1962 Chevy Corvair Monza 900

[ESchantini]

Now first on the agenda is wheels and tires… the ones on the car currently inflated for about a total of 20 minutes and appear to be well over 20 years old. I need to get it into my garage while I’m waiting on the original motor to be finished. Any suggestions or people I should get in touch with for a decent set? I see the tire size here is a bit funky. I’ve heard of Maaxi having the tires for this car, is this the best direction? Thanks in advance!

[joelsplace]

Maxxis is the only tire available that is close to the correct size unless you buy crazy expensive Coker tires which to me are only good for car shows.
I would suggest holding off on buying tires until the very last thing. Tires age out.
If you are confident you'll have it running in the next 6 months then go ahead and buy tires but if you have a lot to do on the car first then hold off.

[SpyderMan]

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Maxxis-MA-1- ... om=/search

[ESchantini]

Do you guys think it’s worth sticking with 13” rims or is there a 15” rim and tire alternative? First time restoring a classic so trying to figure out if it’s better to stay original set up or move to something more modern.

[flamingchariots]

Why not make it easy on yourself and keep the 13" rims?
As long as safe new tires are available, original looks better to me.

[Frank DuVal]

[jimbrandberg]

The Wal Mart link above for 185/80/R13 Maxxis whitewall tires for $128 is about as cheap as they get.
175/80/R13 might be okay on EM cars but you might as well just go with the 185s.
Something smaller looks out of place on a large car like the Corvair, they were probably more like a Chevette.
Most tire places these days are used to mounting tires from outside sources.

Of course given your resources it would be good to sandblast and paint the wheels before mounting the tires. As an overall scheme I like body color wheels with small wheel covers. Black is fine for full wheel covers since you only see the outer edge.

I really like the small center caps and bowtie trim rings with body color wheels on my '60 but they only fit '60-61 wheels. Here they are with 185/80/R13 Maxxis.

If I get around to doing my '60 two-tone I'll do the wheels in white to go with the top. The car is supposed to be the same Tasco Turquoise as the other car but has been repainted a different color. Tasco Turquoise and Ermine White were the original colors.

I believe '62 and '63 Monzas use the same wheel covers with the '63s having black in the recesses on the wheel cover, headlight bezels and rocker panel trim. When they're all the same the look is quite fetching.

I probably have some wheel covers for $20 each plus shipping.

[jimbrandberg]

I forgot to say I like Montana in general and Glacier National Park in particular.

Last time I was there in about 2000 on a motorcycle. Stayed on the east side, I think it was St. Ann's, before entering the park. Two days later visited Craig Nicol in Couer d Alene and drove his EFI car, then took Hwy 12 east and stayed at Lolo Hot Springs. Beartooth Pass above the tree line is magical.

As a teenager in 1973 we hitch hiked out west and walked in Glacier on the west side and walked out the east side, we were out of food except roasted soybeans and grape jelly.
The next year I was hip to riding freight trains and got off at Whitefish where they change crews.

I should have gone into Airframes and Powerplants but decided to spend my formative years as a bum instead.

A few years ago we flew to Seattle to visit the son and rode the Amtrak back to St. Paul. It was magnificent to see some of those places again.

I suppose when it comes to Corvairs you're sort of the Lone Ranger out there but there must be a few others around.

Do you have a 102 HP 4 speed Monza? It looks like you're doing a nice job on a worthy car. I like the blue.

[ESchantini]

Thank you guys for the input. I’m gonna pick up some tires to at least get it rolling so I can get it stored inside. And a bittersweet update… the original engine/trans pack we’re getting rebuilt by a guy locally who’s pretty savvy with Corvair’s. But he’s officially aged beyond the capability of continuing. So I will be picking up the engine, trans and carbs this weekend and finishing the build. I’m confident in building a block, but I’m sure I’ll have questions. I’ve also got a few other questions that I’m gonna be looking into in the near future.

1. Seals and glass Before I was able to get a cover on it, a rainstorm rolled through and revealed some leaks into the cabin. The glass is also not in great shape. I’m gonna see how they clean up but I’ll likely need a recommendation on where to find new stuff if need be.

2. Upholstery. I have the seats torn down and sandblasted. I have the old material/covers. I’d love to stay as original as possible. I’m confident I can recover the seats with a buddy of mine. However, I need to find a headliner, door cards, dash, carpet/flooring that will be along the same lines as what came in there. I’m gonna sandblast and epoxy prime the floor. It’s in pretty good shape as of now.

3. There’s a rear engine mount, at least that’s what it appears to be. I’ll attach a picture. It’s dry rotted and deteriorating. I’ve tried looking it up and I’m not succeeding so far. Thoughts?

And I actually live very close to Glacier National park. I’m in Kalispell. Been chatting with a guy named Rob who specializes in Corvair builds. He’s local in the valley here so very helpful but he’s getting older and can only do so much. Very nice guy.

[ESchantini]

Here’s the picture of the mount I mentioned.

[SpyderMan]

Evan, have you looked through the vendors that are listed down the left side of the forum? Clarks will be your go to for upholstery but shop around as California Corvairs and The Corvair ranch have loads of great used and new parts as well. There is a NOS motor mount listed on eBay right now, see link below. You can also buy a new one from Clarks.

I would suggest getting some parts books as well the year of your car and the later 60-69 catalog are very helpful when hunting parts, they also have very helpful exploded views that do not show up in the shop manuals.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/405499998077?_ ... p_homepage

[Frank DuVal]

Jim said: they were probably more like a Chevette.

My 79 Scooter rides on 155/80R13s! Yes, I see 175 was an option for a Chevette, those loaded ones!


Rear motor mount is available from our vendors. Here is Clark's page for a 1961 to 63 non-A/C:

https://ssl.corvair.com/user-cgi/search.cgi?part=C8056R

The A/C and the 64 mounts are different.

[ESchantini]

You guys are great. I appreciate the patience and the guidance. I’ll keep y’all in the loop! Thank you!!!

[ESchantini]

I have the engine, trans, and carbs in hand! And holy moly I have some assembly to do. I ordered manuals today, factory assembly manual as well as shop manual. Crank looks like it’s in fantastic condition. Cylinders look a little rough for wear. 5/6 pistons look clean. 1 needs a bit of corrosion clean up. Carbs are definitely going to need some love. I’m hoping to verify this engine matches this body. I’ve been told they do but not sure how to find out. Engine code is T0807ZF. Body tag… I’ll include in the picture with this post. This portion and really this entire car is still very new to me. Definitely going to be a learning experience. But as of today… I have:
Case (assembled)
New oil pump (installed)
Oil pan (installed)
Cylinders
Pistons and connecting rods
Heads
New set of valves (appears intake) with new guides
Piston rings
A few seal kits (I’ve yet to look and see what they are for, looks like a cylinder/head kit)
Carburetors
Torque converter
Starter
Transmission
Distributor
Body and seats.

[jimbrandberg]

ZF could be a 62 102 HP PG but it could be some other years as well.
What's the head numbers located on the end? A lot of 102s seem to have 3813516.
What's your distributor number? Usually on the outside of the distributor body clockwise from the vacuum advance bracket. 62 102 PG may have 1110272.
For crankcase venting does it have a road draft tube going down or a tube for PCV going up?
Perhaps we already went through this stuff, I didn't read the whole thread again.

[ESchantini]

I’ll attach some pictures of the block and engine components I have on this post.