Time for new Points

So as I mentioned 9(!) month ago, I missing some power when I boost. I've changed the coil and the plugs with some fancy high end plugs. What I haven't done is replace the points. My next purchase will be a tune-up kit with new points, rotor, condenser and distributor cap. I could go with the pertronix electronic points, but I think I'll keep it old school and see how it goes.

A Noisy Lifter

Well, with all things Corvair, once one thing is fixed a new thing breaks. This time its the Lifter. I don't think its really broken, much. It could be loose.

I've talked to my mechanic, he said he would take a look at it and we'll move on from there.

Where's the Power??

So, the Corvair is running great. I took it on a long run to Sandy Valley without a hitch. I have no gas leaks. So where's the power when the turbo kicks in? That is the big question. The one thing that people seem to agree on is that I am experiencing "Flame Out".

Flame Out seems to be a condition that doesn't allow the spark plugs to put out a strong enough spark ignite the fuel. When the turbo is not engaged, the spark is strong enough to do the job, but when I start boosting, the compression of the engine goes up high enough to be too much for the spark to ignite the fuel. The result is that the car misfires and the fuel gets pushed out with the exhaust during the next cycle. In other words, the car wont go!

When I'm just boosting a little, that is when the pressure is not built up too much, I get that familiar kick of the boost, but as the pressure builds, the car loses power and I stop accelerating.

So what's the cause? It could be a couple of things. The Coil is old and man not be putting out enough juice when I'm boosting. It could be the wires to the coil are old and it is not getting the correct voltage to work correctly. The carburettor could be out of tune causing a mixture that is too rich or too lean, fouling or damaging the plugs. It could be old worn points in the distributor not allowing good flow of electricity. It could be bad wires from the distributor to the plugs causing a voltage drop. So I have some work cut out for me.

Where to start? Well, I know that the coil is really old and I planned to replace it anyway. The plugs are also due for a changing, especially since the car had some issues with the pressure retard earlier causing the fuel mix to be off. With that, I thought I would spend a little extra cash and experiment with some high end NGK plugs. Here's the description of these plugs from NGK.com.

NGK iridium plugs represent the ultimate evolution of spark plug technology and performance. The iridium center electrode is both stronger and harder than platinum. This allows NGK engineers to design an ultra-fine (0.6mm)center electrode reducing the voltage requirement for spark. This allows for a brighter, stronger spark from your existing ignition system. The ground electrode has a tapered cut at the firing end which reduces quenching for better flame core growth and increased ignitability. The combination of fine wire center electrode and tapered cut ground will increase performance, improve acceleration, and fuel efficiency.

Here's a pic from the same site. As you can see, the center electrode is very small compared to a traditional spark plug. That with the much harder material will hopefully give me the spark I need to ignite the fuel while boosting. We shall see. The plugs are on order and hopefully I will receive them next week. That and a new coil from Clark's Corvair should hopefully do the trick.

The Big Drive.

Well, I fixed the leak by removing the return line to the gas tank. I replaced the turbo fuel filter with a simple straight through filter. I then blocked off the return line and reran the fuel line to the carb so that the pressure regulator is much easier to adjust.

After testing for leaks, I did some short drives around town and everything seemed to go well. I decided a long drive was in order after all the work on the car. A friend of mine was having a barbecue in Sandy Valley which is about 50 miles away so I decided the Corvair was the way to go.

The drive went without a hitch. The mountain pass was a little sketchy because of the curves and the hills, but the car ran great. I'll be driving it more and more. I think I may be ready for paint as well.

Springs.

So the skinny on springs. Clark's does seem to have stock springs. I think I'll stay on a holding pattern again at least for now. Its really about the cost since I would have to buy the shocks, pay to have them installed and pay again to have them aligned. I just spent all that money doing that the first time so I don't feel like doing it again soon.

We'll see.

The Gas Leak!

Well, after talking with the mechanic, and after all the modifications to the fuel system, we're going to try to remove the fuel return line from the system. I'll just block it off for now and change the fuel filter. If there are no adverse effects, the line is coming out!

The Springs!

Clark's has springs! They say they don't on their web page, but they do. Now the decision to go heavy duty or stock. I may just go with stock. I'm not sure. I like the car a little lower, but the last time I got new springs that were only supposed to lower the car a little, it dropped to the pavement. We shall see.

That means a new alignment and everything else. Sheesh!

Gas Leaks and springs.

Well, I've been driving the Corvair pretty much as a daily driver for the past 2 weeks. Two reasons for that. First, the weather here has been perfect, second, the Jeep is at the shop. Unfortunately, all this driving has shown a few weak points in the car.

