<VV> 65 Turbo

[Norman C. Witte]

Mark,

Welcome to the world of Corvairs!

I have never owned a turbo, but I do have a fair amount of experience with
140s.  I have a '65 Corsa 140 and a '65 Monza 110 PG.

As far as the cost of rebuilding the motor itself is concerned, I can't
imagine that there would be a significant difference in the costs of
rebuilding a 140 vs. a 180.  The cost is going to come in rebuilding the
turbo unit.  You can get pricing on those parts from the vendors and get a
feel for how much more it will cost, but I would hazard a guess that buying
the parts to convert your 180 motor to a 140 would run more than getting the
turbo in good working order.

>From the standpoint of fussiness, the 140 linkage is probably the most fussy
of all carburetion set-ups.  It takes work, but isn't that difficult to deal
with.

Turbo lag:  the Basics Manual also suggests some strategies for dealing with
the lag issue.  I thought the idea of adding a knock sensor and an
advance/retard unit in place of the stock pressure retard was a good one.

If you look at the charts in your Basics Manual you will see that low end
torque and acceleration for the turbo motors isn't much worse than the other
motors.  It's just that you really don't get the kick in the behind until it
spools up.  If you can employ one of the strategies to address the
deleterious effects of using a pressure retard, it would seem to me you
would have the best of both worlds.

Turbo convertibles are the most desireable of Corvairs from a market
standpoint.  If I were in your shoes I would be looking to eventually get
the turbo motor running and back in the car.

Good luck whichever way you go.

Regards,

Norm Witte

> -----Original Message-----
> From: virtualvairs-admin@corvair.org
> [mailto:virtualvairs-admin@corvair.org]On Behalf Of Paula Tilsley
> Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 6:13 AM
> To: virtualvairs@corvair.org
> Subject: <VV> 65 Turbo
>
>
> Hi!  My name is Mark Tilsley.  I recently joined Corsa and wanted to
> talk to someone about my car.  I just bought a red (orig. yellow) '65
> Corsa Turbo Conv. With 100K mi.  It sat in a garage for 12 years, so
> I've been cleaning it up, inside and out.  I got it running
> but it needs
> some restoration; mostly interior.seats carpet, etc.  It has
> 2 engines,
> a stock 95hp is in it right now.  The 180hp developed some valve
> problems (according to the last owner) and needs to be rebuilt.  My
> question to you is do you think its worth rebuilding the turbo or
> converting it to the 4 carb, 140hp setup?  From what I've been reading
> (Corvair Basics) the turbo is kinda fussy, has diminished drivability
> except on the highway, and is expensive to rebuild.  I'd like to keep
> the car as "stock" as practical but I'm not looking for high
> maintenance, either.  I've been reading about the car.  Does it really
> take 10 minutes to warm the car up before the turbo will work well and
> then 5 seconds every time to "spool up" the turbo?  I'd
> appreciate your
> thoughts on the matter.
>
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mark Tilsley
> markt17@fuse.net
> _______________________________________________
> This message was sent by the VirtualVairs mailing list, all
> copyrights are the property
> of the writer, please attribute properly. For help,
mailto:vv-help@corvair.org
This list sponsored by the Corvair Society of America,
http://www.corvair.org/
Post messages to: VirtualVairs@corvair.org
List info: http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/listinfo/virtualvairs