Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

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b74eqcm
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Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by b74eqcm »

I'm calling it a Freshening since while it needs some work, it doesn't need a complete restoration, at least not since I'm interested in a good looking daily driver.

I thought I'd start this thread so I could share the journey.

Here are the specs:

1963 Monza Club Coupe, built in Willow Run.
102 hp T0419YN, transaxle code HA (3.27 ratio)
Engine, transmission, transaxle date codes seem to agree with body tag that the car was built in the third week of May 1963. I think it's numbers matching, but after 50+ years...
Options include tinted glass and padded dash.

Originally Midnight/Monaco Blue, now two tone a white/ivory top over red body. It seems close to, but isn't, a 63 Corvair color. The body seems in pretty good shape - I don't see evidence of significant filler anywhere. Rockers are solid and steel. The right front got crunched in an accident, and I think the PO decided to sell once he realized he couldn't simply unbolt and replace the right front fender. The car did come with a complete rust free replacement fender. The interior is still the factory blue, which looks awful with the red/white exterior. No matter. The seats are junk anyway and will be replaced.

Well, enough for a start. I'll include some pictures of getting her home and how she looked as we start. More to come...
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Jim Thomas
Bethel, VT
63 Monza Coupe
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by cad-kid »

Good title! Looking forward to this thread :tu:
Jeremy (cad-kid)
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by b74eqcm »

A few more pictures of when I got it home...
$_57 (4).JPG

The floor pans have all been replaced, rest of body (dog legs, rockers, even fenders) seem to be in great shape.
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I brought her home last September, but I did manage to drive her to work a couple of times before the garage invited her in to spend the winter.
20151105_084745a.jpg

There are three cords of wood in the garage (2 in the center between the cars) I'll burn this winter. Until some of it is gone, I don't have much room to work.
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Jim Thomas
Bethel, VT
63 Monza Coupe
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by 64powerglide »

Looks like a Frankenvair to me. :doh: But it's still a Corvair :tu: :tu: I don't see a vin.??????
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by b74eqcm »

Jeff,

Frankenvair? How so? I know that paint has been changed, and it does have 64 taillights, but it's a 63. The VIN is 30927W268817.

Serial 268817 was built during May 1963, which matches the date codes on the engine and transaxle.
Jim Thomas
Bethel, VT
63 Monza Coupe
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by 64powerglide »

Ya, that's what I was refering to , the tail lights, nose trim & rear grill. I want to go the oposite way with my 64. I had a new 62 black with red interior Monza & I like the 62 tail lights better & I also like the 62 -63 Corvette style rocker trim better so if things go right after my wife finishes her Cancer treatments I want my 64 to look like my first Corvair, the 62 Monza. I also don't like the 64 style hub caps, the 63 & 62 look much better to me. Mine is going to be my daily driver, I had the powerglide checked out this winter & the diffy rebuilt & have new rear axle bearings to go in then I should be ready to go anywhere. Good luck with your project, you'll have a blast with it. As I said it's still a Corvair which I think is one of the best cars GM ever made. When I drive it I feel 18 again instead of 72 ::-):
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by b74eqcm »

Has this ever happened to you? No sooner had I made up a list of what my 63 Monza needed, then an ad caught my eye on craigslist. A 61 Monza in New Hampshire, about 100 miles away. It had some of the things I needed - unless it was restorable, in which case it would have to sit and wait its turn. These are some pics from the ad. The interior looked pretty good. And it would come with new red carpet. Hmmm. I thought I should go take a look.
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Jim Thomas
Bethel, VT
63 Monza Coupe
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by b74eqcm »

Yup, I brought it home. Someone had started to restore it by beginning on the inside. All new door panels, new seat covers, new carpeting still in the box, new package shelf cardboard, a set of floor pans & trunk bottom, and a box full of new parts. It hasn't run in 15+ years, and they gave up on the restoration once they looked underneath.
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Jim Thomas
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by b74eqcm »

It didn't look too bad on the outside, although there looked to be significant bondo under the primer. After I saw what the underside looked like, I decided not to restore it either. Too far gone for my skills. The good news? I could use parts off it worth way more than I had in it. So, time to strip it out. And I was left with a treasure trove of parts the 63 Monza could use. The engine had no compression in a couple of cylinders, so other than some bolt on stuff off the top, I left the engine be.
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Jim Thomas
Bethel, VT
63 Monza Coupe
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by 64powerglide »

Jim,

Looks like you spent you money wisely, from what I see you made out real good. :tu: :clap: I messed up last year, I had a chance to get a 63 4 speed car but my wife put her foot down, it was rough but had good headlight bezels, good hubcaps all the glass was good plus who knows what else I could have used for $200.00.

