<VV> Greenbrier Questions

[Rad Davis]

To expand on Bryan's post a little, probably the one place essentially all 
FCs rust is the short bit of rocker in front of the front wheels.  It was 
supposed to be hermetically sealed at the factory, but what this means in 
practice is that water gets in and eats it from the inside out.

If you buy a truck from the desert southwest, it may not have this 
rust.  If you take it anywhere else, or even wash it too often, it'll 
develop it.  The fix is similar to the fix for rocker rust on the cars - 
remove rubber plugs, drill drain holes.  Then it can dry out when it gets 
wet inside.

FCs also often develop rust in the big doorless center panel area (the 
place where the center windows go when cranked down).  This is caused by 
the drain holes being in the middle of the panel.  Any FC that was usually 
parked on a grade will develop rust in this area because of standing water 
at the corners of the panel.  The fix is easy - drill drain holes at the 
corners near the wheel wells.

Rust at the upturned lips in the wheel wells is also common, as on cars.

My van also developed rust in the rear doors because the window gaskets 
dried out and let water in.  The rear doors barely have any drainage built 
in at all.  The fix here is simply to replace the rear window gaskets if 
not soft and pliable, then verify watertightness.

So that's where to look for rust and how to prevent it if you get a 
creampuff.  Really bad rust in the cab area can get to be a structural 
problem.  Practically anywhere else a van commonly rusts is not 
structurally an issue because everything is welded to an open-channel 
ladder frame under the floor.  Deluxes came with rubber mats, which start 
to rot the floor when the weatherstripping and dum-dum in the roof joints 
begins to leak.  OTOH, deluxes are nicer inside - more car-like.

Brakes are fine if good shoes are used and the system is properly 
maintained.  I prefer a four-speed, but Bryan's been driving a powerglide 
brier for a long time and seems happy with it.  I think this one comes down 
to personal preference.

The detail difference year to year are no big deal as long as you're 
willing to update/backdate to suit your preferences.  The one exception is 
the manual shifter, which is difficult to swap early to late.  If you want 
a van you can concours in FSR or SS and also will enjoy driving, you'd 
likely be happiest with a '64 or '65 because of the extra power and some 
detail improvements.

- Rad Davis

At 09:17 PM 5/31/2006 -0400, Bryan Blackwell wrote:
>On May 27, 2006, at 1:27 PM, Steven J. Serenska wrote:
>
>>VVers:
>>
>>I am starting to think about buying a Greenbrier.
>
>Sounds good!
>>
>>Are there any "deal-buster" problems I should specifically check out when 
>>looking at a Greenbrier?  To give an example, in the world of late model 
>>convertibles, if the car had terminal rust-through in the rocker panels 
>>and/or in the door pillars, it would be a deal-buster (i.e., I would just 
>>move on and look for a car with fewer structural problems).
>Rust - the FCs are no better or worse in terms of corrosion resistance 
>than the cars.  The structure underneath is pretty easy to see, look for 
>rust there.  As with the cars, most of the mechanical parts are 
>available.  The later (63 1/2 up) FCs have a number of refinements, but 
>I'd consider body condition the single most important factor.  I have some 
>bits and pieces on ours on my site, you may find the info useful.
>--
>Bryan Blackwell bryan at skiblack.com
>http://autoxer.skiblack.com/
>   Corvairs: '61 Lakewood, '64 Greenbrier, '65 Corsa, '66 Corsa
>   '69 Road Runner, '97 Ford F-150, '99 Neon R/T
>"Why do something if you're not going to obsess about it?"

__________________________________________________________________________
Rad Davis:                                        rad.davis at comcast.net
Corvairs--65, 66 Corsa coupes, '65 'brier Deluxe   http://www.corvair.org/
Keeper of the Forward Control Corvair Primer: 
http://www.mindspring.com/~corvair/fc1.html
"We did Nebraska in seven minutes today. I think that's probably the best 
way to do Nebraska."                            --Brian Shul, _Sled Driver_