New guy- 1966 Monza 4-dr Hardtop 140 Powerglide

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Ml0627
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New guy- 1966 Monza 4-dr Hardtop 140 Powerglide

Post by Ml0627 »

Well I'm brand new around here. Been reading quite a bit and want to say thank you to all who post such great advice here.

I took the plunge and bought my first Corvair; a 1966 Monza 4-dr Hardtop with the 140 engine and Powerglide tranny. It was an accidental find while looking for,inexpensive automatic cars for my daughter. This was in a mobile home community here in Southern California. It's in good condition and runs great. Not a show car at all, but at an unbelievably low price. It was cheaper than newer cars with 200,000 miles on them!

This one is pretty original, inside and out. Thanks to all the original paperwork and all records, I find I am the 3rd owner. The car spent it's entire life in Southern California, having been built in LA, sold in Long Beach and lived within 20 miles it's whole life. The VIN is 105396L100355.

ISSUES:1) pretty bad fumes in the cabin! 2) lots of play in the steering, 3) brand new fuel tank leaks at filler hose connection, 4) carpet is badly worn. Almost zero rust. The one strange thing is somebody removed 2 of the 4 carbs and close off the holes. Looks like they shaved them off! I included some photos below. I am looking for some advice on where to start with the engine. It runs but I'd like to start replacing some of those old parts. It has 81,000 original miles but sat under a carport for 14 years. Would like to refurb the engine bit by bit.

I'm looking to just have a daily driver that's fun. My daughter loves old cars like I do. I'm a pilot - not a mechanic- but I've been working on cars for years and I have tools, jack and jack stands. I ordered all the manuals and I'm ready to dive in. Whew!

Marc C. Lee
Orange County, CA
1966 Monza 4-dr Hardtop/ 140 with Powerglide Trans.

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You can see where the old carb mount pads are gone

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This number is near the oil pressure sending unit. Any ideas what the number is?
funvairs
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Re: New guy- 1966 Monza 4-dr Hardtop 140 Powerglide

Post by funvairs »

Welcome to the world of Corvairs.

Nice car.

1.Fumes in the cabin. Most likely oil leak or bad heater hoses or a combination of the two.

2.Play in the steering. Could be any where in the steering linkage frorm wheel bearings to the steering box. Put the front end up on stands and wiggle the wheels. Check the wheel bearings first.

3.Fuel leak. There are 2 hoses in the same area of the tank. The fuel filler hose and a smaller breather hose. The breather hose can be a little tricky to connect at the same time as the filler hose. Also check all 4 clamps for tightness.

4.Carpet. Clark's Corvair

Engine number. The number you have appears to be a casting number. The engine number is stamped in the top of the aluminum block. Look directly below the fuel pump outlet pipe were the blower housing (stamped steel) meets the block. It is probably covered by oily dirt.
Chris Brown


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Re: New guy- 1966 Monza 4-dr Hardtop 140 Powerglide

Post by bbodie52 »

:welcome2: :wave: Welcome, Marc, to the Corvair Forum!

