July 2009

HEART of AMERICA CORVAIR OWNERS ASSOCIATION

WWW. HACOA.ORGCorvair Society

ofAmerica

Happy

An Eventful June The Club was busy in June with outdoor events, starting with the Albany Frontier Holiday Festival Social which was hosted by Bob & Jean St. John and Bob’s sister and brother in-law, Helen & Harold Davis. (Story on page 4.)

On June 9th the club had its annual meeting in the park. There was a good turn out despite the heavy rains and flooding throughout the area that day.

Scott Allison and Gary Moore made the trip to Wichita on June 20 for the Mid-Continent Corvair Associa-tion’s Juna Tuna. Along with working on Corvairs there was a Valve Cover Racer Seminar with MCCA’s newly resurfaced track set up. The valve cover races, always a fun event, should be very competitive at the Round Up in October. The 45th anniversary social was held at Helen and Gary Moore’s with 39 Corvair enthusiasts including seven members from the Mid-Continent Corvair Association attending. There was cake. (Story on page 5)

Helen and her sister Loretta went a little bit overboard on the cake but it tasted good, so no one seemed to mind. We had Dinah Shore singing, “See the USA in your Chevrolet” playing in the back-ground as the car revolved on its turntable.

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Social Calendar at a glance - Chairman Mike Dawson July 13 Monthly meeting at Chappell’s Restaurant in North Kansas CityJuly 13-17 - National Convention - Jacksonville, Florida.July 25- Social at Scott Allison’s followed by a trip to Grain Valley Speedway. August 8 - Play at Crown Center “Are We There Yet?” August 29- Fire and Ice Autocross and Picnic Iowa Corvair Enthusiasts- Marshalltown, IASeptember 26 - Overland Park Parade October 2-3-4 - Great Plains Roundup in Wichita, KansasDecember 4 - Annual HACOA Holiday Party hosted by the Kochs at their home.

July 25thAfternoon Backyard Social at Scott Allison’s Evening Thunder In The Valley Racing The group is welcome to meet at the home of Scott and Ray, for whatever we decide to toss on the grill, before the event on race day. Please bring drinks and something to share with the meal. Scott may come up with a game or two before the races and we can motor to the track through downtown Grain Valley. We have a few chairs but to guarantee a place to sit above ground level please bring a chair. Please feel free to gather anytime after noon on the 25th and let’s make a day of it.Grain Valley Speedway featuring A MOD, B MOD, SS, FT, DD (A and B Modified, Street Stock, Farm Trucks, and Dirt Demons).Spectator gates open at 5:00 with Hot Laps at 6:30 (Pit Pass opens at 4:00).Ticket prices for our group are: $10 one adult and one child, $8 one adult, $3 one child (6-12), Under 6 free.$25 before and during race Pit Pass per person (no alcohol consumption before or during race with Pit Pass).Following the race everyone is welcome to enter the Pit area (no consumption restrictions for post-race Pit access).The club decided to pay for the party deck which gives us a private area to enjoy the race/party. We will work out something for drinks on the deck and there is a concession area for additional beer, soft-drinks, and food.

Directions from I-70: Grain Valley is between Blue Springs and Oak Grove on I-70. Take exit 24 Go south on Buckner Tarsney Road To AA-SW Eagles Parkway go west (right) at Casey’s General Store To SW Sni A Bar Boulevard and turn south (left) at the second Casey’s General Store To SW Whitestone Drive and turn right (no Casey’s) 708 is the last house on the right; park wherever you can in the driveway or on the street Please call 816-847-8677 if you have any questions.

More event information on page 3, 4 and 7

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August 8 “Are We There Yet?”We have 7 seats still available for the 4:00 matinee performance at theAmerican Heartland Theatre located in Crown Center, 2450 Grand Avenue, Kansas City, Mo. near the Liberty Memorial and WWI museum, and Union Station Science City. From American Heartland Theatre, comes a roller coaster ride through the lives of modern American families! This merry musical romp in-cludes everything from hysterical family car trips and mothers praying for hits at their sons’ baseball games, to fathers sitting through ballet lessons and the joy of sex after 60! This lively musical portrays the love and challenges of the old adage, “You can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family.” One thing is for sure, you will definitely relate to this family musical and “enjoy the ride!Starring Tim Scott, Jessalyn Kincaid, Kenny Remmert and Cathy Barnett.Ticket prices are $23.00 each. Please pay by July meeting Call Gary Moore for more info 816-296-7819

