This album has pictures of things that did not simply wear out or break, but had been "repaired", abused or neglected so poorly by other shops and owners that we ended up having to straighten out the mess. There's a few pics of non-Corvair issues too, showing poor repairs can happen on any make.
Date(s): January 5, 2007. Album by larry claypool. 1 - 86 of 86 Total. 6983 Visits.
1 Take a good look at the crankcase stud hole threads (or lack of them) at the bottom right of this crankcase. This 66 Monza engine was "just overhauled". There's another hole like it on top.
2 Where did the threads go? Right here on the end of the studs. The studs pulled out of the crankcase after operating the engine a few thousand miles- long enough for the engine builder to be long gone.
3 This '64 had been advertised on ebay with "a new tank sender", which it did in fact have. But whomever installed it failed to notice or ignored the rotted filler and vent hoses.
4 Inside the tank was total rust. That's not coffee grounds in my hand, but sure looks likes it. There was at least a cup full. Anytime we see extra in line gas filters plumbed in, the tank is the first thing we check.
5 Nope, that's not trans fluid or gear oil, that's the gas that was in the bottom of the tank, red from rust. But like the ad said, it did have a new sender.
6 This Corsa came in with a nice new upper heater hose installed, but notice there is no clamp to hold it to the shroud outlet.
7 If the hose blew off the shroud I guess it wouldn't have mattered since the other end of the hose isn't connected to anything- it was just shoved through the hole!
8 This 65 Monza came in to us with a new owner. We had replaced both heads for the prior owner, and it left with all sheetmetal and seals 100%. See the perimeter seal out of place and no heater hose clamp?
9 Prior owner thought we were too far away to get the torque converter replaced, so he had it done (after we'd done the engine work) at "a local shop". Do you suppose they charged him extra to tear up the rear of the perimeter seal?
10 Or extra to leave out the shroud bolt (hole visible in the middle of the picture) or bend up the shrouds so they don't fit together anymore? Other side is the same way. We saw the bill,and they really did charge PLENTY extra!!
11 Note the throttle linkage at the trans- they rigged a bushing out of fender washers. And the locating clamp for the shift cable is gone- cable is laying in parking brake cable.
12 See the nice new gas tank? Then look at the piece of split heater hose somebody tried to use for the inner sway bar bushing.Of course it slipped out of place in a short time. You know they had to have that off to install the tank!
13 Here's a few things from the next car in. Neat cotter pin, huh? Well, at least the nail was better than nothing!
14 When I tried to adjust the play out of this steering gear box, look what i found- a bolt instead of the adjuster!!
15 The clutch and seal had "just been done" but look at the oil at the bottom...and those washers under the lower 4 bolts (which is a no-no.)
16 The leak was from an improperly installed front seal- note the tensioner spring has popped off. Clutch had also been put together with stock rivited (known-to-fail) flywheel.
17 At first, these brakes don't look too bad; but since this the left side, you'll see the shoes of this early convert are on backwards- the short one in back.
18 A freshly refinished 63 coupe came in with a loose parking brake. I could not get it to adjust properly. Thinking the cable was stretched, this is what i found when i took the tunnel covers off.
19 This 63 convertible came in with "new brake lines installed". Here you can see the missing body gromment and the parking brake cable sawing through the misrouted line...
20 Wire nuts on the turn signal wires raise a red flag. Both sides were connected wrong so the parking lights were bright but the turn signals lit dimly.
21 Another "freshly restored" convertible in with the homebent brake lines being rubbed through by the brake cable!
22 Perimeter seal, all it's retainers,upper heater hose, and all the front shroud boots and grommets were missing from this 67 Monza. Did somebody think they really weren't needed?
23 The next 4 pictures are all from the same engine. A valve seat came out but the owner just kept driving untill the loose seat ate a huge pocket in the head.
24 #6 piston had a hole knocked in it from pinging; two more had broken skirts. Several rings were also broken.
