new to this forum, new to corvairs, new to car repair! AHHHH

[thetommy1903]

so i was given a 1966 monza corvair that was supposed to be a project car for me and a friend of mine. he worked and rebuilt cars alot and knew what he was doing. me and him are no longer talking. so i now have this classic car with no real idea how to work on it. so i came here, to this explosion of corvair information and knowledge for help. please help me!

specs: 1966, two door, hardtop, we installed a oil cooler, it wont easily start (sometimes it will sometimes it wont), minor oil leak, had a break problem that i think we fixed, we were about to convert to single carb but it never got done. the body is in pretty good shape, had some bondo and really just needs to be sanded down and repainted.

that's all i can think of right now, but will gladly answer any questions that i can.
oh and by the way, i am 19 and this would be the first car i really own.

[65corvaircopnj]

I'm sure that Bbodie will post links to the shop manual. First make sure you're timing is set. I made that rookie mistake before when replacing my dist. cap and rotor! Ensure the plug boots on the spark plug wires are tight and you're getting gas from the fuel pump. Keep trying and good luck!

[bbodie52]

Now I'm becoming known as something of a Corvair Forum librarian! I'm "expected" to provide links to factory shop manuals and other reference materials! But with good reason -- good reference materials are critical when performing repair and maintenance work on a Corvair!

Now for the "back in my day" speech: My parents bought our first family Corvair in 1961, when I was about eight years old. Our second Corvair was a 1965 Corsa convertible, and I learned to drive in that car (not always with my parents' permission). I later took my first drivers test and got my license in that Corsa. (Failed my first attempt too, when I was instructed to make a left turn by the drivers test administrator and I was so nervous I forgot that I was in the middle lane on a one-way street! NOT SO GOOD!!) Anyway, a short time later, during my high school summer vacation in 1969, when I was 16 years old and Neil Armstrong wa busy landing on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission, my father spent $100 and bought a beat-up 1963 Corvair for me to work on. I remember that the engine was so frozen I could not rotate the crankshaft at all. I had no mechanical experience. I had a garage full of hand tools, a floor-jack, and a Corvair shop manual. And I had all summer to learn how to take the powertrain out of the Corvair and to rebuild the engine (on my own). We were in San Jose, California, and my father had been transferred from Lockheed, Sunnyvale to Lockheed, Burbank -- so he was no help since he was more than 400 miles away! I managed to successfully balance the engine on a piece of plywood on the floor-jack, and I nervously lowered the powertrain to the garage floor without dropping it! I also managed to dismantle the engine and successfully rebuilt it. Then I discovered that the Powerglide automatic transmission was faulty, so I also learned to rebuild it. The whole process took a while, since I was slow and didn't know what I was doing... but I learned! Neil Armstrong learned to land successfully on the moon (with a little help from his friends) and I learned how to work on Corvairs by myself. I believe you can do it too!

I also did not have anything like a computer or the Internet to help me. You do... and that can be a big help! You have a lot of people on this Web site, for example, who would love to help you out and to hear about your progress. If you can take some pictures and post them on the Corvair Forum, so much the better! But I would like to encourage you to press-on and tackle your project Corvair one logical piece at a time. Don't let yourself become overwhelmed by the many things that need to be done. Break the Corvair project up into smaller "bite-sized" projects, and focus just on that chosen goal and objective first. I would suggest the engine first. Forget about the rest of the car, and focus on getting that engine running "perfectly". Learn to troubleshoot the operation of the engine and to logically perform "fault-isolation". Learn what "normal" is, and find out what is not "normal" on your engine. Have you pulled the spark plugs and examined them? Do they all look like they are igniting normally, or is one different from the rest? (Keep track of which cylinder each plug came from). Then get a compression tester gauge and check the compression of each cylinder. That can tell you a lot about the rings, valves, pistons, etc. Compare those readings with the standards in the shop manual. If the engine has mechanical problems, you can discover it here. If the engine seems sound, maybe a carburetor cleaning and rebuild and an ignition system tune-up will get you where you want to be with that engine. And so it goes. Once you get the Corvair's "heart" beating well, you can select the next step -- brakes, suspension, clutch, transmission, differential, electrical systems, etc. When all is good and the car is drivable, you can move to the "beauty shop" and worry about the interior, paint, etc.

The whole project can be fun, enjoyable, and you can learn a lot! Your self-confidence will also grow with each successful step. You also have a lot of Corvair "friends" on this Web site who can help you and encourage you along the way. If you learn to communicate clearly what you are doing and seeing, with pictures and words, we will be able to visualize better just exactly what is going on with your Corvair and your efforts, which will help us to help you. I wish I had had that in 1969!

