[FC] Springs for "working" Rampside

[Bill & Chris Strickland]

Yes, Doc, Newbies need to be educated in the ways of their Corvair. But 
as such, you haven't even mentioned the Big Safety Factor that could 
lead to physical injury. Brakes.

A 1 ton load in an FC with tires so rated is a hazard with stock 
brakes.  And to further digress, our common usage load rating system (½ 
& ¾ ton) is grossly unrealistic and was so in the sixties.One simply can 
not compare the load carrying capacity of a Corvair truck to that of a 1 
ton dual wheeled truck of conventional manufacture, which in the 
sixties, also had woefully inadequate brakes.

But that was then, and this is now. Those 9,000 pound 1 ton diesel 
behemoths have rather spectacular brakes, and not just for their size. 
Since this is no longer the sixties, things have changed, especially 
highways and speed limits.  Very few Corvairs, and other cars of the 
sixties that are being driven in regular usage still have their original 
engines.  It's not a big deal to expect that any replacement engine in 
an FC is an upgrade to the original, so most FC's already have that 
upgraded power plant.

What isn't a somewhat automatic upgrade is the brakes, which weren't 
really good back when it was 55 mph speeds, let alone what folks are 
driving on the freeways these days. And if you want to talk "loads", it 
gets much worse -- the engine will still work, but the brakes won't!

And, I think, Doc lives in Florida, a small peninsula surrounded by salt 
water.  I would think that undercarriage inspection (and perhaps testing 
and repair) would be common place for a Floridian FC, a unibody FC 
without a heavy steel frame under it, and a good practice in general for 
any old FC, and they are all "old".

Doc seems obsessed with the engine, but to put an FC in regular service, 
it seems to me there are any number of other things to obsess over 
before the engine.  If the engine blows up, so what -- quite likely 
there were no lives lost.  But brakes, frame, or other structural  
failure, even inadequate defrosters can lead to unexpected consequences. 
Without power brakes and power steering, a Corvair is fairly immune to 
drastic consequences related to engine failures (fire would be an 
exception), whereas loss of vehicle control due to loosing a rear axle 
because of bearing failure would be a far more serious and potentially 
dangerous situation. If an engine blows, you call for a tow, and pay the 
man - happened to one of the Ultra owners on our NW Econo-Run a couple 
years ago - stuff happens, and like a good Boy Scout, "Be Prepared". No 
ambulance needed.

Regards,

Bill Strickland