New member from Cassville MO

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RoaringRiverRanger
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New member from Cassville MO

Post by RoaringRiverRanger »

New member from Cassville MO. 1963 Monza 900 Cpe recent rescue project. Will probably be picking your brain down the road....Steve
Steve
Cassville, MO
1965 Corsa Coupe
1963 Greenbrier
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bbodie52
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Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by bbodie52 »

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

Image

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. You will also find a list of essential Corvair parts suppliers. Clark's Corvair Parts in Shelburne Falls, MA 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. Parts suppliers such as this truly make our Corvair hobby possible.

Common and Useful Corvair Websites

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

I attempted to do some research to see how far Cassville, Missouri is from the world (of Corvair owner's clubs, that is). There are several CORSA (Corvair Society of America) club chapters in your region, but unfortunately all are a fairly long drive from your corner of Missouri! In spite of the distances involved, I would like to encourage you to check them out and consider visiting/joining one of them. Socializing with local like-minded and family-friendly Corvair enthusiasts can greatly add to your enjoyment of your Corvair. The technical assistance, advice and support you will find from contacting local owners and from members of the Corvair Forum on the Internet will help you a lot with Corvair ownership.

Image :link: https://www.corvair.org/index.php/compo ... =9&reset=0

Heart of America Corvair Owners 179 Miles - Belton, MO :link: http://www.hacoa.org/

Show-Me Corvair Club 267 Miles - Arnold, MO :link: http://www.showmecorvairclub.org/

Mid-Continent Corvair Assn. 244 Miles - Bel Aire KS :link: http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter672/

Green Country Corvair Group 147 Miles - Broken Arrow OK :link: https://tulsacorvair.com/

Central Oklahoma Corvair Association 253 Miles - Oklahoma City, OK :link: http://www.cokcca.org/

Arkansas Corvair Club 248 miles - Little Rock, AR :link: https://www.arcorvairclub.org/


:dontknow: I would like to encourage you to expand on your first post and tell us more about yourself, as well as about your 1963 Monza coupe. Some detailed photographs of the car — including the VIN tag (driver's side door jamb) and Body Tag in the engine compartment — can be very helpful. If you can provide 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, your 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.

:welcome:

Image
Brad Bodie
Lake Chatuge, North Carolina
Image 1966 Corvair Corsa Convertible
RoaringRiverRanger
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Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by RoaringRiverRanger »

I'm in law enforcement here, the ranger for Roaring River State Park outside of Cassville, MO. Been in police work 23 years. Am a auto enthusiast, been swapping and trading cars since I was 14. Love old cars, Corvairs in particular. I've bought and sold six in the past, most were clean and flip vehicles. Decided awhile back that I wanted to find a 1963, year of birth, Corvair and found this one in southern Arkansas last month on FB marketplace. I've done basic maintenance, some body work, light engine work on vehicles in the past. Not afraid to tear into something with the right knowledge. My car came with shop manuals and Clark's catalogs. Like me, the car leaks a bit, has some scratches and dents, looks great from 15 feet. Get closer and the age starts appearing...I've cleaned her up, found she leaks oil (duh) and am finding her "issues". This one I'm keeping, wife says yeah whatever. Hoping to have it around for quite some time to enjoy, maybe hand it off to my grandson down the road.
1963 Monza Coupe
4 speed
Wife named her "Corina"
Attachments
My first view of her....
My first view of her....
First cleaning
First cleaning
Passenger side 07252020.jpg
Interior
Interior
Body tag
Body tag
VIN tag
VIN tag
YOM MO plate I found on eBay
YOM MO plate I found on eBay
Steve
Cassville, MO
1965 Corsa Coupe
1963 Greenbrier
User avatar
flat6_musik
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Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by flat6_musik »

Welcome to the forum! Clean '63!
joelsplace
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Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by joelsplace »

'61 grill bar
157 Corvairs, 5 Ultravans and counting
Northlake, TX
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bbodie52
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Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by bbodie52 »

Thanks for posting the pictures and telling us a bit about yourself. Do you enjoy your work working in the state park? I can see that the descriptive park name "Roaring River State Park" appears to match the photos! Has your entire 23 years been in that area?

ImageImage
Image
Image
Missouri Corvair.jpg
Except for the 1961 nose trim, your Monza interior and exterior appears to be all 1963. It looks like you found a very fine example to keep for your own. Does it run well?


