Projects Second project: Spyder Power/Double Trouble

Depends on the kind of solvent in the tank. If it is diesel fuel then do it. If it is anything else it will be a waste of time. If it is a water based solvent it will wreck them. Better off leaving them on the car for a while. Their mounted to a nice and secure place to work on them. That sucker is a cream puff!

 

ive just realized something about this car... theres no ballast resistor, and the coil is directly wired. very strange... plus, the cap is screwed on, ive always thought they used clips.

 

diesel.

 

Oh Grasshopper much to learn about Chevies. No ballast resistor, instead it is a wire built into the harness. Those screws are only 1/4 turn and the cap releases. See not so strange after all.

 

weird then, ive always seen a ballast resistor on the pictures of "restored" corvairs. i also see a little box on the side of the dizzy, i need to pop it off and see if its electronic or points, i might just leave the electronic if it works, too much of an issue to swap it back to points if i cant find one nearby to pull a dizzy out of.

 

did i mention it has brand new aftermarket two speed wipers?

 

Or maybe just get that other one and transfer all the Spyder-specific goodies to this one (including engine).

...but I'd sure you considered this already...

 

I have... but im waiting on the spyders condition once its home, if its in decent or better condition, i might just fix up both... or i might make a "sleeper" corvair that looks like a complete base model... really depends on what the black one looks like after i dig it out this week.

 

Its got points.

 

Made some progress, i tried to loosen up the belt, ended up just cutting it. I need all new pullies... hmm... theres a 67 corvair at a junkyard, its rotten to nothing, but has good tins last i saw it. i might pull the tins off the top of the engine and such...

 

Might as well get all you can off of the 67 because once it’s gone it’s gone. Make sure the tins underneath are in good shape and don’t ever run without them. The engine will overheat. You keep it up and you just may be our new Corvair guru.

 

I know youre not supposed to do this, but im gonna use the steelies near it and a bumper jack to secure the 67 in the air since its still on the ground, where its been parked since winter of 85. Then nab all the tins.
The '63 has two holes in the lower tins, i think i might have the fan sandblasted if its savable, i know the pulley on it definitely isnt. From what ive seen the motors are mostly interchangeable, if theres a buick special or a lemans on the hill i can nab a generator off of that, will be quite the parts run , might pull the carbs too if they arent junk too. also will patrol the classic caddies and others for a full set of T3 headlights

 

What a wonderful looking place. I wish we had a yard like that around here. That would be my happy place. Be careful with the bumper Jack. You might just rip the bumper off and definitely do not get underneath it with it in place. If it is a stick car you will want to grab the trans and shifter and shift cable. Starting in 67 the trans is a beefed up version that will hold up behind a mild v8.

 

110? Auto car, car is rusted to nothing other than the engine bay area. 4 door sedan, etc, was the owners friends daily before he parked it on the hill. Motor is stuck.

 

Oh well. I tried?

 

also, I stuck a battery on it and checked out the points, its got (yellow) spark! that's one of the 4 it needs to run, here's the list so far
turns x
spark x
fuel
compression ?

 

Is there any way to find any of the parts from this catalog? That adjustable fan pulley, and all aluminum valve covers and oil pan sounds nice... would look good on a turbo motor, especially because of how hot they get.

 

Clark's Corvair sells most of it.

 

a mod (that corvairs should have come with in the first place) that i think would be good is a buzzer tied to the GEN/FAN light. so when it turns on, it lets you know its on, maybe have some form of delay, so it only turns on after X number of seconds has passed.

 

Get one of those "Ultimate" fan belts from Clark's Corvair Parts (no relation ). It won't come off. Seriously, I autocrossed with one, never threw it.

Of course, what you are suggesting is essentially the function of a Pro Light. A honking big warning light directed straight at your eyeballs. I had one for oil. However, best things you can do for oil are A) get a cheap oil-baffle kit from Clark's, which helps prevent oil from sloshing into the pushrod tubes and starving the pump, and/or B) get one of their finned aluminum oil pans, which also has oil baffles.

Get a new set of viton pushrod tube O-rings while you're at it. Eliminates the traditional Corvair leaks.

 

i think the car had one of those on it, looks the same inside, i had to cut it to get it to come off.

 

Yeah, most Corvair guys use them. They really are good.

 

More unsolicited advice :

• Make sure to have all the shrouding and the seal that goes between the engine and body.
• Make sure your thermostats are working (they open and close the shroud vents at the rear--usually fail in the open position. Should be closed when cool, open when hot.)
• Consider an alternator conversion. Pretty sure Clark's sells a kit. Yeah, yeah, gens are traditional--but this is a '60s car! I had a gen try to set my '63 convert on fire.
• The stock rear motor mount is a fail point. If the rubber fails, the back of the engine will drop to the ground. Clark's has an aftermarket one that has a positive connection. Get one, it's cheap insurance.
• I think I mentioned this already, but 99% of Corvair shift woes are caused by worn out bushings in the shift tube. Easy to rebuild with a kit.
• Finally, if you ever see a '66 or later 4-speed (Saginaw), buy it. It's much stronger than the early transmissions.

 

He is 100% right. They can be great daily drivers just follow Chevrolet’s recommendations on tire air pressure to the letter! And if you come across all the parts to convert it to later 5 lug do it! It opens up a whole new world of rims for the car. And cheaper too.

 

The seal is kind of there, and there is a hole in the lower shrouds on both sides, same spot. Honestly im thinking about different shrouds entirely, need to find '63 shrouds as apparently the '67s wont work.

 

I'm thinking dog dishes and steelies, can never go wrong with that.

Plus, fancy rims and a non stock interior will give away the surprise...

 

Oh! Another thing i need to find, vinyl floors, im going to have to strip my interior completely to clean out the blower/heater, aswell as weld the rear floors. I need to find gray vinyl floors, i have the rear ones intact, just someone removed the front ones and glued cheap black carpet down, which has acted as a moisture trap, im glad i acted fast and removed it, and am letting the floors dry, whole thing is covered in moisture droplets. Also my gas pedal is siezed, need to get the car in the air to check out the linkages. Clutch spring needs replaced too. I think im going to do a pseudo restoration on it. Minimal work, just making it reliable, road worthy, and drive it. I have been debating on the turbo motor, and honestly, i might just keep the turbo as a very long term project and work on it slowly, the car will need stripped, reinforced, and put on a rotisserie, it'll be a hot rod by the time im done with all my ideas... glass pack mufflers small compression bump, stroked pistons two corvair turbochargers with one per bank... finned everything, one of the modernized custom fans, custom louvered sides, with the battery relocated to the trunk, as well as the spare tire. Roll bar, connected subframes (with bolts not welding), would need a lot of fabrication and take a long time... it'd be unique and never be worth what i put into it, but hey, thats how classics always are. Might be thinking too far ahead and diving too deep for the black one...

 

Yea, well think of it this way disc brake kits are easier and cheaper to find for the 5 lugs.

 

They needed the full 1k, so they tossed in hubcaps, new old stock 1962 hubcaps... im glad i was the first one to look at it, seeing how popular it got.

 

An unfortunate end to a former resident... smells as bad as it looks...
Also, the brake lines run inside the car.