My new project, a 1964 Corvair Monza. Ive been looking for another old car to customize for awhile. I wanted something compact, cheap, and more-or-less rust-free. I like the unusual, so I opted for a Corvair. I decided on a 64, which had the best suspension of the early models. After not seeing anything worthwhile, several popped up in my travels in the last few weeks. My wife saw the first one and said, I like it, get a Corvair. That was all the encouragement I needed... Two weeks ago, I spotted an ad in the local Merchandiser paper. I had a look last week and found a straight almost rust-free 64 Monza sedan. Same owner since 1966. It has been sitting in a dry garage since 1973. It was covered in a layer of protective dust, but paint and chrome appear really nice underneath. Exterior is a burgundy, interior is black with excellent bucket seats and a perfect headliner. There are some perforations in the leading edge of the trunk and a 2 bubble in the p***enger side rear quarter, and thats all the rust I could find. The front carpet was up, and there was NO floor well rust at all - and this is Pennsylvania! So, I put down a deposit last week and completed the deal today. Ill have it flat-bedded home this week. It will need the gas tank cleaned, and engine gone through, and brakes done at a minimum. But thats all doable over time. Of course, theres always more work than you plan on. Corvairs have a good national club, CORSA. Also several good parts suppliers. Since Vairs had racing history, and still race in historic cl***es, there are lots of go-faster goodies, too. Not to mention mid-engine V8 and V6 conversions. But for me, Ill do a nice early-sixties-style custom: nosed, decked, and some sparkle. I have many of the custom pieces already, and plan to horse-trade for the rest. Here are some pics.
Will do, as soon as I get it home in a few days. It may take a week of washing to clean it up though!
Yes, me too. I actually prefer the sedan roofline to the coupe for a kustom. It looks like the GM Panorama 4-door hardtops of the late fifties.
Leave the dust on and drive it! (j/k) Nice score! I like the Corvair wagons When you went to look at it, you should have went to the front of the car and told him to "pop the hood" cause you want to take a look at the engine.
Grampa used to drive corvairs. On sunday he would take me and my brother and grandma out for a sunday drive in the thing. He would drive all the back roads drinking Strohs (sp) and ******* in the emptys fore tossing em out the window. Ahhhhhhh the good old days. Oh ******* in the emptys while he drove. Dave
It's a sedan with a center post. All first-gen Corvairs, coupes and sedans, had posts. There were no hardtops. (Not that I haven't thought about making it into one...) When I get it home I'll "post" a pic.
The roofline is neat, and it's good to know that the coupes all had door frames. How about a one-of-none two door sedan based on the four door using the four door roof, but using coupe front doors and filling in the rear with a shortened rear door? Looks cool in Photoshop.
Or start with a coupe, lop off the top over the doors, and replace it with a sedan roof? I like your photoshop idea - it does look sharp. Major bodywork is out of the scope for this project, (because I want it on the road by spring) but it will be a custom.
Here is an update on the Corvair: I flatbedded it home three weeks ago, covered in the dust of the ages. We started cleaning it up and found a car underneath! Overall condition was as I has expected, no major surprises. I did find a slight crease in the roof, but that was all. The truck lip is rusted through, but I will just replace the whole lid. Other than that, it's pretty straight and rust free. The floors are very good. The bumpers looked a little crusty, but some elbow grease on the rear one really brought up the shine. The front bumper should turn out nice, too. The interior was a bit musty and the seats had mildew. Two hours with window cleaner on the vinyl had the seats and door panels looking like new. Dash pad is nice, as well. The tires are dry-rotted. I'm looking for some used ones to pop on and keep the car rolling while I work on it. Here are some before and after pics. Also found some '61 Chevy tail lights to customize the back. May look for '56 Chevy tails, too. Somewhere I have some nice '62 Mercury tail lights that I think will work as well.
Glad to see you got your Corvair, you told me you were looking for one, hope to see you at Macungie this weekend. ****
dave my brother in law.. (the goofy one) has 3 of them damn things. he has some spare parts I believe.. pm me if your interested and I'll give you his number he is in scranton, PA Jeff
Spyders were the turbocharged versions sold by Chevy from 1962-64. Yenko's Corvair was a modified Corsa he called the Stinger.
Thanks for the nice words. I am on Corvair Central with the same alias: Rot 'n Kustom. It's a great Corvair resource. Also the national club is very active: CORSA , the Corvair Restorer's Society. And don't let the name fool you - lots of hot rodders there, too! People often ask, "Why a Corvair?" My answer: what other car can look so good stock, custom, or hot rodded. What other car has racing history in sports car cl***es, hill climbs (like Pike's Peak), drag racing (as a g***er, yet!), and Bonneville? And best of all, is cheaper to buy, fix up, and drive than just about any other any other car of it's time period? Dave
I've had several Corvairs, my wife is still pissed about me selling our 1962 Spyder Coupe (with a stock 150 hp turbo motor). I used to be able to yank one of those motors in about 30 minutes. Clark's is still in business and still has alot of parts....alot of NOS stuff.
