<VV> Beauty of the Skid Plate OK is it true or not ?

[HallGrenn at aol.com]

Frank,  As everyone has said it is highly unlikely.  My first  '68, purchased 
new, dropped the rear of the engine in Ohio at 75 mph--but it  wasn't the 
car's fault or the engineers' fault who designed it.  The local  Chevy dealer had 
a "Corvair Specialist" who replaced my clutch by jacking the  car up to 
shoulder height, unbolting the bell housing to transmission bolts and  (after some 
physical effort) allowed the transmission to hang from the  transmission 
mounts (2) and the whole engine to hang from the rear mounts (with  a stand to 
support it and keep it from dropping too far).  This obviously  stressed the rear 
mount.
 
Later that year, in Ohio, the rear of the engine dropped onto the  highway at 
75 mph.  It couldn't come out of the car and the skid plate  became the 
sacrificial part it was meant to be.
 
The local Chevy dealer (in Oxford OH ?) found one of the two rear mount  
studs broken and the other missing its bolt--and the threads were stripped  
indicating that it may have been cross threaded by an impact wrench.  They  jacked 
up the engine, replaced the skid plate and rear mount and I was on my  way.  I 
still have the car.
 
Don't let people who have only anecdotal tales scare you.  Corvairs  are 
tough.
 
Bob Hall
Group Corvair
Kensington MD
'64 Brier
'65 Corsa
2 '68 Monzas



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