<VV> Da Nationals (Really long but then it's me!)

[Rick Norris]

Geez,
Where to begin....
Actually it started several weeks before the Convention as I was flogging the car trying to get my remote oil cooler hooked up. Sounds simple but it required removing the drivetrain so the modified rear cover and oil filter adapter could be installed. After all the plumbing bits and pieces were buttoned up I primed the oiling system with my drill. It put out 50 pounds and no leaks at the time. Those came later...
I reinstalled the distributor and fired it up. No leaks even after a slow trip around the neighborhood. Time to load up for the MotorCity.

The trip up was uneventful. Roughly 8 hours with several stops. We used my wife's Tom-Tom GPS nav system. What a great tool! I finally learned to trust it and do exactly as it instructed. It even told you how to do a Michigan U turn. Ya see, it has a female voice and I tended to ignore it......but that's another story.

We arrived at the host hotel around noon although we stayed at the Stooper 8 across the street. Not a bad place to sleep and wash up. It had a fridge, microwave and free breakfast. Of course we had to put up with the likes of "Wrong Way" Smitty, the Kansas Posse, Phoenix Charlie, the BeefCar and other persons of interest!

Tuesday morning we convoyed out to Waterford Hills raceway. The morning dawned with overcast skies and some rain sprinkles which went away. Michigan is very dry and all the lawns look like straw. I don't know how long they have been without significant rain fall but they didn't get any during our stay.
The time trial was another big test for me and the car. The remote oil cooler, a rear sway bar and the new BFG R1 race tires and the  carbon Kevlar brake shoes were all untested.
I was in the first run group and I was first on track. After the warm up/familiarization laps we got the green to go. Waterford is a narrow (23') twisty course with a very short back straight. Most of the corners have concrete apexes and curbs. There is no place to relax before the next corner. I ran it in third gear and could hit forth gear on the straight but by then you were at the braking point and it was hard on the brakes and down shift. My shoulders let me know later on that I was sawing on the wheel as it were.
The car was running very well but before the session was over I smelled hot oil. Not unusual in a Corvair but I was apprehensive of oil leaks and went back to the pits to check it out, Sure enough when the rear lid was removed there was oil all around the crank pulley area. Damn! We could not find what was leaking so I wiped it all up and went out with the Second run group for more practice. This was due to Seth, my co-driver graciously giving me his practice time. Thanks man!
This time out I was behind Mark Aksmit in his very strong 110 HP car. I finally passed him took off after Bob Dunahugh in his Stinger. I finally caught him but by then I was smelling the oil and decided to pit. Again oil was all over and the leak was determined to be under the oil filter adapter where the stock oil filter was cut off and the holes plugged with threaded pipe plugs. No amount of gasket changing, goop slopping or bolt torquing would stop 50 pounds of hot synthetic oil from finding the leak.
I told Seth to take the car out anyway during open practice and run a few laps which he did. However, the leak had become obvious and the car was black flagged.
Neither of us got any timed laps as the leak could not be fixed at the track.
In retrospect the car performed quite well. I felt it was very controllable and the set up was good. The new BFG's lived up to the hype. I like them but then race tires are addictive! Also I valued Seth's input as he is way more experienced than I. At least this time he didn't have a chance to beat me in my own car!
Waterford was still FUN FUN FUN! I even imagined I was Ken Hand out there dicing with the big boys!

