<VV> "low mileage" Corvairs and any vehicle old enough to

[Tony Underwood]

At 02:03 PM 5/10/2007, Ron wrote:
>And no part of the drive train has ever been opened up for major maintenance?


At 196,000 miles a valve seat came out.    Is that major 
maintenance?    It did make a bit of a mess and the car sat for the 
better part of a year (between other projects) but repairs were 
affected, the car is back in service again since last Summer.    The 
original engine has never been down farther than having the heads off 
for a valve job.   Never overhauled, never apart.    I wonder what 
the rod bearings look like...   ;)


>>1960 700 4-door, 206,562 miles as of this morning, and 95% of it is 
>>'round town driving.     I've owned it for half of its entire life.


By the way, the Powerglide transaxle has never had as much as a screw 
turned on it.    The car still has all its original wheel bearings 
(far as I know, and they looked old when I got the car) although they 
all have been cleaned and repacked.  Twice.    All bushings and ball 
joints are original although I did put u-joints in it a few years ago.

Floors up front are not original.    Neither is the upholstery.   In 
fact, the front seat is a bench out of a '71 Buick Special, fits 
fine.    It was previously in the front of the "Killer Lakewood" 
which now has its original upholstery back in it.    Eventually I'm 
gonna redo the '60's interior, someday.

The front suspension is gonna need attention soon, bushings getting 
brittle and cracking.   I have a solid '64 front suspension, 
complete, that I'm likely to swap into it...  someday, when it comes 
necessary.    If/when the transaxle decides to finally give up the 
ghost, I have another one with ~30,000 miles on it in the stash, 
slated to go in the car.    Currently the original transaxle is doing 
exactly what it's always done for as long as I've had the car.    No 
worries there; I figure it's not likely to surprise me without any warning.

Other than the above items, the car just keeps on going.    The fact 
that it's 47 years old and has led a rather rough life speaks volumes 
of how well it has endured.



I'm surprised it hasn't broken in half, down the middle... 
considering that it wasn't originally expected to last as long as ten 
years, much less almost a half-century.



tony..