DOS: 9/1/02

EDD: Before 8/03

The Story:  Tom lives in Royal Oak, Michigan. He just got this '64 coupe this past summer, and is doing a major rebuild/customize job on it--Tom says it is definitely not a restoration.

Tom had three Corvairs growing up in high school. All were earlies: a '61 4 door, '63 coupe and a '64 vert. He spent years in the auto biz before he "got smart" and became a photographic artist. His wife had been after me for a few years to get a car again. She kept finding cars, and he kept shooting them down. Then one day she found a '64 coupe. She called Tom, Tom looked at it, and in a momentary lapse of judgment, he owned a '64 Vair again. Tom says that this has to be the most fun car to drive he has ever owned.

Tom says he is not building the engine right now, instead just throwing in a set of rings, reusing the old bearings, fuzzing the cylinders. For the time being he will not drive any further than I am willing to walk home! Next winter, he plans a more thorough overhaul.

By the time of the Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit next year, Tom hopes to complete the trans rebuild (it's a four speed), diff rebuild, (with luck he hopes to get a 4 spider gear posi unit), complete suspension rebuild (absolutely every bushing, joint, etc., is being replaced), new rear axle bearings, all new brakes, wheel cylinders, master, lines, flex hoses, new interior (including wood dash and glove box pictured below), all auto meter gauges. Grand Am 8-way power reclining bucket seats, GM TBI EFI (just for this the current motor; for the good motor it will have to be GM TPI EFI), A/C, cruise control, and water injection. He also intends to put a turbo on the motor, and perhaps plaque on the dash that says, "This engine can't take what can be dished out!" He also intends to replace every rubber seal and strip on the car everywhere, including behind the head light backers, door locks, door handles, etc. He says he also has a fair amount of rust repair to do.

According to Tom, it's good thing he doesn't have a regular job. "That would really get in the way of working on my car!" he says.

No kidding.

Late breaking update....

Waaaay late, since Tom sent it to me months ago.  In his words...

"Got a little update info on my '64 coupe. As you recall, I had a '64 coupe that needed more than a little work. Well, I bought a donor car for it, a '62 convertible. While looking at the donor car, I saw it was WAY nicer than my project car, so I made the donor the project and the project the donor. So I am now building a '62 vert with a 64 drive line and suspension. I have some photos here of the car from a couple months ago to date. I will not be putting the MB tail lights on this one. Just could not bring myself to chop up  the rear end of a perfectly nice convertible. So I added a wing to the rear to dress it up a bit. Also, since it has been about 30 years since I did any body work, and was only the #2 guy back then anyway, I decided to paint a small part of the car. I figure if I screwed it up, it would be easier to fix than the whole car! The car will be red, white, and blue. The photos do not show the red the way it really should be. It is 1964 Riverside Red as used on Corvettes. It is VERY red, not at all orange as it looks in some of the photos.

"Anyway, here are some photos of the new car. I hope to have it painted this year, and drive it next year. Maybe we can meet at the dream cruise some time. Not sure if I will go this year, sort of heart breaking with not being able to drive my car!"

Enough talk already.  Let's check it out:

Uh, looks really good, there, Tom.

Just needs a little TLC...

That's sweet!

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