By Gabe Lopez, Owner of Sterling Restorations
It’s not often in the restoration business that you encounter a 60-year-old classic car that’s, well, almost perfect. For those of us who make a living sanding, welding, and fixing decades of rust and poor repairs, finding a truly solid foundation is the equivalent of striking gold. That’s exactly what happened when I took on a project for a great customer and great friend, Bruce Mooers.
Bruce, a long-time supporter of Sterling Restorations and the man who has trusted me with the bodies of two of his previous cars, gave me a call about his latest find: a fantastic condition 1964 Chevy Corvair. His intention? To restore it for his teenage son, Brodie. It was a project rooted in passion and family, and I couldn’t wait to get started.
A Foundation of Steel
I first saw the Corvair at Bruce’s warehouse. He’d already done some heavy lifting—removing the interior, bumpers, and trim—giving us a serious head start. Honestly, the car was a time capsule. It seemed to have lived most of its life tucked away in a garage. Apart from minor dings, the car body was one of the most solid I’ve ever encountered on a classic car.
The primary, agreed-upon task was to address the rear panel. Someone had cut and hacked it to install a tow hitch at some point in the cars life. That, combined with a good-sized dent in the same area, was the extent of the major damage. I agreed to repair the hacked panel and touch up the car’s rear.
What Bruce didn’t know is what I would do next.
The Stealth Full Respray
After getting the green light on the color match—running it by Bruce to ensure I nailed the shade—I dove into the repair work. I welded in a patch panel on the damaged rear and methodically pulled the dents. Once the rear was done, I walked the entire circumference of the car, identifying and pulling every single ding. Excluding the previous repair work done on the rear panel and trunk, the car was original.
This Corvair was a bodywork dream. After the metalwork was complete, I applied an incredibly thin layer of body filler only where necessary. I can confidently say this car holds the record at Sterling Restorations for the smallest amount of filler applied across the whole body of a classic.
The preparation was key to the lightning-fast turnaround. I sanded the entire body smooth, feathering out paint chips down to the bare metal. With a rock-solid foundation, the car was masked in the paint booth. I started by using a high-quality primer sealer to protect the metal and provide a uniform canvas. Next, I laid down several immaculate coats of high-quality, single-stage paint.
From receiving the project to final assembly and scheduling delivery, the entire body and paint process took a mere six days. Yes, you read that correctly—six days. This car’s incredible originality and condition made that impossible feat possible. I’ll warn anyone reading this: this Corvair is absolutely terrible for setting an expectation of how long a classic repaint should take. The basic idea is simple: you MUST have an absolutely solid foundation—meaning good, solid metal with no rust, no bad repairs, and original panels—before you can execute a project this quickly.
The Big Reveal
Throughout those six days, I kept Bruce in the dark about my extra efforts, using excuses not to send progress photos. I was anxious for the big reveal. Bruce is not just a great friend but was one of Sterling Restorations’ first-ever customers, and his support has been invaluable, even introducing me to the fantastic Corvair community.
To ensure the surprise wasn’t spoiled, I worked long, late days and made sure I was waiting at his warehouse before the tow truck arrived. The anticipation felt like an episode of Overhaulin’.
As the tow truck pulled up, Bruce’s first comment was, “It looks good from here,” and we both laughed, but I kept my silence. The driver unloaded the car, and Bruce immediately started inspecting the “touch-up” work. He was rightly complimenting how fantastic the rear looked.
As he walked around the side, moving toward the front, his expression changed. He started noticing how different the whole car looked—how uniform and deep the finish was. That’s when I finally revealed the secret: I had repainted the whole car.
I still get goosebumps thinking about that moment. The look on his face and the pure, appreciative surprise of a friend who knows the dedication and late nights that went into it was incredible. This Corvair has been the most straightforward body and paint job I’ve ever done on a classic, and nothing comes close to its solid condition.
The ’64 Corvair is now back with the Mooers family, ready for Brodie. Watch out, ladies, the coolest car in school is making an entry.
-Gabe Lopez
Ed. Note: We want to thank Gabe, Jess and everyone at Sterling Restorations for, not only their fantastic work, but for their friendship and welcoming our club into learning about proper car restoration through workshops, events and even phone calls and drop-ins to ask Gabe’s opinion on projects. We are very fortunate to have Sterling Restorations as a part of our local Corvair family.
We also want to let you know that even if a full restoration isn’t in the budget, you can still give your Corvair or daily driver the “Sterling Treatment”. Today through Cyber Monday (Dec 1) you can take 20% off of your entire order of Sterling Restoration’s cleaning and detailing products. Orders over $100 will also come with a FREE Sterling Restorations T-Shirt! Use code FLASH20 at checkout.
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