Gabe Lopez of Sterling Restorations was kind enough to share the story of restoring Bruce’s 65 Corsa convertible. Many longtime SFBA members may remember this car belonging to Marc Bruchy. Mark’s parents bought the Corvair brand new in San Francisco. Marc grew up with the car in his family and, eventually, inherited it. After some time, Marc made the decision to sell. He was insistent that the car would go to someone who would take the time to restore it. He didn’t want to see it parted out or rotting away on someone’s driveway. He got in contact with club member Bruce Mooers who purchased the car from Marc, Bruce then got in contact with Gabe Lopez. We will let Gabe take it from here…
“My work often introduces me to fascinating vehicles and even more fascinating owners, but the restoration of Bruce Mooers’ 1965 Corvair Corsa convertible stands out. I first met Bruce at his home to discuss the car, which, beneath its existing paint, needed a serious amount of attention.
We quickly settled on an ambitious but necessary scope: if Bruce was going to keep the car, we had to do the job right and document every step. Bruce deserves immense credit for getting the project started; he meticulously stripped the car down himself, removing all the trim, lights, bumpers, interior, and even the engine and transmission. When the Corvair arrived at the shop, it was ready for its transformation.”
In the above photos, you can see the car as Bruce prepared it for Gabe’s restoration. All badges, brightwork, bumpers, trim and lighting was removed from the car. As much of the interior as possible was removed from the car. Only essentials were left allowing the car doors to open, wheels to roll the car, steering and braking.
The pieces in the car are NOS (new old stock) sheet metal panels that Bruce was able to source for the car. NOS is more difficult to source than modern reproduction, but the metal is a perfect match as it was manufactured to Fisher body specs at the same time as the car was in production.
While reproduction parts have come a long way and many are very high quality, Bruce wanted this car to be as close as possible to factory.
In the photos above, you can see the first step of the restoration process where all of the old paint is sanded down, This allows Gabe to assess the condition of the body and find previous repair or rust that may be hiding under the paint.
This is part 1 of a 4 part story. We will be bringing you part 2 via email (or web) tomorrow.
We want to thank Gabe again for his time and for sharing the photos of this undertaking. The photo gallery he shared for this story is massive.
To learn more about Sterling Restorations or to contact Gabe for a consult on your Corvair or other classic car, please visit by clicking on the logo below.
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