Prairie Capital Corvair Association

P.O. Box 954Springfield, Illinois 62705

The Flat SixJuly 2019

2019 Officers President -Brian Nicholson (217) 891-0808 Vice-President Larry Jahn (217) 283-7365Secretary-Tim Mahler (217) 793-3824 Treasurer-Glen Rittenhouse (309) 472-3882Membership-Chris Hall (217) 691-6529 Historian/InventoryFlatSix Editor Tim Mahler (217) 793-3824 Email P rairieCapital@corvair.org

Board of DirectorsChris Hall (2019) (217) 691-6529 Allen Monts (2020) (309) 243-7477Jim Collier (2019) (217) 875-5841 Jim Allen (2019) (309) 361-5351

From the Prez

Hey all. The weather has finally started to turn nice and itwent straight to hot! I hope this newsletter finds all of youhealthy and doing well in 2019. The national convention isalmost on us and museum business is in full swing. This, workand family are keeping Aleta and I moving. I hope your summerstays safe and you get a chance to enjoy your vairs. If yourtraveling to Chicago for the convention please stay safe andremember your old car traveling checklist. Hope to see all of yousoon.

Brian

Calendar of Events - 2019 PCCA Home Page may be found at http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter627

NEW meeting location, time of day, day of week! PCCA will meet on the third Tuesday of each month atAbe’s Hideout is on Dirksen Parkway and Ash street in Springfield IL just down the road from the 2016convention location (Crowne Plaza). Take exit 96B (the same exit, 96A, as for the Rochester location) intoSpringfield, Turn LEFT at the first intersection, Dirksen Parkway. Abe’s Hideout is on the right hand side. Note:the Stevenson drive exit works too, drive past the Crowne Plaza and Abe’s Hideout will be on your left.

July 16, 2019 PCCA General Meeting Abe’s Hideout Springfield ILRoom will be reserved from 5-8 pm for dinner, socializing, tech talkPCCA General meeting scheduled to start at 6:30pm

July 23-27,2019 2019 CORSA International Convention, hosted by Chicago Corvair Enthusiasts -Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E Main Street St. Charles, IL

August 12, 2019 PCCA Corvair Exhibit at the Illinois State Fair, Senior’s Day at the Fair. The Corvairs are invited to participate in the Daily Fair Parade at 4pm. Such Fun.

This is Monday, Senior Citizens Day (60 & over) at the fairgrounds - Seniors get into the grounds Free. Those wanting to be part of the Corvair Exhibit MUST meet Mike Hall at Steak and Shake on North DirksenParkway, Take the Sangamon Street exit off I-55, turn right onto Dirksen parkway, the restaurant is on the left. We will leave the restaurant at 8:30am. Please be there before that time, or let us know you are running later.If you want breakfast there, please arrive earlier to allow ample time to eat. PCCA meeting will be at 1:00 pmnear the Corvair Exhibit, next to the Ethnic Village and one end of the “Sky Glide” the aerial tram. Please letMike Hall know if you plan to exhibit a Corvair. MRHVair@aol.com Meet prior to the caravanning to the fair -a requirement to enter as a group. Steak and Shake on Dirksen parkway is again the location, the same northSteak and Shake as past years.

August 14-18 WNNS, Cool Cruisers et al - daily classic car show at the fairgrounds on Illinois Avenuenear the dairy building. Sign up is 3 weeks prior to fair at Motorheads on Toronto road.

August 20, 2019 PCCA General Meeting Abe’s Hideout Springfield ILRoom will be reserved from 5-8 pm for dinner, socializing, tech talkPCCA General meeting scheduled to start at 6:30pm

August 22-25,2019 Detroit Homecoming hosted by DACC

September 7,2019 Illinois SOS Auto Show - Downtown SpringfieldThe Group may determine a meeting place (south 6th Street Walmart has been used) Last year we met at

the Walmart leaving at 8:00am with a stop at the State employee parking lot V on edwards street before headinginto the show. This allows the group to be parked in a group.

September 17,2019 PCCA General Meeting Abe’s Hideout Springfield ILRoom will be reserved from 5-8 pm for dinner, socializing, tech talkPCCA General meeting scheduled to start at 6:30pm

October 20, 2019 Corvette-Corvair Show in Champaign. Details to come

For more Corvair Events Check the calendar on the CORSA Web site: www.corvair.org

Alan Monts talks with Bill Berta and Glen Rittenhouse,back to camera) early in the day. Photo by Shelby Berta.

