<VV> It don't get no better / well maybe sort of

[Jay Pitchford]

I was driving my 65 Corsa convertible on a cross-town 'honey-do'. Twelve
miles from home I swept up a 30 second 270 degree interstate exit cloverleaf
(oh, how I love that LM's handling) at low-to-moderate revs in 3rd gear. As
I exited the ramp at the top, I heard a heart-stopping knocking sound. No
lights, no other signs of impending doom.

I drove it about a mile to my destination with a heavy heart. I called AAA,
as I have Plus as well. The dispatcher asked where I was towing it to ... I
replied home, but ultimately it would probably have to go to Galion OH to my
mechanic.

He looked up the mileage to both places and suggested I pay for the initial
tow to my house ($100+) so that it would not be recorded as a tow request
incident. He told me you get one tow per incident, and I should save it for
the 65+ mile trip to Galion. I took his advice and saved huge bucks. Nice
guy, great idea.

When the engine was torn apart, we found a brass throttle plate screw in the
#6. Looks like it was lying in the intake manifold, and the 270 degree
sweeper rolled it into the cylinder. On the first compression stroke, it
embedded into the head and stayed there ... no bouncing around or destroying
things. I have a nice threaded divot in the head, and a matching one in the
piston face. The mechanic flipped the screw out with his thumbnail when the
head was removed.

There was another throttle plate screw missing a head, which probably
explained why the PO had to replace that same head shortly before selling
it. Needless to say, the throttle plates are all getting new screws and will
be splined on replacement. If I could braze them in, I'd be tempted.

Michael Leveque is now rebuilding the heads, since the engine's all torn
apart anyway. He found valve guides just about worn through on the PO's
replacement head, so I'm determined to replace/harden/upgrade as much of the
power plant as practical now. It means I haven't driven the car since April,
but I've been assured by my mechanic that I won't have to bring snow tires
to pick it up :-D

Jay "Stupid Lucky" Pitchford
Columbus OH

On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 1:41 AM, Ron <ronh at owt.com> wrote:

> I have AAA Plus ever since we've been taking Corvairs out of town and boy,
> have we ever used it!
> RonH
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "J R Read_HML" <hmlinc at sbcglobal.net>
> To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>; "Louis Armer" <carmerjr at mindspring.com>
> Cc: <abkru at bellsouth.net>; <DTerry8123 at aol.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 9:02 PM
> Subject: Re: <VV> It don't get no better / well maybe sort of
>
>
> >A "plink"?
> >
> > Every time I've seen you drive, I'm sure the Rs were well above 4G for at
> > least part of the trip!
> >
> > You can get a 100 mile range from AAA - even in a car where you are the
> > passenger.
> >
> > Chuck, glad to hear that your trip was "without incident".  Well, not one
> > serious enough for the "ooops award".
> >
> >
> > Later, JR
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Louis Armer" <carmerjr at mindspring.com>
> > To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
> > Cc: <abkru at bellsouth.net>; <DTerry8123 at aol.com>
> > Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 8:24 PM
> > Subject: <VV> It don't get no better / well maybe sort of
> >
> >
> > I was less than 5 miles from his home when I heard
> >> that nauseating  "plink" from the engine area of daBrier and all of a
> >> sudden the engine revved up to about 4000 rpms.
> >
> >> YES, I had done my homework the day before the trip and talked with
> >> Hagerty's reps and renewed my annual policy and ADDED 50 mile tow
> >> insurance to the policy. I had listened to Dan's advice, sort of, and
> >> bought the insurance. :-)
> >
> >> Chuck Armer
> >> Travels with daBrier
> >>
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