Projects Stumbled across the 4th project car I had to buy today....

The stable has more junk in it now. I need to stay off C L! Scored this damn near rust free (small floor pan hole) '63 Corvair Monza for $600 (which includes delivery to my door from 1.5 hrs. away). It's an auto, with a rebuilt engine and carbs. Runs and drives, but needs the brake system restored, and a full interior re-do. Plans call for a stock looking resto, with red line radials, poverty caps, and many performance upgrades. These things only have 13 inch tires?!

 

Yeah, 13 inch tires, when you start driving it get a extra fan belt you may need it. HRP

 

There is an old mod to spring load the tensioner pulley with a big spring and a shoulder bolt to keep the fan belt from flipping. The Corvair Society should be able to give you the details. With this mod I was able to keep the belt on well above 7000 rpm with my 65 Corsa Turbo convertible.

 

Great car and a heckuva price! I had a '63 rag top back in my Corvair days, loved it. If you haven't already, you'll want to familiarize yourself with Clark's (no relation) Corvair Parts at corvair.com.

Re fanbelts: Clark's sells an "Ultimate" wrapped fan belt that pretty much solves the problem--sits deeper in the pulleys and doesn't throw as easily. Even autocrossing it would stay on for me. (BTW, that was driving my late model. Can't say I'd want to autocross an early model with those funky swing axels.) Here's a link to the belt: http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog.cgi?show_page=14

Be sure to get the wrapped verison. They also sell the sprung-loaded tensioner that @Karrera mentioned; it's on the next page of the catalog. But try the Ultimate belt first--you probably won't need the tensioner. (Oh, and carry a spare anyway.)

If you want to dress that thing up, I've got a Spyder dash I'd let go. My Corvair days are over, so I won't be needing it.

 

Thanks for the info! PM me about what you want for the dash.

 

Early 'Vair HTs resemble bubbletops. Great score!

 

..............For whatever reason, that never dawned on me, but how very true!

 

Hey 29,

Nice find on that 1963 Corvair. My wife’s first car was a 1962 2 door, silver blue, Monza. It was a nice looking 4 year old car when she got it and we kept it until 1972. (We sold it to a relative for $150) The Corvair was a great “American Porsche Design” that was GM’s first try at a rear engine sports/family car. Yes, back then we learned that a spare fan belt was a necessary item like a spare tire. your Corvair has the basics and a great platform for rebuilding. It was a fun car to drive back then for us.

Also two quarts of oil was also stored away as it deposited oil on the rear bumper on a daily basis. The odd thing was, there was very little to none, as far as oil drops on the ground, whenever we stopped. Everyday that I wiped the car down, the chrome rear bumper was the shiniest thing on the Corvair. It was the first car for my wife, a cool 80 HP wonder of engineering and design. She was happy with that little car for college and daily drives.

Jnaki

The coolest thing about it was a dash mounted gear selector, not on the floor. The best thing about it (Besides the design) was that it started every time and ran like a top. The worst thing was described in an older thread below. (Think, wet dog scenario with accompanying odors.)

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...w-stress-driving.1040068/page-4#post-11831857

 

Have fun with the young parts counter guy at Autozone and ask for a thermostat or radiator.

 

I like your enthusiasm for the car, jnaki, and totally agree that the dash-mounted selector is stand-out cool.

As to oil leaks, gotta say something. Lot's of guys ding Corvairs for leaking oil, which they evenutally do. It's a design issue that is easily corrected. They have a pancake engine with pushrod tubs between the block and heads. These are sealed with O-rings. When the O-rings fail, they leak. Replace the O-rings, the leaks go away. It's an easy fix. Since this car has a recently rebuilt engine, it's probably already been done.

A related issue is that oil can slosh up the pushrod tubes in hard cornering. You can install an inexpensive baffle kit to resolve this issue. You can also find cool-looking aftermarket finned oil pans that have baffles built in. That said, I'm guessing in this particualr case an early model with an automatic is not going to see a lot of hard cornering.

As to the "wet dog" scenario, I looked at your comment. You charged through standing water in a car with 13" tires and were surpised to ship water?!?! C'mon man!