Heheh -- love those Corvairs myself . . . dad had a '61 pickup that my grandpa bought. . . my uncle restored it back in 1986 or so for my grandpa to drive. It's quietly rusting away on a hill with some other Corvair sedans that my dad used to have . . . in the Ozark hills. Turbos . . . V6's . . . small aluminum V8's . . . weird to think it was 1960's and not the 1980's . . .
Great find, and a great price! I've owned two Corsa's, both 4-speed's, one a 110, one a 140HP, and have been yearning for another one. In fact a turbo Corsa hardtop showed up in the paper last weekend for $3500.... Hmmmm
How are the floors and trunk? I had a '62 900 sedan, loved the thing, right down to the I-beam section I used for a parking brake. This was a California car with 4o,ooo origional miles in '84 i picked up for $425 after bugging the lady for 2 years or more. It was awesome in the snow, the only car I ever drove that could make it up one f the steepest hills in town. It was fawn gold on fawn gold, the only mods I'd planned for it was a set of "baby" moons And duel mufflers(g-pax.) The front end was already dropped 1.5" and sat sweet. Only problem I ever had with it was that it could hold 2' of rain water ahead of the front seat (entering through the heater ducks in the rear), a rusty pan (on the drivers side, from the water) and an untimely demise aty the hands of a nice lady who was destracted by her baby on the back seat, took her eyes of the road and "SLAM!".......Heck of an alarm clock that day, I can tell ya! "64s are supposed to be one of the best handlers of them all, I'm envious. great find, good luck, keep 'er safe.
Floors and trunk are primo. When I first saw the car, the front carpet had been pulled, so I knew what I was getting. There is only a bit of surface rust on the front pan and 4 pinholes. The trunk has some surface rust, but that's it! Amazing for a car which spent it's life in Pennsylvania, and judging by the snow tires on the rear, was a winter car, as well. I was looking for a '64, for the handling. It has a monospring which ties the swing arms together and limits tuck in. Empi made a similar aftermarket piece for the early 'Vairs, and Chevy brought out a similar unit. It can be adapted to earlier models, too. This one will be a custom - I'm picking up pieces for it already. Just got some '61 Chevy taillights and some small hubcaps at Macungie today. Even found a cigarette lighter for it. Now I'll have to take up smoking...the tires!
See that! Now I want another one! Did I mention, I almost found out about ****** trouble the hard way. Fasten your seatbelt. My wife (then still my fiance) are heading to my parents house on a Saturday morning. Going 55 on Interstate 680 south, inside bearings or something breaks loose on p***enger side and whole ***embly trys to get away from me. No breaks! a quick manouver to the sidelines, I carefully used the banking to hold the tire in and slow to a stop. The rear fender is resting on the tire, dead center. A guy stopped behind me to make sure My wife and I were o.k. Said that was the wildest thing he'd ever seen and asked me if I raced cars. (No.) He credited me for my driving skills, I think I got a lot of help from the Power that be tho. When my '62 was compacted a few weeks later I replaced it with a coupe that had a gas heater, a very nice, if not smelly, option to have for Nebr. winters. The guy I got the car from put my engine in it but didn'y rebuild the brakes which lead to another near death experience on a downhill drive. Brakes give out about a block away from an intersection. It's a two laner and the light is RED at the bottom of the hill. My red. Im heading east, traffics flowing north and south there's cars stoppped in each direction that I'm heading and I'm literally praying for the light to change but toi wait for me to hit the intersection. I have a clear lane next to me so I move left and just as I'm even with the first car inline on my right the light turns green. I burn through at close to 60, snaking my way through lingering traffic, blowing smoke all over and people have the nerve to honk at me. Fortunately there's a big hill going up i can use to slow down with an even bigger Intersection atop it. There's also a Hospital straight ahead andI'm thinking that's a good thong. I coast around some parked cars and get the ****** slowed up enough to puu over to the curb but still have no brakes. it stops facing up hill and is too heavy to stop with my foot so guess whos now going backwards. I crank the tires into the curb with no luck then aim for a driveway with a slight incline an whip in. I'm planning to use the house for an emergency brake but coast to a stop barely grazing it with my bumper. A guy comes out of nowhere and leans on the hood to keep me stopped. What a rode that was. I wanted to sue the guy who set up the car but had no case. Oh well, live and learn. The moral? "Just be careful out there."
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