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Post by Volktales on Jan 1, 2023 19:12:59 GMT -8
So why was this problem not noted earlier in the summer??? I never had over 1/2 tank of fuel in it at any time. Just before putting it away I filled it right up for the first time. That would do it...
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Post by Volktales on Jan 3, 2023 21:50:24 GMT -8
Finally sent in my first order to Clark's Corvair Parts in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. Unlike our VW suppliers, Clark's is the ONLY one in the game at this stage, and they were pretty much the original and largest supplier anyway. With prices in Yankee bucks and "unable to estimate shipping", you know this is gonna hurt...
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Post by Volktales on Jan 23, 2023 21:18:29 GMT -8
Well it is time to get some more work done on Kelowna Bluey. Earlier I had carefully removed the bumper guards from the spare front bumper in anticipation of refinishing them. At the same time I removed the bumper mounts that were missing on my car. A session with the blasting cabinet and some paint soon had them looking fresh... The guards themselves were decent enough on the parts that show, but rather gross on the backside. That won't do... The picture sucks, but the guards were carefully masked and the insides blasted clean of rust. With some primer and new paint, they will be good to go again. Note the hockey tape used to mask the parts. Worked very well to protect the chrome in the blaster... An attempt was made to clean up the original special securing bolts. They are deemed too far gone unfortunately... I will have to install these guards eventually, but that requires drilling two big holes in the bumper. Going to have to get psyched up for that... Also have some other stuff ready for the car, but forgot to take the pictures yet...
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Post by Volktales on Feb 5, 2023 22:31:51 GMT -8
So the guards were given a couple of more coats of paint on the backside, then it was time to see if it was all worthwhile... Sure was! I used one of those soapy "Jets" pads to clean off years of tarnish on the chrome, and they looked quite decent. A few flaws, but good enough for me... Then it was onto something fun. I couldn't locate my camera for the "before pics", but here are two of them after a date in the blast cabinet, followed by a couple of coats of primer. I even splurged out on a new bag of blasting media. This time I went back to the real glass beads (Dad had switched to a special type of sand). I can see why he did that, as the sand was less then $20, while the proper glass beads were over $50! Still the beads do a much better job, so that is what I switched back too... To determine paint colour, I experimented with this steel rim. You actually can buy spray cans of "GM Rally wheel" paint from multiple internet suppliers, but they are very pricey. I have been very happy with the Rust oleum 2X paint from Rona, and bought their only silver product labeled as "aluminum". This is too bright a shade, but covering it with a clear-coat will make it less vibrant. I did not read the can carefully, and chose "satin clear" by mistake. However once dried, it gave the look I was going for, so will be happy with the shade once it is done. Colour coats will go on tomorrow night... Continued...
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Post by Volktales on Feb 5, 2023 22:49:40 GMT -8
Now possibly the easiest job ever. Kelowna Bluey has the wrong radio knobs, and these really bugged me. I really hated to do it, but I did swipe the correct knobs from Goldie, and felt bad about that. The knobs were soaked with my favourite Krud Kutter gel, and once again all corrosion disappeared... That looks waaaay better, and took a few seconds to install. Someday I will make it up to Goldie... And look what also arrived recently. I have wanted a Corvair promotional model for years, and FINALLY pulled the trigger on one. This is a '66, in the closest shade of blue I will likely find. These models are genuine dealer promos, and are 57 years old now. The pictures on Ebay were not that great, but the description said excellent condition, so I went for it. So am I happy with what I received from the good ol' US of A??? You can't make it out in this picture, but someone went to town polishing this model. In fact they polished ALL of the paint off the passenger side, leaving the darker blue molded plastic underneath. Not impressed, but not surprised either, given the model was wrapped up in pages from a VERY pro Trump magazine. Not surprisingly the seller, when informed the model was not described honestly, basically said it looked fine to him, and too bad, so sad. Yes there are many sad people out there... The next project on Bluey is to convert this 1965 horn button I got used, into the 1966 Monza style for the stock steering wheel. Clarks provides a nice kit with instructions on how to do this and repair the always loose retainer rivets. I do want to reinstall the stock steering wheel eventually, and this will make it possible... Going to continue on to finish the Rally wheels first, though...
