Black is Right and Red’s All Over

As soon as I laid eyes on Ringo’s new paint, I knew his red interior would be gag inducing next to the purple pearl. So my text to Ariel yesterday was, “What do you think about Ringo getting a black interior?” Her reply was, “That would look good.” To which I typed, “Better than the red. I’m looking into the possibility of swapping seats and door panels with Lucy.” “Ok, cool!” she responded. With her approval I logged into the CorvairCenter forum to ask if the swap is possible. The only helpful response I got was someone informing me the seat track mounting is different.

Last evening after another delicious dinner prepared by the lovely Loriann, I moved Lucy into the driveway and yanked out her seats and driver’s side panels. Only had one bolt break – the upper left one holding the back of the rear seat. There are five other bolts, so I’m not worried. My first install was the rear panel from Ringo into Lucy. I discovered Ringo’s are not factory – they’re held in by wire clips instead of the stock serrated nails. Seven quarter inch diameter holes had to be drilled in the sheetmetal and the panel popped right in. There is relatively thick padding in the panel that precluded the easy installation of the window crank. I’m going to try and remove the foam donut from the back and that should allow the crank to snap into place. Moving on I installed the rear seat back and bottom without issues and then vacuumed the carpet before attacking the driver’s seat swap. My air wrench zipped off all the bolts holding seat tracks to both seats and some WD-40 lubricated the slides. I installed the inboard track, but when I placed the outboard one (containing the latching mechanism), it was painfully apparent there were differences that needed addressing. Specifically, the ’63 latch needed room to move that the ’61 seat didn’t accommodate. Out came the grinder and a small one inch square pocket was cut in the seat base to clear the latch. After that, installation of the track onto the seat and the seat into the car went off without a hitch.

It was getting late, so I moved the black seats into the garage, put away the tools, rolled the chest inside, and shut the door for the night. This morning’s drive into work was strange sitting on a new-to-me seat and no door panel. Hopefully, tonight will afford me the opportunity to get the other seat and panels installed.