<VV> A long time coming

[Tony Underwood]

Just thought I'd mention:   


A couple years or so ago, a '62 ragtop came to roost among the fleet here.
  This car was an oddity in that it was rust free, arrow straight, floors
fine, original black upholstery fine, dash pad excellent, tacky leyland
green over the original ermine white.    It had no engine installed,
although the 4-sp transaxle was still there.   The trunk contained a
variety of odds and ends, such as a NOS "trombone" dual exhaust, a variety
of spares such as new tail light lenses etc and engine bay sheet metal and
some engine mechanical parts.   The car itself was the interesting point in
that it had nary a door ding or dent anywhere and it had the owners booklet
in the glove box along with the last VA state inspection receipt which was
dated 1969,  still bearing a faded inspection sticker on the windshield
that expired Sept 1970, same month I went into the Army.  After talking to
the fellow who had owned the car briefly I learned that the car had been
stored away in 1969 and left sitting in a large garage until he purchased
it, then resold it to someone who in turn sold it to us.   It got towed
around a time or two to a couple of places, finally to rest under a large
tarp in  the Garden City area of Roanoke where it waited for two years
while things like a new top, some trim, a few odds and ends, and of course
another engine were acquired so as to see if maybe the car could be
resurrected.     Well, the procrastination finally came to a halt this
summer...       ...and yes it still takes about 9 man-hours to install a
new top if you take your time.     

It seemed only fitting that since the car hadn't  moved under its own power
since 1969 it should get an engine that also  hadn't run in a while...
turned up an engine that originally (I think I talked about this engine
before) been in a dune buggy that my old buddy Don Keesey had picked up
somewhere in 1971 from somebody who got it from somebody else and hadn't
been able to get around to doing anything with it.   Don also didn't do
anything with the buggy either, storing it away at a mutual Mopar racer's
shop storage lot...  for over 25 years.   The old dune buggy  was pretty
far gone by then, moldering away in Linwood Crafts' storage lot covered in
honeysuckle so thick for so long I never knew it was there.   Then one day
Don called me and said "Remember that dune buggy with the Corvair engine?
Linwood wants it moved.  You want it?   You can have it, just go get it out
of his lot."   Hell, I never knew it was there, thought Don had long since
gotten rid of the buggy.   So, a buddy and I went to Linwoods shop and he
pointed to a large mound of honeysuckle and said "There it is, have fun!"
 Not only was it buried in  honeysuckle, it was also infiltrated with ants
and poison ivy, and there was a huge bumble bee nest under what had once
passed as the front seat.    Once the honeysuckle was finally pulled off
the buggy, the bumble bees roared out like alien fighters from the mother
ship in "Independence Day".    They immediately went after anything that
moved...  spent the next 5 minutes shooting them with carb cleaner (they
hate carb cleaner) and swatting them off my arms, still got stung a half
dozen times.    Bumble bee stings hurt.    We finally got the buggy loose
from the vines and weeds and discovered that it actually did still roll,
pulled it out of the lot and with a tow strap got it up the access road and
onto a trailer where it was transported to Salem for closer investigation
and a shot with a high pressure hose to rid it of the rest of the bumble
bees and the ant colony.    It was after the hose treatment that the buggy
chassis/floor pan broke in half and the rearward section with the driveline
just drooped back onto the ground.    The buggy obviously got parted out...
 the engine amazingly still turned; I never thought that after three
decades and sitting in the bushes outside that it would have managed to
stay unstuck, but living under the bed of the dune buggy evidently kept
enough of the weather out to let it stay dry, sorta.    

Eventually the engine found its way to Bill Burleson's garage where it was
partially dismantled and inspected, new gaskets, seals, a couple of pushrod
tubes to replace the rusted ones which were very nearly rusted through,
also replaced two exhaust tubes, and removed the pilot bushing and bolted
up a converter to the crank and then hung it in the engine bay of a black
'65  Monza project car that someone was going to finish up and make
roadworthy...  which never happened.    The car sat, engine never even
getting a starter bolted onto it.    Then the car found itself in need of
being moved, Bill Burleson had been taken ill with cancer and the cars a
friend had stored in  his back yard had to be moved... so the black '65
Monza was acquired in a package deal along with some other parts and
pieces... and stored in the same Garden City property as the previously
mentioned '62 convertible.    There it sat for two years.          

Then Rick Stansbury had the mis-hap with his #5 car and needed a
replacement body.    So, out came the engine that had sat in the black
Monza, and Rick carried the black Monza (which was still a respectable
project with potential) away to turn it into his new race car.   The engine
went into the '62 ragtop, and it still hadn't been started since ~1970.
After a BUNCH of nonsense, flywheel swaps and broken starter noses and my
LAST bolted flywheel and a lot of cussing, the engine was finally in the
car and able to crank without anything bad happening.   It still didn't
start, had a bit of a problem getting fuel from the tank to the engine...
FINALLY everything was in place and once the carbs were primed and the
timing rough-set, it started right up with no fanfare like it was everyday
stuff.    After all that time, it was anticlimactic.    By the way, the
engine ran fine, sounded good, idled smooth, and the valves were adjusted
HOT and RUNNING.     

This evening, after hanging the exhaust on the '62 ragtop, it left the
confines of the driveway under its own power and hit the streets.    

...After 35 years, it's running the roads again.    


This car has metallic brakes.   It has an EMPI rear camber compensator.
It evidently has quick steer arms because the steering is sharp.   It has a
quick shift kit in the shifter.   It's solid and it runs straight and feels
right.    At some time in its life long ago, someone loved it enough to
outfit it with some rather obscure and relatively rare aftermarket
performance options not usually seen on an early Vair.     Did I mention
the Grant steering wheel...?    



There is satisfaction in resurrecting an old car after many years.      



Does anyone in here have any stories about returning a Corvair to the
streets after three decades or more?     (maybe now I can get something
done with my '60 4-door)    


tony..