Been busy "restoring" my 61 Lakewood 500

[Storm]

Alright so Friday the rest of the rocker on the driver side will be patched up.

Anyway today I felt like putting the dash in with new lights, headlight & dimmer switch. So I got everything in & I have headlights! Low & high, quite happy!!

The taillights light up, the right side seems to have a ground issue (64 memories kicking in), although when I took it out I couldn't believe how clean it is! Expect those screws, I'm sure the housing would clean up with some elbow grease!

I'm guessing with the way the wagon is designed at the back compared to the cars makes the difference. It is the stock housing & it even has the rubber spacer on it still! The retainer is immaculate! No real rust anywhere, maybe a touch. The feet are there as well, maybe a bit bent. I'll attach a picture.

I did try to get it started and running again but it seems that it does not want to turn over. If I go to the back of the car and crank each accelerator pump two or three times and turn the key it'll fire for a brief second and then die. I'm in the garage and it's about 70°, so I don't expect the choke to be needed, but I can manually operate those as well with the help of a buddy.

Of course my dwell and timing light are in the shop for some tuning. I did put new carburetor inlets from Clarks on, it seems like they work wonders and don't leak from where the line comes in anymore but it seems to leak on the threads of each carburetor. So I guess I'll have to shave them down a bit.

I did notice I was trying to start it while it was in gear but luckily it's on jack stands. I'll have to throw the shifter in to put it in neutral. I did notice when I pressed the clutch in it didn't stop the wheels from spinning, hopefully it just needs tightened or adjusted. Don't feel like pulling anything just yet. If it's shot though might have extra work.

Kyle Storm

1964 Corvair Monza/110hp/4 Speed
1961 Corvair Lakewood/80hp/3 Speed

[Storm]

Alright gentleman, here's my conundrum.

So I've been fiddling with my engine & getting it to stay running.

I have none of the sheet metal attached at the moment. Shrouds & heater outlets are out as well. No pedal & the accelerator linkage that goes into the engine is out. Choke is disconnected too

I have the fan on, carbs, cross shaft, distributor, points & condenser, coil, plugs, wires. Basically everything I need to have it run.

So when the battery is on, I can turn the key & it cranks. If I pump the cross shaft 1 time & turn the key it fires then dies out. If I pump more than once same story.

I attached the vacuum advance & plugged the left carb vacuum port.

Same story, starts for a second & dies.

One time with a helper, I got it running with brake cleaner & continued to run with it. Fuel was leaking from the Venturi cluster (dribbles) it continued to dribble after it was off too. So I changed the new fuel pump spring to the ac delco one that was on the car.

So is it that I need a helper to pump & move the choke? I'm I missing something to why it will not continue to run? Should I attach more of the parts? Accelerator linkage & pedal?

When it did run, no odd noises, sounded healthy for a engine that sat for 50 years.

Any suggestions are welcome!

May just need to take the time to install more of the engine parts. Only reason I haven't is ease of cleaning & working on. Lots of grit that I've been cleaning.

Kyle Storm

1964 Corvair Monza/110hp/4 Speed
1961 Corvair Lakewood/80hp/3 Speed

[Storm]

Here is a picture of the engine bay. That way you see how I'm working on it & what's connected.

Yes I know the screws are out on the cross shaft on left carb. About to take it off to file the inlet nut down. Leaks gas from it.

Kyle Storm

1964 Corvair Monza/110hp/4 Speed
1961 Corvair Lakewood/80hp/3 Speed

[Storm]

Good news!

After playing with the carbs some, I was able to get it going & run to the engine to move the cross shaft. It ran long as I held the cross shaft at the right angle. So I'm guessing the carbs need more tuning to be able to run without me helping.

I'm impressed with how it sounds for 50 years of sitting. Smoked some but didn't let run more than a few minutes. As not much to assist with cooling is on. Not to mention the generator is kaput. Luckily here in Ohio it's 31° & with the garage open I'm sure it helped keep it cool.

I'm beyond ecstatic that I've gotten this far! This is my first project car & I have loved all the work so far. Minus welding those rockers. Looks ugly now, but once smoothed & painted to match it will be great!



