Another Corvair comes out of hiding. The body appears pretty solid, but for some reason the interior is trashed and cashed. I don't understand what people do with cars. If the owner had cleaned this one a bit and installed the fourth hubcap, which is in the interior, it could catch some eyes.
I had heard the horror stories about Corvair engines dropping out so when I put the bigger engine in the wife’s Corvair I used a new mount, drilled and safety wired the bolts. It should stay put.
Craigslist Chicago ad. This is what $3000 gets you? Man, am I out of the loop. https://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/ctd/d/waukegan-1962-chevrolet-corvair/7492226007.html
I was going to pick up my girlfriend in my '65 Corvair for breakfast on a bright Sunday morning and as I approached the stop sign I looked both ways before crossing a main road, I got about half way across the road and was hit by a man in a 73 Cadillac that didn't stop at the 4 way and clipped me in the back seat area on the passenger side, the car spun around several times before hitting a light pole and the Cadillac traveled on down the road about a 1000 yards, it was close to 11:00 AM, the man was drunk as a skunk and the policeman said there was a bottle of Jack Daniels on the floor. Fortunately, besides being sore a few days later I received no serious injury, the guy that hit me didn't even know he was in South Carolina, he had being in Georgia on Saturday night and thought he was going home. Incidentally, the engine did come out of the car along with most of the rear trans axle. HRP
On Pittsburgh's streets, you were lucky to get 10,000 miles out of one of them. The VW bus might have been cheaper. Big Pontiacs with the Wide Track. strong torquey engines was the car to have. They were very strong cars but expensive.
similar daily scene in 1966 lower level college parking Hello, When I met my wife in college, she parked her 1962 Silver Blue Corvair on the next row of the giant lower parking lot for students. Then it was a long uphill climb to the upper campus where the majority of the classes were held. This long climb and walk was an eye opener. But, before the slog uphill, of course I checked out her Corvair. A so-so car, but, designed as an American Porsche… HA! It had the shiniest rear bumper due to the standard Corvair blowby flowing out of the back. As poor college students, if it ran, then gas it up and get to class on time. So, as the daily grind of finding a parking space and leaving about the same time, she usually parked her Corvair within sight of my red 1965 El Camino. That was cool. Jnaki As things work out, she just happened to be in one of my classes and in the next semester our lives melded into a 56 year journey. Yes, even I drove it around when she was off driving in our El Camino or 327 powered Ford Sedan Delivery. So, when when she speaks up about a Yellow Corvair parked down the street? An interest perks up. She saw the lowered, Yellow custom Corvair first and we stopped for a photo or two. “My car did not look like that in the rear, did it?” Being lowered, this Yellow Corvair’s independent suspension took the brunt of the action. The top had a nice bright yellow kind of a metal flake paint. So, it is/was probably in the middle of a custom modification or two. Her 1962 Corvair? Pay it forward...We gave it to an Uncle that was going through some tough times and he drove it as his daily driver for many more years of a free car.
Idle minds are the devil’s workshop. It rained all day so I sat on the computer surfing the internet and I ran across a Judson supercharger kit for my wife’s Corvair. It ain’t cheap but it’s got to be the ultimate piece of period speed equipment for a ‘62 Corvair. Has anyone here actually used one? Vw or Corvair, I’m just wondering if they actually improved the performance enough to feel it or if they were just eye candy.
I saw a complete Judson kit once for sale online (maybe the same one?) and had similar thoughts. I don't know anyone who has run one on a Corvair, but MG and Volkswagen folks seem to think they're okay. Hot Rod installed a McCullough on one back in the day and they liked it a lot, though I assume the appearance of the turbo 'Vair put most aftermarket installations on hold.
Thanks David. Our Corvair has a Powerglide and although I did find a complete turbocharged ’64 engine for it, I didn’t think it was the right choice for the way we drive it. It really needs low end and mid-range power. My experience with superchargers (GMC 6-71s) has shown me that even before they begin to make boost, they improve throttle response and low end power dramatically. I’m not sure if the little blowers like the Judson provide the same seat-of-the-pants thrill.
