Projects Looking for 'new' car - how is heat in Corvairs??

Gonna be getting a 'new' car - sticking with proven formula - popular car with good parts support, this is going to be a daily.

Corvairs feature high on the list, yet I've no idea how good the heat is in these cars. Can someone shed light on this?? I live near Chicago, good defrosters and heaters are a must. My Falcon excels in both...

As an aside, are gas heaters (ala SouthWind) worth considering??

Thank you all.

Cosmo

 

This might be some helpful reading to help you decide

http://www.corvairunderground.com/news/dircetair.html

 

My brother had one of the later ones ('67-'68) in the mid 70's, he had to cover his legs with a blanket to keep from freezing to death. Wisconsin winters are brutal...

 

I had 5 Corvairs at one time in my life and I had to do some modifying to get good heat out of them. The biggest problem is the heat tubes that run up the sides of the rockers rust out and heat escapes, and also do the covers over the exhaust that channel heat off of the pipes forward. I fiberglassed over the tubes to insulate them and keep the air as hot as possible.

But I drove mine in Pennsylvania winters, one was even a convertible Spider , and I never really froze or anything like that. Just make sure the pushrod tube seals are good or you will not only get heat through the ducts, but fumes like you wouldn't believe.

Some of them had optional gas heaters, but I never had one of those.

Don

 

actually corvairs heat up faster than watercooled cars of the time as you get heat from the heads vs waiting for the water to warm up.
MAKE SURE ITS SEALED PROPERLY. if your getting a nice one to begin with it shouldnt be to hard. the things that need to be nice is the engine seal, the 3 flex tubes that are in front of engine, and then the tunnel is good and sealed, oh and make sure you thermostat bellows work otherwise kiss your heat good bye

 

Love the LOW feel driving a corvair... The big original seat and the legroom... Corvairs even have their very own smell. I sure miss mine.

 

froze my ass off in a new monza in 1961---heat and defrost sucked...

 

X2 Not a car for Northern Michigan. Plus the snow gets packed up into the center shifter tunnel and causes big problems.

 

I drove a 66 Corvair through several Western NY winters in the mid 1970's.The heat was ok once I replaced the thermostatic bellows that controls engine cooling flaps. And new orings on the pushrod tubes so it doesn't stink like burnt oil.

 

I ran a Southwind heater in a 57 VW for 5 winters. It would melt snow off the cloth sunroof in 10 minutes. I bybassed the SW fuel pump which leaked, and used a small elec pump. It worked great.

 

A used one that is 40 years old will be probably need work for it to work as well as they did when new. I had a Greenbriar that would blow out warm air before the tubes in the radio could warm up and you could hear any tunes. It was a factory gas heater.

The coupes and sedans were reported to go through the fabric hoses that carried the hot air from the exhaust manifolds into the cabin which allowed smells to get in. We used to call them slingers because they would sling oil all over the engine underneath from the push rod tube seals. all of the oil smell was sucked into the cabin. Finally they made Teflon tube seals that seemed to help the problem. They are fun to drive once the bugs are worked out. There usually was one guy in the Chevy dealership that specialized in the Corvairs Very different from a 283 They made good money because they learned all the secrets to working on them and could "flatrate" one in no time compared to a "regular" mechanic. There is no middle ground you either love them or you hate them.

 

Drive it in the summer or the cold will get you and rust will get it.

 

Had a 61 Monza in 63. Great heat even here in SE Michigan, but the car was only 2 years old.

 

Still driving my '65 even in the winter. If everything is in good working order, seals, tubes, bellows and so on, it's not bad. Always a good idea to leave a window cracked a bit. Actually, the Corvair is a great driver in the snow.

 

I've had a '62 and a '66. I drove them both in Wisconsin winters They both heated OK. Much better then the Beetles of the same era. Like everyone noted, beware of the pushrod tube seals. If the seal are bad, oil will seep into the heater boxes. I remember tossing my '66 around the back roads and having the oil slosh against the hot motor an suddenly a cloud of blue smoke would come out of the heater vents. Even though I loved the sound on the flat six with the trombone exhaust, had I kept it longer I would have dropped a 215 aluminum V8 in the rear and plumbed it for hot water heat.

 

My '65 had a gas heater when I got it so heat was OK since it was mounted in the front of the car. Took a min or two to start making heat as I recall and worked fine for the short time I had the car here in New England.

Cliff Ramsdell

 

I would add a Southwind heater with a defroster for use up north. Corvairs need to be debugged before reliable daily use, then they're as good as any old car. Corvairs have the best aftermarket support of any old car I've ever seen (Clark's, Raffee's, etc.)

 

Buddy had a Convert in college. Yup, it was cold in the winter but at least our beer did not get warm!

 

I'm glad you mentioned Raffee's. I've had work done by him and he is amazing. One of the most interesting people I've met in a long time. Just for fun, google him and check out his web page, Verrry interesting but a fantastic Corvair mechanic.

 

they are a fun car Mom had a 62 the biggest problem I had was they would throw the fan belt I carried a spare belt..I bought my daughter a 65 for her first car in 85. All her friends that it was a cool old car. I am looking at a 64 monza 38,000 mi. only problem is its a automatic but its in nice shape.

 

The early ones had gas heaters......great heat, bad on gas.

 

Make a front engine gasser!

 

I had a 65 with a 327 in the back seat, I would get roasted in that thing in the Summer and in the Winter I would have to drive it with both windows down even on the coldest days, it had great heat

 

I hear you japar mine has a 396 in the back seat gets warm fast

 

I had a 67 back in the late 60's and it had a great heater. HRP

 

Corvairs are sweet! Never knew they had their own smell. Good smell I take it.

 

i had a '61 with a gasoline heater that worked great. we timed it at 41 seconds to start blowing hot air! gas milage suffered but the car was so good on fuel [26 mpg] it did not matter. we kept the car as a "backup" and it was lent out to friends when their dailies were in the shop/wrecked.

 

Me,too. I drove a '62coupe in '67-68 and had great heat and defrost. It was a fun car to own and drive.I'd put good snows on in the winter and go in snowstorms and have a ball.
I put on dual glasspacks and made a lot of noise with it,too.
I could go thru the 4 gears and still not be going 70. So it kept me from getting lots of speeding tickets,but it handled well for tearing around back roads.

 

I was one of the guys to get some seat time in it, really fun car to drive. Bob

 

I had 2 corvairs , a 64 spyder coupe and a 65 monza sedan.

The coupe had poor pushrod tube seals and leaked oil and stunk bad when the heater was on , so much so that I chose not to use the heater.
The sedan was my wifes driver and was no trouble at all until I set it on fire