Car Restoration
My pandemic project
Car Restoration
Before
At the start of covid lockdown, I was looking for a project to work on. After years of making smaller vehicles in high school, I figured it was time for something more practical. I liked the look and simplicity of 60s cars, and settled on the Corvair due to it being air-cooled and having independent suspension. I found a car that had almost all the parts I would need, and thus started my summer project.
After
At first, I focused on getting the car driving by fully rebuilding the brakes with modern parts, getting the engine running well, rebuilding the transmission, going through and fixing the electrical system, modernizing the shock absorbers, and rebuilding the throttle and shift linkages. I then took the paint down fully to the primer level, did the bodywork, and sprayed original one stage paint.
Dirty and Outdated
The car came with old rusted brake shoes, leaky wheel cylinders, and springs that had lost their spring. Even getting the car off the trailer was a challenge with them.
Cleaned and Updated
Cleaning all the corrosion off the backing plate took a copious amount of wire brushing and brake cleaner. Afterwards the brakes were rebuilt with modern shoes and cylinders and the drums themselves were resurfaced. The end result was a car with great braking characteristics.
Strip
I started the bodywork by using a chemical paint stripper to remove the majority of the paint. This was ideal because it left the original zinc-based primer.
Sand
I would then use some fine grit sandpaper to smooth the old primer. This is also where I would use body filler if the section needed it.
Prime
Finally I would use a spray can based automotive primer. This worked great because it was cheap and meant that I didn’t have to have a paint booth set up for weeks.
Fully Prepped
Once the car was fully primed, a Walmart “party tent” was set up as a paint booth. Then there was one final round of light wet sanding and masking.
Painting
Because I was using several small compressors, there was a air shortage while painting. This meant that I had to go slow to make sure I maintained enough air pressure.
Finished Product
Given the imperfect painting setup, the paint turned out great! If I did it again, I would have used a bigger block for sanding because some waves show through the paint.
Fixing the Floor
The car came with several rust holes in the floorpan and no sound insulation whatsoever. To fix this, I cut out the thinnest sections and welded in replacement panels. I also sprayed a layer of sound insulation to help keep the car quiet.
Transmission Adjustments
When I got the car, the transmission had been setup so it was stuck in neutral. I had to adjust the shift plunger (seen on the right) using a depth gauge to get the shift points right. This was cool insight into how this mechanical plunger uses pressure differential to decide when to shift.