New member - 1962 Corvair95 Rampside!

[Bartimer]

If anything more that linkage, yes. We'll get to it, but it's best to drop the whole powertrain (engine / transaxle). On cars you can kind of cheat and just drop the engine, but on FCs (pickups and vans - Forward Control) is is very difficult to just drop the engine. Dennis (have my fingers crossed for you - hoping for that lottery ticket purchase!).

OK, well then a big revision is coming sooner than I anticipated, but that's OK - I kinda wanted to get everything out anyway at some point.
If / when I drop the whole powertrain, is there something I should keep in mind? Meaning: is there something else I should revision, since I will have access?
I'm keen to keep the car as close as original as possible, but sometimes modern component are so much better that it would be an acceptable upgrade, so that's why I'm asking.

[cnicol]

Let me tell you a totally related story:
Along time ago in a galaxy far away, I had a '63 Corvan 95 Factory camper which I further modified by adding an extended-height roof. It had a 4-carb 140hp engine and a 4-speed transmission. I built a beautiful mahogany interior and it was my little ground-based airplane.

I put about 100k miles on the van and took it from CA to WI and all over the West and down into the Baja. Lots and lots of hills, towing, and off-road use.

One day, I was pulling away from the curb in front of my home and there was a little pop like the transmission wasn't fully in gear. After that, everything seemed to work except the van wouldn't move. I *assumed* I had finally blown the spider gears or maybe the clutch hub let go.

I had a beautiful 140 engine with Powerglide sitting in the shop... Engine swap and conversion to automatic transmission ensued of course. Yay! All done! Tons of work! 100% different powertrain! Start engine, shift to "R". NO GO! What? How is that possible?

It turns out the real failure was the splined U-Joint yoke that's on the inboard end of each drive axle. The spline wore out and stripped so the U-joint would rotate while the axle remained stationary. Oops

[RexJohnson]

Since the clutch seems to be working I would be looking for a stripped axle yoke. The way to check for this is with the engine running and in gear look underneath and see if one of the axle yokes, coming out of the diff is spinning. The splines on the inside of the yoke can strip out so it will just spin on the axle shaft. Everything will be in place so no banging around. Chocking the wheels would be a good idea before you stick your head under there while the engine is running.

[Bartimer]

Let me tell you a totally related story:
Along time ago in a galaxy far away, I had a '63 Corvan 95 Factory camper which I further modified by adding an extended-height roof. It had a 4-carb 140hp engine and a 4-speed transmission. I built a beautiful mahogany interior and it was my little ground-based airplane.
70s Corvair pix 001.jpg

I put about 100k miles on the van and took it from CA to WI and all over the West and down into the Baja. Lots and lots of hills, towing, and off-road use.

One day, I was pulling away from the curb in front of my home and there was a little pop like the transmission wasn't fully in gear. After that, everything seemed to work except the van wouldn't move. I *assumed* I had finally blown the spider gears or maybe the clutch hub let go.

I had a beautiful 140 engine with Powerglide sitting in the shop... Engine swap and conversion to automatic transmission ensued of course. Yay! All done! Tons of work! 100% different powertrain! Start engine, shift to "R". NO GO! What? How is that possible?

It turns out the real failure was the splined U-Joint yoke that's on the inboard end of each drive axle. The spline wore out and stripped so the U-joint would rotate while the axle was stationary. Oops

Ohhh that sounds very similar: I didn't remember hearing a pop sound like you have, but I might not have perceived it.
What a beautiful van! Looks so cool! 4 carburetors! I didn't even know this was possible - I have so much to learn.. Technical terms to begin with haha
Definitively will investigate that too!
You guys are great: thank you all for your valuable input - I very much appreciate it!

[Bartimer]

Since the clutch seems to be working I would be looking for a stripped axle yoke. The way to check for this is with the engine running and in gear look underneath and see if one of the axle yokes, coming out of the diff is spinning. The splines on the inside of the yoke can strip out so it will just spin on the axle shaft. Everything will be in place so no banging around. Chocking the wheels would be a good idea before you stick your head under there while the engine is running.

This seems to hone on the axle yoke, like cnicol mentioned: I can't wait to get home and take a look!
And to your point: no other weird noise or banging sound at all (while engine runs or shifting gears), so you might be right but again I'll have to investigate and will take some pictures for you guys!

[Dennis66]

Yeah, the axle yoke is a possibility too. My '65 Greenbrier had a howling in the differential, low fluid, dumb kid (1974) I never checked the level. First the speedometer stopped working. One day I take off first gear, shift to second POW. no more forward moovee. Broke the diff drive gear. Swapped it out for a '63 panel van with a powerglide and drove that for a month (was working for a small scrapyard back then).
All things that COULD be the problem. Hoping for the best (shifter pin). Start small and simple. If it gets serious we'll get into further diagnosis or teardown then. Dennis

[jimbrandberg]

Many moons ago when I bought my Rampside for $400 it wouldn't go. It turned out someone had 2 short yokes in there instead of a short one and a long one. The previous owner said it quit going out on the road but I have trouble believing it ever got underway. Maybe so.
Another obscure possibility is the internal cogs in the hollow differential pinion shaft are bad, they engage with the short shaft coming out of the transmission.
As other folks are saying the axle yokes that go into the side of the differential are much more likely and you don't need to remove the powertrain.

It's fairly easy to pull the axle out have a look. Remove the brake drum, remove the 4 nuts holding the bearing and the axles pulls out about a foot until the yoke hits the suspension.
Getting the yoke off the axle can be difficult. It's not supposed to be a press fit but sure feels like it sometimes.

It could be the clutch but I wouldn't just remove the powertrain without some idea of what you're looking to find. Fools rush in and I know that firsthand.

Like Rex says run it off the ground having your senses alert with a reasoned approach.

Jim Brandberg
Isanti, MN
CorvairRepair.com

[Frank DuVal]

Craig, you bet me to it (and Rex, etc.). #1 to check is the rear axle yokes. No splines= no go.

[Dennis66]

Carly Simon singing "Anticipation". Any update on this? Dennis

[Bartimer]

Hello Everyone! Sorry for the late feedback - I have family over and it's quite intense, to say the least and we're about to go on a road trip..
I managed to push it into the garage and only could snap a few pictures without being really focused or aiming properly.
I'll post them anyway, so that you can have a glimpse of it: once I'm back, I'll be able to dedicate more time to it.

Question of forum etiquette: once back, shall I start a new / dedicated thread for that or rather keep posting in the introduction?

Thank you all for your help, patience, stories and details: I love it!

[RexJohnson]

If it is the yoke that has been suggested, when running in gear with the clutch pedal out you will see one of the u-joint assy spinning.

[Lane66Monza]

WEelcome to the Corvair Forum. Friendliest Corvair Forum on the web bar none right now.

I see no one informed you about the Corvanantics website. The first couple lines says it all about that group of Corvair owners. "The Corvanatics chapter of the Corvair Society of America advances preservation, restoration and enjoyment of Corvair Forward Control (FC) vehicles. While anticipating in size current minivans and small pickups, the Corvair FCs are prized by enthusiasts for their distinctive styling and design features."

Join up and add your prized FC to the registry. A link to their site is in the below link. It is also the link for info on manuals, good info and good books on the Corvair. Lots of them you may want to have handy. Corvanantics has Early Models and FC models manuals electronically on their site.

Recommended Corvair Manuals & other good info
viewtopic.php?p=135929&hilit=manual#p135929

[Dennis66]

Only really a picture of one axle yoke and it doesn't look failed. Dennis