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Sun Jun 26, 2005 11:03 pm

ok I know that i am not accutaly building my baja right now but from what i learned the last time around planing is everything. I am just wondring and doing some research on the corvair engine. I have a friend who put one in his bus and was able to cirp the tires in 2nd. so would anyone be able to point me in the right direction on theses things. corvair vs vw? which is better. if you could do either which would you choose. anything you got let me have it. ( thing is I can have the same corvair engine for free if i wanted it. but i dont know if that a good thing or not :? )
Baja Ben
ps. almost done with my tube bender. i will post pics when i am done.(thinking of you nicsan. know you been looking for one)

Mon Jun 27, 2005 10:13 am

I tried it years back... parts were spendy and rare... we moved to FI T4 and never looked back.

OR stock T1.

Suby was better than Corvair ... still not as easy or fun as T4.

T.

Mon Jun 27, 2005 12:46 pm

I spent some time with my buddies corvair powered sandrail. Interesting to say the least. Gotta luv that bass ackwards fan belt! Way too costly and parts are rare compared to the Vdub stuff. stick with the v-troubleyou stuff.

Mon Jun 27, 2005 8:32 pm

Avoid the headache! Corvairs were used in the seventies. My calendar says 2005 :-). Even if you find the adapter, you need to find the cam that made them run opposite direction ( Corvairs run "backwards"). As others have said, parts are SCARCE. Sometimes free motors are best avoided. Last time someone gave me a corvair, I threw the SOB away! If you want to run a non VW motor, the 2.3 Fords are cheap, readily available, decent power, parts are everywhere, and adapters are still available.

Tue Jun 28, 2005 8:56 pm

I been thinking about doing this myself.

Guess what i got...
WELL GUESS!!!!

http://www.corvair.com/user-cgi/pages.cgi?category=vw

Tue Jun 28, 2005 11:03 pm

holy crap! you mean they are making performance parts for a flat6 that was made in America and is applicable for bajas and buggys???
i might just have to look into that.

http://www.corvairunderground.com/

and these guys here ^^^ even sell transaxle performance parts(corvair) and forged pistons if you really want to get wild with it.

what is the date on that calander again DavidLH?

Wed Jun 29, 2005 7:41 am

Ft Irwin baja- I knew of Clarks, but I still say, where are you going to get parts? I like to be able to walk into any Kragen, Schucks, Pep Boys, etc. and have parts on the shelf. The Corvair motor hasn't even been built since around 1970? If you need a part do you really want to have ONE SOURCE only. You need a fan belt and you must mail order that item and wait maybe a week to get one (and hope they don't back order it). Clarks doesn't have any retail stores so you are SOL on a week-end if you are trying to get your car running? Not me! About 25 years ago we were at Pismo Beach and broke a fan belt on a Corvair (sandrail). The town has several parts houses but not one had a belt!! Our week-end was over and we were 250 miles from home :-(.......... BTW- my calender still says 2005 :-). PS, when was the last time you saw a Corvair at a wrecking yard??? Another thought- Clarks is 3000 miles from Calif. I can drive 1 minute to my local parts house, if they don't have something, they usually can get it delivered next day. My car can be fixed (hurray!), but you are still waiting, hoping, praying,crossed fingers, and chanting to the UPS guy hoping he brings your muffler bearing :-)

Wed Jun 29, 2005 8:15 am

DavidLH wrote: Ft Irwin baja- I knew of Clarks, but I still say, where are you going to get parts? I like to be able to walk into any Kragen, Schucks, Pep Boys, etc. and have parts on the shelf. The Corvair motor hasn't even been built since around 1970? If you need a part do you really want to have ONE SOURCE only. You need a fan belt and you must mail order that item and wait maybe a week to get one (and hope they don't back order it). Clarks doesn't have any retail stores so you are SOL on a week-end if you are trying to get your car running? Not me! About 25 years ago we were at Pismo Beach and broke a fan belt on a Corvair (sandrail). The town has several parts houses but not one had a belt!! Our week-end was over and we were 250 miles from home :-(.......... BTW- my calender still says 2005 :-). PS, when was the last time you saw a Corvair at a wrecking yard??? Another thought- Clarks is 3000 miles from Calif. I can drive 1 minute to my local parts house, if they don't have something, they usually can get it delivered next day. My car can be fixed (hurray!), but you are still waiting, hoping, praying,crossed fingers, and chanting to the UPS guy hoping he brings your muffler bearing :-)

The moral of the story: whatever you run, carry spares.

From an availability standpoint, for most of north america, VW parts or corvair parts have to be mail-ordered. My closest VW shop is an hour away, and they stock NOTHING. you want what you see on the pegboard? no problem, come back in five days to pick it up.

