I'm finally putting a few things together to put this one and only 1960 Corvair in Bolivia back on the road.
Richard's Corvair

Click "lastest progress from the home page or choose your language and go to "Month 8".
Comments and suggestions are welcome

Richard,
YOu have a lot of courage to take on such a job in a far away country. The only thing that I question is the using of the old front spindles (ball joints). New ones are available veand and I would have replaced them. The radial tires are a good choice on a Corvair. I have them on mine. Too bad that they were not available in 1960. Be sure to either lubricate or replace the rear wheel bearings. Makes a corvair a great handling car. I wish you luck with your restoration and keep us informed.
Thanks for sharing your project with us. :)

I have brand new bearings for front and back. I chose the best 2 out of 4 front spindles, as well as all the rest of the front after bringing the used front end in.
Richard's Corvair

Can't wait to see when it's finished.

I now have a couple more weeks of work posted, as well as a little other information.
Basically I have everything ready to assemble as soon as I get back after Christmas with the valve springs and finish the body.

Looks like you have been busy.
I can't read your message board but I see oil weights mentioned....10W-30 etc.
I would use 10W-30 for break-in and later after a few thousand miles straight #30 or 10W-30. The oil does a lot of the engine cooling in a Corvair and heavy oils like #40 and 10W-50 donn't circulate fast enough to carry off the heat. Chevrolet recommended 10-30 or 30 in summer when they were new. Some of the Corvair owners around here experianced engine damage by using a "heavy" oil.
Fro gear boxes and differentials I prefer 85W-140 - if that available down there.

Yep, my manual recommends 10W-30 and that is what I plan on using. I constantly try to get people out of the habit of using thick oils. Once it is broken in I may put a 10W-40 Synthetic in it, but that is a long way off.

I'm not sure that an 85W-140 will allow the synchronizers to work in the trans. I'll start out with a traditional 80W-90. Then I may play with a Synthetic 75W-140.

I have read articles in national magazine and the new oils do not have the required additives that used to be there, but the engine oil for desile engines does. I have used this in my origibal 1966 chev and after a couple months what a big in provement. The engine is original never been apart and runs every day. Don

You are right. My business is oil. I recommend not just a diesel formulation but one that is only a CI-4, not a CJ-4. The CJ-4 reduced the anti-wear additives.
I just had my Toyota turbo diesel apart (using a CI-4) and it was spotless inside. Unfortunately the oil couldn't protect it against hydro-locking and bending a rod & sleeve, spinning the bearing.

I've been updating each month. Now working on month 13, adding a little to it as the month goes on. Suggestions are always welcome.

Richard's Corvair

I've now updated everything I have through month 14 on my site. First thing in the morning it goes into the body shop, where I will have to live with the pictures I get, as Sunday I have to drive back to Santa Cruz.

At least I was able to finish these two months with a fair amount of progress, got some good customers for my business, and finished it off with a beautiful ride down the river this morning in an inner tube.

I'll come back when it is ready to paint, upholster and re-wire. Now just to order the last (?) remaining little parts.

Well, I'm up to month 18 with a little less progress as I had hoped. The body shop has been busy with the results of too many drunk drivers, and my business has kept me super busy. I've posted everything to date. This week we were working on the shoulder belts. Hopefully my brother-in-law will keep the pressure on the body shop and it can be ready for painting when I get back to Tarija in November (after a 5 week trip to the US for parts and vacation).

Click the link to see it.

the body shop finally got going. I've updated a page with the body progress. Right now I'm in the US for a few parts, and with luck I'll be back in Tarija painting the car by mid November. then we can start on rewiring and upholstery.

check out month 21 (maybe I'll actually make my two year goal)

Looks like your coming along just fine. Keep us posted. The body on my '49 4 door stylemaster that I will start on this winter is in a lot better shape and the motor was just over hauled so mine should be a lot eaiser to restore.

Still needs to be buffed out, but here are the first shots. In person it looks greener than in the pic, but it was getting dark and cloudy. Tomorrow I'll shoot some without the flash.

Saturday he does the interior. Then start putting everything back together.

Then the electrician. I found the 2nd owner of the car. He is an automotive electrician, dedicated to rewiring and repairing everything electrical in cars. So the car starts out the new year in his shop.
Click my signature for more details and continuation as we put it together.

WOW! Very nice. Just looked at the first picture with the dog standing on it and now this one. You sure came a long way. Waiting to see what it looks like when finished.

Back in 1963 I had a 1960 Monza 2 door with 3 speed . It had 40,000 miles and dual exhausts installed when I bought it. A fine car for me at the time. I put many miles driving to construction jobs for a couple of years, the only problem was idler bearings in the fan and generator I had 115,000 miles on the car when I sold it. It got beat up really bad in a hail storm, lost chrome trim both door handles front WS and rear glass. I expected the insurance to total it but it got a bondo body job and a sorry paint job, it looked ok but when it started to fade in 1965 I traded it for a new Pontiac 2 door HT.

I now have the windshield installed that we made locally after making a mold from the broken original.



for those that notice the roof, I've posted a little storyboard of it here
Month 24 progress

I've got a lot more progress posted, working on finishing the electrical with new harnesses.
The seats and door panels are ready to put in when that is done.

I've always wanted a corvair since they first came out. When I was a kid, I had a model car that was a corvair. Really cool.

P.S. Even diesel fuel lubricates the cylinder walls / liners. Diesel is a 'greasy' liquid. Diesel engines just don't wear like gasoline ones do. With respect to the bearing shells and so on, what about the synthetic oils? For example, ExxonMobile has 15,000 mile synthetic oil for gasoline engines.

Lee

Synthetics are good for this type of engine as they maintain their body better, but as I recommend in my paper, look for a CI-4 synthetic that also has the ZDDP for boundary lubrication.

I just realized I hadn't updated this post with my finished work. Sure drives nicely. Had a problem with the locally balanced flywheel and pressure plate, but I replaced them and it is great.

Fantastic. Can't believe it's the same one you started out with. Would sure like to come down there and take a ride in it.

You welcome to take a ride or even drive it. just come on down.

Just thought I'd add some shots with the finished console and the shoulder belts with the covers.

Looks like things are going well,Keep up the good work !
Nice Corvair.

I found another 60 and was able to get its original shift knob. didn't start out too pretty, but here it is



The details of from there to here are on my site (link in sig), but this is how it looked after a little work.

I do admire your workmanship GREAT job.

I've been driving it for almost 3 years now. Took more than 5 years to get real tags on it, but I thought I'd update this with some pictures I snapped a few weeks ago.

When I'm in Tarija (my second home and office) this is my daily driver. Currently is about to turn over to 10,000 km since the restoration and rebuild.

Since it is a driver now, I've consolidated some of the before and after pictures in one spot.
Before and after pictures

Just to add the latest photo shoot the newspaper did for their Autos insert.

Did you save the gasoline heater? Very rare and worth $$

Still looks like new Richard, nice job :)

Just saw this.
No heater. Mine had the original "Heater Delete" option.

Very nice Corvair !

What are the bucket seats that you're using ?

They look comfortable.

Sorry it took so long to reply to you on the seats. they are out of a Toyota Corolla. 90's version if I recall. And yes, they are quite comfortable.