Projects Second project: Spyder Power/Double Trouble

in ohio, when you are under age, they suspend it. and can suspend it until you are 18. im gonna have to pay back my dad and get a job (again).

 

That’s a drag.

 

Cat, I'm sorry but I do have to chuckle a little at your adventures (knowing that everyone is ok) . It really brings back memories, I'll bet a lot of us here can relate to your youthful enthusiasm for cars and driving/licensing "challenges". Eventually everything will get sorted and you will be right back at it, keep your chin up, I'm really enjoying your posts.

 

the engines are pickling over the winter, the atf and gear oil mixture in them will hopefully do them quite a bit of good for the rings and valves.

i didnt use acetone this time, as neither engine showed any sign of being stuck.

 

After doing a LOT of research, I've determined that at some point in time the black corvair was an ice racer or used on a dirt track. (See the oval on the drivers side of the car?) The very rare 3.55 open transaxle is a major part people used for dirt and ice racing. But the car shows no signs of salt damage. There are chassis reinforcements all throughout the car, not just that angle iron setup in the front, which is a tie rod/gas tank protector.
But i have some sad news, the black corvair is too far gone to reasonably fix, if its metal underneath the car, i can run a screwdriver through it. I only have one intact jack point. Unless i take this car down to bare components and sacrifice another corvair, its not seeing the road again. However, the drivetrain components are in amazing condition. there is a receipt for rings, bearings and seals, but they arent in the car, so there is a chance the motor was rebuilt and pickled (the oil was entirely kerosene)
The steering box has zero play, and the transmission isnt worn out.

The cream colored corvair has a different problem, the drivetrain components are pooched. The steering box has about 110 degrees of play, the shifter is very vague with no shifter feel, the and the motor has a lot of stuck valves (which could be dropped valve seats ). However, the car has 4 rust holes across the entire car. One under the master cylinder, the seatbelt bolts, and the floor on the passenger side has a small hole in the corner. All of which are easy to get to and fix. I do wish i could install the folding seat and roll down rear windows from the black corvair, but i do not believe that its possible.

So my mind started brewing, what if i had a "sleeper" corvair? A turbo drivetrain and running gear, and a base model everything else. If i could find 1965 van steelies i could install the same hubcaps i have, but a 14 inch rim. Would be a neat little car. I might upgrade the differential to a positrac diff, but thats a plan for later.

 

oh by the way, the carbs on this motor are still locked solid, ive been consistently putting kroil on them for months now, shes probably not going to come unstuck. i might not even use this drivetrain and only use it for parts, keep it around just in case something goes wrong with the 4 speed/tins of the other engine.

 

You should be able to swap to roll up windows and fold down back seat. I found there is any sheetmetal difference between the two. At most you might have to swap a few brackets or something. Sorry to hear about the black one. Is the engine free on the tan one?

 

The engine does turn, it just turns too well. It doesn't feel like it has any compression, and my thumb in the plug hole proves it.

 

@Moriarity would this be a hamb appropriate wheel fitting? its a 15x7.5/8 (maybe off a corvan?) rim with what looks like a 225/65 tire on it, he cut a single coil off his springs aswell.

 

I'm taking that like as a yes, slightly lowered corvair is a go.

 

After some research, the 15x8s he is using are "modern" steelies made to look old, i guess it counts? the corvan rims are apparently all 5 lug.

https://www.performanceplustire.com/buy-wheels-online/wheel-vintiques/12-series-smoothie-primer/
this is what i found it should be, will also fit old style hubcaps by the looks of it. they are very rare apparently... gonna have to get them one rim at a time.
I will be running a short sidewall for the time period the hamb covers, but if i go a super tall sidewall, id kill my fenders. luckily, rims for these seem to only be 100-150, not the 200-250 repop rallys seem to go for

 

I’d get it running before I worried about the rolling stock. There’s a lot of work to do before it gets time to drive it…

 

the way corvairs are built, you kind of need to do everything at once, especially considering im swapping subframes. i will be cleaning up and painting the engine bay of the white one (especially easy because theres no holes to patch) then cleaning up and painting/rustproofing the subframes and engine of the black one. and making, well, a spyder power 500.

 

It's your project, but it seem like you're over-complicating things, which can lead to frustration. I've been down that road.

Wheels can wait. Rear seat and windows can wait. Transfer the Spyder engine into the white car and get it running. Adjust or replace steering box. Put new bushings in shift tube. Make brakes work. Drive.

I'm unclear what you mean about swapping subframes. Is something wrong with the subframe on the white car?

 

the spyder has a bunch of custom 1960s parts on it, aftermarket. i was thinking rather than swapping each part, i can grab the whole thing and swap it as a whole.

 

i am willing to change my plans, also, im using the black corvair as a test bench for the motor and running it in the car first.

 

It's a unibody, so the subframe is integral. Much easier to unbolt and transfer the parts you intend to use. I get wanting to verify that it runs now in the original car.

 

hm? everything ive seen is that its like 4 bolts and the subframe drops.

 

I changed one of them in my driveway with hand tools in about two hours.

 

i will do one thing thats questionable, and thats make a skid plate for the 1 qt oil pan out of the angle iron already existing on the black corvair, but instead of ugly welds, i will bolt it on for easy removal.

 

Fair enough, sounds like you've got a handle on it. All I ever did was change engine/trans/transaxle. Like Heathen said, it's quick. Been so long now I forget how it all works. Do whatever is easiest for you. It will be a cool car when done.

 

its late and all but i went out and sat in the black corvair for an hour or so.


i cant cut it up and gut it.

Im too attached to it. i think im just going to get the white car running and driving, and enjoy it as is, maybe rebuild the steering box and drive it.

i actually feel sick to my stomach about cutting it up because of how long i fought to get this car. I know im a chicken and all, yadda yadda.
im going to keep each car together, and go for them individually, learn on the white one and bodywork on the '57 ford. then i might be able to have enough knowledge to fix the Black on black spyder.

 

so yesterday I gave it some fuel, and hit the starter, and it fired up, i didnt even realize it was going to start but it did! the carb is filthy inside, lots of chunks in the bottom, needle and seat keeps sticking. gonna have to pull the carb and go through it, after the end of this video it ran off a can for about 5 minutes before the add on ballast resistor that shouldn't have been there in the first place burnt up.

luckily it came with a parts carb, so if the float has a pinhole in it for some reason, i have a spare.
also, apparently my drivers side tins are just... gone? just missing entirely. as if someone was in the middle of replacing the o rings on the push rod tubes, and never got back to it.

 

been up to some tinkering over the last couple days. tins are coming off.

the carbs are junk, ones a '65 and the other is a '68 smogger carb.

 

I don’t see anything junk a lot those carbs. Clean them and kit them. 68 there weren’t smog carbs yet. Hell what is a smog carb?

 

smog carbs were california only carbs with an air bleed in the throat of the carb for emissions, they suck to tune, and when you have one you need a matching set. these carbs are very stuck. i got one of the blades to turn, but i havent had any luck on the 68.

 

What carburetor number are you looking for? I have three of them and some spare parts.

 

Here is what I have, I had them on a 250 inline six. These were training carburetors used a school shop class. I have a bunch of different jets, misc parts, Kent More setting gauges, plus the Rochester service manual and specification / tune up pages.

 

im looking for two 1963/1964 carbs. the jets on both of these broke off so they wont come out (they soaked in pb since last November) and a lot of other parts wont come off as they are siezed.

honestly if the guy parked it just outside the garage the engine would be in better condition, but the body would have suffered