Corvairs forever in S A

[Sparovair]

Hello from Brian Sparrow in South Africa my first Corvair was a 1960 700 light grey and white with red and white upholstery bought in 1961 from a doctor in Pretoria (pic 1)
My home and birth place is Johannesburg, 3 years on I had a bad front end bash,righting the car off, BUT found a back yard panel beater, who cut the front section off, and married a new front section from a donor car, fantastic job done,( pic 2 3 4)I resprayed the Corvair Gun metal grey,and now looking like new again married in 1996 (pic 5 6 7 )(and not to steel any thunder from Henty, I also went on honeymoon in my CORVAIR to a small coastal town Margate on our south coast. (pic 8)
The car was in daily use, until my job allowed me a company car, the CORVAIR was left parked in the basement of our flat, and used only over odd week-ends.
Then came the '62 Monza 900 (pic 9) this had been imported from Zambia, the only one I had seen, except for pictures from the Corsa Communique magazine This I subscribed to from 1996 to today and have all the copies filed, looking over them from time to time.
The picture no. 9 is at our house in Kensington Johannesburg TJ 82155.
Then another unfortunate accident I drove into a culvert where road works were being done smashed the front end. So I had the car re-painted Yellow (pic 10)
BUT at this time things at home were falling apart, divorce was eminent, I parked the '62 CORVAIR Monza in our back garden under a large willow tree for a further time, think it could have been 10 years, gathering some serious rust.
The next (pics 11 12 13) are of the engine bonnet, back end and engine,buy the buy I had fitted 2 x twin choke Webber side draught carburettors, it was quite a runner.
My Nephew Quintin @ 7 years old always said that one day I should give him the car, because it was so beautiful and unusual, so having lost interest, in a weak moment gave him the car, and he set about re furbishing.(pic 14 15) These pictures were taken @ The Piston Ring Car club.
After a few months of driving the car he wasn't happy he complained the car was slow and because more work still had to be done, and that he wanted to sell (over my dead body) so home it came again.

More of this story to follow with the pictures as listed 1 - 14 Then came the '65 CORVAIR monza

Regards,
Brian Sparrow

[azdave]

Welcome and thanks for the pics and introduction. It's always good to read about owners and their Corvair history.

[bbodie52]

Welcome, Brian, to the Corvair Forum! Great story and pictures!! I've heard the term: "Shade-tree Mechanic", but I had to laugh at "back yard panel beater". The outcome looks like he is a person with real talent!

I really enjoyed your interesting written and pictorial history of your life, with Corvairs deeply embedded in your biography.

I also started married life by dating, marrying, and going on a honeymoon in California in our 1962 Monza (photos taken in 1972-1974, the last in Warner Robins, Georgia with our 1965 Corsa convertible).









The presence of Corvairs seem to persist in your life... the common thread! I have had Corvairs in my life since I was eight years old (1961) through age 60, and still going.

I worked with a few of your pictures to try to clean up some of the fading and age. I also posted some of them on the Corvair Society of America (CORSA) Facebook page, to invite others to come to the Corvair Forum to read your story.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/118663409016/

So far the photos have been getting a lot of attention and "lLikes" on the CORSA Facebook page!

Before...

and After...

Black and White (Sepia)...

I look forward to hearing more from you. Again, welcome!

[Sparovair]

Next story"Then came the "65 Corvair Monza 4 Door" Being a member of The Piston Ring Club I was always on the lookout for CORVAIRS, at one meeting a car arrived it was a '63 convertible Monza Spyder, tried to persuade him to sell no way this car is never going to be sold, apears he had a collection of golden oldies and this was his favourite.
some meetings later a '65 CORVIAR Monza 4 door arrived it was White and looking quite shabby, well my daughter and I stood next to the car for a few hours waiting for the owner to appear, I made him an offer again not for sale, after all he had a hell of a bad experience at the Zimbabwe/ South African boarder, theatning to confiscate the car, papers were wrong
(this boarder between S.A. and Zim. is renown for import and mostly exporting of stolen vehicles)
After long haggling he Accepted my offer, my Jaguar XJ6 fitted with a manual overdrive gearbox and a set of triple SU carburettors in a very clean condition plus R2000.00. Only a small condition iI would have to fetch the wooden crate full of spares, what a pleasure !

[bbodie52]

I'm beginning to like 4-door LM sedans more and more! So now we are in suspense... did you find anything "special" in the wooden crate full of spares???

If you haven't seen the pictures, here is one of my favorite sedans shod with some nice BMW BBS rims...

[Sparovair]

Thanx yes the wooden crate had back suspension with drums '65, 3 speed gearbox, bell housings,2 sets of heads 2 sets of engine halves, torsion bars, plus plus, most of the '65 spares I swapped for spares with Gary (guru) needed for my '62 that I am rebuilding, (my pics of this project to follow) No money changes hands for spares it's all swap arrangements with the few collectors here in S A.

your 4 door is a beaut my '62 Monza will have BMW 235 45 17 wheels I await the adaptors,
Regards Brian

[bbodie52]

...your 4 door is a beaut my '62 Monza will have BMW 235 45 17 wheels I await the adaptors...

Sounds like something of a gold mine in Corvair parts. The barter system is alive and well in SA!

I wish that sedan were mine! It belongs to Dave Gilbert in Phoenix, Arizona.

See: New shoes on the 65 Sedan viewtopic.php?f=52&t=5093

If you read through the whole thread you will see more pictures and details about fitting the BMW BBS wheels to the Monza sedan.