 

Hey C,
Thanks for the +/- comments. That car was one of our only daily drivers as newlyweds. My wife had been driving that Corvair from the time as a junior in college until we sold it later on in 1972. I was the only one to drive it on those downpour, rainy days. She drove my 65 El Camino on those days.

There was very little to none in the oil drips, but we had no idea where that oil was coming from. We were not Corvair mechanics. The local Chevy dealer in Long Beach had no idea, but said they changed those "O" rings, just to be safe.

To get the story straight, in East Long Beach, there are some very deep road channels at intersections. I was not charging through the deep water, as I was holding down the brake pedal and gas with both feet. I wanted to keep the drums warm to dry after I got out of the deep puddle. Yes, the deep channel did not go over the middle of the rim, but the water still came in through those vents.

There were other slightly less deep channels in the cross sections of other intersections and even though they were barely a deep channel, water still came through those closed vents. The dealer said that I had to pull and then push hard to completely close those under dash vents. They still leaked.

Jnaki
Again, it was a fun car to drive and it was an unusual car for my wife to buy as a teenager. But, when I first saw her car, I thought it was very cool. An American Porsche in disguise. No one knew about Ralph Nader and his minions until much later.

 

I've had several cars that handled quite well, but the only one that cornered any better than my '64 Monza was the C2 Corvette. I still don't believe that Mr. Nader's "facts" weren't manufactured.

Congrats on what I consider to be a great score.

 

That would be as fun as the time I came in asking for a SBC frost plug on a 60's model. The kid looked up from the screen, and said they didn't show a diesel in that year! He was looking up glow plugs, and didn't know the difference!

 

You are right! The wife will just be putting around in the restored Vair. No autocross. I would like to add the 4 carbs or a turbo later though, just to say I hot rodded it!

 

Thanks for sharing the stories. Now a car of this vintage can be called a show car, and not brought out if there is a cloud in the sky even! Lol. Water leaks solved!

 

Being a automatic they don't have much power in reverse.
I had one and lived on a down hill sloping drive way it did not have enough power to back up the hill. I always had to back in so I could pull out in the morning to go to work. Other than that inconvience I loved it and drove it for years.

 

It's a good thing I live in flat land Nebraska then!

 

My 63 was a stick. I’d always wanted to put it on a full frame with a v8/4 speed and make it look like an early NASCAR/road race car

Though they do make a good looking low rider....

 

One other source for the oil leaks, at least on yhe early one was the oil pressure sender which was located on the bottom side of the engine below the cylinders. The would leak between the aluminum body and the bakelite. Had a 54 Monza and ran vair powered rails in the sand.

 

These things only have 13 inch tires?![/QUOTE]
Has a common bolt pattern, if you want bigger wheels. Lots of British cars have 14 and 15" wheels with the same 4 x 4.5" bolt circle, also some older Japanese larger models (like Datsun 240Z, Toyota Cressida).
Don't know how hard it would be, but if you want to get way better handling, replace the swing axle rear end with later pieces (1965 up). Also, would then have regular Chev 5 x 4.75" PCD.

 

Has a common bolt pattern, if you want bigger wheels. Lots of British cars have 14 and 15" wheels with the same 4 x 4.5" bolt circle, also some older Japanese larger models (like Datsun 240Z, Toyota Cressida).
Don't know how hard it would be, but if you want to get way better handling, replace the swing axle rear end with later pieces (1965 up). Also, would then have regular Chev 5 x 4.75" PCD.[/QUOTE]
Wheel Vintiques says their Smoothie steel wheels have a multi-pattern, that includes the 4 lug Corvair size. They also come in 15 inch, so may be going with a red powder coated set of those. There are parts out there for 5 lug, disc brake conversions as well that are tempting.

 

For a while I had 14" wheels/tires on the back of mine. Looked pretty tough but ran/handled better with the 13's.

 

In '64, GM added a rear stabilizer. It was a crossbar attached to the swing axels on each side, preventing the swing axels from folding under in hard cornering. One of those could be retrofitted to this car, but it would be overkill. This car's rear suspension is just fine for what 29StudeDude has in mind.

I still can't get over how clean that car is for $600. There was a thread floating around a while ago by a guy who was (briefly) considering one for two or three times that, and it was an abosolute rot box.

