Corvairs forever in S A

[Sparovair]

Going back to the 3rd section with some more pics of the respray, I found a set of 15 inch Rocket wheels and tires, my daughter looking on, turned 25 last month.

[Sparovair]

4th part of the story, the pic. is of the car @ Piston Ring, a similar pic was taken by an ex South African visiting from American, Mike Brittan, and an article he submitted to the Denvair News, "Rocky Mountain Corsa" May 2008 Vol. 34 Issue 7. He contacted me via Piston Ring and asked me to write an article, a further article appeared in the Corsa Communque Vol. 30 Nov. No. 4 April 2008. If anybodyis interested in reading these articles, I will be glad to copy and post.

Then Came the 2nd '62 Monza 900 bought from Danie Snyder who stems from Louis Trichart up in the northern part of South Africa, a person I met years before, some how he had kept my tel. no. and called to say he had a CORVAIR he wanted to sell, no engine or paper work, he sent pics. and we confirmed a price delivered to my house.

[Sparovair]

So began the stripping of the Red Monza ex Danie, this car was in a better condition than my '62 Silver Monza, so the project changed to Red, a hot rodding mate wanted the Silver car we made a deal re price, but he had no space at his work shop, could I keep the car till he found some ? Yes from me no problem. (he was going to fit a V8 and rod the car) a year later he never came up with the money or found the space. Enter Gary (Guru) he had a mate in Grahamstown "who would almost give his life for a coupe Monza" and I should look at keeping the Corvair original, my second deal was done Henty and his wife collected the Corvair in February 2013.

[Sparovair]

Well I must say been busy but will play catch up, after spraying around 5 coats of Red let the paint rest, a few days later on inspection saw a palm print on the back side of the car, puzzled, scratched with my thumb nail to find the paint although dried, for days came off ?????
called in a paint expert, 2 types of paint were used, and the hardener, seems was not enough......................... hell what a shock all that prep and money spent wasted, the spray painter disappeared and has not been seen since.
Soooo next to remove all the paint and start again, never mind the time and money,had to carry on, pics to follow:
Brian sparovair

[Sparovair]

on the way to another spray shop

Used wood chisels to remove the paint (must be a first ever) then flat down almost to metal, wheels also became a problem BMW 5 stud won't go into 4 x 114, so sold the wheels sadly and looked for some that would fit YES a set of 17's 114 x 4 BUT too deep off set wrong had to have spacers made, let me say you CORVAIR lovers in U S A have it easy, any way pushed on regardless.......

[rowin4]

Yes sir , that is the first time I have seen paint removal on a car with a wood chisel. That is really to bad as you said all the prep work and expense are now on the floor. It's going to be harder to finnish now than before. Keep us posted on your progress.

[Sparovair]

thanx for your comment, sure must be a first, but it was rubbed down then off to the painter

[BIGTWIN]

I feel your pain. I had trouble with a painter myself when I had removed a previous paint job with a scraper then took it to a friend of my brother's and he put me through the ringer for the next 4 months, lost all the paint and clear, did a questionable prep job and sprayed it. I had to go back after taking my car away from him ($2500.00 later) and fix a lot of it then get someone else to spray it again. Lots of money down the tubes just trying to save some money. I could have just took it to a reputable shop and told them to do it all for what it ended up costing me. Just finish it up, move on, and don't let it spoil the Corvair experience for you.

[BIGTWIN]

Oh, and the red is looking good, the scoop is cool.

[Sparovair]

Thanx for your comments, peeked @ BIGTWIN sadly so far away looks very nice, bit of information is my other Corvair '65 sedan Monza. stemed from "Plains Amarello" has a badge on the rear of the car, must have been imported into Zimbabwe, any where near you ? will post more pics of the progress this week

[Sparovair]

after collecting the CORVAIR from the paint shop and parking on the car port now to refit the handles, rubbers, lights etc, and preparing to fit the engine could not find the gearbox drive shaft, must have left it in and lost forever going or coming back, big panic sent messages to all known SA collectors Henty to the rescue he would part with the one out of the car I sold him last year, must replace some time (any one out there can help 4 speed '62 Monza ?pleeeese let me know)

[Sparovair]

The side shafts had to be drilled to fit longer studs, for the 25mm spacers made up for the new wheels TSW 17inch. asked the machinist to check the bearings, he removed these said both were finished, no problem..... BUT not available in SA, tried all bearing agents, then to Clarks yes they had but only 1 set R 11.25 = $ 1.00 @ $ 265.00 plus, so back to our SA people Gary (guru)came to the rescue he at that time was preparing to go to Argentina with the Ford team for the Dakar rally, posted the next day, shafts sent back to the engineering co. for drilling and at last fitting new wheels to move the car into position to fit the engine Yaaaaaaah

[bbodie52]

That is turning out to be an impressive South African custom 1962 Corvair coupe!

Your tales of hardship, lost components, and worn parts and the difficulty in obtaining replacements in South Africa reminds us once again how fortunate we are in the USA to be able to resolve such supply and parts problems much-more easily. But in S.A. I guess it is success through perseverance and determination. The loss of ANY Corvair component in South Africa can be a nightmare experience! It seems that the S.A. Corvair "stash" of spare parts has come through for you more than once!

You should consider posting an entry in an upcoming Corvair of the Month competition with your '62 coupe. Retell your story and combine your previous chapters and post lots of pictures. Your efforts deserve some special recognition. And don't forget to vote in the current Corvair of the Month competition. There are many entries that deserve your consideration.

INPUT SHAFT — 1961-1963 4 Speed — Length: 23¼ Inches, 0.655 Inch Diameter, 12 Splines

If the gearbox drive shaft you mentioned that was missing is the input shaft, Clark's Corvair Parts had a batch of strong reproductions machined, but they are somewhat expensive...

http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog ... ge=OTTO-27

Part number C5978: 61-63 4 SPD TRANS INPUT SHAFT USED=CU131-*!!*IF OUT SUGGEST NOS=CX2214

Weight: 5 lbs 0 oz
Catalog Pages(s): 128,OT,27
Price: $ 229.15

Clark's also appears to have used input shafts in stock at a much-lower price...

Part number CU131 (Used): USED 61-63 4SPD INPUT SHAFT SEE PG TECH-13 FOR LENGTH, ETC

Weight: 5 lbs 0 oz
Catalog Pages(s): U,19(11)
Price: $ 71.10

Alternately, you could contact the Corvair Ranch to check pricing and availability...


http://www.corvairranch.com/

[BIGTWIN]

Car turned out great. I really like the red with the scoops and the wheels. Really nice looking car.