<VV> Flat Towing a Corvair

[Tony Underwood]

At 04:44 PM 3/24/2011, Sethracer at aol.com wrote:
>
>
>In a message dated 3/24/2011 2:10:59 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
>lechevrier at earthlink.net writes:
>
>It is  what
>makes it possible to push start a PG equipped Vair, and as such, I  don't
>get the idea that one would need to stop in order to start the  engine
>periodically to circulate lubricants that are already being  circulated.
>However, if that is what is needed to get you to take a  break at
>suggested driving intervals, so be it! Won't hurt anything,  either way.
>YMMV.
>
>
>
>The problem with flat-towing a Corvair with a PG is not the pumping  and
>lubrication, it is the cooling of the trans Fluid. The Stock car PG 
>is  cooled
>by air-flow through the bellhousing and around the torque Converter, as  it
>spins in place. (FC's have an additional, external cooler in the
>air-inlet). When towed, the fluid circulates as Bill mentions. But 
>the cooling
>effect of the spinning torque converter is lost, probably meaning 
>less air-flow
>over it and hotter temps. I have flat-towed a PG equipped Stinger Autocross
>car.  Okay, I stayed "about" 50 MPH, and I had an external cooler installed
>on the  car. But the fluid got pretty hot.


The cooler on an automatic transmission (in a 'Vair the cooler is on 
the converter) is there to cool the fluid that's churned up by the 
converter.   The transmission itself generates very little heat, 
certainly negligible in the scheme of things.  Without the converter 
being churned by a spinning engine, the fluid won't get hot.


A few years back (OK, more than a few) Curt Jones flat-towed a '64 FC 
to my house in VA from Florida behind his rollback.   On the rollback 
was the '60 Monza coupe that we'd purchased from Curt.   When we were 
unhitching the FC's towbar from his rollback I reached underneath to 
feel the trans pan.   It was warm, but nowhere near hot and that was 
after hundreds of miles.

Likewise the green '69 Monza PG that we flat-towed from Richmond to 
Roanoke, and the PG Lakewood we flat-towed from Forest to 
Roanoke.   Let's see, what else...

I think that's about it.   None of them got anything but warm, never 
approached anything like hot.



Just sayin'.



tony..