new guy with his new ride

[ryanlackey87]

Hey guys I'm am picking up tomorrow a 1964 Corvair Monza sedan with 24k. It runs and drives but has a leak in the brake lines. I am the third owner. I know there are plenty of things i need to do put any advice on what I should do first certain seals that need to be replaced etc? I plan on flushing all the fluids. And fixing the brakes for now. Any advice would be great thanks!

[Swngaxl]

Hey, welcome to the forum, and congrats on your new car!

Beign with so few miles, if indeed it is 24 and not 124, it would be worth checking the push rod O-rings. Maybe they have been updated, but if not, you will definately want some vitons! So have a look inside the lower coolling shrouds, on the rear grill, etc. If it is oil covered, you will want to get this looked at. Also, if the heater works but you get the notorious blue smoke inside the car.

So, how has it been stored? If indoors, you are probably in good shape. If outdoors, you will want to check multiple places to make sure the water drains are not clogged with leaves. Inside the rear deck lid (under the louvers) is a good place to start. Also, there are drains on the sides, under the car just forward of the front doors. These drains are for the vent area at the base of the windshield, and they catch all sorts of stuff.

After that, you may want to check heater hoses, and their connections. The heaters put out plenty of heat, when everything is connected and not full of leaks!

There are many more things to look at down the road, but those are a few you can check quickly. Well, the O-rings are definately not a job for the squeamish, but everything else is just a pleasant TLC type job.

There are plenty of pamplets around with tips on solving oil leaks. I think after 50 years, the good folks who love these cars have finally figured them all out!

[bbodie52]

Hey guys im am picking up tomorrow a 1964 corvair monza sedan with 24k . It runs and drives but has a leak in the brake lines. I am the third owner . I know there are plenty of things i need to do put any advice on what i should do first certain seals that need to be replaced etc ? I plan on flushing all the fluids. And fixing the brakes for now. any advice would be great thanks !

Welcome to the Corvair Forum! Since you are new to the Forum I would like to encourage you to tell us a little about yourself. Where are you located? Do you have any prior experience with Corvairs or other classic car ownership?
Do you have experience as a mechanic, and do you have access to tools and a place to work? Pictures of your new Corvair would be great, so I hope you will take the time to post some photos of your new acquisition.

Local face-to-face contact with other Corvair enthusiasts can be helpful and can increase your enjoyment of your Corvair. Participation in Corvair club-sponsored meetings, picnics, car shows, competitions, etc. can be a lot of fun. If you are not familiar with CORSA, I would recommend that you check out the CORSA Web site and the following link to see if there is a local chapter in your area. If there is, joining such a club and socializing with other Corvair owners is a great way to increase your knowledge about your new Corvair quickly.

CORSA (Corvair Society of America) Chapter Locator
https://www.corvair.org/index.php?optio ... crmSID=3_u

You were not clear if the leak you referred to was in the steel brake lines, the flexible brake lines, or the wheel cylinders or master cylinder seals. Even if the mileage total you quoted is correct (which may be suspect with an almost fifty-year old car) brake fluid can form a build-up of water content over time and can cause corrosion from within the aging steel brake lines. Aging rubber seals within the master and wheel cylinders can form leaks, and the inside walls of the cylinders can corrode. The flexible brake lines at each wheel can form cracks and can also decay with time. Flushing the brake system and replacing the fluid is a good start, but if your existing brake system is already leaking, you must be cautioius concerning hidden decay caused by age and contaminated brake fluid. A burst brake line gives no warning! You just end up with a pedal to the floor -- sometimes at the most inopportune times! Such an occurrance is even worse with most Corvairs, since until 1967 they only had a single master cylinder. You might consider a conversion kit that allows you to retrofit a dual master cylinder, which became mandatory on all cars in the late 1960s and after. A dual master cylinder can provide the driver with at least some protection, because it separates the front and rear brake systems so that, in the event of a leak or burst brake line at one end of the car, you still have some limited capacity from the other end.

If you are replacing a burst steel line, all lines throughout the car may have suffered internal corrosion. Replacing them is a bit of a hassle, but the cost is relatively cheap insurance to protect your car, yourself, and others. I'm not sure about routing the steel brake lines, since I've never done that on a Corvair (yet). But as you will note, the information from the Clark's catalog pages does indicate that "SOME lines require removal of gas tank or rear suspension members".

