Goodbye, Old Paint

Kinja'd!!! by "1967ers - lover of dead auto marques" (1967ers)
Published 05/23/2017 at 16:55

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STARS: 3


Kinja'd!!!

I did a thing. I sold my Corvair.

It wasn’t the prettiest car - I had it 15 years and never got around to painting it. It had been shot with white primer around 1971 and this was degrading to the point where I was wearing it on my clothing if ever I brushed against the car. I sanded the hood (trunk, really) and roof back to the original Madeira Maroon until realizing that a) sanding off the entire car was going to be a stinkton of work and b) the original owner had made a bit of a mess of that paint, too.

But I loved it.

I took it to work, I took it to shows, I took it out and about and added 20,000 miles to the 40,000 it had when I got it. It gained a 4-speed and a turbo engine (that never boosted, but that doesn’t matter because TURBO ).

Kinja'd!!!

Why sell? Well, we moved. My commute doubled and dealing with 18-wheelers on busy, fast Toronto highways wasn’t as much fun given 1965 safety standards. Small kids meant that it could take several years to have enough time to bring it closer to spec and instead of driving 5000 miles per year, it was lucky to see 500.

I listed it three separate times. People would call. I’d get depressed and cancel. Finally, someone showed up cash in hand and we shook on it. I’ve left my oil drip catchers in place, even though the new inhabitant of the garage has the engine at the other end:

Kinja'd!!!

It’s faster, shinier, prettier, much better equipped and drives 1000 times better. It uses half the gas and I’ve driven it more this year than the Corvair went in the past six or seven.

But as of this moment, I have eight browser tabs open with various searches for Corvairs for sale. And it has only been six days....


Replies (12)

Kinja'd!!! "Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen)
05/23/2017 at 17:03, STARS: 0

Oh wow, I’ve always thought about a Corvair as a project car, I think they look fantastic!

I’m glad you sold it for practical reasons and not because you hated it, because that would’ve made me sad (although I am sad you no longer have a Corvair).

What kind of Turbo engine did you have in it? The stock one?

Kinja'd!!! "cletus44 aka Clayton Seams" (cletus44)
05/23/2017 at 17:11, STARS: 0

hey welcome to Oppo! I saw it on Kijiji when it was up! Sorry you had to sell but the SAAB is a cool little daily.

Kinja'd!!! "1967ers - lover of dead auto marques" (1967ers)
05/23/2017 at 17:13, STARS: 0

I have had three different Corvairs - two Corsa turbos and this Monza. This car had the strongest body of all of them, so it inherited the engine when I parted out the last of the Corsas. It was the proper 180 turbo for 1965.

Kinja'd!!!

They’re a bit finicky. I think it really ran the best as a 110/4.

If I’d have kept it, it really needed proper seats, shoulder belts and a dual-master cylinder just to start.

Kinja'd!!! "1967ers - lover of dead auto marques" (1967ers)
05/23/2017 at 17:18, STARS: 1

I had been hit in the Saab on the Friday before the show. Not too bad, but enough to require a new rear bumper. On the Monday, after dropping the car at the body shop, I got hit again. DIfferent intersection, same accident (rear-ended waiting to turn right). It was enough to make me accept that as currently set up, the Corvair was probably not the thing to be driving.

That said, I still took it out for a last run through the twisties with my Dad. That was cool. Closure.

So the C&C was the last show I got to take it to. If Reidus got any pictures, I’d love a copy.

Kinja'd!!! "ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
05/23/2017 at 17:37, STARS: 0

Are you leaving Cheyenne?

Kinja'd!!! "1967ers - lover of dead auto marques" (1967ers)
05/23/2017 at 17:45, STARS: 1

Time comes, we’ll all be leaving Cheyenne.

Wondered whether I was going to be the only person who knew that song.

Kinja'd!!! "cletus44 aka Clayton Seams" (cletus44)
05/23/2017 at 17:46, STARS: 0

We have few pictures but lots of video. Bummer about the accidents. Darn texters.

Kinja'd!!! "ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
05/23/2017 at 17:55, STARS: 0

Well, I’m a musician, so....

I guess I should really have asked if you are a-leaving.

Kinja'd!!! "1967ers - lover of dead auto marques" (1967ers)
05/23/2017 at 17:59, STARS: 1

If I still had one of my parts cars, that could have been old Dan.

Kinja'd!!! "GenuineAlexReid - The Reidus" (genuinealexreid)
05/24/2017 at 12:02, STARS: 0

I came so close to buying this, when I saw it on Kijiji my eyeballs nearly fell out of my head.

Kinja'd!!! "1967ers - lover of dead auto marques" (1967ers)
05/24/2017 at 12:20, STARS: 0

It would have been a good project, but there’s a lot of project in it. The engine is workable as it is and I’ve driven it that way for years, but to get it really “right,” a lot has to come apart. That’s ultimately what pushed the sale. To get it to where it needed to be, it would have taken me years.

Well, that and getting rear-ended twice in four days.

Better to let someone take it where they want to take it and maybe get another when the kids a bigger. Or maybe next week, whichever comes sooner. :)

If I ever get another, it’ll be a ‘68.

Kinja'd!!! "1967ers - lover of dead auto marques" (1967ers)
05/24/2017 at 12:20, STARS: 0

It would have been a good project, but there’s a lot of project in it. The engine is workable as it is and I’ve driven it that way for years, but to get it really “right,” a lot has to come apart. That’s ultimately what pushed the sale. To get it to where it needed to be, it would have taken me years.

Well, that and getting rear-ended twice in four days.

Better to let someone take it where they want to take it and maybe get another when the kids a bigger. Or maybe next week, whichever comes sooner. :)

If I ever get another, it’ll be a ‘68.