<VV> Yellow Corvair day

[Levair at aol.com]

all,

We had a great day at Putnam park. About 8 or 10 Corvair enthusiasts from 
Indy showed up to add to our gathering. 
  There were two equally beautiful yellow street Corvairs there ; one a 
perfect yellow early convertible and the other a later coupe with a "believe it or 
not upholstered dash".

   Michael's yellow racer broke on an early run. The lower front a-arm was 
attached by a previous owner with a 1/2" aluminum Heim joint which broke 
somewhat dramatically. Michael missed an entire session so he drove my red Stinger in 
the next session. I happened to have a (blessing or luck) a steel rod end 
which he got installed in time for the last session of the day. 
   Speaking of Heim /rod ends; my car had extremely stiff steering in the 
first session. It had not been driven in over a year. We jacked it up and 
inspected everything underneath. Tom Miller was turning the steering wheel and found 
a corroded aluminum rod end which supported the steering shaft. Immediate fix. 
   Our cars ran fine and were no trouble. They put us in group "A" which is 
the most experienced drivers and fastest cars. 
  We could almost keep up and could even pass a few Corvettes and Porsches.
The fastest car that went by me was a Miata with a Ford Mustang  V8 in it. 
One of the fastest Porshce 944 Turbos also had nitrous inj. 
    NO amount of suspension sophisication will make up for that power 
advantage. In order: power, tires, suspension, driver.
  There are no preparation rules in track days. 
   My Orange turbo car has more power, but the Stinger handles much better.
  Now if the Stinger had about 20 more HP, it would have a chance of being 
top of the "A" group. 
   I didn't want Michael to break , but it was great to watch the Stinger go 
around the track. Our times were virtually identical.
   The weather was great, great friends, and the Corvairs had no belt or 
oiling problems and sounded great. 
   One "friend of Corvairs" Porsche had to wear diapers to contain the oil 
leakage. 

Warren