Proud new Corvair owner from San Diego

[mjhsandiego]

Hi everyone. I have just become the proud owner of a 1965 Monza convertible. The car has the 140 hp engine and I am interested in knowing if that is the original engine for the car. This car came from Reno and has very little rust and looks really solid. I am looking forward to bringing this car back to a cherry state. Should be fun.

Mike

[Trip]

Welcome to the forum Mike!

The 140 engine was available as an option on all 65 and later Corvair cars, it was standard equipment on the Corsa. I believe your trim tag will tell us what engine the car came with, if you want to post a clear pic of it I'll try to decode it. 65 is one of the easier years to decode.

Also can check block numbers very easily to see if it is the correct year and a 140 block. To see the engine number look straight down behind (toward the front of the car) the distributor and oil fill. Is the car automatic or stick? Automatics with 140's are fairly uncommon but they were available. The auto trans 140 engine had a different came and cam timing than the manual trans 140. Correct PG 140's are somewhat sought after, the stick shift 140 doesn't do well with an auto trans.. not enough torque at low rpm.

We love pictures on this forum so please post some of your car if you can!

If you have any trouble posting the photos look here viewtopic.php?f=196&t=618

[flat6_musik]

Welcome Mike. Glad to see you're excited about your new 'vair.

[mjhsandiego]

Thanks for the warm welcome Grymm. See the body tag pic posted here. I was able to find the Engine number (I think) based on your instructions. The car is a 4 speed. I did some body tag investigation myself and found some great information so I am curious to see what you can offer here.

The engine number: T02I5RH

This is FUN already, and I have done a thing to the car yet!

[mjhsandiego]

Here are some pics. Sorry for the poor angles. I plan to take the car out in the sun this weekend and take a bunch of pictures to document the start of the project. Car is rough but has HUGE potential, as far as I can see. Floorboards are rock solid.

[PHX65CorsaHT]

I gonna be fun, for sure. If had my first one for about 6 months. It's fun to drive and work on. 140 4spd you'll love it.

[Trip]

Looks like a really solid project car from here. The big thing with convertible Corvairs is the rocker panels, especially on 65 up. The rockers are what was used to reinforce the unibody when the roof was deleted. Most low priced convertibles have major rust issues there which take a LOT of work to fix. If the car has that problem you'll see it in the doorjambs at the front and back bottom corners. If you don't see any major signs of trouble there you probably got a great bargain.

I'm off to the dentist but you probably have most of it decoded already yourself =) As I said 65 and 66 are the ones that decoding info is pretty easy to find for... a lot of the other years it is a big project.

Regardless I'll decode it probably this evening, I love doing it!

PS- your "RH" block started life as a 110 automatic but the cases are the same for all 64 up engines AFAIK. I think they are the same even as all the 61-64 engines. The 1960 is different I think, that is the way it is with many Corvair parts.. 1960 stands all by itself.

[Corvair.crazy]

Welcome and that is a cool ride. I look forward to the seeing the project unfold. I too have a 65 convertible.
The engine number you have stated is a powerglide-high performance. The "T" stands for Towanda built in Febuary.
Do you plan on keeping it burgandy?

[Trip]

04A= Build Date: First week of April
ST 65-10567= Body style: 65 Monza Convertible
LOS 915 Body= 915th Corvair built built at the Los Angeles plant for the 65 model year
TR 713= Trim/upholstery color: Black
N-2 Paint= Exterior color N: Madeira maroon, Convertible top color 2: Black top

The last two lines are options: The numbers tell which "group" the following code is for.
Group 1 is assumed, so the 1 is never there.

Group 1: W= Tinted windshield
Group 2: L= 4-Speed, P= Comfort and Convenience group (type A or B)
Group 3: C= Padded Dash
Group 4: P= Comfort and Convenience group Type A, U= Spare tire lock
Group 5: W= Custom Deluxe Front seatbelts with Retractors

Comfort and Convenience group "A" includes: 2 speed wipers/washers, Day/Night mirror, drivers side mirror.

There ya go, 100% decode!

[mjhsandiego]

Thanks Ray. Your decode filled in some of the gaps in my decode. Now, knowing that this engine is not the original, do you think I will run into any issues? In this thread, both you and Jon mentioned that my engine ID was mated to an automatic originally, but I have a 4 speed. I would not think that would pose a problem, but I am a newbie and want to feel good that I am not opening up a big can of worms when I undertake this project.

Oh, by the way, I have examined this car pretty closely, and the rockers appear to be very solid. This car show no signs of rust at all in the door pillars or near the windshield. Now, I know once you remove the paint, all those gremlins can appear and I am hoping that nothing ugly rears it head, but everything looks SO good right now. The undercarriage only has very light rusting and the control arms and crossmember don't have any deep rust pitting either. The desert treated this car well.

I do see some panel hood alignment issues and I don't think they are just a simple adjustment to the hood. That is why I want to get a professional body guy to take a look and see if I need to straighten the car out at a deeper level than just a body panel.

Fun stuff to explore, for sure!

Thanks again.

[Trip]

Sounds like a fantastic find Mike. You won't have any trouble with the engine as long as whomever put it together did a decent job.

There is one catch about 140 heads I recommend (especially since it sounds like you aren't afraid to spend a little money) you check on.

Corvair engines one weakness (they are durable buggers) is dropped valve seats. Usually this will only happen to a car that has been badly overheated at some point, but the 140 heads are much more likely to do this than the others... even if never overheated.

So what you want to do is have a pro look at the heads and see if "deep seats" have been installed. If not I suggest you get it done. It's expensive but might save you from a MUCH more expensive repair. When a valve seat drops it might only do a little damage or it might demolish the engine.

I've seen much worse than this one:
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=2668&hilit=dropped+valve+seat

The heads can be removed even with the engine in the car. It's fairly simple as long as a stud doesn't back out. Most don't know this but the best penetrating oil is: 50/50 mix of ATF and Acetone... it beats the heck out of even the best retail stuff (which by the way is Liquid Wrench). This is all according to very scientific testing that was done.

So mix up some ATF and Acetone and spray the top row of head nuts a couple times over a couple days before you take it apart. The studs usually don't back out even if you don't do this but it's always good to improve your odds.

The top row holding on the head is up just a little above the valve cover. The bottom row is actually the rocker studs (one of the many Corvair oddities) so those are always well lubricated =).

Corvair heads are less prone to warping problems than other aluminum heads, but there is a correct order for taking the nuts off and putting them back on. Actually I think I remember there is a pattern that is considered better than the GM manual gives... I think it's in the book "How to Keep your Corvair Alive". If you want I can look it up for you.

[Trip]

Also I'm pretty sure your local CORSA chapter is a really great and active one http://www.sdcorvair.com/ check it out. I bet you'll both enjoy and benefit from joining up =)

[cad-kid]

Welcome, nice project! The wheels look good also.

[Gregory_Miller]

Welcome aboard! 65 140s rock. I have a 65 with the best of 66-69 (IMO) as a bonus.