<VV> REAR HOUSING OIL LEAK REPAIR and wheel leak repair

[Ken Clark]

A number of years ago, back in the 1990's when I owned '69 no. 5996, I had leak at the rear housing and changed seals and did everything I could think of to find out why the oil kept leaking.  Finally, thanks to Mr. lc of the Vair shop, he advised lowering the engine so I could see the housing to put some flour in a straw and blow it onto the area of where the leak appeared to be coming from, then start the engine and when I did, presto, there not so obvious was a hairline crack in the housing itself.  I could see exactly where the oil was coming from due to the flour on the housing.   I had a housing from and early model which I put on and no more leaking oil.  I'm sure that housing is still on #5996 whoever owns it now.   Ken Clark
 
> Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 19:11:11 -0800
> From: larry at forman.net
> To: shortle556 at earthlink.net
> CC: virtualvairs at corvair.org
> Subject: Re: <VV> REAR HOUSING OIL LEAK REPAIR and wheel leak repair
> 
> When I started getting involved in Corvairs, Mike Peters, who sold a lot 
> of Corvair parts and gave away advice, told me of a Corvair guy who had 
> a pesky and persistent problem with his bell housing leaking oil. 
> After trying several attempts to solve it, he finally used epoxy paint 
> on the inside of the bell housing to seal it up. The problem was 
> apparently micro-cracks in the aluminum casting that were not 
> obvious. So I started painting the insides of my bell housings with 
> POR-15 as a preventative for that little problem.
> 
> I was also asked how I sealed the aluminum wheel from leaking down. 
> For my problem, this was on a Hands Wheel, so I really did not want to 
> replace or scrap it. I was fortunate that the tire dealer was able to 
> isolate the problem to the approximate area of the wheel where the air 
> leak was originating. Once this was known and marked, I was able to go 
> to the inside surface (tire off, of course) and prep and paint that 
> area. I suppose, if you suspect porous castings, you could use POR-15 
> on the entire inside of the aluminum wheel to seal it up "forever". 
> The paint weight is negligible and if you paint the entire inside there 
> should be minimal effect on the balance.
> 
> The tire dealer found the leak by using a traditional water tank 
> immersion. Another approach available today would be to use an 
> ultrasonic leak detector. These are frequency band "translators" that 
> shift the ultrasonic frequency band down into the audible frequency 
> band. These are darn handy little devices, but are typically over $100 
> on ebay. They are usable for finding leaks in LPG systems (like for 
> Ultravans), refrigerant leaks, and more.
> 
> If your leak is at the tire to wheel interface, then once you find the 
> leak (which might be due to a surface imperfection) smooth or correct 
> that surface. Sounds like a job for JB Weld or a file and sand paper.
> 
> Larry
> 
> On 12/13/2010 3:09 PM, shortle wrote:
> > How and where do you apply it on a Corvair bell housing?
> > Timothy Shortle in Durango Colorado
> 
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