Chev CORVAIR - What to Know BEFORE Purchasing...pt 3

A large number of Vairs are owned by owners more than 65 years old, many more than 75. As is often the case with such an elderly demographic, these vehicles likely will gee to the market after years of very little road use. Expect even the nicest looking examples of these to be in a state of mechanical deterioration after years of non use, or parade use and or just driving onto and off trailer to car shows. Corvairs as much as any vehicle ever made benefit greatly from being driven. You see a Corvair that is driven regularly is by definition , likely maintained in at least a semi dependable state. It is highly probable that problems will arise that will leave you stranded on the roadside, with your cell phone in hand , waiting for the tow truck in most other instances. Probably, more than any 1960's or newer vehicle , mainly due to its uniqueness of engine geponents, carbs, linkeage, accelerator and clutch cable linkeage, - AN UNMAINTAINED CORVAIR IS LIKELY TO LEAVE YOU STRANDED - no matter how pretty the immaculate interior and glossy paint - rust free body are! This problem will be gepounded by the fact that very few service technicians at the various outstanding reputable nationwide service facilities will know anything at all about the Corvair. Do Not expect the GM Chevy dealership to have any parts or have anyone there that is familiar with the Corvair. Obviously, if you have something fairly basic that is wrong, most any gepetant technician at any garage will likely be able to get you rolling again, provided that they know where to obtain the proper part. Nothing is more true in the case of Corvairs: THE MORE THAT YOU KNOW ABOUTYOUR CAR, THE HAPPIER YOU DRIVING EXPERIENCE WILL BE and you won't be on a first name basis with , Vinny the tow truck driver. Because Corvairs have always been cheap inexpensive cars since day one and remain the cheapest antique car that one can buy today ---TROUBLE IS : Corvairs are not the most economical to maintain and drive, - thus many have aging, deteriorating, geponents almost mirroring their older owners. Expect large numbers of these cars to continue to reach the market as their elderly owners reduce their fleet of vehicles and the oldest of those owners begee no longer able to drive. These elderly owners also have been traditionally horders of used spare parts, accessories, and manuals, parts cars etc - as they have mostly traditionally maintained these vehicles on a shade tree - low budget philosophy of swapping on working used parts , to replace just that one geponent - sometimes mixing geponents from various years in ways the factory never did- sometimes for the better ---but making it difficult to determine the year model and hp designation of the engine , despite the fact that the year model of the car is known. A good place to get technical questions answered, such as what engine size is in your car, how to questions, what parts interchange best, decoding the distributor number, heads, carb numbers etc. - Anything that you can imagine about the Corvair by those who know the car best CORSA members (Corvair Society of America) who discuss, analyze, and assist in any solving every Corvair problem as well discuss anything and everything Corvair related --- It is called the Virtual Vairs Corvair Discussion Group. Go the CORSA site at www. corvair.org , the screen will change to a gold/tan 4 door early model, around the picture will be : Welgee to the Corvair Society of America - About Our Club . The Virtual Vairs Corvair Discussion Group is free and does not require that you join CORSA. It is a great source to tap into the brain power of those loyal Corvair owners that actually drive their Corvairs frequently. A good number still autocross their Corvairs. You can be sure these people know what it takes to make these unusual cars reliable and fun daily drivers and can most definitely help you resurrect even the toughest basket case. Knowledge is powerful, so go to school, don't be a knucklehead dummy! You can also free of charge search thru the Archive of The Virtual Vairs Corvair Discussion Group by topic thread for Corvair details/discussion that you are searching for answers. The screen where you see Welgee to the Corvair Society.. - About Our Club with the gold/tan 4dr early model ----Go down to the bottom of the page, you will see in very small print, three lines of click ons -- on the second line at the right is: Virtual Vairs ---Click on this---Then click on ARCHIVE pushbutton ----Click Digest Files --This gives you the Virtual Vairs Archives---Click on View by Thread ----- There you go--- Set aside at least 15minutes and scan thru some of the archives of the most current month and previous months AND YOU WILL SEE IMPORTANT TOPICS AND SOLUTIONS TO THE MANY CORVAIR PROBLEMS.