<VV> Two.Only two. And don't bail

[Chuck Kubin]

Hey Rog,

---- In rare cases people have succeeded or a short time when they had two and
> only two Corvair drivers in the family, but it's dangerous to try.----

Much truth here. I was driving the '67 500, 3sp with the sweetest-running 95hp you ever saw when I moved into an apartment building. It needed tiny paint touch-ups a floor, and front springs. The black '68 with Shelby mags, Konis, headers, strong body and a center-mounted quad over a 140 in the parking lot became an obsession. It was definitely hotter, and more expensive to make right. In both cases, I had to just about beat the previous owners into selling me the cars.

I wanted my wife to have a good, reliable car, so she got the '67 in the divorce.

I just got a second Monza, also a '68, with thoughts of rebodying the first. Alas (does anybody say alas anymore), the body is the weakest feature, so soon I'll have more than two cars again. I just don't want to divorce to do it.


Hey Mike,

Vent away, my friend. I hope our maintenance stories don't parallel too much, for your sake. 

The '68 I kept became Anti (not Auntie) Christine because over the next few years I'd restore it and it would destroy itself. First I had to (again, almost literally) beat the previous owner into diggiing through storage for the original carbs, which he had, and the exhaust system, throttle linkage and heat shields, which he couldn't find and I had to hunt down.

I haven't checked the plate, but I'll bet a paycheck that it was built on a Friday afternoon or a Monday morning, probably about the time the employees were negotiating their next raise--or were bitching about what they didn't get.

I'm talking headlights to taillights, dome light to tires. If it could break, it did. Door hinges, springs, U-joints, brakes, engine...everything. Right after I rebuilt the engine, my daughter took it for a spin (against my explicit orders, but what are teenagers for anyways?) with no fan belt while waiting for a replacement idler. I secured what I though was a good bodyman to fix up and paint her, and that turned into an ordeal that cost me my Snap-On tools the night the body shop decided to store A.C. on the street with the trunk lid unbolted. It was the same night someone broke into my apartment. His moron brother-in-law shot primer all over my new Clark's interior, because he THOUGHT I hadn't replaced it yet. Basically, everything on the car needed replacement between 40k and 68k miles, at which time, parked for a bad flywheel, it fell victim to three hit-and-runs in a few months. Now, 17 years later, I am close to deciding between parting it, rebodying it or repairing the
 damage. At least I know most of the parts are good, it isn't rusty and I haven't spent anything on it in 17 years. I know I have to redo a bunch of stuff that goes bad while sitting around. I have to do SOMETHING, because like all the guys who have had cars a long time, I just...have...too...much...in...it. Financially, emotionally, temporally. It has been like raising a second daughter in a lot of ways.

So I guess I'm saying cheer up, it could be worse, In my case, I know I'm right because it definitely got worse. Can I honestly say I would have pursued this particular car if I knew it would be the disaster it turned into? Possibly yes, because I wanted THIS car in the face of the owner letting it rot away. It had a lot right about it that was wrong with previous cars, and it had SO much promise. About when I bought it I met Steve Goodman and a couple other Corvair guys in the Corvair community and joined CORSA, and sharing the common interest was better than owning the cars itself. There's a lot to be said for having the ear of someone who is connected at the fanbelt.

Not running because it had the wrong carb badly set up; the half-crushed header; the deteriorated paint, dashpad and radio bezel pad; the first owner being the teenaged son of a Chevy dealer, all could have been warning signs. Still, there's no way to know the car would, essentially, wear out and fall apart long before it should have.

If I had a crystal ball, I'd be in the circus. If I had two I'd be in Ripley's. Until then, I just have to admit the first premise of old cars: they break. Hopefully they don't break when you need them the most. I must admit, this is a lot easier knowing I don't rely on either of my two Corvairs (uh, oh, that again!) to get to work or take me through a long trip. One day they again might be, but right now, I can fix them at my leisure.

Good luck, buddy. I hope my horror story gave you a smile in knowing we're in this together. We might not be handing you the wrenches, but we're here for the ideas and support.

Chuck Kubin

 


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com