Missouri Tags.jpg
I will decode the body tag for you...

Here is a breakdown of the information on the body tag you provided...
BODY TAG INFO:

04D
Body Build Date: 04 = April (1963), D = Fourth Week
The first digits are numbers 1 through 12, indicating the month of manufacture. The letter is A-E, indicate the week of the month. If the letter is a "D" it indicates the fourth week of the month.
Image

STYLE 63 0927 BODY OA 12618
63 = 1963
Model 0927 — 2-Door Monza Club Coupe — 4 Passenger, 09 = 900 Series Monza, 27 = 2-Door Club Coupe,
OA = Oakland, California Production Plant, Production Sequence No: 12618
1963 Monza 2-Door Coupe — 4 Passenger, Total Production: 117,917.

Image

TRIM 3-755 01
755 = AQUA (Monza with Bucket Seats)
This 3 digit codes represents the interior paint and upholstery color and seat type.
Interior paint codes: (Interior paint codes do not appear on Los Angeles built cars)
1963: 2= Blue 3= Aqua 4= Fawn 5= Red 7= Black 8= Saddle R = White/Red.

BODY PAINT 918
918 = AQUA "Azure Aqua"
Image
Lucite No. 4253L, Rinshed-Mason No. A1476, Ditzler No. DDL12525

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1963 Corvair Monza Coupe Example (In Azure Aqua)

1963 Fisher bodytags ACC line.
ACC: W P
Oakland bodytags (It appears that the 1962 OA codes carried over to 1963)
Does not use group numbers
W = Tinted Windshield
E = Tint glass all
P = padded dash
A = AC
X = Spyder option
K = Rear seat speaker?

========================================================================

The VIN tag is located in the left door jamb.

309270117270
VIN - EM Corvair Passenger Car VIN Tag Decoding
VIN - EM Corvair Passenger Car VIN Tag Decoding
:chevy:

I have attached a copy of the 1963 GM Heritage Center Specifications
1963 Chevrolet Corvair GM Heritage Center Specs.pdf
1963 Chevrolet Corvair GM Heritage Center Specs
(3.11 MiB) Downloaded 9 times
Brad Bodie
Lake Chatuge, North Carolina
Image 1966 Corvair Corsa Convertible
RoaringRiverRanger
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Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by RoaringRiverRanger »

I've been with State Parks since 2013. Prior to that I was an investigator with Cassville Police Department and worked for the local Sheriff prior to that. I tell folks I have the best law enforcement job in the State. I've been coming to this park since 1964 and never thought I'd get to work here. The car runs ok. Needs tuned up, idles fast. Going to have to address the oil leak, think it's a priority. Appears to be oil pan and driver side valve cover gasket. Gentleman I bought the car from said he liked that nose piece better. Again, she's a 10-15 footer with lots of nicks and scrapes. Picture is the car in front of our Roaring River historic CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) Lodge, wife did it in B/W to look old.
Attachments
CCC Lodge.jpeg
Steve
Cassville, MO
1965 Corsa Coupe
1963 Greenbrier
RoaringRiverRanger
Posts: 45
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2020 6:09 am

Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by RoaringRiverRanger »

Here's where my oil is coming from....the hole in the photo. While running....pretty rapid drip. Going to order VC gaskets...recommendations? Haven't figured out how to turn photos over.
Attachments
Oil leak.jpg
Steve
Cassville, MO
1965 Corsa Coupe
1963 Greenbrier
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bbodie52
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Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by bbodie52 »

Image
Image
For Comparison Purposes... Corvairs aren't THAT old! We had color film in 1963!!
RoaringRiverRanger wrote: » Sun Jul 26, 2020 1:17 pm