So figure out how you want to start and how we can help. Do you have a shop manual? If not, you can buy one or download one via the Internet. Let us know what you need. How are you fixed for tools? Some specialized tools can often be borrowed or rented. Figure out your plan, get started, and if you have questions, let us know what they are. Perhaps the combination of a Corvair shop manual and the Corvair Forum and other Internet sources can help you to move things along. Here are some good Internet sources:

Downloadable Corvair Shop Manuals, Parts Manuals, Service Manuals, etc.
http://1969corvair.com/techpages/Corvai ... Index.html

Early Corvair Manuals, Body Manuals, Carburetor Manuals, etc.
http://www.corvair.org/chapters/corvanatics/manuals.php

CORSA Chapter Locator
I don't know where you live, but I would recommend that you use this site to find a local Corvair club (if there is one in your area). If there is, contact the club representative and introduce yourself. Tell them about your project, and find out about joining the club and attending meetings. If there is a local club and if they are an active club, perhaps you can make some friends there. It is a good way to meet other Corvair fans (some experienced) and to perhaps learn from them. No guarantees here, but it is a possibility!
https://www.corvair.org/index.php?optio ... crmSID=3_u

Clark's Corvair Parts (You will need parts.)
http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/pages.cgi

California Corvairs (More parts and services.)
http://www.californiacorvairparts.com/p ... roduct=264

Rafee Corvair (More parts.)
http://www.rafeecorvair.com/

Corvair Ranch (Used Parts, Machine Shop, etc.)
http://www.corvairranch.com/

Corvair Corsa (Good technical and historical information.)
Corvair Corsa is a plentiful source of Corvair history, information and pictures. Here, you can explore the entire collection of production Corvairs including the Corsa, Monza, Monza Spyder, Corvair 700, 500, and the Corvair 95 truck series.
http://www.corvaircorsa.com

I hope this gives you some help and perhaps a start. Please keep in touch, and we would love to see some pictures of your project Corvair, if you are so inclined!

[thetommy1903]

wow thank you, these will help a lot. Bbodie, you are my Corvair Forum librarian.
anyway, here are some pictures iv taken.

i know she aint too pretty but she has potential.

i am replacing the spark plugs, changing the oil and getting the owners manual (didnt come with the car) soon.
i think the fuel pump may be the next thing to check, a car savvy friend of mine came in and looked real quick and said it looked like the carbs were not getting any fuel.

i am short on tools (basic socket set, jack, jack stands, and elbow grease) but am more then willing to buy them because i want to be able to work on this car without having to go to a shop latter on. but i could probably only afford hand tools and not the big air sets or anything like that.

oh and i live in the hot AZ. great place for an air cooled car!

[Scott H]

so i was given a 1966 monza corvair that was supposed to be a project car for me and a friend of mine. he worked and rebuilt cars alot and knew what he was doing. me and him are no longer talking. so i now have this classic car with no real idea how to work on it. so i came here, to this explosion of corvair information and knowledge for help. please help me!

specs: 1966, two door, hardtop, we installed a oil cooler, it wont easily start (sometimes it will sometimes it wont), minor oil leak, had a break problem that i think we fixed, we were about to convert to single carb but it never got done. the body is in pretty good shape, had some bondo and really just needs to be sanded down and repainted.

that's all i can think of right now, but will gladly answer any questions that i can.
oh and by the way, i am 19 and this would be the first car i really own.

Sorry you and your friend had a falling out. But congrats on the cool car! Wait till you get her out on the road. People LOVE these cars and you'll get a TON of attention in it. Girls think they are cute too.
I would not bother converting to single carb. The duals work just fine. The cars have been working for the last 40-50+ years with them. You'll need a uni-syn tool to sync them but its easy and kinda fun to do.
Basic things a car needs to run is spark, and fuel. Well it needs to be able to stop too lol. Start there. Carb rebuild kits are cheap and readily available, so is the tune up kits, plugs, wires, points, condenser, cap rotor. All are easy to do too. If you have ANY questions, please ask. There are allot of very helpful knowledgeable people here that will be glad to help. That was the first thing I discovered when I got my first Corvair. The people who own them are some of the nicest and most helpful I have come across. (as you can see already) Dive in and keep us posted on what you are doing.