The Gas Leak!

I started smelling gas yesterday and the problem has just gotten worse. The leak is where the fuel return line connects back into the tank. If this were a normal setup, the return line would be connected at the tank and all would be well. Mine however is connected at the gas tank fill tube in the driver side wheel well and it has sprung a leak. Its not a huge deal, but I need to fix it before I do anymore driving with it. I may try to disconnect it all together with the change of fuel pumps and the fuel regulator on the gas line. If the pump can handle the back pressure I think it would be the best solution. I would just need to change the fuel filter and disconnect that return line.

The Springs!

So I've been going back and forth on the springs for the car. A while back I purchased some heavy duty springs that were cut shorter than stock. My intention was to lower the car a little bit. Once the springs were installed, the car was much lower than I expected and I wasn't crazy about it. I've kept them on to see if they would grow on me, but they haven't. As a matter of fact, I dislike them more than ever. The tires rub in the wheel well when I turn and It's just not what I like. I'm looking for a more stock look and not a low rider. So now I'm on the hunt for new springs that fit the Corvair Spec. We'll see how that goes.

The Results Are In!

The Corvair is running great! I took it to work today and the car is running great. No wierd hesitation, no knocking, no funny noises from the engine compartment, and I can see how fast I'm going. I'm looking forward to doing many drives in the near future.

The next big thing will be paint. As I mentioned before, I'm not going crazy on the paint job yet. I'll get a moderate job on it and see how it goes. I may want to have some more body work done before I go crazy with a paint job.

New Harmonic Balancer in!

Well, the new harmonic balancer is in the car. I have not had a chance to give the Corvair a real test drive, but I will. I also had a new Viton seal put in by the crankshaft and had the speedometer finally installed.

With the new pressure retard unit, I had to have the carb adjusted. The car was just running too rich. Hopefully the bugs are mostly out. I should know more tomorrow when I take it out for a real drive!

Mike

I think its time for paint.

Paint is a tough one. On one hand, I want the car to look good while I continue to work on it. On the other I'm not ready to spend a ton of money to get a great paint job when the car isn't there yet. I've heard two theories on this. Many people like to do the body work first and have a great looking car to inspire them to get it working great. Other people like to wait until the car is mechanically sound since they are constantly pulling it apart and working on it.

I'm part of the second group. Although when I got the car it looked pretty clean. It wasn't until I got hit that I became unhappy with the way the car looks. I had some body work done, but its not perfect and I'd rather spend money and getting the car running great rather than have a great looking car that can't get out of the garage.

I'm making a compromise. I've found Earl Schieb's web site and they have a good deal on a paint job. That way, imperfect fender won't stick out so much and I haven't spent a fortune that I don't have for a paint job I'm not ready for. Down the road I may have the fender reworked or replaced, but until I get there, I want the car to look good, not damaged like it does now.

Once the harmonic balancer is fixed I'll take a ride down there and see what they have to sat.

One thing fixed, new thing broken!

So, I finally figured out the pressure retard unit on the distributor had gone bad. The little device retards the spark advance up to 12 degrees when boosting. Without it, the car knocks like crazy! It took a good amount of time to find one. They have become pretty rare these days. I need to send my old core to Dale Manufacturing and have them rebuild it for me so I have a spare.

The good news is that the new unit works like a champ. The bad news is that when I was testing the car on the freeway, the harmonic balancer took a dump! Bad Luck! So now I need to get the car down to the mechanic and put it on the lift to replace the harmonic balancer. Hopefully after that, things will be moving along nicely.

Spoils, no... Spoiler

One tiny project I should do right away (if the weather would warm up a little) is install the spoiler on the front end of the car. Even though the 65 did not have a spoiler installed, its recommended to add a 66 to it for the added handling on the freeway. The spoiler adds about 150 pounds of downward force to the light front end which is exactly what I need.

I could always go the route of dropping some weight in the trunk. Um... No

Should be a 15 minute job, heck, I already have the spoiler!

Out on the Toy Run
Well, the car has been running great. I've been taking it out once a week just to keep it from sitting idle. I would classify it as a Sunday Driver right now. There is still plenty of work to do, but its becoming a reliable driver.

This past Saturday we took it to the yearly Toy Run. Cars of all types go down to Henderson to donate toys and have a good time. There were over 100 cars there and one Corvair, mine. Many people came over to talk and most told a similar story of how they had one or they knew somebody who had one. All the comments were positive.

