something to drive the Corvair lovers nutz...

[SuperBuickGuy]

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/cto/2786703530.html

BS.com on the side, free candy on the back and that thing would be the perfect website billboard.

[dieselgeek]

my buddy ron has one.. its in decent shape...finding GOOD motor parts is kinda tough,,, we've been talking about a motor/drive train swap..

Finding good corvair engine parts shouldn't be hard at all. The experimental aircraft guys keep the market alive and well... www.flycorvair.com

[SpiderGearsMan]

put a 327 in it !!!!

[Cyclone03]

Finding good corvair engine parts shouldn't be hard at all. The experimental aircraft guys keep the market alive and well... www.flycorvair.com

My friend wants to put one in a Midget Mustang,but it seems the guys are breaking cranks,in flight,that seems bad...

[dieselgeek]

My friend wants to put one in a Midget Mustang,but it seems the guys are breaking cranks,in flight,that seems bad...

That's about 10 year old info. The guys who broke cranks were those using them as thrust members although there was insufficient thrust bearing support for a propeller by default. In the last decade all the Corvair fliers started using one of the many available "Fifth Bearing" solutions. Do some reading on the page I linked, you can read through the whole process of setting up one of the fifth bearings. I think there are 3 or 4 manufacturers doing this.

[Impalarod]

[Cyclone03]

That's about 10 year old info. The guys who broke cranks were those using them as thrust members although there was insufficient thrust bearing support for a propeller by default. In the last decade all the Corvair fliers started using one of the many available "Fifth Bearing" solutions. Do some reading on the page I linked, you can read through the whole process of setting up one of the fifth bearings. I think there are 3 or 4 manufacturers doing this.

I can't find the email my friend sent me but the link was less than a year old,the guy was running the extra bearing and had broken 2 cranks with less than 150 hours on one and about 70 on the other. The flyers believe even cutting the crank .010/.010 may weaken it enough to cause problems unless the crank is renitrited. There are forged cranks being made now but that pushs the cost into real aircraft engine area. My friend is in A-Stan now so he has been researching this pretty hard on the net over the last 4 months.
edit:
Did some more reading from the link....
I think I've found the reason for my friends concern....he wants to be able to fly acro,being an Air Force pilot he's into that sort of stuff. Side loading the crank is bad...

[dieselgeek]

I can't find the email my friend sent me but the link was less than a year old,the guy was running the extra bearing and had broken 2 cranks with less than 150 hours on one and about 70 on the other. The flyers believe even cutting the crank .010/.010 may weaken it enough to cause problems unless the crank is renitrited. There are forged cranks being made now but that pushs the cost into real aircraft engine area. My friend is in A-Stan now so he has been researching this pretty hard on the net over the last 4 months.
edit:
Did some more reading from the link....
I think I've found the reason for my friends concern....he wants to be able to fly acro,being an Air Force pilot he's into that sort of stuff. Side loading the crank is bad...

Guys are breaking cranks with the fifth bearing? I haven't heard of that and I frequent the EAA and other forums where guys fly this engine. Got any links to firsthand accounts?

[Barry Donovan]

Finding good corvair engine parts shouldn't be hard at all. The experimental aircraft guys keep the market alive and well... www.flycorvair.com

that still grabs my interest.

there is still more of those than the EA series subes.

the benz crank don't break, losing self balance under load is only a shutter..not a shared rod journal cave in and catstrophe.

the alloys surrounding it are as bizarre. mention self balance to a penny owned engineer and suddenly the engine block is made of flexible rubber.

the v6 with no balance at all ever is built like a tank to alter minds, pretending tough.

this is all to come to a head someday. long time coming. give the real balance the real block, and kick the money suckers out of a long lasting engine that will take their greedy market down to earth. they lose, people who gave them money win.

[dieselgeek]

Boxer, I am pretty sure there are more Subies flying than Corvair engines. LOTS of guys use them, not just the 4 bangers but the 6 cylinder boxers as well. They are probably the most popular of the converted auto engines.

[SpiderGearsMan]

well , they have not made a corvair in 43 years ..back then subaru was a go kart with a roof

[Cyclone03]

Guys are breaking cranks with the fifth bearing? I haven't heard of that and I frequent the EAA and other forums where guys fly this engine. Got any links to firsthand accounts?

I searched my work email,here's what my friend sent me.

http://www.n56ml.com/corvair/break3/

[dieselgeek]

I searched my work email,here's what my friend sent me.
http://www.n56ml.com/corvair/break3/

Wow, Mark broke a crank with a 5th bearing installed!! that's a first and only that I know of.

Some points to ponder about his engine:
-it's huge displacement and high compression
-that crank suffered the "broken bolt" incident he describes
-that crank suffered a hardcore detonation incident (wrong fuel)
-that crank also had the prop indexed improperly

that's enough to break a crank in an O200 or a C-90.

I rebuilt a C-90 and can tell you, you could buy 3 or 4 forged corvair cranks and still not be anywhere near the purchase price of an overhauled O-200 or C-90. In 1991 we spent $8000 just getting mid-time C-90 cylinders cermichromed, bored, honed, and yellow tagged.

Experimental aviation is not always for the faint of heart. The VWs have had similar broken crank problems too. Not wanting to scare Walt or anything :-)

[Cyclone03]

I think he's broke 3,or knows of 3..

Yes there are a lot of issues with that set up...
My friend is going back and forth on his engine choices. I can't remember the aircraft engine he has a line on,actually a package deal of 3 that should net him one good one and parts to sell.
I would say he's going for POWER and Acro above all so it will be a wait and see.

[dieselgeek]

I think he's broke 3,or knows of 3..

Yes there are a lot of issues with that set up...
My friend is going back and forth on his engine choices. I can't remember the aircraft engine he has a line on,actually a package deal of 3 that should net him one good one and parts to sell.
I would say he's going for POWER and Acro above all so it will be a wait and see.

I'm not the mot experienced builder or pilot out there. But it's pretty clear to me if you're looking for "POWER" and "ACRO(batics)" that the last thing you should be thinking about your engine choice is "DIRTCHEAP"

He needs to be looking at the motor out of a 150 aerobat or similar, IMO. And he needs to be ready to pay a lot of money.