THE PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE SERIES By Mike DawsonNormal Corvair engines should not need periodic valve adjustment if they are either original or have been adjusted properly during service, such as a seal job. If hydraulic lifters are adjusted somewhere outside their range of automatic adjustment, they will either hold the valve open which causes a miss, or they will be noisy and not open the valve completely, which can also cause a partial miss. There are two generally accepted methods of adjusting valves. One is the method with 1/3 valve covers attached, lowered muffler, and engine on fast idle. The second is the method Chevrolet used when building new cars. Unless you have bad lifters (which should be replaced anyway), I much prefer the latter.

Proceed: (heads properly torqued & no worn out or modified parts)

Remove distributor cap, rotate engine until rotor points near #1 wire and the pulley timing mark is at “O” on the tab. Adjust the following:

4 exhaust 1 intake

6 intake 1 exhaust

3 intake

5 exhaust

Rotate engine one revolution, rotor pointing towards #2 wire and the pulley timing mark is at “0” on the tab. Adjust the following:

2 intake 3 exhaust

2 exhaust 5 intake

4 intake

6 exhaust

The key to this being successful is the actual adjustment. Back the adjusting nut off until the rocker arm is loose (floppy). Make sure the pushrod is in the center of the lifter and not on the edge. Tighten the nut slowly while gently wiggling the rocker arm between two fingers. When the rocker arm just touches the valve stem/pushrod and no longer wiggles easily is where you count the adjustment turn. THE ROCKER ARM MAY STILL ROCK IF YOU TRY HARD – JUST LIGHTLY WIGGLE TO FIND THE ZERO ADJUSTMENT POINT. If the lifter has lost its oil (gone flat), it is easy to push in on the pushrod and think that you have not tightened the nut enough. Remember to gently wiggle the rocker while tightening the nut until the arm just touches the stem and pushrod.

As a general rule, 1/4 turn from zero will work perfectly for all normal engines. When you finish all the adjustments, check your work by observing the number of threads showing above the nut. They should all be the same on one side although there may be a difference from side to side.

This is the method that is described in the shop manual, with the exception of the actual adjustment. They are quite vague on where to start the adjustment: this results in the valves usually being too tight and held open.

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Albany Frontier Holidays by Bob and Jean St. John The Heart of America Corvair Owners Association sends a big THANK YOU to Harold and Helen Davis for hosting the group Friday evening June 5th. Helen’s BBQ Rib Supper was superb. The evening was perfect, great food, good weather and good friends. Everyone enjoyed the hospitality of Harold and Helen.

Saturday AM was another story. We got up to RAIN. It cleared off for the big event—the Parade at 11AM with 5 Corvairs participating; Scott Allison in his black convertible, Mike and Sandy Dawson with their station wagon, Charles and Kat King in her early blue coupe, and Don and Barb Wagner in the red convertible. A good showing in a great parade. Other attendees were Chuck and Dorothy Morris, Ken and Gini Ragan, Bob and Jean St. John, all Corvairless this time. Scott Allison won the trophy for farthest traveled. This was the Davis’ third time to welcome HACOA to Albany. The first was in ’86 for the ‘Ole Timey Days at the Davis Century Farm outside of Albany. The 2nd and the last time were in conjunction with Albany’s Frontier Holidays.

We wish to thank everyone that participated. “We’ll miss you all after our move to Arizona”.

June’s Soggy Meeting June’s meeting at Sar-Ko Par Trails Park was an adventure. With the torrential rains of the day many creeks were out of their banks and there was plenty of water on the roads. Despite the rain 16 brave members came to the park to what turned out to be a beautiful evening. We had a special visitor to the meeting. Pat Lierly who along with her late husband Bill were very active in the club beginning in 1970. Pat looked well and it was good to have her at the meeting.

July 15 HACOA Meeting We will return to cool, dry Chappell’s for the July meeting. Social time begins at 7:00pm, and the meeting is brought to order at 7:30pm. Mike Dawson will present the night’s program on racing and his racing days. He promises to include the story of his trip to the Denver Convention towing his autocross car on the trailer behind his Greenbrier.

CORSA National Convention- July 13-19Florida Chapters of Corsa will host the 2009 national convention in Jacksonville. Events include Valve Cover Racing on Monday, Concours on Tuesday, Economy Run on Wednesday, Autocross on Thursday, and a Rally on Friday along with the Awards Banquet Friday evening.

