<VV> Newbie mechanical question....

[Jeff Wilson]

Okay, I like to think of myself as semi-literate in auto mechanical stuff.
I can usually divine what might be wrong with an engine even if I can't
always fix it myself.

But I feel quite lost at sea now that I've entered in the Corvair world.
Boy, these things are weird!
I feel like I'm having to un-learn about half of everthing I ever learned
about good old-fashioned small-blocks!

At term I hear tossed-out a lot on this list and elsewhere is "dropped
valve" (or valve seat sometimes).
Sounds like a common/ recurring problem.

I never to my recollection heard of this malady in the small-block 
world.

What is it?  How common is it?  Is there a way to prevent it or at 
least lessen it's likelihood?  Should I live in fear that my engine is 
going to "drop a valve" at any minute?

Lucy- Splain!

(feel free to take this one off-list if it's going to get long-winded).

CJ Wilson
new owner 65 "500"