Parts Is Parts
or: Some Local sources for common Corvair mechanical parts...
While we all need to patronize our national Corvair parts suppliers, sometimes one needs
to pick parts up quickly. Maybe it's something small, or maybe you have everything else you need, and you just need one little
item to finish a tune-up, oil change, etc. Provided here is a list of some local sources and the parts you can find there.
Advance Auto Parts at 6534 27th
St (414) 761-9469 (right next to our meeting location) will give any club member a 10% discount on parts. Thanks to the legwork
of Chris Dean! We need to mention the Milwaukee Corvair Club COM10 Account and show your MCC ID tag or club card and this
phone# 414-807-4996. They have some parts for Corvair in stock and can get others in a day. They carry brake parts, tune up
parts, and filters.
Brake Shoes- Late Model:
NAPA on 50th & State St. in Milwaukee usually has in stock front
and rear brake shoes:
Front part# TS-242 $9.99 + $6.50
core
Rear part# TS-246 $14.99 + $6.50
core
Batteries:
Try: Fleet Farm, Farm & Fleet, Wal*Mart
Look for group 51-R for your '61 - '69 vair, and group 51
for your '60 Corvair. + and - posts in the right places, same depth, not quite as long, plenty of cranking power, about $40.00,
and normally available at any of the above mentioned stores. The best ones have top AND side terminals (great for the occasional
jump start).
Spark Plugs:
Try: Checker/Kragen/Schucks
Look for Bosch Super, stock # 7502 (W8AC). A fine spark
plug, priced right (under $1.00 each!) Try to resist the temptation to buy Platnum plugs. Sure, they'll last 75,000 miles,
but you'll never get them out again! These seem to give good service, and you have to pull them out every year to re-gap them,
so they shouldn't weld themselves into place.
Oil filters:
Try: Advance Auto Parts
Look for Purolator # 20014. $5.00 each, even less when they run a special
(like buy 5 quarts of oil, get a filter for free...). Purolator is a 1st quality brand, the price is right, and each location
usually keeps 2 on hand.
Ignition parts:
(We're in luck - GM used the same distributor on '68 - '69 in-line water-pumper Chevy 6-cylinder engines. Well, at least the
tune-up parts are the same...)
Try: Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts, Advance Auto Parts, Checker/Shucks/Kragen
Auto Parts, NAPA Auto Parts
NAPA sells high-quality ignition parts made by Echlin, a subsidiary.
ALSO: The NAPA web site lists rebuilt starters and distributors - good to know if your nationwide Corvair vendor of choice
has "NF" next to the part # you need.
Checker (Shucks/Kragen) offers parts made by Niehoff, and usually has
typical '62 - 69 tune-up parts in stock (not ignition wires - the ones they sell don't have the right boots). ALSO: Checker
has BOSCH spark plugs for your 'vair IN STOCK, at a price "that will roll your socks down..."
Advance Auto Parts handles parts by GP Sorenson, but you can get Standard
Blue Streak if you ask. You may have to wait a day to get the Blue Streak parts.
Bumper to Bumper stocks Standard (OEM) and Blue Streak (Heavy Duty)
Look for a store that carries parts made by Standard Motor Products. Standard's web site includes an on-line catalog which allows you to look up any part they make (you
can even view photos of the exact part if you're not quite sure...). We make it easier - most of Standard's Corvair parts
and their accompanying part numbers are listed below. Parts followed by an 'X' are heavy-duty, drop the 'X' for OEM (standard)
-
Points DR-2239X (1960 - 1961), DR-2240X
-
Condenser DR-90X
-
Cap DR-433 (1960), DR-438X
-
Rotor DR-314X (1962 - 1969)
-
Coil UC-12X
-
Wires (fits all except 1960 - 1961) 9615
-
Wires (for 1960) Universal set: 3800 (re-use your old boots)
For those of you who may not be familiar with Standard Motor Products, they are a long-time
manufacturer of the highest-quality automotive parts. I have used their parts for many years, with excellent results. They
have two lines, red Standard and blue (heavy-duty) Blue Streak parts. These are not those cheap Wells Ampco parts you used
to buy at Farm & Barn.
Here's some more Standard parts:
Voltage regulators (for cars and FC's with generators):
1960 - 1963
-
30A VR-20, brushes RX-63
-
40A VR-24, brushes RX-59
-
35A VR-30, brushes RX-59
1964
Voltage regulators for cars with Alternators:
1965 - 1969
-
All VR-103, brush set RX-99, holder assembly RX-99A, diode (P) D-2P, diode (N) D-2N
How about some starter parts:
Battery Cables:
1960 - 1963
1964
1965 - 1966
1967 - 1969
These part #'s are taken from the Standard Motor Products web site: http://smpcorp.com/home.asp,and have not been verified.
Please note that no particular endorsement is being made of any of the retail locations
mentioned above. They are listed as a service to the local Corvair community, the result of some recent research done to find
local sources for commonly needed parts. This is no guarantee that all of these parts are available at your local store -
they may need to be ordered, though this may still be quicker than sending an order to a national parts vendor.
