[FC] 4 carb motors (*my* take)

[Chris & Bill Strickland]

We ran a 140 in a Corvan for several years before the motor found a new 
home in a Corsa -- a fast round trip to Dallas (TX, from Portland, OR) 
in summer with no problems, however, the air cleaner issue, among 
others, was solved by using block-off plates instead of secondary 
carbs.  No problem with torque with this set-up on an oem-ish 140 and 4 
speed.  It pulled hard and ran fast (everything is relative).  On 
*steep* mountain grades (like Washington's Olympic Mountains summit 
viewpoint), if it started to ping, I'd just pull the vacuum advance and 
all was well (timing was advanced well over stock settings). Never 
overheated, hauled goats everywhere, never dropped valve seats (while in 
the van).  A hundred K or so later, in the Corsa, the crank in this 
engine broke.  Darn!

And that was the second Corvair that had fatal engine failures going 
down I-5 in Southern Oregon, while my wife was traveling alone -- she 
also broke a 454 in a 3/4 ton p/u about the same location on a similar 
trip.  Dunno -- just bad luck, a jinx of three, whatever, no real valid 
explanation ...

Anyway, the two carb 140 worked fine for us,

Bill Strickland