Those who aren’t ingrained in the DIY lifestyle often have one comment when they first arrive to my garage, and it is along the lines of, “Wow, this is super cool. You must get so much done out here.” It’s partially true—I do get a lot done—but if you want to know a secret, I’ll tell you what I do most: clean.

That’s right. Having three project cars and more motorcycles means I spend a lot of time organizing, cleaning, and generally maintaining my workspace so that it stays a workspace. In fact, it is often what’s happening right before I turn on the camera in any given episode of Kyle’s Garage. A clean workspace is a functional, and, more importantly, safe workspace. This time around I turned the camera on a bit early before diving into some other housekeeping items.

The 1965 Chevrolet Corvair coupe has been hanging around in the background since this show started, and I promise I have read your comments asking about when it would make an appearance. The sad fact is, the coupe doesn’t need a lot, but it’s often put off in the corner for that reason. I robbed the starter and carburetors in an attempt to get an old engine on the floor running again, which pushed this car in the wrong direction. This week I threw those parts back on, then went to turn the key and nothing happened.

I wish I could say this was a first; the fact is, a few years ago I had an intermittent no-start condition that plagued me for months. Last time I cut the positive battery cable down a bit to remove some corrosion and then clamped the terminal end back on. That was a band aid; now it’s time to deal with that terrible clamp-on terminal.

A new cable is the solution to that problem, and this one has the molded end that will keep it from corroding and becoming a problem in the future. I also went ahead and installed the new engine-lid weatherstripping that I’d been putting off doing for a few months now.

In all, I crossed a handful of items off my to-do list for the Corvair, which makes me feel better about turning my attention back to the Austin-Healey for the foreseeable future. Those “easy” fixes I did in an attempt to get the clutch working again didn’t work, and that means next week’s video will include some heavy lifting.

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