1966 Corsa Convertible Transformation

[jtvairs]

On the road again!

Just when we think I have a favorite convertible to keep forever, SOMEONE comes along and has to have it. So I found myself parting with my gorgeous 65 Monza 140hp 4 speed red convertible with custom silver interior. I should have my head examined. With sellers remorse, I thought about not replacing my 'love', but that didn't last long. I said the next convertible would be a '66 Corsa with a power top. I wanted a clean slate for a color transformation so when John found the white Corsa with the 795 interior (black with white vinyl), off we went.

The car shows 27000 miles, the engine, transmission clean and tight. You could see signs of an older restoration and a couple of soft spots in the floors. We wouldn't know the extent of the problems until the car was opened up. We drove the car from Skiatook, OK and it is a JOY to drive. Front end had been rebuilt, new power top mechanism, it was a kick to find out that the car had once been owned by the Prosise family right here in our IA club, traveled to Arkansas, to Oklahoma and now back to IA. From what we can determine, it is entirely possible it is a low mileage car, but the body was to have some issues.

Completely disassembled the car, took out the interior and prepared to assess the situation. Decided it was easier to install new floor pans than to patch the ones that were there. Someone had coated the undercarriage with cosmolene, which required about 3 days of hard labor to get it scraped out of the wheel wells, undercarriage, it was EVERYWHERE! It was dirty-sticky work! It would later give our welder fits as it caught fire when he was doing the rust repair! Our body man has access to a fabrication shop that makes rocker panels, so we decided although they weren't terrible, it was easier to install all new rockers. Little did WE know!!! This project is a TRUE rescue!

As the work went along, I assumed that I would paint the car red, again. I love red convertibles but asking around, NO ONE wanted me to paint it red! "OVER DONE, Been there, Done that" is all I heard! But, But, I LOVE red! So, started the dilemma, if I can't have RED, what WOULD we choose? My friend Connie even created a facebook poll where people could bet on the choice. It didn't start out to be a secret, but I decided to not reveal the color. No, not because it was a secret, but because I truly could NOT decide! The night before the paint was mixed I was down to 2 finalists for the color. It was then we decided to reveal the car when it's complete.
The first weekend of March finds us putting the seats together, recovering the arm rests in the back and getting ready to put the interior back in.
Yes, the car is painted, it's beautiful. But before we reveal the finished product, here is a little of what we've gone through in the past few months.

[Scott V]

The car shows 27000 miles, the engine, transmission clean and tight. You could see signs of an older restoration and a couple of soft spots in the floors.
Front end had been rebuilt, new power top mechanism, ..............
it is entirely possible it is a low mileage car, but the body was to have some issues.

w/only 27k miles on the car would it need the front end rebuilt a new power top mechanism & a previous restoration?

looks like its going to be another nice jtvairs vair.

-Scott V.

[Nickshu]

Awesome work! Mine is in progress (see my restoration thread). Funny about the RED color. My Spyder is currently "resale red" painted by the PO. I was at a local Corvair club meeting, talking to a couple guys about my planned restoration, they all asked me what color I was painting it. When I told them I would be taking it back to the original Silver Blue, they all said "thank God, the last thing we need in the club is ANOTHER red Corvair!". LOL!!!

[SSVairNut]

Certain things lead you to believe the low miles but of course anything is possible, all depends on how it was stored and used the last 48 years. At some point it was just a car, then just an old car. Driving needs were different then. When we say restored in this case I would imagine likely an original owner had an unhealthy body condition 'parade restored' meaning cleaned up on the exterior to make it presentable for occasional events and Sunday drives. There was lots of excavated rust even though it was coated heavily with cosmoline. These are some of the rusty areas that were repaired underneath. These are just a couple of pics uncovering structural areas, the strut in this pic was later fabricated, replaced....

[jtvairs]

All of it is subject to what the previous owners thought needed to be done. The last lady that owned it thought the power top was too slow, so she replaced the motor. She was a "parade" type, not really an old car enthusiast, so when something struck her, she had it done. The front end is another example. I decided to start this thread to show some of the processes we go through. Some cars don't require complete disassemble but in this case, it sure did. Like most of you, we have a lot invested in the car, but from this point, it should be good for another 48 years! We have the interior to put in and then.......wait for it.......the pretty photos! :-)

[Nickshu]

From what I have seen the LM's tend to rust out a lot worse than the EM Corvairs. I believe they used much heavier gauge steel on the EM bodies (maybe b/c it was GM's first ever unibody and they were scared it would not be stiff enough). That said, my EM has plenty of rust!

[SSVairNut]

Lets not start an Early vs Late thread since I am not so sure about that, perhaps just different areas rust. Kind of like different parts of the country have rust in different places than others. This shown area is usually affected by a plugged drain area, rocker, vent area, and bad/weak weatherstrips. People have different ideas of how rusty something is (always opinion based). This is near what I consider terminal, yet still fixable with new steel and modern rust products. Then again some think a light 'browning' and a couple perforations terminal and nothing can be done. Stuffing a rust hole with bondo or foam is not a fix in a critical area.

[jtvairs]

Ok, it's reveal day. Prepared a fun little video.... we took some video covering the car and after the work was finished, we pulled it off to reveal the new color. Fun. Not sure this format supports that, but if you're out on facebook you can probably find it.
Tropic Turquoise!~
Love the color and of course, you're never done with a car, but we're happy. Will join the Artesian Turquoise 65 Corsa coupe in the St Patty's parade a week from Monday!
Happy Trails, stay tuned for the next project. There are a couple more on the agenda.....

[MBlaster1]

Great choice love the combination.

[Bobby65]

I LOVE that color combination, i dont think i have ever seen that color on a vair before!

[SSVairNut]

A few pics during paint process