We then all got into our cars and followed Santa (being pulled by a classic Cutlass Convertible) to the elementary school with gifts in hand. The kids were waiting for us and Santa passed out the gifts. It was a great time had by all. Link to more photos from the Toy Run.

Top Priority
So now the big issue is the detonation (Knocking) I get when the turbo is boosting. The car runs great when the turbo is not in use, but when it winds up, the car starts knocking bad. I have a few options. First I need to make sure the pressure retard unit is working correctly. I can try to activate it while the car is idling with a bike pump or something while I have a timing light on it. If it proves to be working okay, than I may need to install a safeguard system that will listen for knock and adjust the timing accordingly. That is the best option. I've looked into water injection systems, but the kind I was looking into would be damaging to the turbo over time. My best bet is the Safeguard. First I'll check the diaphragm for the retard unit though.

Corvair Aligned - Then Dead - Now alive!!!! Oh and fuel pump moved....

Busy week for the Corvair. I finally got the alignment done. It sure does drive straight now! On the way home though, the clutch died! It was only a year old, but the pressure plate broke. Sheesh! Those old parts are unpredictable.

I limped over to the mechanic and had the clutch replaced. I also had him install an electric fuel pump and fix an oil leak. I was tired of getting stuck somewhere with Vapor Lock, so this should solve the problem.

I also had the shrowds removed from the bottom. Living in the desert, it gets a little too hot for the engine. This will help.

I still have a fuel leak to find when I'm boosting and the car knocks pretty bad unless I retard the timing down to 18 BTDC. It should be at 24. I'm looking into a couple of options. My pressure retard may be bad. Not sure how to test that. We'll figure something out!

I still have to install the speedometer as well. One of these days!

New Problem Solved!

One of the great advantages of belonging to a car club is the pool of knowledge there to suggest fixes to your problems. That's what I did at the last meeting and the solution to my problem was discovered there. It turned out to be a bad coil!

Coil replaced, problem fixed!

Now I just need to get back to the alignment!

New Problems!

Okay, so now when the car gets hot, it loses power when I try to maintain speed. So badly that its like the engine cuts out altogether. It happened first when I was boosting down the freeway. The engine cut out completely. Then, it came back. Now, whenever the engine gets hot, it does it. I've already changed the points and reset the timing. It could be a carburetor issue

Back to the mechanic it seems! I do have offers from some of the guys in the club to work on it. I just don't think I have the time right now to do it. I'm still recovering from my long 7 month run of work.

I also need to find my speedometer and put the thing in. I've had it from the beginning, but always found something else to work on instead of getting it installed. The steering wheel is a little further back so I may be able to replace it without pulling the wheel.

Progress is still being made!

The new steering box is in! It handles much better! I need to get the alignment taken care of to make it drive even better. I think after that, it may finally be time to put a working speedometer. There's a project on the back burner for some time. I'd also like to get a stereo in there some time soon. Then I can be cruising to the tunes! Alignment first though. My mechanic knows a guy who works on Corvair suspension so I'll have to give him a call soon. If I wasn't doing 90 hours a week at work, it would be done already!

Mike

The Next Big Project

Well, now with the fender repaired, the next big thing is replacing the steering box. The Corvair tends to drift pretty easily and is pretty loose when it comes to steering it. When I had the shocks and springs replaced, the mechanic tried to adjust the steering, but its just too old and needs to be replaced.

Luckily, Corvair Motorsports make a brand new quick steering box for all Corvairs. I need to buy the adapter to have it fit correctly on my model, but it should just drop right in! Its a several hundred dollar project including labor so I may have to wait a little while. It will probably be after the new year before I can do anything about it.

Aside from that, I have some small projects that I can do so there is no shortage of work that needs to be done.

Now if only the insurance company can speed things up with the classic car insurance, I would drive it more!

Here's the picture of the broken fender

You can see the fender is trashed! It's amazing that Joe (the body guy) got it as straight as he did! Kudos to Joe!

Front pic of the repaired front end

Well, there it is. Body work done. It looks pretty good huh. I guess I should get a picture of the smashed front end up so you can compare. Son now on the top of the list is get the front steering box replaced and having an alignment done. Then there is all the other projects I'd like to do to the car. I have to keep reminding myself, one thing at a time! It will get done!

Corvair Fixed!!!

Well, the bodywork is done. It looks pretty darn good. I'ts not perfect, but I think I can live with it. Now I need to get it painted. I'm thinking of keeping it yellow, but I'm also thinking about the maroon color from 1965.

Changing colors would be a much bigger project. So I'm guessing it will stay yellow!