<VV> Baffle Snafu

[Byron Comp]

Well, what do you know? Someone who has the courage and wisdom to see things for 
what they are. Thanks, Smitty, for your honesty.

I will be the first to admit that I set up the shop by not providing the baffles 
to him as a reminder; but what the heck, it's only my first rodeo. I certainly 
didn't do it on purpose.

I also told the tech I didn't think channel locks was a good idea, but had no 
other alternative to offer, so we went ahead. The idea of a garden hose repair 
connection never occurred to me, but it is certainly logical. Except for the 
wrong "grabber", the use of a screwdriver to pry against the block seems to have 
been right on.

We got the tubes to rotate quite easily; they just didn't want to pop out. And 
there was plenty of white lithium grease all over everything, too. I don't know 
why they were so tight, they just were.

Oh, and yes, to answer someone else's question: we knew enough to have the pin 
hole end of the push rod up at the top end, not down at the lifter.

I'll certainly know better next time, about alot of things.

Byron Comp
'64 'Vert with bent & scratched push rod tubes
Gainesville, FL

>Message: 7
>Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:09:57 -0500
>From: "Smitty" <vairologist at cox.net>
>Subject: <VV> Baffle Installation
>To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
>Message-ID: <005D04DA5A094F2D911BB2C09A461B06 at D5856H81>
>Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
>    reply-type=original
>
>Smitty Says;  In the matter of pushrod tube removal, cut the guy some 
>slack.  If you have never done the job and it isn't in the shop manual that 
>there is a special tool then how the heck is he to know.  Tach Guide? 
>Don't be absurd.  Not a one of us bought every book available on Corvairs 
>before we attempted out first repair.  I read several negative references to 
>using channel locs.  I wouldn't use them either because their grasping 
>surfaces are straight.  I do however use large slip joint gas pliers.  Open 
>them to the wide setting and grasp the tube at 90 degrees.  Rotate the tube 
>to break it loose and then use a very large screwdriver against the block 
>lower flange to lever the tube out.  Does it sometimes leave tool marks on 
>the tubes?  I suppose it does.  I have serious doubts that it will affect 
>the flow of cooling air that passes by.  Nobody but a true obsessive would 
>worry about that.  As for the Quote Special tool Unquote.  I have seen 
>plenty of mangled O ring grooves and bent tubes from using them.  That is a 
>lot more likely to cause future leaks than nicks in the outside of the tube 
>will.  People get that fancy tool and run into one of those O rings that are 
>really baked on  and just pound the P*** out of it.  Somebody in this forum 
>will say, Oh, I always rotate the tube to break the O rings loose.  What? 
>You put pliers on them.  Well why not just go ahead and pop the tube out 
>while you are at it?
>To get back to the original subject of this thread.  So a guy who does not 
>work on Corvair engines regularly failed to install the baffles.  Let's 
>forget that he was set up by them not being made available to him.  All the 
>people who have built more than two or three engines and never forgot them 
>"stand up".  The rest of us will just sit here and smile cause we know you 
>are fibbing.