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I was driving my hot little Corvair up one of the local twisty roads (Lake Berryessa road) humpin' on it when the ungrateful b***h swallowed an exaust valve! :mad
I just spent the big $$$ on the best valves and seats money can buy, so me and the machinist are gonna have words :nono: Seriously, I'm mighty bummed as this is the most fun car I own and now it's tear-down time again, to say nothing of the Keith Black piston it almost ceartainly ate for lunch :cuss
Hey! I've been there! I was just a little kid at the time but we used to live nearby in the Travis AFB/Vacaville area. Every now and then my dad would take us to Berryessa in the boat. :cheers:
The best discussion board is the Corvair Center. They have been in the process of changing servers so if that link does not work try this one: Alternate
Nader did not drive, accused Ford of covering up the Corvair handling issues by hiding a video Ford made which showed the Corvair spinning out in front of the camera & racing around the track to catch :eek: the Ford before spinning out in front of the camera. :nopity
The early Corvair, 60-63, did have some handling issues. It used a swing axle that would allow the rear wheel to tuck in on hard cornering. This was the same arrangement used by the VW bug, early Porsche, and the Triumph Spitfire. Could have been cured by a roll bar. In '64 they added a single transverse leaf spring that cured the problem. Then with the redesign for '65 they went with the Corvette rear suspension, just with coil springs rather than a transverse leaf spring. :)
Wow Tom , must be karma! I'm looking at a '64 Spyder (turbo) 'vert on Friday. I'll have to take a '66 coupe as well if I want it (oh, darn :D ). I understand the floorpan is rusted through but the rest is complete, including the ultra-rare air cleaner! Yours looks great.
As for racing, this WAS Chevrolet's B sedan class car in the early to mid '60's. The 'vettes were A and B production (racing against the Cobras). Early on they raced against Triumph, Morgan, Lotus, Porsche and Dodge. Later ('65)as Trans Am cars they raced against Alfa, Ford (Mustang) and Dodge (Valiant). They met with limited success and it wasn't 'till the Camaro showed up that Chevy started winning. It was Bob Tullius in the Dodge that dominated early sedan racing! Your trivia for today, class.
I'm keeping my eyes open for one that's already cut. I passed on a real nice one that was over-priced with a SB 400 (!) in it and a ZF 5 speed transaxle. Would have loved to surprise some of the poseurs with that one! It's called the "Corv8" kit, and it's still available from the Corvair vendors.
I had a Spyder back in high school. Great little car, but around 110 the front wheels would get a little light.
I solved that with a modified '69 Camaro chin spoiler and aftermarket springs (lowered). I also upgraded the front 10"x2" drum brakes :eek: to 12" discs and the rears to full metallic linings. The weight transfer is almost perfect under hard braking. It'll almost suck your eye ***** out it stops so hard :thumbs:
Two of my friends from high school dealt but nothing in corvairs. Those are some fun little cars and a nice idea from GM. To bad that negative publicity ended their life.
My buddy restored a couple of Corvairs. His favorite was a '65 Corsa with the 4 single barrel carbs. I used to tease him about the motor looking like a lawn mower engine when it was torn down.
Corvairs were banned from some of the later SCCA events of the '60's because they were making the Porsches look bad. All the spoiled rich kids couldn't bear to see their babies being beaten by a "Cheby" that cost less than half of what they paid. :cry :cry
A very unique car for it's day or even today. GM would never be as innovative as that again. :thumbs:
From: San Diego - Deep Within The State of CONFUSION!
Re: OT R.I.P. Corvair engine! (Tom73)
The early Corvair, 60-63, did have some handling issues. It used a swing axle that would allow the rear wheel to tuck in on hard cornering.
I had a '60 once. For about a year or so! Great little car 'til it spun out on me, doing 70 on a freeway offramp in Phoenix. Didn't keep it too much longer after that! :nono:
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.