Projects '65 Corvair Corsa resto (uh oh!)

So I picked up another project to get in the way of my '31 coupe! Well, I had an ultimatum of "take my car for free or it's getting crushed!". And when someone says that in regards to essentially the pinnacle of Corvairs (IMHO) you don't say no! So what is it? It's a '65 Corvair Corsa with the 180hp turbo engine and 4 speed trans. Red interior and exterior. The thing is... it's a complete basket case. The body is 99% stripped, and all the parts are in boxes. This is good and bad, good because I can see the body is nearly perfect and ready for paint! Bad because I don't know where everything is or if it's all there! But, everything has been cataloged in a book! Crazy. So the idea is to put it back on the road with my brother and his friend and split the profits. My share will go on to fund the coupe, my brothers his resto-mod '57 Chevy project.

Anyhow, here's some pictures!


The bare body shell sitting on the 'paint booth' floor. Tomorrow I'll build some adapters to mount it to a rotisserie that was used on my brothers previous '57 build (see here: http://www.trifive.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67276)


A nasty blurry picture of the pile of parts in the basement. Everything is here! Even the seats are in great shape, no tears except for under the backrest, which should be repairable. Many original parts in near perfect shape.


Another crappy cell phone pic. You can see the 140hp four carb long block and the 180hp turbo engine both hanging out in the back of the '70 Chevy plow truck. Also got two free engine stands and an air compressor, sweet!

Anyhow, if any of you guys dig Corvairs, watch this space!

 

Corsas were 140hp cars, the Spyder was the 180hp turbo car! Both are on my bucket list!

Many consider the 65-69 Corvair styling to be one of the best designs ever by GM! I tend to agree.

Hard to believe all those boxes fit on/in that shell!

 

I had a '65 way back in the day,the big plus was I was playing in a band and the backseat would fold down to get that big Fender amp in the back seat!

I also like the telescopic steering wheel,,actually a pretty good car.HRP

 

On a side note,who would turn down a free car? HRP

 

Cool score!! Along with the 140 long block you got at least a 4 barrel manifold, so lurking through the boxes you might have the rest for it too.

And the 180hp turbo was optional on the Corsa, the Spyder was the early model equipped with a 150hp turbo.

 

I don't see any pics? Nevermind, they didn't show up the first time. Nice save!

 

Cool... I've always liked Corvairs.

 

That's a major score! I grew up playing with these and turbo vairs. Be sure to get some good help reassembling the engine from a local Corvair club. The engines are a different breed and a Corvair mechanic will have lots of tips and tricks to save you time headaches and money. Feel free to ask if I can help. Can't believe they would think to crush a 180 Corsa....

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Wow. We should be closer. I was Corvair mechanic back in the day and could be of a lot of help. Know the power trail almost like the back of my hand. I remember a special teck trick for doing the starters. Reach up inside the fender well and disconnect every thing with out seeing what you were doing. It was a done by feel. Knew what bolt to remove, and what size socket to use, and out the starter came, and in went the new one, never seeing what you were doing. LOL Iceman

 

Thanks for the responses guys! I've got a ton of parts! I think I'll have lots of leftovers after I'm finished. Yeah, along with the 140 horse longblock I do have the manifold (er airbox?) as well as a holley adapter manifold. I'm not sure I'll even tear into the engine, I think a compression test and oil change along with replacing some seals, probably the pushrod tube seals, and it should run great (fingers crossed!). I can also grab a bunch of cases and heads from the guy but he said they were all the lower power stuff and not worth much more than scrap value.

So today I got the rear rotisserie mount adapted on. And cleaned up the seats a bit, mainly just to get the stinky old mold out. Any mold smell killing ideas? Tomorrow I should have the front rotisserie mount on and have the car spinning! Also I discovered some bummer spots, the PO warped some areas in stripping the paint off. So not quite as straight as I hoped for I guess


Passenger seat, totally useable!


Rotisserie! Seems nice 'n sturdy, shouldn't have any issues. Hell, if it held a '57 Chevy, it can hold a Corvair.

HRP: Can I have that big Fender amp now? haha I'm a guitar player myself as well. I'm currently in 3 different bands (GAH!) and have a gig tomorrow night. Although I rock the smaller amps. I've got a Gibson GA-15RVT with the tone control modified and bypassable. That thing ROCKS.

 

Cool score! Not to highjacked your thread but where are the vin and data tags located on this? Looked at one and couldn't find them.

 

They're in the engine bay, just like any other car... but the engine's in the back! haha VIN tag along the left of the engine, body tag off to the left along the back. There's also a hidden vin in the passenger fender well on a late model, drivers on an early model.

