Fascinating videos! So great to watch a true artisan at work. I pray that you are well and remain that way. I've rebuilt V8's but have always been interested in Corvairs. Many moons ago I had a Corvair engine that I meant to rebuild. I realize now that I would have been way over my head. With the completion of your videos the world will have a great instruction manual and tips for all engine builds. I may finally hunt down that Corvair to rebuild. I look forward to the next videos! Thank you!
Thank you! I am well, and will be getting back to this motor later. Have a few other projects I am working on right now, but I do want to have this motor in the car for next year so I better get my butt going on it! LOL!
Thanks for your kind words! I will be getting back onto it soon. I have been a bit busy, did a cancer fund raiser, and am working on a customer job, a sheet metal intake that I REALLY need to get done! Next on the Corvair motor I will be setting the Deck height, then getting the heads assembled and making the intake manifolds, and working on some cool injector holders. Stay tunned! as soon as I get caught up, will start back on this. Best part, no more Dr visits till October!
Thank you for your kind words. That is the moroso wheel from Summit racing, for about $55. That little mr gasket wheel is around $30. Each degree on the Moroso wheel is just over 1/8 inch! Makes it easy to read! Yeah, I like to take some time putting them together. I only want to do it once. I have had the blessing of working with some world class engine builders, and am very thankful for all they taught me. The most important they they taught me is learning never stops!
Great videos. I've built a couple Corvair engines but I learned a few tricks here. Love that you've got all the fancy tools in the world - but you use a pail as an engine stand! Makes me want to go build that 180 turbo I've got laying around in pieces.
I have to tell you I get a real kick out of the line about using a pail as an engine stand! EVERYONE who knows me thinks that is just too funny! (I am telling everyone I loved that line!) Some day I may build a Corvair specific engine stand. When I put the heads on, you will see it on a more normal engine stand supported by the bell housing!
The biggest issue for potential power is the cylinder heads. They are 9 degree heads which is nice, but they are 9 degrees in the wrong direction. So the included valve angle is 18 degrees away from where it should be. The valves are off center, and open towards the cylinder wall not away from it. But even with that issue, you can still make good power. EFI will not make more peak power or torque over carbs, (assuming good carbs) but what EFI will do os allow much better tuning so all those spots that are not peak power or torque can be optimized. My 110 HP corvair makes about 150, has efi and distributorless ignition, and some very mild porting in the bowls. The cam is small and about the same as the GM 304 cam. Another issue is case strength and the fact that the flywheel flange is pressed on the crank. All that said 250 plus is achievable
The 150hp (turbo) 145ci and 140hp and 180hp 164ci motors have nitrided cranks. You can identify them by looking for a (usually) faintly stamped "&" symbol on the flywheel end of the crank snout. The 140hp 164ci crank for the PowerGlide motors have a unique crank gear that retards the timing 4° (IIRC)
Grasshut here replying from another account. You could put a hose around the top of the bucket, would not hurt. It is really not needed, the bucket has a nice flat along the top and is far softer than the aluminum do it will not hurt the aluminum at all.
Wow! Best Corvair engine videos I've seen. I cant wait for number 4. Thank you for doing these. I like the GM coating on the case and crank. I spent about 10 hours with a Dremel and a flexible shaft to burnish all the imperfections in my case. It looks good but I might do the GM red stuff. I'm curious about the teflon coating you used on the bearings. Is it baked on? Was its' life expectancy? I like the oil porting work that you did on the bearings and the case but I don't have the equipment....
I have 6 dynos at work and none will fit a Corvair engine! HP numbers are always kept secret, no need letting people you may be competing against know exactly what they are up against, but I will say when all done this engine should make well over 200. My day job building race engines keeps me quite busy, hard to find time for my own stuff!
Good point on the 140 PG crank, it is an offset key that retards the cam, so you can press off the gear and pres back on with a straight key, or you can use an offset key in the cam to counter the crank key. Personally, I would rather have the crank key correct.
Thank you for the kind words. I hope to be doing the next one soon. Been a bit busy, and trying to get caught up. Now that I am healthy there is a whole bunch of stuff to do! Before I had a really good excuse, now I just have to get to work!