Wednesday morning I was hard at it changing out the leaking oil filter adapter for a stock one procured from the outside vendors. The evening before we visited the local Pep Boys store for some cleaning supplies and my wife ask if I was going to buy an oil filter too. I said they would not have one for a Corvair but I decided to ask anyway. After explaining to the young girl at the counter what a Corvair was she punched some keys and said they had two filters in stock. I said let me see one still not believing it would be for a Corvair. Suplize GI! I bought one. Now, the reason I did not buy one from the vendors on site is because they did not open early enough and I had to be done and down at the car display by nine. After installing the adapter and new filter I fired it up and no leaks were found. In the mean time I had also changed the race wheels out to the street Ansen Sprints with new BFG ultra high performance summer tires which I wanted to test in the autocross the next day. Off I went down the street to the car display at the GM Tech Center. Great venue for a car show! The car won a first place in the race car display and was very popular with the crowd and the GM folks that came out on their lunch break to look at the Vairs.
Bruce Pollock, the staff photographer for the Detroit Auto Scene tech center news interviewed me and shot some pics for the inter-office publication. Also a guy named Bob Capps a motorsports writer/photographer for Victory Lane and others did the same.

While at the car display did anyone else notice the building across the street? It had a big red lettered sign at the top that is very significant to Corvairs and other GM cars. It said CAMPBELL-EWALD.......

We opted for the GM Heritage Collection tour during the car show and MAN, what a garage! You walk in the door and your jaw hits the floor. Sensory over load! There in the flesh is all the cars you only read about or saw pictures of in magazines! No ropes either, you could walk up and touch them! And there it was, the Monza GT! The car all Corvair fans want to see. You could touch it! Seth got one of the employees to open the engine compartment too! After we left there I had to change my shirt as it was soaked in drool! Needless to say I shot a few pictures.
We bummed a ride back to the car show with Da Chuckster and his under study Scott. It was raining! I want to thank whomever it was that closed up my car while we were on the Heritage tour. The rain also gave me a chance to test the wipers on the way back to the hotel. Remember, my car is street legal although it doesn't look like it.

Thursday was autocross time. I hauled out to the Gibraltar Trade Center in Mt. Clemons (thank you Tom-Tom!), the designated site which was a large bumpy and gravel strewn parking lot. Some asphalt, some concrete and some unidentifiable materials. After I unloaded (Momma doesn't come to autocrosses because they are boring to her) the car and fired it up I was happy to see no leaks.
I made my three timed runs with the second one bring my best. On my third run I got in the marbles and wiped out some cones. It was damned greasy out there but we all ran under the same conditions. My assessment of the BFG Hi-Po street tires will require more testing but so far I like them.

Friday we visited the Ford Museum. If you only have one thing to see in Detroit this is it. It's not all cars but a lot of history. Yes, there is a Corvair on display along with a lot of other makes. One most interesting artifact was the actual chair Lincoln was sitting in when he was assassinated. Another was one of the two largest Allegheny class steam locomotives ever built. They hauled 100 car coal trains out of West Virginia and Kentucky during WWII.
I also partook of a foot long hot dog at the Oscar Meyer snack bar which has one of the wiener cars on display.

Saturday we took in the Corvair museum in Ypsilanti. Definitely a must see for all Corvair fans. Old Town is quaint and we sampled the historic Side Track Bars food and potables. We drove around the Willow Run area and out to see the Yankee Air Museum. Unfortunately all the flyable planes were in Oshkosh for the annual air show and fly in. Also we learned the aircraft and museum are not opened to the public. It was said the old hanger was used when B-24's were built and flown at Willow Run. Good enough for me.
At the banquet my wife was looking at he schedule of events and times and stated with skepticism born of experience from previous such affairs that she did not believe we would be done by the stated time. Happily, she was wrong! We were done on time! 
Note to other groups hosting a Convention. Do what the Detroit club has proven is possible for a short, efficient banquet and awards ceremony!

Sunday morning we were well on the road for home by 0400 hours. Yeah, we are early birds. No problems on the return trip and the truck still has the same transmission that was installed last year in Westfield, NY! 

I have never worked as hard at a convention as I did at this one and I never competed in more than one event before but it was all well worth the effort.

One thing among many I noticed is that no matter where you were in the area the automotive industry had it's mark on everything. It is Motor City.

All said the Ken Hand, Clark Hartzel and all the Detroit folks deserve a huge slap on the back for a job well done and a most enjoyable convention.
I still don't like big cities though....

Rick & Janet Norris
www.corvairalley