The Corvair addiction

[azdave]

No big deal but I thought I would share a few pics of my latest aquisition.
1966 Monza Convertible with 140 and Powerglide

My plans are to use it as a daily driver and not get all serious about it being perfect. It needs some mechanicals but nothing unusual. It needs a couple of seals for the engine and I heard a few squeak from the front suspension when I drove it to work today. I'll get around to some new seat covers later in the year. The top is in good shape but the weatherstrips are brittle. I have already de-gunked most of the engine and new o-rings are on the way to fix the pushrod tubes dripping.

[Mike J]

What a fun looking car you picked up Dave. A great looking daily driver.

Have fun with it.

[Phil Dally]

Looks great...liking the full length trim strip .

If you don't mind saying...what did you pay for it?

On a Vair trivia note...do you know about the 140/PG 4 degree retarded crank gear?

[azdave]

Looks great...liking the full length trim strip .

If you don't mind saying...what did you pay for it?

On a Vair trivia note...do you know about the 140/PG 4 degree retarded crank gear?

It was an impulse thing on ebay... I had just sold another car and had some cash so I was looking around and found it. I have bid on cars there before but never won any auctions since I usually bid lower than I think it will go for. This one was $5150 which I thought afterwards was maybe too high. I was offered more for it just last night so maybe not. They called again this morning to say they were still interested.

It has a FC block installed but everything else appears to be correct for the 140 (haven't check the distributor numbers yet). The two secondaries are removed and in the trunk along with the "X" intake runners. They blocked off the empty carb mounts with aluminum plates and gaskets.
Who knows what crank gear is inside. It sure seems to drive nice and keep up freeway traffic. I haven't driven a Powerglide since I sold my 62 wagon back in 83 (and it didn't have a 140 anyway).

There will be much more to evaluate and document in the coming weeks to see just what belongs and what may have been substituted or swapped through the years.

[Scott H]

5150?...thats crazy! lol

I think its a good price. Very nice looking car.
I am actually considering selling my 65 coupe to start over with a vert.

[Phil Dally]

SCOTT: P/M sent.

[azdave]

I did a few repairs this weekend like making the dual exhaust look even and general cleaning stuff. I shined her up a took a few better photos.

The PO had coated the INSIDE of the trunk with that cheap underbody spray tar coating and it pretty much had made the trunk an un-usable mess of sticky black goo and nasty stains. I had to strip that entire area, touch up some dings and then sprayed it with some self-etching primer. One night this week I'll re-shoot the spatter paint. Next weekend will be some engine cleaning and detailing inside the engine compartment.

Anyone have some cocktail shakers? All 4 have been removed from this car and long gone.

[Phil Dally]

azdave said...

It has a FC block installed

If you didn't know already.

GM replacement cases were F/C ready.

What is the stamped code on the case?

[azdave]

Here are the numbers. I haven't even decoded the body tag yet but I'm wondering if this came with a 140 or 110 from the factory. The engine top shroud looks like it used to have a fast idle solenoid mounted to it but this chassis never had A/C. Like most Corvair's I'm sure it's had a long line of mechanics working on it over the years.

I appreciate the information.

[Phil Dally]

Rick L on Corvair Center is really good at really accurate decodes.

[kbvair]

Sexy biatch. wow. Nice find.

[azdave]

So the last month I've been working on cleaning up the engine compartment and doing a re-seal of the gaskets.

Here are a few before and after photos. Yes, I know the engine block is from a FC. Yes, I know there are many things that aren't correct for stock such as the block off plates for the secodary 140 carbs. I have the extra carbs but I don't have the linkage or fuel lines.

This is a driver car, not a show car. 99% of the people who will see it don't know or care that it is not all original.

Now I am proud to show off the engine compartment. Next task...shooting the trunk spatter paint.

[Scott H]

Whoa . Nicely done Dave! The engine compartment looks top notch!

[azdave]

Whoa . Nicely done Dave! The engine compartment looks top notch!

Thanks. It took a lot of hours to dig out all the old brittle seam sealer and prep all the surfaces for paint but I'm glad I did it even though it will be used as a "driver" and not a show car. I like to be able to show off what's under the hood with a little bit of pride.

After taking some of it back apart again to fix a leaking front seal (rebuilt harmonic balancer had poor seal surface finish) I now have one more thing that showed up yesterday. When the engine is hot I hear one lifter clattering on the passenger side. It doesn't clatter when cold or when driven on side streets. It only clatters (not really loud either) when I've been driving for a longer period of time above 50MPH. After a few minutes at idle (when the temps fall a little) it is quiet again. I plan to reset the rocker nuts adjustment tonight with the "engine running" method.

[kbvair]

Wicked sexy

[azdave]

These last few weeks I have concentrated on being able to open the trunk without being completely embarassed. I don't even want to show you any before pictures. It was previously sprayed with a tar-based undercoating that had turning into a nasty liquid coating of dark brown goo that stained everything it touched.

I did hours of cleaning, moved the windshield washer refill bottle to a better location and also fabbed a new bracket for the right damper since that 1/4 panel had been replaced back in the 80's with one from a coupe. The car now has all 4 dampers installed once again. I made the trunk mat myself (and cut the front a little shy of the curve so I may redo that later). The spatter paint is Zolatone and I love it. It was so much better than the rattle can stuff I have used before. I also did a little zinc plating on some of the hardware to make it look respectable. I know there are parts here that aren't correct for a 66 but this is a daily driver for me and 99% of the people that will see it won't know or care.