I am looking forward to seeing pictures of your '62 Monza when it gets its "New Shoes". I have that same tire size on my '91 Toyota Supra Turbo. I am planning to fit some 16" rims to my Corvair Corsa convertible, with Continental ExtremeContact DWS (Ultra High Performance All-Season), Size: 225/55ZR16 tires. I had those tires on my Lexus GS460 and liked them a lot. They have excellent reviews and consumer feedback on the Tire Rack website as high performance, all-weather tires, with outstanding traction on dry or wet pavement. I plan to fit the same tires on my Supra when the old Pirellis wear out.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... mpare1=yes

Continental Tires (2).jpg (32.17 KiB) Viewed 2630 times

Continental Tires (3).jpg (34.93 KiB) Viewed 2630 times

[bbodie52]

Just so you know, with regard to the pictures you shared here on the Corvair Forum, I'm still seeing more attention and "likes" for those pictures appearing on the CORSA Facebook website every day.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2224315211/

CORSA members and Corvair enthusiasts are still discovering and enjoying your pictures a week after I first posted them.

[hentysnr]

Hey Brian

Good to see you have joined, work is interfering with my passion at the moment, I have made no progress in the last six weeks due to other pressures and feel quite frustrated. Glad you managed to "sort out" some stuff with Gary. This has been my whole idea with this "platform" that we have been granted and also for others to see Vairs still exist in sunny SA.

Keep up the good work, those where some SERIOUS exhaust pipes you had going there! I love the "turn-ups"

Kind regards
"Moeg geploeg"
Henty

[Sparovair]

yes thanks, dropped off the parts yesterday Sat and cpllected the piston and barrel from Andrew (Gary's cousin) seem to be a problem re my BMW wheels, 114,3 x 4 studs won't go into 120 x 5 BMW so have to resell these 17 x 235 x 45 x 17 wheels and tyres and re look for some 17's with the colsest 4 x 114 config

[Sparovair]

This is a pic of the '62 with the BMW 17's not fitted next to my BMW 635 csi and Corvair monza '65

[bbodie52]

That is some interesting custom bodywork you have on the side of your Corvair. Can you tell us a little about it?

EM Side Body Modification.jpg (57.57 KiB) Viewed 2424 times

It's too bad those BMW wheels won't fit your car. According to this website: Sizing Corvair Wheels and Tires http://autoxer.skiblack.com/tires.html, wheels for a 1986 - 1990 Acura Legend will fit, and I noted that there are some listed on eBay with the desired 17" diameter and 4-lug bolt pattern. Would this help you in South Africa?

The offset for the wheels below is specified, but the backspace measurement is not. There is a great deal of wheel interchange information on the above listed website. My reading indicates that 4½" - 5" backspacing is the desired range to fit your EM Corvair. But a 7.5" width may be too much, as indicated below...

Since the common lug pattern for GM RWD from the 50's to the present is 5 x 4 3/4", lots of different wheels will bolt onto a late model. The pattern for earlies is uncommon among U.S. makers, but is common on RWD Mazdas, Nissans, and Toyotas. 14", 15", 16" or even 17" diameter wheels will fit on all Corvairs, but the width on earlies can't exceed about 7" because of two points of interference. On the front, the end of the steering arm comes close to the sidewall, and on the rear, the upper shock mounting point is close to the sidewall. Fitting quick steering arms may help the clearance problem up front, while some careful trimming may increase clearance in the rear.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/17-DRAG-DR44-4- ... 3173453%26

eBay item no: 400514673031

Model: DR44

Color: Black

Size: 17" x 7.5"

Offset: 42mm

Number of Bolts: 4

Bolt Pattern: 4 x 100 and 4 x 114.3

==============================================================================================

http://www.ebay.com/itm/17-DRAG-DR19-GM ... 4673031%26

eBay Item No: 171062022099



Model: DR19

Color: Gunmetal

Size: 17" x 7.5"

Offset: 42mm

Number of Bolts: 4

Bolt Pattern: 4 x 100 and 4 x 114.3

==============================================================================================
Image shows 5-lug, but listing says it is available in the 4-lug pattern...


http://www.ebay.com/itm/17-DRAG-DR19-4- ... 2022099%26

eBay Item No: 400514057747

Model: DR19

Color: Silver

Size: 17" x 7.5"

Offset: 42mm

Number of Bolts: 4

Bolt Pattern: 4 x 100 and 4 x 114.3

[Sparovair]

Hi Brad geee you are a serious source of information yes i will check the availability of these wheels thanx.
attached please find my mock up re the air scoop, the main reason is the car must have had a serious side swipe and the section was stretched quite badly so innovation " a boer (farmer makes) maak a plan , but an engles (Enlish) man already has a plan" this is an old South African saying, following pics are how.

[bbodie52]

Thanks for the information -- it might even inspire some EM owners to make similar custom modifications on their cars.

[Sparovair]

3Rd. part of my CORVAIR story, the White '65 Monza belonged to a Rob Stirling from Bulawayo Zimbabwe, because the paper work was wrong i had to get a police clearance to register, I remember the policeman standing in the front of the car to check the engine number, and how surprised he was to find the engine in the rear, he called more of his colleagues to inspect the car, the rest was easy, it was now a CORVAIR, no a Chevair !!!
Respray RED, carpets, seats recovered, new set of wheels a real good looker.
Around 4 years later some rust reappeared, and I had a slighe side swipe to the back fender so decided to re spray, RED again, and scored a set of 15 inch Rocket wheels. progress pics.

[bbodie52]

Now THAT is a good lookin' 4-door sedan! It is amazing what can happen when a Corvair ends up in the right hands!