Tremont Turkey Festival June 9th, 2019Suppose the big news for this Car show was the

new location for the car show within the Festival.Organizers decided that the Car show should be on thesame side of IL 9 as the rest of the festival, I suppose forsafety reasons. This provided more shade for theparticipants and some grass to place are lawn chairs. Itwas also closer to the pot-a-potties.

That was the good news. The bad was that thisarea was much smaller than previous years leaving thecars parked quite close. I think several would beparticipants drove through, and not finding a suitableparking spot, continued on down the road.

PCCA member numbers were down this year tojust 4 Corvairs. Allen Monts showed his 64 Spyderconvertible - -with the Spyder on the roof. I noted oneyoungster, who was apparently afraid of spyders, notwanting to get to close to that car. Dad convinced him it wasOK.

Tim Mahler was finally able to make the show with his66 Corsa coupe with the Fitch ventop. The Jamesons werethere with the one of a kind Woody Corvair. This is a 64Spyder that was re-envisioned by their father Art to be awoody with the Impala 3 tail lights. It garners all kinds ofcomments including the “is the woody a factory option?”(Nope, Art just really liked woodies)

Brian Sellyer arrived in his green 65 Corsaconvertible. Allen and I both pegged the woody to bethe Corvair class winner. We were both wrong. Brian’sconvertible won the class. Congratulations Brian.

Other PCCA members spotted at the showwere Bill and Shelby Berta, Glen Rittenhouse andBrian and Aleta Nicholson. PCCA did not have ameeting at the show but did enjoy showing areCorvairs, answering questions and receiving theoccasional - “Great cars”.

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Pawnee Prairie Days Festival June 8th, 2019

The Pawnee Prairie Days Car show was the other local carshow with known Corvair participation. Mike Hall is heavily involvedwith this show and has been trying to improve attendance by collectorcars in general and Corvairs in particular. It was a rainy, off and on,type day so overall attendance was not the desired number. Mikereported 59 cars were in attendance.

Only two Corvairs were at the show, both were Mikes. Hisrecently acquired Flag Corvair won one of the top 40 awards. Congratulations Mike.

Speaking of Flag Cars – Here is the story from facebook by Teresa Miller for

the Flag greenbrierTeresa Miller

Well, it seems the Corvair Rescue team has struck again...only thistime we have a merry band of supporters for this cause. The van used by theZenobia Shriners in Ohio, circa 1970s has turned up and now belongs to theCPF Crusaders----a group of volunteers who are committed to seeing thisone saved and given to the CPF. (Corvair Preservation Foundation) There were 15 Corvair Convertibles painted to use in parades and one van.There are only a scarce few of these cars left, one is now owned by MikeHall who will be restoring and using in parades and in the Corvair Museum.The shriners are best known for their charity work, and childrens hospitalsdedicated to the diseases that keep children fromwalking. They're known for their unique vehiclesat parades, anything from go carts, mini bikes,anything to insert some fun into a parade. Thesepatriot cars are disappearing and it's definitely ablast to get to be the ones that preserve them forthe future. Are they actually historically significantCorvairs? There is some debate about that, butfor the over 40 contributors to our project, theenthusiasm is great! Thank you everyone!

After Mike picks it up, it'll go directly to our body shop for a full assessment. Staytuned, we'll be posting more photos, along with a full assessment of what needs to bedone to make it look a WHOLE lot better than it does now!

PCCA would like to welcome new members

Richard Warren of Stewardville and his daughter Rose Seaman of nearby Mattoon.

Doug and Linda Lopex of South Pekin Welcome

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Available for PurchaseThe famed Ms Juliet, the 1963 4 door sedan

owned by Dick Moon for many years, is now availablefor purchase. The car is named after its previous owner.It is quite unique; is a fuel miser as is befitting theeconomy purpose of the Corvair. it is a PG with a 102hpmotor (i believe its a 102, may be a 95) the Corvair ismostly stock - and could probably be returned to factorystock with the right minded person. Or, just drive andenjoy the car as Dick and Neta have for many years. The Moons are needing to move further south and lackroom for Ms Juliet.

The note I received indicated a asking price of just $4,200 -- that's a bargain for that Corvair.Please contact Dick for more pictures, information

Future Corvair ExhibitsThe biggie is the International CORSA convention in St Charles Illinois – about 3 ½ hours north

of Springfield. Anyone may visit the Concours, exhibits and Car Display but to participate (inConcours, car show, autocross, etc) you need to be a member of CORSA. Everything is being held atthe Pheasnt Run Resort. 4051 e Main Street, St Charles. A brief listing of the main events are:

Concours Wednesday July 24 (Cars will be on the show field until about 2pm)Economy Run and Road Rally Thursday July 25.

