Event Coverage The Corvair Adventure

A couple of things killed off the Corvair, not just Nader. Chevy cheaped out on a front sway bar, it would have taken the retail price higher than the Falcon to do so. It would have helped the handling a lot. Then the air pressure had to be right on, especially up front. When I was doing tires, we were told to follow the sticker pressures, think it was 22 up front and 29 in the rear.

 

Only if you have a bad bearing somewhere. People not doing regular maintenance caused that concern, not the car.


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lonejacklarry.I LOVED Iron butterfly!!!!Bruce.

 

The biggest thing with these engines is to make sure the shrouds and the seals around the shrouds are in place. If it starts recycling air from below the engine at all, that's when temps become a problem. An extra belt isn't a bad idea but again if it's all in decent shape and adjustment you shouldn't lose one. I run 10-40 in mine with a bottle of the Lucas additive. I don't have a temp gauge but even in 100 degree temperature it runs well and I'm on the original 1961 engine without any mods other than the later magnesium fan.


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Well Jim, I guess you guys can listen to some Brubeck and the Nixon tapes. Subscribed.

 

Hmmm.... Cruising in a Corvair with Brubeck on the reel-to-reel. I'm hearing "Unsquare Dance".

 

I had to check the garage to make sure my speakers were still there I always wanted a reel to reel (I was married and in Germany, didn't have the funds to buy one then) but by the time I could afford reel to reel they had moved to 8 tracks and cassettes.

 

Pops had a 62 vair when I was in High School. 4 spd. I would firewall the throttle and sidestep the clutch. It could pull the wheels or shear the rear motor mount bolt ! Great days.

 

I think there's a needed video: Escapades of Squirrel, Journey to LeMons.
Need to see that open reel playing while you guys are driving along.

 

What? No on-the-road pics?
r

 

Had a Kellison knock off of a Berry Mini T with a Bill Thomas Corvair engine....it was unsafe at any speed!

 

Denise McCluggage was a well known lady racer and journalist.

>From the CAR LIFE complete Corvair guide ca 1963. "the gentle art of DRIVING THE CORVAIR" by Denise McCluggage. page 90 - 96.
Part way thru the article she describes rear engine cars as generally oversteering, then, that lifting off the throttle when pushing Corvairs or stock Monzae on twisty roads will induce severe oversteer. Then, that she went off the road tail first in a Corvair in the first Shell 4000 rally in Quebec. Something about lifting off the throttle having been surprised by a tight off camber corner in the fog.

But somewhat surpisingly next she said this -
" I drove my first Monza the first year of the Trans-Canada Rally (as it was called then) and a more secure car I cannot imagine. I am sure it outhandled any other car on the rally. I had a delightful time on the winding highways and the mountain trails. I had a private little game I called "Sucker." It involved motoring at a refined speed along the straights until someone decided to follow along. Then when I reached a turn, I would actually speed up ever so slightly and then watch the fun in the rearview mirror. The other car was usually in a little over its head, not seriously, just enough to kick up dust at the side of road or yaw heavily or at least fall back.....Really the car was that superior. (the Studebaker team was issued orders not to follow me under any circumstances after I came close to sending those waddling Larks off the road. They weren't even in the same ballpark as the Monza.) And why was the Monza so great in 1961? I think it must have been the 3 degree negat
ive camber in the rear. From the rear the wheels looked all splayed out like a knock-kneed horse. Quite a sight........What security. Now, 3 degrees is a lot of negative camber. (The road gets awfully close to the underpinnings that way), but I would certainly recommend 2 degrees for everyday driving. In fact I would insist on it if I were going to do any hard-pushing motoring at all in the Monza. The options to achieve the 2 degree negative are offered by Chevrolet......"

Next she mentions that the steering is too slow, but that only Fitch found a way to quicken it.
--
Dan Timberlake

 

Ignore these yahoos and drive the wheels off that thing! You can't hurt it. Have fun winning the rally

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The speedo just died. Awful screeching sound and dancing needle. Disconnected the cable. But that was our gas gage....

 

I use a yardstick for a gas gauge for my old Ford tractor. Merc Flatty dipstick in the shoebox Ford.

 

Minor detail. Drink more, piss more, fill up every time you stop.

 

More exciting than Drag Week!
KK

 

Who would have that on their list? Yep, gotta remember to grease my spedo cable.
They never die quietly.

 

OK. Now we're gettin' somewhere!

Sounds like a parking lot pit stop. A good NAPA store should still have one of the universal cut-to-length inner cable kits. But where's the cable routed on a Corvair? To the left front wheel spindle oe does it snake clear back around to the transaxle?

 

The speedo itself is bad. DigiHUD is replacing it for the rest of the trip. Made it to the greater Monterey metro area.

 

What do you need a speedometer for....you always know when you are going fast.

 

Love your not state of the art sound system. You guys rock!


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What the hell, had I known I would have let you borrow the Cornwalls -okay they would not have fit. One would though -mono baby! Super efficient speakers too.

 

Sound update. The reel to reel has mostly been working, but today it was running kind of slow. Might need to work on it. The 8 track player (a home unit, 120v supply) has been working fine. The 8 track tapes...well, the pre recorded ones we're batting about .280 on them working without breaking. The ones David recorded before we left, are working fine.

The registration is in the morning around 7 am, we get the information about the checkpoints, then head up to Crescent City at the very northwest corner of California. So we probably get to drive through rush hour San Francisco traffic. It will be fun

 

Corvairs are cool. Always wanted to get a 66 Corsa with a 4 speed.

If you ever want to get in some good reading, find a copy of "Assassination Of The Corvair", by Andrew J. White. It's a very well written, researched, and informative book. It's long been out of print, but copies show up for sale, now and then on Ebay and Amazon. It makes Ralphie's book look like it was written by a 3rd grader.

 

Good to see you brought along some safety equipment. My fist ex-wife had a corvair and it caught on fire for unknown reason and we didn't have an extinguisher and it burnt down to a crisp. This was after she slid on sand in a parking lot and smashed into my 55 ford more door. And she wonders why she is my first ex-wife.

 

101 from Gilroy through San Jose up to San Francisco will be a nightmare (as will 280) and you will be lucky to get to San Francisco by 9:00. I don't know if highway 1 along the coast would be any faster - someone may know.

 

Looking forward to watching your trip. Good luck and hope you can still hear when you get back!

 

88 posts, and not a single one asking the most important question. We have reel to reel and 8-track, what's on the play list? 10cc? Some Dr. Hook?


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The reel tapes are rock albums from 67 to 71. 8 tracks are mostly 70s schlock.