Cfinley 65 Rebuild

[Cfinley2001]

Love your enthusiasm, but why not finish one before buying a fleet? It's very easy to get overwhelmed by too many projects and stagnate.

Unless you have infinite time & resources... but aren't you a student?

You make a fair point, but honestly I'm just comfortable with having lots of spare parts to work with.

Plus this stuff is theraputic for me, so once the garage is cleared out there's going to be a lot of progress every week.

[Project65]

As these experienced owners are suggesting, hope you don’t get yourself overwhelmed. Keep in mind the goal of getting one fixed up to your level of satisfaction and driving it. Caution about the condition of what you’re buying and matching it to your abilities. My project is extreme with a lot of repairs and I know I’m probably somewhere close to 300 hours into it, and it’s still a half-rusty shell. The engine rebuild alone will be thousands $$$. Good luck. We’re hopeful for the best and that you’ll enjoy driving them soon.

[Cfinley2001]

As these experienced owners are suggesting, hope you don’t get yourself overwhelmed. Keep in mind the goal of getting one fixed up to your level of satisfaction and driving it. Caution about the condition of what you’re buying and matching it to your abilities. My project is extreme with a lot of repairs and I know I’m probably somewhere close to 300 hours into it, and it’s still a half-rusty shell. The engine rebuild alone will be thousands $$$. Good luck. We’re hopeful for the best and that you’ll enjoy driving them soon.

Thanks John! I appreciate the feedback, and I should really track work time when I start the 65. I really need to finish cleaning out the garage, and then regular progress will begin. I may be a student, but it's not full-time. I'm dedicating myself to this, and potentially thinking about starting a classic repair and maintenance shop. But that's a pipe dream for the moment. Here's to hoping!

[Cfinley2001]

Hoping to make the transaction this week. I won't let this one slip by like I did the Corsa. I'm all in on this.

[Cfinley2001]

Finishing transaction Sunday morning, going to bring home my first Greenbriar

Sorry about the lack of any real updates, by the way. It's been a long few months.

[Cfinley2001]

Went out there again today, paid half, confirmed vins. I have a 1961 Corvair Monza Sedan with custom trim, powerglide, A/c, and 3/6 broken windows, as well as two Corvair vans. I'll send pictures now. I didn't want to post pictures until now just in case someone managed to get them under my nose. But I'm glad to say, I have them! (Just not brought 'em home yet, note some pictures are from a few weeks ago, too.)







Kinda hard to move my pictures around, so sorry about the lack of really good ones. I'll get that sorted out with Imgur later. Till I post again!

-Cfinley

[gbullman]

You are really jumping in with both feet!

Owning a classic car is a hobby to me that both my wife and I enjoy. We enjoy many rides together and I also enjoy most of the maintenance activities. For about 4 years I owned 2 classics and found it was hard to drive the least fun car enough to keep everything in good shape. The least fun car (1955 Chevy 4 door, 265 V8, Powerglide Transmission) had strong sentimental ties for me but just wasn’t as much fun as the 79 MGB.

They are both gone, replaced with my Corvair Convertible which saw more miles last year than either of the previous 2 classics ever did.

Just giving you a heads up that all cars, especially classics do much better when driven regularly. Getting fresh fuel, moving bearings, temperature cycles all keep things in good shape. Keep in mind you’ll want to drive all these cars when you get them road worthy or you’ll find you’re replacing some parts or rebuilding them again again for lack of use.

Certainly enjoy the hobby and savor getting these cars back on the road.

[Cfinley2001]

You are really jumping in with both feet!

Owning a classic car is a hobby to me that both my wife and I enjoy. We enjoy many rides together and I also enjoy most of the maintenance activities. For about 4 years I owned 2 classics and found it was hard to drive the least fun car enough to keep everything in good shape. The least fun car (1955 Chevy 4 door, 265 V8, Powerglide Transmission) had strong sentimental ties for me but just wasn’t as much fun as the 79 MGB.

They are both gone, replaced with my Corvair Convertible which saw more miles last year than either of the previous 2 classics ever did.

Just giving you a heads up that all cars, especially classics do much better when driven regularly. Getting fresh fuel, moving bearings, temperature cycles all keep things in good shape. Keep in mind you’ll want to drive all these cars when you get them road worthy or you’ll find you’re replacing some parts or rebuilding them again again for lack of use.

Certainly enjoy the hobby and savor getting these cars back on the road.

I actually intend to drive my 2 door 65 regularly when it's done, to the point of registering it as a normal road car, rather than as a classic! I appreciate the positive push I get on here, I'm certainly striving to get to work soon, just need to finish cleaning the garage... Soon.

[gbullman]

I actually intend to drive my 2 door 65 regularly when it's done, to the point of registering it as a normal road car, rather than as a classic! I appreciate the positive push I get on here, I'm certainly striving to get to work soon, just need to finish cleaning the garage... Soon.

