25 replies to this topic

[NSwanberg]

I only road in a Corvair twice. It was a friend's older brother's car. I wasn't scared.

 

There are some conjectures here I would not agree with.

 

 

 

[Bill from NH]

I was at a gas station once when a drunk guy pulled into the yard with a badly smoking Corvair. My mechanic friend found that the drive belt for the top-mounted cooling fan had come off its pulley and it had been driven several miles that way. When the motor cooled down, the belt was re-installed and the drunk drove off.

[LtDan]

I've owned two Corvairs, a '61 and a '66. I drove that '61 everywhere in FL, slot car racing, going to Sebring, Daytona Continental, SCCA races left for the service and Dad traded it for the '66. Dad said the payments were only $150 a month as E-1 I was making $155 a month, needless to say I only drove it one weekend that I got leave for Christmas from AF tech school. Never saw it again. Ralph Nader, pfft.

[blue&orange]

It's too bad they don't make a better attempt at matching the pictures/videos with the text. Random shots of V8s, factory shots that have nothing to do with Corvairs, even a Valiant – and when the styling changes, the pictures/videos don't. I spotted the Pontiac version long before the text mentions it. Sigh.

[old & gray]

I remember a couple of cars from the Corvair club which would show up at the monthly autocross (1970s). The cars in the club had two things in common: a spare drive belt for the cooling fan in the trunk and a "F*** Nader" bumper sticker. 

[Cheater]

My daily driver for a number of years was a '65 Corvair turbo and it was a great car. And the second series 'Vairs are as nicely styled as anything produced in the US in the '60s.

The hidden problem with the Corvairs was their propensity to rust, if the owners didn't keep the multiple hidden water drains around the windshields and in the doors clean and flowing. Clark's Corvair Parts has (or used to have) a pamphlet showing where these critical drain holes were located.

I bought a '66 Corvair convertible out of a middle TN farmyard for $600 for my sister. She drove it for maybe eight-ten years, and didn't heed my warning about the drain holes so it developed a healthy case of cancer. Yet, when she sold it she got nearly $3,000 for the car.

[Jay Guard]

My Dad had two Corvairs, the first was a 1962 convertible and the second was a 1964 convertible Turbo Spyder.

 

The '62 was interesting in that it was a dealers 'showroom car' and due to that it literally had every option on it that Chevrolet offered. Things like an automatic trans, electric top, factory air conditioning, seat belts, and all kinds of special trim items. He would often get stopped by Corvair collectors saying that they had heard of some of the options that his car had but never actually seen them, especially all on one car. As everyone else has said we always had a spare fan belt or two in the frunk along with the necessary tools to replace it. As I recall it ran pretty well but did have some oil leaks later on. He drove it for quite a few years and finally sold it when he bought a cherry 1964 convertible turbo Spyder from a neighbor.

 

He (and I) then drove the Spyder for years and it was fun but after about seven years or so I think the turbo died and he sold it for around $2,000. I thought the price was too low because it was a special car, but that was what he had paid for it so he was happy. However I think I was right in that the second he put it up for sale he got a ton of calls, and some guy from North Carolina drove down the next day to buy it for cash. That guy got a great deal!

[Mark Onofri]

I've got a 66 Corsa 140,4spd,posi,loaded convertible that I've had since 81. I've owned a 1/2 dozen since then. The most recent was a 68 that I got in 94? 38k,I was the 3rd owner. Lame 110auto. Drove it to Cornell, Watkins Glen, Montour Falls. Fun fun,until,I was coming back from Bridgeport,in the rain,in the dark, in the fall. That's when I realized that:
1)it had vacuum windshield wipers
2)I can't remember what the cause was but, a bick lighter would have been brighter than the headlights
3)funny how 60's drum breaks are useless in a deluge.
Cont

[Mark Onofri]

4) air cooled is also air heated and defrosted.
So as I'm driving with my head out the window lacking the previously mentioned amenities, I realized how much I've come to appreciate all of the advances that even a Pinto has. Finally,when I made it to the off ramp, it took hitting the curb sideways to slow it down. I watched in amazement as hubcaps went into orbit with sputnik. Haven't driven one since.

[Mark Onofri]

Did I mention the 67 set up for auto cross with a 4sp,possi, 389:1 and open headers?

[Mark Onofri]

Jay,they dropped the Spider name for Corsa for 65,66.
I traded a 68 4door plymouth valant that my dad got for the $50 someone owed him for the Corsa.Took the blown motor out and stuffed a 71slant 6 in it. Another $15 bucks for a rebuild starter and then another $15 or $20 to have the t- bar sockets welded. Total cost $80+a lot of scraped nuckels . Great deal considering neither one ran.

[Martin]

This is the only part of a Corvair I will ever know.

 

An electric fan fixed the belt problem. 

