Marcus' Corvair conversion, 914-C6 Options

[sixnotfour]

Marcus, hows it going ?
some Corvair humor.. 42 yrs ago
me 16yrs old ..first set of radial tires ..used of course, and my Dad

[Maltese Falcon]

Friend of ours restoring this one, features a smallblock Chev with a period correct Crown conversion kit. I dig the velocity stacks in the back seat (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

[r3dplanet]

Malt and Six:

Sweet rides! Those are both very pretty cars. I'm reasonably jealous.

Six- I prefer the earlier Corvairs to the later ones in terms of looks. Just really like the lines and classiness of the body. But Malt, those velocity stacks are sexy. And I like that the engine is right where it is supposed to be - amidships.

I'm in and out these days. But I've been piddling about on a stupid oblique side project that will help finish the engine assembly. Mostly playing with putty. More on that in a day or two.

-m.

[Maltese Falcon]

...also built this set of racing headers for the same guy, but another one of his Corvairs; this one has a hot rod 6cyl. !

[sixnotfour]

angled exhaust ports ?...otto

[sixnotfour]

I had early turbos ,dad had later..
i liked the early body

[r3dplanet]

David brought up a point at exactly the right moment. The heat shields that lay underneath the cylinders are not exactly the same. There's an oval hole in one of them that here-to-fore I thought was to make way for the dipstick tube. Although I never did give it much thought at all. Then I went to install it and found that the hole is on the oppose side of the dipstick tube. Whaaaa?



The dipstick doesn't need a hole in the shield. That hole is only for '60-'62 cars that used a crankcase pressure relief tube to dump crankcase gasses underneath the car and out into the atmosphere. Nice. Starting in '63 GM started using a PCV valve instead. Long ago one could buy a plug for the hole but I'm not sure from which material it was made. I am sure that the plug is right next to the exhaust so if it were made of rubber it wouldn't last.

At first I was inclined to make a high-temp JB-Weld sandwich with a little bit of steel sheet. But then I decided to do a little experiment. Or rather, three at once. I wanted to see if I could weld a patch on the very thin shield sheet metal (I can't) and if such a patch could be powder coated on an otherwise already coated part. Long ago I coated the heat shields in high temp silver exhaust powder. I've never re-coated a piece, so why not? I also want to try out using Alvin's Hi-Temp Lab Metal. It's a high metal content putty that's supposed to withstand high temperature and is able to be powder coated.

Here's a little montage of the process. I cut a little oval patch and tried and failed to weld it in, but just burned right though the shield. I should have known but did it anyway. Then I had to cut another little patch and then puttied it all into place with the Lab Metal. After sitting for 24 hours the instructions say to bake it at 425F, which is exactly the powder coating temperature. I powder coated it with the same powder and baked it.



It looks terrible and I blame myself for the shoddy work. But the experiment was a a reasonable success. While being the opposite of pretty, the patch is strong and good to at least 450F (Alvin says a 1000F). The powder doesn't look great but it did the job. My plan, in its entirety, is to install and let someone else check the results at the next disassembly.



Here's the final product. It's PERFECT.
/snark

[r3dplanet]

Right. Let's install the pushrod tubes.

A while back I made a little jig to prep the tubes. I coated the exterior in the same high temp silver powder as the heat shields and then painted them with a few coats of high temp ceramic paint in white. The ends are polished with my rotary tool to prevent damage to the seals.



The tubes get a Viton seal on each end of the tube, but the engine case side of the tube goes in through the head naked. Once through the head the seal is popped on and coated in engine oil. Then the tube can be shoved all the way in to the bore. I used a nylon hammer and a 16mm socket to drive them in all the way, as per the service manual instructions.





Note the orientation of the tube. The manual calls the case side the "long side of the tube." Odd way to describe one end of a tube, but okay. You can see in this photo that the ends are different. The larger end goes into the head.



Here are all twelve installed:

[DaveO90s4]

Hi Marcus,

What’s up?

Cheers

DaveO

[r3dplanet]

Hey gang. I'm not well. Struggling through my days and anxious to sell off my cars and junk. I need to get the 914 put back together so I can sell it off, hopefully this Spring. After it's gone I'll have space to transfer the Corvair engine (somehow) from my spare bedroom down two flights of stairs to the garage and attempt to start it up. Once I'm convinced that the engine is worthy it will go to a new owner - perhaps somewhere in the warm land of Australia.

I guess the only news I have is that the engine is complete except for a couple of ancillaries and lower sheet metal. I finished up with the rocker assemblies and static valve adjustment. I'm worried that it takes a bit of force to spin the crank, but we'll see what happens. Photos were taken and I can make a new post showing all that. Just need to get the energy to get of my ass.

Sincere apologies for the delay. Getting an energy burst is very rare. I'm envious of people with energy.

Anyone want a 914? Or a Barracuda?

-m.

[Jason74914]

So sorry to hear you are not feeling well. I went through quite an ordeal last year, so I can relate to the thirst for energy! Hang in there.
It is quite a trek to Oregon, but I would like to hear more about your Cuda. Message me and I will give you my email. Looking for another project...in addition to my 914!
Jason

[euro911]

Hoping to hear you health issues are just a temporary setback, Marcus.

[BIGKAT_83]

This guy might have a corvair engine for sale. All Porsche 993 awd running gear and interior in this Corvair

[r3dplanet]

This guy might have a corvair engine for sale. All Porsche 993 awd running gear and interior in this Corvair

That's pretty sweet. I would like to have witnessed that project. I'm a huge fan of the unholy.

[euro911]

This guy might have a corvair engine for sale. All Porsche 993 awd running gear and interior in this Corvair ...

That Corvair is schweet, but I'd like to know what that project is on the rack? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[rick 918-S]

Sorry to read about your health issues. I will miss checking into this thread if you end up having to sell off the project. Take care of number one first. I too have a history with the Corvair. I have owned Early and Late coupes and verts. Here is one of mine.

[sixnotfour]

https://youtu.be/iWcMrWk_0Uw

bad press for the Corvair

[sixnotfour]

Hey Markus,

@slow914

[sixnotfour]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[sixnotfour]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)