Projects Fly in, Drive home in my late Dads car. Attempting 2000 miles

See if the doors at the back of the cooling ducts down there, will open against spring pressure, using your hand. Could be that it's just too cold for them to open yet.

 

All this Corvair talk is getting me itchy about looking into one. Had fun with one back in the day that was a turbo. Always thought it was a neat little car.

 

Roadkill trip! I love that show!

 

Those are an older set of Clarks Ultimate Exhaust... like 20 years ago older. Should sound pretty nice. If the exhaust hangers are not tight they will put a lot of pressure on the logs and fail the exhaust donuts. All good stuff to look over before takeoff.

Squirrel has it right, you can pull down gently on the top of the door at the rear and see if there is tension on the thermostat. They are a bellows and will close up tight if they are still good. Typically they fail open and expand out so the doors are open and the car does not overheat. Sometimes the doors will stick or bind so you want to make sure they travel cleanly.

 

Don't forget the most important piece of emergency equipment. A pair of pantyhose for a fan belt and a towrope. Who knows, you might be a couple of clicks from a town and need snig to a shop.
Edit: After reading your Drag Week escapades I'll shut up. You know what you're doing.

 

Spanners, I don't think I can sacrifice my pantyhose for that!

The car has the remains of this old Riverside international raceway sticker on the vent window. I wonder if it has made some laps?

 

mine had one good Tstat, one bad, so one door was always open, the other only when it got warm.

 

The exhaust flaps for the cooling air seem to be okay. There is spring pressure holding them shut but I can open them by hand. When I release them they spring back. I apparently just haven't got it hot enough to open them automatically yet.

 

If you pull those tins off you can check them with a hairdryer. I'm super jealous of this trip!!

 

I found a really nice looking set of heater tubes among Dad's stuff. So I'm going to install them. They're pretty stiff. Does anybody know of a tried-and-true method to limber them up to ease the installation?

 

A few good articles on softening rubber.

http://v4musclebike.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13477

 

True story, I was probably 18 at the time when my 340 Duster lost it's only belt (crank/water pump/alt) about 30 miles from home. I did not have a spare belt and it was late on a Sunday so no auto parts stores open. I found a variety store that luckily did have panty hose for sale so, being the genius I am, I approached the girl at the counter and asked for some "King" size panty hose, figuring I needed the largest they had. The girl at the counter got a good laugh out of my request then explained that no shops anywhere (at that time anyhow ) carried ANY form of women's clothing in King size.

Oh .... riiiiiiiight

Long story short (too late for that ) my attempt to replace the missing belt with panty hose failed after 3 or so miles ... that ended up being the only time I tried it ... I now always carry a spare belt and tools

 

I've used them as an emergency but only ran the crank to water pump so it wouldn't overheat.

 

If they are the og "black paper" kind... not really. They were pretty fragile even when brand new. You might try heat gunning them a bit if you have one, but sneak up on it.

 

Drove it to town to pick up some supplies and test it out. I'm actually impressed!

 

why isn't the top down? It's convertible weather in Arizona this month!

 

You have a good point squirrel. One thing at a time, I was just anxious to get out and get it on the road. I don't know how old and stiff the top is and how well it's going to go down but I will find out. The temp gauge started working and registered about 300° going down the road.
The air doors opened.

 

It looks real good too, I bet the old gal treats you right so just honk and wave on the way by

 

That is a good looking car!

 

that's great! They run pretty hot compared to water cooled engines.

Yeah, you need to be careful with the top....dont want to make any tears or holes in it before the trip!

 

That might not be good the further north you get. Starting to cool down up here!

 

My dad dug this pit with a ramp so that if any rattlesnakes fall in they can slither out. I just wheeled the Corvair onto the pit so that I can get underneath and lubricate everything, adjust the clutch cable, I'll probably have to replace the exhaust manifold gaskets, and the push rod tube seals.
Looking at the gas tank, it looks like it's already been removed, cleaned up, painted an undercoated, and put back in. That should help.

 

That's pretty cool that your dad constructed that pit.

Just a thought since you can get under the car easily.

Have you thought of possibly using some "Castrol supper clean" to clean as much of the oil and grease off of the engine and oil pan, etc, etc, so that it might be helpful, to spot any potential oil leaks on the trip ?

Your Dads car is looking great, looks so cool with the hubcaps too !

 

It's gonna be 91 and sunny today in Phoenix, set them outside on the hood of that black car and I bet they limber up

 

"I found a really nice looking set of heater tubes among Dad's stuff. So I'm going to install them. They're pretty stiff. Does anybody know of a tried-and-true method to limber them up to ease the installation?"

I don't have a tried and true procedure but I will toss this out there ... hand cream. I have no idea exactly where those tubes go or if hand cream is flammable or not but I think I'd try adding some moisture to the paper to hopefully make it pliable/flexible. Hand cream should soak in and not drip/make a mess. Might be worth a try if nothing proven is mentioned. I have no idea what hand cream does once heated/cooked but using some might allow you to use those tubes long enough to get you home then change to fresh ones (if needed).

 

Could you not substitute clothes dryer or flex HVAC duct for the heater ducts?
At least temporarlily.

 

I would leave that alone until after you get home.

 

Totally! Otherwise this road trip could get epic with the weather predicted soon.

 

Is it a power top? They are bonus fun to get working. I also support the top up until you're home idea.

 

Race tape for emergency top repairs if it's brittle.