<VV> Turbo Odyssey Part 21 -- GROUP Red

[Norman C. Witte]

This post may be viewed on-line at
http://www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/21.htm

Yesterday was a pretty exciting day at the Witte version of the Corvair
Ranch.  With the help of Western Michigan Corvair Club members Dan Konkle
and John Cole the powertrain went back into my '65 Corsa convertible.

I got an early start Saturday morning cleaning the barn (although Dan and
John probably couldn't tell that any cleaning had been done--I am a bit
cramped in 24x40 feet). That done, I installed the fuel pump on the motor,
which was the last component needed.

http://www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_8299.JPG

Next I got to work on rejoining GROUP Red
(http://www.wittelaw.com/personal/groupred/index.htm). The engine sits
pretty high on the dolly and with all the turbo plumbing on top.  I used a
level to put a piece of tape on the floor jack handle at the height of the
top of the heat shield and then got the car up on the stands.  With my rear
jackstands at five cogs out, I was still a bit short of the mark.  You can
see the tape at a point a bit above the bumper height.

http://www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_8300.JPG

At this point the front end was up on the stands at two cogs.  My plan was
to let the front all the way down to lift the rear end the last bit of the
way.

I started working on installing new heater hoses when Dan and John showed
up.  Pretty promptly after that they had the dummy powertrain Dan had
provided me with while the motor was being rebuilt out of the car and on the
floor.

While all this was going on, Dick Stage, a local Corvair owner and a friend
of mine, showed up with his '65 Corsa, so for awhile we had four '65 Corsas
and John's '66 Monza at my place.  Unfortunately, the one picture I took
didn't turn out so good.

We then turned in on getting the old U-joints pressed out and new ones
pressed in.

Shortly after that the burgers hit the grille.  In addition to being a
darned good mechanic, John is a real good cook.  Too bad that Dan is a
vegetarian and couldn't enjoy the burgers but fortunately my wife had laid
in a good supply of Cheetos, so all was not lost.

After lunch I went to work getting the body to shroud seal in and finishing
off the heater hoses.  While I was doing that Dan and John took my '63 Olds
98 and my '93 Firebird Formula for cruises.  The seemed to have a good time.
I heard some sirens but didn't pay it too much attention.

Finally, it was time to move the engine into position.  In my infinite
wisdom, I had not move the car forward enough to fit the engine between the
garage door post and the car.  Fortunately, after shuffling some of my
multitudinous crap around the barn, we were able to roll the motor around
the front of the car.  I can't begin to think how we would have rolled the
motor on the lawn (there's no concrete or drive in front of my barn) and I
really didn't want to have to drop the car and move it, especially with the
dummy powertrain out.

Also fortunately, my idea of lowering the front of the car worked--just.  By
tipping the motor it cleared with perhaps a good quarter inch or so to
spare.

http://www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_8305.JPG

The blurred person in that picture is John.  He works so fast that he is
difficult to capture on film, or rather microdrive.  Actually, I shoot my
resto pictures with the camera on a tripod, the ISO set to 100, and the
aperture stopped down as far as possible, to get the best depth of field.
Unfortunately, I never took the time to take pictures of the guys, so the
best I can do is this also blurry picture of the three of us peering
thoughtfully into the engine compartment:

http://www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_8306.JPG

The blurry bearded figure on the right is Dan.  I am hiding behind John.

The picture above does provide some helpful information, however.  Dan's
experience paid off in getting the powertrain to go in the car smoothly.
First we raised the front back to its original level.  Then we raised the
motor until we could loosely install the three bolts that hold the
transmission to the front cross member.  That done, we bolted in the half
shafts with their spanky new u-joints. Next came the strut rods.  This task
has been a nightmare for me in the past, but with the motor hanging down at
about the angle you see in the picture above, the strut rods bolted up with
little difficulty.

That done, it was time to raise the motor into place.  We had to pull the
motor mount and the shroud seal retainer at the rear of the car for the fuel
pump and oil filter adapter to clear, but clear they did, again by a solid
quarter inch.

In the midst of all this I shot this picture of my Corsa coupe (the charter
member of GROUP Red) in the foreground, Dan's in the middle and John's Monza
in the back.  I thought it was a neat picture.

http://www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_8309.JPG

Finally we had the rear end of the motor bolted in place.  By that time it
was about 6:30 (this included a parts run for hardware that Norm forgot to
have on hand), and it was time to call it a day.

http://www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_8311.JPG

http://www.wittelaw.com/personal/turbo/IMG_8313.JPG

I still have some details to take care of.  The "figure 8" washer that is
used under the two rear motor mount bolts is AWOL so I have to get a
replacement.  I also need to get the clutch, shifter, accelerator, fuel
lines, heater hoses, coil, battery and alternator connected, so there is a
fair amount of work to go before the car leaves GROUP Red.  This week is a
busy one for me, but hopefully I can get her on the road by next weekend.  I
am looking forward to the traditional sitting-on-a-milk-crate drive down the
driveway.

Thanks again to Dan and John.

Norm Witte