Jeff
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by cad-kid »

Score!
Jeremy (cad-kid)
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by b74eqcm »

So, the 61 got stripped and sent off to the big crusher in the sky. I hated to do it, and as soon as it was picked up, I thought of a couple more things I should have taken off it, but I also promised the wife not to turn the yard into the Corvair Ranch.

Before I put the subject car into the garage for the winter, I took it to my local inspection station to see how it would fare. In addition to the work I know it needed, we also identified three other things: the rear emergency brake cable needs to be replaced, the drivers side lower front ball joint needs replacing, and he's not happy with the way the replacement floor pans were installed. Although they are fitted and fully welded in on the inside, underneath the car there are gaps. The pans were not butt fitted but overlapped. While I think the structural integrity is fine, I'll go ahead and run beads on the underside before I take it to get inspected in the spring.

More for the to do list. Just like always. :dontknow:
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Jim Thomas
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by b74eqcm »

Since it was a tight fit in the garage until I burned a couple of cords of wood, I focused on cosmetic and simple tasks. The headlight surrounds on the car were in pretty tough shape - but I had saved the ones from the 61. I polished them up a bit, and repainted the black lines in between the ribs. I think they came out pretty good - much better than before at least.

I know - to be stock I should have painted one more black stripe at the top and bottom, but I thought I'd try it this way. I may leave it.
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Jim Thomas
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by cad-kid »

Looks great to me :tu:
Jeremy (cad-kid)
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by b74eqcm »

(Still getting caught up - my posts are a month or two behind - and I need to learn to take more pictures so this is a bit more interesting)

One other thing I learned was that the speedometer wasn't working, but, strangely, the odometer was. That left out the obvious problem of the cable. So out came the dash. The speedo needle was broken, and the mechanism in rough shape. So I put a call in to the Corvair Ranch, and a week later received a correct speedometer for the very reasonable price of $40. As a bonus - Jeff took it replacement speedo apart, lubed it, and set the odometer to the correct mileage for my car.

While I had the dash out I replaced all the bulbs (except the two red warning lights) with LEDs. Quite an improvement. Here's the ones I used:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/300992545151?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

Now my dash glows a nice green at night.

Reinstalled dash cluster. All good.

Oh - in case you're wondering - you shouldn't replace the gen/fan and oil/temp bulbs with LEDs. Well, the gen/fan anyway. The LED doesn't draw enough juice to come on when you turn on the key. You would have to add a resistor in series or something to get it to work. I recommend the blinking bulbs Clark's sells. Inexpensive, bright, and they blink at you to catch your attention.

More soon!

Jim
Jim Thomas
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63 Monza Coupe
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Re: Jim's 63 Monza Coupe - the Freshening

Post by b74eqcm »

Still getting caught up on posts...

I have installed the new rear parking brake cable, and the new drivers side front lower ball joint. I don't seem to remember to take pictures as I go. The lower ball joint went in fine with the right press - the Clark's replacements are slightly over-sized to keep them from being loose if your car has had several replacements over the years. Mine had not, so it took all the force I could apply to get the new one seated fully.

Next: the interior. I stripped out the incorrect carpet, removed the seats, sill plates etc. I wanted a good view of the previous owner's install of the floor pans. They didn't look particularly well done from the underside. Also, part of this freshening will be to change the color scheme of the interior. Blue seats and blue/gray painted areas have to go. They don't make any sense to me with the red/white exterior.



What I found pleasantly surprised me. Although not welded in along the entire length on the underside, inside was, and seems very strong.

Next: Re-painting the interior a red and black combination. Red seats, red carpet with black flecks, red doors with black door panels, black dash, red steering wheel. Not a stock combination, but one I've wanted to try. More soon!
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Jim Thomas
Bethel, VT
63 Monza Coupe
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