1961-1962 Corvair Station Wagon | The Online Automotive Marketplace

If you’re looking for a cheerful Sixties collectible that will stand out at a car show, you might be in the market for a Corvair. But if you’re looking for a car that will turn heads at a Corvair show, it’s hard to beat a Lakewood station wagon.

Built for just two model years, the wagon is the least common of all the Corvair body styles, accounting for less than two percent of the model’s 10-year production run. Add up all the Corvair wagons ever built, in three series, and you get 33,271–which is less than the total of 700-series sedans built in 1962 alone. “Even among Corvair guys, it’s a little bit of a niche car,” said Larry Claypool, proprietor of The Vair Shop in Frankfort, Illinois, and the technical editor for the Corvair Society of America, or CORSA. “It’s a curiosity even among the Corvair community.”

Even so, restoring a Lakewood is not the challenge you might think. The car shares its mechanical components with the rest of the Corvair line, which means there’s an abundance of reproduction and even NOS components just a phone call away. The only potential snag in a restoration is if one of the wagon-specific body or trim parts needs replacement–but even there, some hunting and a measure of creativity can usually save the day.

The Lakewood was added to the Corvair lineup for the 1961 model year, joining the coupe and sedan. It was initially offered in two series: the entry-level 500, and the more upmarket 700. When the wagon returned in 1962, it had lost the Lakewood name, and the 500 model had been dropped in favor of a new, sporty Monza wagon. Despite its practicality, the wagon was never a big hit with Corvair buyers; although Chevrolet had aimed its economical, air-cooled compact squarely at the Volkswagen market, buyers preferred to think of it as a sporty car. When the Corvair convertible was introduced in the middle of the 1962 model year, the wagon was killed off, its market niche filled by the new Chevy II wagon.

The Corvair wagon is an easy collectible to live with, frugal and flexible, and boasts terrific club and specialist support. Plus, you can bring one to a show, open the front and back ends, and invite the curious to figure out where the engine is.

ENGINES

The station wagon variant, like all Corvairs, was powered by a flat-six, air-cooled engine mounted behind a transaxle. For 1961, that engine came in two varieties: the 80hp Turbo-Air, and the 98hp Super Turbo-Air, which, in spite of their names, were not turbocharged. The Turbo-Air displaced 145 cubic inches, with an oversquare bore and stroke of 3.44 x 2.59 inches, and sported a compression ratio of 8.0:1. Fuel delivery was by a pair of Rochester single-barrel carburetors, one mounted directly to the intake manifold cast into each alloy cylinder head. The optional Super Turbo-Air had the same dimensions and carburetion as the base engine, but featured a more aggressive distributor curve, a larger exhaust and a hotter camshaft, which produced more peak horsepower at a cost to low-end torque. Most Lakewood buyers opted for the base engine, which, though adequate, is no ball of fire.

A thick blanket of insulation keeps the engine’s heat and noise out of the cabin

The 80hp Turbo-Air remained the base engine for 1962, with the Super Turbo-Air now tweaked to produce 102 horsepower. New this year was a high-compression, 84hp version of the base engine, offered only in Monzas with Powerglide transaxles. Also new were automatic chokes, which are far preferable to the manual variety used on all 1961 models. By 1962, the higher-output engine had become more common; to spot a Corvair with the 102hp powertrain, look for the crossed flag emblem on the rear of the car.

Corvair engines are hugely interchangeable; pretty much any flat-six made will fit any Corvair. This means that there are many, many cars out there that no longer have their original engines. There was a significant difference in the crankcase used for station wagons, though: It had a provision for the oil dipstick and filler tube at the rear of the block, so that they could be accessed through the wagon’s service panel without having to lift the engine cover in the cargo bay. (The same block was used for the forward-control Corvairs–Greenbrier Sportswagon and Corvan vans, and Loadside and Rampside pickups–for the same reason.) If you open the panel and don’t see an oil filler, then the original six has been swapped for a non-wagon engine.

The Corvair developed a richly deserved reputation for oil leaks, but those can be rectified today with modern Viton seals. Drips coming from the tin beneath the cylinder banks are probably coming from the seals at either end of the sheetmetal tubes that encase the pushrods; those leaks can be addressed without removing the engine from the car. But if the leak is coming from the bellhousing, it’s likely that the engine’s front main seal needs replacement, which requires pulling the drivetrain. Figure on spending $550 or so for the seal replacement alone, or $800 for a new seal and clutch job if the clutch disc has become oil-soaked.

There’s no great mystery to rebuilding Corvair engines, and virtually every part is available from vendors. High-performance pistons, big-bore cylinder kits and other upgrades are also commonly available. If the car has been stored for a long period of time, or there are mouse droppings anywhere near the car, it’s a good idea to remove the top shroud and make sure there are no animal nests or bits of debris clogging the cylinders’ cooling fins.

TRANSMISSIONS

The base transmission was a three-speed manual, with a four-speed manual and two-speed Powerglide automatic optional. About half of the Corvairs built in 1961 and 1962 were ordered with the automatic. Manual cars had floor shifters, while the Powerglide’s shift was a lever incorporated into the instrument panel. In all cases, the wagon’s transaxle was the same as that used in the rest of the Corvair passenger cars.

