Water Jackets For Turbocharging

[California Racer]

You cannot get rid of the heat to pour on the turbocharging with an air cooled Corvair engine.

Solution is to water cool it with separate water jackets for cylinders and heads.Plumb them together with tubing or hoses.

The Corvair engine has two things in it's favor to facilitate water jacketting cylinders and cylinder heads.

1 It has 'dry deck' head gasket seals.

It does not have sandwich type head gaskets.

2 The crankcase halves do not need water jackets.

That greatly simplifies the task.

Engines do not cool the crankcases only the cylinders and heads.That is where the heat is made with combustion.

It has been 60 years the Corvair has been out and ONE person before this made a water cooled Corvair engine.

Now with turbocharging having a revival the Corvair engine sort of screams out to be turbocharged.

Big turbocharging.Indy and Formula style turbocharging.

To do that you need to water cool it.

[thewolfe]

For big turbocharging you also need a way to keep the case together and heads from lifting under high boost conditions. There were once ARP case bolts and head studs available but not anymore. Maybe you could get custom ones made.

[azdave]

Lloyd Taylor and his water-cooled engine are described in the Corsa Communique for Nov 1981 by famous Corvair subject author Bob Helt. Lloyd's Corvair was also a custom 4-door convertible. I know of at least 3 other attempts to water-cool a Corvair engine. If it were that doable we would see them in many more instances. It's a topic discussed over and over, almost since the Corvair was first turbocharged.

Taylor Water Cooled Corvair Engine
http://autoxer.skiblack.com/nallm/Taylo ... engine.pdf

A few other threads...
viewtopic.php?t=6739

http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.ph ... 259,page=1

http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.ph ... 089,138571

[nirvairna]

Wow, that Taylor Water Cooled engine was quite an achievement! Thanks for posting that link

[66vairguy]

Looks like C.R. has been reading this. https://www.total911.com/water-cooling- ... 1-history/

Nothing new.

[Deadwolf]

I would think if someone wanted to do this the best way would be a new casting of the cylinder jugs. Probably want to mold 3 jugs into one solid bank to let the water flow around them.

If you could afford the 4 billet Aluminum slugs big enough to pull it off and either were a machinist with access to CNC machines or had someone available you could pull it off.

Another possibility would be machining each jug separate, but making them bolt together with gaskets. You would need one pattern for outer jugs and one for inner jugs. An electric water pump and radiator and you would be off to the races.

[tomkeo]

I just sent Lloyd Taylor's first engine to the National Corvair Museum. It is water-cooled and has dual turbochargers.

TomKeo

Video link

[martyscarr]

Tom - thanks for a well done and informative video! I remember that engine from the Communique article decades ago, and had always thought it had great potential.

Thanks again
Marty Scarr

[chris]

Very informative video Tom, thank you for sharing. I have a stack of Communiques and remember reading that article but the video helps me visualize just how much Lloyd (and you) did!

[jimbrandberg]

This is an interesting and viable subject.

I seem to remember "The Californian" on the other forum back then with some chassis and suspension theories. I wonder how it all came out or maybe I'm thinking of someone else.

[Phil Dally]

So that's why Smith Brothers knew what I was talking about when I ordered custom

push rods for the racecar and I ask if they knew about the weep hole. Thank You Tom!!

[Wittsend]

.....
Now with turbocharging having a revival the Corvair engine sort of screams out to be turbocharged.
....

Turbocharging having a revival? The Corvair engine screams out for it? Could you elaborate? As to water-cooled, horizontally opposed engines I'm inclined to think in a practical way adaptation of Subaru and to a lesser (practical) extent Porsche, both which have known turbocharged options. If the goal is to just see what you can get out of a Corvair engine as a curious pursuit then follow that passion.

[American Mel]

It's an old thread Witt.
The Californian hasn't been around for quite a while.
A bench racer/engineer/dreamer, who flashed in the pan.