Corvair Forum

Could still be welded, but there are better housings out there...

What is the timing range for an LM Turbo. I know the advance limit is 24 degrees. Once the turbo kicks in, what is the retard range as the boost increases? Advance limit? Not aware of that term, but the 24* figure you referred to is base timing at idle. Then as Brad stated there is some centrifugal...

Octane boost is the devil, only thing I ever got from that stuff is fouled plugs!

The housing in your first picture has either been welded or had a sleeve pressed into it, to correct an oil leakage problem resulting from the turbine oil seal being jammed into the housing and gouging it. You should use a later Rajay 310 series heat shield with it since it has the correct size hole...

Look for a turbo!

Jk, vairy merry Christmas!

I have Megajolt does that count? :p

No knock sensing, but crank trigger and mapped advance helps a whole lot in avoiding knock related problems.

which modern day gas would be better for an old turbocharged corvair - the 93 octane + 10% Ethanol gas or the 85 octane alcohol-free gas? Define 'better'? If driving cheaply is your goal, the answer is obvious. If you aim to drive on boost at all, you need as much octane as you can get to avoid det...

Probably not. Because these engines run so rich, carbon immediately covers up any aluminum flecks that would have migrated to the plug electrodes. Just listen for signs and be careful.

No problem. Whatever you do, don't allow the engine to detonate for very long. Sounds like someone's shaking a rattle can of paint inside your engine, but it's actually preignition trying to melt your pistons. Can be a result of too lean a mixture under heavy load, too much timing advance, or the he...

Just for reference: Vacuum advance works in tandem with lean mixtures at cruise to give better economy; the slower flame speeds experienced with lean mixtures means the spark has to happen earlier, hence the timing advance. What this means is if you can't lean out during cruising situations, much of...

It's not a kit per se, you piece it together yourself. Here, I wrote an article for people to follow when converting their cars.

http://www.corvairnut.com/EDIS.htm

There's also the J&S safeguard, but it's a lot more money.

Just to add on to what Brad has been saying, I don't regard the pressure retard units very highly, though I have no experience with the Clark repop. The (stock) one in my car gave me nothing but grief, so I gave in and installed a crank triggered ignition which serves me very well. You can adjust it...

There's a reason my other often viewed forum has a catch-all thread dedicated to oils, other threads that pop up are locked because an oil thread every 5 minutes is pedantic. Having said that, there are 2 things I've found to be true with Corvairs. The first is that the turbo cars have a woefully un...

One last thing, make sure you have the correct carb. The 150 and 180 carbs look very similar, but if remember correctly they are in fact sized a little different. That means a 150 carb on a 180 engine might cause an intake restriction, leading to a no boost situation.

Could still be a weak mixture or incorrect timing, the pressure retard can in particular is notorious for not working correctly or at all. Also keep in mind these don't boost like a modern engine, the boost tends to build gradually and goes higher with RPM. On mine boost came on around 3500 RPM, dep...

Soak it in kerosene for a week, its rusted together. If that doesn't do it, hit the housing with mapp gas and tap on the center of the turbine shaft with a drift and hammer till it comes loose.