Here are some tool tips that might help you with removing difficult brake line fittings.

When disconnecting steel brake lines, it is often best to use flare nut wrenches, as shown in the picture below. You cannot use a box-end wrench, because there is no way to get it over the brake line. Also, a standard box-end wrench is a 12-point design that grips only the corners of the fitting. A flare nut wrench, like a six-point socket, uses fewer flat surfaces that provide a better grip -- distributing the pressure more-evenly on the fitting surfaces. And a standard open-end wrench may slip and damage the flat sides of the brake line fitting. A flare-nut wrench provides the best-possible grip and is least-likely to round-off or damage the brake line fitting.

by azdave » Tue Jan 15, 2013 8:44 am

I've had great luck with removing nasty brake line fittings by using a Vise Grips Brand 7LW. They also work well when someone before you has buggered up the hex nut.

These come in three sizes but I use the 7LW the most. Around $12-$15
https://www.amazon.com/Vise-Grip-Lockin ... B00004SBBD

========================================================================
CLARK'S CORVAIR PARTS ONLINE CATALOG

Clark's Corvair Parts online catalog offers pre-bent brake lines starting on page 149, as follows...
http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog ... N&page=149

http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog ... N&page=150

http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog ... N&page=143



To get pricing and ordering information, click on any URL above to go to the Web page. Then click on any part number for pricing and availability information.
========================================================================
If you need factory shop manuals and other technical references, here are some links that will allow you to download these references at no cost in Adobe Reader (.pdf) format. If you do not have Adobe Reader on your PC, it can also be downloaded at no cost on the Internet to allow you to view/print these references.

Downloadable Corvair Shop Manuals, Parts Manuals, Service Manuals, etc.
http://1969corvair.com/techpages/Corvai ... Index.html

Early Model Corvair Shop Manual & Other Useful Manuals
http://www.corvair.org/chapters/corvanatics/manuals.php

Again, welcome to the Forum.

[cad-kid]

Welcome!

[flat6_musik]

First of all, welcome to the forum, Ryan! I guess you'll have to prioritize what you want to do according to the car's needs vs. your energy level and motivation. You could yank out the motor and do a full reseal (and trans input shaft seal) if you're feeling super-peppy! But a oil pan gasket, valve cover gaskets (and valve adjustment too while you're in there) and possibly push rod tube O-rings should be good enough to wear you out for now. And also attention to the carbs' condition wouldn't hurt either.

Oh, did I mention at least eye-balling the points' condition/point gap and ignition timing?

[ryanlackey87]

Soo i have good news and bad new. GOOD NEWS. brake lines look good its a brake cylinder in the rear passenger drum and i already planned on replacing all of them so thats not a problem. BAD NEWS My engine is covered in oil when i looked under the rear of it. So should i plan on pulling the motor to fix this problem ???

[bbodie52]

BAD NEWS My engine is covered in oil when i looked under the rear of it. So should i plan on pulling the motor to fix this problem ???

Most oil leaks can be fixed without pulling the powertrain out of the car. One exception would be the front main seal at the front end of the crankshaft, inside the clutch or torque converter housing and behind the flywheel or torque converter flex plate. That would require pulling the powertrain and separating the engine from the transaxle. Most other leak sources can be fixed with the engine still in the car.

You need to determine the source of the oil leak. You might start with removing the lower sheet metal shrouds to expose the underside of the engine, push rod tubes, etc. A can of engine degreaser and some high pressure water spray (perhaps a coin-operated car wash) should help with the degreasing and clean up process. Then you should be able to determine where the fresh oil is coming from. The oil cooler has two rubber seals, for example, that can become "cooked" and hard, and permit an oil leak on the left rear of the engine, from beneath the generator/alternator (where the oil cooler resides). The push rod tubes are also a common source of a leak, as the rubber O-rings become brittle and allow oil to leak from the heads and engine cases. Of course, oil can leak from the valve covers and oil pan, or from the rear seal under the crankshaft fan belt pulley.