...runs ok. Needs tuned up, idles fast. Going to have to address the oil leak, think it's a priority. Appears to be oil pan and driver side valve cover gasket. Gentleman I bought the car from said he liked that nose piece better. Again, she's a 10-15 footer with lots of nicks and scrapes. Picture is the car in front of our Roaring River historic CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) Lodge, wife did it in B/W to look old.
If you remove the lower sheet metal shrouds (disconnect the rear thermostat doors) and clean the underside of the engine with degreaser if may be more obvious where the oil leak(s) are. It it is the oil pan, remove the pan and carefully check for deformed sheet metal immediately around each bolt hole. Over-tightening the bolts can compress the sheet metal area under each bolt head into the thick gasket material, so that the sheet metal contact the aluminum engine case and uneven pressure is applied between adjacent bolts. The flat Corvair oil pan is different than the normal sump-type pan on many engines. On the sump pan, most of the oil sits below the gasket in the oil pan sump, and the gasket only as to prevent leaks from splashed oil tht is above the oil volume. Wit the Corvair, all of the oil is stored ABOVE the gasket, and he flat gasket must hold back 4+ quarts of liquid from seeping past the gasket and oil pan mating surface. It is important to install a good quality, somewhat thin gasket and ensure that the oil pan mating surface is perfectly flat and not deformed. The bolt threads should be coated with anti-seize compound and the bolts should be hand tightened and then torqued with an inch-pound 3/8" drive torque wrench to the following specs...

¼-20 OIL PAN ATTACHMENT............................ 40-60 in. lbs (85-105 in. lbs. — 1965 Corvair Shop Manual Specification)

Note that the torque specification increased in 1965, even though the bolt size was unchanged.

Anti-seize compound should always be used on bolt threads that screw into aluminum. The bolt should be screwed in by hand to prevent cross-threading, and then tightened to shop manual specifications using a torque wrench.



Image
ImageImage

If you find that some or all of the push rod tube o-ring seals are leaking, they should all be replaced using VITON o-rings, which will withstand the heat of the cylinder heads.

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:link: http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog.cgi?show_page=4

Part number C4314 (Regular): O-RINGS VITON PUSH TUBE & ROCKER FULLSET *SINGLES= ROCKER STUD=C4314A,PUSH TUBE=C4314L

Weight: 0 lbs 4 oz
Catalog Page(s): 4
Price:
1 - 1 $ 10.80
2 - 2 $ 10.40

:link: https://www.youtube.com/user/davemotohead1/videos


The pictures and descriptions (captions) in the attached guide, Tuning the Corvair Engine, were taken from the two videos below...
Tuning the Corvair Engine — Part 1



Tuning The Corvair Engine — Part 2

:chevy: :wrench:
Attachments
Tuning the Corvair Engine.pdf
Tuning the Corvair Engine
(4.6 MiB) Downloaded 5 times
1962-1963 Supplement - Chevrolet Corvair Shop Manual - Section 12 - Specifications.pdf
1962-1963 Supplement - Chevrolet Corvair Shop Manual - Section 12 - Specifications
(626.09 KiB) Downloaded 7 times
1965 Corvair Chassis Shop Manual - SECTION - SPECIFICATIONS.pdf
1965 Corvair Chassis Shop Manual - SECTION - SPECIFICATIONS
(2.83 MiB) Downloaded 7 times
Brad Bodie
Lake Chatuge, North Carolina
Image 1966 Corvair Corsa Convertible
RoaringRiverRanger
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Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by RoaringRiverRanger »

Ok thanks! While running it looks like its coming from the valve cover bolt, almost sputters out behind bolt. I'll pull down the sheet metal and check there too. Trying to find jacking points so I can get it up higher to work on. Kinda tricky....
Steve
Cassville, MO
1965 Corsa Coupe
1963 Greenbrier
User avatar
bbodie52
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Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by bbodie52 »

I think you can safely use the flat surface area inside the triangle for a jack stand or a jack, but when you lift the car follow the guidelines outlined below...

Image

actual pics of jacks in proper locations

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actual pics of jacks in proper locations
:link: http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.php?1,665888

BE SURE TO USE JACK STANDS OR VEHICLE RAMPS TO SAFELY JACK UP YOUR CAR! DON'T TRUST A HYDRAULIC OR SCISSORS JACK ALONE.

Use proper lift points, and do not jack up the rear of the vehicle with a jack placed under the engine or transaxle. The powertrain mounts are not intended to support the weight of the car by placing a jack under the differential!
bbodie52 wrote:
bbodie52 wrote:Not a Good Idea!

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While it seems like a natural jacking or lift point (I used to do it too), jacking a Corvair or placing jack stands under the differential is not a good idea! The engine and powertrain are isolated from the chassis by rubber engine mounts — two in front of the transmission and one at the rear. These are strong rubber and steel mounts designed to hold the weight of the engine and transaxle as they hang from the chassis. When you jack up the car by placing a jack or jack stands under the differential, you reverse this load and you have the entire weight of the rear portion of the Corvair hanging from the engine mounts! The mounts were not designed for this, and the rubber that holds the mounts together can be compromised or weakened by placing this kind of unusual stress on the engine mounts. This could shorten the life of the engine mounts and ultimately result in an engine mount failure.

