1965 Corsa Coupe

[KenHenry]

Looking good! The Corsa emblems are sometimes held on by push on clips like these:

https://californiacorvairparts.com/fast ... iners.html

You might be able to just add a 3/16 speed nut or two to the back without disturbing the old clips. Ken

[SkidRo]

That stripe looks familiar.

[2LZ]

That stripe looks familiar.

Yes, it does.
Boy, what a royal pain to put on though. The roof one was pretty straight forward due to the lack of heavy curves and center ridge. I fought with the frunk stripe for well over an hour. Heat gun, striping scraper, whatever it took to get it to lay flat......and it still ended up a little crooked. Even after all that, I had to poke and bleed out some air bubbles. I can see where paint would be an easier application. Waiting on the third stripe for the engine cover. Hopefully that one will go smoothly.

[SkidRo]

Yes, it was extremely difficult to install. It took me a few hours to install the trunk and hood. The hood was harder for me. It is a smaller less forgiving surface to work on. Good luck. Like you stated, the ridges, concave, convex surfaces and the curves made it a challenge. I am happy with how mine looks though. The silver really looks good on the black. I did not do the roof although that would probably be the easiest.

I also promised that I would never install another stripe unless I painted it!

[2LZ]

More good news today. As I may have mentioned, I've told my buddy's, "This is the first time I've built a project backwards (usually motorcycles)." I generally do the mechanical, then the cosmetic. This time? The car was so straight, I figured if I made it pretty first, I wouldn't have a choice but to rebuild it, if I found the motor was grenaded.

Got into the engine compartment today. Pulled the plugs and they were very old, but even. AC 44's. Stock??? No big chunks or anything super oily. Then I spun the motor by hand four complete revolutions. Nothing crunched or hung up. It was smooth and tight for all the revolutions, back to TDC. I'll take my camera to all the plug holes tomorrow to check out the pistons, and also, the gas tank. Need to make sure it's not full of rust.

So far this thing has been "all good". I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Fingers crossed. Hopefully I'll have it running sooner than I'd hoped. Never know.......

[2LZ]

Now that I'm in the engine compartment part of the project, I decided that after pulling the oil cooler cover and saw it was full of leaf debris, I figured that under the top cover was probably a mess of mouse nests. I was happy to see just a little bit to vacuum out.
There is an oily mess below the oil cooler/fuel pump area and it's leaving its mark on my drip pan. Not sure if that's from someone doing a major spill from the oil filter or something more sinister. May as well keep digging and replace what gaskets and seals are able to be got with the engine in the car. I'm already this far......
I'm also pleased to report that the fan bearing is silent and spins freely, along with the idler and alternator.

[joelsplace]

I don't know how familiar you are with the fan bearings but they should have some drag. If they spin freely the grease is dried up.

[2LZ]

I don't know how familiar you are with the fan bearings but they should have some drag. If they spin freely the grease is dried up.

Familiar with a Corvair fan? Not at all. This is my first. From the hundreds of other "used bearings" I've inspected over the decades, this one seems fine. When I mentioned "spins freely", I should have specified no grumble, chatter or heavy drag. My error. Just in case, I believe this is a replace bearing, not repack?.....and it's also easier to replace the entire top plate as opposed to just the bearing?

[RexJohnson]

Did you look at the fins on the cylinder heads to see if they need deflashed?

[2LZ]

Did you look at the fins on the cylinder heads to see if they need deflashed?

??? Like from the original castings? Leftover flashing? I've seen videos of folks deflashing the inside of the engine block.

[cnicol]

Deflashing: Removing surplus material that leaked out when the parts were made. In Corvair heads, this happened where the halves of the mold came together, halfway through the fins. This casting "flash" serves as a trap for dirt, leaves, etc and eventually blocks airflow. Airflow through the head is critical. There are lots of pieces to the air cooling puzzle but the heads might be the #1 concern.

Here's a photo before and after removal of casting flash. The "before" picture is a head that has already been cleared of any debris stuck deep down in the fins.

Cyl heads Side_By_Side.jpg (45.56 KiB) Viewed 248 times

[2LZ]

Interesting. I'll have to look. Thanks for the clarification. What is the suggested method of deflashing while the engine is still in the car?
This is why I'm here, to learn from the Corvair pro's. I've been wrenching for the better of 5 decades and spent a number of years as a mechanic....but as stated earlier, this is my first Corvair. I'm trying to absorb all the info I can gather.

[RexJohnson]

For cleaning them in the car I like to jack the car up to make it as easy on your back as possible. I then take the lower shrouds off and put a light underneath so that the fins are back lit which makes it easier to see what you are doing. I use a keyhole saw to poke thru and open the slots. Others have their own way so we will see what others say.

[2LZ]

For cleaning them in the car I like to jack the car up to make it as easy on your back as possible.

I can appreciate that! I'll have to dig out my keyhole saw and get after it.

[caraholic4life]

There are two rubber seals for the Oil Cooler that can get hard and leak. Purchase a pair of Viton seals and that should the leak unless the cooler is damages somehow.

IF you are familiar with Clarks Corvair, they along with other reputable vendors sell Viton seals for several of the Corvair related rubber pieces ("O" Rings for the push rod tubes, and other items)

Here is the Clarks Part number C123C: VITON OIL COOLER SEALS-SET 2 1 SET NEEDED PER CAR
Here is a direct link for the Viton Oil Cooler Seals http://ssl.corvair.com/user-cgi/search.cgi?part=C123C

[joelsplace]

If you give the fan a good spin it should stop in maybe 4 turns. If it spins freely the grease is gone. There is a point where the grease is gone but the bearing isn't damaged yet so it will feel good.