Corvair as a daily driver. Am I insane?

[matchlessmo]

I drove my 1965 140 coupe with powerglide with 4 wheel disc brakes in the military from 2007-2011 and only issues i had was harmonic balancer go bad, i replaced with the 350 dollar one no issues and S10 Distributor shaft broke in Austin Texas heading to Fort Sam, Has front Cavalier seats and there where awesome, everything was rebuilt and only item i didn't fix is the steering box gets sticky after driving for couple hrs down south lol, I put 30,000 on car in 4 yrs., I would do it all over again, except thinking of doing fuel injection, Corvair is so dam fun to drive, Thanks

[Scott H]

WARNING ! ! !:
Do NOT buy a Corvair, if you do not like attention ! ! !
If you drive a Corvair,every time you stop for gas, you will have half the population below 45 asking what it is, and those over 45 will have half of them wanting to tell you about the one their Uncle used to drive, or how a Corvair was their first car to ever drive, etc, etc.
OH, and then there are the guys who will try and tell you that they had one when they were younger, "But it had the factory V-8 option."

You got that right! I limo tinted the windows in my first Corvair because I didn't like the attention and stares lol

[Dr_Snooz]

Please forgive the stupid question, but has anyone's Corvair ever over-heated, and if so, what did you do?

[American Mel]

Please forgive the stupid question, but has anyone's Corvair ever over-heated, and if so, what did you do?

Put the fan belt back on.

Seriously, unless you have a problem with a bad flapper-door on your shrouds, the only way a Corvair is going to Overheat (under normal everyday operating circumstances), is if the fan belt breaks or comes off.
The stock-factory thermostats were created in such a way that if they fail, they will do so in an open positions and prevent overheating.
Always carry a spare fan belt, and pull over IMMEDIATELY if your FAN/GEN idiot light comes on.
.
By the way, as your teachers should have told you in school, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A STUPID QUESTION.
Ignorance and stupidity are two separate, and very different things!
Ignorance is simply a lack of knowledge. It can be changed with good information and patient educators.
Stupidity is, . . . . . . well, you just can't fix that.

[gbullman]

Please forgive the stupid question, but has anyone's Corvair ever over-heated, and if so, what did you do?

My first one did back in the 70’s because I tried to get it home with a failed harmonic balancer, youthful optimism.

I drove 2 water cooled classics before my Corvair and it would get interesting to spitting a little coolant out in heavy traffic on a hot day with them. The Corvair is a bit the opposite, heavy a traffic is no problem at all, the engine runs at lower temps with low load. The only time the temperature climbs a bit is when you’re working the engine kind of hard like pulling a long hill at highway speeds and it doesn’t come close to overheating, just runs a little warmer.

Agree with Mel, don’t run without a belt and you’ll be fine.

[MtnVairMike]

WARNING ! ! !:
Do NOT buy a Corvair, if you do not like attention ! ! !
If you drive a Corvair,every time you stop for gas, you will have half the population below 45 asking what it is, and those over 45 will have half of them wanting to tell you about the one their Uncle used to drive, or how a Corvair was their first car to ever drive, etc, etc.
OH, and then there are the guys who will try and tell you that they had one when they were younger, "But it had the factory V-8 option."

You got that right! I limo tinted the windows in my first Corvair because I didn't like the attention and stares lol

Use reverse tinting, You can't see them but they can see you!

[Frank DuVal]

But it had the factory V-8 option.

But it had the factory V-8 option with the push button transmission.

TIFIFY

[Dr_Snooz]

I'm getting the impression that there isn't much on these cars that was poorly done. I have an expectation of old classics that the engineering is subpar. I expect them to handle badly, brake poorly, wear out quickly and break down a lot. I mean, I remember the days when a AAA membership was a required part of car ownership, because you knew you'd need the free towing. In this case, it doesn't look like there are any spots where GM cheaped out. It's like guys dig these cars out of fields and barns, fire them up, and drive them home with little fuss. Then they fall in love with them and buy a few more.

Maybe I'm missing something?

[bbodie52]

I've been riding in Corvairs since I was eight years old in 1961, and driving them as daily drivers since 1969, when I took my first driver's license test in my parents' 1965 Corsa convertible. I drove a 1962 Corvair to my wedding and on my honeymoon from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area.

