63 Monza on the road after 51 years sitting idle

Post by **VairGrl Missy** » Wed Apr 16, 2014 1:54 pm

CORSAVAIR wrote:Pete, Great automotive preservation story! The only known brand new Corvair that is nearly dealer stock minus those few shock absorbers, spark plugs and lubricants, for your peace of mind. Pull into the Local Chevy Dealer for your 36 month 36K mile Protector-plate warranty service! Tell us how it goes! Also, if you get any recall notices when they type in your VIN! Nader will vouch for the service repair! Happy Motoring!

That would be a funny thing to do a candid camera type video!! Best post ever!!!!

Miss

DAVECS1 · Post by **DAVECS1** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 6:15 am

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am an avid car guy and my friends don't quite understand my corvair quirk but except it. This is one of the neatest car things I have had the chance to read in a long time. I applauded your talents in bringin this thing back to life. Your assessment and rectification, just seem to be what the doctor ordered for this gem. It is really cool to see one this new and functioning, I dream of this type of stuff when I work on my Vair, and wish I could witness an unmolested version, now I have! Thank you.

glass8775 · Post by **glass8775** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 10:05 am

AWESOME just bought a 63 Monza Convert with red interior so the pics are great to allow me to see what it should and used to look like

pete · Post by **pete** » Fri Apr 18, 2014 2:08 pm

Good afternoon, thanks to all for all the wonderful comments. I have pictures of just about every point of view for this original car. I will provide pic for any request, thanks and good day.

1966-Corsa-GT-180 · Post by **1966-Corsa-GT-180** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:54 am

Pete,
I'm really enjoying the documentation story of your months long "Dealer Prep"! This is a great opportunity learn what actually was involved with a new Corvair after it was driven off of the assembly line and prepared for shipment to a dealer.
Seems this one was just rolled off of the transport truck and into the back room and then forgotten about for decades. Truly incredible!
Your work with the cleaning is spectacular! I'm quite impressed that you have been able to revive the "Magic Mirror" finish to the acrylic lacquer.

I would like to invite you to bring your car to Tacoma this July for the "Corvair EXPO" - our international convention. This new pure stock Corvair would be a big part of our event, I assure you.
Our national club, CORSA http://www.corvair.org has an annual Concours event for the best of the best - your beautiful '63 Monza would certainly set a new standard in Factory Stock Original.

I'm curious about a couple details - I can see overspray of undercoating in a couple of the photos. Were the four wheel well areas the only area with the undercoating?
This was supposed to be a part of the stock build procedure, I've always thought. But some have said that this was done at the dealer level. If this car has it in place, I guess it proves it was done at the assembly plant, perhaps as a shipping prep assignment.
I'm also curious about how long those original "O" ring seals are going to last! The factory used nitrile rubber which deteriorated due to heat and caused the oil leaks that fouled the lower heater boxes and allowed oil droplets to then accumulate all over the back of the car and the engine. I'm betting they will last only a few thousand miles.
Much superior seals made of Viton are now available that eliminate that problem. They also are available to replace the rubber oil cooler seals.
Great to know that you are enjoying driving it around the area. Let's see some more beauty shots!!

pete · Post by **pete** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 4:52 pm

Hello Dan, the undercoating was only applied to the wheel wells, with some overspray on chassis components, minor however. There was also some overspray on the wheel well fender lip, over the white paint. The gas tank fill line was sprayed as well however there is some overspray in the filler door area, not sure how that happened, maybe the drain had not been installed at this point? I firmly believe this undercoating was applied at vehicle assembly, similar to other Chevrolets (Camaro and Corvette) of the time period.

I agree with the engine seals however there was no need to change these at this time as they are not leaking. I am watching these real close. All the rubber weather stripping is absolutely new condition, the original stuff was excellent when kept out of the weather and heat. All the glues and body putty are pliable and new condition as well. I will be adding to this topic this week with regards to the fuel and brake systems work that was completed. Thanks and good day.

bobs1962 · Post by **bobs1962** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 5:01 pm

Very cool. You are very lucky. Could you share with us the price you paid?

pete · Post by **pete** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 4:03 pm

Good afternoon all, today I will discuss the actions taken to get the fuel system back in working order.

Since this car had not run since new I knew that the tank and fuel lines would most likely be fouled and the fuel pump would need to be replaced. I was very surprised to find about 3 gallons of fluid still in the tank, I did get some drainage when cutting the rubber fuel line at the tank outlet. The "fluid" was dark red in color, somewhat thick and smelled really bad. When I opened up the tank it was fouled bad, but poking at it there was no rust. I took this and the filler to a local radiator shop to get cleaned out. After boiling out for a few days the tank was fully cleaned. When I got home I flushed it of any remaining "finds" and sprayed with WD-40 inside and out to prevent any rust till it was installed in car.

I then performed a fuel oil flush of the fuel lines (tunnel, fuel pump inlet and carburetor feeds) followed by air blows until I was happy with the results. All lines looked good when completed. This took about 5 days to complete. I then put a temporary fuel filter in the left fender well (soft spot) to monitor any foreign material transfer. After 2 months all is well and this filter will be replaced with 3/8" rubber fuel line as original.

