County98's Learn as I Go Thread

[County98]

Might be both on the oil changes and hotness. Doesn't seem to be too molested, I'm not going to say it's never been opened, but I wouldn't think too often. Valve covers still have some white chalk/grease pencil writing and the heads have CERTAINLY never been de-flashed. Can barely see through them in most places.

Anything I should look at specifically while I have the covers off? I was thinking about pulling the top cover? (the plate holding the fan) and taking a look, but don't know if it will be necessary. I haven't looked it up, but can I just pull the bolts and remove it like the oil pan, or is there some extra trickiness in there.

I don't want to pull the heads, but want to see as much as possible without doing that.

[cad-kid]

If the top cover is not leaking and you won't be pulling the rods off I would leave it on. Of course there is nothing wrong with pulling it and inspecting things then resealing it. Perhaps you could pull it off then send out the cover so a new fan bearing can be installed (that's what I did when I went through my engine).

With the valve covers off - (if you are going to redo the valve adjustment anyway), you should inspect the push rods and verify they are installed correctly (small side oiling hole at the rocker end).

[County98]

Started in on the Springs and Shocks over the last couple days. Rears weren't too bad, but still took a little while. The second side was noticeably faster once I saw how it all worked from doing the driver side. I also already had all my tools in a pile instead of getting up and down 3,746 times looking for stuff.

Got it done and turned out pretty good. The only thing left on the back for this little job is to torque the strut rod to differential carrier bracket thingy (?), once I get it back on it's wheels and at ride height. 1" drop HD rate vs old standard.

I do have a question though... Manual says to make sure springs are indexed top AND bottom. I got everything indexed at the top with the rubber doo-hicky and the big cone, but the bottom is about 2" from the index indent. I went around the car and it looks like the factory springs (still had the HA tags on them), had the same gap to the index detent. Is this anything I need to address?

Okay, so today I started on the fronts. OH. MY. GOD. What a PITA. This has got to be the least fun thing I've done so far, lol. Pretty much just trying to suffer through it and get on to something else!

First thing this nice, cool, Sunday morning. Went out in the garage with a cup of coffe and felt ready to conquer the front springs and shocks. The VERY first nut on the upper shock, of the VERY first piece of the whole job...No bueno. What should have been a 60 second top nut turned into an hour of vice grips, wrenches, cussing, and exasperation. Including getting in the Jeep and driving to FLAPS to buy a nut splitter! If you don't have one of these, go buy one before you start. trust me. $10 well spent!

Rest of the day followed suit, lol. I ended up knocking over and breaking my coffee cup, spent 2 hours trying to get the first ball joint to let go, etc. My Goodness, this thing. Got both shocks out, both strut rod bracket nuts off, got the cotter keys and BJ nuts loosened, but those damn ball joints wouldn't budge.

Tried the shock/hammer method (NO room to do this in the car with my face 3" from this scary spring I'm trying to unleash on the world), the pickle fork (wrong size, shredded the boot, didn't budge the joint), excessive foul language method, nothing worked. I ended up getting back in the Jeep and heading for Marty's where I borrowed his Pickle Fork Air Hammer attachment. This FINALLY freed up the passenger side.

Front Passenger finally freed. Driver side still not feeling the mojo, so have that soaking in PB blaster overnight and I'll tackle it again tomorrow.

Since I shredded both BJ boots, I saw these at Autozone that I think will work. I know they say Tie Rod, but should be close.

Gave up for the day after getting my butt thoroughly kicked! What I ASSUMED I could knock out in the morning, I only got half done all day. Oh well. A day in the garage is never really a bad day if it's not your only vehicle!

New 2" drop HD vs old standard rate.

Time for some steaks and a beer. Maybe I'll conquer this thing yet. Just not today...

[cad-kid]

Thanks for the report and pics

[91blaze]

Are those Clark's HD springs?

[County98]

Nope. Ordered from Coil Spring Specialities. 1" drop rear, 2" drop front, HD rate plus 10%. Custom wound from straight bar.

[91blaze]

When you get everything put back together do you think you could do me a favor and measure the height to the fenderwell? I may end up going the same or similar setup as you.

[County98]

So, kicked a little butt today and I'm feeling pretty good about it.