The Corvairs will likely be at the start line around 8:30 am and 1:00 pmAutocross Friday, July 25. See the Corvairs in action. Should be active from 9am to 2pmCorvair Display Saturday July 26 – All the Corvairs at the convention may be on exhibit

from 8:30 to 1pm

State Fair Corvair display Monday August 12, 2019. Meet at Steak and Shake before 8:30am

General classic Car show at the fairgrounds - August 14 thru August 18. Yes, possibly 5 days in arow. Do one, two or all five days. Need to pre-register - sign up is slated for 3 weeks before the fair atMotorheads restuarant. Option to participate in the daily fair parade and to be able to park their car at thefairgrounds, inside the Orr building overnight or drive home. WNNS (98.7 on your radio dial) is ahelping with the event.

Corvair Museum Open House 2020: Preliminary discussions for 2020 have already started. Mike Hall iswanting to enhance the event to bring more people to it. Mike is thinking of inviting all Air Cooled engines -more specifically Flat Six powered vehicles. This would include air planes, Wayne 100 boats and other such craftas well as the classic Corvair. The Crowne Plaze has offered a block of 200 rooms at $104 a night. The dateselected is the 3rd weekend in June – which gets the event away from graduations and is still a month before thenext CORSA convention in San Diego.

The planning needs to start soon to make this a fun filled 3 day event. Thoughts include a Concours,road trip via the “back roads” to Decatur and the Corvair Museum, a road rally or other tours to include historicRoute 66 sites. Other museums may include Ace Sign Company’s museum and the museum at Motorheads onToronto road.

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Note: This article appeared long ago in the VairCor - I found it on the Heart of America Corvair OwnersAssociation web site. Mike Dawson writes as well as he knows Corvairs. Well, he may know Corvairs better.

The Preventive Maintenance Series Mike Dawson

Diagnosing An Engine Misfire As we all know, diagnosis can be the most difficult part of repair work. New cars will give you video

or audio diagnosis that will pinpoint problems and even spell out the replacement or repair needed.However, our Corvairs will do their best to give us hints if we pay attention. Using basic tools we can get tothe bottom of problems just as quick as if we hooked up a high dollar scanner. Keep in mind that a runningengine must have each cylinder supplied with compression, fuel, spark, and all at the proper time. Anydeviation from the requirements for those four items causes one or more cylinders to reduce engineperformance. The following information is to help with mechanical or electrical problems; another article will addressfuel related running problems. The first consideration is an engine misfire caused by lack of compression.

You would have low power and a definite putt, putt, putt syndrome; sometimes described asrumbling as the engine accelerates. The first quick diagnostic tool is a compression check by ear which takesabout one minute. With the engine off, pull the coil wire out of the distributor cap and ground it securely sothe engine will not start. Then crank the engine and listen to the sound of the starter. It should make arhythmic sound as it cranks the engine. If you have low or no compression in one cylinder you will hear adefinite break in the rhythm when the starter speeds up as it passes the bad cylinder. If necessary, listen to aknown good engine crank for comparison and then if you hear that definite break in the cranking rhythm youneed to next determine which cylinder. With the engine on a fast idle, use insulated pliers or gloves toremove plug wires one at a time from the cap and check for RPM drop. When you pull the bad cylinder,there will be little or no drop in RPM. If you determine that there is a compression problem, the followingare your choices. Valve Seat Out: you would have zero compression and possibly noise from a valve hitting a piston. Thisprobably would be a suddenly occurring event, usually at a startup following a hot shut down. Also, therocker arm could be loose with the zero cylinder on top dead center. Broken Rocker Arm or a Very Loose Nut or Backed out Rocker Stud : this would be obvious from thenoise and you would spot the culprit when you removed the valve cover. A valve that could not open orcould not open completely could cause either no compression or an erratic compression reading dependingon whether it was an intake or exhaust valve. Also check the pushrod if you have a broken rocker arm, and ifthe pushrod is bent be sure it did not rub a hole in the tube. Broken Valve Spring: the break will be visible unless it is the bottom coil in the head. Also a broken springwould easily rotate with your fingers when the piston in that cylinder is at top dead center – compare thesuspect spring with its neighbors. If you have a broken spring, it can be replaced with the head on the car byusing a special valve spring compressor that is readily available. Broken Rings or Hole in a Piston: with the engine running and the oil filler cap off, you would hear theloss of compression and see excessive blow-by coming out of the filler tube. Oil usually comes out of thedipstick and vent due to excessive crankcase pressure. Valve Problem: You could have a burned valve but that occurs slowly. A bent valve or a stuck valve(rusted) will leave the rocker arm loose but those usually occur from starting an engine that has been sittingfor a long period of time. A really bad exhaust valve guide will make an almost metallic clicking noise as theexhaust gas fires into the valve cover; it mimics a lifter out of adjustment and can cause erratic compressionreadings. Head Gaskets: A loose head (usually caused by overheating) will allow combustion gas to blow past thehead gaskets, making an audible spitting noise and making the heater un-usable. The original 60-63 andsome early 64 engines had copper head gaskets that would flow sideways and burn through. They were