I replaced the fuel sender and O-ring, fuel pump and filler rubber. Once all was put back together I did a final fuel flush discharging from the carb feed lines. The filter socks showed no sighs of foreign material. All together I spent about 2 weeks on this. brakes came next....

: new fuel pump, got this at NAPA, on the shelf and new (not NOS)

: tank on its way out, note undercoating, overspray and "blackout" of rocker bottoms

: note GM marking on inlet hose

: Not bad from outside, note undercoating "overspray"

: Looks bad but was completely cleaned out and in use today

: the sender and O-ring were replaced

: all parts original except sender and O-ring

: going back up, note wheel well undercoating and chassis paint

: final fuel flush from carb feeds

1966-Corsa-GT-180 · Post by **1966-Corsa-GT-180** » Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:07 pm

Thanks for the photos of the process - very nice documentation procedures.
I've noticed the undercoating on my 1966 Corsa is similarly over sprayed on installed components proving that the full front suspension and brake lines were installed when the job was performed.

Could you post up some more pics of the suspension and drivetrain? It will be interesting to see what colors various components were when new. I see some evidence that the front crossmember might have been originally painted black at one time, but rust is the great paint remover! On the photo of the rocker cover you've posted I'm quite surprised as how nicely preserved it is. Must have been coated with some protection when made. I see the top row of head nuts is rusted. Might want to put a coating of anti-seize or grease on them to preserve them. They get tough to remove after years of weathering.

Was there a battery in your car when you found it? Be great to see a new original from back then. It's cool to see the original Firestone Deluxe spare tire. BTW what kind of shape were the tires in after all these decades? Were they pliable when being removed from the wheels?

pete · Post by **pete** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 10:18 am

Good morning, yes the front cross member is painted black. The rocker covers are "natural" with yellow crayon markings on them (you can these markings in one of the pics). The lower body was also coated with appears to be zinc chromate primer prior to body paint. This was applied to other chevy's of the time period as well. I have provided some pics. My car did not have a battery however most of the other "new" Corvair's at the auction did, and I have a pic of that as well. The tires were flat in the dealer for many years but were aired up and held no problem. You can see the "crease" where they were flat for a long time. The tires came off the rims easily and are still pliable although they have a permanent crease where flat.

: original tartop battery from identical RED 63 at auction, this car was also in dealer all its life with 17 miles on ODO. It did have some dealer prep as antenna and front carpet were installed.

: tunnel with green primer

: original spare with green stripe and white lettering

: original rear tire with crease. The outside of rim was gloss black and inside semi-flat black.

: front cross member black with sightings of green primer

Post by **azdave** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 1:54 pm

bobs1962 wrote:Could you share with us the price you paid?

Googled it. According to the Lambrecht auction results the winning bid was $40,000 for this Corvair. I don't know if that included any additional fees.

Here's a pic that appeared in a Hot Rod article about the car and new owners.

1966-Corsa-GT-180 · Post by **1966-Corsa-GT-180** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:08 pm

Here is a photo I found online while doing some more reading about this wonderful "time machine"

That's gotta be Pete's Corvair in there, third from the left, right? Man, I get claustrophobic just looking at that photo!!

Here's a lonely shot from Old Cars Weekly's website:

Tough to imagine the beauty beneath all that grime! Pete has sure been good to that sweet little Monza!

pete · Post by **pete** » Fri May 02, 2014 8:59 pm

Good evening all, today I will discuss what was done to the brake system to bring it back to life.

When I purchased the car the brake pedal was stuck in the "up" position. Not surprised since the car had sat for 50 years. When I got the car home I opened up the master cylinder to see what the condition of the reservoir was. To my surprise it looked absolutely new but was empty. Where was the fluid. I would investigate this in about 2 months after the exterior cleaned and polished.

Now for the brakes. I jacked car up on stands, removed wheels and started to investigate. I pulled all rotors and no indication of brake fluid loss. Then checked all backing plates and there it was, the left rear backing plate and rim had indications of brake fluid loss from some distant past. Further investigation showed that the copper gasket from the flex line to the wheel cylinder had failed allowing the loss of fluid.

All brakes and rotors were absolutely new condition. The "self adjusters" would not move as the white grease has hardened. I removed all components, changed all the wheel cylinders and flex lines as well as the master cylinder. I flushed all brake lines through the flex lines until I was happy with results, then connected lines and completed bleeding. All steel brake lines were very clean, obviously very little air (oxygen) has gotten in the system. I used less than a quart of fluid to flush and bleed the system. This was the easiest part of the "return to service" of this 63 Monza. Some pics to enjoy.

: absolutely new, note rivets, yellow inspection mark and knockout plug

: original master cylinder. Never able to get piston out (not rusted), even with 100# air blow. Replaced with current service replacement

: as found condition, note undercoating on inside lip of backing plate and yellow inspection marker (for bolting). All wheels had this marking. Also note large brake pad to rear all wheels