I didn't do anything this week except squirt a little PB blaster on the driver lower ball joint every couple days and went out to hit it this morning. Cranked up the output on the air compressor regulator to about 90psi and went at that ball joint with a vengeance. After about 15-20 minutes..pop!...success!

After that, the clean up and re-assembly was pretty straightforward and not too bad at all.

New vs. Old

Just a quick side note in case anyone doesn't know. You need to order the big fat upper shock bushings separate from your vendor of choice. You can see them in the pic. For anyone new to Corvairs (me), these act as in line bump stops. You will only use a couple pieces of the supplied shock hardware.

For those that have NEVER changed a shock (not me, lol), the little nub goes toward the steel of the car. This is kind of a centering nub that also keeps the shock shaft from rubbing on the metal. Also, there is no torque setting really for an upper bushing, you want to tighten it up only until the rubber squishes out to about the same diameter as the retaining washer.

Here's what was the aftermath of the ball joints after the air hammer/pickle fork combo. What a mess...

I AM going to change the ball joints when I decide to do all the rest of the front suspension, but I'll do a full drop and do it all in a few months. We have a move coming up to Oklahoma, so for now the mission is to get a solid roller and maybe get it running. Drivable onto a trailer is my mission!

Cleaned up okay, and I think the joints are all still good anyway. Only have about 60K on them and they all still have some grease under the boots. I'll clean up the zerks and re-grease them for now. No interstate driving is in my foreseeable future.

Cleaned up a little.

You can see that my pickle fork action smooshed a little of the rim of the cup. Sucks, but not the end of the world. I would fire my mechanic, but then I'd be really pissed at myself all day. Then I would have to re hire the only mechanic I can afford...also me. Then I would resent firing me and be afraid that I would do more shoddy work to get back at me. You can see where this is going, would be an awkward situation for all of the me's to have to deal with.

On the upside, the Tie Rod boots from the Help section of Autozone fit perfectly! They don't retain from underneath, but fit great and have a little downward pressure from the top nut. Should be okay to keep junk out of there and hold in some grease. I just won't go nuts filling it up.

And FINALLY, the finished product. This is actually the first "chunk" that I have completed fully. New shocks and springs all around. Adjustable Gabriels all set to medium setting, which I think is "firm".

Yay for me! Got a victory today.

[County98]

Before calling it a day, I took a couple hours to change out all 6 stabilizer bar bushings and get it back in the car. I've had it out ever since I first changed out the gas tank, but now that I've got the springs changed, I decided to tackle it. Not terrible, but wrangling in new bushings over/in/through rusty steel is never a good time.

The tool of the day is dish soap. I've been using it forever on rubber bushings, straight soap, no water. Goes on really slickery (new word I just made up. You can use it though), then when it dries out it gets sticky almost like a water soluble glue.

Laid out everything and snapped a pic so I would know the orientation of it later.

Spread open the hanging bracket some with a small crowbar and got all the old crap out or off. To drive out the center steel pins, I set the edges on my vice and hammered out the pins with a socket the same diameter as the pins.

My thumbs are sore as hell from feeding the bushings in the eyelets, but it's possible with a lot of soap and some perseverance. To get them back on, I fed the bar-arm bushings into the spread out opening and slid it all on the bar together. This worked okay as I was able to use the arms as little handles and work everything past the corners. Again, lot's of soap.

Make sure the orientation is correct when putting the little arm thingy's back on. The bar must go a certain way and dip down in the middle to clear the gas tank. The manual has a good picture of which direction all the bolts go in.

Finished product is all new bushings and all LOOSELY installed in the car. Will torque all of these when the car is sitting on it's own weight so as to not preload and bind anything up.

Not too bad of a job. Quite a bit of moving from side to side to get everything lines up and the bushings all situated where they need to be. You can't do one side completely or the other side will be tough to adjust.

OH! One very important safety note. When you're finished, make sure you return the dish soap to the kitchen in a pristine, clean condition. Leaving a grease caked bottle sitting on the counter to "get to it later", can be hazardous.

[County98]

I'll get some measurements for you Blaze from fender lip to ground and fender lip to center of hub. Won't be until I get all the brakes done and the wheels painted/tires mounted though. Couple weeks probably. I'll be going with 205/55-15 tires all around with a height of 23.9".

