1966 Chevrolet Corvair homecoming – parts collection

Ready to get started, but wish I had a lift. Photos by Don Homuth.

Editor’s note: In August 2015, we brought you the story of Hemmings Daily contributor, concours judge and former North Dakota State Senator Don Homuth’s improbable quest for, and later purchase of, the 1966 Chevrolet Corvair Corsa convertible he’d originally acquired in January of 1968, the night before his return to Vietnam. In Don’s own words, here is the latest status update on his Corvair restoration.

Decisions have been made. Goals set. Money spent. The weather is starting to cooperate, and time to just get on with the project.

The body/paint shop guy said in June to take the car home, put it on jack stands in the shop, don’t put a cover on it. Don’t wash or wax it. Don’t bolt any parts on it. Just let it sit there in the heat, and let the paint harden for several months. The heat will cause the volatiles in the paint to outgas, and it will take several months. It’s now covered with dust but untouched and unblemished.

Cowl, air intake inside body. Dusty but in great condition!

His edict made all the good sense in the world. I have seen “restored” cars where the owner was so anxious to get started putting it back together that the action resulted in small creases where paint was still soft.

I had a bunch of other things to do here on the farm anyway, and a couple of BMWs dropped into my lap from a good friend who was dying. I spent most of my spare time this summer working on them.

Life happens. So does death, as it turns out.

After the Forest Grove Concours event this year, I decided to go All In with the Corvair. It’s not sufficient just to make it presentable or good enough – I want to make it stunning. That means finding and buying the right things to make it into a 95+ pt car for next July’s Forest Grove event.

Nicely redone carburetors (four in total) and gas lines in near perfect shape.

After stripping it to a shell before it was painted, got to looking closely at a bunch of original parts that were taken off. I took an inventory of the things required to put the Corvair convertible back together.

Which has put me into Parts Collection Mode for some weeks now. So:

* Bumpers: They are now at a rechroming shop in California being re-done, with delivery expected on Monday, September 12. Happily I started with straight, uncorroded bumpers so there is no need or expense involved in having them straightened or reworked. And there’s a chroming service that regularly runs its own truck up and down I-5, so the shipping is included in the cost. Which is $500 for both. Ouch!

Ooooh shiny! $250 in bumper guards.

* Bumper guards: The California shop wanted to charge $300 for all four. I found a shop here in Salem that would do all four for $250. It’s “only” $50 difference, but it’s my fifty bucks. Still and all, ouch!

* Wheel well trim: This stuff tends to get pitted and bent over the years, with new holes drilled in it, and it just generally can’t be brought back again. I found a full set of NOS wheel well trim for the 1966 version (which is Not the same as for the 1965) and bought it. $400. Ouch!

At $500, this NOS remote mirror was a bargain.

* Remote mirror:  When I bought the Corvair in 2015, the previous owner said he couldn’t find an original remote mirror, so he used one from a Pontiac instead. It didn’t look all that bad, but it worked only marginally well; the angle of the mirror on the Pontiac is not the same as on the Corvair, so it’s not as useful. I looked for several months in various places. One online auction site featured originals, not in concourse condition, that were sometimes selling for upwards of a thousand dollars! Gads! Instead, I placed an online ad and a guy in Tacoma happened to see it, and replied to my query. NOS still in the box with the original wrapper and part number for $500. That would be an Ouch, but buying from a different source (if one could be found in the first place) would have cost more. So I winced only a little while breathing a sigh of relief.

I am now considering the following:

* Rocker panel trim. What I have is straight and would work. Perhaps I can buff it out and make it look as new. Perhaps not. But I haven’t yet found any NOS available. Might be a problem.

Seats, panels and an host of other parts up on a shelf. All in good time.

* New seat covers. Those are available and unique to the Corsa model. One I have may well be original, but the other is newer and looks different. They must look the same in order to present properly. I’ll have to get a new set at least for the front seats. Currently the back one looks OK.

* Manual convertible top assembly. It currently has a power top. Those were available, but this one didn’t originally have that. I am willing to trade for a new manual top. I’ll continue asking around here and there.

* New carpets in the original weave. Easily available. Just don’t need them right now.

Ooooh shiny again. Really beautiful and really wrong. Don’t know what came over me. I’ll have the other set cleaned up and painted black and use that one.

* I have two sets of “spiders” for the four-carb air cleaner. One is in the original black and one is in chrome. I think I’ll go with the original black one. Problem is, I don’t know the correct GM paint code for that. I have been told that “semi-gloss black” will work fine. But as most restorers are aware, there are different shades of black. Still trying to find precisely the correct one.

* Same thing for the engine shrouding  – the sheet metal that needs to be bolted back on. Probably will need to have that sand-blasted and primered,  then painted the correct color before reassembly. Happily most of that is good and needs little work.