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replaced with stainless steel in 64, so that is hardly ever a problem unless the head is loose. The heater issuewould be a major item before there was enough compression loss to cause a running problem.

The second consideration is an engine misfire caused by lack of spark. If your engine has the putt, putt, putt syndrome under acceleration and you have none of the above

problems, then you have an electrical problem. Run the engine on fast idle, pull individual wires and notethe RPM drop. When you locate the problem cylinder, you next need to determine if the problem is a plug,the plug wire or possibly the distributor cap. A visual inspection of the plug will usually show things like ashbuildup, oil, a broken electrode or incorrect gap. If you suspect a wire may be arcing, use an ice pick with agrounded wire clipped to it. Move it along the plug wire with the engine running and watch (and listen) forarcing. Brittle or cracked plug wire boots are sure to cause misfire in cold wet weather and old plugs withwide gaps are misfire candidates when starting in cold damp days.

The following are examples of misfires that need to be considered if you have trouble pinpointing theproblem. 1. If the point gap is too small (42+ degrees of dwell), you will start to loose one cylinder at a time as thepoints cannot open enough to discharge the coil causing individual misfires depending on which distributorcam lobe has the most wear. Some times wobble in the shaft creates the same situation when accompaniedby a high dwell reading.

2. Moisture in the distributor cap can cause a carbon track to form which will cause misfire in two adjacentcylinders and sometimes from the center to one cylinder. This usually happens after overnight rain or carwash visit. You can see the black-on-black track on the plastic.

3. A 140 engine can have a secondary carburetor sticking open or leaking enough air past the throttle valveto cause a misfire at idle (and off idle) that clears up at high speeds. It gives the impression of a singlemisfire at idle. With the engine at idle, clamp your hand over the secondary carburetors and check forsuction. Or spray a light mist of Gumout in to the throat and see it the idle picks up. There is no idle circuitin the secondary so any vacuum leak leans out the closest cylinder.

4. If you have a bad condenser (capacitor), it can cause a weak spark that causes multiple misfires. Instead ofthe putt, putt, putt, you have an inconsistent jerking sensation, sometimes accompanied by backfires. Thecontact points will be light gray on one side and purple or black on the other side from overheating. Thissame discoloration can be caused by dirt leading to high resistance.

5. A bad coil will act similar to a bad condenser; it can cause jerking under load, or just quit but that is notvery common. Coils mounted horizontally can leak oil out of the tower and coils with their bottom resting onthe sheet metal can develop a hole from vibration. Loss of oil causes overheating.

6. An individual camshaft lobe worn down will cause an individual misfire but is a very rare occurrence instock Corvairs due the camshaft bathed in return oil.

7. Depending on age and carbon content, vacuum lines such as the vacuum advance can cause a short toground at the coil tower if it is close, or it can arc to a plug wire which has poor insulation.

8. If you are helping someone, never overlook the possibility that the plug wires are not installed accordingto the firing order, and last but not least, keep in mind that just because a part was recently installed does notmean it was the correct part or that it works – trust your own diagnosis!

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Model T at the Tremont Show

Editor’s Note: over the years, Mike Dawson has written many tech articles for HACOA which I have been ableto re-print here for PCCA. Mike also sells some parts, the ad is from the HACOA newsletter but may be difficultfor some to read – the on-line newsletter has better clarity. The ad has 63amp internally regulated alternators $85w/exchange; Rebuilt harmonic balancer $90 w/exchange; Rebuilt Starter with Solenoid (non 60) $90w/exchange. And end-plates for your oil cooler - 8 or 12 plate - $10 each.

Minutes of the General Meeting - June 18, 2019 PRAIRIE CAPITAL CORVAIR ASSOCIATION

President Brian Nicholson was called into work, thus unable to attend.Secretary Tim Mahler opened the meeting at 6:45 pm with the Pledge ofAllegiance. Tim noted the June meeting minutes were printed in the Flat Sixand asked if there were any corrections needed. None were noted.