Basic consumables for either a vw engine or a corvair engine (carb kits, fuel pumps, points, plugs, filters, rings) i CAN get from my local NAPA... but again, wait three to five days.

Corvair engines CAN be cheap horsepower, but at a weight/handling cost. All things being equal, might as well build up a vw engine.

Wed Jun 29, 2005 8:36 am

Bljones- I agree with all you wrote, but the part you break is usually the one you don't stock in your toolkit :-(. If your car has a common motor (VW, Ford,etc) at least you have the option of maybe getting parts from a wrecking yard. If you are on a roadtrip and breakdown, the Corvair is going to be a problem. I realize some people must mail order parts, but we agree that the VW is going to be easier to get parts for.

Wed Jun 29, 2005 10:09 am

The thing is i am starging from scratch. i want horse power and something diffrent. i know tons of people with tons of vw powered rails and bajas. i want to stand out be diffrent. i guess what it comes down to is need vs want. well i want something diffrent. i have considered rotary and even a ford ranger 2.3l. and being in cali i dont think that i would have a probleme with parts. there are more stores and shopes in anahiem where i work than i could count. in fact i have a place down the street that does work for them. (who knew) but I would have to agree with every one hear. all good arugments. there are of course giong to be pro's and con's with building anything from scratch. i guess i will just have to see which works best for me. thanks
Baja Ben

Wed Jun 29, 2005 10:20 am

I heard Ralph Nader runs a corvair motor in his Schwimmwagen. That, and an a-arm frontend. Pics anyone?

Wed Jun 29, 2005 3:08 pm

so all it really comes down to is do you want to fall in line with a million other guys who buy/build a buggy or baja and follow the usual recipe for a cool car.....yeah guy just buy this, that, the other and there ya go, and now you are just like all of us.
might as well buy into the image that the newest nikes make you cool becouse everyone else wears them.

Shit tastes good, fifty billion flies cant be wrong right?

Wed Jun 29, 2005 6:23 pm

on the subject of mail order...
I live in Montana. The closest VW shop is Brax- A solid 3-4 hours from home. My thoughts are this- If your corvair is in a "toy"- GO FOR IT! I'm all about different! But if its going to be a daily driver, or something to travel long distance in- VW parts are more available. Dont put yourself in a bad situation. I can keep the basics few parts in my bug & be confident that anything else, I can get off another junkbug. You wont find parts for either in any good bajaing terrain tho.

Sat Jul 02, 2005 5:09 pm

I think a nice lil pinto engine would work. I know, a lot of
work, but parts are avail and an adaptor plate from the
tranny to the pinto engine is also avail..Might be fun to
make. Sure would be different. But then again maybe the
suburu with a lil turbo would work out better for ya.
I don't think the corvair would pay off..Just my 0.02.

Sat Jul 02, 2005 7:24 pm

don't get me wrong, I like the idea of old school corvair power. On the long list of cars i want to build, I'd like to build a corvair powered tow'd. If you're looking to do something a little different i think a corvair engine is a great idea, providing you know what you are getting into.
I also have an air-cooled bias. to me, a corvair engine seems like a more appropriate swap than swapping in a water cooled engine. simpler, without the added weight and complexity of plumbing.

Sat Jul 02, 2005 7:29 pm

tim10, what year did you run a corvair motor? and what parts were you having problems finding?

actually does anyone know just what parts are needed to run a corvair motor in a baja besides the motor, electrical and carbs?

Sun Jul 03, 2005 6:39 am

never had a corvair in a vw but we did use corvair engines in our airboats when I was a kid. It was a pretty reliable motor, allthough we had to stay at the back of the pack and let the guys with the continentals and lycomings etc.. cut the trails and we brought up the rear. This was the late 70's though and corvair parts were plentiful, other than exhaust (which was custom made) we never had internal failures.
If I had access to a motor for free, or next to nothing that was a solid base, I'd give it a shot. Unless you are lucky enough to located close to a well stocked vw shop (with reasonable prices) you pretty much mail order everything anyway so whats the difference?

Mon Jul 04, 2005 12:47 am

well i am locatied to a well stocked vw shop. all of them. i live in corona and work in anaheim. pacific customs and moore parts ring a bell. pluse rimco. sab and plethura of other mom and pop shops. but you know i would proble end up with a vw power but hey if its free might as well give it a shot right. if is blows up.. what i am out 5 buck for the gas and a couple of hourse. but i get a good show if it does blow up. i like when things blow up :twisted:
Baja Ben

Mon Jul 04, 2005 6:17 am

a little off subject but last year at the ennis, texas bug show. a man entered a corvair with a vw t-1 engine and tranny. :D wonder what his thinking was???