<VV> Corvair engine - update

[Tony Underwood]

At 08:00 PM 12/13/2006, Roger Atkinson wrote:
>Okay, a couple of things first.
>
>1) I don't really appreciate the fact that some have basically called me an
>idiot or not worthy to be a Corvair owner because I didn't have a 
>spare belt or
>didn't notice what happened immediately.


Ignore them.   The rest of the others are pretty nice guys.   Take 
note that the nice guys didn't send you criticisms...  ;)


>I have owned the car a total of one
>week, have never owned a Corvair before and am still in the 
>honeymoon phase of
>ownership.


You'll pick up on things as you go along.    Corvairs, like any other 
somewhat unique marque, require "learning".


>Yes I should have been more observant but we all make mistakes.
>Well maybe some of you don't but most of us do.


Perfection is an impossible acquisition.   Those who never make 
mistakes or commit errors need to learn to walk on water.


>2) The car has maybe 100 miles on a ground up total professional restoration.
>There are not rusty parts to go bad etc. So whatever the problem it 
>isn't from
>bad parts unless it was mechanical failure of new stuff.
>
>I put a new belt on the car, started it and let it run. No noises, etc so I
>am assuming all is well - time will tell.


Corvair engines are pretty tough.   You have to really abuse one to 
damage it if it's in any sort of condition to start with.   You 
likely did nothing at all to the engine.   If you got it really hot 
but it seems OK now, I'd not worry much about it other than changing 
the oil and filter...  overheated oil can get "damaged" and end up 
with coking debris in it if it was really cooked up while flowing 
around and through the overheated cylinder heads etc so you may wanna 
change the oil and filter just to be safe.

By the way, Corvair engines naturally run rather hot to begin with, 
buzzing right along with cylinder head temps of around 300 degrees or 
more and perfectly happy while doing so, which means they really like 
high quality oil... like synthetic.

Never skimp on oil with a Corvair.   Use the best you can.  It's 
cheap insurance.

>Bob (the guy I bought the car from) called me back and told me basically the
>same thing you all did. He said his guys went through the car 
>getting it ready
>for me and should have noticed the belt was too tight, loose or worn. He said
>he should have double checked before I left but didn't. He told me 
>that if the
>engine needed rebuilt or any repair that he would pay for all the parts and
>labor. I can't complain about that offer.


Tell 'em to change the oil and put synthetic in it...  ;)   Then go 
on down the road and don't worry about it.

By the way, if you have the choice, use a fully wrapped belt and not 
a "cut" belt.   The wrapped belts will slip in the pulleys under 
rapid engine acceleration/deceleration (such as aggressive gear 
shifting) and thus are much less likely to flip off the pulleys or 
get stretched to the point that they break their reinforcement fibers 
which guarantees that they'll come off the engine.

The "rule of thumb" for wrapped belts is to tighten them just snug 
enough to still allow you to spin the gen/alt fan pulley with 
pressure from your thumb.  Wrapped belts done this way *will* stay on.


>So bottom line is - I feel much better about it now.


Likely will be just fine.     Change the oil, though... and use a 
wrapped belt.



tony..