<VV> corvair fuel & cooling

[RoboMan91324 at aol.com]

David,
 
You do not need lead additive in your fuel.  Unless you  are doing 
something special with compression ratios, premium octane pump gas  should be fine.  
If the engine still knocks, diddle with the timing.   That should do it.
 
I believe you said that the engine you are playing with is not  being used 
in a Corvair.  I assume that the heater air outlet would be open  in that 
case.  If you do not block off that outlet, you will starve the  engine of 
cooling air.  The fan and "turkey roaster" are the high pressure  side of the 
cooling system.  If you let the air escape from the top side of  the engine, 
much less air will be forced down through the cooling fins of the  head, oil 
cooler and cylinders.
 
I assume your 6 volt tractor battery question was generic and  you aren't 
considering making that modification to your Corvair.  :-)   The 6 volt 
battery needed thicker cables because it often carried more  amps.  With lower 
volts, you need more amps to carry the same power for the  starter, for 
instance.  I do not know if longer batteries can withstand  heat better than more 
"blocky" batteries but if so, it may be due to having more  surface area.  
Your uncle was using old technology batteries.  Whether  6 or 12 volt, 
batteries of today are better at withstanding temperature  extremes.  A fully 
charged battery should be reliable in nearly any normal  temperature range you 
can survive in.  IE; don't park your car for too long  on the North Shore of 
Alaska in January and don't spend too much time in Death  Valley in August.  
:-)
 
Doc
1960 Vette, 1961 Rampside, 1961 Rampside, 1964 Spyder, 1965  Greenbrier, 
1966 Corsa Turbo Coupe, 1967 Camaro Ragtop, 1968 Nova  SS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a message dated 7/1/2009 5:57:30 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
virtualvairs-request at corvair.org writes:

Message:  2
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 09:16:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: David Houston  <judgehouston at yahoo.com>
Subject: <VV> corvair fuel &  cooling
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Message-ID:  <177130.75866.qm at web30403.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type:  text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

I try to duplicate the octane levels of  the 1960's by adding tetra-ethyl 
lead that I buy from Jack Podell. It's called  Max lead 2000. I had it tested 
and each quart has at least 14 grams/ounce of  tetra-ethyl lead. I learned 
of this product from pilots of corvair powered  aircraft that I have flown. 
The corvair motors were originally made to use  unleaded, 'Gulftane' fuel in 
the 1960's. This is what I was told anyway. I do  know and others have 
emailed me that the head temperatures are about 30  degrees lower consistently 
when using this product. There hasn't been lead in  US fuel since 1978. The 
premium ethanol fuel of today is very different than  the leaded premium of 
the 1960's.
I'm a little confused how the motor can  be starved from air cooling.? From 
what I've heard, are you suppose to block  off the door/vent that enters 
the fiberglass plenum on top of the axle?? Isn't  the fan feed by the side 
vents, down over the heads and out the shroud doors?  My late uncle's camper 
had upgraded his 80 hp motor with finned pans and  covers, 12 row trans 
cooler, x-large oil cooler. He installed an electric fuel  pump under the front 
passenger seat frame with it's own little fan and super  insulated the fuel 
line to protect from vapor lock in Pheonix, AZ stop and go  traffic in 115 
degree heat. He added an extra solenoid switch and extra 12  volt battery. He 
told me that heat can kill a battery like cold can. He told  me that it was 
common in the 1950's to lose batteries in the heat. He told me  the earlier 6 
volt battery worked better and had thicker cables than 12 volt  systems. 
The big long 'tractor' batteries could withstand the heat better. Is  that 
true?

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