25 All the piston pieces ened up in the pan, eventually tangling with the cam gear. The crank gear was also damaged, but that's ok because...
26 #4 bearing had seized and spun in the rod, ruining both the crankshaft and rod. Remember, all these things were wrong in the SAME engine!
27 Nice new clutch, eh? Too bad the disc was installed backwards. This 63 Spyder had numerous problems from poor workmanship.
28 Same guy who did the clutch must have done this brake line too. See the nice gentle bend over the clutch cable? Cable sawed right through the line.
29 On a test drive I noticed the horn did not work on this Corsa. Investigation found somebody painted the steering wheel- as well the horn contact area, effectively insulating it.
30 What's missing here? The shroud behind the oil cooler! Left off along with the perimeter seal and all it retainers on a 66 Monza.
31 Same Monza had a complaint of a gas leak after a new gas tank was installed the year before. We found radiator and heater hoses substituted for fuel rated hoses.
32 Besides the wrong hoses, we found the new tank still had the old sender in horribly corroded condition, causing incorrect gauge readings.
33 Another 63 Spyder had a nice new springs, shocks and brake hoses. Also notice the hose is dangling by the brake line...both clips missing.
34 Brake hose troubles continued up front where this was new hose was installed twisted so it rubbed the front suspension.
35 Troubles continued into the front brakes. At first glance, everything looks good here.
36 But looking at the other side we see all the long shoes were installed on 1 side of the car, and all the short ones on the other. Yes, it did pull!
37 I don't i believe i read in the shop manual where to change the gas tank filler hose you hack open the inner fender and cut the vent pipe, then splice in a piece of hose...
38 Look carefully at this clutch linkage. Cable is misadjusted so far the cross shaft is hitting the transmission bracket, and pull rod is on wrong side of bellcrank, causing it to rub the u- joint yoke.
39 Somebody snagged the carpet when drilling a hole for the seatbelts on this 66 Monza. But look at bolt they used- a 1/4" sheetmetal screw! (all 4 were like this).We refitted the belts in the proper location with the proper 7/16" bolts.
40 Another car with a twisted brake hose, rubbing it's way through on the suspension. Owner had 'just done' the brakes.
41 Sticky brake? 3 sets of return springs make me think so! The real problem was a bad brake hose on this 64 Spyder.
42 Special Exhaust hanger- plumber's tape with a brake shoe spring. Muffler cement at manifold tries to patch the leaks...typically poor installtion that came in a '67.
43 Same '67 must have needed a pull- somebody connected a chain to the steering relay rod and promptly put a bow in it, altering alignment.
44 The next 5 are from the same 64 Monza . See the bolt about halfway out that holds the tranmission bracket to the trans case? 2 more are loose and 1 is broken in the case.
45 Here's the right side engine perimeter seal, fully intact, but the retainer strip that holds it to the body is completely missing.Other side the same way.
46 See the squished motor mount? Somebody assembled it minus the inner spacer and plate. Of course, it ruined the mount.
47 Broken air control cable? Here's a fix i hadn't thought of-just stuff the heater box with newspaper.
48 Yet another car with brake hoses twisted in a pretzel. This happens when somebody tries to 'shortcut' wheel cylinder replacement.
49 NOT JUST CORVAIRS! this restored '55 T Bird came in for some brake work. Look at how somebody routed the fuel hose- it's touching the tailpipe!
50 Cheap Seal This turbo engine came in to be transplanted to another car. We checked the clutch and found a sub-quality front main seal. Futher teardown found the tension spring popped off from poor installation.
51 Notice the locator tabs in the saddle of this axle yoke; the right side is fine, but somebody got the u joint cap on top of the left one and squished it flat. strap bolts were bent as well.
52 New Tank-Old Hoses 62 Spyder had a brand new tank & sender, but they reused the rotted filler hose,and "invented" that silly return/vent hose.
53 66 Monza had most of its fuel line replaced with rubber hose- new line we installed on left for comparison.
