65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

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CorvairCon65
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65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by CorvairCon65 »

Hi y'all,

Been a bit lazy, introduced myself and taken advice but given little back so far so time to post some updates...

I shipped my car back last August and not really done much to it. Have had a few teething problems but hey ho, onwards and upwards.
The day of purchase...
The day of purchase...
Well, I thought we had charging issues. I bought her from a dealer in Vermont and she needed a jump start because she'd been parked in reverse which had left the reverse lights on and flattened the battery...or so the dealer said. For a 50 year old car that seemed quite credible and I do believe the dealer thought that was correct and perhaps it was. I still bought her anyway. She was just what I needed; this was a well needed holiday whilst in the midst of a particularly acrimonious divorce and I felt that I deserved a treat. So there you go. The deal was done which included a new battery. Only when she was delivered to me in the UK the battery was pancaked. I sought advice here and there was lots of helpful advice about the charging system. I bought a new battery and, as I wasn't really driving her much, resorted to disconnecting the battery after every drive. That worked for a while but one day I forgot to disconnect the battery...and she held a charge. So I thought all was ok after all. Until one day it wasn't. Then I read a thread on this forum and realized I'd been a numpty. I didn't realize that on turning the ignition key clockwise one can turn the key to an past the off position to an 'ignition on' position allowing accessories to be run. We don't have that in classic UK cars. With ours once you can't turn the key any further anti clockwise then everything is off and we pull they key out. Well, how how this dumb Brit with absolutely no experience of American cars, let alone Corvairs, know that? I certainly didn't! So there you go...

Once I had that nugget sussed I thought I was cushty. Until I found out I had no tail and brake lights...bumhats! Further examination showed the fuse box wax rusting out. Now, I'm all for originality where possible...BUT, shipping parts over is bloomin expensive, nobody is really going to see the fusebox and it's not like I'm going to be up against a concourse competition against another Vair here in the UK. I needed a cheap and easy solution and my friendly MOT inspector agreed to a PJ after hours. He got hold of a replacement 8 unit blade fusebox and we did a little rewire. So goodbye glass fuses. We found the old use box was so corroded that the rear lights were only getting 9v so we're quite dim. Not any more!
As it was...
As it was...
...and shagged
...and shagged
Replacement unit...
Replacement unit...
...cushty
...cushty
Job's a good'un
Job's a good'un
So, job's a good'un.

Still inop... Heater, stereo (now has power but suspect speaker connections are bad) and cigar lighter (has no wires at the back!

Otherwise she's been running well. My speedo went wobbly and failed, was hoping could get the cigar lighter working so could run satnav for speedometer (we have a lot of emaverage speed cameras around here), never mind.

Guess I need to bite the bullet and get an order into Clarkes. Otherwise am happy camper! :tu:

Cheers for now,

Pete.
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cad-kid
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by cad-kid »

Great post :tu:
Jeremy (cad-kid)
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CorvairCon65
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by CorvairCon65 »

Thanks Jeremy! Apologies for typos and photo repeat, I use my iphone to post from but it's hard work sometimes and I get 'fat thumb syndrome'... ::-):
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CorvairCon65
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by CorvairCon65 »

Hi y'all,

Just put in an order at Clarkes and I'm very impressed with their customer service. So hopefully I should get some things fixed soon and update to follow.

In the meantime can someone help this dumb lazy Brit decode his vin tag? Should there be one in my driver's door jam as there isn't one there?

Thanks,

Pete.
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bbodie52
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by bbodie52 »

Body Tag.jpg
Here is a breakdown of the information on the body tag you provided...

BODY TAG INFO:

22B ?? The first digit makes no sense. It should be 2 (February) or 12 (December)
Body Build Date: Month ??, B = Second Week
The first two digits are numbers 01 through 12, indicating the month of manufacture. The letter is A-E, indicating the week of the month. If the letter is an "B" it indicates the second week of the month.

STyle 65-10567 WRN 352475 BODY
65 = 1965
Model 10567: 1 = Chevrolet, 05 = Monza, 67 = 2-Door Convertible, LOS = Los Angeles (Van Nuys) California,
Production Sequence No: 510

1965 Chevrolet Corvair Monza 2-Door Convertible - 4 Passenger, Total Production: 26,466

Image

TRim 785 = RED Vinyl Bucket Seats
This 3 digit codes represents the interior color and seat type.