A high school buddy built a big bore VW bug with a Judson. It was noticeably more muscular than a stock VW. I think part of the kit was an "inverse oiler" to mount on the back seat firewall that trickled Marvelous Mysterious oil in somewhere. I'm sure those sliding vanes needed some lubrication.
By all reports the turbocharger/Powerglide combination is an abysmal one. My '62 is a PG car too, but my only hop up plans involve a 1965 164-cu.in, 110-hp engine to replace the 145-cu.in, 102-hp unit.
I certainly wouldn’t expect blown V8 performance, I was speaking comparatively. Can you really feel a difference with a Judson or do you only “think” you feel a difference. That is exactly what I’ve done. I installed a ‘65 110 hp in our ‘62 in place of the 84 hp leaker that came in it. Big improvement, it’s much more drivable. I have another ’65 110 hp that I want to rebuild with a big bore kit and 140 heads. I’ve been looking at little Eaton blowers but I haven’t found one with the inlet position that would work well in the Corvair engine compartment. That’s when I ran across the Judson. It’s funny, I’ve built, driven and sold a few hot rods since we bought the Corvair. They are all gone but the Corvair is still here. To me, that says a lot about it.
The best improvement for a Powerglide in a Corvair is a 4 speed. I tried tons of stuff to get bottom end with the auto for my wife's car. End of day, the 4 speed fixed it.
I’m all for a 4 spd conversion, however it is primarily my wife’s hot rod and while she spent many years rowing a stick shift in her VW, she prefers the automatic. If I was younger I would upgrade the entire transaxle to the later 4 spd/IRS.
The factory turbo behind a powerglide is plenty doable. I've seen first hand proof. BUT...you have to...as they say..."drive it like you stole it" ! I had a friend in high school that had a plain ol 64, 110. We were walking a wrecking yard one day, and sitting on the ground, near the office, was a complete 150 Spyder engine. My friend started asking the office guy questions. He came back a coupla days later and took the engine home. I helped him put it in. The impeller was free to turn, this was a problem when original 150/180 turbo owners would shift out of first gear at 1100rpm, out of second at 1500rpm...the impeller would coke up and freeze in the bearings. This one was a good one. A bunch of people told him not to do this swap, NOT with a powerglide ! Like most high school kids, he didn't listen ! After the engine swap was done, and we ran up and down Covina Hills Road a few times, he was happy as hell. Never had a problem with the 150 turbo and the powerglide, except once. He called me one evening, told me to bring a jack, and buy a rear motor mount and bring it with me. The back of the engine was laying on the ground !! That wasn't the engines problem though ! He even tried a Carter two barrel carburetor on it. He found the (vertical airflow) two barrel adapter for the turbo. I had a highly modified two barrel I let him use. It actually worked fairly well...until it had a habit of freezing. The airflow was so fast through the carburetor, the center and base would get a heavy layer of ice on it. I've forgotten what he did to fix it. He had my carburetor on the engine a long time. Another funny story, I won't bore you with all of the details...but I never did tell him how I managed to go both quicker AND faster than he ever did at the original Irwindale Raceway one day. That bugged him for a LONG time ! Mike
What was the gearing on the '64, Mike? A lot of guys tend to want to run 3.27s for the top end, but maybe 3.89s would play nicer with a PG/Turbo setup? I've heard that the 2bbl conversion is a great improvement over the YF on the turbo cars. It would be interesting to see what could be done with a TBI on the same intake, plus a waste gate for the turbocharger system and the tweaks to take advantage of it. That's all above my paygrade, though!
As I recall, it had 3.55's in it originally. But near the end of high school, he put a 3.89 gear set in it. As you can imagine, that made it junk for driving the local freeways, but around town it was good. We had a falling out shortly after high school, so I lost track him and his Corvair. Many years later, I ran into a mutual friend, I was told that he still had that (factory) green Corvair. Like I said, yeah, the two barrel conversion did work well...AFTER he figured out a fix for the freezing problem. As I recall, the throttle shaft would lockup on the throttle body. I don't remember what he did, but he ducted some warm engine air to the angled adapter somehow. Whatever he did, mostly fixed freezing problem. Maybe it was a fix that came with the adapter, that he found...don't remember. Mike
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