64 Corvair caught on fire bigtime! What do I do now?

[azdave]

Is that an early Honda inline four motorcycle parked next to the Corvair?

Last time I was at Ed's house he had an old Honda there he used as a daily driver. I'm guessing it was a mid-70's vintage and maybe a 550 or a 750?

Ed?

[Crazy George]

Pretty sure the bike Ed has is a 550 honda... he has had that a lone while.. I think he just had clutch work done reasonly... as for the Jack stand,,,,, bad boy he is..... I have to give him another call... I believe I may of sent that jack to him...... I quest we need to see about jack stands........ CG

[64CorvairEd]

Haha! Hey guys!

I keep a fire extinguisher between the two front seats at all times! Can't wait until I have that episode out of my head and can drive 100 yards without looking over my shoulder for flames and smoke. I pulled the starter out and Bill put some new bushings in it for me. Car is running great. Shifting has gotten pretty difficult though and I may have to do something about that soon.

I did have one other scissor jack under the car around the oil pan that you can't see in the picture, but yes, I should get jack stands immediately. I kept picturing my head getting smushed like a old pumpkin.

That is a 74' Honda CB550. I love it. I've had it for 7-8 years and it is a real champ. I just need one of the two vehicles running at any given times and I'm happy. The bike got a flat right around the time I had to choose which one was getting insured so I went with the Corvair (which now has a broken cd player in it!!!!! the aux still works and that's all I really need. Made some speaker boxes out of cardboard and wrapped them in Christmas wrapping paper. I think some of you guys would laugh) My good friend Joey helped me wire it up. Battery hasn't died so I think we did it right.

I was just telling George again today how happy I am that I bought that car and got to meet and be in touch with all of you. Would anyone come if I hosted a BBQ?? It would be great if there was a huge Corvair convention in Phoenix. Does it change cities each year?

Your friend

[Crazy George]

you lucky fool being under that car that way,, In talk and future risks like that , CHOCK THE WHEEL's up front. at lease, the plastic garage can was a great help Bill has safety stands to use if you need to... I think we all would like to keep you around a bit longer and longer....... Yes we had another good talk yesterday and I had a very nice talk with that young lady from France visiting ya...... I tried to get you some points but my french was not that good, WE is all I know and I dont say that unless I know what I am answering too. I did try to help ya out but I could not help myself in telling her about your girl friend from x-mas..... Boy did that gal want to know more about that I know bad me.... Ed , how come you did not tell your MOM about that girl friend? Those reading, Yes , his MOM is here and I had to preasure of speaking with her about her awsome son and my good friend... Glad to hear Bill tore down your starter and repaired it for ya.... and now back to the road again Gee sounds like a song? Talk to ya ED over the week end..... love to be there for a bbq and pretty neat Scott did you a mark for the site I kind like mine too CG

[64CorvairEd]

Haha! I should have given you a little heads up that my mom is not a huge fan of the car. She just worries (fire, no seat belts, no taillight, that kinda stuff..)

I'm doing some research on the shifting problem.... Any ideas on what could be causing it? The clutch pedal works great (thanks to Dave and his ninja-like clutch cable santa claus fix:)

The stick moves very loosely. It feels like the opposite of it being "on rails" and then in order to get it into the gear you want you need to force it to get there. The stick has always been very loose but the difficulty getting it into the gear you want has gotten worse. I'm hoping it's something directly under the shifter that I can easily replace. I'm looking for some diagrams.

[bbodie52]

Haha! I should have given you a little heads up that my mom is not a huge fan of the car. She just worries (fire, no seat belts, no taillight, that kinda stuff...)

"FIRE, NO SEAT BELTS, NO TAILLIGHT, THAT KINDA STUFF??? You can't blame your mother for that... she probably likes you!

...I'm doing some research on the shifting problem.... Any ideas on what could be causing it? The clutch pedal works great (thanks to Dave and his ninja-like clutch cable santa claus fix:)

The stick moves very loosely. It feels like the opposite of it being "on rails" and then in order to get it into the gear you want you need to force it to get there. The stick has always been very loose but the difficulty getting it into the gear you want has gotten worse. I'm hoping it's something directly under the shifter that I can easily replace. I'm looking for some diagrams.

CLARK'S CORVAIR PARTS ONLINE CATALOG
Pages 115-119 list numerous shift linkage components and repair kits...
http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog ... N&page=115


CLARK'S CORVAIR PARTS SHIFTER KITS
http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/catalog ... page=MK-13


Shifting gears article
http://autoxer.skiblack.com/shifter.html

ANOTHER THEORY: You may also want to verify that the clutch cable linkage is adjusted properly. Is the clutch fully disengaging between shifts? If the clutch cable mechanism is not set up right, the clutch could still be partially engaged even with the pedal pushed to the floor, making it difficult for the transmission to shift gears. With the rear wheels off the ground (via jack stands) and the engine running, do the rear wheels stop turning with the car in gear and the clutch pressed to the floor? (Parking brake released, of course).

[Swngaxl]

If you are having sloppy shifting problems, I would suggest looking at the coupling where the shfter rod connects to the transmission. Over time (many years!) the pin will wallow out the holes in the coupler, giving a lot of slop. You may not think it is much, but it gets amplified by the shift lever. That's something definately worth checking out anyway.

[64CorvairEd]

Haha! Brad that is hilarious! That is exactly it. Thanks for your great post. I'm going to get some jack stands and try that out.

Thanks for your post too Phil. I'll try to get a better look at those parts once I have the car up again. I'll replace as many of those worn down parts as I can. They don't seem like they'd be too expensive but maybe I'm wrong.

[64CorvairEd]

Just a little update: The car is running great! I love this part of the Corvair experience! It has also been beautiful here and it really makes me happy to cruise around in the 64'

Hope everyone is having a great 2013 so far.

Ed

[cad-kid]

Excellent Ed

Have any interesting "is that a Corvair?" stories?

[azdave]

Bummer...The car is now for sale on Craig's List Phoenix.

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/4008728806.html

[64CorvairEd]

Hey guys,

Just wanted say hi. I hope everyone is doing awesome. I did have to sell the Corvair, my motorcycle and half my other stuff to move overseas. I sold the Corvair to a new Corvair enthusiast in Arizona and he was very happy to own it. Really nice guy. I miss it like crazy of course but there was no way to ship it over here ec. on my budget.

I'm super thankful for all the help from you guys/gals and the wonderful people I met who helped me fix it up and taught me a ton in the process. Lifetime experience and friendships. I'm living in Paris France now and haven't seen any Corvairs yet but I will take pics and post if I see one!!!

Anyways, I am very thankful and I've told the story to a bunch of people and it warms my heart just thinking about it. Hope to own one again one day. You guys are awesome.

Ed

[cad-kid]

Great to hear from you Ed! What kind of vehicle are you driving now?

[64CorvairEd]

Hey cad-kid, I'm driving no vehicle! Ha! The bus, metro, a lot of walking and a little bicycle once in a while!

[TikiRalf]

where are you now, oversea is a big place ? hahaha

[64CorvairEd]

Hi TikiRalf, I'm in Paris. The Netherlands is not too far...I'll keep an eye out for that white wagon! Hope you're well.