All Corvairs, the 140, 145, and 164 came with forged cranks. Clearly there are 2 stroke lengths, the shorter stroke (2.600) for the 140, and 145, and the longer stroke, (2.940) for the 164. I do think there were a couple different forgings for the 164, and I do know that the cranks in turbo cars got a little extra attention, (nitrited.)
Ken the rest of the build will be coming. have quite a bit going on. have some more parts just have not had the time to work on my own stuff. Will try to remedy that soon
Biggest damn degree wheel I've ever seen! Man all the vair engines I've put together have been "quick n' dirty" compared to your work! Excellent detail sir.
Hey hope youre Still Healthy,.. Iam sitting in Germany and waiting for some New videos to build a corvair Performance Engine too,.. your Video gives a lot of good Informations and important examples ,. Enjoy it,Greets from Germany
Mark Nairn I use them all the time , so what's the problem.............they are strong and do not scratch aluminum..........dont criticise someones work or procedures..
Hi Thats a great job u do,,,,, am wondring how to get 4 used engines for 4 projects am working on now, as am from overseas its hard to get , I tried flycorvair but they dont answer,
Excellent video, sir. I'm doing a rebuild in a storage unit "shop" and I've never done anything more complicated that valve lashing before. This shows me that there's a lot more to this stuff than I imagined and I'll be lucky if I don't screw the pooch ten times over on this one. Here's a link to my FB album on the work, and you can see that I had a pretty rough motor to start with: facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150939240848751.417581.583443750&type=3 (just copy into browser field)
Dear sir,great video,i have fond memories driving my California uncles turbo spider.talk about spooling lag on the freeway on ramp!then the power came on.his son totaled it 6 months later.a waste.i will go thru the other videos.keep plugging away. I want to see the motor running inthe car! Make sure you have good footage of how to best assemble that damn v-belt on the pulleys! Book value re &re belt is. 5.That is,half an hour,engine bone stock.optimists! Keep track of your time when you do that. Are you going to film the transmission with the same detail? There is a cross shaft,if memory serves. The more detail&commentary,the better. PGM.
That begs a question, what is redline on a bone stock engine? Also,how far can you push a modified one? I don,t suppose there is much in the the way of aftermarket performance part,at least these days. Cheers. Maintain an even strain!
My 64 in bone stock condition with a LOT of miles on it, and low compression on one hole would not go over around 4500 RPM. I imagine a stock engine in good shape would do better, but would not produce much more power over 5000 or so.
I used to run my 64 Spyder at the drags. Max RPM was 5500, but power max was at 5000. I loosened the belt so it would throw off at about 300 feet. Changed pulley so the fan ran slower. The fan took 15 HP, and when the belt came off, it was a kick in the pants. Another trick I used was having some skinny tires on the back. Having the tires spin a little kept the revs up and the Turbo spooled up. The Spyder had a forged crank as I recall, and the exhaust valves were sodium cooled. The Turbo muffler was straight through because the turbocharger muffled it enough. My friend had a 110 that he dragged and during one run the generator exploded and made little dents on the inside of the deck lid. I don't know how high he revved it. I took my Spyder up Pikes Peak (not the race) and it ran fine all the way up, but there were quite a few cars that only made it halfway up before blowing black smoke. The only repair I ever had to make was a new clutch because the rivets loosened and it rattled.
Showing how to build it the right way. Thank you from a Corvair junkie :) You are correct about bigger is better for a degree wheel.
Sorry I did not reply sooner, did not see your message till today. Thank you!
Can only imagine how clean and precise the head work is, thats may favorite part of corvair engine builds...the head work. Good job man.
Fascinating videos! So great to watch a true artisan at work. I pray that you are well and remain that way. I've rebuilt V8's but have always been interested in Corvairs. Many moons ago I had a Corvair engine that I meant to rebuild. I realize now that I would have been way over my head. With the completion of your videos the world will have a great instruction manual and tips for all engine builds. I may finally hunt down that Corvair to rebuild. I look forward to the next videos! Thank you!
Thank you! I am well, and will be getting back to this motor later. Have a few other projects I am working on right now, but I do want to have this motor in the car for next year so I better get my butt going on it! LOL!