Treasurer Glen Rittenhouse gave the treasurer report which includedthe CPF/PCCA Museum Open House funds. The Beginning checking accountbalance was $7,341.24. CPF open house expenses t otaled $1,758.36; po boxfor 1 year expense $106. Revenue included $285 in open house registrationsplus $106 in membership dues. PCCA and the Museum open house generated$1,998.14 for the CPF which was sent to the CPF. The ending checkingbalance was$3,869.74. Cash on hand. $68 and the $5 in savings brings thetotal avalable funds to $3,942.74 as of June 18, 2019.

A motion was made to accept the monthly reports was made by Jim Allen and seconded by Mike Hall.The motion carried.Old Business: Mike gave a brief recap of the Pawnee Prairie Days car show. 59 cars were in attendanceincluding two Corvairs. The flag car won one of the top 40 awards. Tim provided a brief report for the tremontShow which had 4 Corvairs in attendance. The show location was shady but tight. Organizers hope to move itback across the street where there is more room for the cars. Brian Sellyer won the Corvair class.Meeting location: Bill Berta reminded the group that the library reserves the community building 6 months outand July 1 is the start of the next six month period. If PCCA wants to meet there again this year, need to actquickly. Tim noted that PCCA has been meeting there for about 22 years. The individuals in attendance were infavor of keeping it on Tuesday evening but that failed to reflect the opinions of who could not attend onTuesday(s). It was suggested that a quite poll be sent to the email list and use it as the basis for action. EditorTim will handle. Secretary Tim also indicated he would write a draft letter to the library thanking them for theuse of the room over the years.New Business: State Fair Corvair display is slated for Monday August 12, 2019. This is Senior and Scout’s dayso most PCCA members get free entry into the fair. Those bringing a Corvair (and meeting us at the SteakNShakeon North Dirksen Parkway) will get free entry regardless of age. Mike Hall also said that a new Cardisplay/show is being planned for the last 5 days of the fair. Day 1 is Governor’s day. The show will be onIllinois avenue near the Dairy building. For those wanting to leave their car at the fairgrounds, the plan is to parkthem inside the Orr building. Participants may do 1 or all 5 days of the show. Sign up will be at the Motorheadsrestaurant on Toronto road on Sunday 3 weeks before the fair. WNNS (98.7 on your radio dial) is a helping withthe event. After some discussion, it was decided to leave PCCA display on Monday this year.Corvair Museum Open House: Mike Hall is wanting to enhance the event to bring more people to it. This yearsaw only 94 registrants. Mike is thinking of Air Cooled engines - more specifically Flat Six powered vehicles.This would include air planes, Wayne 100 boats and other such craft. The Crowne Plaze in Springfield had anevent cancelled so is available for $104 a night, 200 rooms. This would be the 3rd weekend in June - away fromall the graduations of late May and a month before the National Convention in San Diego. Would include a daytrip to Decatur and the Corvair Museum. Thinking a 3 day event with a Concours, and maybe a Rally orFunkhana or other fun things. Would try to maintain the 1 fee for everything concept. Those in attendance werein agreement that this would be a good event to host.Other Comments from the Floor: Mike Hall noted that 27 individuals donated money to purchase the one andonly Greenbrier Flag vehicle. The Greenbrier was listed on eBay. The Greenbrier was then donated to the CPF.Motion to adjoin was made by Bill Berta and Seconded by Tom Curry. Tom won the 50/50 drawing.

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$5 Off those who take the newsletter and other PCCA correspondence only Electronically. Those who want a printed version may elect to do that too. The editor will send a email notification toall PCCA members with a email address when the e-version of the newsletter is available. Why? Hecouldn’t think of a why not, and the eVersion has better pictures than the printed version - in color withbetter detail. Those who want the printed version will get that vers

Prairie Capital Corvair Association (PCCA) Membership Form

March 1, 2019 thru February 28, 2020Type 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 $10.00. If applicable, the discount is $2.50.

Name _______________________________ Spouse/ 2nd Adult _______________________________

Street Address ________________________________________________________________________City, ST ZIP _________________________________________________________________________

Home Phone ____________________________ CORSA Membership ID _______________________Cell Phone(s) ____________________________ Spouse/ 2nd Adult ____________________________

e-Mail 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 / NReturn the completed form and dues to:Glen Rittenhouse, PCCA Treasurer 1804 Columbus Dr, Pekin IL 61554

Please make checks payable to Prairie Capital Corvair Association or PCCA

More Pictures from the Tremont Car Show

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Prairie CapitalCorvair AssociationP.O. Box 954Springfield, IL 62705