'66 Sprint Convertible resto aka "my first car/first Corvair"

[cnicol]

My life changed in August 2016 when CCF's Matt Nall posted a link to a '66 Fitch Sprint Turbo convertible for sale on ebay.

The first thing that came to mind when I saw the pictures on Ebay: "That could be my first car and first Corvair". As the day progressed and more details came out, it became clear it was "my" car, purchased when I was a Junior in high-school back in the Spring of 1971. It still existed, but it was in rough shape.

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Here's what it looked like when I owned it in my teens.

When I purchased this '66 Corsa in 1971 I appreciated all the Sprint options but it wasn't until decades later I knew how rare it really was. While unlikely I would have hung onto it for 40/50 years, I did regret selling it.

As the auction days counted down, excitement was building on CCF. Fellow CCF guys stopped bidding so I could be sure to win the auction. As it was, I had to step up pretty hard to get it, in fact I had to sell my freshly restored '60 Monza coupe to fund the purchase of the Sprint. Sprint? In addition to being a red/black Corsa convertible it's also a Fitch Sprint with many special Fitch components and of course some Fitch paint modifications. Remarkably, after being out of my hands for over four decades, all the stuff was still there and the car was not changed in any way other than the wheels.
If you care to read more, here's a link to the front end of the long "purchase" thread at CCF:https://corvaircenter.com/forum/viewtop ... 64#p883964

I did win the auction and the car was trucked from Oklahoma to my home in Idaho. All these years later I still had a few pieces from the car including a set of original keys. Guess what: The keys still fit! The reunion story made the front page of the local paper and then a TV interview.

The car needed complete restoration so I stripped the body and had it sandblasted to bare metal just before taking it to Cody Hurley, a good friend who happens to be a professional restoration body guy and an expert on '66 Corvairs.

20190607_170514 (Custom).jpg[/attachment ]The only rust was on the floor due to parking outdoors with a failed convertible top. Many areas of the floor were replaced using patch panels from an original floor. The bodywork was a total mess as stripping reveled substantial damage on every panel. Some panels had been repaired in multiple areas. Cody metal-worked everything possible. We found an NOS LR quarter panel because it was basically impossible to repair. A small section on the RF fender was replaced as well. [attachment=8]20220119_223846.jpg

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Since Cody was working in the evenings after his day at work, by mutual agreement the bodywork phase required about five years. Now it's all done and it has been back in my shop for assembly for about three weeks.

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I have the major components ready to go (suspension, engine) but I'm restoring other parts as I go.
The first projects are to load the tunnel, trunk, and front light areas.

As the project moves forward, I'll keep you all posted. Wish me luck!

[gbullman]

That is an awesome story, can’t wait to see the progress.

[caraholic4life]

I enjoyed watching the progress over the past five years and look forward to seeing it go back together.

[Aaron65]

It's been fun to watch the car's progress over the last few years. Congratulations on nearing the finish line!

[MtnVairMike]

Thanks for adding the wonderful story here too for those that may not be hanging out at CCF as much anymore.
Been following this one for years too!

[cnicol]

My assembly manual and I have made much progress!

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Kinda goes like this:
1) Pick something that won't have to be removed to install something else.
2) Find most of the parts
3) Restore parts, restore or replace correct hardware
4) Spend a day looking for the "one thing" that's missing
5) Install & admire

I've done a lot in the trunk: Restore and install directional lights, headlight buckets, headlights, harness, dampers, fill plate. It all takes time but the result is satisfying.

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Disassembled, repaired, painted and tested horns (that was fun)

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I'm a new fan of "Evapo-Rust". That stuff is amazing! Shown are seat tracks, before and after:

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The taillights were a remarkably large project.
1) Locate a couple of decent "wedding band" lenses
2) Ultrasonic clean harness, glass bead all electrical contacts
3) Glass bead blast housings, clear coat reflector, pale gold paint on back
4) Clean and polish "Pal" nuts and lens screws
4) New lens and body gaskets
5) New bulbs
6) Select and polish chrome rings

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Most of the exterior badges are now in place. They're about half original and half NOS. I couldn't save them all.
"Corsa" scripts are originals.

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The front suspension is just "roughed in" (held by two loose bolts). I'm going to take it out for installation of the steering column and fuel tank.

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With hundreds of projects and parts to go, "what's next" is easy: "Just about anything!" HaHa

[joelsplace]

Evaporust is the best! If you don't already know, don't use it on plated parts. I've had it react with the plating and make a hard black coating on the part.
That's really going to be nice when you are done!