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Post by Volktales on Feb 12, 2023 21:28:31 GMT -8
Sooo, I actually got stuff accomplished this week... Yup. Completed painting all the rally wheels. In the end it was a coat of primer, two coats of silver, and two coats of satin clear. The end result looks close enough to the original silver for me and I was happy. Cedar Tire had the needed BF Goodrich tires in stock, and I think the raised white letters will do it for me... Felt good to finally get this done... Next up will be restoring the center caps to a level that I will be happy with. The black paint needs to be redone, and after this a good polish. Should be all that they need... Now back to the horn button housing again. The Clark's repair kit was easy to install and worked just fine. The two steel retainers were originally held in place by protrusions cast into the back of the chrome ring, with the ends peened over. This loosen as the years go by, and the peens must be drilled out to remove the retainers to replace the plastic button in the center. The protrusions are drilled out, and the retainers reinstalled with special self tapping screws. The metal was very soft, and drilled quickly and easily... And here is the result, now with the correct 1966 Monza insert... And the good thing is, the 1965 insert will find a new home on Glacier Grey, as the original insert on that car is damaged. That will work out well... This will look nice in the original wheel that I acquired for Bluey less than a week after I bought the car. I really do NOT like the steering wheel that is currently on the car... All ready to install, and I quickly had the ugly wheel ripped off. And then things went all pear-shaped again... I knew the steering column had been replaced in the Corvair with a later version from a different model. The wheel looks Camaro-ish, but could be from many different models. And I guess GM decided to change the splines and size of the shaft at some time. The original steering wheel simply won't fit on this column, and that makes me sad. This is going to require some thought...
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Post by Volktales on Feb 26, 2023 21:02:20 GMT -8
Sooo, back at it again... It is time to do something about those fancy centre caps. First up is disassembling the cast metal cap from the stainless steel backing. The caps are held on with four small screws and they were removed without issue. You can see the original black paint is very tired, and the chrome tarnished. We can make that better... It may look like a lot of masking is required, but this is not the case. I only did one section as shown, and just spray painted over everything else. You let the paint set up just a bit, and then wipe off chrome surfaces that should show with paint thinner. Much easier than you might think. Just don't let the paint set up too long... Mmmm, that looks better. Once the paint is dry, then finish the job with some chrome polish. Up close, three of them look pretty good. The fourth had a lot of pitting, and was not quite as nice. Looking pretty decent when all reassembled... This was one of those jobs that I spent more time thinking about it then actually doing it. Nice to get this out of the way... Continued...
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Post by Volktales on Feb 26, 2023 21:16:40 GMT -8
Now here is a sneak peek with one of the wheels fitted. But we are not ready for that just yet. Oh no, much more to do... The wheel wells need some work, and the upper control arms are too grubby for my liking. Look at all that ancient grease build up surrounding the grease fitting for the upper ball joint. That clearly won't do... This fossilized grease was chipped off with some difficulty. Yuck! And this is why I had to remove it. Old grease is very corrosive, and the control arm was covered in surface rust. Unacceptable. A lot of scraping and wire brushing, followed by a wash in phosphoric acid (Rust Mort) in this case. Then primed and painted of course... I also had a good poke around the undercoating, and found a couple of issues. This section seemed "loose", and sure enough moisture had breached the undercoating. Luckily that was just light surface rust underneath... This was treat with Rust Mort of course, and then new seam sealer applied to all the lapped panels that make up the front end. There were numerous areas where the original sealer had lifted, allowing water to get in. Fortunately the rust was quite minor, and the seam sealer took care of it... And of course I applied new underseal to the entire area once everything was repaired. And painted the brake drum too, just because it needed to be done... And this picture is for Don, as he wanted to see the new rims in "rally-mode" without the caps and rings. He would be slapping a big number on the side and going rallying, but I can't wait to complete the wheels as GM intended... Still have to clean and refinish the rear fenderwells and make the rear drums shiny as well. Because it is the right thing to do...
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Post by Volktales on Feb 26, 2023 21:23:13 GMT -8
And here is something to think about. Corvairs use drum brakes all around, and they are the same diameter too. Yet the rear brakes are actually wider than the front, with more surface area. I cannot think of another vehicle that has bigger brakes in the back, instead of the front. Corvairs are one of the few '60's cars where front disc brake conversions are NOT recommended for this reason. The rears are supposed to do more work than the front, and you will upset that balance with front discs. Interesting...
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Post by PICTUP on Feb 27, 2023 22:02:55 GMT -8
And this picture is for Don, as he wanted to see the new rims in "rally-mode" without the caps and rings. He would be slapping a big number on the side and going rallying, but I can't wait to complete the wheels as GM intended... Still have to clean and refinish the rear fenderwells and make the rear drums shiny as well. Because it is the right thing to do... I have to say I am getting a distinct stock car, or NASCAR, vibe off this lump of American steel Russ. Yes, a number would look great at this stage, but it is going to sure look great(dare I say "better" instead?) with all the "blingey" bits on it! I don't think any of us can compete with with Mr Dave in Port on the rally front...
