I Done Gone And Done A Silly Thing

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FoiledAgain
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Joined: Tue Nov 21, 2017 11:28 am

I Done Gone And Done A Silly Thing

Post by FoiledAgain »

Man...here's something I never thought I'd do- avail myself of a Corvair, and sign up on a forum with a buncha Corvair freaks. Hunh. Life is funny.
Salient points: Located and secured a '60 700-series coupe. 3-speed, is complete. Appears to be Cascade Green, what there is of it- mostly it's a nice rust coloration. Body is sound and rings like a bell. Couple whiskey dents on the passenger side. Cracked windshield but side glass and backlite are good. Interior looks like a goat ate maybe half of it. Dash is nice. Bumpers are straight, chrome good. Two hubcaps present. Built at KC plant. A West Texas car, it suffered from proximity to the ground via 4 flat little Barbie tires so has a bit of pan rust-through. Good thing God invented washing machines. Floor replacement seems a simple thing compared to the '59 Biscayne floors I pieced together this past year.

Me: An Old, a VW owner/wrangler, a '61 Beetle and a '65 Bus. Old American iron also, a '64 Galaxie 500 named Paco, The Lowrider of Goodwill, and a '55 Olds 88 coupe. Buncha old bikes; 2 Hondas, a Guzzi, an Aprilia and two old BMW /2s. So far in the garage aircooled vehicles outnumber watercooled and boxers are dominant. I'm a mechanic, grew up in a Phillips 66 station.

Told myself a long time ago I was through buying/selling vehicles and was content with what I had, but last weekend ran into a fella over in the next town who had a '53 Plymouth for sale and wished to look at it for a pal. The Plymouth appeared decent but my eyes went out on stalks when I saw this little derelict Corvair out front. Struck a deal a couple days ago and the fella's kind enough to flatbed it back here early next week, and the cats will wonder what in God's Holy Name their dad dragged in.

Once I get some acceptable photos I'll post 'em. In the meantime I've been researching the vehicle- that MonzaMotion Corvair Gold PDF is pretty great- along with what I can find elsewhere on the net. A proper shop manual should be showing up soon.

Plan for this little devil is get after the floors first then probably yank the motor/transaxle and see what's what. Leaving the body alone apart from knocking out the whiskey dents. A coat of boiled linseed oil is all it needs as far as I'm concerned. It will be lowered but not gussied up, just made to run soundly. In general a bucks-down, multi-year daily-driver crustbucket project is what's in store.

Look forward to what I can learn here, and hope to avoid idiotic mistakes. So, howdy, all y'all.
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Apittslife
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Location: Clark County, Indiana

Re: I Done Gone And Done A Silly Thing

Post by Apittslife »

welcome to the corvair forum's & I hope you get years of enjoyment out of your Vair.
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bbodie52
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Re: I Done Gone And Done A Silly Thing

Post by bbodie52 »

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

The link below will provide you with a list of useful websites that are Corvair-related. Some of the links will lead you to an extensive technical library that will allow you to download shop manuals and other technical references in Adobe Reader format at no cost. There is also a link that will help you to locate nearby CORSA (Corvair Society of America) club chapters. While the Corvair Forum can be very helpful as you work on your Corvair, having local friends and contacts in your region who are knowledgeable about the Corvair can also be very helpful. These family-friendly CORSA chapters often offer picnics, group scenic drives, technical training and assistance, car shows, and competition events that can greatly enhance your enjoyment of Corvair ownership. You will also find a list of essential Corvair parts suppliers. Clark's Corvair Parts is the biggest and oldest Corvair supplier in the world. You will find a link that can provide you with a series of videos that amount to a tour of the Clark's Corvair Parts facilities. I think you will be amazed at the quality of the reproduction components they offer — particularly the interior carpeting and re-upholstery items. Parts suppliers such as this truly make our Corvair hobby possible.

Common and Useful Corvair Websites

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

:dontknow: I would like to encourage you to expand on your earlier posts and tell us more about yourself. If you can describe your personal assessment of your mechanical skills and abilities, that would help a lot. Members of the Corvair Forum love to be helpful in assisting other Corvair owners with technical support and advice, but it helps a lot if we have some understanding of your technical background and mechanical abilities, Corvair-related knowledge, etc. Helping us to know more about you will help us to write comments to you that are tailored to your needs and experience. Knowing your specific location is also useful, because knowing where you live can sometimes suggest possibilities.

