<VV> Ermine white - Lesson to be learned (long)

[Bill Hubbell]

I hate to pick on Clark's, because they generally do a pretty good job, but
this points out the danger of relying on vendors for information.

When I was restoring my 1964 Sedan, I discovered several incorrect parts
which were listed as "correct" or "exact" for my car (door bumpers, rear
package tray are two that come to mind).

Many times the vendors accept certain modifications when reproducing a part
in order to contain costs.  Sometimes these modifications are of no
consequence with regards to function, but they may have a noticeable effect
on appearance.  One example of this is the reproduced ground strap for early
model Corvairs - it is tinned silver (as were all replacement GM cables),
although the original factory cable was bare copper.  Another example is
early trunk spray paint; the factory paint was much flatter and had larger
and more irregular "blobs" of white in the gray.

Clark's makes excellent reproduction door panels for our cars, but careful
inspection can usually distinguish a factory stock 1964 panel from a
reproduction panel - the mylar Monza emblem of the repro lacks the tight
detail of the original.

The point to be made here is that while the vendors do a remarkable job
providing us with serviceable parts for our cars, we cannot completely rely
on them for accuracy or originality. 

As good of a book as "The Corvair Decade" is, it is still an edited summary
of data available from various sources, and, as such, it cannot be fully
relied upon either.

Only careful research and documentation of unmolested original cars and
original literature will allow us to accurately document the various
features that were original to our Corvairs.

It is for this purpose that the Stock Corvair Group was formed.  It is our
intent to document as much of this information as possible and to store it
in electronic form (scans, photographs, summary articles with references to
the original source) for research purposes with a goal towards eventual
publication of the information.  This is daunting task, and we need members
willing to do the work.

We are currently in the process of trying to set up the computer systems
that will make it possible to catalog the data we have been collecting.
These systems are not free.  As we did not have enough money in dues
collected, I and several other SCG members ponied up additional funds from
our own pockets to raise enough capital to allow the purchase of the
software.  Currently Marissa Andolino (our IT administrator) is working with
Bryan Blackwell to set everything up on the CORSA server.

In the meantime, several of us continue to research in our areas of
interest.  I, of course, am interested in the Early models, and especially
the sedans and 1964s.  Kent Sullivan has done extensive research with FCs
and Canadian Corvairs; Mark Corbin is our 1967 specialist.  We are in the
process of forming liaisons with the 1969 group.  I would like to see
similar liaisons formed with the Caveman (1960) Corvairs (if they still are
functioning) and the Lakewood/Monza Group, as well as any other persons or
groups having interest in the subject of researching and documenting various
aspects of Stock Corvairs.

On the subject of the newsletter, I have been the default Newsletter editor
sine we started the club, as nobody else has stepped forward to do it.  I
have high standards for the newsletter.  I like to include a lot of
photographs and color is invaluable in getting the point across.  At this
point in time we do not have the funds to print and mail the newsletter, so
it only exists in electronic form.  I personally invested money to be able
to convert my publisher files to PDFs of a size small enough for
downloading.  I would like to put out a newsletter at least quarterly, but
my time constraints (work, taking care of family) and a sometimes lack of
material have not yet permitted me to reach that goal.  We had two
newsletters the first year, one so far this year, and one I am currently
working on now.  I would welcome any help in this area.

I am not writing this to complain, just to state the facts.  Like many
clubs, we have a small number of active members and a larger number of
members who are just "along for the ride".  SCG can continue to function
this way, but it would achieve so much more with greater participation and
better funding.

Bill Hubbell
SCG President




-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Schug
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 8:32 AM
To: Virtual Vairs
Subject: <VV> '63 Ermine White

My "1963 Colors" booklet, the small tri-fold booklet that shows all the 
colors for "Chevrolet, Corvair, Chevy II, and Corvette" does indeed 
show Ermine White. They list "15 solid colors and 11 rich 2-tone 
combinations" (the 2-tones are not available on Corvair Monzas). Ermine 
White is shown as RPO 936. Further, it says, "Every solid color shown 
is available on any 1963 Chevrolet, Impala, Bel Air, Biscayne, Corvair 
or Chevy II model." The Corvettes were available in seven solid colors 
plus three Corvette colors. Greenbrier colors were not shown in this 
booklet. There is no date or number on this booklet.

Sure enough, the colors shown in my "Corvair Decade" were the same 
except for Ermine White. My "Decade" is copyrighted 1980. Corvair color 
chips were noted as being courtesy of Clark's Corvair Parts, Inc.

I'm surprised that Ermine White was left out of the '63 chart in the 
"Decade". I realize it's difficult to not have a mistake in a book, but 
am surprised at this.

Bruce

Bruce W. Schug