<VV> My Bad Corvair Story

[Mark Durham]

Ulli, the positive crankcase ventilation system we have on non-turbo
engines does not work on your turbo setup. But, keep in mind that you need
to have some basis for ventilation, maybe some turbo guys can help with
that.

But Bob Helt may have nailed it on the head. The engines just won't run
well if the cam is not synced properly with the crank. So, do the
compression check and see what you have.

In the end a lot of my problems stemmed around not being able to set up the
engine properly, and that was all due to air, via the pcv, was leaning the
mixture. Just driving down the road, I would feel little misses
(detonation) unless adding power, then the extra fuel made the little
miss's disappear, but as I would drive by a guard rail on the road, or a
big building where the exhaust noise would reflect back to me, the engine
sounded perfectly normal.

Yes I got frustrated and started throwing parts at it, wrong thing to do,
but it now runs and I am not bankrupt, yet. :):) I did find issues along
the way, that I thought would have fixed the problem. When I took the carbs
apart, which had been overhaled by a reputable guy in the business 6 month
before, I found the lower half of a accelerator cup stuck down in the pump
well in one carb. Every time I stomped the accelerator, it rubbed on the
new cup on the pump  shaft and tore off a bit, which kept plugging up that
circuit. I was estatic when I found that. But it did not fix the overall
problem. then, I noticed the advance wandering, bought a NOS advance that
fixed that, but still did not fix the overall problem. Also, I had no idea
what I had for springs or cam in the distributor (it was in fact 50 years
old), so I bought a dual bushinging unit correct for the engine. Its cam
surface was so rough, my points would last maybe 40 miles until I would
have to adjust them, so I put in the Pertronix. Still, the lean miss, still
poor idle.

One of the positives was that no one on any of the forums I could find
mentioned a PCV valve being the probable air leak, it took me awhile to
think of it on my own.

So, in your case, be methodical. Isolate each problem and verify operation
of the accompaning system. If the cam/crank is off one tooth, its going to
upset the apple cart for all other systems. If a compression check shows
low across the board, then seek consensus but you would need to verify the
crank/cam marks, and that means  gaining access to that portion of the
engine.

Mark Durham


On Fri, Oct 19, 2012 at 9:05 AM, <BobHelt at aol.com> wrote:

> **
> Hello Ulli,
> Please allow me a few comments concerning your engine. I have seen your
> postings before but do not remember just what engine you have or the
> specific problems (other that what you have in this posting).
>
> So let's start with the manual. You need to get a *1965 Corvair Shop
> Manual*. It has a section covering the turbo engine and lots of
> information on all engines. Clarks has these. If you otherwise can't get a
> manual, then let us know and someone will be able to send you a used one
> cheaply.
>
> Now your running problems. I assume this is your 180 hp turbo engine.
> You said......bad acceleration, not much power at 3500 and up... (can not
> go faster than 4000 rpm´s)
>
> You also said I have overhauled.......
>
> OK, there are two likely causes of these problems. 1) not getting the
> camshaft gear and crankshaft gear aligned correctly when assembling the
> engine. and 2) misadjustment of the valve lash. I don't know what your
> level of experience and knowledge is in these areas so please don't take
> offense here.
> You should first run a compression test on your engine to see if this will
> lead you to the problem. Both of these possibilities will affect the
> compression. With a CR of around 8:1, the compression should be at least
> 120 and uniform for each cylinder.
>
> If you can pinpoint the cause, then we can proceed from that.
>
> Now is the turbo working? Maybe your problem is the turbo and not the
> engine. Can you isolate the problems to a specific cause here?
>
> I hope that this helps a little.
>
> Regards,
> Bob Helt
>
>  In a message dated 10/19/2012 7:56:15 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
> info at california-camping.de writes:
>
> I have overhauled my engine and every little symptom is the same as yours.
> Can not get idle under 950, bad acceleration, not much power at 3500 and
> up... (can not go faster than 4000 rpm´s)
>
> I do have a corsa with the matching 180hp turbo engine. But, I just
> checked the engine, I can not find any pcv valve on my engine.
> Do you know if I have one or where it should be located. I know I should
> try to get a shop manual but it is hard to find one for the turbo engine.
>
> I would appreciate any help. Thanks.
>
> Regards from Germany
>
> Ulli the Ba-Vair-ian
>
>