<VV> So I have to ask how smart is the Corvair?

[Keith Onchuck]

So I have to ask how smart is the Corvair?

I live in the Chicago area where we have been blessed,
or is that cursed, with a LOT of rain in August. 
About two weeks ago the weather finally broke and I
pulled the Corvair out for some much needed top down
therapy.  In this time I have logged close to 1,000
miles and felt years of stress leave my body.

One of the benefits of driving the Corvair is that my
13 year old son goes with me every chance he can.  As
a side note the passing of the Corvair torch in my
family will be heading to him.  He keeps telling me
how on his golden Birthday, February 28th, when he
hits 28, he gets the Corvair.  The jury is still out
if I will be ready to give it up by then.  I guess I
still have 15 years to decide.  Anyway the drives
almost always turn into some ideal moments for father
and son communication.  Sometimes the topics are why
he should stay away from alcohol and drugs; others are
how life is at school.  No mater where the
conversation heads it is always memorable.

Yesterday we were on our way home with him and a
friend.  This is after 50 miles of driving and the
Corvair just stops running.  This happened within 500
feet of my house.  Well my son and his friend helped
me push the car into the front of our house so I could
check it out after lunch.  I find it interesting that
of all the places the car could break down it decided
to do it close to home.  Maybe the car is smarter than
I think and wanted to test how I respond under
pressure.

Well after lunch I headed out to see what was up.  The
carbs had fuel but the engine just cranked over with
no signs of life.  I put the trusty timing light on
the plug wire and had my son crank the engine.  No
Spark!  Hmm
  I had voltage at the coil, and the
rotor/cap were in good order.  One of the first
upgrades I made to the car when I got it 13 years ago
was to install the Pertronix ignitor.  Heeding the
advice of smarter Corvair people, I left the points
plate in the glove box with points and condenser ready
to install.  I swapped in the original points and the
car fired right up.  After some minor tuning it was
back on the road.

So after 13 years and about 10,000 miles my Pertronix
failed.  The only non-stock part in my car failed
within 500 feet of my home.  Do you think my Corvair
is trying to tell me something?

So for all you skeptics out there I still believe in
the Pertronix and now I have a valid excuse to by the
Pertronix II.  Just remember to keep a spare points
plate adjusted and ready to go.  The swap took all of
15 minutes including the diagnostics.

Now back to your regular scheduled programming.

Keith



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