Wayne 100 carb chokes

[ilikevelos]

Hi all:
New to the forum but owned several corvairs in the 80s including rebuilding and running a 66 corsa 140 approximately 100K miles. I am trying to finish the restoration of a circa 65 Wayne 100 boat. It was outfit with a low compression 164 engine with turbo heads. I have two engines for it, the earlier one had no choke circuits so the carbs were probably first year carbs. The second has the choke plates removed completely. It would not be easy to run a thermostatic choke and I am a little uncomfortable with the idea of no chokes at all even though as a practical matter the boat will never be run much below 50degree F. Since this group has a lot of experience pushing the boundries ofcorvair engines I thought I would seek recommendations on how to address the cold start of the engine. Is it worth trying to use choke plates with a manual choke cable of is it possible to run the engine without any choke. Just looking for ideas.

For your info, boat is redone short of mounting the steering wheel. Engine assembled and has been in boat three times to fit ducts, exhaust, etc. Engine still needs fuel system, ignition system, some wiring and ducts and controls. Also, lower unit needs to be painted and gone through. We are lucky enough to have two props with different pitches. Hope to have running by the summer.

Thanks for any input.
Michael
Charlottesville VA

[66vairguy]

What a great project.

At one time the Wayne Corvair boat was discussed over on the Covair Center Forum. That was a while back and the forum is going through changes and some old data has been lost. I'm not sure what modifications were made for the Wayne boat engine.

I recall the 1961 model Corvairs used MANUAL chokes (one year only). This was due to the changes for the new engine hot air heater system (all 1960 model Corvairs used a gasoline heater). The1962 models were equipped with automatic carburetor chokes.

Clark's sells the choke cable for the 61 models, but it's not like the original. Not sure if it has the dual cable split in the engine compartment. You might find used at Corvair ranch, or California Corvair.

See at bottom of page --- https://ssl.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalo ... ow_page=60

[ilikevelos]

Thanks for the comment. I am not really a boater and realize that many boats do without the choke and start on the accelerator pumps. It appears that that was the way the Wayne 100 was configured. The one I am working on had a 164 engine (95 hp specs) with 1960 carbs (no chokes). All Wayne 100 engines were apparently assembled with turbo heads to use the better valves and smaller ports since the engine was intended to run at sustained high throttle openings. The boat will be configured with dual head temp sensors read on a dual temp gauge on the dash. This one has 180 heads that I have carefully deflashed.
Best to all.