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Post by Volktales on Mar 8, 2023 8:32:31 GMT -8
Sooo, with a new shipment arrived from Clark's Corvair, it was time to shift gears and do some quick fun stuff... That broken and crusty license plate light just won't do... Once again Clark's has provided a nice quality replacement. Apparently the new one is exactly right, and the old broken one was already a reproduction from the past. The replacement is stronger with cast in reinforcements, so should hopefully last the next 57 years. Rebecca approved of the place of manufacture as well... Now lets get it on the car... Much better! And much brighter, too. Simple jobs like this highlight other things that need attention, like that oversprayed decklid latch below. As always, where do you draw the line... And how about this? What is wrong with this picture??? Ah, much better. Now I can sleep at night knowing the "correct" lock knobs are in their rightful position. GM had colour coded knobs throughout this era, and small details like this make me happy. And they were cheap and easy to install, too! Also easy to install, but anything but cheap were these genuine GM reproduction floor mats. Sure you can find something that might work at Canadian Tire, but these accurate replacements are doing it for me. Shame they were discontinued, but not surprisingly given how much moola these pieces of rubber are going for... And yet another sneak peek... Mmm, I likey this look...
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Post by clay on Mar 8, 2023 11:55:48 GMT -8
Looks like you're just about done with this one. When you're ready, I know of a sweet Corvair for sale here in the Valley...gavel dropped on it at 15k (plus buyers fees/taxes) in an online auction last month but apparently the buyer backed out so the owner is back to square one.
Definitely a sweet car, and definitely the last thing you need now!
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Post by Volktales on Mar 8, 2023 20:17:56 GMT -8
Nope! I definitely do not need any more cars now! The Corvair is coming along well, and wait to see what I am up to now when the pictures come out tomorrow (or the next day)...
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Post by Volktales on Mar 12, 2023 20:01:51 GMT -8
So continuing on... Next up was cleaning out the rear wheel wells and suspension. For whatever reason, the rear end was much dirtier than the front, so I elected to give it a good scrub with my favourite Super Clean, then rinse it thoroughly with water. This revealed that under all the mud (and there was a lot), is blue overspray from when the car was painted. If you think about that for a moment, it meant that the previous owner (Bob), drove this car extensively after it had been restored. Bad weather seemed to be ok with him, or at least dirt roads. His wife did say he really enjoyed this car... And like the front, there were a couple of areas where the undercoating had failed. Again, Rust Mort, primer, and underseal... MUCH better. Then the wheels were installed and torqued of course... Continued...
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Post by Volktales on Mar 12, 2023 20:20:29 GMT -8
So if I am left unattended for a bit, things happen... This started off innocently enough. I had to remove the bumper to install the missing brackets and bumper guards anyways. The headlights were removed to see if I could improve the poor fit of the left headlight bezel. And then I noticed the headlight mounting plate in behind was crusty and should be refinished. Of course... Well I also had to drill holes in the front panel to install the missing "Corvair" emblem anyway. And then there is more... Now why would I mask up all the various holes in the front body??? Yup. The trunk area was just too grubby for me, and cleaning it did not improve things enough. So let's paint it! The center of this picture is where the master cylinder once resided. I was going to paint the cylinder in place and mask around it, but then remembered I had a brand new one "in stock", and it would be a shame not to paint that one instead and install it after the trunk was painted. Sounds like a good plan.... I did elect not to remove the windshield wiper motor, and instead masked it in place with a chocolate chip cookie bag that for some reason happened to be just laying around in the shop... And here is the initial result. Doesn't look too bad. I used a Duplicolor product that comes in spray cans. Was disappointed with how the paint went on, as it provides very poor coverage and you need a lot of it. Five cans went into this project... It did look reasonably decent at first. This splatter paint finish is correct and original for US built Corvairs. Canadian built cars featured body colour paint in the trunk area. My car already had the spatter tone present, so this is why I went with it. Was that a wise decision??? No. It was not. I was very disappointed the next day to see that the paint had reacted with previously applied primer and seam sealer. Research on the internet proved that I was not the only one to experience these issues. In fact this paint MUST be applied over a fully primered or painted surface, and once dry MUST be clear-coated to have any type of longevity. And of course the instructions on the can failed to mention either of these facts. And to make things worse, the paint is drying in some areas, and not at all in others. VERY unhappy about this right now. If I end up having to completely strip out all the paint under the hood, then I will definitely be painting it like a Canadian car with some nice shiny blue paint. This will be a LOT of work if it proves necessary... Continued...
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