Delays delays ...

I've got to sit tight on the engine rebuild and am waiting for more spare time. I've got a baby, after all. Have had for five and a half months. So, engines and CH 750 get to wait.

Disassembly Complete

Today I finished up disassembly of the Corvair motor. Here's a last picture:




Now I'm going to have to clean it all up!

Case, Crankshaft, and Cam ...

Is all that is left. Here is how it went:

Note that one of the cylinders came off with the head. I have already removed its piston / connecting rod in this photo. It took a bit of giggling and some slight hammer taps on the cylinder tabs to loosen it from the head. I did not BANG on it. Instead I tapped back and forth, rotationally, spraying lots of penetrating oil and letting it sit between workings. Eventually it pulled off. The trick here is patience. If you BANG, you'll likely destroy.

Also in the pic above one of the cylinders and pistons are locked together. The cylinder / piston have pulled off of the case by rotating the crankshaft. I never used any significant force. Rather, I followed the good advice in Richard Finch's "How to Keep Your Corvair Alive": very small movements back and forth, with lots of lubricant and take plenty of time. When it moves just a tiny amount, you've won the day. It will come apart in due time.

Next off: the bell housing. That came off easy leaving this last bit:

Taking the last two

Cylinders off today. Pics to follow ...

8409

Ahh ... that is the number you want to see on your crankshaft, and I got to see it today after getting the heads off and unsticking my motor. At first all I could see was the stamp "14A" and that was not what I was looking for.

Tomorrow I should be able to complete removing the last two cylinders.

Then I'll write about unsticking a Corvair motor. Even though GM manufactured something like 1.8 million of them, they are getting harder to find. William Wynne recommends paying a little more for a motor that rotates easily before you disassemble it. I couldn't find one of those. But I did get motor #1 taken apart, and the crank is now turning enough to get all the connecting rods and cylinders off. More on how to do that, and some encouragement, later on.

Pushrod Tube Removal

You have to remove the pushrod tubes before taking the heads off.

In order to prevent dinging the tubes up or ruining them with pliers, you use a special tool, some people make their own with a piece of thin wall 7/8 inch tubing and a bolt, William Wynne demonstates one he made in his disassemby video. I could have made one like that but it would have taken more time to get the welding gear out, go get gas, practice up again, etc etc, so I ordered one from Clark's Corvairs. The head piece of 7/8 rotates, so it's better than one I would have made and I can tell you that the rotating aspect makes it much easier to use than a welded one because you can work it around the exahust manifold tubes and the bottom of the case easier. Here's a picture:

Special Tools

There're a couple of specialty tools that I decided to order; both I could have made had my workspace been a bit better and if I'd had all my tools together: a gear puller and a pushrod tube remover.

Instead I ordered them from Clark's Corvairs. Of course I might have made a gear puller from an automotive parts place or Sears work, but they actually cost more than the harmonic balancer puller. Later I can make a general gear puller from the one I'm getting from Clark's.

Unfortunately the tools won't be here until Monday and I can't make much more disassembly progress until they get here.