Event Coverage The Corvair Adventure

My first car was a corvair, got it in '71, it was a '65 4door, 110 hp, 4 speed.

Lived in New Hartford, CT at the time, it's one town over from Ralph Naders home town of Winsted, CT.

It was a tough car. Lots of closet corvair lovers/owners here, it's pretty funny.

Cliff Ramsdell

 

Wish I'd known you were shooting 35mm....just cleaned out my mom's house and found a new roll.I'll send it to you when you get back if you like.
I thought about using a 'Vair dash in my coupe project. Saw a narrowed one in an old hot rod coupe at the NSRA Nats back in the '80's with flat aluminum insert to mount the gauges and liked the look.
They cut out the dip area in the center, and retained the glove box and gauge humps

 

This car is not on the rally, but will be at the Concours Saturday.

 

Hi Jimminy.Was`nt Hiway 1 closed by mud slides?Or was that another road that I was reading about?If it was 1,the news report said it could be closed for up to a year.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Hope the GG bridge and Hwy 1 north are in your future.

 

There were so many mudslides, bridge washouts, and road closures last winter I couldn't keep track of them all or which ones ares still closed. I do know that the highway traffic around here is horrible and wanted to give Squirrel a heads up.

 

Man, I'd like to see some pics of this car "on location."

I was really into Corvairs, back in the day. Had a beefed up '66 that I autocrossed, and a '63 convetible for date nights. I did better autocrossing.

Corvairs are like peanuts: you can't have just one. Back then, parts cars were cheap/free. My buddies and I would roll it into the bay of a closed service station; two hours and a case of beer later, the whole thing would be dismantled, bagged and boxed. Call a scapper next morning to get the hulk before the boss came in.

 

Yup! lol that's how I've been rolling for at least a year, I'll get around to fixing it one of these days.


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My cable is fine and I suspect his is as well. These speedos die painfully. There's a gear in there that goes bye bye.


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Maybe the inverter is weak for the reel to reel? How many battery's did you put in the trunk....er wait.. I mean hood!

 

I wonder what happens when u go over a bump.

 

Ack! I have had a 1963 Corvair Monza for a few months and just bought my second one! Another '63 - this one with 4 speed and turbo. Good Luck with the trip!

 

You find out if tape skips. Lol


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Are you going to park on the lawn at Pebble Beach?

 

I bet Squirrel wanted to put a turbo on that engine, but that might have taken out the excessive clearance bearings! With plenty of oil flow past the bearings they should live fine. Certainly keep them from getting too hot, hahah.

Funny story, back approx 15 years ago, I went with Brewsir in his old Batfink F-100 to the Round-Up. The 318 in that was so wore out we ran about 10 psi oil pressure on the highway and zero at idle. Put in neutral and blip the throttle, the gage would just barely move off zero. Made it all the way from SF Bay Area to Austin and back. Did not really use or leak oil, just had almost no pressure when running. Good times!

 

Subfrickinscribed! True Horatio Alger stuff right there.

 

Squirrel, Turn down the music every so often so you can hear if a rear wheel bearing is going bad. Unless they've been replaced or greased recently, they are probably the most likely thing to stop an early model Corvair on a road trip. Its a Corvair only part and not easy to find.

 

Gotta be some Stones, Who, Beatles, Croce, REO Speedwagon, Eagles..... am I close?

 

Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, zeppelin, stones, etc.

The music was mostly off today. To busy driving. Took the PCH from Monterey to the end. We're in one of the Hippie towns on 101 getting dinner.

Been dealing with exhaust smell in the car. The tail pipe is too short. Stopped at Ace and got some conduit parts that sort of work.

 

And my brother figures Nader was wrong. After living thru that long drive through the twisties. In an early Corvair.

 

Tell him to drive a 65 and up model.

 

Go squirrel go.....

 

I never owned one, but I had two friends that did. One was a new 1961 110 horse, and the other was a later turbo Monza. Both cars were great fun. The Monza had a tendency to eat belts.
Glad you have had a great drive, and love the exhaust extension.
I have had enough adventures on the road that I always carry a full toolbox.

 

We made it to crescent city. The soda cans broke, so we added more cans when we fixed it again. Held the rest of the way. High tech stuff. We'll try to fix it right in the morning. Not many stores on the route we took.

 

Great Fun already! Crank it Up (the stereo) and go for broke. I'll be along for the ride. Thanks for the adventure.

 

i had a '61 corvair that had actually been rolled on it's side by the previous owner. not from a failure of the suspension he just slid in the snow down an embankment. i fixed the scrapes and painted it and the car was a dependable fun little "extra" car. we would loan out the car to family and friends [ @The37Kid ] when they needed a car, if theirs were wrecked or broken and they would always return the car with high praise for it. it was not what they expected.
good luck and have fun!

 

Since you're running through the desert and don't need heat, depending on the condition of all those engine seals, you may want to block off the heater duct from the engine cover to the body of the car. You could be getting fumes through there.


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I really enjoyed driving Ted's Corvair, fun car, and you all know I'm a big Ford guy. Never liked Nader type people. Bob

 

But the reel-to-reel is still holding good oil pressure though, right???