<VV> My bad car adventure

[Thesuperscribe at cs.com]

Folks, there's a book from the '60s or '70s called, "Don't Say Yes When You 
Want to Say No." Find a copy and read it.

--Tom B in California (the true home of rust-free cars)

***

In a message dated 5/12/2005 6:28:26 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
bub049 at comcast.net writes: 
> Great story Goeff!
> 
> My story is identical! My son Jim wanted a 63 convert like mine as he 
> basically grew up riding in the backseat. So, good dad that I like to think I am, I 
> started looking for one. Not having unlimited funds, but having tons of 
> parts, I decided to look for a rebuilder from the south. I too found a 63 Convert 
> in Texas in the city of Austin. I too figured that a Texas car would be 
> sweet in the metal department. And, I too wound up with a pig in the poke! My son 
> and I pulled up to the guys hobby building and my heart sunk. I held out 
> hope that the car we bought was out in back and not the rusted hulk sitting out 
> in front. I found cars with less rust here in Minnesota! Well, we loaded it 
> up and hauled it home where we started to make a valiant effort to save it.
> 
> Well, the short of it was that we gave up, junked the shell, and hauled home 
> a rust free convert body from Jeff at California Corvairs. Now....lesson 
> learned, right? Nah. I brought home a "One owner, little old lady car, 63 500 
> coupe with 1 option-powerglide and 44,000 original miles" from Missouri. Well, 
> all that was true. The son selling the beast on eBay didn't mention that the 
> little old lady never washed that pig in the last 35 years and it never saw a 
> garage.  Another rusty beast!!! The car looked awesome in the eBay pictures. 
> The thing started falling apart on the trailer on the trip home. I pulled 
> the weatherstripping from around the trunk opening and 1/4 of the metal under 
> the stripping came with the weatherstrip!
> I am re-learning how to weld by taking that one apart and welding it back 
> together. 
> 
> People must think I'm nuts hauling rust buckets INTO Minnesota! 
> 
> Bob Johnston
> Frostbite Falls, MN
> 
> 
> Message: 2 
> >Date: Wed, 11 May 2005 15:45:38 -0600 (MDT) 
> >From: Geoffrey A Johnson 
> >Subject: Re: Corvairs and Deals from Hell 
> >To: UltraMonzaWest at aol.com 
> >Cc: virtualvairs at corvair.org 
> >Message-ID: 
> >Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed 
> >
> >My bad car adventure- 
> >I had wanted a convertible all my life. MY dad has a good 65 Corsa Vert 
> >in his 
> >garage, buried. Wont see it for years! 
> >So in early 2002 on Ebay I got a 63 vert $300 "shell" from Texas. Did 
> >not 
> >look bad, but 
> >a 
> >big project. Seller had stripped most of the car before putting it up 
> >for sale and grossly misrepresented the item! After the item ended I 
> >noticed his previous auctions... for 
> >all the parts off of my car! 
> >I am in Albuquerque, it is in Dallas. How to get it back? Well I had to 
> >go out of town for 3 weeks for field school. There I fell off a mountain 
> >and broke my leg and had to come home. So we figured, well now is the 
> >time to get the car! A friend looking for an adventure said he would go 
> >with us to to get the thing, and we would use his truck, and he would pay 
> >for gas and trailer rental even! 
> >So him, me with a broken leg on crutches, and my sister Sally, hop in the 
> >truck and take off. Get there and wow is Dallas an unpleasant place while 
> >in a leg cast! Met the dirtbag with the car, and loaded it up while I 
> >had the sinking 
> >feeling of regret! The car was completely rotted! 
> >
> >Everything had serious rust and deep 
> >chunks of bondo. My first real encounter with a SALT car. The 
> >previous titled owners had 
> >been killed in the Oklahoma City bombing, and the car had I guess been 
> >auctioned to this guy. I made the mistake of wasting some time stripping 
> >its cheap paint before giving up on it. Cut chunks 4 inches thick of 
> >bondo out of the 
> >doglegs! Decided there was just no way to salvage it. 
> >
> >
> >Now the positive side. In late December of last year I found a solid 
> >AZ/NM shell of a vert in January, and 
> >using many 
> >pieces 
> >from the trash one, it is on the road, and my daily driver. So far it at 
> >least has the junk cars tranny, windhsield, clutch cable, and speedo 
> >cable. So some good finally came out of the ordeal! The new one is not a 
> >girl like the other Vairs, which are "The Lady Corsa", and "Yellows". It 
> >is a 
> >bird, named "Cardinal" for its color! 
> >
> >-Geoff Johnson 
> >63 Vert 
> >63 Coupe 
> >
> >
> >On Wed, 11 May 2005 UltraMonzaWest at aol.com wrote: 
> >
> >>With all this talk of He / She / It and the various names / reasons ...... 
> 
> >>
> >>How about everyones WORST story of Buying a Corvair.......the Deal...the 
> Car
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