| Home | Corvair Index | Floor Repair | Wheels & Tires | Suspension | Engine | Wanted and For Sale | Pictures |
1967 Chevrolet Corvair 500
No attempt should be made to reproduce any modifications, alterations, instructions, stories or anything else found on these pages, this stuff is dangerous. Trying to duplicate anything you find here is sure to end poorly with someone maimed, disfigured, dead or worse. Your vehicle will likely burst into flames then explode causing more mayhem than the opening sequences of ‘Apocalypse Now’ and ‘Revenge of the Sith’ combined. Your neighbors will run for their lawyers!
Even reading this stuff can hurt you, never mind looking at the pictures, do so at your own risk. By viewing these pages you agree to hold the author and owner harmless for anything that may happen to you or anyone else in the world as a result thereof. This includes but is not limited to physical, mental and financial damage, loss of homes, vehicles, friends, sexual dysfunction and incontinence. Remember, I have no idea what I’m doing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last updated July 29, 2007
|
After not owning a car for about four years (I’ve had bikes, trucks and Jeeps) I started to get the itch for something old. For at least the last 25 years I’ve been pretty much a Mopar guy, but this time I wanted to get something different. Since I’ve had at least one of just about every desirable Chrysler product and multiple copies of the undesirable ones I figured I’d venture out and expand my horizons a bit. A lot of web surfing and virtual tire kicking brought me to a few Corvair sites. While I remember these cars growing up, they weren’t exactly Muscle Cars so they were quickly dismissed before even getting half a chance. But almost 30 years later and what I find appealing in a vehicle has changed and this orphan car started looking pretty cool. |
|
There was a false start with a car I found in Georgia. I let my excitement get the better of me and flew down there to pick up a restored and perfectly running Corsa. A quick ride around the block (my first in any Corvair) showed me the car wasn’t all that I believed it was so I flew back home sans a car. But that short ride was enough to get me hooked.
A few weeks later and I found this beauty a hundred miles away at www.corvairguynj.com. It wasn’t a Corsa. It didn’t have a four speed. It didn’t have a turbo, a 140 or even 110-horse motor, but it wasn’t full of rust holes, ran well and had a reasonable price. On July 3rd, 2007 I drove up to Jersey with a friend and he followed me home.
|
Now with a 500 in the garage instead of a Corsa I do not have to be concerned about cutting up a rare and valuable factory car. In fact the relatively low price of these cars, especially compared to conventional Muscle Cars, makes modifying them very affordable. But before anything gets changed, the first order of business is to remove the rust and restore it at least close to the way the factory built it. Well, kind of anyway. The car has very low mileage and must have spent a good deal of its life indoors. With only 54,889 miles showing on the odometer it hadn’t seen the exposure that is so unkind to many of these cars in this part of the country. In fact this was the first Corvair that I came across that hadn’t had the rockers blended into the quarters. |
The Good
Seeing rockers in this kind of shape led me to believe this is what I would find everywhere. That is pretty much the case and except for a leaky windshield and some tender floors. |
More Bondo-free steel. There is a little surface rust on that leading edge, but otherwise it is solid. A little scratch and spray and it will be good to go. |
Even the doors are in nice shape. Sure there are dings and the car has two nasty dents, but I’ll take dent repair over rust anyday! |
These features are what caused me to pull the trigger on this one rather than wait for a car that had all the features I was looking for and in better shape. It’s not like you can run down to your local dealer and order one, at some point you have to take what you can get.
That all said, the car is not without its flaws. Rust-wise, the worst of it are the front floors. I had only taken a cursorily glance at the floors when I bought it, they felt solid and from the bottom the driver’s side looks perfect. In fact if it weren’t for a leaking windshield I’m sure they would have been perfect. But that wasn’t the case so I have some work to do.
The Bad
Once I had the car home and spent some time on a real inspection I found a previous repair to the front floor. Although undetectable under the rubber mat, had it and the underlayment been removed and a drain hole added I probably wouldn’t be doing floorboards now. Then again I did want a project.
Evidenced by a smelly inside, a crumbling mat revealed still wet insulation, a screwed on patch and a tender floor on both sides. |
The cause of all this grief is the leaky windshield. I’d rather fight a bobcat than R & R a windshield, but it looks like I’ll be doing two. The rear window shows similar issues. |
Once the patch was removed the extent of the damage is apparent. “Hello Clarks, I’d like to place an order…” |
Other than the floors, there are a few previously mentioned dents and one more area under the battery tray that needs attention. Not bad for a forty-year-old ride.
The other rusty area is directly under the battery. The quarter extension is still fine making me think this was due to battery leakage sometime in the past. The battery will likely find a new home in a sealed box in the trunk. |
This particular ugly mess probably got the car for the previous owner on the cheap. Still, as ugly as it is, repairing this is much easier than a rusty rocker. |
The match on the driver’s quarter isn’t quite as bad, but will nevertheless test my skills at straightening body panels. While I’ve done plenty of steel work before, this will be my first attempt at finish bodywork. |
The Ugly
Below you will find all that is wrong with the world. Out of all the wonderful sounds that machines can make, nothing is so repulsive, so demoralizing, so damn mundane as the sound of a powerglide hitting second. Anyway, this distasteful thing needs to be gone from my dashboard as soon as possible. Once it is gone and I have the proper number of pedals on the floor, I’ll be able to enjoy this car completely, 95 horsepower and all!
So please, if you have a four speed parts car for sale or any of the individual parts I will need to complete this swap send me an email and I will get back to you.
The latest pictures can be found on the picture page and I also have Wanted and For Sale pages as need lots of stuff. Your comments and suggestions are appreciated, email me here.
| Home | Corvair Index | Floor Repair | Wheels & Tires | Suspension | Engine | Wanted and For Sale | Pictures |