1960 Back to the Future

[alamosharp]

Hi my name is Dan. I'm from San Antonio TX. My wife's father bought this '60 4 Door Deluxe about 14 years ago. It hasn't ran since. I promised her I'd get it started. But don't know where to start. I joined this forum hoping to learn more about Corvairs and how to get mine running again. So hello, and any advice is welcome.

[jennirw]

FOR INFORMATION ON 1960 CORVAIRS TRY THESE FACEBOOK LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/CavemanCorv ... saChapt003
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/181262738554861/

FOR INFORMATION ON PREPARING A CORVAIR TO DRIVE TRY THIS LINK:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/1812 ... 584875806/

[Mountain Pilot]

Welcome to the Forum...

I have a '60 Sedan also that I am rebuilding also and it is going to be next summer ( at least ) before I get it on the road. Hopefully yours will go along quicker. Being in Texas the winter probably will be the best time to work on it... Here in Colorado work goes slow, sometimes to a stop in the winter ( 8 deg this morning..)

I have several other Corvairs but the '60 is my favorite. My first one was a Red '60 sedan also ( in 1964 ).

See them here: http://s39.beta.photobucket.com/user/Hi ... edan%20Two

If you decide to get the engine running first my first suggestion is to fill the cylinders with Automatic Tranny fluid ( or Marvel Mystery Oil ) and let it sit for about a week. Drain the crank case and over fill it with 50/50% ATF and light weight engine oil.

While waiting on this drain the fuel tank, best to remove the fuel level sensoron the right lower side of the tank ( just jack up the front of the car and access it from the right side ( I remove the tire for more room ). Empty the tank and clean out, check operation of the level sensor ( needs to be grounded to the body ).
Pull the Carbs and rebuild, very easy to do but make sure all the feed holes in the carb body is clear of junk.

After the week and with spark plugs removed place old rags over the plug holes and with fan belt removed turn engine over ( I mean to turn the crank ) to purge oil out of the cylinders, then using the starter turn the engine again at the faster speed to blow the rest of the oil out and force the new oil through the engine.

Now after cleaning up the oily mess that you created ( hopefully you spread a sack of oil dry below the engine )
Fill the gas tank about 1/2 way ( 5 g. ),
replace Carbs ( a rebuilt fuel pump would be good - '60 and '61 are different than later ),
Check for spark,
Set oil level at proper level,
Crank until fuel reaches carbs, replace plugs and see if it runs.
After running for about 10 minutes drain oil and replace with proper oil ( see discussion on oils - important to use proper flat tappet oil ) and see how it drives...

You will run into problems getting this done so holler back to us when you get stuck...

[Scott H]

I found this article (discussion) awhile back on How to start a Corvair that has sat for several years.
I don't know who wrote it or where I got it. In addition to the advice from others it should help get you up and running.

1. Jack front of car, cut rubber line in middle, drain all fuel (or whatever) from tank. Plug tank cut line piece (clamp), add 1 gal acetone to tank. Cap tank. Let it sit at least four days. Disconnect fuel pump inlet steel line. Blow through with compressed air, and then soak in acetone as tank is doing. Be sure to plug pump end of line or acetone will evaporate. Drain acetone from tank and line, blow line out with air. Connect tank, line, engine with new rubber hoses (even if the engine end hose wasn't bad before, acetone isn't good for it).

Trust me on the fuel system stuff. It is much easier to clean tank and line than repetitively do carbs. If you're not planning on driving the car, and just want to run the engine, get a 1/4" pipe-barb connector, attach to fuel pump inlet, and feed the engine from a tank and hose behind the battery or somewhere. Don't feed the carbs from those 19-year static lines.

2. Remove the distributor and all six spark plugs. Put the heaviest engine oil that will pour at the available temp range down the plug holes (about 50 mL/cyl). Drain crankcase and refill with cheap, but not brand X oil in a 10/40 or 20/50 grade (coking restrictions don't apply--you won't be using this oil for even 500 miles). Change filter. Let oily cyls sit for at least a day before attempting to turn the engine. Get/make pump priming bar (bar stock with flat ground on one end is my fave, long spoon bits and discarded distributor shafts have also been used). Hook to your strongest drill-motor, set to clockwise, and give a good rip. When the drill slows down, you've primed the pump. Let it run another 30 sec like this (use a watch-it seems like an eternity). Then try to turn the engine over with a wrench on the crank pulley. If successful, turn engine slowly with wrench while running oil pump--this will fill each rod bearing as the galleries line up. Go through two full crank revs like this. If your drill is strong, you'll get 20-30 psi, which is enough to pump the lifters and pushrods up, which will also save you some grief. If the wrench wouldn't turn the engine, try a little more leverage(but don't try to
break the crank bolt--it will). If this didn't work, a fresh battery and the starter are worth a try. If the starter won't budge it, you're down to kerosene, marvel mystery oil, and your favorite deity. If the starter *does* budge it, stop as soon as it moves, and turn it by hand--can break rings on rusty bores otherwise. Engine turns? Hand-turned and primed
through two revs? OK. Next step:

