[SCG] inspection marks and other things

[Mike]

Seems like cars that were built in the same year on the same assembly lines might have a lot of common build processes - at least in the Fisher body area.  Perhaps one could start building a database for Corvairs based on information already in existance around Novas for example that came down the Willow Run line.  Of course we would want to verify somehow that the Corvair operation was done the same way. Undercoating, overspray, inspection marks, fastener types, suspension finishes, etc might be partially documented this way. Mike

---------- Original Message ----------
From: "Mark Corbin" <airvair at earthlink.net>
To: "Stock Corvair Group" <scg-list at tiger.skiblack.com>
Cc: CORSA BoD <corsabod at corvair.org>
Subject: [SCG] inspection marks and other things
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2011 16:04:53 -0400

All,

I got into a discussion today with a friend who's quite the history buff. He asked about such things as inspection marks, paint overspray, and so forth, things that are well documented in other clubs from the Corvette club to a lot of the muscle and pony car clubs.  My response was that those folks are high rollers, and got into that degree of documentation early on. We are just now getting into just the documentation of what exactly constitutes stock, and any variations that may have occurred during the model years.

With the coming convention and our annual Stock Corvair Event coming up in mind, maybe we should add such items to our list of things to look for. Of course, I'd expect that it's going to be difficult, if not impossible, to reach the degree of documentation that certain other clubs have achieved. We are 40 years late to the game.

But as I told my friend, one of the reasons their cars have appreciated to the degree that is well beyond what their contemporary, the Corvair, has is because of such documentation efforts. High rollers LIVE for such things, and one of the reasons they will and probably do shun the Corvair is just for that reason.

I always knew that concours was the first, biggest step in promoting the preservation of a marque. It's why, early on, I plunged into the job of writing CORSA's first set of concours rules (which are in modified form, still being used today). BUT I also had to fight off a large and vocal contingent of the board that desperately wanted a watered-down definition of "stock". They wanted to call "stock" is what we today call "Street Stock", with such things as mud flaps and aftermarket radios allowed in the class. It was a battle royal, but I succeeded in preserving the sanctity of stock.

A side note here. One of the CORSA board's historic failures has been the insistence for micromanaging everything. In this case, they have always insisted on having the final say on, first, what form the Concours rules took, and then insisting on having the final say on any modifications to those rules. And since few qualified concours people are ever elected onto the board, I feel that it's like having blind men pilot the ship. Concours is SERIOUS business, and only the truly qualified should EVER be allowed to hold sway on any judgements pertaining to it. No disrespect meant, but most board members historically simply are not so qualified, and should remove themselves from making such decisions.

I just wish that we as a club had been smart enough to take historical documentation, early on, to the level that other clubs have. What we are just now finding out is that the value of our cars is tied directly in such efforts, and that we as a club have shot ourselves in the foot for being so negligent of our history for so long.

-Mark Corbin
This message was sent by the SCG-list mailing list, all copyrights are the property
of the writer, please attribute properly. For help, mailto:scg-list-help at corvair.org
This list sponsored by the Corvair Society of America, http://www.corvair.org/
Post messages to: SCG-list at tiger.skiblack.com
Change your options: http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/options/scg-list
____________________________________________________________
Work At Home Jobs EXPOSED
We investigated work at home jobs. What we found may shock you...
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4defd8bb5c3ce3a6bbest01vuc