:not worthy: Wow! I hope I can locate a 1966 Corvair 4-door sedan someday that is as clean as the one you found! I would like to take on a project to restore a 4-door and turn it into a nice sport-touring sedan for my family. Your car is almost exactly what I would like to start out with! I envision it with tinted windows, air conditioning, custom wheels and tires, electronic fuel injection, a custom sound system, etc., similar to the beautiful Arizona sedan shown below...
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Perhaps these pictures will inspire you as you work with your Corvair! The vehicle weight, suspension and brakes are all the same as the late model Corvair sport coupe and convertible, so there is no real "penalty" in owning a Corvair sedan. I see it in the same category as the newer BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Infiniti and many other 4-door sport sedans that are popular now. This is not your grandmother's 4-door!
Marc Lee wrote:...This number is near the oil pressure sending unit. Any ideas what the number is?
The number "3" next to the letters "GM" is associated with the remaining numbers. It is the GM part number stamped on the oil filter/alternator adapter. The original part number from the Chevrolet Parts Catalog was "3851860", as shown in the picture below. "3851864" is apparently a manufacturing production variant that is reflected as a slight variation in the part number. :chevy:
Corvair Oil Filter Adaptor.jpg
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I don't know what to make of the "custom modification" shown in your picture. A simple block-off plate would have sufficed if a previous owner wanted to abandon the secondary carburetors!. These large-valve 140 hp heads (shown below) are unique and valuable. Why anyone would inflict such damage is beyond me!
Corvair 140 HP Cylinder Heads (2).JPG
Corvair 140 HP Cylinder Heads (4).JPG
Clark's Corvair Parts sells the kit below for $348.40. Depending on what you find below the surface on your heads, it may be possible to attach the Clark's secondary adapters to your intake manifolds to restore them back to something similar to the factory configuration. Purchasing used and rebuilt secondary carburetors and air cleaners, etc. would add to the cost. On my 140 hp Corsa I plan on removing the carburetors, installing block-off plates on the secondary mounts, and installing the Electronic Fuel Injection and computer-controlled, sensor-based Distributorless Ignition offered by Clark's, but such an upgrade and modification is also not cheap. http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/pages.c ... ry=fuelinj You will have to do some research and pricing to decide how you wish to proceed.

:link: http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog ... ge=OTTO-18
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:link: http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog ... ge=OTTO-19
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Marc Lee wrote:...carpet is badly worn...
Clark's offers excellent carpeting and upholstery kits for interior restoration...

UPHOLSTERY (24 PGS) 261D - 275

CARPETS (8 PGS) 277 - 282


:link: http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog ... _page=261B

:link: http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog ... w_page=277

Common and Useful Corvair Websites

Corvair Forum :link: viewtopic.php?f=225&t=6007

Other issues..
Marc Lee wrote:...pretty bad fumes in the cabin!
The following attachment may help. It is a Chevrolet Service Bulletin that addresses this problem...
:chevy:
Corvair Maintenance - Engine Fume Odor Diagnosis.pdf
Corvair Maintenance - Engine Fume Odor Diagnosis
(472.19 KiB) Downloaded 16 times
Marc Lee wrote:...lots of play in the steering...
Could be a problem with the steering box, but you might check the condition of the steering linkage components. The pitman arm bushing (item 4 below) is a common source of complaints. This rubber bushing is a primary link between the steering box and the rest of the steering linkage. The rubber in it often deteriorates — sometimes to the point where there is nothing but a bolt in the center and an air gap between it and the outer shell.

:link: http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog ... N&page=156
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Marc Lee wrote:...brand new fuel tank leaks at filler hose connection...
The filler or vent hose may not have been installed properly, or a used, leaky hose may have been reinstalled. A replacement hose is listed on Clark's catalog page 70 (item 8) if you determine that you will have to replace the special hose.

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Fuel Tank Removal & Installation

:link: viewtopic.php?f=225&t=5779
Brad Bodie
Lake Chatuge, North Carolina
Image 1966 Corvair Corsa Convertible
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Re: New guy- 1966 Monza 4-dr Hardtop 140 Powerglide

Post by funvairs »

Looking at the picture, it looks more to me like 2 carb heads were installed rather than grinding the carb mounts off a 4 carb head
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64powerglide
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Re: New guy- 1966 Monza 4-dr Hardtop 140 Powerglide

Post by 64powerglide »

You need to look in this area for the engine number, the guys can then tell you what you have for sure. Looks like a very nice buy :tu: About that oil smell, my 64 powerglide was bad when I got it but a new set of seals on the oil cooler fixed the leaking into the heating system. Of course any oil leak in the engine compartment will let the fan draw the oil & or fumes into the heating system.
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block number.JPG
64Powerglide, Jeff Phillips

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Re: New guy- 1966 Monza 4-dr Hardtop 140 Powerglide

Post by cad-kid »

Welcome! I love the color and condition of that sedan :tu:
Jeremy (cad-kid)
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