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Good morning. Just introducing myself. My name’s Gary and my daughter Mimi just bought a 1961 two door Corvair Monza 900 that she plans on restoring.
I will help her with this as best I can but these forums in my experience are a necessity for projects like this. Looking forward to perusing through this forum and learn from others about this car.
We are located in eastern New Brunswick, Canada. Hope everyone has a great day!!
Usually when I start a car that's been sitting for a long time I run a rubber hose into a gas can in case the inside of the gas tank is a chamber of horrors. It's pretty easy to remove the gas tank sender to look and feel inside.
61's have a one year only hand choke system that can be difficult to get going. If the accelerator pumps in the carburetors are squirting good you can get by without chokes.
Good mechanical fuel pumps are hard to come by and one problem they can have is gas leaking into the oil. A lot of people switch to electric fuel pump with pressure under 4.5 pounds. Original mechanical pumps were good, aftermarket have had various problems. 60-61 have different rod lengths than 62-69, yours may have been changed.
A Monza in '61 may have come with a 98 HP engine. The engine number is on top of the crankcase, down in the valley behind where the top shroud goes down and ahead of where the oil filler tube is. You may have to srape the dirt away with a screwdriver and paper towel. It's the last letter or two that identifies the engine. A lot can happen in 60 years and a different year engine swap is a possibility.
Is it a 3 speed manual, 4 speed or Powerglide transmission?
'60-61 have a different brake master cylinder under the dash with only a fill plug in the trunk. If the pedal is free to move I might check the fluid before depressing the pedal.
If the throttle is sticky very often it's the swivel at the bottom of the pedal.
It looks like a solid car worthy of attention. I worked on a '61 Monza for the original owners last year that had been in their barn since 1971.
Jim Brandberg
Isanti, MN
CorvairRepair.com
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