No Corvair shop manual shows the Engine/Transaxle as an approved or recommended lift point when jacking the car off of the ground, as shown below...

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Early Model (1960-1964) Corvair Lift Points

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Late Model (1965-1969) Corvair Lift Points





Most jack stands will fit inside the triangular area at the rear. There are pleanty of lifting points in the front.

I keep a pair of these compact jack stands in my trunk. NEVER TRUST A SCISSORS JACK, HYDRAULIC JACK, ETC. TO SUPPORT YOUR CAR IF YOU ARE GOING UNDER IT! Also, never use concrete cinder blocks to support your car. They can fracture or crush under the weight without warning!

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Compact Jack Stands:
Torin T43004 3 Ton Aluminum Jack Stands (Sold in Pairs)
:link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007X ... PDKIKX0DER

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I have a little scary and bad experience with using a manual scissors jack. Here is my tale that I posted some years ago...
bbodie52 wrote:
SteveH wrote:...My car came with its original scissor jack but it was a solid immobile chunk. it works great now. I shot a coat of paint on it last night, just because I was so happy that it works now.

Your mention of an ancient scissors jack brought forth a shudder, as I remembered the last time I used an original Corvair scissors jack in the early 1980's. A failed rear axle bearing in my 1965 Corsa coupe during a cross-country journey in 1981 brought about a potentially fatal experience while passing through Cheyenne, Wyoming. Although I've told this story on the Corvair Forum before, I thought that you might enjoy hearing it. If you will bear with me for a few paragraphs...

::-):
bbodie52 wrote:A failed rear axle bearing was the only breakdown event where I've ever been stranded with one of my Corvairs while on a long journey. My family was with me as we were traveling from Thousand Oaks, California to Incline Village, Nevada — Lake Tahoe (573 miles), and then on to a shipping port in New Jersey, near McGuire AFB. We were shipping our 1965 Corsa coupe to Germany, to drive there during our three-year tour of duty with the Air Force near Ramstein Air Base.

My wife and two young sons (ages 5 and almost 3) were with me in September 1981. The journey was uneventful as we drove across a lot of barren and desolate country from Lake Tahoe, across Nevada, past the Bonneville Salt Flats, and spent the night in Salt Lake City, Utah (551 miles). The next day we traveled on to F.E. Warren Air Force Base, at Cheyenne, Wyoming (436 miles). Upon our arrival, we found overnight family quarters available on base. We were leaving the base to get a meal when I heard it: a squeaking, grinding sound from the right rear wheel! The wheel bearing was failing!! In something of a growing state of panic, I grabbed a phone book and began calling local auto junk yards in the late afternoon. Believe it or not I found a junk yard where the person on the phone thought he had a late model Corvair back in the yard somewhere. Leaving my family in the transient family quarters, I grabbed a taxi to the junk yard, and anxiously followed the manager out to the Corvair. It was a stripped vehicle with no powertrain and no wheels, sitting with the body on the ground. The right side was up against an adjacent junked car. The left rear wheel bearing assembly had already been removed, but I could see that the right-side bearing assembly was still in there! I couldn't reach it, but I could see it!

The manager loaned me some tools and a flashlight (it was getting dark, and the salvage yard was closing). I jacked the body up off of the ground using a bumper jack jammed into the body opening — where the engine normally exhausted heat. With the rear up in the air, I pushed the car to the left so that it fell back on the ground — but this time a foot or so from the adjacent wrecked car. Another turn with the bumper jack produced another foot of clearance for me to work in. The bearing hub seemed to turn smoothly, so I assumed that I had a good one!! I grabbed a socket wrench and an extension and removed three of the four nuts that secured the bearing assembly to the rear suspension. But then... DISASTER! The fourth nut was not coming off! It just kept turning while the blind stud that was not supposed to move was turning! I ended up working into the evening darkness with a flashlight, chisel and hammer, desperately trying to chisel the nut to release the bearing assembly from the stud that did not want to let go. The manager of the junk yard was waiting long past closing on a Saturday night as I labored to get the bearing assembly from the junked Corvair. Finally the nut split and I was able to remove it and the bearing assembly. I paid the manager and he agreed to drive me back to the Air Force base, where I went to sleep — cold, tired and dirty. I don't believe anyone in the family ever had any dinner that evening — we just went to bed tired and hungry.

