I was driving my parent's Oldsmobile, which had 140,000 miles on it. In response to some friends joking and revving their engines, I held my foot on the brake and revved my engine. The car rocked violently, and the upper radiator hose failed. I pulled into a parking lot. The hose had apparently failed when the V-belt rubbed a hole into it, yet the V-belt was more than three inches away from the hose.
I scratched my head, and then I reproduced the power-braking with the hood open and saw that the torque radically lifted the big V8 up out of its already-failed engine mount. I was lucky it didn't smash things up trying to flip itself over in the engine compartment.
I walked to a nearby auto parts store, where I bought a new hose and two replacement engine mounts. If one had failed, both were probably due for replacement. I drove the car home to replace the mounts.
When I jacked the engine up, I noticed that the third mount on the transmission had also failed and was gaping apart. The engine had been sitting in the car without any attachments, except hoses and the throttle linkage. I replaced both engine mounts, as well as the transmission mount.
When I examined these failed surfaces, I could see they had been rubbing against each other for a long time.
This entry was submitted by David T. Humphrey and edited by Rob Spiegel.
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I tend to challenge engineering done by an attorney trying to make a name for himself (Ralph Nader). His book "Unsafe At Any Speed" came out in 1966 after the handling problem was virtually fixed, and was full of questionable evaluation and conclusions. Like most believable lies, it had just enough truth to be difficult to challenge.
Positive Camber:
The early Corvairs from 1960 to 1963 had swing arm suspensions which could travel into positive camber causing weight jacking, but so did Porshe, VW, Lotus, and Corvette among others. From my observations, the VW Bug and VW Bus had far worse handling problems in this area than any of the others.
In 1964 Corvair added a suspension component that limited the down travel and potential negative camber.
From 1965 to 1969, the Corvair had a full independant rear suspension which virtually eliminated the issue. Corvette made this upgrade around the same time. Later on, Porshe and VW made these upgrades as well.
Rearward Weight Bias:
The stock Corvair had a rearward 30/70 weight bias that could create oversteer, which the typical driver is unprepared to deal with. So did VW Bug, VW Bus, Karman Ghia, and Porshe. Chevrolet largely tuned-this-out of the Corvair with a very low front suspension roll center design, a very stiff front sway bar, and specified low front tire pressures. This car actually had more understeer than preferred for best race handling. It could still transition to oversteer in poor traction turning conditions such as snow, ice, or sand. Naturally other cars have trouble in these conditions with poor driving techniques as well.
My V8 Corvair was mid-engine with about a 40/60 weight bias. If I moved the radiator to the front it would have been about 55/45 to 50/50 weight bias depending upon my final engine relocation. I had slightly stiffer springs for stock ride height even with more weight, I also had had wider tires in the rear for a balanced tire contact patch and horsepower to the ground. I also added a rear sway bar. This car was VERY stable and did well in the snow (unusual for a muscle car). The car still had more understeer than desired and ideally needed closer to neutral quick-transition handling by a stiffer rear sway bar, a softer front sway bar, adjustable racing shocks, and new upper A-arms for a higher front roll-center. I would joke that my Corvair was "Unsafe at Every Speed" because it could get to speed so quickly, but it was actually very safe.
Exhaust Fumes in the Car:
The heater on air cooled engines could pump oil or exhaust fumes into the car. This was true of VW, Porshe, Corvair, and others. This was worse by oil leaks from Butyl rubber O-rings on the Corvair push-rod tubes. Enthusiasts later determined that Viton O-rings effectively fixed this problem. Naturally, other oil or exhaust leaks, would need to be fixed to avoid this problem.
My Corvair had a SB Chevrolet V8 water-cooled engine with a 1967 Mustang heater mounted to the cowl below the windshield; so, this extra risk of exhaust fumes was a moot concern for my application.
Corvair Discontinued:
Through the years the Corvair model was successfully raced by the Yenko Team and others with exceptionally good handling. I believe that Corvair was killed by the economics of manufacture, and the fact that it did not fit into the Chevrolet portfolio of products, NOT legitimate safety issues. The stripped-down economy end was better handled by Vega, Monza, and others to compete with Ford Falcon and Pinto. The marketed performance banner was to be carried by Corvette and Camaro with more horsepower than even the 180 hp turbocharged Corvair. The marketing of the Corvair was also damaged by Ralph Nader, so the "American Porshe" was discontinued.
