<VV> Corvair Ownership -- ?

[Tony Underwood]

At 05:41 PM 1/2/2007, Roger Atkinson wrote:
>Mr. Smith,
>
>I hope your post isn't truly reflective of who you really are 
>because you come across as an arrogant, self-centered, better than 
>other people asshole.  I am sure I have only misread you!!!!


A genuine ass-hole would start an ongoing argument over 
this.   Smitty has more substance than that.    I personally thought 
his commentary was dead-on myself.    I also think your comments were 
unwarranted.   I've known the man for 20 years and I'm proud to call 
the guy a friend.

Now in MY case, I AM an ass-hole.    Don't start...



>I did not realize I had to be approved for membership in the ever 
>elusive  and exclusive Corvair community when I purchased my Spyder.


You DON'T have to be "approved".   All you need to do is act like an 
enthusiast and a car guy with respect for the Corvair marque and the 
obscure and esoteric sorts who pursue it.

It might be a good idea to get the chip off your shoulder and calm 
down.    There are good people in here and they're oft times quick to 
defend themselves when they feel slighted.   Corvair people who have 
been doing it a while tend to be slightly defensive since there have 
been SO many ignorant sorts who have flung criticisms at them for 
more years than many can count simply because they were seen in the 
company of a Corvair...   "Ain't them cars dangerous?"    "I thought 
Nader banned them."   "Rolling coffins if you ask me.    ...Did I 
ever own one?    No, never."

I enjoy it when some nimrod comes up to me and starts in...  I have a 
well practiced routine that I unload on them, takes about 3-4 minutes 
before they're allowed to either walk away or get a word in edgewise.


To become a member of the Corvair Community you need to adjust your 
thinking.    You have to unlearn a lot of the things you'd thought 
were true.    You also have to understand that many Corvair people 
are rather sturdy and independent and thick-skinned, although that 
won't stop them from flying right back if you make the mistake of 
sending any criticism their way.    Most of them have long since 
developed rather adequate defense systems.     Don't forget to duck...

******************************


Let's consider a theory here for a moment:


A guy has a Corvair, flings the fan belt off while pleasure 
cruising.   He posts questions etc and some of the more pragmatic 
individuals on the list jump.    They berate him about not carrying 
spares, tools etc.     They treat him as if he was already a part of 
the Corvair community and let him have it with both barrels.    They 
talk to him like a brother who screwed up.

This isn't caustic criticism from troublemakers.    It's a spanking 
so as to instill the notion that next time you're likely to have a 
fan belt on hand and the ever-popular 9/16 combo wrench to change it.

It wasn't personal.    Hell, if *I* took all the stuff in here 
personal I'd have long since hung myself with an old fan belt.

You got on the receiving end of a few of the more outgoing 
individuals on the list.    Don't let their comments go to your head...  ;)

******************************



>And for the record in case anyone cares, I do not walk around with 
>my pants down so I could pull them up.  Maybe if you pulled your 
>pants up, your half assed attitude wouldn't be showing.
>
>To the rest of the group , sorry for the use of the word ass but 
>wasn't sure how else to put it.



No problem.    You're just angry and not really thinking about the 
fact that you're speaking to several hundred people, most of whom do 
not agree with your constructive criticisms.


Myself, I'm in a bitchy mood today because I had another thick layer 
of frost cemented like concrete cake icing to the windshield of my 
'60 4-door that I had to carve off before I could see how to exit the 
driveway.      And the heater is giving me grief, fuel line to the 
front of the car is partially (mostly?) clogged, heater experiences 
fits and starts and generally doesn't do much of anything except blow 
moderately cold air.     That line's not easy to replace either, need 
to allocate time to swap out that line and the rest of the fittings 
up front which are likely gonna need replacement as well since 
they're all 47 years old now.


Fortunately, the car continues to get driven regularly enough to keep 
it exercised and loose, so nothing else seems to be exhibiting any 
problems these days except for the heater issues.    Not bad for an 
old Corvair with 200,000+ miles on it, almost all of which are city 
driving miles.

Its successes temper my gripes about the heater.    It's all relative.

Now, if some other arrogant SOB were to tell me I'm a dummy who 
should have fixed it last summer, I could cordially tell them to kiss 
my 250 lb 6'2" ass while I smile like a baby slurping Gerber peach puree.

Sorry about the use of the word "ass" but it fits me.

Sorry about your attitude as well.    Why don't you fix this and 
consider that all this has blown up out of proportion?   Hey, it's a 
New Year.    Let's drop this bullshit and lets all play like our moms 
raised us to be nice.

Sorry about the use of the word "nice", since I'm usually not 
unnice.   Sorta.   Or something.

Anyway, I'm done, and it's back to pondering what else I need to do 
to fix that heater fuel line etc.   Makes me wonder what else might 
be gummed up and stuck that I'll have to address before the heater 
works like it should.


In the meantime, all you guys can keep arguing if you want...




tony..