BSCC- Corvair project for sale

Rick MacDonald rickm at smithprint.com
Wed Feb 1 14:10:43 EST 2006


I got a nice letter from a woman in Chatham (Cape Cod) whose husband had
been collecting parts for a restoration since the 70's. He passed away and
now his project car and NOS parts collection is for sale. I figured we
needed an expert on talking little old ladies out of their valuable Corvair
parts, so I consulted Ron Muise.
Here's what he had to say:

"I would rate the car a 40 out of 100, and the parts a 95 out of a 100.
Seems the guy wanted to restore it so he stripped all the trim off, painted
it crappy red, and pushed it into his damp cellar in 1985 to finish sometime
in the future.
He didn't get around to doing anything further to it except travel around
new England buying NOS trim to finish it. I don't exactly know when, but he
developed a brain tumor and died three years ago leaving the car and parts
in his damp Cape basement until three months ago.
They had some water in the basement so the car was towed out to a local gas
station to sell. The parts half fill a van and are extensive.
I give the car low points, the parts high points.
The car is a 64' Spyder convert, rolling stock only. Looks terrible because
the dampness has cracked the twenty year old paint and it has bubbled and
cracked with age, It has no trim on it so it looks real bad.
Both lids have been sandblasted but not painted so they are all surface
rust. The top is black, faded and old looking, but not torn.
The interior is all there but may smell with the dampness.
The numbers check out so it is a real Spyder, the engine looks good and
turns by hand, but I don't know if it runs.
Underside is very good, no holes thru and very little rust. All metal looks
good with only surface rust. Crossmember very good.
New tires and all glass in place and in good shape.
All the trim is in a van along with many NOS replacement parts that show
prices from the 70's.
What I saw in the van was very impressive and many duplicates, all 64'.
Headlight bezels NOS, several sets marked $10.00 ( I didn't dare tell him
what Clark's was getting for their repros). Several air grills, wheel well
trim, Delco shocks, Spyder dashes, (used) turbos, many mechanical parts, two
front fenders, spinner hubcaps, three sets, I didn't want to paw over
everything but did look at the trim. The chrome was affected by the dampness
but the aluminum trim was spotless and still in GM paper.
All of the stuff was in cardboard boxes, and was very damp, may have been
under water.
In closing, the car looks bad, but is very solid for a total restoration. I
was able to look under the car up on the station lift and the bottom was
more impressive than the top. The trim is outstanding with many pieces NOS,
and redundant.
The widow is asking $4,000.00 for both the car and all the trim, and will
not split the package. If she did the car wouldn't be worth much with no
exterior trim.
It is a solid project car that would have to have all the systems gone
through and rebuilt as it has not run in 15 or 20 years.as I had no way of
checking if any thing worked.
Presently the car is stored outside at the Citgo station on Route 28, at the
North end of town under a car cover, and it rolls.
The owner has the title and has entrusted the negotiations and sale of the
car and parts to her mechanic at the Citgo station, Carl, The car can be
seen and all offers are to be made to Carl. His cell # is 508-237-9762, and
his e-mail address is tikeela at galaxy.net  Carl is a strong Mopar man and
does not know the first thing about Corvairs and doesn't realy give a rat's
ass about them so he doesn't wish to be bothered with technical questions
about the car, because he isn't interested in Corvairs.
If anyone has any questions that I can answer about the car, they can call
me or email rcmuise at gis.net
Hope this is what you were looking for. If I wanted a long term, (three
years or so) project, I would buy this, but it needs everything, and I may
not be here in three years, just like the former owner.
regards, Ron Muise"
..


P.S.  I would like to host a tech day at my house this spring, keep that in
mind OK??    Maybe we can make it an o-ring replacement demo!!!   -Rick M.

Rick MacDonald
The Smith Print, Inc.
90 Longwater Drive
Norwell, MA 02061
781-878-5555 tel
781-878-2040 fax
rickm at smithprint.com

 


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