David12345: It's not hard to find people who restore Corvairs, and there must be a good reason why that restoration market has continued successfuly for four decades. Regarding the Vega: Wasn't that the one that used an aluminum cylinder block? Didn't the block have warping problems?
My understanding is that the Vega was using an innovative high-silicon content aluminum block without steel sleeves (Except the Cosworth Version Engine). I'm not sure about block warping problems worse than other engines machined from fresh castings; however, the Vega definitely had more issues with cylinder wear until the rings were no longer sealing well, with the resultant burning lots of oil.
I had a 89 Thunderbird Super Coupe that had Fluid filled motor mounts. They are known for failure because the tourque of the supercharged engine will tear them up rather quickly. Unfortunatly, when they do fail, they let the oil pan rest on the crossmember which will eventually rub through and cause futher problems. I guess every vehicle has their problem huh. Now every time I change the oil on ANY of my cars I check the motor mounts.
That's pretty good, David. I hadn't heard the counter argument to Nader's book. Thanks for the detail. I very much enjoyed my Corvair -- my first car. I can't remember why I switched to a Rambler after a couple years. I was probably facing a pricy repair job and a new used car was less expensive.
In 1964 Corvair added a suspension component that limited the down travel and potential negative POSITIVE camber.
Oops. My error.
Additional Suspension Design/Set-up Background:
The suspension design changes were to get rid of the possible heavy positive camber weight-jacking on the outside loaded wheel that could contribute to roll-over tendencies when hitting rough pavement in a hard turn with a swing axle suspension.
Street suspension alignment calls for 1 degree positive static camber, presumably for better wheel bearing load balance and tire wear. Race handling is improved by setting the camber with 1 to 2 degrees negative static camber. This could just be set on the front and independent suspensions. This negative static camber was done with lowering springs on the swing-axle suspensions.
I liked your look at the old Corvairs. Growing up, we had two of them. Aside from the constant fan belt issue, they were in fact very good cars, even in stock trim. We didn't have any other problems with them. My mother's was a '64 stock-o and my father had a '66 (?) Monza. His got hit hard three times and was repaired fine each time. Later on, my brother had a Monza Spyder Convertable. That was a pretty quick little thing. He later sold it for large $$.
Ever notice that Ralph Nader never once commented on the burning Pintos (had one - terrible car) or other deadly Ford products? Just wondering out loud here. I also agree that the Corvair was pretty safe, but different enough in handling that a poor driver often would get themselves in trouble. Just like with a Porshe or "bug". We had a car lot, so had experience with just about everything.
Your V8 Corvair must have been a heart stopper.! I had a '67 Cutlass that I installed a (real) 450 bhp 327 come 331 cid engine in. It was difficult to turn over due to the high compression. It also went through engine mounts until racing mounts were installed. I can't blame GM engineering for broken motor mounts, they were due to my abusive situation. Even stock Old's would eventually break engine mounts if you kept jumping on the gas. The early "rocket" motors really were different than a Chev. engine. All in all, the 60's and early 70's were a fun time to be a driver.
Yes, that was a fun time to be a driver . . . I still have fun with a little Cavalier. I am looking into installing a roll cage, dropping a 3.8 Liter motor and transaxle from a Pontiac, and replacing the supercharger with a turbocharger and intercooler. That combination could get me close to 300 horsepower in a 2300 pound car.
The Corvair could take quite a hit an still be "functional". In the late 1970's, a buddy bought a Corvair "parts car" that had been hit while parked. A GTO had hit it at around 40 mph head-on and pushed it on top of the Corvette parked behind it. The Corvair front was punched-in over 18" with the front suspension moved back about 8" and the steering column safety telescoping collapsed. The Corvette behind it had over $1000 damage (back then that was very big bucks), and the Corvair rear engine had been pushed forward about 2". Now here's the amazing part. We removed the front hood, opened the left front fender with a sledgehammer, replaced the left front wheel, and bent the throttle linkage until we could get about 3/4 throttle with the gas pedal down. With these relatively minor "fixes", he was able to start and gently drive this car over 20 miles down to his house in southern Delaware. Even the exhaust system was quiet with a muffler that had been punched forward about 4" and the muffler was about 1.5" shorter. I'm sure the legality of his drive was bogus with the damage sustained; even with, current registration and inspection, but it did drive! Both the GTO and Corvette needed a tow.
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