The standard rear axle ratio was 3.55:1, rather than the 3.27 gears supplied with the coupes and sedans, presumably for better hauling capability. Optional was a lower-geared 3.89:1 rear axle ratio. Limited-slip Positraction was offered beginning in 1962. The transaxle’s weakest spot is its spider gears, but upgraded gears can be installed.

Both transmissions are robust, and replacement parts are widely available. Original three-piece flywheels were riveted together at the factory, and can produce rattles and vibration as the rivets lose their grip. A variety of upgraded flywheels, including solid steel units, are available.

SUSPENSION

The most-discussed element of the Corvair’s design when it was new, the suspension setup, particularly the rear suspension’s swing axle arrangement, is still viewed with some degree of suspicion today. It shouldn’t be; a properly set-up Corvair offers good handling–even the wagon, with its higher center of gravity and slightly greater curb weight.

“Do they handle weird? No,” said Larry, who autocrosses his 1961 Lakewood. “But if you drive it to the limits of adhesion, you could probably spin out a wagon easier than a four-door.”

For better handling, the improved swing-spring rear suspension and redesigned front suspension introduced in 1964 will bolt directly into the 1960-’63 cars without modification, with coil springs from the convertible installed to deal with the wagon’s extra weight in the back. “But most people don’t drive these cars hard enough to ever notice the difference,” Larry said.

Front suspensions feature nothing more exotic than simple upper and lower A-arms. Bushings, tie rod ends, ball joints and other parts that commonly wear out are readily available. Crossmembers can rust from the inside out; options for dealing with this occurrence are repair kits, which require welding, or locating a good used crossmember. The 1960-’61 cars use different caster rods than the 1962-’63 models, but these are bolt-on parts, not part of the crossmember itself.

Wandering can be caused by worn Pitman arm bushings, incorrect tire pressures or an out-of-adjustment steering box. These steering boxes can be rebuilt, but some parts, such as sector shafts and gears, ball nuts and worm shafts are not being reproduced; good used parts are the best option. A new reproduction steering box recently became available, in either standard or fast ratio, and this is a good option when dealing with a badly worn box.

BRAKES, WHEELS AND TIRES

Single-circuit hydraulic brakes with drums all around were offered for 1961 and ’62, but there’s a significant difference between the two: For 1962, the brake master cylinder was relocated from under the dashboard to the front luggage compartment, and so can be swapped out for a dual-circuit item from a 1967-’69 model. Everything’s available, including pre-bent brake lines. Though no Corvair ever came from the factory with either item, vendors offer power boosters and disc brake conversion kits.

Like the sedans and coupes, wagons were equipped with 13 x 5.5-inch pressed steel wheels, and were shod with 7.00 x 13 tubeless blackwall tires, a half-inch wider than those used on other models. Modern P185/80R13 radials are a good replacement. Trim rings and hubcaps were offered in 1961; for 1962, the hubcaps were redesigned, and the trim rings eliminated. Full wheel covers, like those on the Monza, could be ordered. For 1961 only, wheels had small protrusions for anchoring the wheel covers.

BODY

The Corvair was General Motors’ first unit-body car, and its major problem today is rust. Front floorpans commonly rust through, and can be replaced with reproduction sheetmetal; the same goes for the trunk floorpan. If the rust has chewed into the floor under the seats, a part that is not being reproduced, it’s probably time to look for a better car, Larry advised. Other critical areas to check for rust are the box sections behind the front wheels and in front of the rear wheels.

The wagon’s roof is two inches higher than that of the coupes and sedans, which means there are a lot of parts that will not interchange: doors, windshields and window glass, for example. Front vent windows are shared with the 1962-’64 convertible. Front and rear door skins, and most of the hardware, are interchangeable with those of the sedan, but complete doors are not.

Rear quarters are exclusive to the wagon, and because they’re welded on, they’re seldom salvaged when a car is scrapped. Tailgates can rust along the lower edge, though it’s not a chronic problem. Although they look similar, the tailgates of the Pontiac Tempest, Oldsmobile F85 and Buick Skylark wagons will not interchange.

The hardest bits of trim to find are the ribbed aluminum outer rocker panel moldings on 1962 Monzas; it’s easily damaged, and is not being reproduced. The stainless trim on the roof gutters is specific to the Corvair wagon, and scarce. Rear bumpers, notched for the license plate, are also unique to the car.

INTERIOR

Bench seats were standard on all wagons, with bucket seats offered as an option only on Monzas. For 1961, 500s had all-vinyl seats in three colors, keyed to the exterior color, while 700s were upholstered in cloth and vinyl with four color choices. For 1962, fabrics were upgraded; 700s had cloth and vinyl upholstery in four colors, while Monzas equipped with bench seats sported a snazzy material all their own. Monzas with bucket seats had all-vinyl upholstery.

1961-1962 Corvair Station Wagon | The Online Automotive Marketplace | Hemmings (2024)

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