[91blaze]

Thanks, I will be doing this soon so all these pictures are very helpful

[cad-kid]

Good update

[County98]

Nothing too earth shattering today, but I did get a lot of work done on a job I've been dreading. I've been kind of stalling on running the long lines for brake and fuel from the front to the back. I had read some say that the power pack had to be dropped to do it, but I decided to give it a shot and got her done without all of that. Took a good 6 hours today, but I learned a lot and feel better knowing that it's done now.

Started with doing the Clark's Dual MC upgrade. Got the old stuff off (forgot to take pics) and chucked it in the trash. When you pull it, all you will see is the 2 mounting bolts and the plunger rod. Looks kind of like a solid pushrod sticking out a few inches. Mine was kind of gunked up, so just to be safe, I wrapped a little piece of 400 grit sand paper around it and cleaned it up smooth and shiny.

Then you will have to put the seal cup on and mount the MC. No really big deal, just push the pedal all the way in to give you as much of the rod as possible and make it all fit together, getting the lip of the plunger seal around the lip on the MC.

All together. Came back after running my new brake long line to attach the rear line with the little stub out junction. Not crazy about the routing from the kit. It's all nice, solid, quality stuff, but the routing is crazy. Now I have a giant cage of brake lines just asking to get smacked around. Maybe later when I get around to prettying up the trunk, I will home bend a couple new lines that go straight underneath and look cleaner...and less gigantic.

Next was the big battle. This wasn't an awful job, just tedious, with hours of laying under the car and massaging all the lines to bend and re-bend just so. I REALLY tried to make it look pro and get everything run just like it came from the factory, but it just wasn't happening. The routing is really close, but even though the pre-bent lines are a good investment IMHO, they're never going to be perfect, plus a lot of flexing and whatnot getting them installed. Finally done. For some chafe protection or anywhere I needed a spacer, I used some leftover 5/16" fuel line. I cut it into 2-3" pieces and split it. Then just slid it over the lines in any place either one may touch metal or each other. I think it's a solid job, just not as pretty as I would have liked.

Tough spots are which lines/cables/rods they go under or over, and the little stand off thingy at the rear of the shift tube.

For all couplings, I used a VERY small amount of thread sealant (from a tube, NOT tape) on the threads only.

Okay, back to the front. Now I've got the MC mounted, the long lines run, and need to drill a hole and bend my new line 90 degrees to come out for the new rear MC reservoir. Kind of a PITA. Needed a couple tools for this. Clark's says to drill a 7/16" hole after you mark the spot. No way I could get the coupling nut through a 7/16" hole, so I went to 1/2". I used my step bit, but didn't want to go too far, so taped off where I should stop drilling on the bit. Works fine for a quick hole.

You can see my hole placement was a little off and I went right through a corner of the stand off clamp on the inside. Oh well.

You can also see, I have a little electrical tape on the line. This was my way of marking where to start the 90 degree bend I had to make to exit into the trunk. Don't crease or kink the line trying to do this, I used a $12 tube bender.

SO...all done from the front new MC, all the way to the rear brakes junction. I'll tackle the rears next time, but ALMOST all the hard lines are now run. Since my new fuel line went in at the same time, I went ahead and connected that up to my new fuel pump as well. Now fuel is done all the way to the rear rubber piece at the firewall.

Oh! This is what the front ditro block looks like with the MC conversion. Basically, you attach the new feed line and cap off the rear line with a plug. Then your rear line pokes out the trunk wall and gets it's own reservoir.

Cheers!

[County98]

Got to spend a couple hours on the car today. Nice Sunday morning.

Got both of the front rubber lines on, new wheel cylinders, and new springs and shoes. Did the passenger side first, and it took about twice as long as the driver side, lol. It's been YEARS since I rebuilt drum brakes.

This is what I'm starting with, pretty much the same on all 4 corners.

After reading the manual with the crappy pictures, reading the forums, and trying to decipher Clark's instruction sheets, I dove in. Decided the easiest way to get the fronts off was to undo the top pivot springs on both sides, undo the retaining pins, and drop everything else off as intact as possible.

Once everything was off, I gave the backing plates a quick wipe down and used very small beads of White Lithium Grease on the contact points. Not sure if WLG is the best grease to use, but I had some in a small tube and made it simple.