Once you clean things up and can spot the source of the leak, we can provide some help with the repair procedures. Let us know what you find.

[ryanlackey87]

My floor boards have some minor rust im looking to use POR on the floor to take car of it . Thoughts concerns ?

[flat6_musik]

Sure, if the rust is minor.....I would hit it with some Naval Jelly and a wire brush first, then rinse it off and let it dry. I've actually used muriatic acid before to remove even MASSIVE surface from sheetmetal but that stuff is so absolutely strong and overwhelming, I DON'T recommend it at all! One whiff of it can almost destroy your nose. It's bad-ass stuff though and it works awesome.

I also used POR-15 before on some windshield/rear window channels before I reinstalled the glass. I buffed out the channels with a die grinder and a small Scotch-brite pad to remove all the surface rust, then painted on the POR-15 and let it dry. It's a pretty good feeling to know you won't have to worry about it rusting again.

[cad-kid]

With any product be sure to follow the directions and use the recomended products. POR-15 works great if you follow the recomened procedures.

[ryanlackey87]

UPDATE 2/25/2013 got off work early worked on cleaning up my seats wipe down and some windex keeping it simple. started degreassing the oil pan and valve covers. And worked on cleaning the floor mats and carpet. running into some light issues . I believe my cam lock for the turn signals is bad i click into my right turn fine but does not click into myleft turn . Also i think my relay is shot also The one turn signal i have working passenger front does not blink and stays solid . gonna. step back from that and read up some more. any links or avdice would be awsome. WILL POST PICS SOON.

[ryanlackey87]

1964 chevy corvair monza 24k auto no ac

[Scott H]

Car looks to be a nice solid car.
Make sure the bulbs are good. Then make sure the grounds are good. I would replace the turn signal switch/cam unit in the steering column just under the wheel. Easy enough job and not expensive. That should fix your issues.

http://www.rafeecorvair.com/advanced_se ... f5&x=0&y=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ryanlackey87]

Soo work is slow so im back at it on the vair. Soi just pulled off the driveseide sheet metal shroud ."w/e" its called and found this . lemme know what you guys think im about to pull the valve cover . wish me luck .

[flat6_musik]

I'm about to pull the valve cover .....wish me luck .

LOL Sounds like "cover me, I'm goin' in!" I actually think that it looks pretty good, pretty clean. My spidey sense is telling me that the fins probably have a fair amount of leaves, dust & fuzzy oily junk clogging them up though. Might wanna consider cleaning them out too. Cool though!......diving right in!!

[bbodie52]

Two of the five visible pushrod tubes are wet with oil, but the others appear to be dry and clean. I would guess that this indicates that the source of the oil on the pushrod tubes is probably the rubber O-rings and not spillage from some other location. Of course if some of the rubber O-rings are leaking than you would want to replace them all. It is not a difficult job but it is time-consuming because of the repetitive nature of replacing all 24 of the 12 pushrod tube O-rings, plus the O-rings that reside under the rocker arm studs. The push rod tubes themselves are sometimes difficult to remove without damaging them, but Clark's Corvair Parts does sell a special tool that makes it easier to break them free without damage.

You will need a torque wrench to properly re-torque the rocker arm stud/cylinder head bolts. You will also need a set of half inch drive deep sockets (six point) that will fit over the rocker arm studs. If you decide to do this job, I would recommend reading through the procedure in the Corvair shop manual in advance. If you have any questions, let us know so that we can be sure you have a clear understanding of the procedures before you start.

There may be other sources of the oil leaks, such as the oil cooler on the left-rear side of the engine. Before you order gaskets, seals, O-rings, etc. I would recommend that you finish thoroughly degreasing the engine and removing both shrouds to ensure that you locate all of the oil leaks and order the right parts to fix everything.

When working on a Corvair engine, remember that many of the bolts are threaded into aluminum threads. Be careful not to cross thread these bolts and avoid over tightening them, because aluminum threads are easily damaged. The following Corvair Forum article will give you more guidelines to follow when working with an aluminum Corvair engine:

NEW MECHANICS: Engine Rebuilding & Maintenance Tips
viewtopic.php?f=225&t=4064

http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog ... AIN&page=4


http://www.corvair.com/gfx/tools-3.jpg