<VV> Ole Valve Guide Eater

[Bill Hubbell]

I can assure you the heads, valve guides, etc. were done by an expert 
Corvair mechanic -- Smitty!!

Bill Hubbell


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "corvairs" <lonwall at corvairunderground.com>
To: "N. Joseph Potts" <pottsf at msn.com>
Cc: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>; "Hubert A Smith" <vairologist at juno.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 12:33 AM
Subject: Re: <VV> Ole Valve Guide Eater


> Again, how did his "usual half cup of oil" get in the rocker cover????? 
> (Keep in mind this is after the engine has been stopped and the majority 
> of  oil present has drained back into the (gasp!) draintubes before the 
> cover can come off. All that oil was present (somehow?) not doing 
> anything? LONG before he would lose a valve guide he would have lost one 
> or more rockers and purshrods. LONG before.  The lifters weren't passing 
> oil? Why no lifter noise? Why more than adequate residual oil in the 
> rocker cover? Have the lifters been inspected - is the hole in the seat 
> missing?
>
> Who did the heads? Who set up the valve guides? About 10 years ago I built 
> a 140hp engine and had the heads done by one of the world's most renowned 
> Corvair machinsts. After the first  700 miles I lost 6 guides - they had 
> been set up too tight. Why isn't this a possibility? I have had customers 
> lose guides on new engines because at some point in the cylinder head's 
> life, some machinist bored a guide hole slightly off. Why isn't this a 
> possibility?
>
> Sorry folks, but the lifters are one of the last places I'd look. If you 
> had lubrication failures prematurely (20,000, 40,000 miles etc) then, 
> after ruling out numerous other more likely scenarios, lifters 
> inadequately oiling COULD be looked at. But lifters a cause of a valve 
> guide failing within the first 2000 miles???? Sorry, there is no way I can 
> buy that.
>
> Let's suppose Smitty bought the worst set of lifters on the planet - To 
> cause a guide failure within 2000 miles, yet not cause ticking or improper 
> operation? I don't  think he would have left home on an engine that was 
> oiling the valve train so poorly. It would have been WAY obvious from the 
> start.    Lon
>
> N. Joseph Potts wrote:
>
>>I assume the pushrods are installed right side out and are not clogged.
>>Here's a pure theory: the ends of the pushrods are worn so that they don't
>>pick up the squirt of oil from the lifters and carry it to the rocker box. 
>>I
>>think I'd replace pushrods (unless yours are new) before I'd replace
>>lifters. I'm running what I suspect are my engine's original lifters and
>>pushrods. Had a problem not too long ago (reported to the list) of a guide
>>working loose from its head, too.
>>
>>Joe Potts
>>Miami, Florida USA
>>1966 Corsa coupe 140hp 4-speed with A/C
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
>>[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org]On Behalf Of Hubert A Smith
>>Sent: Monday, September 19, 2005 6:20 PM
>>To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
>>Subject: <VV> Ole Valve Guide Eater
>>
>>
>>Smitty Says:  Several have posted me wanting to know what I found on the
>>wagon that might have caused the guide failures.  I have told each that
>>when I had something to report, I would.  Got the engine fired up today
>>with a oil press gauge on it.  40 psi at idle with engine warm.  (Not
>>full operating temp).  Pulled a valve cover and it had the usual half cup
>>of oil in it.  After the initial draining was complete all rockers had a
>>steady drip of oil coming from them.  BUT !!!    Not a squirt of oil in
>>sight from any of the pushrods which were spinning around and around.
>>        My NAPA guy says his lifters listed for Corvairs are not the same
>>as SBC.  At this point I don't care if they have inverted wide dimples
>>with a twin ball check flutter valve as long as they oil the springs.  I
>>will start installing them in the morning.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>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 at corvair.org
>>This list sponsored by the Corvair Society of America, 
>>http://www.corvair.org/
>>Post messages to: VirtualVairs at corvair.org
>>Change your options: 
>>http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/options/virtualvairs 
>>_______________________________________________
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> 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 at corvair.org
> This list sponsored by the Corvair Society of America, 
> http://www.corvair.org/
> Post messages to: VirtualVairs at corvair.org
> Change your options: 
> http://www.vv.corvair.org/mailman/options/virtualvairs 
> _______________________________________________
>