<VV> Recruiting younger members

George Jones 65crownv8 at gmail.com
Fri Jan 30 16:20:59 EST 2009


This is where the local club plays a very important role. Every club has
their resident experts on one aspect or another of the Corvair. We in
Tidewater have been blessed with the likes of Smitty Smith, Wyn Rittal, and
a number of other very talented members who do not mind hosting tech
sessions at their, or other members homes. Transfer of this knowledge to
newer (not necessarily younger) members is critical to their continued
participation in this hobby. The Tidewater Club has a by-laws requirement to
schedule at least one tech session each month. One month may be a carb
rebuild tech session, the next may be a steering box overhaul tech session.
We pretty much cover the entire car, both early and lates, over the course
of a year or two. We've had PG and 4-speed; engine and differential
rebuilds. We had top replacement and upholstry replacement tech sessions. I
don't think anyone in our club can honestly say "I don't know how" to any
part of their Corvair.

The biggest problem I find is that new members aren't comfortable doing it
themselves, even if they have seen the tech session two or three times. So
what I do, is take a new member under my wing and go to their house and
coach them through the work they need done on their car. I'm anxious to see
the finished product of one of our members who is rebuilding a low mileage
1963 500 coupe. I've been helping him on and off over the last 6 months and
he's not affraid to get his hand dirty.

George Jones
--------------------------------
Performance Corvair Group
Tidewater Corvair Club (since 1987)
Central Virginia Corvair Club (since 2006)
Corvair Society of America (CORSA)(since 1987)
'65 Monza Crown V8 Convertible
'66 Monza Coupe Custom


On Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 2:17 PM, Kinzelman, Andy <
akinzelm at greatnortherncorp.com> wrote:

> Guys (gender neutral),
> I recognize the hope to recruit young members (I'm 50) - but I am
> concerned about something that I haven't seen mentioned.
> Many Corvair owners are happy tinkering with their cars - including me.
> I drive a Corvair daily - even in Wisconsin winters.  I am very willing
> to help out others - but more as a teacher/mentor than as a doer.  Many
> people can't, or won't try to do their own work.  I have also heard
> there are fewer Corvair mechanics around than in the past - and this
> will likely continue.
> However, I have seen some local (relative) youngsters give up on their
> cars - as they don't know how to work on them - and can't find a
> mechanic willing to do so.  Some may feel I am in the wrong here - but I
> have told several people interested in buying a Corvair that unless they
> are mechanically inclined - it may not be a good idea.  I stand by my
> belief that (any) older car requires frequent (generally minor)
> maintenance - and that most people are so used to modern cars that this
> idea is foreign to them.
> Any comments?
> Andy K.
> Wisconsin
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