Depending on the state that type of registration can be your best choice. I've registered all my classics with regular registrations due to restrictions that are placed on Historic Plates in NJ. In practice almost no Police Officers enforce the restrictions but there are a few areas of the state that are notorious for enforcing them. The last big hurdle to registering an old car with a regular registration went away when NJ did away with emissions tests for pre-OBD-II vehicles. I could probably get my Corvair to pass but it is better to not have to go through the hassle.

Basically I just avoid rain and salt on the road and will drive my car pretty much any other time. I have gotten caught in the rain a few times but take another car if rain is strongly forecast or it is actively raining.

I hear you on cleaning up the garage, that is on my to do list as well. Right now I don't have enough space around the car to do much in the garage. Will likely do a few driveway projects before the garage gets really cleaned up.

[bbodie52]

I use my 1966 Corvair Monza sedan as a daily driver in North Carolina and Georgia. These are the North Carolina inspection/registration rules...

Exemptions
Vehicles more than 30 years old are exempt from the annual safety inspection.

Antique Vehicles
Vehicles 30 years old or older may qualify for an antique automobile license plate​. Those vehicles with an antique automobile license plate are exempt from both annual safety and emissions inspections. Antique plates should be used for vehicles primarily used for exhibitions, club activities, parades and other public interest events.​

I have yet to understand the logic behind the exemption of 30+ year old vehicles from safety inspections. I guess it is assumed that old cars cannot possibly develop faults that would affect their safe use on the highways! Even my 1991 Toyota Supra Turbo is now exempt from annual safety inspections!

[gbullman]

NJ did away with safety inspections quite a while ago supposedly because of expense (NJ operates inspection stations that inspect your car for free). They continue doing emissions tests every 2 years but around 2015 exempted cars older than 1996 (pre ODB II cars). At the time they claimed only around 30K pre 96 cars were registered and it wasn't worth maintaining the emission analyzers for that few cars.

My 55 Chevy passed emissions 3 times (they made up standards from pre 1968 cars), luckily my 79 MGB never had to be tested (can't imagine it would have passed).

Per the law in NJ cars with historic plates are not to be driven at night, they should only be driven to or from education events, car shows or having maintenance work done. As I said in a previous post none of those restrictions are enforced in most of the state but there are a few towns looking to make some extra money that enforce them vigorously.

[Cfinley2001]

To what I understand, my 65, with normal Texas registration, should be fine just passing inspection. Which means I can fabricate my own exhaust, and use an EFI system, rather than the original system. Here's to hoping.

[Connors.conscience]

We’ve done a lot of discussing about Corvairs in the past and I was doing the first one to humor the lad. The first car is a little behind what I want to undertake and it will be a source of spare parts. The white one we are getting ready to put it in the garage to start it, but we have had some personal setbacks.

So I decided to revamp the plans. We’re going all in on the Corvairs. I want to start the ‘61 sedan first. The car is a barn find and has been in a garage since 1979. The interior is nice and it’s original paint and no rust. Just 3 broken windows due to vandals. It’s a Monza with AC, a really nice car that should clean up well. We will prepare it to be sold and raise some cash to do the 65 Monza coupe. That will be a patina rod that we will make safe and reliable.

The holy grail for me is the Greenbrier which I want to do a complete restoration on. It will likely take a few years to get it done. That leaves one van, which is an 8 door, to ponder.

To accomplish this, I’m selling my ‘70 Mach1 and 70 El Camino.

Again I appreciate the community supporting Connor. He is extremely motivated to get going and the delays have been with me. I’d still like to have and will continue to look for a late model Corsa with the 140Hp engine. I will become more active on the forum when we are settled and working regularly.

Here’s pictures of the 95 Corvan.

[gbullman]

Those are some plans! It can’t be easy to part with the El Camino (or the Mach 1 for that matter). From my experience your search for a Corsa should bring a lot of fun once you find it. My 66 is more fun than I was expecting and a really good looking car. I came from a 79 MGB and was concerned I was giving up some handling for more power and comfort. The Corvair will take any set of curves noticeably faster than the MG to the point I hit my limit on a ride with unusually empty roads.

Good luck with all you have going on. Hopefully you are able to,start enjoying these cars soon.

[Cfinley2001]

Finally an actual update: I plan on if not finishing the garage clean, at least blowing through a chunk of it on Sunday. I want to get the White car in the garage. That's the real big deal here. Will send updates as I go on. For now, sorry for the slowdown. Life's been hectic.

[gbullman]

Finally an actual update: I plan on if not finishing the garage clean, at least blowing through a chunk of it on Sunday. I want to get the White car in the garage. That's the real big deal here. Will send updates as I go on. For now, sorry for the slowdown. Life's been hectic.

Funny how life tends to get in the way of your plans, hope you have a productive weekend!