1968 Monza Project

[tdsherman325]

This is my first Corvair. It's a 110 with an automatic. It's a bit of a project, but that's the way I like it. If it's going to be my car, I feel like it should be by my blood, sweat and tears that it's redeemed.

Anyway, I finally got her home and started taking her apart a bit. It's gonna need a lot of work, not that I mind :)

The Bad (in no particular order):
The brakes don't work, looks like there's a problem in the FL wheel
No dash, tail or brake lights
The turn signals don't blink
The headlight and turn signal switches are wonky
The radio doesn't work
Engine compartment wiring is a mess
Engine needs to be tuned badly
"Custom" exhaust that basically amounts to open headers
Trunk lock broken
Various rust spots (Yeah, I know, I probably haven't seen the half of it yet.)
No carpet
Dash and door panels have succombed to the Texas sun
Chokes are broken/not hooked up
FR Tire leaks
Windshield wipers don't come on
Fan belt needs to be replaced
weatherstripping is in pretty bad shape
I'm sure I'll find more....

The Good:
Upholstery and headliner look almost new
Floor pans recently replaced
Good transmission
It's a Corvair

I made a deal with the wife when I bought it: let me buy the Corvair, and I'll quit smoking. I figure that when I get a craving I can just go out to the carport and look at the Corvair. That oughta keep me motivated. Plus, now I'll have the cash for the parts :)

Pics Friday I promise. My camera got stolen a while back so I'll have to borrow one.

[cad-kid]

Sounds like a good project!

I don't have a corvair yet but I understand that there are many ground points for the wiring. Each of these should be cleaned for everything to function properly. Looking forward to some photos.

Good luck on staying smoke free (you and the corvair wiring)

[Gregory_Miller]

Welcome! Kinda cold in TX right now.. I had a 68 as a young man, loved it. 140-4 speed though.

[tdsherman325]

Here's the promised pics.

[tdsherman325]

Figured out what's wrong with the brakes; the metal brake line going to the RR wheel has a hole in it. Looks like it's time for new brake lines.

I'm still not quite sure what's up with the FL wheel, the PO said it sticks. I couldn't find anything obviously wrong with it so I went ahead and ordered a new wheel cylinder with the brake lines. The one on there has seen its better days.

[atwistedgrip]

Welcome to the forum.
That's a nice looking car and good trade off for not smoking... Good luck with both.
I quit smoking several years ago and have cross-addicted myself to Corvairs now. A healthier habit, although not a cheap one.
I think the nearest Corvair club to you is in Irving (http://www.northtexascorvair.org/)...check them out.

[flat6_musik]

"Custom" exhaust that basically amounts to open headers

Sounds good to me!

Hey cool.....well, you've plenty of things for your hands to do now instead of smoking! Good luck with the metal work. You can probably get pretty good at it by the time you're done.

[Corvair.crazy]

I love it, another Corvair gets saved! Love the Baby moons, my wife wants a set for her car. Keep us posted.

[tdsherman325]

Took a pic of the terrible exhaust before I threw it away.

I removed the pads from the dash as they've been completely destroyed by the elements. Is there any source for these on a '68? All the ones I can find only go up to '67.

[tdsherman325]

Stripped down the engine and started cleaning it up. I think I'm going to need to replace about every gasket on there; half of them leak and the other half are slathered in silicone. 5 hours of scrubbing and I'm about 1/3 done. 40 years of grime and oil doesn't come off easily :)

Also took the alternator down and had it tested, it's no good. I might as well replace the voltage regulator while I'm at it so that's two more parts to add to the list.

The Corvair is a big hit here in Abilene. Not a day goes by that I don't have 2-3 random passersby stop to talk to me about it. Good thing I enjoy talking or this would be downright annoying.

[Motornoggin]

That's quite a project! You have your work cut out for you, but you'll have a lot of fun and learn a lot along the way. Good luck and have fun!

[tdsherman325]

Thanks, everyone! I'm enjoying working on the engine. So much easier than a VW.

She hasn't been driven daily since 1999, so I figure it's probably prudent to just go ahead and tear the motor apart to make sure there isn't any trouble brewing down there. I'd rather take the time now than have to replace half the motor later.

[Scott H]

great start you made a ton of progress already. I like the later year (68-69) Corvairs, nice seats and I like the steering wheels too. Nice find!

[flat6_musik]

Took a pic of the terrible exhaust before I threw it away.

That's about the most hilarious exhaust system I think I've ever seen.......motorcycle or ?? With the requisite speaker wire as the hanger.......good lord

[tdsherman325]

Took a pic of the terrible exhaust before I threw it away.

That's about the most hilarious exhaust system I think I've ever seen.......motorcycle or ?? With the requisite speaker wire as the hanger.......good lord

I'm pretty sure he welded it himself out of mismatched bits of pipe he had laying around.

He mentioned that he builds race cars. After seeing the weld quality on that thing I would be terrified to go anywhere near anything he built, let alone go fast in it.

I'm going to guess that he was probably also the person who decided it would be a good idea to glue the carb gaskets to the heads and spacers. Scraping that crap off took me the better part of an afternoon; it was worse than the silicone.

[CARGOIL]

Man! You are fast. I it looked great in that first picture but got to look more like a project up close. They way you're going though, it seems like you'll have it on the street in no time. Good luck.