Marcus' Corvair conversion, 914-C6 Options

[r3dplanet]

A few years back I got all excited about doing a Corvair engine conversion for my 1971 car. The project waffled. Numbers were crunched and chewed. Thought and diagrams and opinions were drawn out over long winter evenings.

One particularly rainy winter evening, I found an ad on Craigslist advertising a warehouse full of Corvair parts including engines. So my pal Rory and I drove a hundred miles into the boonies late one rainy night to what turned out to be an unmarked, geographically isolated, former slaughterhouse illuminated by a single 60 watt light bulb. No cell phone reception, no escape. We were met by a couple of toothless brothers who couldn't stop talking about Daddy. Seemingly they only did what Daddy wanted them to do. Daddy wanted them to sell the stash of Corvair parts. Daddy wanted them to steal my Toyota cargo van. Daddy needed to approve the transaction of cash for an engine. Daddy, it turned out, was long dead. The two brothers kept trying to separate Rory and I, and the creepier of the two brothers kept demanding my car keys so he could test drive my van, despite my insistence that it wasn't for sale. For the first time in a long time, I wish I had a tazer gun on me. The brothers eventually showed us exactly what I wanted - an RD code 1965 110HP engine. Fearing for our lives, Rory and I muscled the engine into the van while the brothers went to find more stuff for Daddy to sell to us, or you know, maybe a club or some rope or a ball gag or something.

I left the $100 on the bench and tore the hell out. Rory and I laughed all the way back to town, ever so pleased that we were neither killed, nor raped, nor eaten. Plus, we were one up on a Corvair engine.

So with a provenance like this, and seeing JRust's new car, Dr. Evil's project, and 914coops Nader's Nightmare all take shape I've finally decided to get serious about my own project: the VW-Porsche 914-C6.

The "C" stands for Corvair.

[r3dplanet]

Okay. It's time for a little paint.

I gave the cases one more wipe down with denatured alcohol and compressed air. Since Glyptal is toxic, especially to people with delicate constitutions like myself, I worked one area at a time, separated by one day each, even though I was wearing a respirator and goggles. The directions on the can say to use an appropriate brush. So I used a series of 1/4" natural bristle, acid-proof model paint brushes from the hobby store.

First the inside, and then after drying some more cleanup on the next side.





I was bummed to discover that the blue masking tape didn't mask very well, so I switched back to green which did a near-perfect job. Important tip: remove any slop like this with Xylene and a brass brush before it's baked on. After it's baked on there's little to be done about removing it except grinding or blasting it off.



Then the bottom:





It was freezing in my garage at the time but I used my trusty Perfection Oil Heater to keep it warm for the duration. Glyptal takes a while to outgas, so it sat around for a week while I painted the other hemisphere before baking. Finally, here's a lovely smooth brick red glow after baking at 250F for two hours. And yes, this is my living room table. Since I'm a bachelor, I can get away with taking photos of the block on any surface I choose. Plus it's more fun to watch Starsky & Hutch re-runs this way.










Some of the more observant viewers might see that the cylinder bores had a little paint bleed on them. Not to worry. What couldn't be removed easily will be machined off when it's time for the VW 94mm cylinder prep.