<VV> A Fresh Start

[Bryan Blackwell]

There are a couple photos with this story on my blog site, 
http://autoxer.blogspot.com/2006/11/fresh-start.html if you'd like to 
see a fancy version.

After years (literally) of little bits of progress, I am finally at the 
starting line of getting a new engine built for the red 1965 Corsa.

For history, the engine that was in it I had rebuilt in the mid 80s. It 
had gone many miles and we'd had lots of fun in the car, but there was 
a clear problem with one cylinder on the left bank and wearing cam gear 
teeth that would sooner or later cause trouble.

Engine number two I had bought in a 1966 Corsa, it was rebuilt by a 
gentleman in Seattle. He had done a lot of things right, but it was his 
first 140 so there were a couple things I might have done differently. 
The plan was to install it in the '65, but that was not to be, with 
only about 5000 miles, it dropped a valve seat. So, back to square one.

At this point, I have both engines out of the cars and in the basement. 
The '65s unit had a blown head gasket, but no other obvious issues with 
the heads. The 66 motor (actually another '65 Corsa engine) is still 
mostly buttoned up. It has roller rockers, forged +.060 pistons, ground 
crank, Otto valve covers, etc.

As much as I'm tempted to get it together as quickly as possible, I'm 
leaning toward pulling the '66s engine all the way down and taking care 
of the little details that I wish I'd done on my engine that weren't 
done on the second one. With any luck I'll have some updates to post 
over the next couple of months, and some updates on my site 
illustrating the new project.
--
Bryan Blackwell bryan at skiblack.com
http://autoxer.skiblack.com/
   Corvairs: '61 Lakewood, '64 Greenbrier, '65 Corsa, '66 Corsa
   '69 Road Runner, '97 Ford F-150, '99 Neon R/T
"Why do something if you're not going to obsess about it?"