldfriends. I haven't been to a convention in acouple of years and I miss seeing them. It'samazing. You may see these folks only once ayear, but it's as if you had just seen them lastweek. I've always believed that although I likethe cars, it's the people who make this Corvairhobby what it is.
Activities Reportby Frank Hunter
On Saturday, July 14th,22 NJACErs gatheredin Donna and Larry
Ashley's spacious backyardin Succasunna for our 48thannual summer picnic. Itwas a warm, lazy and sunny afternoon. Moststayed in the shade of the gazebo but a few didtake advantage of the pool. Once again Larrycapably manned the ginormous grill and the sidedishes were plentiful.
Max the dog attended to any leftovers. Therewere no tech sessions, but Bea Fisher was proudto display her old axle shaft that was recentlyreplaced. There was lots of buzz about theupcoming convention in Pittsburgh.
Two weeks later, 20 folks from NJACEattended the CORSA international convention inPittsburgh, which took place from Monday, July23rd, through Saturday, July 28th. Althoughthere were rainstorms to the east all during theweek which led to severe flooding in centralPennsylvania, in Pittsburgh rain occurredovernight and the convention was not interruptedby the weather. The convention was held at a
continued
the FANBELT August, 2018 page 3
NJACErs at the convention banquet
Activities, continued
very large Hilton hotel which was very spreadout and involved a lot of walking to get to eachevent. The air conditioned inflatable "sportsdome," home to the indoor vendors during theconvention, was the place to be during the heatof the day.
NJACE was well represented in theEcono-Run by Al and Joan Lacki, the Road Rallyby Tim Schwartz, and the Car Display by Rayand Kathy Coker. There were plenty of partsvendors outdoors (and plenty of bargains to behad) and as mentioned the sports dome allowedfor a large indoor selling space.
Karen and I arrived late Tuesday evening. Wehad a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant. Whilelooking at cars and parts occupied some time,culinary interests were also on our agenda. Weare fans of Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on theFood Network. On Thursday we visited theDor-Stop restaurant for lunch and Friday wewent to Nadine's restaurant for the Brisket andMacaroni and Cheese special.
We decided to skip the Car Display held indowntown Pittsburgh on Saturday, opting to geta home a day early. There were many nice carsand a few "daily drivers," two-doors andfour-doors, vans, pickups, station wagons, aDevin C and one ultra van. Next year'sconvention is near Chicago, Illinois, and if youhaven't attended a convention I highlyrecommend it. I'm going to start working onKaren soon!
On The Road Againby Bob Marlow
Sue and I were amongthe 20 NJACErs (21 ifyou count Rob and
Lisa Wanthouse's grandson)who attended the recentCORSA convention inPittsburgh.
The hotel, while more than large enough toaccommodate the more than 650 Corvair peoplewho showed up, was a disappointment due tonon-functioning elevators, expensive food, and anon-caring attitude on the part of management,but that shortcoming was offset by thealways-upbeat attitude of Corvair folk.
We caravanned to Pittsburgh with Bill & JudyDoerge and Frank & Patty Schmitt from theBayshore Corvair Association near our home. We drove through several heavy rainstorms enroute, storms that continued to soak central andeastern Pennsylvania for the week but whichhappily spared the western portion of the state.
I spent my convention week inside thestructure I named the "bounce house," theinflatable sports dome used for the indoorvendors, and my vendor table became home notonly to the items I was seeking to sell but also tothose from NJACE lifetime member KenKlingaman, Connecticut's Norm Latulippe, andVirginia's Allen Bristow. (Didja see Allen andhis Greenbrier on the TV series "Sticker Shock"recently?)
Sue, on the other hand, took advantage ofamenities such as the hotel pool and midweekshe joined the Doerges and the Schmitts on a tripto Fallingwater, the house designed in 1935 byrenowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright thattoday is designated as a National HistoricLandmark.
On Thursday of convention week we bothjoined two busloads of convention-goers andvisited PNC Park, the modern and funky ballparkalongside the river in downtown Pittsburgh,where on the night of our visit the New YorkMets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-6. Yay!
continued
page 4 August, 2018 the FANBELT
On the Road, continued
Tim Schwartz was one of many people whosigned up for the convention's river cruise onTuesday evening, so he lent us his Greenbrierand with six other people we went to dinner at arecommended local restaurant that proved to bea winner. Our dinner companions includedCorvair enthusiasts from California whom wehad not met previously. Making new friends isalways a highlight of any convention. Thefollowing night it was Frank and Karen Hunterwho lent us their car for a dinner outing, and onFriday we piled into Ray and Kathy Coker's"Fast Orange" for a return trip to Tuesday'srestaurant.
(Why didn't we use our own car? Because itcould only carry two people, being a pickuptruck filled to capacity with Corvair parts.)
The Friday evening awards banquet includeda brief speech by our own Brian O'Neill (onbehalf of the Northeast Corvair Council),followed by an all-NJACE get-together in thehotel bar (at which I failed to convince DrHoward Horne to write a prescription for me). Sue and I skipped the Car Display on Saturday,in order to head home in time for agranddaughter's birthday party that evening. We're making plans for Chicago next year.
Free Breakfast 4U!