So I'm just needing to play with the carbs, I'm guessing, to get it to run without me playing with the cross shaft. Although maybe it will take some more nursing after sitting for 50 years. The wheels spin, good thing it was on jack stands.

One issue I've run into is the shifter seems a bit short, the ball on the bottom barely reaches, it's a 3 speed, although I'm missing pieces on the shaft.

Anyway, of course after I make a post the wagon decides to treat me right! Still would appreciate any thoughts from the vets of corvairs here. I'm only 25 & tinkering to the best of my knowledge from books, manuals, film, chevy guides & of course this group!

Kyle Storm

1964 Corvair Monza/110hp/4 Speed
1961 Corvair Lakewood/80hp/3 Speed

[joelsplace]

It is hard to say what it might be. It could be as simple as the idle is set too low. Did the carburetor quit dripping after you changed the spring?

[Storm]

Yes they did! No more dripping during running or after it is off.

I will play with the carbs some more tomorrow or the next day. My mini vacation ended & must return to work to afford tinkering on two Corvairs [emoji16]

Kyle Storm

1964 Corvair Monza/110hp/4 Speed
1961 Corvair Lakewood/80hp/3 Speed

[Storm]

Here's a dumb question. I'm about to redo my engine seals with staples. I'm noticing that I need to take out the pieces the seals go into.

So the rear section doesn't have one & I don't remember taking apart anything that had seal for the rear on it. Does the wagon have a rear seal? If so can anyone provide a picture from above & below.

I sprayed some PB Blaster to soak the bolts holding in the seal retainers to sand & paint as well tomorrow.

Painted them & also a few other components. I never knew the horn was protected by a sheet metal shield. Repainted as well. That is the other piece on the table.

Kyle Storm

1964 Corvair Monza/110hp/4 Speed
1961 Corvair Lakewood/80hp/3 Speed

[Storm]

Well I got the wagon to stay running, attached the choke & that did the job, I took that thing for granted with my automatic choke on my 64!

Well she sounds fine, didn't really let her run for long, 2 minutes if that. Idled quite high so i took the carbs off & adjusted to bench specs out of the carb book. Reattached & it sounded not as high as rpms. Happy about that.

I took the time to get two of the 3 seals attached to the sheet metal, boy does that suck.... Third one will be today once I wake up.

Although I decided it was time to take off my oil pan, rocker covers, rockers, pushrods & pushrod tubes to clean & add viton I rings. Of course one of the head bolts came out when trying to
get off the rocker bolt stud.....oh well. Boy oh boy, inside the heads were not to bad, just a light glaze of oil, but not chunky or built up too much. The oil pan..... Wow, I think I'm the first to take it off! It had at least 2-3 inches of sludge near the drain hole. At the bottom near the drain hole was what appeared to be lead! Must be from the gas back in the day over time made it down there. It's amazing I was running it briefly with all that sludge. Makes my wonder how my 64 is......

I'll attach some pictures. Progress is going well through, once this is back together, I'll add cheaper oil & try to flush out the engine with a few changes. I don't think there is another way to do so without dropping & rebuilding right? I've heard old trick is to use kerosene or diesel fuel to fill up 4 quarts & drain, not run though. I don't like that idea though.

[joelsplace]

3 engine seals? It has 4. One on each side.

[Storm]

The 3 with staples are done. The last one just gets some holes for bolts & tucked above the rear grill from comparing to another wagon buddy. None are installed yet as I took apart the rockers, still need to remove pushrod tubes to clean (soak in degreaser) & do the o-rings.

Is it safe to spray brake clean under the rocker cover to clean a bit of the oil? Same above the oil pan?

[joelsplace]

I've often used brake clean for that. Now I have a dedicated solvent tank for that.

[Storm]

Well, it's all clean as I could get it, put everything back & got the rockers adjusted. Oil pan reinstalled. Letting it sit for a day most likely before adding oil again.

Next I think I'll put the sheet metal back on along with the seals. Or maybe the shifter.

Only time will tell!

[Storm]

Figured I get the sheet metal mostly reinstalled, just have to take the lines off my repop fuel pump & moved to the original 61 pump & rod.