R-1 PAINT = Red "Regal Red" (I'm assuming red, but I cannot make out the letter in your picture of the body tag).
Lucite No. 4625LH, Rinshed-Mason No. A1712M, Ditzler No. DDL 71472

Image

Convertible Top Color Code: 1 = White

ACC: (Some accessory codes were hard to read in your photo).

First Group ( no numeric indicator) (I could not read these)
E = RPO A01 Tinted Glass ( Soft Ray glass in all windows)
O = Two tone paint trimpiece (sedans)/ Manual top (pre Jan 65 LA cars only)
D = RPO C06 Power Top
W = RPO A02 Tinted Windshield only
L = folding rear seat (500 series only)

Group 2
M = RPO M35 - Powerglide Automatic

Group 3
C = RPO B70 - Padded Dash

Group 4
U = RPO P19 - Spare tire lock

Group 5
W = RPO A49 Deluxe Seat Belts, with Retractors ( Chrome Buckles)
...Should there be one in my driver's door jam as there isn't one there?
The VIN tag is only found on the driver's door frame on 1960-1964 Corvairs. It is found in the engine compartment, riveted to the perimeter frame next to the battery on 1965 Corvairs.
LM Corvair Passenger Car VIN Tag Decoding.jpg
:chevy:
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Brad Bodie
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CorvairCon65
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by CorvairCon65 »

Thanks Brad! Interesting to know my car would have had red vinyl seats and a white top. Both of which need replacing. It would be nice to put those items back to stock!
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CorvairCon65
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by CorvairCon65 »

Hi all,

Not much to report. Have some spares ordered from Clarke's which am waiting to come through. In the meantime took her to a car show and managed to park next to another! Could this be the first time two Corvairs have appeared at the same UK car show? :tu:
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by cad-kid »

Glad to see you are getting her out and about :wave:
Jeremy (cad-kid)
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CorvairCon65
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by CorvairCon65 »

Ok, update time...

My superior speedo cable came through from Clarkes.

I found out why it had gone wrong previously as I found the end of the old speedo cable snapped off in the hub...
image.jpeg
So, the new cable was fitted without much faff but it twirls around like a whirling dervish. So, time to have my dial refurbed or could the hub connection be at fault? :think:

So, decided to cheer myself up with replacing the brake pedal rubber, a job that even I can't nause up. That went fine albeit I did notice a difference in design between the old and new.
image.jpeg
And so, the next job, replace the inop cigar lighter. At least then I could use satnag to gauge my speed. This job was fine, I found a spare wire dangling about and once a spade terminal was fitted I had a functioning lighter. One problem is that the collar on the barrel is too wide to sir sniffly within the bezel so at some point I'll whip it out again and file the edge down so that the bezel can go back in.

On the upside, whilst fiddling with the wiring I found a connection with a missing wire. Said missing wire found and connection remade gave me a working stereo once more. Ok, so passenger side only but Rome wasn't built in a day y'know!

And so comes to an end this epic update, hope you enjoyed!
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dagdal1967
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by dagdal1967 »

Great progress. Keep working - Owning these cars are a constant journey and there's always something you can do to improve them.

Love the update!
Doug Gault
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by Corventure Dave »

Great progress report. Glad you are enjoying. I've been to your island and even drove up to Scotland looking for Nessie! Managed to adapt to sitting on the other side of the car and also driving on the other side of the lane! Decided not to rent a motorcycle because I'm sure I would forget and that would not be a good thing!
Keep us posted.
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CorvairCon65
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by CorvairCon65 »

Thanks Doug and Dave.

I'm certainly enjoying her. I have a friend vacationing in Illinois right now, he's gone over with an empty suitcase and is hopefully bringing me lots of spares back. I don't mind spending out on my Vair, it's just the postage and our money-grabbing HMRC that bumps up the bill substantially!

I have a 200 mile round trip to make on Sunday which will be a good and proper shake-down run for her. Glad I have some music now!