Put the wheel cylinder on first and then changed out the old rubber line for new. Pretty simple. You have to screw the rubber line into the wheel cylinder first, and then connect up the other side. Don't forget the little copper gasket or you have to take it all apart again. Ask me how I know...

I also found it easier to feed the female end up through the retaining hole and thread the hard line into it BEFORE you tap in the retainer doohicky. Little more play to get it threaded in without cross threading.

Once it was laying on the floor still partially assembled, I just put the new stuff together the same way. Wasn't bad, just get yourself a couple real brake tools. I bought an all-in-one brake tool at Autozone for a few bucks. Davemotohead also has a really quick video on how to use brake tools I watched. MUCH easier than messing around with screwdrivers and pliers.

Passenger side done first.

Then the drivers side. I'm not the pro, but shorter shoe toward the front of the car, star side of adjuster goes toward the read of the car, and with the Clark's kit, passenger side is gold colored and the driver side adjuster is silver.

IF I HAVE ANYTHING OUT OF PLACE OR BACKWARD...PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!!!!

This is what the fronts look like now including the new hard and rubber lines, wheel cylinders, and brakes re-done. Just need drums turned and the fronts will hopefully be good to go!

Cheers!

-Shayne

[County98]

Got another Craigslist find a couple days ago too!!!! SUPER excited about this one.

My seats were all COMPLETELY shot. Dry rot, mouse house, powdery foam. So, like most new Corvair guys, I read all the posts on swapping in seats from other cars and started combing craigslist. Either stuff was too expensive, too hard to mod, or I would have to re-upholster it anyway, so kept passing on the "okay" deals. Always looking for "the one".

SO, stumbled on a guy selling the black leather front buckets, rear seat, and console out of a BMW 318i. Not sure what year, but the guy in the ad said he was going to use them in an old Chevy, but sold the car first. Seats looked flawless, so I called him out of curiosity since he said he got the to use in a project car too.

Turns out he was going to use them in a '66 Chevy II and picked them up because the mount tracks were nice and flat. Even MORE interested now!

Went and took a look and picked up the BMW interior for $400. More than I wanted to spend, but c'mon...BMW black leather, NO tears, front and rear, with a rear seat width that works nice and fronts that are flat!

I have NOT fully installed these yet because the car is on jackstands, but looks like it will be a winner with minimal mods. Also, my pictures aren't so hot, but I'll do more when I get to actually figure out how to install for good.

I just set them in the car, but it looks like the rear bottom width is good. Maybe an inch or 2 on each side. Not sure on height yet. The rear back is really close. It's just a hair too wide at the top, and will have to work the height on it as well, but more to come on the later.

Not all the way back or down, since they're a bit too wide. Just set them in to take a look.

Okay, the fronts. On the very first whack, I set the rearseat mount on the Corvair stud and laid it down to see how close it was. These seats are almost PERFECT front to back. With the back seat hole on the mount stud, the pad on the front of the track sits right on the Corvair mount hump. In fact it's so close that I started a couple threads of the front seat bolt to hold them in. The hole itself is probably off 1/8". can enlarge with a drill and be good to go front to back.

Even though the BMW seats are level and square on the mounts, they are too wide by a couple inches. The outboard track is just mounted a couple inches out. I don't see any reason that I can't get these mounted by simply using 2 side to side strips of flat iron on the front and back and running in all the mount points, Corvair and BMW. Since the front to back distance is almost perfect, I think this is a mod that will be within my scope to get done. I can't weld, but I shouldn't need too for this install.

Test fitted. Again, this is a project for later, but these should be easily adaptable, and almost lay right in. Need to trim some back seat upper width and strap iron flat mount for width on the fronts.

I'm pretty excited. IMHO they don't look too "modern" either. I think they're going to work like a champ and $400 well spent. Only down side is that they don't lean forward. Whatever year these came out of was a 4 door I'm guessing. Not a deal breaker though. Lots of fore/aft slide and they come straight upright.

Cheers!

-Shayne

[bbodie52]

I just wanted to thank you for the extensive postings and pictures, and for sharing so much good information. This is the kind of informative and useful material that many hope to find on the Corvair Forum!