Corvair 4 door build

[gbtr6]

I am starting to try to build my first car, a 1965 Corvair Mona 4 door. I have one of the AMT Corvair kits, and an early Camaro body. The plan is to transplant the Camaro roof on the Corvair. It looks like the roof would fit fine. I plan on cutting the Corvair behind the windshield to use the stock Corvair windshield. At the C pillar it might be harder. I need to keep the lovers on th3 rear body work on the Corvair. Time to do some measuring. Any one that’s done this, please chime in with thoughts. 
 

Thanks,
Perry

[gbtr6]

Couple of additional pictures. Seems to line up well. Camaro roof has a slope down on the sides to the rain gutters. The Corvair top is fairly flat to the gutters. I need to save and graft the pane l under the backlight into the Camaro top. 
 

Perry

[gbtr6]

I need door handles. How do you guys do those? 

Perry

[RomanII]

I would suggest keeping much more of the Corvair roof.  Move the cut line back to about where you are relocating the trailing edge of the front door.  If you cut as close to the windshield as marked, the A-pillars are going to be very weak.

[espo]

 I agree with Romanll, saving as much of the Corvair roof as possible especially with the different crown in the Camaro roof. Do you have any pictures of your old car or a 4 door Corvair tro use as a guide? 

[gbtr6]

No pictures of my car, but I can google some 4 doors online though. 

Perry

[gbtr6]

Performed surgery. Patient looks good. The fit should be good, but the Camaro top is just a little wider. May have to cut down the center and narrow it. Need to flatten the back by the hood in back and graft in the louvered panel from the Corvair. Doesn’t fit too bad. Will keep most of the Corvair top and trim the Camaro top just ahead of the C pillars. 

Perry

[espo]

A suggestion on a reference picture for your sedan roof. Just looked at some pictures in the reference section on the forum. Howard Cohan has posted some pictures from Watkins Glen NY. On page 15 of his Watkins Glen photos there is a couple of good pictures of a Corvair sedan. Hope that may help.  

[gbtr6]

Thanks Dave. Yes, any reference is good. i think I'll have to make the back window bigger too.

Perry

[gbtr6]

I didn't see a sedan, only a convertible. When I looked, it only went to page 12. I'll have to look again.

Perry

[espo]

17 hours ago, gbtr6 said:

I didn't see a sedan, only a convertible. When I looked, it only went to page 12. I'll have to look again.

Perry

I found the picture about mid page # 15. I think it was sort of a light gold /beige looking as I recall. This guy has some of the best photography around and covers a lot of shows and races. 

[gbtr6]

More progress on the Corvair. Now I have to figure out how to glue it together. What do you guys use, and what technique do you use?

Perry

[gbtr6]

Using Testors solvent, I glued the top on. It lines up well in back and the sides, but I’ve come up short mating it to the Corvair roof. I plan on putting a thin strip of Evergreen inside the roof across the top. Then, fill in the gap. Not sure if I can fill it with some strips of Evergreen and use solvent. Any suggestions?

Perry

[Mattilacken]

Nice! Cool idea and it will look good when done!
I would say, as you do, that such a big gap need to be filled with styrene. A idea would be to try the wood burner method, since they are low temp you can solder plastics with it.

 

[stitchdup]

I would try using a piece from the leftover corvair roof parts. Its already the shape you need to fit the roof.

[gbtr6]

Good idea, but when I put a strip on the under side, the gap is just right to fill with a strip of Evergreen. Almost done with the filling and then will put some putty on.

Perry

[gbtr6]

Made progress filling in. Almost ready for putty. Need to add rain gutter and clean up a bit.

Perry

[gbtr6]

Been a while, but a little progress. Put some primer on after putty to see what I have to do yet. Looks ok so far. I have door handles from Fireball and they look great. Need to scribe the new doors and fill the old ones. 

Perry

Edited October 30, 2022 by gbtr6

[Slotto]

Looking good. 

[gbtr6]

Thanks. I’ve never done anything like this before. Just built out of the box. Lots of fun. Need to scribe new lines now. 

Perry

[ea0863]

The roof and body is getting a nice look to it - - - like it should have come from the factory like that. Well done!

[slusher]

Looking really nice!

[gbtr6]

Thanks guys. I've got to get more time on it.

Perry

[gbtr6]

Got some color on it. Will clear over the weekend. Color represents Madeira Maroon. Will have a Fawn interior. Also working on my TR6. Is a diecast, making it into my 1:1 car.

Perry

[Slotto]

I love how you grafted on the new roof. It looks natural.