You just might eat for free if you attend ourmonthly breakfasts. Each month we drawa member’s name at random, and if they
are there, they win a free breakfast! If they arenot there, we draw again until we have a winner!
It's Too Loudby Ray Coker
If the mufflers on yourCorvair don't allow youto use the radio… it's
too loud. If the mufflerson your Corvair don'tallow you to use a cellphone… it's too loud. Ifthe mufflers on your Corvair don't allow you totalk to your passenger without leaning over… it'stoo loud. If the mufflers on your Corvair makeall the neighbors' dogs bark, drown outemergency vehicle sirens, make you not noticejets doing low flyovers near you or drown outguns being fired at you for waking the baby… it'stoo damn loud.
Some of the examples above relate to thecurrent exhaust system on my Corvair. It's too…you got it, LOUD.
When I purchased my Corvair 14 years ago ithad a nice custom dual exhaust that fit andsounded great. It was also ceramic coated whichpromised a long life and a constant silver colorwith no tarnishing. About eight years ago Inoticed it showing some signs of use and decidedto have it ceramic coated again. The companythat coated it the first time would not warranty itbecause I was not the original purchaser. No bigdeal, I had it coated again.
After 14 years it was beginning to get louderwith each use and even though the outer finishwas still somewhat okay I felt the mufflers innergizzards were wearing out so I decided it neededa whole new exhaust system, a system matchingthe one I was replacing because it wasPERFECT. The hunt was on for mufflersmatching the ones I had in length, width andthickness.
I spent a couple of months searching high andlow, turning over every rock I walked by, callingand visiting muffler shops, doing internetresearch and finally buying two mufflers atSurplus City that were labeled "quiet" and couldbe made to fit my Corvair. Guess what… theyare too loud.
continued
the FANBELT August, 2018 page 5
NJACE Officers for 2018
President, Brian O’Neill Phone 973-729-5586 Email [email protected]
Vice-President, Nick Ford Phone 201-572-5797 Email [email protected]
Secretary, David Malcolm Phone 201-635-9696 Email [email protected]
Treasurer, Tim Schwartz Phone 201-447-4299 Email [email protected]
Activities VP, Frank Hunter Phone 201-934-0244 Email [email protected]
Publicity VP, Bob Marlow Phone 201-444-1859 Email [email protected]
Too Loud, continued
I recently searched Summit Racing formufflers and found two that I knew I could makefit even though they were not the exact ones Ihave been searching for. I placed an order forthem. A couple of hours later while stillsearching the internet I found a muffler guy inHenderson, Nevada, who advertised that he hasbeen in the business for 46 years. I sent him anemail describing the exact mufflers I wanted bylength, width and thickness. Much to myastonishment he replied he could get what I waslooking for, all I needed was to stop by his shopand he would get them for me.
I emailed him back explaining I was inPennsylvania and could he share themanufacturer and part number and I would see ifI could find some near me. Sure, he said, just goto Summit Racing and look at part # AP 700068. WHAT????? I did and it's the exact muffler Ihave been searching for. I cannot believe it. After months of research all it took was oneperson to point me in the right direction.
It's too loud… NOT ANY MORE!
Who Knew? Part 8by Bob Marlow
Many Corvair enthusiasts know about theElectrovairs I and II, the Electrovan, andsome are familiar with the Calvair, a
Stirling-engine prototype. The Chevelle in thephoto below is a little different. It is aGM-authorized project powered by steam.
Bill Besler was a steam-power enthusiast whobought the remains of the Doble company whenit went defunct, and continued to tinker withsteam power well into the 1960s. Chevy, as partof its ongoing research into alternativepowerplants, gave Besler this 1969 Chevelle, setsome targets, and turned Besler loose.
By and large Besler hit the targets set by GM,as his steam engine, modified from the stock V8in the car, started quickly, ran well, and returnedfuel mileage better than the V8. But the projectwas doomed by cost and complexity, as well asby unfamiliarity.
By the way, the Chevelle still exists, in privatehands.
page 6 August, 2018 the FANBELT
NJACE Calendar of Events
Saturday, August 4Monthly breakfast at the EmpireDiner, Rt. 46, Parsippany, 9:00 AM.
Saturday, September 1Monthly breakfast at the EmpireDiner, Rt. 46, Parsippany, 9:00 AM.
Sunday, September 16All Air-Cooled Gathering, in Flanders. Complete details in next month’s newsletter.
Saturday, October 6Monthly breakfast at the EmpireDiner, Rt. 46, Parsippany, 9 AM.
Tim Schwartz and navigator C.J. Heckel showoff their trophies for finishing third overall inthe Road Rally.
A striking display of a Corvair engine
Part of the Bayshore gang, Bill & Judy Doerge,Sue Marlow, and Frank & Patty Schmitt atFallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright house.
Another view of the Car Display
We don’t know why the Wienermobile was thereall week, but it was.
More Convention Photos...
the FANBELT August, 2018 page 7
Concours judges looking for nits to pick.
Sleeping on the job? No, Concours judges assigned to undercarriages.
Two of the most rare: A 1962Loadside pickup(above), and a1960 “horn slot” car (right)
Just a small portion of the hotel parking lot
The inflatable structure that housed the indoor vendors.
A portion of the “bounce house” vendor area.
Play Ball! Mets beatthe Pirates!
page 8 August, 2018 the FANBELT
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