 

 

[MSwiss]

I just bought a new Corvair. 

 

The best part was listening to a 5 year declare 17 times in 3 minutes;

"Mom, I'm going to get this for my birthday". (not the Corvair, 17 other Hot Wheels branded items-Lol)

 

[Dave Crevie]

All I can add is the Corvair flat six makes a nifty replacement for the motor in a golf cart.LOL

[Dave Crevie]

This is the only part of a Corvair I will ever know.

 

An electric fan fixed the belt problem. 

 

 

1962+Huffaker+Genie+Mk+IV,+Chassis+H-005.jpg

 

Martin;

 

Looks like you got the right nose on the car, with the peak up the middle. Racers of the day called it the "hair lip". The spare body I had was this style. The nose that came on my car had the smooth MK10 style. Too bad those spare body parts went with the cars and parts that were in the biggest of my storage facilities when it was auctioned off a month ago. The person who ended up with all that stuff most likely didn't know what they were. But everything had to be sold to pay the backload of rent and late fees that accumulated  while I have been in the hospital. Somebody got a really great deal on an Austin-Healey and two Lotus race cars. Plus a truckload of parts for various cars, which included Lotus-Westlake motors, a big valve Lotus Twin-cam motor, spare body parts, transaxles, Compomotive wheels, and Borani wire wheels.

[Phil Hackett]

My grandfather was a Chevy salesman from the early 50s to the 70s and he contended that the service departments at the dealers were one of the downfalls of the Corvair. He said the mechanics didn't like to work on the split-case engines, rear engine cars and the customers were not happy with the level of service given to them.

 

How true this was is unknown but he was a big fan of the Corvair. He even started buying them up when he retired but didn't get far before he passed (1973).

[Dave Crevie]

I suspect the main complaint has to do with having to remove the heads and cylinders to get at the con rod screws. To split the case the pistons have to be removed. If you have small hands, and are dextrose enough you can get to the bolts, but you are left with a large, bulky assembly to deal with. I use a socket and long extension to reach the bolts through the cylinder mounting bores.
In my experience with Corvair and Volkswagen engines, it is easier to tear the motor down to just the case with the crank still inside. What I really hate is replacing the main bearings. Even though VW has a chart to make matching bearing part numbers with the case number and the main bearing journal dias, I still Plasti-gage them to be sure. I have built a few Formula Vee engines and never had one come unglued.

[Dave Crevie]

I suspect the main complaint has to do with having to remove the heads and cylinders to get at the con rod screws. To split the case the pistons have to be removed. If you have small hands, and are dextrose enough you can get to the bolts, but you are left with a large, bulky assembly to deal with. I use a socket and long extension to reach the bolts through the cylinder mounting bores.
In my experience with Corvair and Volkswagen engines, it is easier to tear the motor down to just the case with the crank still inside. What I really hate is replacing the main bearings. Even though VW has a chart to make matching bearing part numbers with the case number and the main bearing journal dias, I still Plasti-gage them to be sure. I have built a few Formula Vee engines and never had one come unglued.

[bronxcomet]

had a corvair pickup.would run out of steam trying to climb La Tuna Canyon.had to get a violent head start.     Marty P ..........surfs up

[Dave Crevie]

Sounds like a VW combi, doesn't it?

[Bill from NH]

Sounds like a Chevette. 

[Mark Onofri]

Dave, I still have the Cushman golf cart I offered you and, I'm pretty sure I have a 95hp from early Vair. Naaa,it's fast enough with 》60psi in the Tyers. A bone jaring ride is a understatement.

[Dave Crevie]

Thanks for the offer, but being bed ridden, I wouldn't be able to use it.

 

The highly built engine I used in the golf cart dynoed at 225 HP. On pump gas with two Weber 36IDA2Bs. Crown crank with shorter throws, to get a little more spin out of it without tossing a rod. There really wasn't much of the original golf cart when I finished building it. I built a square tube frame, using the original Cushman fiberglass nose, widened to fit the new, wider track width. The transaxle was a Corvair box, flipped over to get the right rotation. Sprite rack and pinion, I built all the other suspension parts. I used Harley-Davidson coil over shocks in the front, EMPI coil overs in the real. 

 

Had some fun with it, but after the Children's Fund race at R/A, I had no use for it. So I sold it. Often wonder what happened to it. Heard rumors, but nothing that could be proven.

 

Incedently, I was radar timed at just short of 150MPH on the downhill stretch between turns 4 and 5. Would really shorten the walks from pin to tee

[Mark Onofri]

I believe that Mid-Enginering flipped the transaxel on their cars. If I'm not mistaken, the addition of a steel plate replacing the stomped* steel cover is a must.
*yes, stomped

[Dave Crevie]

I made my own adapter plate from 1/4th inch thick aluminum plate.