A Fresh Start
After years (literally) of little bits of progress, I am finally at the starting line of getting a new engine built for the red 1965 Corsa.
For history, the engine that was in it I had rebuilt in the mid 80s. It had gone many miles and we'd had lots of fun in the car, but there was a clear problem with one cylinder on the left bank and wearing cam gear teeth that would sooner or later cause trouble. So it had to come out:
Engine number two I had bought in a 1966 Corsa, it was rebuilt by a gentleman in Seattle. He had done a lot of things right, but it was his first 140 so there were a couple things I might have done differently. The plan was to install it in the '65, but that was not to be, with only about 5000 miles, it dropped a valve seat. So, back to square one.
At this point, I have both engines out of the cars and in the basement. The '65s unit had a blown head gasket, but no other obvious issues with the heads. The 66 motor (actually another '65 Corsa engine) is still mostly buttoned up. It has roller rockers, forged +.060 pistons, ground crank, Otto valve covers, etc.
As much as I'm tempted to get it together as quickly as possible, I'm leaning toward pulling the '66s engine all the way down and taking care of the little details that I wish I'd done on my engine that weren't done on the second one. With any luck I'll have some updates to post over the next couple of months, and some updates on my site illustrating the new project.
In the meantime, best to you for the holidays!
Bryan Blackwell bryan@skiblack.com
Bryan's Corvair Autocross Page
Corvairs: '61 Lakewood, '64 Greenbrier, '65 Corsa, '66 Corsa
'69 Road Runner, '97 Ford F-150, '99 Neon R/T
"Why do something if you're not going to obsess about it?"
For history, the engine that was in it I had rebuilt in the mid 80s. It had gone many miles and we'd had lots of fun in the car, but there was a clear problem with one cylinder on the left bank and wearing cam gear teeth that would sooner or later cause trouble. So it had to come out:
Engine number two I had bought in a 1966 Corsa, it was rebuilt by a gentleman in Seattle. He had done a lot of things right, but it was his first 140 so there were a couple things I might have done differently. The plan was to install it in the '65, but that was not to be, with only about 5000 miles, it dropped a valve seat. So, back to square one.
At this point, I have both engines out of the cars and in the basement. The '65s unit had a blown head gasket, but no other obvious issues with the heads. The 66 motor (actually another '65 Corsa engine) is still mostly buttoned up. It has roller rockers, forged +.060 pistons, ground crank, Otto valve covers, etc.
As much as I'm tempted to get it together as quickly as possible, I'm leaning toward pulling the '66s engine all the way down and taking care of the little details that I wish I'd done on my engine that weren't done on the second one. With any luck I'll have some updates to post over the next couple of months, and some updates on my site illustrating the new project.
In the meantime, best to you for the holidays!
Bryan Blackwell bryan@skiblack.com
Bryan's Corvair Autocross Page
Corvairs: '61 Lakewood, '64 Greenbrier, '65 Corsa, '66 Corsa
'69 Road Runner, '97 Ford F-150, '99 Neon R/T
"Why do something if you're not going to obsess about it?"
posted by Bryan Blackwell | 9:45 PM
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