I spent 24 years in the USAF driving Corvairs all over the USA and in Germany. I made many trips in California up a very long uphill grade to Lake Tahoe — fully loaded with family and camping gear with ho problems. Also made several coast-to-coast journeys in Corvairs with only one mechanical failure — a bad wheel bearing on the right rear of my 1965 Corsa coupe that failed in Cheyenne, Wyoming — in the middle of our family trip that started in the Los Angeles area, included a path to Lake Tahoe, and on through Nevada, past the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, and I heard the wheel bearing squeaking when we reached F.E. Warren AFB in Cheyenne, Wyoming. That was in 1982 and I lucked out and found a stripped 1965 Corvair in a Cheyenne junk yard with one serviceable used bearing assembly that made its way onto our family Corsa. We continued on to New Jersey the next morning and shipped the Corvair to Germany, where it traveled from the port in Bremerhaven to our next assignment in Kaiserslautern, near Ramstein Air Base (about (634 km).

2,724 mi


394 miles

When we finished our tour of duty in Germany, I drove the Corvair back to Bremerhaven, and shipped it back to New Jersey. From there, we loaded the family into the Corvair and drove to Washington D.C. Then it was on to Georgia, and then across country in August through Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona and across the Southern California desert to our next assignment in the Los Angeles area. The 140 hp Corsa never displayed any problems. (The only problem was a lack of air conditioning, so the family and I were quite travel-worn by the time we reached Los Angeles).

I'm 71 now and my wife and I live in North Carolina and still depend on two Corvairs as our daily drivers. My 44 year old son says I should get rid of the Corvairs and buy a "real car". But I still trust in the reliability and enjoy the attention I get when I drive a Corvair to the grocery store... however, I never go anywhere in my Corvair without my cell phone and my AAA card... just in case. (I needed a tow recently when my mechanical fuel pump failed about forty miles from home. I guess those fuel pumps are getting old. I switched to an electric fuel pump)!

[gbullman]

I'm getting the impression that there isn't much on these cars that was poorly done. I have an expectation of old classics that the engineering is subpar. I expect them to handle badly, brake poorly, wear out quickly and break down a lot. I mean, I remember the days when a AAA membership was a required part of car ownership, because you knew you'd need the free towing. In this case, it doesn't look like there are any spots where GM cheaped out. It's like guys dig these cars out of fields and barns, fire them up, and drive them home with little fuss. Then they fall in love with them and buy a few more.

Maybe I'm missing something?

I have only owned and driven regularly Late Models (LM, 65-69) so these comments apply to my experience. When well sorted and set up properly they handle great, brake very well and ride well. Back in the late 60s, early 70s they were mostly cheap, disposable economy cars but thankfully some percentage of owners recognized they were unlike their peers. They certainly have their quirks / charm that needs to be respected but yes you are pretty much getting the picture and not missing anything.

Some key points;
After acquisition inspect and fix things that are questionable, brakes, electrical, fuel, make sure no debris under the cooling shrouds. This may take some iterations to get everything sorted, I generally figure 1 to 2 years to encounter and fix all all that is needed, including the little stuff.

Maintain tire pressure differential, rear should be at least 10 pounds higher than front, with radials most advise 22 front, 32 rear to start, I ended up at 23 front, 35 rear, cornering hard just felt better to me at those pressures.

Do not let it run low on oil, besides air that is a major coolant for Corvairs.

As stated before never drive it if fanbelt fails (this implies having working idiot lights so you know if generator / alternator stops charging).

I’ve been averaging 4K miles a year on mine and that is mostly late March to late November into December. Your climate / road conditions will allow pretty much year round.

And definitely be ready for people randomly asking you questions or complementing you on your car, pretty much anywhere, including stop lights. I even had one guy get out of his car in front of me at a stop sign to come back and talk to me about my car.

[Dr_Snooz]

Thanks for your help, everyone!

[joelsplace]

There are a few things that were cheap/poorly designed. No front anti-sway bar through '63, flywheel rivets, turn signal switches on EM and most LMs. 4-speed reverse light switches through '65, HRPT on LMs, drain needed for failed fuel pumps to keep gas out of the oil, not using viton o-rings, 3 plate oil cooler in '63. That's all I can think of for now. Minor issues really that have fixes and most new cars have more cheap/poorly designed things than Corvairs do.
Overheating causes - missing/leaking fresh air hose, rags/leaves/trash under the top shroud, failing to keep the oil cooler clean, missing oil cooler cover, clogged carburetors causing lean condition, full throttle for too long on Turbo cars...

[bbodie52]