[cnicol]

Busy weekend knocking out little jobs on the Sprint.
First was completion of the undercar brake lines. I bought the long one in the tunnel from Clarks (shipping was crazy!) but I'm making the rest myself. It's not that hard and I have all the right tools including an awesome hydraulic tube-flaring set.

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When I reburbished the rear lights, I tested once installed and with the exception of a backup lamp bulb, all was good. It dawned on me I hadn't checked the front lights when I did them earlier in the week. To my surprise, during testing none of the park/turn lamps worked and one high beam didn't work.

With a little checking, I found the common "no ground" issue. No surprise because the mounting brackets now land on good quality epoxy primer so there's little chance of them grounding. On the right side, I added a ground wire from a mounting bolt to the frame and all was good.

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I tried the same trick on the left side but grounding the mounting stud didn't do the job! The bulb socket, which is crimped 360-degrees to the housing, wasn't grounding. I see this all the time on early tail lights but this is a first for a late-directional. This side required soldering the ground wire to the brass lamp socket. All good now.

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Oddly, the headlight problem was a defective brand-new Wagner headlight!

My plan was to install the tank yesterday (Sunday), so I dropped the suspension. No big deal because it was only held by two bolts and nothing was connected.

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My tank-installation plans were thwarted by the filler neck. I knew there was a bunch of undercoating to be stripped-off so with a torch and putty knife, followed by a little solvent. it was ready to paint. A quick coat of "dull silver" and we were ready, well almost. That's when I discovered rust inside the filler neck. Oops. Overnight in Evapo-rust and another light coat of dull silver and we're ready for tank installation!

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[cnicol]

OK, we're up to Wednesday and guess what's still not installed? (The plan was to install it last Sunday)

It turns out you can't install the steering column firewall reinforcement with the tank in place so out came the tank and on went the reinforcement piece.

Then, looking at the reinforcement, it might be the steering column has to go in first so off came the reinforcement. Can't install the steering column without installing the pedal assembly first so... Install the pedal assembly, then the column, then the firewall reinforcement.

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So now I'm looking at the lower end of the steering column and realizing it's going to be much easier to install the speedo cable and the U-joint coupling with the tank out. Speedo cable was easy. As for the coupling, two cycles through all the crates and Voila, there's the bag with the coupling is but it's encrusted with mud and greasy on the inside. An hour later that's all cleaned-up but... umm... no snap ring and no clamp! How can that be? It was all stored in a zip lock bag No snap rings in my stash or Cody's so... Clarks is temporarily out of stock so... Call Steve Morton! Looks like the tank isn't going in today either...

[Scott H]

That's incredible that you got your first car back! I love this!
I know how happy I would be to have my first car back.
Thanks for posting the progress. Keep it coming.

[RexJohnson]

I just never got rid of my first car (65 monza coupe). My wife still has her first a 63 Chev pick up. That is the easiest way to find them by going out to the shop.

[cnicol]

I just never got rid of my first car (65 monza coupe). My wife still has her first a 63 Chev pick up. That is the easiest way to find them by going out to the shop.

Me too! Hahaha

And speaking of Rex... Today was the day to remove the temporary rear suspension and start putting the real stuff in. Thanks to Rex and his "RJ Tools" suspension bracket, moving the car around without an engine or transaxle was a breeze. That silver/grey frame between the rear trailing arms is one of Rex's inventions. Yay Rex!

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Next was to hang the trailing arms...

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This car has all the Sprint suspension mods, one of which is the supplementary "Aeon" rubber spring inside all the springs. I was able to source new ones so out with the old and in with the new.

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Once I figured out the order of assembly, they were ready to install! Yes, the stack is just a tall as it looks. It will be interesting to see if there's any clearance between the control arm and the bottom of the rubber spring.

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And here's how it looks in place. I'll probably move Rex's suspension frame (aka "contraption") to the new parts so I can put some weight on the springs and install the original rebuilt Konis.

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[joelsplace]

I've got that tool from Rex too as well as several others. If you ever have to work on your differential you must buy his tools. Night and day better than the Kent Moore ones. Thanks Rex!

[toms73novass]

Craig, The car looks amazing! The part your working on now is my favorite, like putting a 3d puzzle back together.

[cnicol]

Craig, The car looks amazing! The part your working on now is my favorite, like putting a 3d puzzle back together.

Absolutely Tom! I'm having a ball.

[scottymac]

Craig,
My first car was a Morris Minor 1000, so even if I were to find it, my joy wouldn't come close to equaling your's or Rex's. I'm only hoping you scheduled your vacation for the convention, so we can all appreciate your and Cody's baby!
Scott