Anyone even heard that the Corvair SpringFest is being held next weekend?

[Lane66Monza]

I am surprised that not a peep on this forum about the 2025 Corvair SpringFest being held next weekend. It is on April 25 & 26, 2025.

Here is the link for the information.

https://corvairspringfest.com/

Donna and I are going. I am dragging a 12 ft cargo trailer with all my excess Vair parts, tools and whatever we need to move to reduce our earth footprint size. I have a Excel spreadsheet I am taking, but it only covers about 40% of the items we are taking. If you want to see a copy of the spreadsheet, send me a PM. I will take some photos of the items once displayed and post a separate discussion with the photos. I am not interested in shipping items bigger than a large flat rate box and only in USA. or smaller than a medium flat rate box.

This is a once chance only (hopefully) to move lots of this stuff to people who need or want the items, before the items are gone forever. Lots of stuff I was saving for my cars is now part of the package. Make an offer on my 66 More Door and 66 Coupe big valve engine/4spd, if you wish. ps the coupe has a parts package I have hoarded waiting for its next day on the road. I will entertain reasonable offers.

Donna says, we can not do this again and we will accept the loss of the stuff going to salvage or trash. At 72, I have to agree with her as my muscular health has deteriorated fairly quickly in the past year. I can't do this loading anymore.

Hope to see some of you there and also talk with many of you.

[Spectre]

It is definitely happening. I wish I could go. It is always a great show with close to 100 Corvairs in town, not that all of them enter the show.

[Auto Anatomy]

We're heading into Helen on Thursday night and will be there through Sunday. Look forward to meeting many of you and picking up some bits for the flooded Corvair!

[Lane66Monza]

We will be pulling in about 4 pm and setting up cargo trailer in the outside vendors location. Stop by and see what I have. Maybe there might be something you could use.

ps: I have a couple LM PG transmission and differential setups not coming, as I don't believe most people would want to deal a large item like this at the Springfest.

[vairmech]

I'll be there and vending in the Fest Hall, 4 tables worth!

[lerxst2112]

Just learned about this! I'm in travelers rest SC! Unfortunately "Sunday" isn't quite in running condition yet, and we already have plans this weekend

[Lane66Monza]

Well the Springfest is over.

Observations.

As always a good time was had by all attendees.

The amount of inside and outside vendors was about 50% of what is normally present. Is this a sign that that sales declines of recent years have kept the vendors home or they have quit? I don't know.

I understand the new location for the autocross and cars being judged was a tremendous success. The location is larger, better parking for attendees watching and safer pedestrian viewing location a area above the course.

[Lane66Monza]

Now about my sales and reasons not doing any more vending at the Corvair Springfest and Vairs In The Valley functions.

Main reason is that I don't get enough money in receipts to justify the time and expense to do the vending anymore. Other reasons is that attendees want a good quality used item for dirt cheap prices and now I have experienced an attendee stealing a small high dollar item off my tables, when I am working with another attendee. Donna and I are disgusted that attendees don't respect the vendors for what they do to bring items to the functions. The attendees feel it is a game to beat the vendor done to the lowest price. Great going, you have run off another vendor. Parts you may need one day or parts new people will need in the future will be discarded. NOW, we have thieves to deal with, in addition to the bargain hunter. Well the bargains will be winding up in China.

For this last Springfest, I took every Vair item from my place that was excess to my operations. It netted me about $400 with a lot of giveaway prices. You know what brought in the other 65% ($700) of my receipts. The tools and other non-Vair items Donna and I brought that would have been sold on Marketplace or Offer Up locally. Some of the tools were listed here, where I got nary a peep.

Between my failing muscular health and the 7 years of watching how people wanted top end parts at cheap prices. it is why I have decided not to sell at functions anymore. This was the last time of taking parts to a function. 50% of the attendees want sales to be dirt cheap for good quality items. This year, one person wanted a PG bell housing for $15, as $25 was too much. Then she said her & her club could get free ones from a Michigan junkyard (why bother with our sales, I thought). Now 4 bell housings (3 MT / 1 PG) of them go to the scrapyard. Another person attempted to steal 2 black vent pulls. Even though he was caught by me after Donna whispered he had them in his pocket, he still walked away. Donna walked after him and made a scene that encouraged him to go back and pay for them. He did not get any discount. In the old days, people who talked like him were thought of as squirrels.

Late Saturday, I was asked to hold onto all my Vair items by a Georgia Vair Owner, as he wanted to talk to me about some of them. I asked him if he was willing to pick up all the items. He said he had a lot of his own and wanted a chance to look over everything I had to select items he needed. He didn't have time that day. I told him he could take my number and address and he could come by when he was able. No promises that parts would be kept for a specific time as sooner or later the parts would be taken care of and scrapped, but I have other priorities at the house and the trailer would be parked for a week or so untouched.

