Corvair of the Month October 2012

[jennirw]

The Sponsor is

Parts and service, in the Heartland of the USA
http://www.rafeecorvair.com
tel: 918-753-2486, available 7 days a week, no charge for advice

The winner this month will get a $10.00 Gift Certificate from Rafee Corvair.[/size]

[Goop Of Oil]

... if you only have a handful of pictures, submit the car anyway....

OK.

Here is my 1966 Corvair Corsa Coupe with Factory A/C in Aztec Bronze. Some old restoration pics, towing pics and some more recent pics.

Working on interior.

Working on engine.

Clean up.

Car show.

Same car show.

Towing a 1965 Corsa Coupe.

Home safe.

More recent pic when Sam came up to get the 1/2 Corvair front clip from me.

Now, as it's been heard said to say, that's...

So vote 4 me, Sumtime this month!

The engine is out now and finally getting some work done on it after it broke a piston ring with around 100,000 miles put on a fresh rebuild back in the 80's. It's in the same hands now that did it then. Jack did the machine work and assembled the jugs and block and I painted all shrouds and bolted it all together and put it in, and that is what you see in the engine pic above. I am still looking for a job and cant' wait to get back to work and drive a Corvair again. I hope the engine will be done at the same time as I get back to work, but if not, at least I will be able to save up for the gas.

Thanks,

[JasonC]

Where in Maryland are you?

[corvairnutt 1969]

Here is my 65 corsa turbo!

[reidmier]

Here's our 1965 Monza 110 PG for your consideration. This is a daily driver, averaging 1,000 miles a month for the past two years. Comfort mods include Chrysler Sebring seats, 15" Olds wheels, mechless stereo & cruise control.

[ncwitte]

Reid, the Olds SSIIs look very nice on that car.

[bbodie52]

Reid,
Love the body color and the wheels (for obvious reasons, if you look at my own 1966 Corsa convertible below). Would love to see the engine compartment and cruise control installation that you mentioned, and some detail photos of the interior with the custom seats and sound system, if you have those available. Good luck with your entry!

[reidmier]

Thanks for the interest. The interior modifications were made primarily for comfort, not appearance.

Here are a couple of pics of the seats and center console.

The mechless stereo is an el-cheapo $45 Dual unit. It uses SD cards for media storage. When turned on, mine randomly plays songs from the 1965 top 100. I insulated the firewall area with FatMat and recovered it with some carpet material. I used a pair of 6x9s in back and a couple of 4 inch speakers mounted into the stock speaker grill up front. The stock Delco AM radio is still in the dash.

The cruise control is a Cal Custom unit that didn't require magnetic pickups. I used 6 conductor trailer wire from the cabin to the actuator, which left me with a couple of spares for later projects.

[bbodie52]

Thank you for the additional photographs. At 1000 miles per month, I would say that your 1965 Corvair definitely qualifies as a "daily driver"! I was curious about life expectations for the average automobile, so I did some research:

Average Car Life Expectancy

The life expectancy of a car is mostly calculated in terms of miles covered by the automobile. However, range can be different for different vehicles. Average lifespan for a car in general is between 165,000 and 200,000. As per the US Department of Transportation, on an average, automobiles have a lifespan of just over 13 years. The standard specification for mileage given by the department is 145,000.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/car-life-expectancy.html

At an age of 47 years, and still being driven about 12,000 miles a year, I would say that Corvairs, and yours as a good example, are certainly an exception! Good to see your Corvair has been kept healthy and that it it is seeing a lot of use!

At 1000 miles per month, the comfort features you have added, such as the improved seats, center console, steering wheel cover, sound system, and cruise control, make a lot of sense. The pictures tell a lot! Good luck in the Corvair of the Month competition!

[Scott H]

Keep voting.
Next month is Corvair of the Year then the 2013 Calendars will be ready.

[TikiRalf]

My vote is in :-) !

[Goop Of Oil]

Here are two recent pics of what I did for the backseat area. Looked better when the carpet was new and matched. What do you think? Should I just put in new carpet this time around, or put a stock rear folding seat back in?

[Crazy George]

Nice cars up this month, Lucky the power is up here in the north east to get my vote in. still in the back ground and around. Heading up north again for the last moose hunt. But I just cast my vote and I like them all but I had to give it to the blue baby this time. I thnk that each car has alot of plus's Good luck. Back to packing and be back soon.... Crazy George

[Scott H]

Here are two recent pics of what I did for the backseat area. Looked better when the carpet was new and matched. What do you think? Should I just put in new carpet this time around, or put a stock rear folding seat back in?

I think I would go with the stock seat back in.

[bbodie52]

Congratulations, Reid M, on your successful entry and win for the final Corvair of the Month competition in 2012!

Did you use your "daily driver" Corvair for that long 1225 mile trip from Washington, Utah to Kansas City? That would certainly add significantly to your already-high monthly mileage average!

Again, congratulations on your win -- and by a significant margin! Time to take your Corvair out for a commemorative tribute to celebrate with an oil change and a good wax and polish!

[reidmier]

Brad - Thanks a bunch! I'm not sure which trip you're talking about. When we moved to Utah, I drove the Corvair 1,225 miles in two days and loved every minute of it. I took the I-70/I-15 route and the only failure along the way was a windshield wiper switch. I went back to KC this past week for business, but chose to abuse a rental car instead of taking the Corvair. I just made it back yesterday after driving straight through (24 hours). The first thing I did when I got back in town was jump in the Corvair to follow my wife out to the airport and return the rental car.