Ratghia's new project

Last weekend we went and picked up my new project car. It is a 1964 corvair 700 sedan. It has a later 110hp engine that was put in the car in 2001. The car is original paint and I plan on doing a polish to it and trying to keep it. The previous owner replaced the floors but only used 4 rivets to hold the entire front floor on and left several open holes so that will all be getting replaced. The seats are just sitting in the car and bolted to blocks of wood. I plan on putting an original upholstery bench seat in the front. I want to keep the car very original looking but do some work on the suspension/brakes to try to make it a little more drivable.

Hmmm. Can this one top the Ghia in Reader Rides?

The Ghia is currently the second highest rated, right behind the Group 44 Jaguar.

Some comments:

Early (60-64) 4 doors are pretty uncommon (these days), so cool find, that overhanging rear roof is so funkadelic.

It looks like they put a late (65-69) engine in with late tin. That is why it is missing the tin on the sides of the engine. This will make the engine run very hot and should be addressed. You will need to get some early perimeter tin (front, rear and sides). I am not sure if they completely interconnect with the late tin, but I think they do. The engine seal is totally different from early to late though

Very interesting fuel delivery system there. You probably know that new fuel lines are readily available from Clarks or other suppliers. What's with the plastic looking stuff on the firewall? Make sure the rear engine mount bolt is cottor keyed. Leaving those out was apparently the cause of a few "engine drops" in the past.

I have a 64 myself, so feel free to ask questions if you have any.

Hey, that engine top shroud might be worth a couple bucks to someone restoring a car that's supposed to have the AIR smog system on it. The vertical bracket just forward of the alternator would normally have one of the smog tubes bolted to it. Check the exhaust manifolds for holes about 3/4" diameter at the rear end (opposite their attachment to the Y pipe). Those would be smog manifolds and they're pretty hard to find these days, so might also have some cash value to a restorer.

Go see Jeff at the Corvair Ranch. He'll hook you up with the engine sheetmetal you need.

Maybe there's a couple pounds of weed in the garbage bag up in the firewall. If so, that's probably more valuable than the top shroud and the smog manifolds.

I like the idea of putting an original bench seat back in there...those buckets in it now are pretty heinous. One of my friends in high school had the twin to this car, four doors, faded green paint and all.

Very cool find. The early Corvair is one of those cars that I used to hate, but I now love, especially the sedans.

Nice pics kiddo.

I think the P.O. may have been a little automotive challenged. Its probably a good thing that he only drove the car a year before the dropped valve sidelined it. He put the replacement motor i it, but lost interest and it sat for about 10 years before Aaron bought it. I cant imagine how bad the car would be if he "worked" on it all those years.

Ill have to work on getting him to post it in the readers rides.

People restoring smog engined cars.. ick!

Anyway, Corvairs can have some very creative owner "modification". Unfortunately most of them are bad or counter productive.

I went out to the shop tonight and pulled out the rear seats from a blazer and the corvair rear seat back. The floor in the back is solid and won't need replaced. I also looked up and found that the headliner doesn't have any rips or stains in it. I pulled the garbage bag out and just found some nasty old foam and a mouse nest. I have a lot of engine tin in the trunk and was wondering what the differences would be from late to early? I also wanted to know if a spyder dash would bolt into a 700?

I can't wait to see the progress on this one! Cool car!

I'd hate to say it, but it almost seems perfect like it is==patina and all.

Some torq-thrusts or Radirs (probably too pricey) and some wide whites and a freshening of the key drivetrain/suspension/brakes and it's one for the "win" category.

I like it.

yes, the spyder dash is a bolt-in. however, you'll need a "thermistor" to make the spyder cylinder head temp gauge work. It screws into the drivers side cylinder head in place of the temp snap switch. The spyder vacuum/boost gauge can be tapped into the "balance tube" across the front (as installed) of the engine, connecting the two carb mounting pads together. It takes standard 1/8" tubing with compression fittings at both ends. You will also have to add wire for the spyder tach.

240z rims are direct bolt-on. go to swaps with Mr. Nelson and find a set of American Daisy rims or go with the Konig Rewind for a modern Minilite look.

or keep the steelies with bottle caps. i dig 'em. on my '69 coupe (same color as your '64), i ran vette rallys, powdercoated satin black, with the '67 disc brake center caps. too bad your setup is 4-lug.

do you have a Clark's catalog yet? i'll throw my latest one (2002, LOL) into the care package. they've got some half-decent pix of engine tin. shouldn't be too hard to figure out, with some pixorz.

did you notice that inside mirror doesn't have a "day/night" switch on it? that luxury was part of the Monza package, so they're available.

i'll try to get to UPS tomorrow morning, but i'm heading out of town for a couple days and might not be able to do it until monday.

AngryCorvair wrote: or go with the Konig Rewind for a modern Minilite look.

ooohhh--this.

How much did that car go for? I know it was sitting on CL for quite a while because I inquired about it too. Good luck with the new project!

Most 4-lug RWD chevy wheels bolt up (Nova, for example). MGBs used the same size, too.

Check out the online Clarks catalog:

Clarks Online Catalog

In regards to the tin. The early tin will have a strip running along the top edge that sandwiches the seal onto the tin with staples (the seal would likely be gone are really stiff). The late tin simply has an up turned edge.

Early engine seals are attached to the engine tin and run into a strip in the engine compartment. Late engine seals are attached to the engine compartment and drop down onto the tin.

As far as finding tin if you need it. Clarks may have it but you would likely be much better off getting it from another place. If you can find any early engines on there own on Graigslist etc. they will likely be very cheap.

Check out the Parts & Repair Specialists listings:

Corvair.org

Aaron forgot to mention that he posted the Vair in readres rides! Vote it up guys!

Sean

Aaron forgot to mention that he posted the Vair in readres rides! Vote it up guys!

Sean

Today i pulled the front seats out of the corvair. I also started cleaning the interior and dash. I also started trying to fix some of the eletrical stuff and lights that nolonger works. I am thinking about either getting some minilites or a set of these for wheels.

I got the guy talked down to $450 for the car.

General Lee style ^^^

$ 450. Geeeez. I have said it before but....why do these things never happen to me?

Today I finally had time to get out and work on the Corvair. I spent about an hour cleaning the dash and polishing all the chrome on it. I then pulled the radio and opened it up to clean it out. I also got the glove box door to open and close. After all of that I replaced the rear lights with new ones that weren’t broken and cracked. Tonight I put in new sparkplugs, wires, and a new distributor cap. I then fixed the coil wiring and replaced the coil. A few weeks ago I put a new internally regulated alternator on the car. I am going to put the engine tin on when I finnish rebuilding the spare carbs.

Tonight I went out and waxed the front 1/4 of the car. I would have continued but I ran out of wax and rags. There are 2 small areas on the front hood that are re-sprayed that didn't shine up as well and there are a few stains on the paint that make it look silverish. Tomorrow I hope to finish waxing the car and then go over all the chrome with steal-wool.