:welcome:
Brad Bodie
Lake Chatuge, North Carolina
Image 1966 Corvair Corsa Convertible
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FoiledAgain
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Re: I Done Gone And Done A Silly Thing

Post by FoiledAgain »

Thanks for the welcome, folks. Have a feeling I will be calling upon everyone's knowledge [and patience] as I pull apart/piece together this little derelict- I tend not to storm on ahead until I have a pretty good idea what I'm doing and what might go cockeyed if I don't. Once I do triage and take some photos I will spill a few details.
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Scott H
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Re: I Done Gone And Done A Silly Thing

Post by Scott H »

Congrats. You have quite the collection! It sounds like the Corvair will fit in nicely. I look forward to your future posts.
Scott
1960 Monza Coupe
1965 Evening Orchid Corsa Turbo (project)
1961 Rampside (project)
1964 Spyder coupe (patina car, running)
1964 faux Spyder (project/parts car)
1964 Monza (parts car)
1963 Monza (parts car)
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Bruins_Fan
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Re: I Done Gone And Done A Silly Thing

Post by Bruins_Fan »

Welcome!


Sent from my iPhone using Corvair Forum mobile app
'66 Monza Convertible 110hp Powerglide
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FoiledAgain
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Re: I Done Gone And Done A Silly Thing

Post by FoiledAgain »

All reet! Want to see some pictures? Too late, here they are. Please excuse the lousy fisheye quality, but they are from a cheeseball knockoff GoPro which is all that is currently working in F. AgainLand.

Image

This is the bad/denty side. I suspect it got wiped against a gas station pylon.

Image

The engine room. It's all there, and the very thick coat of studge underneath suggests the unit has never been removed.

Image

Seats, trim and all else heave-hoed. Seats are rebuildable; I intend to make up a set with the stock color vinyl but with the cloth section replaced by saddle blanket material for that donkey feel and look. Note the many rust holes.

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The rear seat area, debrided and broom-clean. All the floorage back here is intact and stout, it's only the footwells that are compromised.

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The Big Dent. Think I can just barely get a dolly inside this panel and work it out. Note the project managers.

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Driver's side. Pretty clean, one little ding. All chrome is there, I removed the frontmost strip for repair. All body panels are unrusticated, just the surface variety.

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A homemade hairpin-type roach clip I found within, for maximum 70s doobage. Belonged to Phineas, Fat Freddy or Freewheelin' Frank by the look of things. My guess is the vehicle served as a get-away-from-the-family-and-wife lair while it was sitting idle a portion of the last 44 years, given this artifact and the number of paper Coors cups I found under the seat.

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Aaaaand my Spirit Guide for this misadventure. No, it will not be that low, but I'm sure you will agree no one, and I mean no one, will ever be as magnificently cool as this individual here. We all bask in his reflected glory and straight-up Badassery. Note the pack of Kool Filter Kings to show the low-osity.

That's where I'm at, friends. Going to get after them ol' floors with the mean cup-type wire brush in the angle grinder then start cutting, fabbing and welding. Thanks for watching!
Jerry Whitt
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Re: I Done Gone And Done A Silly Thing

Post by Jerry Whitt »

Looks like quite a project. Welcome to the Forum. As questions arise, lots of folks willing to help.
Jerry Whitt
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER TECHNICIAN
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Hemet, Callifornia
65 Monza, purchased new
65 Corsa convertible
guru_1071
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Re: I Done Gone And Done A Silly Thing

Post by guru_1071 »

that looks great, floor isn't that bad when compared to mine, ive had to do toeboard to heel board including the rear chassis legs!

I think I need to get me some project managers, they look a handy addition!
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91blaze
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Re: I Done Gone And Done A Silly Thing

Post by 91blaze »

Welcome to the land of crazy Corvair freaks. Looks like a decent start there, good luck with your build.
'66 Monza Coupe Project: viewtopic.php?f=52&t=7188" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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FoiledAgain
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Re: I Done Gone And Done A Silly Thing

Post by FoiledAgain »

Thanks, folks. Spent the weekend sawing out the left front floor panel and chiseling out spot welds, then made a new panel from a Maytag, fitted it and prepared to weld it into place. Thought it wise to cut out and replace floor sections one at a time given my ignorance how much structural strength they add to the vehicle.

Going to take some more photos and begin a proper rebuild thread.

One thing I like about Corvairs is the easy access to the cables, lines and accelerator linkage via the nifty cover plates above and underneath as opposed to VWs where all that is inaccessible.
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bbodie52
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Re: I Done Gone And Done A Silly Thing

Post by bbodie52 »

...Spent the weekend sawing out the left front floor panel and chiseling out spot welds, then made a new panel from a Maytag,..
:rolling: ::-):

Image

Image
Maytag Corvair.jpg
There may be an unexpected hazard with fitting washing machine parts to a Corvair... :eek:

Brad Bodie
Lake Chatuge, North Carolina
Image 1966 Corvair Corsa Convertible
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FoiledAgain
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Metal is metal

Post by FoiledAgain »

Hey! So far, so good. If this was otherwise a perfect machine I would opt for proper pan sections, but it ain't, so I'm not.

I would like a small, cool Speed Queen logo, though.
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