EM owners! No cup holder? No problem! Simply hook the handle of your travel cup into the ash tray opening on your dash, and enjoy spill-free travel wherever you go! In this issue: February Tech Session TCC Facebook Page Meeting Minutes Upcoming Activities AND MORE!
PAGE 2 February 2018 THE SPYDERS BREATH GAZETTE Officers for 2017 President: Scott Cartine (757) 814-0829 nygiantfn1@msn.com Vice President: John McPherson (757) 541-7877 jdmcpherson45@gmail.com Activities Chairman: Dean Zawacki (757) 235-4489 deanage5@hotmail.com Secretary/Treasurer: Anne Davis (757) 471-5207 annie-bo@cox.net Newsletter Editor: Dean Zawacki (757) 235-4489 deanage5@hotmail.com Historian: Smitty Smith (757) 468-2726 vairologist@cox.net Phone Committee: Helen Smith Barbara Gilliland CORSA/CPF Board President Mike Hall Vice President Dave Dewald Secretary Bryan Blackwell Treasurer Paul Sergeant Eastern Division Directors Bryan Blackwell bryan@skiblack.com Allan Lacki redbat01@verizon.net Karl Haakonsen cityhawk@pobox.com John Nickel fivcent@tds.net Activities Schedule Feb. 27th TCC Social Join us at Smokey Bones, 1405 Greenbrier Pkwy, Chesapeake. (757) 361-6843. 6:30 pm. March 10 th AACA Swap Meet Military Aviation Museum, 1341 Princess Anne Rd., Virginia Beach, VA 23457. For more information, go to www.traaca.com. March 13 th - TCC Business Meeting 7:00pm at Rick Hendrick Chevrolet on Virginia Beach Boulevard in Norfolk. March 17 th Car Show York HS. 9300 Geo. Washington Mem. Hwy., Yorktown, VA 23692 11am 3pm. Registration opens at 8am. $15 before March 15, $20 day of the show. March 24 th Tech Session Auto Brake, 9:15 am. Installing an electric fuel pump on Scott s car. Refreshments Dean Zawacki Penny Chance Winners: We Need Your Articles! Publication Notice: To be a full member of The Tidewater Corvair Club (TCC), you must be a member in good standing of the Corvair Society of America (CORSA). Annual dues are $12.00 for TCC and $45.00 for CORSA. Due to insurance requirements, only paid member may participate in Club Events. The Spyder s Breath Gazette is a monthly publication, published and distributed by TCC, Inc. This publication is available for a donation of $10.00 annually. The Spyder s Breath Gazette reserves all rights with the following exceptions: Any material may be reproduced or reprinted by CORSA or any CORSA Chapter only for nonprofit purposes that benefit Corvair Enthusiasts. Any such reproduction must credit both the author and the Spyder s Breath Gazette. Rights for any other use must be requested in writing from The Tidewater Corvair Club. Correspondence should be sent to: Tidewater Corvair Club, Inc. Corvair Society of America 2901 Cardo Place P.O. Box 607 Virginia Beach, VA 23453 Lemont, IL 60439-0607
PAGE 3 February 2018 THE SPYDERS BREATH GAZETTE and determined that yes, they were indeed installed right where they should be. New member Adrian Ochipinti s LM convertible gets the onceover at the Feb. 17 th Tech Session. Tech Session By Dean Zawacki February 17 was a very busy morning for the club. Our first tech session of the year, and we were scheduled to look at 3 cars. The first order of business was to give the onceover to new member Adrian Ochipinti s late model convertible. This was the car that was owned by Steve Serio. He had some engine work done at the Corvair Ranch in Gettysburg, PA. Adrian purchased the car and had driven it around some, but he had some concerns and wanted us to check it out. The club admires the brand spanking new fuel tank on Adrian Ochipinti s late model convertible. Suggestions followed that perhaps I should reactivate my gym membership and cut down on my donut intake at these tech sessions. Smitty suggested that I seek professional help. That is, he thought I should take the car to a frame shop and determine whether the cross members and suspension pieces are straight. After the professionals weigh in, we can go from there. It may be that the springs are just fatigued after all. The car turned out to be mechanically sound. The engine was strong and reliable, and the steering, while not as tight as a modern car, was well within expectations for a 50+ year-old Corvair. All in all, Adrian should have an enjoyable and trouble-free time with his new car. Welcome to the club, Adrian! Next, we looked at my 1963 coupe. The car had been listing to port ever since it had been back on the road, and we wanted to check the springs to see if perhaps they had been installed incorrectly. Smitty and John counted the coils Then it was time for one more check on my car. I pulled it outside and parked it in front of the bay. Smitty and Ed checked the toe-in by
