Corvair Forum

Mine happened in 1965 or 66 when I had my 62 Monza up on stands in the garage of my parents new home.
I was replacing the blower bearing and after bolting the blower cover back on I, for unkonwn reasons decided to reach in the drivers window and crank the engine over?? That was a big mistake because I still had the fuel line from the pump off and the coil wire pulled out of the cap. OOPS! Fuel and spark at the same time. I had cranked it enough before I realized what was happening that the engine compartment was in flames. My first action was to flee the garage but once safe outside I struggled to think of a way to stop the fire and save my Corvair. I knew the garden hose was a bad idea and decided to try to smother the flames. The only thing I could find to do that with was a 2 cubic foot bag of OH NO Steer Manure.
I ran back into the garage and dumped the whole bag on top of the engine. Fire Out Instantly but the cleanup took many smelly hours. There was Manure everywhere. If that bag of Manure had not been sitting beside the garage I would have been in big trouble and probably looking for a new place to live.
Please don't tell Mom cuz I never did.
OK who can top that!
Bill,

No Corvair fires for me but I did forget to remove the 3/4" wrench from the harmonic balancer bolt before starting the engine one time. It cranked over hard for a couple of revolutions before it snapped of the bolt in the end of the crankshaft.

Then there was the time I put kerosene in the tank instead of racing gas --- Very long story but here's a couple of pics.
And then there was the time I ------------------------------------------------------------- !

I once had to call my dad cause I lost my nuts... I forgot to tighten the rear motor mount nuts and the engine fell out while I was driving. I still haven't lived that one down

It was a cold, dark, miserable morning on my way to get a cup of coffee when I pulled up to the multipump and proceeded to fill my car up with diesel. I kept thinking this place smelled like a truckstop! A few miles down the road the reality came to me as I sputtered to the side of the road. It didn't hurt anything but it was a stinky clean up job.

I just drove the vair to the gas station.... starting clanking like it had a loose U-joint on the way back... we forgot to torque the lug nuts on the rear wheel down several weeks ago. Made a hell of noise when they loosened a bit more and let the slotted rims bang around. Damn gringo mechanic I am anyway. Lucky for me... nobody knows.... oh wait.

Okay this might not be the "dumbest ever" but I thought I would share it with you guys. (and Gals) On my newest car the speedo doesn't work.
So I am driving it around and finally need gas. Fill the tank and write down the mileage. Well I want to know what kinda MPG I might get.
Drive it around some more, need gas, fill it up. So then I thought I will calculate the mileage. I look what it was last time I filled it, and what the mileage was the same from two weeks ago. The speedo is broken of course the mileage would be the same. stupid stupid stupid. The funny side note is about a week ago i noted that the trip odometer wasn't advancing. DUH the speedo wasn't working stupid stupid stupid.

65Ragtop wrote:It was a cold, dark, miserable morning on my way to get a cup of coffee when I pulled up to the multipump and proceeded to fill my car up with diesel. I kept thinking this place smelled like a truckstop! A few miles down the road the reality came to me as I sputtered to the side of the road. It didn't hurt anything but it was a stinky clean up job.

I did that to a '77 firebird formula about 20 years ago. In my case it was late at night.

I bought one from PA

mart wrote:I bought one from PA

hahaha Mart I know it's bad... but it's a Corvair... and to abuse a common quote..

"Your worst day working on the Corvair... is better than your best day working at the office."

I don't have anything to compete with some of you but I did once try to set the timing on one of my cars with the inductive pickup on the wrong wire

Oh wait, I've got a good one! Not too long ago I did my first late model headliner install. It came out pretty darned nice and I was thrilled. Then I went to install the windlace around the front and rear glass and couldn't get them on... turned out I left the pieces out that are supposed to go above the headliner and hold it (and the windlace) in place!!! DOH!

I wound up just gluing the windlace in place with silicone so it should be easy to pull down later if need be. I just hope it holds and doesn't fall off on a really hot day or something!

These are the kinds of things that can happen when 6 years pass by between dis-assembly and reassembly

Not a 'Vair moment but crazy. I had a lifted rock crawler S-10 with solid axles. I was parked on a typical suburbia sloped driveway. Didn't have a parking brake. I had to pull the driveshaft. Forgot the wheel chocks. I was underneath. Luckily there were no cars driving by or parked cars.

I'll keep it short especially since I may have already posted it once before.

After doing a seal job on someone else's Corvair I attempted to adjust the valves while it was running (like I normally did) but the valves simply would not be quiet .......then it dawned on my as I quickly shut off the engine off and put oil in it. I and hoped for the best.

Fortunately no harm done and the customer said the Corvair had never run as well.

after changing the oil in my 66 Monza, I went to check for leaks after starting it up...........discovered oil sprayin from the filter because it was not tight enought......