<VV> Body Transplant

Tue Jun 28 01:31:00 EDT 2005

As some of you have probably hear me say, I never intended to own a show
car. I was quite happy with my mild street coupe and my
fairly-nice-but-OK-to-park-anywhere convertible. (And then later, my
very-handy Rampside.) When I got word that there was a '66 turbo convertible
built in Canada for sale near me, I went to look at it to ensure it was the
real McCoy. I then spent about a month trying to find someone else to buy it
but there were no serious offers.

I finally decided that it was too rare of a car to leave its fate unknown.
The car was part of an estate sale so it was unclear what would happen to it
once the property had to be vacated. So I ended up buying the car.

I truthfully don't know if I would have purchased it had I known how much
work the body needed. The repaint job it received covered a lot of nasty
problems--rust and previous accident damage.

When I bought the car, it was wedged into a garage where I couldn't open the
doors. Then it was winched onto a trailer and moved to a friend's shop. I
went home for the evening. By the time I returned the next day, my friend
had gotten busy and removed the interior and the engine.

So, talk about delayed gratification: I have owned the car for 7 years,
spent way too much money on it, and have never driven it, heard the engine
run, or even sat in it!

To say that I am excited to see it nearly finished is a major
understatement!

I am quite sure I will never spend this time or money on another car but
it's been a very interesting learning experience.

--Kent
-----Original Message-----
From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of Bob & Kathy Gilbert
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 5:31 PM
To: corvair at mb.sympatico.ca; virtualvairs at corvair.org
Cc: corvairs at cybrus.net
Subject: RE: <VV> Body Transplant

Not to sound like a broken record but I couldn't agree more with Les. Mine
was towable AFTER I put an engine in but everything else was in the back of
a pickup. Actually half of it was missing but it took a few years to realize
that!

16 years and much dinaro later...

If there is a next time I'll pick up some one else's half finished project
or better yet, get a good "base car" - something like what Bill Kronen did
in Alberta with both of his recent additions. Both good runners that need
some tweaking and upgrading.

Bob

-----Original Message-----
From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of
corvair at mb.sympatico.ca
Sent: June 27, 2005 12:58 PM
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Subject: <VV> Body Transplant

When I bought my '65 Canadian Corsa Cvt (140/4) the body was on sawhorses in
a farmyard and the rest of the car (meaning: everything that could be
unbolted from the body, minus the stuff that had gone missing over the
years) was in a trailer 200 miles away. That was in '96. I expect to drive
it before fall but it won't make it to the convention this year.

It cost way too much and I'd never do it again.

Les
=======================
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 09:29:17 -0400
From: "N. Joseph Potts" <pottsf at msn.com>
Subject: <VV> Body Transplant
To: "Corvair List" <virtualvairs at skiblack.com>
Message-ID: <BAY0-SMTP092BEBFEF243A240F01AFACFEE0 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

Is there anyone on the list who has taken a Corvair body (no power train, no
brakes, no suspension, no interior) and "inhabited" it with Corvair running
gear to create a whole Corvair?
     If so, please raise your hand and tell us what it cost, and what you
consider it to have been worth.
     It sounds to me as though it could be more-difficult than repairing
SOME rust damage, even IF you have all the right parts to completely outfit
the new body right on hand (say, in the car whose body is being replaced).

Joe Potts
Miami, Florida USA
1966 Corsa coupe 140hp 4-speed with A/C

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