PAGE 4 February 2018 THE SPYDERS BREATH GAZETTE stretching a line from the backside of the rear tire to the front side of the front. The line should not make contact with the front side of the rear wheel. What we found was that the car had no toe-in whatsoever; the front and rear wheels were straight. This calls for a toe-in adjustment at an upcoming tech session. It was a very good tech session for our first one of the year. Adrian learned quite a bit about these quirky cars his first time out, and we got a bit further on nailing down some issues with some of the other cars. There are a good many interesting tech sessions scheduled for the coming year, as well as some fun-filled trips and other activities. We hope to see you at the next one! Next, Scott Cartine pulled his car in to have a look at the driver s side thermostat door. Sure enough, it had become disconnected from the mounting on the inside of the shroud. We pulled the shroud off and reconnected the bellows to the mounting, and re-attached the rod to the door as we re-installed the shroud. As anyone familiar with these cars already knows, that s not as easy as it sounds! How many TCC members does it take to re-attach a thermostat door? At least one more... TCC Facebook Page Update The Tidewater Corvair Club Facebook Page continues to gain new followers every week. We are currently just a few away from 400 people who regularly follow our page. That means that these folks get new TCC posts on their news feeds whenever the club has something new to post. This week, we will be adding pictures from the latest tech session, as well as pictures from the Polar Bear Run. The more interesting content we can publish, the more followers we will generate and the more attention we can draw to the Corvair Club. If you have a Facebook account, be sure to like our page!
PAGE 5 February 2018 THE SPYDERS BREATH GAZETTE February Birthdays 2/ 5 - Dean Zawacki 2/11 - Angie McPherson February Anniversaries 2/15 - Angie & John McPherson February Minutes Meeting of February 13, 2018 called to order by our President, Scott Cartine, at 7:06pm. Pete Jacobsen stopped by to tell us goodbye. He and his family are moving to South Carolina due to his job. We wish him well and certainly hope our paths will cross again in Corvair-land. Bill Hubbell shared with us the work being doing on the Glenn car. He is making great progress and had interesting things to share about the rebuild process on a car that has been sitting for some time. He has lined up Yokum s Signature Hot Rods in Suffolk to do the painting and body work. Our group arrived at 9:05 just as the Mystery Run was heading out so no time to get instructions of where to go. Several adventures but all in all a great time. Here is a paragraph from the CCC of Central Virginia newsletter: We had a very nice Polar Bear Run 19 with over 100 participants making it one of the best attended. The weather was great compared to the record cold we experienced for much of January. One convertible even drove home with the top down as temps reached into the mid-60s that afternoon. We drove nearly two hours to a museum in Murfreesboro, North Carolina. This was the only Polar Bear Run to venture out of the state. Think that convertible mentioned was owned by Scott. Tech session on Saturday, February 17th will be at Rob s place. Club will be looking over our new member, Adrian Ochipinti s, 65 Monza convertible to help him determine exactly what should be done. Want our members safe on the road! Also on the schedule is Dean s car that seems to be leaning. No 50/50 drawn. Social choices: Smokey Bones, 1405 Greenbrier Pkwy, in Chesapeake; Fuddruckers, 7705 Tidewater Dr., #301 in Norfolk; Teppanyaki Grill and Buffet, 7525 Tidewater Dr., Norfolk. Smokey Bones was picked and we will meet there at 6:30 on Tuesday, February 27th. Meeting adjourned at 8:11pm Polar Bear Run set up by the Car Club Council of Central Virginia was held on January 27. Scott, Dean, Smitty and Helen made the trip.