Of course I heard those same words of coming back later for a part during the show day. Never has happened, never will. I never put trust in any one saying they will come back and buy something and then they leave. If they don't get the dirt cheap buy price at that visit, they are not coming back. Someone else will need to buy it.

If anyone has a need for some LM part and want to send a PM to see if I have it in the trailer, go for it. Give me a few days to respond as I have a lot of work around the homestead backed up. I need to do several tasks in next few week. Yards look terrible.

[vairmech]

Al, all I can say is you treated me right! I had a small pile of parts and a couple of tools and the pricing was fantastic. I know that I may have gotten the "friend discount" but still good prices at what you had listed on the items. I wish I was a little younger, I probably would have taken you up on buying it all, I bet the price would have been fantastic!

[Lane66Monza]

Yes, I wish we all were a bit younger. Yes, you did get a friends discount with your items,  I was hoping you would pick up the low cost core distributors and offer me an upgrade for my 66 More Door ignition at a friends cost.  I would have included a box of distributor parts at no charge.  I should have spoken up, but after hearing you had boxes of the cores, I stayed quiet.  I just figured the More Door's ignition system is fine.

All attendees to my sales tables, except one, got my lowest price (or were given the item, if I had no actual cost in the item).  The one person did an egregious act described in previous post.  I gave away USMC anodized brass buttoms and belt items, a antique solid steel 3" head steel  hammer, and numerous other items, as I said, items I had no monetary investment in.  Like that heavy polished brass wrench I gave you.  I had no cost involvement  and you know the back story on how i acquired it. But I could have got about $ for it due to its weight, but it given as a friendship item to keep from scrapping it.  I hope you have a nice spot to hang that wrench on your wall.   I have a lot of nice items from that story that will unfortunately will be sent to the recycler.

To all that supported my sales this weekend and in the past years, I thank you.  I hope you can find what you need in the future.  I am glad I was there when you needed a part or tool I had.

To those that did come to Helen, I had cleaned out all my bins and storage boxes.  For those that asked me for the small parts and hardware in past years, this year was the year I brought my 4 grey storage trays containing small parts and hardware .  3 were the bolts, metal screws and nuts I saved from the 7 Vairs I dismantled.  I priced them at $75.  Each box had at least 300 items.  I also had my engine small items box.  It had hardware and small parts.  About 250 items in the box.  I priced it at $100.  No Buyers.  Everyone has their own box or it was much.  Oh well. Too bad, they were too narrow sighted. The boxes were full of unavailable hardware, that can not be purchased any more.  When my Vairs are done and finally gone, they will be dumped and boxes used for other shop & household items.

Those bins and boxes I cleaned out in my container will not be put back.  It is over for those parts and tools.  Sometime this year, I will take time to clean out the trailer and dump the stuff into waste bins or send to recyclers.  I have no personal reason any more to save anything in the trailer.  My container now has more room to move some tools out of the garage to make additional working area.

[junkman]

After the International Meet held in Sturbridge, MA, I stopped vending at Corvair meets. A bunch of "Corvair" fanatics descended on my parts as I was unloading one morning, and I asked them to step back and give me time to set up. While a couple of them kept me busy with questions, others helped themselves to some expensive but small items, such as dash clocks. That was the final straw for me, and all it takes is a tiny group of people to give the whole group a bad reputation. I like 99% of the Corvair owners that I know, but it is that 1% that I don't know that will take advantage of a vendor when his/her back is turned. I had a set of 2-piece JC Whitney bumpers that one person held in his hand, and I told him to either pay for them or put them down. When he wouldn't comply with my wishes, I had no choice but to call the Sturbridge Police Department. After that, I packed up and left, never again going to another Corvair swap meet as a vendor. In all the decades of vending at Carlisle, I only lost one item of value to see it offered for sale on eBay a few months later.
I still have many rare and desirable parts left, and I will sell them on eBay or to Clarks. If there is something that you want or need, send me a private message, and I will check.

[Lane66Monza]

Betcha those thieves were in their 30s and early 40s, just like the one at Springfest. They weren't taught manners and the commandments growing up like the older generation were. Or if they were, it wasn't a way of life to believe in. Junkman, I don't have a lot of rare or high dollar items like you. So discarding all the good used parts I saved off the 7 cars i scrapped will not be a big loss. Just time consuming and frustrating I kept it for a hobby that didn't want used parts any more.