hey guys my latest daily, and only, car is a 1963 corvair. now before you start getting all "non-trad" on me. its got steelies,points,dual carbs,three pedals and a generator and i drive the **** out of it. sounds more early 60s trad then alot of stuff i see here so if ya gota ***** do so to someone whos going to listen. anyways.... having just come up on my first inevetable thrown belt, wtf were they thinking with that set up anyways? i realized that all the info you can find on them as far as fixing stuff online is just ppl *****ing about them. so i was wondering if anyone would be brave enough to say they own/owned one here or would pm me. so that i would have some one to ask questions that can just give me an answer with out all the drama?? im reading all the books but you know as well as i do that pictures and diagrams in chiltons and ect types of books can be just as confusing as having nothing at all sometimes. so a voice of experance would be much aprecaited in dealing with normal little quirks of this air cooled machine. thanx in advance tim
They made some bolt on "guides" for high performace applications, they may be still available through Clarks Corvair Parts. But they won't solve a problem with worn bearings, bent pulleys or the wrong tension on the belt. You should only be able to turn the belt 90 degrees in the area between the vertical pulleys and the fan pulley. I had a 65, and I never once threw a belt, but I was **** about belt dressing and making sure the belt was tensioned properly. It was my daily driver for 4 years, 30 mile round trip to work every day, sold it in '96.
There's a book you should hunt down, "How to keep your Corvair alive" by Finch. Lots of good information from a serious 'vair nut.
im off to the library after work tonight to see if i can find something better on how to switch this belt. just from looking at it before towing it back to the lot i couldnt see any type of tensioner. i would asume id lope it around the fan pulley and down the generator and that other pulley and then around the crank pulley? i would asume that whatever wrenching i need to do would be found near the crank. im sure the book should answer alot of these questions but some tips on how to go about some things would go a long ways. its starting to hail :S so im trying to get all the books and info together so i can have it figured out before i go get soaked fixing it later. tia tim :: it also managed to nock throttel linkage apart as the belt wrped around the fan pulley this book im looking at hasnt even got pix of that :: thanx guys
Don't be Corvair shy. Here's the real deal. First, get a proper belt from Clarks or Corvair Underground (both have websites). It's called a 'wrapped belt'. Then adjust it's tension so you can just turn the alternator pully with your fingers, no tighter. Most thrown belts are from too much belt tension, wrong belt, or bent pulleys or guides. Good luck. Steve.
By the way, there was even some Corvair stuff in R&C when they were new--they must be traditional! Rod&Custom went with a Euro GT look in its restyling article. Cal Custom refused to deviate from the old ways, producing a tube grill to help keep the front of the trunk cool... And HRM did some cool hop up stuff, I think by carb guru Doug Roe.
Stay away from those notched belts the parts stores sell. They get all twisted up. I miss my 61 2 door corvair. It was fun to drive.
Go to the Clark's website Clarks And order 2 belts, no self repecting corvair owner ever leaves home without an extra belt and the tools to put one back on. Always carry an extra quart or two of oil, if it has the original o-rings on the push rod tubes, it'll leak, even if it has Vitons, it can happen. Keep an eye on the steering arms, the sector shafts on the boxes can break if they are torqued too much. Most important thing, if you hear a weird noise or looseness in the rear wheel bearings, pull over and stop NOW!! The early cars had no axle retainers and the rear wheels can and will come off when the rear wheel bearing go bad. Nader never knew about that. They fixed the problem with the later cars. If you have a chance to pick up an extra set of rear wheel bearings, get em, they are hard to come by.
thanx guys ive got belts on order and thought its still nastey out i ran out to grab an old chiltons and take a peak under the hood. ive got the belt figured out, knew it couldnt be all that hard. and it looks like it just nocked the main acelerator rod off the first carb,along with the return spring and some other little peice im thinking going to the choke maybe..... ill have to crawl over to the other side and just look at the other one im praying for nice weather for tomorow and ill go mess with it before work. thanx again tim
Had me 3 of them over the years. Great cars. Leaking oil? look at the pushrod tube seals. Easy fix and a source of oil leaks on older cars. Corvair Underground rocks. wiahing I never sold my 63 convertable....