Thanks for your kind words! I will be getting back onto it soon. I have been a bit busy, did a cancer fund raiser, and am working on a customer job, a sheet metal intake that I REALLY need to get done! Next on the Corvair motor I will be setting the Deck height, then getting the heads assembled and making the intake manifolds, and working on some cool injector holders. Stay tunned! as soon as I get caught up, will start back on this. Best part, no more Dr visits till October!
Thank you for your kind words. That is the moroso wheel from Summit racing, for about $55. That little mr gasket wheel is around $30. Each degree on the Moroso wheel is just over 1/8 inch! Makes it easy to read! Yeah, I like to take some time putting them together. I only want to do it once. I have had the blessing of working with some world class engine builders, and am very thankful for all they taught me. The most important they they taught me is learning never stops!
Great videos. I've built a couple Corvair engines but I learned a few tricks here.
Love that you've got all the fancy tools in the world - but you use a pail as an engine stand!
Makes me want to go build that 180 turbo I've got laying around in pieces.
I have to tell you I get a real kick out of the line about using a pail as an engine stand! EVERYONE who knows me thinks that is just too funny! (I am telling everyone I loved that line!) Some day I may build a Corvair specific engine stand. When I put the heads on, you will see it on a more normal engine stand supported by the bell housing!
I can't wait to watch 'Corvair engine build' part 4. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, soon! Thanks!~
I've really enjoyed the first three in this series. Looking forward to the rest of the build!!!
Great attention to detail and very professional quality video. I can't wait to see it run. Thanks for taking the time to do the work. -TM
I wonder how many more horse power can be gained by modernizing this engine like efi engine management a turbo, camshaft vtec etc
The biggest issue for potential power is the cylinder heads. They are 9 degree heads which is nice, but they are 9 degrees in the wrong direction. So the included valve angle is 18 degrees away from where it should be. The valves are off center, and open towards the cylinder wall not away from it. But even with that issue, you can still make good power. EFI will not make more peak power or torque over carbs, (assuming good carbs) but what EFI will do os allow much better tuning so all those spots that are not peak power or torque can be optimized. My 110 HP corvair makes about 150, has efi and distributorless ignition, and some very mild porting in the bowls. The cam is small and about the same as the GM 304 cam. Another issue is case strength and the fact that the flywheel flange is pressed on the crank. All that said 250 plus is achievable
Great videos! You've inspired me to git my butt in gear and get my motor finished.
The 150hp (turbo) 145ci and 140hp and 180hp 164ci motors have nitrided cranks. You can identify them by looking for a (usually) faintly stamped "&" symbol on the flywheel end of the crank snout.
The 140hp 164ci crank for the PowerGlide motors have a unique crank gear that retards the timing 4° (IIRC)
Wouldn't it be advisable to split a rubber hose and run it around the top of that bucket to protect that engine surface just to be on the safe side?
Grasshut here replying from another account. You could put a hose around the top of the bucket, would not hurt. It is really not needed, the bucket has a nice flat along the top and is far softer than the aluminum do it will not hurt the aluminum at all.
Wow! Best Corvair engine videos I've seen. I cant wait for number 4. Thank you for doing these. I like the GM coating on the case and crank. I spent about 10 hours with a Dremel and a flexible shaft to burnish all the imperfections in my case. It looks good but I might do the GM red stuff. I'm curious about the teflon coating you used on the bearings. Is it baked on? Was its' life expectancy? I like the oil porting work that you did on the bearings and the case but I don't have the equipment....
you can do good work with a dremel type tool .
Great video and information , about how many horsepower did you get once done ?
I have 6 dynos at work and none will fit a Corvair engine! HP numbers are always kept secret, no need letting people you may be competing against know exactly what they are up against, but I will say when all done this engine should make well over 200. My day job building race engines keeps me quite busy, hard to find time for my own stuff!
Thanks, that's pretty good in it's self
Good point on the 140 PG crank, it is an offset key that retards the cam, so you can press off the gear and pres back on with a straight key, or you can use an offset key in the cam to counter the crank key. Personally, I would rather have the crank key correct.
Thank you for the kind words. I hope to be doing the next one soon. Been a bit busy, and trying to get caught up. Now that I am healthy there is a whole bunch of stuff to do! Before I had a really good excuse, now I just have to get to work!