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From the Past

This month’s From the Past articles are from the 1984 VairCor 20th An-niversary edition and the July 1977 Cheetah Communique Ad.

Tool Crib

Tool Harmonic Balancer Puller Ramps, Auto

Torque Wrenches:

1. 1/2” drive 20-150 ft.lb 2. 3/8” drive 100-1000 lb. Floor Jacks and Stands Ring Grove Cleaner Dwell-Tach Meter Greaser:Blower Motor and Idler Pulley Hubs:Rear Towing for LM Powerglide

$3.00 $4.00

$15.00$15.00$25.00 $3.00 $5.00

$5.00

$5.00

$1.00$1.00

$2.00$2.00$3.50$1.00$1.00

$1.00

$1.00

Deposit Rental Fee

Contact: Ken Ragan

Ragan Enterprises212 Warner Rd

Bonner Springs KS 66012913-422-5778

E-mail: kenragan@sbcglobal.net

For Sale: Rebuilt Corvair alternators converted to 63 amp internally regulated. $75.00Rebuilt Corvair starters with solenoid. $85 Installation available - Mike Dawson 816 322-4057

Send Classified Ads to:HACOAnews@gmail.complease type classyfieds in the subject line

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CLASSYFIEDS

MOVING SALEAt Bob and Jean St. JohnsFriday July 17 8 till 6Saturday July 18 8 till 2

Workshop items: Tools, shop equipment, tool box.

Lawn Equipment: Riding mower, push mower, weed eater, etc

Household items: Furniture, TV’s, small kitchen appliances, dishes, antique glassware including depression and carnival glass. Pictures, frames, books, Avon collectablesand much more good stuff.

1112 Elm Street, Higginsville MO-- on Highway 13 north of I-70

On the web at Corvair.com Main office 413-625-9776

Order Machine 888-267-8247 Toll free fax 888-625-8498

CLARKS- MORE THAN PARTS.

A big thanks to Clarks for supplying door prizes to the

HACOA 45th Anniversary Social

First Saturday of each month Blue Springs on Main Street. Blue Springs Cruise-In

sponsored by the Genuine Chevy-GMC Truck Club of Kansas City.

Main Street (just west of 7 Highway and Main Street), Down-town Blue Springs, MO

5:00 PM to 9:00 PM. We meet on the East end of Main Street

Second Saturday of each month Northtown Cruise Nights

18th and Fayette Streets (south of Chappell’s)5:00PM till 9:00 pm

St. Joseph, MO Belt Highway and Frederick Avenue Cruise Night

sponsored by Northwest Missouri Street Rods 5:00pm till :00pm

Ground Round Restaurant 3708 Frederick Avenue, St. Joseph, MO

Third Saturday of each month Johnny Ray’s

800 SW Blue Parkway, Lee’s Summit, MO

Fourth Saturday each month Belton Cruise in old downtown Belton.

We park at east end of Main Street.

Third Sunday April thru October MonthKruisin’ Kearney sponsored by A1 WheelsMeet in Downtown Kearney, MO at Noon

http://a1wheelsandmore.com/news.html

Last Saturday of the month Liberty Square, Liberty MO.

For more information call Bill Bennett @ 816-767-1760

For a listing of 34 local area cruises visit: http://www.hotrod-express.com/local_

events.html

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Great Plains Round-Up October 2-4The Mid-Conitinent Corvair Association hosts this year’s Round-Up and it promises to be a special event. A celebration for the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Corvair is planned. The event will feature Concours competition, Peoples Choice Car Show, Model Car Exhibit and of course, Valve Cover Racing. A hospitality room will be set up for registration and a place to meet. The Awards Banquet will be Saturday night. Sunday morning a send-off breakfast will be served. The Best Western Airport Inn and Conference Center will be the host hotel for the event. It is one mile from Towne West Mall and Palace Theatre West in Wichita, Kan. Within five miles of the hotel are the Wichita Art Museum, Sedgwick County Zoo and downtown Wichita. The hotel provides complimentary 24 hour transportation to and

from the Wichita Mid Continental Airport less than two miles away.Complimentary continental breakfasts are served daily. Recreational amenities include an indoor pool, a spa tub and a fitness center. A game room and indoor putting green are located on the property. All 130 guest rooms feature compli-mentary wireless internet access and cable television with premium cable channels. For Round-Up room rates call 316-942-5600, make sure you mention you are attending the Round-Up.