[marvgarr]

I to live in the (dry heat) desert I would first remove that oil cooler you do not need it the factory cooler works great in hot weather if the car is tuned right if you blow one of those oil cooler hoses and hot oil mist sprays everywere it can catch on fire and burn down fast keep the two carbs also single does not run as good through the seasons first on your list before tools is buy the shop manual from clarks read it all the way before working on the car after this you should start working on it the shop manual is very detailed and if you still need help we all are here good luck

[Corvair.crazy]

Hi Welcome. My advice is join the local Club. Electronic friends are good, real people are great! I have never met a Corvair person I didn't like. And by joining a local club you get connected to the community which everybody better.

[cvair4life]

I to live in the (dry heat) desert I would first remove that oil cooler you do not need it the factory cooler works great in hot weather if the car is tuned right if you blow one of those oil cooler hoses and hot oil mist sprays everywere it can catch on fire and burn down fast keep the two carbs also single does not run as good through the seasons first on your list before tools is buy the shop manual from clarks read it all the way before working on the car after this you should start working on it the shop manual is very detailed and if you still need help we all are here good luck

First of all - WELCOME! Looks like a decent little project car and not to bad.

Marvgarr... I'd have to respectfully disagree. Oil is the "coolant" of these cars and I would tend to want that oil cooler even more in the Arizona heat than the stock 12 plate.

I would, however, change out the hoses and make sure everything you have is high-heat and oil rated. Hoses like that aren't too outrageous and better safe than burned down.

[cad-kid]

Welcome, Congrats on sticking with the Corvair.

[marvgarr]

I understand cvair on your thinking about the oil cooler but I think I would have put in an oil temp gauge first to see if the oil temp gets hot just do not like all the extra hoses for remote coolers and then there always the possibilty of blowing an oil hose when they get old and your stranded and depending on how fast you acted when it blows you could also ruin the engine from lack of oil just my opinion

[thetommy1903]

wow thank you all for the help.
im really glad knowing how much the people on this forum are willing to help out.

when i comes to the oil cooler, we put that in as a "just in case" sorta thing. i would agree that having just an oil temp gauge would work fine on a well tuned car...this corvair is not what i would call well tuned. but i would also agree that putting a temp gauge in anyway would be a great idea, in fact it might be next on my list of things to do. taking that oil cooler off might be a bit further down though, or at least until im sure it runs well.

anyway, iv replaced the spark plugs and the car started up right away...for about a day. now it wont start but i think its just the battery.

the reason the battery might be low is because iv been using the lights a lot without the car running. it seems the back right break light is not working. there is one less wire on the right then on the left, is this a manufacturing mistake or is something wrong. the turn signal and basic lights all still work, just not the right break light. iv replaced all the bulbs.

PS: has anyone put automatic windows and locks on there corvair yet, not really important but would be neat.

[thetommy1903]

so i have found a corvair club in my area and would like to go to a meet when im a bit more comfortable with my vair. but knowing im not the only one in the phoenix area is nice.

so im working on a leak that seems to be coming from the oil pan and im thinking about replacing the gasket, but my transmission fluid seems to be getting really low really quickly, could it be that the transmission is leaking and it just drips down to the oil pan.

[bbodie52]

If it is automatic transmission fluid, the color should help to indicate the source. Perhaps a thorough degreasing and cleaning will help you to locate the source of the fluid. If you have a bad seal around the torque converter the fluid could be accumulating in the aluminum housing and running down around the oil pan. If the torque converter is the source of the leak, there is no easy fix. You would have to pull the power train and separate the engine from the transaxle.

I've attached a couple of sections from the Corvair Chassis Shop Manual for you to look over. Hopefully they will help point you in the right direction. Recommend you go to a Corvair club meeting and discuss these issues with some experienced Corvair owners. Hopefully they will be able to offer some guidance. Why wait?

[thetommy1903]

thank you for the link. i will be going to the next corvair meeting...even if i cant drive the vair to it.

so i have been cleaning out the engine and it seems to be just oil leaking. its yellowish black and the transmission fluid iv put in is red. im almost positive now that its the gasket around the oil pan. now to do the possibly super messy task of replacing it.

maybe the transmission fluid is somehow getting to the same point and that's why its low. ill know for sure after getting the oil fixed.

drove it on the road today and it seems to run a bit rough. i believe some after market exhaust pipes were put on and it sounds like a bad motorcycle. ill be replacing them soon because they are rusted out anyway. but it goes and it stops, that's about all i need for now. changing the timing i think would help but i don't think i can do that myself, or checking the compression ether. might have to find a pro for that.

(ps: having it sandblasted and primer coated to stop the major rust soon, will post pics when its done alone with pics of a nice clean engine.)

[Leon Tombong]

hi and sorry for the late welcome!

[thetommy1903]

hi!