All Corvairs, the 140, 145, and 164 came with forged cranks. Clearly there are 2 stroke lengths, the shorter stroke (2.600) for the 140, and 145, and the longer stroke, (2.940) for the 164. I do think there were a couple different forgings for the 164, and I do know that the cranks in turbo cars got a little extra attention, (nitrited.)
Ken the rest of the build will be coming. have quite a bit going on. have some more parts just have not had the time to work on my own stuff. Will try to remedy that soon
Biggest damn degree wheel I've ever seen! Man all the vair engines I've put together have been "quick n' dirty" compared to your work! Excellent detail sir.
Hey hope youre Still Healthy,..
Iam sitting in Germany and waiting for some New videos to build a corvair Performance Engine too,..
your Video gives a lot of good Informations and important examples ,.
Enjoy it,Greets from Germany
OMG. I just noticed around 6:00 that your degree wheel pointer is actually a spade bit. Thats too funny.
Is the Corvair engine related to the Porsche or VW bug engines?
Get a 40 dollar engine stand, no 5 gallon buckets please
HFT - $50 bucks.... makes life so much better!
Mark Nairn I use them all the time , so what's the problem.............they are strong and do not scratch aluminum..........dont criticise someones work or procedures..
Hi
Thats a great job u do,,,,, am wondring how to get 4 used engines for 4 projects am working on now, as am from overseas its hard to get , I tried flycorvair but they dont answer,
Pat Hall 505-620-5574 he has at least 50 engines
Excellent video, sir. I'm doing a rebuild in a storage unit "shop" and I've never done anything more complicated that valve lashing before. This shows me that there's a lot more to this stuff than I imagined and I'll be lucky if I don't screw the pooch ten times over on this one. Here's a link to my FB album on the work, and you can see that I had a pretty rough motor to start with:
facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150939240848751.417581.583443750&type=3
(just copy into browser field)
I need a 164ci built like this that rotates in the standard direction, the opposite of a normal corvair. How much would that cost?
California Corvair sells a reverse rotation camshaft for $200. Then you need to get it installed and you are set.
too much jawing
Did all 164 came with a forged crank?
So did u ever finish??? No more videos??
Dear sir,great video,i have fond memories driving my California uncles turbo spider.talk about spooling lag on the freeway on ramp!then the power came on.his son totaled it 6 months later.a waste.i will go thru the other videos.keep plugging away. I want to see the motor running inthe car! Make sure you have good footage of how to best assemble that damn v-belt on the pulleys! Book value re &re belt is. 5.That is,half an hour,engine bone stock.optimists! Keep track of your time when you do that. Are you going to film the transmission with the same detail? There is a cross shaft,if memory serves. The more detail&commentary,the better. PGM.
In over 20,000 miles I have only lost one belt, and I think it got hurt pretty good when the crnk trigger wheel broke and flew off at around 5000 rpm!
That begs a question, what is redline on a bone stock engine? Also,how far can you push a modified one? I don,t suppose there is much in the the way of aftermarket performance part,at least these days. Cheers. Maintain an even strain!
My 64 in bone stock condition with a LOT of miles on it, and low compression on one hole would not go over around 4500 RPM. I imagine a stock engine in good shape would do better, but would not produce much more power over 5000 or so.
I used to run my 64 Spyder at the drags. Max RPM was 5500, but power max was at 5000. I loosened the belt so it would throw off at about 300 feet. Changed pulley so the fan ran slower. The fan took 15 HP, and when the belt came off, it was a kick in the pants. Another trick I used was having some skinny tires on the back. Having the tires spin a little kept the revs up and the Turbo spooled up.
The Spyder had a forged crank as I recall, and the exhaust valves were sodium cooled. The Turbo muffler was straight through because the turbocharger muffled it enough. My friend had a 110 that he dragged and during one run the generator exploded and made little dents on the inside of the deck lid. I don't know how high he revved it.
I took my Spyder up Pikes Peak (not the race) and it ran fine all the way up, but there were quite a few cars that only made it halfway up before blowing black smoke. The only repair I ever had to make was a new clutch because the rivets loosened and it rattled.
OMG your killing me with the specialty tools! why?! O_o