Steve Gongora's 1962 Corvair Rampside Truck
Here is a little backround on the truck:
The 1962 Rampside ended up in New Mexico via Mark Domzalski. He purchased the Rampside from a Corsa Member in Oregon. Mark used the truck to commute to Los Alamos from Placitas on a daily basis. He had the opportunity to purchase a 1964 Rampside from Francis Boydston and he devoted all his energy on the new truck. The 62 sat for a while. I had done work on the 64 for Mark, upgrading the interior and we bartered a deal to purchase the old Rampside. Mark installed a Boydston long block 110 HP engine so the truck could live on. That was in 2002. The first thing was to make the vehicle road worthy. I sent it to Chet’s Wheel Alignment and bought a new set of tires. With new brakes and treads it became a daily driver. In 2005 I couldn’t resist putting on a set of S-10 Chevrolet rims with new tires. My 14” tires went to Doug Gadomski for his Rampside. I made door panels and upholstered the seat and have been quite happy driving the vehicle with a great patina weathered paint. My friend Alex Disco from Disco Display House suggested I watch the Jay Leno restoration video on his Rampside Restoration. That was in the winter season of 2009. From that point the spark of inspiration of a paint job was born. I went to MAACO on McLeod on talked with Bill Jackson and sons. They advised me to take the car to them in April. They worked on every corner of replacing rusted parts with new metal. The entire bed area was coated with Linex material from Linex at Menaul Blvd and Vassar. The conversion process is detailed on the CNM website under CNM News and Rampside Restoration. Since I got the truck back in November, I have been detailing all areas. I sent it to Chet’s and replaced ball joints and brakes. I replaced the bed bolts with black Allen heads, replaced the stereo for my Ipod and I’m getting ready to upholster the seat with leather. The seat will capture the outside paint scheme with a white band of leather on the top of the lean back with a touch of silver and the remaining seat will be in red. It should be ready soon.
Steve
The 1962 Rampside ended up in New Mexico via Mark Domzalski. He purchased the Rampside from a Corsa Member in Oregon. Mark used the truck to commute to Los Alamos from Placitas on a daily basis. He had the opportunity to purchase a 1964 Rampside from Francis Boydston and he devoted all his energy on the new truck. The 62 sat for a while. I had done work on the 64 for Mark, upgrading the interior and we bartered a deal to purchase the old Rampside. Mark installed a Boydston long block 110 HP engine so the truck could live on. That was in 2002. The first thing was to make the vehicle road worthy. I sent it to Chet’s Wheel Alignment and bought a new set of tires. With new brakes and treads it became a daily driver. In 2005 I couldn’t resist putting on a set of S-10 Chevrolet rims with new tires. My 14” tires went to Doug Gadomski for his Rampside. I made door panels and upholstered the seat and have been quite happy driving the vehicle with a great patina weathered paint. My friend Alex Disco from Disco Display House suggested I watch the Jay Leno restoration video on his Rampside Restoration. That was in the winter season of 2009. From that point the spark of inspiration of a paint job was born. I went to MAACO on McLeod on talked with Bill Jackson and sons. They advised me to take the car to them in April. They worked on every corner of replacing rusted parts with new metal. The entire bed area was coated with Linex material from Linex at Menaul Blvd and Vassar. The conversion process is detailed on the CNM website under CNM News and Rampside Restoration. Since I got the truck back in November, I have been detailing all areas. I sent it to Chet’s and replaced ball joints and brakes. I replaced the bed bolts with black Allen heads, replaced the stereo for my Ipod and I’m getting ready to upholster the seat with leather. The seat will capture the outside paint scheme with a white band of leather on the top of the lean back with a touch of silver and the remaining seat will be in red. It should be ready soon.
Steve
Steve,
The Rampside looks fabulous. It looks nicer than the day it was born.
