Five for Five

All five running cars in our family had issues this weekend. This is not the first time this has happened, but when it does it’s never pleasant. The two non-Corvairs are my wife’s PT Cruiser (the CEL was on for a loose gas cap – not a big deal, just an annoyance) and our Suburban (coolant leaking from a failing intake manifold gasket – more than an annoyance). The three Corvairs and their issues were: Lucy and her clogged carb and disassembled backseat, Heidi and her rust repairs, Ringo and his insistence to die at idle.

Nothing can be done for the PT Cruiser and I will replace the gaskets on the Suburban starting (and hopefully finishing) that project tonight.

Lucy’s issues started Saturday morning at the CORSA of Baltimore tech session. The first thing I did there was swap the carb. I fired up the engine and it sounded like both sides were working and the exhaust coming out that side’s tailpipe was warm, so I thought all was good. So I moved on to the second project, the heater duct tubes. I needed to pull the rear seat out to install the rear plenums. I thought that I’d bought enough tubing to do both sides, but there was just a bit more than one side required, so I couldn’t complete that project. I helped out with the rest of the session by holding work-lights, drinking coffee and beer, and eating donuts and pizza. Then when it was time to go home, the carb wouldn’t work. I drove her home on three cylinders and parked her in frustration. Yesterday afternoon, I swapped the right side carb AGAIN and re-installed her backseat. The positive spin on the tech session was the arrival of the local Corvair guru. Gary Segal was able to fix some of the woes of the host’s Corvair pickup. Every time I watch him in action I learn at least four new tricks. This time it was diagnosing a stuck needle and seat, balancing carbs with a Uni-Syn, tightening a steering box to remove slop, and packing rear wheel bearings. Our club is extremely lucky to have someone as talented and knowledgable as Gary.

Heidi was in the garage so I could attack the rusted, bubbling bodywork. I put the wire brush on my drill and, after taking pictures, went to work removing paint, bondo, and flaking metal. With the rusted steel exposed, I cut out the worst sections with my air cut-off tool. Rustoleum’s Rusty Metal Primer was then liberally applied to the inside and outside covering the exposed metal. I know it’s not compatible with the paint system that will eventually be applied to the outside, but it’ll protect the metal for now. I’ll brush it off before Jonathan welds in the patches. The inside surfaces will be inaccessible after the patches are in, so this is my only chance and getting those surfaces protected. Three areas on the driver’s side were worked on: the front and rear bottom corners of the driver’s door and the “dogleg” section in front of the driver’s rear wheelwell. The fourth location – the rear lower portion of the driver’s front fender - is beyond saving, so it’s going to get a new panel welded in. Click here for pictures. Last night, I worked on the passenger side. Only the rear lower portion of that side’s front fender needed attention. The amount cutout was about a 2” diameter circle. I’ll shoot some pictures and post them as soon as I remember.

This morning I placed a call to Clark’s Corvair Parts and bought a replacement panel and paid the extra $$ to have it shipped with two-day delivery. I really want to get Heidi repaired so Brianna can drive her down to Radford at the end of the coming weekend. It’s going to be tight, but if I can get the patches welded in and just coat the repairs with primer and paint, I’ll call it a success. Part of these repairs is ensuring all drains are open so water doesn’t collect behind these panels and cause the same problems in another few years.

With Heidi out of commission, Brianna’s been using Ringo to get to and from work. “car stalled 5 times between the house and work, but thankfully God gave me many green lights” That was her text to me after driving him to work yesterday. Before Ariel gets Ringo back to drive to school, I’ll need to do some carb adjustment. Don’t know when I’ll get to that, but I guess I’ll squeeze it in some evening – maybe between 2:30 and 3:00 AM J.