I know what you mean about driving on t'other side of the road Dave. I've owned a LHD car before so it's not new to me but driving in the US took some getting used to, especially 4 way stops (we have roundabouts here). I was up at the Lockness centre a few years back, lovely driving roads. Never did get a glimpse of Nessie but not to worry, the journey up there and back was more enjoyable than the time spent at the centre!

Cheers,

Pete.
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by CorvairCon65 »

Well, Monday was a mixed bag of sh!te for me and my Vair.

I was meant to be attending a car show that a friend was organising which would be a 200 mile round trip.

The (uber early) morning start went well, she started up fine and the sat nag was hooked up and we were on our way. After a couple of miles the speedo started behaving itself so clearly the cable was fine and just needed to bed in. It under-reads by about 10% compared to the sat nag but that's fine, would rather be under than over!

Made it about 5 miles from home on a fast dual carriage way, plodding along at 70mph. Then there were a couple of instances where it felt that I'd lost power and she was holding back. This was only momentary. Then a back fire out of the right bank (got twin exhausts) and engine cut out.

On the hard shoulder I gave her a good check over and the only thing I could see that had gone wrong was that the choke control vacuum unit on the right hand carburettor had fallen apart. The recovery man tried cable ties, glue and gaffer tape to no avail. Her engine will turn over lovely but won't fire up.

I'll do the obvious and check fuel and spark and the replacement vacuum unit is on its way to me soon. I've heard elsewhere that this could be cam gear failure which I'm presuming will be an engine out jobby and splitting the casing, ie a rebuild, which I'm not too chuffed about.

My vair was my little escape from life's mundanities and all my spare time at present is spent trying to get my partner's house renovated so she can rent it out.

Hey ho.
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CorvairCon65
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by CorvairCon65 »

Hi y'all.

Sorry it's been a while since I updated this thread. After the breakdown I parked up the Vair and she is still there. I had some friends visiting me at the end of August (a bank holiday here in the uk) and we were going to a car event which lasted the whole weekend and the intention was to spend a little time fault diagnosing on the Vair. Unfortunately that weekend whilst we were out I suffered a house fire which made my home uninhabitable and whilst that is all going through on the insurance it has taken up much of my time and also made me loose interest in my hobby a little which is understandable, but a shame.

Fast forward to last weekend when the lads visited again and we did some more fault diagnosis. One friend had not long returned from a vacation in Illinois and brought back some service parts for me on the electrical side which I replaced together with the broken choke mechanism that attaches to the carb (strangely the broken one had a metal bracket and this one is all plastic).

We tested for compression: check. We tested for fuel getting to the carbs: check. We tested for spark at the plugs: check. After much faffing we found that the spark plugs were dry so came to the conclusion that there is a fuel problem... We loosened the top of the fuel pump and fuel started gushing out so we know fuel is getting that far. We tried some carb cleaners down the throats which didn't do too much, even tried pouring a little gas into the carbs which made her cough but nothing else. So we are getting closer. All this flattened the battery and after the house fire I couldn't find my charger so my friend took the battery home for charging. When he brings it back we'll look a little closer. I think I'm angling towards either a pair of carb rebuild kits or perhaps even a pair of rebuilt carbs...plug and play. We have plenty of fuel so that's not the issue as I'd filled her up before the trip. Am hoping that some crap has been sucked up from the bottom of the tank and blocked one of the solid pipes etc, just a case of working through it now, so I can be back on the road in time for winter, road salt and in-op heating...
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by SteveH »

wow! Never rains but it pours! Good on you for hangin in there! I am really curious as the root cause of this one.
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CorvairCon65
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Re: 65 Monza 110 PG Vert in Blighty

Post by CorvairCon65 »

Hi all,

Apologies for the radio silence; after the house fire (August bank holiday) I had to move out whilst my house was renovated and wasn't able to move back in until Easter. The house is pretty much up and running now so I've been able to turn my attention to the Vair. Following diagnosis that fuelling is the 'most likely' culprit I have ordered the comprehensive fuel tank kit from Clarkes being tank, rubber pipes, strap, fuel tank sender. I already have another fuel pump (new) and recon carbs are on order. Removing the tank doesn't look too bad (famous last words...), I'm now wondering if there are any other jobs that may be advantageous to do once the tank is removed (i.e. and I have access to do so) because I imagine it's not a job I shall want to do again if possible.....
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