# AMT 1965 Corvair restoration



## CorvairJim (Dec 16, 2011)

Here's one I built recently for a "Glue Bomb" Community Build on the Model Cars Magazine website. It's a replica of my first Corvair of over a dozen I've owned since 1980. The kit was a real mess when I got it for next to nothing on eBay. The kid who first built it had stuffed a big ol' V-8 in back, and hacked out a chunk of the rear panel to make it fit. I sacrificed a 2005 reissue kit of the '69 Corvair for parts to rebuild it. The rear 5/8" of the body was replaced entirely, and I used the chassis, 'glass' and bumpers from the donor as well. The engine came from another glue bomb I have on hand to keep within the guidelines of the CBP as much as possible. Take a look at my pics of the completed model and let me know what you think.

The tires are original whitewalls from the kit. The kid had glued them together with white glue to create wide slicks for the back end of his model. The glue preserved the whitewalls perfectly. I just had to carefully remove the black paint he covered the glue with and they werte good as new, as you can see in the picture. The wheel covers came from a different eBay auction of a collection of unused model wheels from the 1950's through the 1970's. JACKPOT!



















The license plate is a duplicate of the 1980 Pennsylvania plate the 1:1 car wore back in the day. I found a guy on eBay who makes these replica plates to order on his computer, as well as offering 5-pair, 5-year sets of generic plates from many different states.



















In the works, shown with the completed, restored interior. I used the Monza dashboard from the donor kit to replace the Corsa dash from the annual, since my 1:1 car was a Monza, not a Corsa.










I had to completely rework the exhaust system from the donor, since my car had the 2-carb, 110 h.p. engine with it's single exhaust, not the kit's 140 h.p., 4-carb engine.










This is the beast I started out with:


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## 71 Charger 500 (Jan 27, 2011)

Oh my gosh, you started with a real bomb! Great job on the restoration!

Mo


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## Schwinnster (Sep 5, 2011)

:thumbsup::thumbsup: *Awesome job there Jim!* I'm _still _shaking my head over that gold stripe along the length of the body-- looks like you taped it off, and it looks awesome! *A-1 all the way!* 

I do kinda like _'The Beast'_ tho....... *LOL!*

Welcome to Hobby Talk as well.


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## Tuxedo (Dec 14, 2011)

Nice Save !!


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## CorvairJim (Dec 16, 2011)

Thanks for the props, guys! This one was a real labor of love for me. The 1:1 car had a double-line pinstripe that I added myself since I was working as a pinstriper at the time. In 1:25 scale, a double stripe was pretty much out of the question! Yes, I did mask it off and paint it on the model. The rear "cove" panel was body color when I got the car but I liked the way the factory painted that panel silver on the top-of-the-line Corsa version. I did mine in gold to better compliment the tan interior and to coordinate with the pinstripe.


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## s.moe (Jul 18, 2011)

CorvairJim......Welcome...And I'd just like to say, You took a bomb and turned it into a Beaut....My friend....:thumbsup:.....Great work,,,,Really like the five pic's of the finished build And the before pic really shows, Just how much work you had to do on it.......Would like to see more build's from you, soon.........

MOE.


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## CorvairJim (Dec 16, 2011)

s.moe said:


> CorvairJim......Welcome...And I'd just like to say, You took a bomb and turned it into a Beaut....My friend....:thumbsup:.....Great work,,,,Really like the five pic's of the finished build And the before pic really shows, Just how much work you had to do on it.......Would like to see more build's from you, soon.........
> 
> MOE.


They'll be posted as time allows and I can take some shots of them. I have some in Photobucket, but I have a few dozen builds that I haven't taken more than one or two pictures of.


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

Corvairs!!! I remember those as they were Chevy's odd car out. I never had or drove one but remember distinctly seeing them around. Wow, I didn't realize they had air cooled engines although I did know they had the engine in the rear. I guess they were GMs Volks killer. Of course they helped make Ralph Nader famous, where would he be today without them??? Yours looks great and that blown version looks wild.


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