I bought the Rampside from Bob Slusher, a former CORSA Wester Director in Oregon in 1992. Bob had the truck for a couple of years before getting the urge to find a nicer Rampside. I will need to find a good e-mail for Bob to see if he can recall earlier history. Somewhere in Washington state, I found a tailgate that exactly matched the paint on the truck and continued to drive it until I noticed it was burning some oil. A friend of Bob's offered to rebuild the engine with good used parts. The rebuild was sufficient to make the move from Oregon City, Oregon to Placitas in September 1993. After getting to Oregon in 1993, I used the R ampside as a commuter vehicle from Placitas to Albuquerque until buying Francis Boydson's 1962 dark metallic green stripe on white Rampside.
Hope this is helpful. Next time we can talk and visit, maybe I can recall some more.
Thanks for keeping me informed on the progress. You have done a very nice job on the truck. I will have a lot of work to pull mine out of storage and try to make it look as nice for their 50th birthdays next year. Hopefully we'll be able to visit for a club fucntion or two over the next couple of years.
Best Regards,
Mark
The Rampside looks fabulous. It looks nicer than the day it was born.
I bought the Rampside from Bob Slusher, a former CORSA Wester Director in Oregon in 1992. Bob had the truck for a couple of years before getting the urge to find a nicer Rampside. I will need to find a good e-mail for Bob to see if he can recall earlier history. Somewhere in Washington state, I found a tailgate that exactly matched the paint on the truck and continued to drive it until I noticed it was burning some oil. A friend of Bob's offered to rebuild the engine with good used parts. The rebuild was sufficient to make the move from Oregon City, Oregon to Placitas in September 1993. After getting to Oregon in 1993, I used the R ampside as a commuter vehicle from Placitas to Albuquerque until buying Francis Boydson's 1962 dark metallic green stripe on white Rampside.
Hope this is helpful. Next time we can talk and visit, maybe I can recall some more.
Thanks for keeping me informed on the progress. You have done a very nice job on the truck. I will have a lot of work to pull mine out of storage and try to make it look as nice for their 50th birthdays next year. Hopefully we'll be able to visit for a club fucntion or two over the next couple of years.
Best Regards,
Mark
Recently added / New information on the history of Steve's Rampside
Steve:
How nice to hear from you again. Yes, Mark was just able to contact me this morning and we had a nice email chat to catch up. As I told him and he may relay to you, that was my first Rampside. I bought it off of a pair of sisters in Aloha, Oregon. It had belonged to their dad and he had passed. They had intended to make it into a garden memorial to him by filling it with dirt and installing plantings. But the bed was too deep and that was a lot of work so they advertised it for waaaaay tooo much money $600. I came along and paid it. I think it startled them. I drove it for a couple of years before another, and then another, and then many other Rampsides came along. Yeah, I know.....sick. I hope this bit of history helps.
What a stunning bit of restoration you have done on this poor ole rusty rig. You have a serious dedication to quality to bring that truck back from the grave. My applause to you! Just beautiful! And I really like your wheels. I have been looking for just the right wheel for a street rod Rampside project I am working on and that may very well be the wheel. Is it a 14” wheel? Will you share the mfg and name with me?
Best,
bob
Steve:
How nice to hear from you again. Yes, Mark was just able to contact me this morning and we had a nice email chat to catch up. As I told him and he may relay to you, that was my first Rampside. I bought it off of a pair of sisters in Aloha, Oregon. It had belonged to their dad and he had passed. They had intended to make it into a garden memorial to him by filling it with dirt and installing plantings. But the bed was too deep and that was a lot of work so they advertised it for waaaaay tooo much money $600. I came along and paid it. I think it startled them. I drove it for a couple of years before another, and then another, and then many other Rampsides came along. Yeah, I know.....sick. I hope this bit of history helps.
What a stunning bit of restoration you have done on this poor ole rusty rig. You have a serious dedication to quality to bring that truck back from the grave. My applause to you! Just beautiful! And I really like your wheels. I have been looking for just the right wheel for a street rod Rampside project I am working on and that may very well be the wheel. Is it a 14” wheel? Will you share the mfg and name with me?
Best,
bob
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