CRUISE NIGHTS!!!!Bill Bennett Cruise Master

Events for September If you have an idea for an event or would like to host a Social we have room on the HACOA Social Calendar for late August and September. A day trip to a great diner, museum, garden or a fair. Run your idea past Mike Dawson the Social committee chairperson.

Corvair Anniversary Event October 10 Randy Reed Chevrolet in St. Joseph, MO is sponsoring a tribute to the introduction of the Corvair. We have been asked to display our cars at the dealership. Chuck and Dorothy Morris’ 1960 Corvair will be unveiled in the showroom 60’s style. We will park our Corvairs in front of the dealership. Don Wagner asked that club members arrive at or be-fore 9:30 on the morning of the tenth.

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45th Anniversary Heart of America SocialFirst let me say “thank you” to all that were able to attend the Social. Helen and I were privileged to share our home with such good friends. Between the 30-some HACOA members and their kids, and guests from the Mid-Continent Corvair Association we had about 40 people in attendance. The day was hot and steamy with a heat index of 110° in the early afternoon. Despite this everyone voted to drive the tour around the area. We loaded into our nine Corvairs and three water pumpers and were off. We first traveled to Excelsior Springs past the Elms Resort Hotel. This is where Harry Truman hid himself on the night of the 1952 presidential election. The tour then traveled to the James Farm and Museum near Kearney MO. We stopped for a while to rest; Karl Cozad caught up with the group during the rest stop bringing the Corvair count to ten. The tour continued through shady Watkins Mill State Park, through downtown Lawson, MO and then returned to the party. When we got back, the ribs, chicken, burgers and hot dogs were nearly done. When the delicious side dishes brought by attendees were added to the smoked meats no one went away hungry. Shortly before the cake was cut, Kevin and Ada Koch arrived in their 1968 Convertible bringing the Corvair count to eleven. During the dinner a not-so-warm front moved through dropping the temperature to about 90 degrees and dropping the humidity several percentage points. We moved outdoors to serve up the cake and ice cream. Then it was time to give away the door prizes supplied by Clarks Corvair, Auto Zone and Bob and Jean St. John.

A good time was had by all

Top left: Gathering in the shade waiting for the door prize drawing. Top right: Rest stop at the James Farm.Bottom left: Don was here with the HACOA banner. Bottom right: Corvairs in the Moore’s front yard. Photo by Don Wagner

More photos on page 9

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President’s Corner July 2009 by Don Wagner

Thanks go to the St. Johns for the Albany overnight social and to the Moores for their work for the HACOA’s 45th Club Anniversary Celebration. Both turned out to be great social events. It was good to see some club members that had not been to any socials before. The next social will be held by Scott Allison on July 25 at his house and the Grain Valley Speedway for a night of races. Please let Scott know if you are planning on being there so he can be ready for us. The CORSA Convention will be in Jacksonville, FL this year, July 13-17. The Bybees and us will be there working on the Concours. Scott will be taking over for me doing the president’s duties at the July meeting.

Top right (under Don) Corvairs arriving for the Party Photo by Don Wagner

Top left, Elms Resort Hotel in Excelsior Springs, MO.Center left: Loading up for the tour. Photo by Don Wagner

Center right: Jack and Donna Hill (with camera) arrived in their Grandson’s Sierra Tan (Gold) Coupe. Photo by Don Wagner

Bottom left: Kat and Charles King enjoying the party. Photo by Don Wagner

HEART of America Corvair Owners Association16001 Oakland AveBelton MO 64012

A group of friends devoted to the fun, preservation and restoration of all Corvairs

Founded 1964

Meetings 2nd Tuesday of each monthAt Chappell’s Restaurant

323 Armour RoadKansas City MO

VairCor is the official publication of the Heart of America Corvair Owners Association (HACOA), the oldest incorporated continuously active single marquee Corvair club and Chapter 640 of the Corvair Society of America (CORSA). The membership fee in HACOA is $15.00 annually, payable January 1. CORSA membership is required. HACOA monthly meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm., with a 7;00 pm Social time at Chappell’s. 323 Armour Rd, North Kansas City, MO 64116

Tim Macko’s 1965 Corsa ConvertibleScott Allison’s 1965 Monza 4dr Sedan