3. Hook fuel pump up to fuel source. Take off the air cleaners and cross-pipe. Jack up back end of car so that rear wheels are clear of ground. Use jackstands, because you're going to run it like this. Check diff and trans oils (don't skip this one—trust me!). Put it in neutral, install a fully charged battery, and give it one last drill motor priming before you reinstall the distributor (don't hook up yet--don't want any ignition just yet). Check everything visually, and then get somebody to turn the key while you watch the engine. Spin the engine over on the starter motor for 30 sec (use watch again--it's even longer when you're holding the key to "start"). You're watching for gasoline to flood out of a carb... The oil light hopefully went out quickly during this. With no plugs in the engine, the starter motor just slung oil all over the engine from the crank throws, which is what we want. It also blew oil out all six plug holes, so clean up the mess and install the plugs. You probably already primed the fuel pump with the starter, but check it for prime now. Of course, if you have a stuck or sunk float, you found out about pump prime from this...

4. Hook up the ignition and fuel systems. Check belt tension. Start the engine. IF the carbs primed, and you set the timing right, it'll almost certainly catch. If it doesn't seem to want to, check for oil fouled plugs, though this is rare after 30 sec of no-plug cranking. If it catches, only let it run for about five seconds, then cut it off, put it in first or low, and restart. This allows you to pump lubricant to all the transmission parts quickly, and coat the diff gears all under no load. A fast idle should be enough to throw some oil to the pinion bearings, but I usually change to fourth or high to make sure it works (this is about
equal to 20 mph wheel speed). Fourth(3rd if no 4th) in the manual transes also locks the shafts on the trans, which removes any load from the cluster gear, ensuring it sees oil before load.

5. Let it run with the rear wheels whizzing over for at least fifteen minutes. Make sure the chokes and thermostat doors open normally, but don't take it off the fast-idle cams--it needs to sling oil around inside everything. It'll smoke you out of the garage--beware. When it's hot, put it in neutral, synch the carbs, set the timing, etc. Put the engine back together.

5a. For manual transes, the clutch is almost certainly rusted together. The quick way to *try* to pop it loose is to put it in fourth, start the engine (drive wheels spinning again), and when the engine is warm and torquey, tromp the clutch to the floor (you checked for adjustment first, didn't you?), goose the throttle and yank up on the handbrake. Either a)
the engine will die, b) the clutch will pop loose, or c), you will find the handbrake doesn't work. If c), manually set the fast-idle cams on the engine to get it spinning fast, then push the clutch to the floor and tromp the brake pedal. A) or b) will occur. If a), a more aggressive second effort may succeed. If it doesn't you get to pull the engine and
do the clutch.

If b), or your automatic works right, Grin, drink beverage of choice, take it off the jacks and go for a short drive (short only till you check out steering and flush the brakes).

BTW, if you had an auto trans, these will sometimes suck up a quart of fluid to fill the convertor. Be sure to check fluid level before actually moving the car with the engine for the first time, and watch it carefully for the first ten mins driving or so for level changes.

[Scott H]

Here is the follow up questions that came after it...

Q: where do I go to get acetone?

A: Once upon a time, you could even get it at K-mart. Look in the paint supplies section. Be warned, though, that acetone is flammable, potentially explosive, and a pretty good anesthetic. So be careful around it. Oh, and it has a much higher vapor pressure than most components of gasolines, so it's still a danger even at relatively low temperatures.

Q:why do you recommend using the heaviest oil that will flow at ambient?

A: MMM is a good penetrating oil, which is what you need if something is stuck. If it isn't stuck, it needs lubrication far worse, since all the oil that lubed the bores ran into the pan years ago. Heavier bodied oils have a higher film strength, and you're in a marginal lube situation, so that's important. Hence heavy oil in the cylinders. This isn't so critical before the starting process, but when the engine fires, combustion pressure forces the rings into the bores with several hundred lbs of pressure, so good lubrication is mandatory if you don't want scuffed bores and rings.
Then try to turn the engine over with a wrench on the crank pulley.

Q: worried about varnish in the fuel pump but more worried of brittle parts breaking when I mess with it.

A: Just put fuel through it, and it'll be fine. The volume of the pump is so small, and basically nothing in it makes powdered rust. So there's just a layer of varnish inside. Acetone will remove plasticizers from the rubber parts, so don't flush it with anything but gas. Just trust the gasoline to do the job. A small squirt of engine oil down the vent hole on top won't hurt anything either...

[boatbob2]

When you get it started,its going to sound like someone is inside the engine,beating on it,put 4 qts of trans fluid,1 qt of 30 weight oil in in,start it,let it run,(watch it dont overheat) after all the noise stops,drain all oil,change filter,fill with oil,if its cold outside,thin oil,if warm,30 wt oil.