[NoVa-Corvairs] Noob May Need a Good Used Head

[Dan Weiss]

Hi. I'm Dan Weiss, live in Herndon and have owned a 69 vert for about 5 years.


This is my first post to the group I think.  I may have done so four or five years ago, but fell out of touch.  Recently attended last month's meeting at Ron's, and got back in touch with a few of the group's patriarchs as I was seeking some advice and opinions on work that had been done to the car.  Little did I know how much I would be in need of the group's expertise in the very near future.


Done a fair amount of work on cars peripheral to engines, and the current condition of the car will take me into new territory.


Recently the Ranch found a loose head stud under the intake rocker arm of the number 2 cylinder.  It had a significant lose of power in lower RPM range, rough idle and blew blue smoke.  Here is a pic of what they found:.  




Jeff mentioned the valve guide was very worn.


Car ran great.  A couple of the club members synced the carbs at Ron's meeting last month.  Can ran even better.


Then one day last week while driving in second at about 40 MPH, a knock started with loss of power and smoothness.  Bryan Blackwell suggest a leak down test; Bob Marshall suggested a compression test. 


Pulling one plug wire at a time, removing the wire for #2 Cyl produced no difference, so it seemed the problem was the same cylinder the Ranch found in need of some attention.


Compression test was done on each cylinder.  First test was without having throttle open (forgot about that); second test was with throttle open for each cylinder.  Open throttle produced a range of 2 to 7 additional PSI of compression.


Here are readings:


CYLINDER			FIRST TEST			SECOND TEST
	2					0					0
	4					143					145
	6					150					157
	1					140					143
	3					157					164			
	5					151					156


Onto the leak down test.


Did the best I could to get cyl #2 to TDC by aligning the rotor under the cap with the #2 contact.  First attempts read close to 100%.  Further adjustment seemed to tighten things up and tests consistently read right on the yellow and red section divider at about 71% cylinder leakage. I made sure to turn the regulator so the gauge read 0% before connecting it to the cylinder. The gauge immediately read 71% leakage and stayed right there.  I turned the regulator clockwise to allow for airflow from the compressor, and the air was flowing out the exhaust pipe.  What surprised me was that if I did achieve TDC, with the air leaking out the exhaust, I thought the rocker arm in the pic would have been with the exhaust valve, but as you all already know, that is the intake valve.


Does it seem that the leak down test was done correctly?  


Obviously, regardless of the leak down test, the head has to come off to be replaced or repaired.   I plan to pull the valve cover off to see what may be going on under there tomorrow or Saturday..


A couple of the Clarks techs suggested a dropped valve seat given the symptoms.  Given that and the worn valve guide identified by Jeff, it seems that the best strategy might be to get hold of a good used head for a 110 and get my hands dirty with with the help of a few more knowledgeable if anyone is so inclined.


Any thoughts or suggestions from anyone in the group would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks.


Dan

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