New to Corvairs: Just purchased a 66 Corsa

[Cjusmc28]

Hello everyone,
Recently joined from Northern Virginia. I purchased a 66 Corvair Corsa about a month ago and I've been absorbing all the information I can from this forum ever since. Figured I should introduce myself and my Corvair. It's become a great project for me and my boys. She rides nice, my 11 year old love to be seen in the Corvair!

[caraholic4life]

Welcome to the Corvair Forum, it is nice to see you here.

There is a very active club in Virginia called the Northern Virginia Corvair Club that holds regular meetings and has frequent "Tech Sessions" at member's homes in the area.
This club is CORSA Chapter 220 and has a $10.00 Annual Dues for the family.

IF you have interest in joining this particular group of enthusiasts, here are a couple of links that may be of interest.
http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter220/ http://www.facebook.com/NVCCHOME/

Something else to consider would be to attend this year's semi annual Open House event at the Corvair Ranch in Gettysburg PA on Sunday 05/19/24 from 9:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M.

The Corvair Ranch is located at 1079 Bon-Ox Road, Gettysburg, PA 17325, (717) 624-2805 http://corvairranch.com/

The Corvair Ranch Open House is usually well attended and would introduce you to a good number of like minded individuals in the area. It is an event that is well worth the time and effort invested.

[jimbrandberg]

It looks like a nice car put together well.
Jim Brandberg

[Phil Dally]

WELCOME!!!

Dig those wheels.

[RexJohnson]

I see a remote mirror.

[doug6423]

[County98]

Nice! Welcome aboard!

[Frank DuVal]

Please join NVCC. It is a great group of friendly people who will help you with issues! Most every monthly meeting is a tech session at a member's house to work on Corvairs.

[Cjusmc28]

I see a remote mirror.

Yep, works nicely

[Cjusmc28]

Looks like another order with Clark's is in the not so distant future for me. While changing the plugs I noticed the plug in the #2 cylinder had really heavy deposits.
I expected to have to do some work to get it in good working order so I'm not too surprised. It runs as is, obviously lacking some power, but I don't want to do any more damage than has already been done. Given the damage to the piston im wondering if I might need to do a complete rebuild.

[66vairguy]

There are two types of engine fix opinions:
1 - If it is running good just fix the issue and motor on.
2 - Rebuild it completely since after decades who knows what was done and if you take it all apart to check, then you might as well do a proper rebuild and not worry about it.

The difference in cost between 1 and 2 is considerable.

It will depend on your finances, if you want a "Sunday driver" for local stuff, or want a car you can take on longer trips.

Of course if the car has a LOT of miles on the powertrain (sometimes hard to determine) then you may want to go through the transaxle! At the least, please change the transaxle lube if it is dirty. Must use GL-4.

Good luck with the car.

[bbodie52]

Welcome to the Corvair Forum!

» Sat May 11, 2024 7:25 am
Hello everyone,
Recently joined from Northern Virginia. I purchased a 66 Corvair Corsa about a month ago and I've been absorbing all the information I can from this forum ever since. Figured I should introduce myself and my Corvair. It's become a great project for me and my boys. She rides nice, my 11 year old love to be seen in the Corvair!

I am far from a body expert, but your lower body and door jamb areas appear to show serious body rot — possibly due to road salt exposure???? The pictures do not show the passenger side. Is there similar body decay there? Corvairs are unibody construction, which basically means very little from the body can be unbolted and replaced. There might be a lot of serious hidden damage to your Corsa's body. and those types of repairs can be very expensive and generally out of reach for the DIY owner to tackle. The base of the windshield and the interior floor pans are also usually areas of concern. The left-rear wheel rim also appears to have taken a serious hit!