54 Fresh from a body shop "restoration" this 62 Monza had poorly aimed headlights. Under the bezel, I found broken adjusters and the headlamp wedged in place with cardboard.
55 Somebody tightened the steering wheel nut so much it broke the steering shaft short on this 64. Their 'fix' was to countersink the steering wheel then use a lugnut...
56 "Can't fill the tank all the way". Do you suppose the completely crimped vent hose had something to do with that?
57 Along with the crimped vent hose was a soon-to-leak rotted filler hose made from radiator hose.
58 Poor fit on this 63 rear wheel bearing was letting axle wander out; we caught it before tire hit fender.
59 You can see what's left of the crankcase threads on the end of this stud. Needless to say the simple O ring job turned into a major repair.
60 Well, here's one way to make sure that damn turbo pipe won't leak- weld it! Of course it also made it impossible to remove when we went to replace the clutch.
61 Same Spyder was leaking from O rings. Here's one fix that didn't quite do it- just goop the tubes in with sealer.
62 This 66 drove in with a U joint SO bad, one of the trunions was completely broken off, and the axle shaft, strap, and yoke were worn through! Customers complaint was it makes a clank when you shift.
63 Headlights were obviously askew on this Rampside. Could the carboard wedge holding the headlight in place have anything to do with that?
64 But wait- there's more. When I removed the headlamp bucket to install new adjusters I found the wires had been cut and just twisted back together. Parking light wires were treated to a little masking tape for insulation.
65 Somebody used a cork gasket and tightened the bolts soooo tight this oil pan looked like a washboard on a 67 Monza.
66 Heater duct broken to bits on another Rampside. Somebody tried to remove cover above without first unbolting heater box.
67 Here's one way NOT to lower the front end on a Rampside- just heat up the springs in place to collapse them.
68 Compression fittings are no- no's on brake lines, but this 65 Monza had 2 of them on the tunnel line. See next pic-
69 When given a pressure test, the brass nut split (without much pressure I might add), causing complete brake failure. The correct fix was a whole new line.
70 Typical droopy exhaust caused from inadequet hangers. Majority of daul exhaust cars that come in are this way. see next pic.
71 Same car after a Vair Shop go through, including *proper* hanging of the exhaust.
72 This 65 Corsa came in with loose steering wheel; couldn't be tightened without rubbing turn signal bowl.Cause? Wrong steering column!
73 Same car with *correct* column now properly installed. We also added the speedo cable gromment above it that was missing.
74 This gas gauge sender doesnt look so bad untill you realize the pick up tube is about 2" short- cut by somebody to keep the sender from picking up the rust in the bottom of the tank!
75 Heater hose "fix"- piece of clothes dryer duct and some bailing wire for the hose hanger, all duct taped to what was left of the original hose.
76 Another heater hose hanger "fix", this time with a bolt, bailing wire and hose clamp.
77 This nice Corsa came in with a disc brake conversion- and compression fittings on the front lines.
78 New Gas tank filler hoses. Except poor postioning of both let the steering shaft coupler wear right through the vent hose.
79 Here's another "fool" line issue. That long rubber hose next to the exhaust manifold is the fuel line on this Mustang...
80 Another car with the brake shoes on backwards...
81 Where's the bolt holding the seat track to the floor? Both driver & passenger seats were held in only on 3 corners in this 63 Monza.
82 Couldn't get the gen-fan nor temp press lights to work on this 64 Spyder- found somebody had cut the sockets/bulbs completely off!
83 Heater hose missing the insulator sleeve- that's a dead short between the reinforcement hose wire and the battery terminal of the starter.
84 Yet another brake hose twisted into a pretzel on this 64 Spyder.
85 This 65 had the clutch pull rod on the wrong side of the crosshaft, and was completely missing the pull back spring and right stabilizer rod.
86 Too long heater hose laid on the exhaust pipe and burned a hole right through it.