 

There is a guy here in town, that bought new turbo corvair's every year, he had them tweaked somewhere, they were all that dark blue.

I was with him in the 60's when he ate up a 62 ford 390 with 2 guys in it and we had 4 people in the corvair. Another fellow house builder, who had a new 67 mustang with 390GT package said he dreaded seeing that corvair behind him on the race track type road going home...he got passed at will by that corvair....I will say I have seen 132 mph in person before.

My ol mechanic who was head mechanic at Chevy said the first corvairs were not that good, but after a few years, they became well built cars as to mechanical problems.

Good luck with your corvair...

 

Wow! That's a cool story, I wonder what tweaks he made? The guy I got my car from has a weber DCOE with the shaft split to act as a vacuum secondary. He said that with that on his car it would easily trounce old muscle cars.

 

On a somewhat related subject.....A good book to read about Corvairs is "Assassination Of The Corvair" by Andrew J. White. It is a well written and researched antidote to that "Other" book by Ralphie N. It completely refutes R.N.'s allegations. Unfortunately, it's been long out of print, (printed in 1969), but it's worth looking for. I found my copy pretty cheap on Ebay.

 

Over the years, I've had a lot of cars pass through my garage, but the Corvair will always be here. Young kids still ask what kind of car it is and when I tell them it's a Chevy you can see their brain trying to figure it out. This picture is my 65 (photoshopped) converted to a 140 Corsa.

 

Corsas were available in 1965 & 1966.
They were available (only) with either the 4 carb 140 hp OR the single carb 180 turbo engine.
The were only available with either a 3 or 4 speed standard trans (no auto).
They came with more gauges than the Monza or 500 models.
Bucket seats were standard and bench was not available.

 

Thanks for the info guys! And nice car, firengine. We were thinking about doing this one in black as well.

Got it up on the rotisserie and started the rust repair.

 

Subcribed for the ride.
headed up the road in the am to look at a 65 corsa myself.

 

Great to see this restoration. My mother had a 1965 Corsa 140 hp convertible, all black. One of the cars we wish we had back.

That is she had it until my brother swift talked Mom and Dad into trading it in for a 1969 Chevelle SS hardtop, 396, 375 hp with a 4 speed. The old dear is now going on 102 and all you have to do is mention the Chevelle and sit back and listen to the memories.

I heard a few stories from the car guys in our area about the old lady in the Chevelle and how they were whipped badly.

Steve.

 

That is she had it until my brother swift talked Mom and Dad into trading it in for a 1969 Chevelle SS hardtop, 396, 375 hp with a 4 speed. The old dear is now going on 102 and all you have to do is mention the Chevelle and sit back and listen to the memories.

I heard a few stories from the car guys in our area about the old lady in the Chevelle and how they were whipped badly.

That's gold, right there!
I love talking to, or more to the point listening to 'old people' (I'm 51). They've been/seen/done so many things that we'll never get the chance to.

 

Woah! I forgot some pictures. My brother and his friend got the body worked knocked out, and sprayed it black! They did a killer job, it's dead straight. Yet to be wetsanded and buffed, but it'll be killer. Right now we're getting going on assembly. Headlights, taillights, trim, things like that.

 

Looking great, can't wait to see the finished project. 65-69 Corvair's have a beautiful design.

 

Very nice. Any Rod or Custom modifications planned?

 

Sorry sir but that is not correct... The Spyder disappeared in 1964 with the early body style. In 65 and 66 it was merely known as a 180 which was only available in a Corsa model

 

I love the 2nd series Corvairs, would make a great commuter car.
Had a 110 Auto for a year or so, even bought a 4-speed and all the associated linkages to put in it. But a buddy needed a car and loved that one, so I sold it to him for a slight profit, if any, and he proceeded to bang it up. But he did love it.
That baby handled great and was smooth as glass.

 

Looks real smooth!

 

Despite Naders reviews, The Corvair was a GREAT CAR! and in the proper configuration, they go like stink!

 

Naw, not for this one. Not enough time/money to go all out with this one. Besides, being that I plan on selling it, a stocker will appeal to a wider audience.

 

Long time no update. I haven't personally done much on the car, but my brother sure has! We've got the new wheels and tires on, not terribly hamb friendly but they look badass, so who cares? Also got the dash put together and the engine cleaned up. The wheels are American Racing 17x8 VN309's aka Torq thrust original.






The rear camber is fixed now, we hadn't found the proper camber bolt yet in this picture.