Unless you have a lot of training and experience with body repair, welding and sheet metal fabrication of a unibody vehicle, I would suggest you consult with some local experienced Corvair owners and possibly a recommended local reputable body shop to see just what you are getting into. While DIY mechanical repairs and upgrades for the engine, transaxle, suspension, brakes, wiring harnesses and electrical are within the range of possibilities for the home mechanic as a part of Corvair ownership and learning processes, body repair and reconstruction takes a lot of expertise in sheet metal reconstruction, welding and repair. This is not a place for Bondo and plastic body filler techniques! A decaying body can become a serious "money pit"! All Corvairs are vulnerable to body rot, salt damage, etc., but 1965-1969 (Late Model) Corvair sheet metal is somewhat thinner and can be even more-vulnerable to damage than the Early Model (1960-1964) Corvairs.

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[Cjusmc28]

There are two types of engine fix opinions:
1 - If it is running good just fix the issue and motor on.
2 - Rebuild it completely since after decades who knows what was done and if you take it all apart to check, then you might as well do a proper rebuild and not worry about it.

The difference in cost between 1 and 2 is considerable.

It will depend on your finances, if you want a "Sunday driver" for local stuff, or want a car you can take on longer trips.

Of course if the car has a LOT of miles on the powertrain (sometimes hard to determine) then you may want to go through the transaxle! At the least, please change the transaxle lube if it is dirty. Must use GL-4.

Good luck with the car.

I'm definitely more of a type 1 kinda guy. I'd much rather enjoy taking the Corvair out for date nights on the weekends than to have it sitting in the garage for months/years trying to restore it to perfection. I'd already planned on rebuilding the carbs, guess now I'll have to go a little deeper and do the heads.

[Cjusmc28]

Welcome to the Corvair Forum!

I am far from a body expert, but your lower body and door jamb areas appear to show serious body rot — possibly due to road salt exposure???? The pictures do not show the passenger side. Is there similar body decay there? Corvairs are unibody construction, which basically means very little from the body can be unbolted and replaced. There might be a lot of serious hidden damage to your Corsa's body. and those types of repairs can be very expensive and generally out of reach for the DIY owner to tackle. The base of the windshield and the interior floor pans are also usually areas of concern. The left-rear wheel rim also appears to have taken a serious hit!

Unless you have a lot of training and experience with body repair, welding and sheet metal fabrication of a unibody vehicle, I would suggest you consult with some local experienced Corvair owners and possibly a recommended local reputable body shop to see just what you are getting into. While DIY mechanical repairs and upgrades for the engine, transaxle, suspension, brakes, wiring harnesses and electrical are within the range of possibilities for the home mechanic as a part of Corvair ownership and learning processes, body repair and reconstruction takes a lot of expertise in sheet metal reconstruction, welding and repair. This is not a place for Bondo and plastic

The body does have some significant rot in a few places. It sat for quite some time. The driver side floorpan is top of my list of things to repair right behind the mechanical stuff.
As you pointed out the wheel wells will need quite a bit of attention but in my estimation at least the rot doesn't significantly compromise the structural integrity. I'm here to learn though so hit me with all the info!

[66vairguy]

That does not appear to be corrosion from sitting. It looks like salted roads corrosion. When I was a kid I had a brand new first gen Camaro in the Mid West and it developed rot like your car has in only FOUR YEARS! The Camaro had a front sub-frame bolted to a rear unibody. The unibody corrosion was severe from winter driving on salted roads.

A GOOD inspection is required for your Corvair because it is a uni-body car with frame rails welded to the body.

If the corrosion is too severe, then it may not economically feasible to repair it correctly.

[Dennis66]

I would say have the body thoroughly inspected by a Corvair person before getting into anything deep (safety). Then, a good inspection of metal and rubber brake lines (more safety). Then worry about the engine. Unless previously modified, the 66 has a single reservoir brake system. If anything blows out, you loose all but the hand brake.
On the engine, your "low compression'' isn't that far off. It could be a valve adjustment (maybe) or the rings having the gaps aligned or close to it (rings do tend to move around in the cylinders. I didn't believe it myself until some here did some serious research on it and proved it. Run it some (static before safety inspections) before tearing into anything. You can clean fouled plugs with a propane torch, let them cool, spray with brake cleaner, hit with an air compressor nozzle. Dennis