[fastvair] Re: <VV> Re: blow up about questions about electric fans

Bruce Schug bwschug at charter.net
Fri Aug 5 15:08:16 EDT 2005


Tom and Tricia,

I feel your pain. It reminds me of what I went through with the Corvair 
community.

Years ago, I got interested in tire sizes. I guess it came from 
figuring out some things that had to do with tire diameters and 
contemporary tire sizes and they just didn't seem right. The accepted 
figure for the diameter of an original 7.00-13 tire was 24.1" diameter. 
This figure is in the CORSA Tech Guide, Clark's catalog, and other 
places. Yet, when I picked a tire of that diameter it seemed awfully 
small.

One day I got into a discussion with Bob Brought, who drives only 
Corvairs and has lots of experience with them. He told me flat out that 
he knew it was wrong and proceeded to roll out an original 7.00-13 tire 
to show me. We set it beside three or four other modern tires and were 
amazed at how tall it was. This included my 225/50-16 tires.

This started a project to discover and document the actual diameter of 
an original 7.00-13 tire. I wrote to all the major tire companies and 
made several phone calls. In 1993, after several months of 
investigation, I had information from a couple of the companies with 
detailed specifications as to what these tires, and the 6.50-13 and 
7.00-14 tires as used on all other Corvairs were, along with Tire and 
Rim manufacturer's Assn. specs. They were about 25.3" not 24.1".

Thinking I had discovered something of value to the Corvair community, 
I mailed copies of some of this information to one of the premiere 
Corvair experts. He wrote back saying this information was wrong, that 
the diameters had been established and this was wrong.

I think I simply gave up on it for a couple of years. I knew it was 
right and couldn't believe the reception my disclosure had received. 
Then I got involved with VirtualVairs and the real wars began. Anyone 
who's been on VirtualVairs for several years is familiar with the 
dozens of posts that have gone back and forth between myself and others 
in this forum about this issue. Others, like Mark Corbin, knew I was 
right. But some just couldn't accept it.

After a while, I finally understood where the erroneous 24.1 figure had 
come from - a simple misunderstanding of the whole issue! But "experts" 
told me my figures were wrong - they didn't match Chevrolet specs, they 
didn't this, they didn't that... All the time, I had irrefutable proof 
from actual tire manufacturers as to what these dimensions were!

Finally one day, my staunchest critic, who had argued and argued with 
me, sent me an email saying he had figured what the actual diameter was 
- yes, 25.3" the very same diameter I had been trying to tell him it 
was for literally years! But now, he said he had figured this out and 
it was not what I had said it was - that I had been wrong all the 
time!!!

I think most Corvair people now agree on this diameter. The CORSA 
Concours rules still don't reflect this information, but perhaps some 
day they will. From time to time questions come up in these forums 
about tire diameters and others, not me, reply with the correct 
information!

Sell your fan. Maybe write an article for the Communique which will not 
only explain it to the crowd but serve as free advertising. Satisfied 
customers will sell the product for you even if the experts still say 
it can't work! If it works, then know that you are right and never look 
back.

Peace.

Bruce

Bruce W. Schug
CORSA South Carolina
Greenville, SC
bwschug at charter.net

CORSA member since 1981

'67 Monza. "67AC140"


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