Corvair experts needed

Sitting in my dads garage is a rust-free, 40,000 mile 1964 Corvair Monza Spyder. We've owned it since the mid 80's, after buying it cheaply at an auction. Unfortunately, the turbo engine was removed and a 110 installed. When the engine swap took place, before we bought it, the axle seals were ruined and now the ring and pinion are shot.

We have lots of other Corvair engines sitting around, but no turbos. Is there any value to six or so 110 engines, probably not running? Would this value be enough to buy/trade for a decent turbo motor? Other than hauling all this stuff to Pennsylvania or Oregon from Ohio, what would be the best idea to sell this stuff and acquire the turbo motor?

My plan is to take a week or two off this summer and do a quick restoration on this car. Drop the front subframe, sandblast repaint and rebuild. New gas tank. Rebuild diff and install engine. Sell for profit.

My dad and I are both in need of cash, and could probably do this in a week if we plan ahead. I think finding a turbo motor is the key to restoring the value of this car. Or else we could put a 110 in it (we have a running one). I think that would be sacrilege.

And what do you think the value of a "barn find" 1964 Vair would be? Paint is very chalky and buffing wouldn't bring it back. Interior is complete but not perfect. Dark blue with blue interior.

If I decide to do this build, I'll show it off here.

Realistically it's probably only going to be worth a couple thousand in running and driving condition. A turbo motor could bring that price up for sure.

What you need to do is join the few Corvair forums out there and put those engines up for sale. People are always looking for engines or even the heads. I don't know if you'd get enough money to buy a turbo motor, but you'd at least get most of it.

Putting a 110 back in it wouldn't be complete sacrilege, but it would drive down the value of the car.

Where in Ohio?

I ask, because I know someone who knows someone who used to run a Corvair-specific shop near Cleveland. Used to bike past the place all the time as a teen, actually, so I thought it was kinda normal to see a parking lot full of Corvairs in the mid-90s. He might still have parts, or know someone who does.

Eaton, Ohio. 50 miles north of Cincinnati, 20 miles west of Dayton.

Watch prices on ebay over a period of time to see what they're actually selling for. You can also access past sales history. Also pick up a Hemming at the book store.

It's very very easy to put more into a restoration than it's worth, but enjoying the car CAN make it worth it.

If you want to make the most money on your Corvair inventory take it all apart and sell it on EBay piece by piece. You will make far more money this way with less investment too. You also won't have to take time off work. the front clip and the rear clip separately will probably bring more than the entire roller (do not cut until sold!), then you still have the glass, trim, interior, and running gear to sell. Clean and paint the running gear parts for best value. Divy up the hardware into groups and sell that separately, gut the doors and sell off piece by piece, etc. Take the motors apart and sell piece by piece, unless you can sell a guaranteed runner guys don't want a whole motor they only want what they need to fix the one they have. Carbs heads and linkage for 140/160 motors are golden if you have any of that stuff (piece by piece milk the cash out of it).

I think you are dreaming at "restoring" the car and making a profit, especially since everything needs refinishing. You can't do a top dollar (Barrett Jackson) restoration in a week. It will take you a week (or more) and a good bit of coin just to recommission it mechanically Brakes, Motor, Drivetrain, Electrics, Fuel System, Tires, Safety, Title. Do the math. Then do the math on the refinishing products, you can easily spend a 1500$ on paint and prep to do it right, maybe more if you are going to blast it. Plus all the tedious teardown, storage and reassembly to do it right will take hours of your time.

In reply to bentwrench:

I disagree. He would definitely make less money parting it out than to do a mechanical restoration and flip it that way. Corvairs are not that obsolete that you would make more money parting it out.

If the car is rust free, he cleans it up, and does the mechanical work, he could probably get $3k-$5k easily.

There are plenty of junker Corvairs to be parted out, no reason to cut up a solid one. Corvairs have gone up in price over the last several years, so he'd be able to get a descent amount for a mechanically sound car that just needs a paintjob.

Not going to argue without all the info, doing the math will tell the story.

We definitely wouldn't do paint work on this car. Too expensive, and the original paint would probably add more value than a repaint. We could market this as a barn find, bit we'd get more money if it was running, especially with the turbo motor. The Classic Motorsports Corvair went for a good amount, if I recall, and it was a 63 or 64 turbo car. I really need to buy those issues.

I'm thinking a restoration of the drive line would make this car pretty desirable and somewhat valuable to the right buyer. Determining what is that selling price is the big question.

My dad has lots of other antique cars, including a pristine 1930 Chevy Sedan Deluxe that is worth more than this Corvair will ever be worth. And a 1976 Eldo convertible, and a 1963 Rampside, and a 1946 Chevy Panel Truck that has been featured in a magazine. He doesn't really care about this Corvair, but if a quickie restoration could net us a few thousand bucks, it'd be worth the time.

bentwrench wrote: Not going to argue without all the info, doing the math will tell the story.

Well I'll tell you that I've stripped and cut apart many Corvairs at my old job, which was at a Corvair specialist. Most of those parts are still sitting around and have been for 10+ years. Doors, hoods, deck lids, front clips, rear clips, and almost any conceivable part of a Corvair, whether it be an EM, LM, FC, convert, sedan, coupe, wagon, etc.

The only things that get sold almost immediately are engines, differential units, and taillight lenses. There are a lot of experimental airplane guys and VW bus guys that want Corvair engines.

Trust me, the car is worth more in one piece than several pieces.

In reply to Kramer:

Like I said already, do yourself a favor and join the Corvair forums.

Not only would you find a lot of info, you would also find parts and helpful people. It would also be a good way to sell those engines after you make sure they turn.

What is a good forum?

Either corvairforum.com or corvaircenter.com

They are two different formats. Corvair Center is just one forum constantly moving posts and Corvair Forum is seperated into sub forums kind of like GRM.

When it comes to sell those engines, do some research and make sure those engines are 110s. They could be 80s, 95s, or 102s.

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

Thanks. I'll try both of those forums. My first job is to inventory everything and figure out what we have. We used to collect Corvairs, but we're down to three. This '64, a '63 Ramp and a '65 convertible 140 horse. He's gonna keep the FC, as it's a cool shop truck. The 65 will take some money to restore, although it's pretty rust-free and runs and drives. The 64 is probably the most valuable if it is put back in original condition.

We've replaced the engine in the FC due to an inattentive driver and a thrown fan belt, so I'm sure that engine is here. I also pulled a running 110/pg from a 67 last fall, so that's another.

I guess I hope the 64 may be worth as much as $6k if we put a couple thousand and 100 hours into it. A boy can dream...