|
Post by PICTUP on May 24, 2022 21:26:51 GMT -8
Your dad would've approved
|
|
|
Post by Rob Sannes on May 25, 2022 19:56:02 GMT -8
It's an amazing combo.
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Jun 3, 2022 20:06:03 GMT -8
Sooo, the previously mentioned blue '66 in Kelowna was eating away at me. Even though there were a couple of things about it that I didn't like, I came to the conclusion that it was as close to ideal as I would likely find. So with Don's help, I was able to talk to the seller about the car. The "seller" was not the actual owner. The owner is a 90 year old widow; it was her husband who built this car sometime ago. The seller was the neighbourhood "car guy" who was roped in to help sell it. This was ok, as we could talk on the same level about the car and what he thought of it. He stated that the body was truly nice, with no sign of patching or bondo anywhere. And the paint was very smooth, and the car seemed to run and drive well. He admitted he knew little about Corvairs, but his assessment was it was a nice solid car that needed primarily interior work more than anything else. This sounded great to my ears, so I then requested extra pictures and closeups of potential problem areas. And a couple of days later, the pictures arrived...
Continued...
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Jun 3, 2022 20:40:15 GMT -8
So here are the more recent pictures... This shot shows the non-original Corsa instrument cluster and an early '80's Camaro wheel. That wheel would be in the trash in minutes if I owned it... Everything else looks just fine in this picture. This shot of the "frunk" shows the original single master cylinder in place. 1966 was the last year for this design as all 1967 cars were mandated to have dual master cylinders. Note it is not exactly finely detailed under the hood. Originally that windshield washer bottle was glass, not plastic like that one appears to be... This shot shows a manual (which I already have), and the jack and what looks like fuel pump bits and pieces. What is that gold thing??? The gold thing is actually the cover for the back of the headlight assemblies. No it should not be bright gold like that. Note the finish of the inside of the trunk. Genuine Canadian built cars should be painted body colour under the hood. This car's grey spatter paint is consistent with an American built car. Hmmm. More on this later... This shot of the left bank shows two of the four carburetors on this 140 hp engine setup. In normal driving two of the carbs do all the work, and the extra two only are in operation when you have your foot planted. Apparently if you do not accelerate hard very often, the fuel in the unused carbs can go bad do to lack of use. Interesting... Continued...
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Jun 3, 2022 20:58:00 GMT -8
Now onto some body shots. This one pleases me because those rust prone window pillars look great! The fit of the chrome appears excellent too, something that is not always consistent on these cars. Ok with this area too. I would have masked that door catch better, but otherwise things look good. Nothing jumps out at me as bad here either. That paint does look very smooth and shiny. And did I mention I just LOVE that colour? More on that in a moment... Body looks good. Now about that tire... Those type had a very ugly blocky tread pattern, and were commonly known as a Big O Tire house brand called "Moonies" And they were FUGLY! And last available some time in the 1980's... They would be replaced in minutes once in my possession. Note the hubcaps are showing their age... Now here is an issue. This car has a towing attachment point below the front bumper. Holes have been drilled in the body to accommodate this, and that just sucks. I would have to remove that for sure and do some welding and painting... Bummer... Someone felt it necessary to add red paint to the stamped lines between the headlights as well... Now this picture made me unhappy. Note the real poor effort put into the masking when the body was last painted. You can see the new paint slopped all over the plastic kick panel edge as nobody seemed to care when the paint was applied. There also appears to be a non-original hole drilled into the base of the rust prone A pillar. When you see sloppiness like this, you kind of wonder how much effort really went into the rest of the paintwork. And regarding that "Marina" blue paint. From what I can see from the pictures, this car was much more likely originally a lighter shade, probably "Mist" blue. As much as I would like the paint to match the original colour, I still would be OK with this as I do love Marina blue. So overall things are looking generally good to me; just one more picture to go before I can make my final decision to go take a road trip and look at it in person... Continued...
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Jun 3, 2022 21:14:29 GMT -8
And this picture is were it all went wrong... Look carefully at that data plate and you can see signs of reddish paint. Aztec Bronze to be precise, as that is what that data plate states as should be the original colour for "this" car. Nope. This car has absolutely no sign of Aztec Bronze on any other surface other than the data plate. Plate also shows the car is an average Monza with Powerglide as the only original option. And that is definitely a Canadian built tag on a car that shows American only features. Yup. Someone has done the old VIN tag swaparoo! Now understand with old cars like this, sometimes things happen. It COULD have been a stolen car at sometime. But more likely someone "built" a Corvair to the colour and specification that they always wanted out of more than one vehicle. In this case it turns out the previous owner was a mechanic and car guy himself, who built many project cars over the years. Likely he already had a rusty Aztec Bronze car with good paperwork, and a solid American body shell without paperwork. And then added the engine that he really wanted, and painted it his favourite colour. Obviously he didn't do this car up to sell it, as he kept it until his death. I am sure it is not the only car out there with "creative license" like that... Anyway that discovery did put me off the car. I would much rather have a car with real "history" than something like this. Not owning a "genuine" 140 hp car would make me less happy too. Now having said that, it is still a rust free and nice looking car that needs some good detailing and some more money spent to make it into something nice in my eyes. If I could accept it as a "hotrod" of sorts, I would still end up with a cool cruiser that I would not be selling anyway. I so much as told the seller that as well. If nobody else wants to buy it, I would still consider it at a lower price, knowing the issues that it has and learning to accept that it is just a fun car, and nothing more. We will see if anything else becomes of this....
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Jun 9, 2022 23:11:09 GMT -8
Well the seller called me and the price is now MUCH more palatable. Going to have to take a look at this in person... No rust is a BIG draw for me...
|
|
|
Post by CrazyBrit on Jun 12, 2022 8:33:13 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by PICTUP on Jun 12, 2022 18:34:08 GMT -8
Ladysmith? Reads it is in Saanich....No? Yes?
|
|
|
Post by busaddict on Jun 15, 2022 12:26:40 GMT -8
RARE 1964 CHEVROLET MONZA SPYDER 4-SPD $25,900 - Chilliwack, BC
|
|
|
Post by Rob Sannes on Jun 18, 2022 19:36:36 GMT -8
This just popped up on my phone folks. Don and Russ were on the hunt and it looks like they may have gotten a nice one.
|
|
|
Post by Volktales on Jun 18, 2022 22:13:15 GMT -8
I just couldn't say no and leave it there, now could I??? The story on this and the trip to get it, is to come... Let's just say I am happy things worked out like they did!
|
|
|
Post by busaddict on Jun 19, 2022 0:12:39 GMT -8
Congratulations! Looks great, you have to know when to act on these things
|
|
|
Post by CrazyBrit on Jun 19, 2022 8:00:32 GMT -8
Congratulations Russ! Will it be in Qualicum?
|
|
|
Post by PICTUP on Jun 19, 2022 9:52:16 GMT -8
Congratulations Russ! Will it be in Qualicum? We got in later last night, but he would have had it there if new tires had magically appeared
|
|