<VV> Ohmygoodness... ohmygoodness!!!

[Larry Forman]

At 07:09 AM 5/8/2005 -0700, Frog Princezz wrote:
>OHMYGOODNESS!!!!
>After 7 hours of work on the vair, I (read as we) was able to get the 
>sending unit back on along with new gas hoses and the upper engine shroud 
>off the compartment vacuumed and reassembled.  Ohmygoodness there were 
>enough nuts to feed a squirrel colony for a year in that sucker.  I'm 
>gonna have to drop the lower shroud next cause I couldn't get all the nuts 
>out.  The bad part is two of the bolt heads snapped off!
>I put in about two gallons of gas hit the carbs with a little starting 
>fluid and she came to life for about three seconds, hit it with a bit more 
>fluid, tried her again and ohmygoodness she roared and keeped roaring 
>until I let up off the gas and then she purred and didn't stop until I 
>turned her off.  I turned the key and she started right up on her own and 
>ran until I shut her down.  She smoked some and it smelled like the woods 
>so that's how I know I need to drop the lower shroud next and a lot of 
>smoke came from under the driver rear tire well... exhaust leak most 
>likely.  Aside from a few busted bolts and knuckles it was a good day and 
>I'm proud of my (read as our) acheivement so far.
>Alesia 65 M-Vert
>D.A.C.C

Hi Alesia,
Congratulations!  Yes, getting an engine running after a lot of work or a 
long sleeping session for the engine is quite satisfying.  As you gain more 
experience, you will see how well you can get them to fire up on the first 
turn of the key.

While you have the top shrouding off and are getting the bottom shrouds 
off, consider deflashing the cylinder head fins.  This has been covered 
here before and has also been explained in the www.corvaircenter.com 
forum.  That forum has a search function, so you should be able to find 
details on the process there too.  Just search for "deflash heads" and 
there should be many posts.  See one example below.

The cylinder heads contained a lot of casting flash from the manufacturing 
process that GM did not want to spend the time and money to clear 
out.  That flash constricts the cooling air.  Removing it can make a 
tremendous improvement in how cooler your engine can run.  There are often 
areas that can be doubled in the amount of cooling air allowed to flow.

-- Larry

Here is some info I posted from before:
The detailed instructions with pictures for deflashing are in Bob Helt's 
book, "The Classic Corvair" or the CORSA Tech Guide and Supplement. Both 
are highly recommended to understand more of the Corvair, it's problems and 
solutions.

To really deflash the heads well, I use several tools: a 1/8 inch jobbers 
drill bit, both 6-inch and about 12-inch, a really cheap key hole saw and a 
round diamond bit hacksaw blade, like used for cutting tiles. You will need 
to remove the engine fan cover by removing the carbs, fuel lines and fuel 
pump as an assembly, then the front alternator bolt so it can swivel and 
allow the top fan cover to be removed. Also remove the lower two shrouds so 
you can see what you are doing. Place a light and some newspapers or other 
light colored paper down there and you will see how well the flash is 
getting removed. The jobbers drills and round hacksaw blades might be 
broken when you are done. They don't last long with this abusive use.

If you have another unmounted head of the same type, use it to see what you 
are doing. I use the key hole saw to remove the thin flash and open up 
flash by the spark plugs. The short and long 1/8 inch jobbers drill is used 
to shave off some of the fin's side walls that taper and to widen the 
opening that might be smaller than designed when the top and bottom 
aluminum head molds are not perfectly aligned. It assures the opening is 
1/8 inch wide. The round hack saw blade is used to make short work of 
opening things up, but don't be so aggressive as to machine into an 
interior cavity. Remove some, check top and then bottom if you need to and 
continue. I break off one end of the round hacksaw blade mounting eyelet 
and either mount it into a pair of vice grips or an electric drill. Either 
works fine. The longer 1/8 inch drill bit is used when you get close to the 
carb mounting pads and prevents the drill bit chuck from chewing up the 
mounting pads.

I also CAREFULLY straighten the fins with a long nose pliers a little bit 
at a time. I do it slowly little by little and seldomly break any fins. 
Just go slowly.

You will be an expert after doing one head. It all makes sense to have the 
maximum amount of air possible to cool the heads. You will see an amazing 
difference from one head not deflashed and one deflashed really well. The 
holes by the spark plugs can be opened up about 2-3 times what came from 
the factory. That part is particularly important to open up.

If in doubt, look from underneath using a bright light. Often you can 
remove more material than is obvious from a first glance. Check as you go. 
Do one then you can do the second one the same. I usually take about an 
hour for each head doing the drilling, cutting, fin straightening, etc. The 
first time you might take longer or shorter. I also drill at the outer ends 
of the heads where there is a bump that is horizontal at the mating of the 
top and bottom of the molds. While this is not really flash, it helps to 
provide added cooling there and open that part up about twice what comes 
stock. I try to allow maximum airflow after I am done.

Then replace the bottom shrouds, top fan cover and fan, alternator bolt, 
etc. This two or three hour chore can result in substantial added cooling 
for your cylinder heads. This only needs to be done once, but might prevent 
an overheating condition or a dropped valve seat. Highly recommended.

It probably provides the best cooling improvement if you don't remove the 
lower shrouds. I do this on EVERY engine I get my hands on. While I have 
only seen a couple deflashed before I get to it, it always impresses me 
when I find an engine that has this already done. Frankly, I am surprised 
that not more are deflashed, given how long these have been in service and 
often how many owners an engine might have had.