My mama had a 61... rusted away to nothing and I sold it to get money to buy wheels for my Mach I. Sure was cute. Gene Winfield has one, I saw it in his back yard... wonder what plans he has for it?
hail has subsided and the linkage is fixed now to wait on a belt. thanx for the links guys. one question though, in the chiltons manual it says to tighten the belt by using a 16 inch screw driving and priing the idler pulley pack with a "25 pound" pull lol how do you know what a 25 lb pull is lol. anything else ive read says you should be able to turn the gernator pully like 90 deg? tia tim
[ QUOTE ] one question though, in the chiltons manual it says to tighten the belt by using a 16 inch screw driving and priing the idler pulley pack with a "25 pound" pull lol how do you know what a 25 lb pull is lol. anything else ive read says you should be able to turn the gernator pully like 90 deg? tia tim [/ QUOTE ] Never mind that 25 lbs. stuff. One school says to tension the belt with the idler so that you can twist the belt 90 degress in the middle of the idler-to-fan section. Another says to tension it so you can still turn the generator/alternator pulley with your fingers alone (my preference). Too tight will throw the belt, too loose may slip the fan at times... no belt is worse than a slipping belt!
A frinds dad has a '65. I beleave this is the kit he has on his car: http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog.cgi?function=goto&catalog=MAIN&section=MAIN&page=15 (its the otto- because I remember his spring had a dampner on it). He hasnt had any problems that I know of since he installed it. The Oct. '64 hot Rod tells you how to put a SBC in the rear .
lol actualy thought channeling it over a 2x3 square frame, 4 link rear/nine inch. m2 front suspension and a 406 sbc/rock crusher combo but leave it looking exactly the way it does now maybe an inch lower. just move the "grill" from under the rear bumper to the front and run two radiators in a < shape towards the front with the inside headlights taken out for ram air/radiaotr air. and just convert the single headlights left to dual beams but thats for another time and another place tim
To put a twist on the Vair thread, I've always been fascinated by the creative engine swaps done on thes things. Stuff I have seen or heard of: **** Scritchfield (Hey, now tell me Corvairs aren't trad!) in CC put in a Chevy in front, KEEPING the stock unibody structure and front suspension. SBC in rear SBC in middle, Corvair trans turned around Toronado drivetrain in middle. What else is out there--any modern swaps with Aurora/Northstar stuff yet??
I saw a Buick 3.8 Turbo in the back, 4 speed transaxle and the radiator up front, Had IROC-Z rims and tires. then there is this: Corv - Airplane Corv-V8
I've seen rick norris's v8-vair in person... interesting car, great craftsmanship. The only problem I have with crown conversions, is that it puts the motor far forward. I'd rather invest in some custom reverse cuts gears, and drive the transaxle from it's front. You gain about a foot more room in the p***inger compartment. Or better yet, a toro-eldo conversion... I saw a 64 vair on the net that still had it's stock rear seat in place... with a Olds 455 right behind it. I'll see if I can find that link..
Had a friend in Woodward OK whos brother had a early corvair sitting on a Dodge pickup frame with a 409 with a cross ram 2X4 coupled to a tourqueflite in it (in front) that he ran C\G with. Someone later bought it and ran it on the street for awhile with a smallblock. Wish I had a picture of it. This would have been about 1969 or 1970.
well its all done, and after a two hour shake down all seems fine. but seriously there has got to be some trick to getting that damn belt around the crank pulley. took me a good 40 minutes plus to get the damn thing down in there. any tricks or does it realy just **** to put it around that pulley tia tim
There is a guy, who works for the Vette development team, that built a vair with a Northstar FWD powerplant. He scratch built new sheetmetal framerails to mount the Caddy front suspension, in the vair's rear. He had to widen the rear fenders for clearance. It is a really well done car.
[ QUOTE ] well its all done, and after a two hour shake down all seems fine. but seriously there has got to be some trick to getting that damn belt around the crank pulley. took me a good 40 minutes plus to get the damn thing down in there. any tricks or does it realy just **** to put it around that pulley tia tim [/ QUOTE ] Once the top belt guide is out of the way (loosen screw and rotate out), it should not be a problem. You can rotate the idler more by taking the bolt temporarily out of the adjusting slot. As far as conversions go, I saw one last year (unfinished project) with a Toro 455 FWD setup in the front! Wheels stuck way out. Looked like junk for all the work put in. Steve
the idler pulley wasnt a problem, but i havnt any idea when your talking "top belt guide" its a 63 and i know stuff changes from year to year on these so that may be were the confusion draws from. putting the belt onthat lower pulley you have like all off 1/4 between the pulley and some big metal catraption--goes under the front of the motor it looks like so i would asume that it would be some sort of motor mount. but damn 3/8 belt threw a non 3/8 wide gap isnt anyfun. ended up getting in just fine except were the little flat circle on the pulley are--no clue what these are for-- and then turning the motor over by hand on the crank to get past the next one. so anyone have some trick or? maybe i need a picture showing me what your talking about? tia tim
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