Take the motor down to a long block. It looks more complicated than it is. Two hours should do it.

* Speaking of the motor again, found a local Corvair club guy who will re-build the motor and Saginaw transmission. I have no idea if the motor is good, as it sat on a shelf for over a dozen years and must be taken apart and examined. If something needs to be replaced, it will be. I just don’t yet know what. Those Saginaw 4-speeds often had a sort of “graunch” when downshifting into second gear. I dimly recall that this one did when I owned it before. So looking for some NOS synchros for that. The aftermarket replacements aren’t considered as good, so looking for the originals. Seem to be made of unobtainium. Eventually will have to decide what to do if I can’t find them.

* Clips and Fasteners. When stripping the car, I found a bunch of those that were pretty rusty. Most probably shouldn’t  go back on the car again. Finding the correct new ones will be a challenge. Those are often overlooked in rebuilds. Not that a judge would ever see them, but I would know.

* Instrument panel. The Corsa model has a vacuum gauge, probably more useful on the turbo model than mine. It works via a long thin plastic tube that runs from the motor up through the car to the dashboard. It also has a cylinder head temperature gauge. There’s a guy in Pennsylvania who will re-do the dash, and I plan to remove it soon, and re-do the gauges, but finding the tube and the sender for the temperature gauge is proving problematic, too. I sense unobtainium again, but the search is on. It’ll be found, will cost way too much, and I’ll buy it anyway.

One of three AM-only radios in stock. Will require chroming and maybe rebuilding. I’m looking into an FM conversion that won’t be noticeable. May not be possible.

* Radio.  I toyed briefly with the idea of finding an original AM/FM radio. They are spendy – around $750. But there’s an interesting problem – they didn’t come with the rear-mounted antenna, and my car had that and still has the hole for it. So an AM/FM radio with a rear antenna is right out! I now have three original AM radios, will have those tested and determine if they are usable, or if I need to find one reconditioned. Whatever. Probably less than $200.

* Wheels and tires. The original Corvair came with a 13″ 185-80 bias-ply with a narrow whitewall. Hard to find any more, especially with the correct whitewall width. But they are out there, and I will probably pick up a set of those in radial construction. Don’t want the bias-play. As good as I want to make this, I want to drive it too. But as for drivability, there’s another option: I found a set of 14″ wheels with the correct bolt pattern from a mid-60’s Chevrolet station wagon. The 195-70 radial is easier to find (and cheaper) and the whitewall is available.

So…I will have a full set of 13-inch wheels and tires for shows, and another 14-inch set for regular driving on cruises and such. The 13-inch steel wheels will need to be blasted and I will have those powder-coated. Already got the 14-inch wheels done, but haven’t purchased tires yet. Total cost for wheels and tires – somewhere upstream of a thousand dollars anyway. Ouch!

Got a full set of 13-inch and 14-inch wire wheel spinner hubcaps. That’s what it had 48 years ago.

* Hubcaps. There was a dish-type Corsa hubcap, and an optional “wire wheel” hubcap with the 3-bar spinner that disappeared (safety, don’tcha know?) on all GM cars in 1967. I have a full set of each for the 13-inch and 14-inch wheels. That’s what the car came with. That’s how I’ll show and drive it. Total cost – somewhere north of $500. Ouch! Again.

So that’s coming up hard on over $5,000 so far. Ouch! That’s the price of perfection, I suppose. My wife says it’s OK so long as I use only my own money and don’t dip into retirement or household funds.

These should be polished, but Never chromed. Need to figure out what color those dark accents should be, and how to paint them better than this.

Meanwhile, I am also selling off some Stuff I have collected over the years. The shop is too full, and getting rid of Stuff is a virtue. It means the estate sale will be smaller and more easily managed. It will offset, but not completely pay for what will be required.

Why do this? It’s all wrapped up in a bunch of emotions and visual, even visceral memories that come together strangely in my head. As I said earlier, I am rebuilding a memory, not just a car. But it’s my memory, and that calls to me at this stage of my life.

Problem: To replace the master cylinder as it was, or to put in a dual, which is safer but came a year later. Still pondering that one.

If it is possible to have this car be 100% right, it will be. My wife says she understands.

(Love that woman.  As I write this, today is our 27th anniversary and marks 35 years since we met.  This may be one of those Better or Worse matters, but hopefully not Richer or Poorer.)

My winter work is cut out for me.

The picture of what this must and will look and drive like is becoming clearer, more in focus. I’ve decided this will be the Last special interest car I will ever do.  I will make it a good one.

See original article at" https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2016/09/13/1966-chevrolet-corvair-homecoming-parts-collection/