 

Well, the $600 '63 Monza came home today from the seller (delivered on his personal tow truck). Even though both front floor pans have holes he didn't tell me about, I can only find quarter size rust here and there on the rest of the car. The padded dash is shot, and the rest of the parts are in buckets and boxes. I have already decoded the trim tag, and it was built at Willow Run in July of '63. The tag confirms it was built as a Tuxedo Black Monza, with a red interior, automatic, and a padded dash. It looks like it needs all the brake parts and lines, new shocks, all suspension and steering bushings, and whatever else I find. There is no rust in the doors, hood, or trunk lid, but the pass. fender and hood had a tree branch fall on them and leave big dents. The blue on the paint rubs off, and is oxidation!

 

Looks like a fun cheap car. Since the car is not ever going to be worth big money, you can do cheap fixes for the rusted floors. I bet the paint could clean u p a lot with some scrubbing.

 

I am too picky not to repaint, and try to make it look as nice as possible! I did rub on the door though, and it showed me that with a buffer, the paint would be shiny black again. All that did though, was show all the dents! They sell cheap patch panels for the floors, so I may try those. I am sure I will have WAY more in it than it's worth. The wife is in love however, and wants to keep it forever as HER car, so I guess that doesn't matter.

 

Started disassembly, and can finally see the rusted areas. Not as bad as it looked! One hole in the right front fender lower front corner, another inside the front trunk area on the same fender, the hood is caved in and rusted underneath, and the front floor pans are bad. I already have new pans on the way, and know where to get patch panels for the rest. Call me weird, but I can't wait to cut out the bad, and weld in good. I love sheet metal work.

 

God bless your heart! I predict 26 more Corvairs in your future. Don't ask me how I know this.

If it is a 63, and a 102 HP engine, a 4 speed really wakes them up. Much more than any other go fast mod that you can think of. The Glides were certain death for what performance you can squeeze out of a Vair. My wife ran a 65 convertible with a fresh 63 102, a 4 speed, and a 3:27 diff. It also had 15" wheels and a bit taller tire, so it highway cruised fantastic. The 102 has better bottom torque which worked well with four gears in town. It was a joy to drive. I personally would not consider a 140 (4 carb) or especially a factory turbo setup behind a Glide. The 102 is the best bet there. 4 speeds... 140 is my fave. You can eat your lunch waiting for a factory turbo setup to spin up. Blow through setups are supposed to be better.

Find some Vair guys... every decent sized town has some. They will have a big stash of parts, and be thrilled to help a newbie out. I haven't had a running car in a decade and I still have a big stash of parts. It's a disease!

 

I ran the numbers, and it is the 102 engine. The reason we picked this car, is because the wife can't drive a stick, and refuses to learn! I will be adding one of the new twin TBI kits offered by Clark's for reliability, an alternator kit, and just chrome everything under the hood. She wants to putt around with it to shows, so other than some dress up goodies, and 15 inch wheels, it will be a stock resto. Thanks for the info though! I think you should send me a list of the parts to umm, help you clean them up out of your garage! I have to admit, I hated Corvairs, and only bought this one to make the wife happy. But, the more I learn about them, the more I love the little thing! They are so simple to restore/modify compared to other cars I have done.

 

If I may.. my first experience with a Corvair was a friend's '65 convert. He had 2 very sharp 90 degree turns leading up to his house on a steep hill. Since he drove this road hundreds of times he could and did hit the corners pretty hard and it handled like a go-cart every time. That's why they called it "the poor man's Porsche". Later on I bought a '69 coupe. Same deal, I once dusted the cops on a back road in NH when the beer said "Yeah, you can do this". So I did.
However. I was once driving on a 45MPH 2-lane and a guy passed me in a pre-'65 Corvair. The road ran parallel to a major highway and right up ahead was a gentle curve to the right for an overpass over the highway. The Corvair hit the curve maybe 5MPH faster than I was going. Halfway through the turn his left rear wheel suddenly tucked itself under and kicked the back of the car up about a foot. The next second was complete mayhem but he did get it under control. This happened in 1968, which makes it 50 years ago but I can still see it. Be careful.