But there is more to this story! On a cold Wyoming Sunday morning I went out to the parking lot and jacked the right rear of the Corvair into the air using the old scissors jack that came with the car. I had no jack stands to hold the car in the air, so I just decided to risk working on the car with only a 16 year old factory scissors jack holding the car up. :nono: The scissors jack worm screw squeaked as I raised the car, but I ignored it. I removed the wheel, half shaft, and worked to remove the bad wheel bearing assembly and brake backing plate. It was cold and the work went slowly because my fingers didn't work well in the cold. I was laying at times under the engine with nothing holding the car up except that jack. The right wheel and brake assembly was sitting on the pavement. Finally, after some hours in the cold I finished re-installing the "new" bearing assembly.

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With the rear wheel and tire back on, I began to lower the jack. I gave it about ¼ turn counter-clockwise, heard another squeak, AND THE JACK COLLAPSED!! The threads in the fixed nut that held the worm screw mechanism pulled right out of the nut!

My life had quite literally been hanging by a thread! If that jack had collapsed with me under the car, I would probably have been crushed by the heavy engine and powertrain. For much of the time when I was under the car, removing and re-attaching the half shaft between the differential and the bearing assembly, I was laying under the car with only a brake drum and my body there to support the car when it would have hit the ground.
:whoa: :eek:
After I quit shaking, I examined the broken jack. The worm screw moved freely back and forth through the now-stripped fixed nut, with no threads in the nut to prevent its movement. The scissors mechanism moved freely up and down.

There was an opened dumpster some distance away, and I hurled the broken jack into that dumpster — never to be seen again. I cleaned up, packed up, and we began travelling the remaining 1,743 miles to McGuire AFB, New Jersey. (I did stop at a Sears to pick up a replacement jack for the car, and I also managed to get two speeding tickets in Iowa on the next day! But otherwise there were no more significant events during our journey).

Now you can see why I stress safety when working on a car, and I ALWAYS secure the car with jack stands before I work under it! I was foolish that day, working unsafely out of necessity. Obviously, the risk was not worth it.
I had another bearing fail on my 1965 Convertible in the middle of winter when I was stationed near Ramstein Air Base, near Kaiserslautern, Germany (1980-1983). My father shipped a replacement bearing assembly from California to West Germany. I replaced it (using jack stands, this time) while sitting on a pile of snow in a Kapaun Air Station parking lot near the military post office mail room.
Brad Bodie
Lake Chatuge, North Carolina
Image 1966 Corvair Corsa Convertible
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Bruins_Fan
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Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by Bruins_Fan »

Welcome to CF! Nice looking Vair!
'66 Monza Convertible 110hp Powerglide
RoaringRiverRanger
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Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by RoaringRiverRanger »

RoaringRiverRanger wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2020 12:20 pm Here's where my oil is coming from....the hole in the photo. While running....pretty rapid drip. Going to order VC gaskets...recommendations? Haven't figured out how to turn photos over.
WHAT IS THIS BRACKET? The hole in the photo goes through aluminum and this is where my oil is coming from. Took cover off and this bracket has a coil spring attached to it?
Attachments
Oil leak.jpg
Steve
Cassville, MO
1965 Corsa Coupe
1963 Greenbrier
joelsplace
Posts: 1950
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2010 12:51 pm
Location: Northlake, TX

Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by joelsplace »

That is the choke coil. No oil should be in that hole. A rivit is all that normally goes there and it isn't really needed.
157 Corvairs, 5 Ultravans and counting
Northlake, TX
RoaringRiverRanger
Posts: 45
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2020 6:09 am

Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by RoaringRiverRanger »

Ok thanks...the hole goes clear through the aluminum and oil was dripping rapidly from it while running. Also when I jacked car up on stands and car leaned that way, oil ran out while not running. If hole isn't needed, ok to plug it?
Steve
Cassville, MO
1965 Corsa Coupe
1963 Greenbrier
joelsplace
Posts: 1950
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2010 12:51 pm
Location: Northlake, TX

Re: New member from Cassville MO

Post by joelsplace »

Yes. The rivit is to keep the choke coil from falling out when the lower shrouds are removed.
157 Corvairs, 5 Ultravans and counting
Northlake, TX
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