Corvair Engine Colors?

[Snake45]

I'm gonna be building up at least one Corvair engine for use in dune buggies. Any characteristic/necessary colors I need to be aware of? Engine block? Air-cooled heads? Anything else? 

Would black block with aluminum-colored heads be appropriate?

[afx]

I think color choice is wide open in a dune buggy application.

[Gramps46]

Boy it has been a long time ago that I owned one but the crankcase, cylinders, and heads would have been bare aluminum but they were surrounded by a black shroud.  I do not remember what color the pan was though.  As JC says if in a dune buggy any thing goes.

[espo]

As I recall the Oil Pan was shaped like a cookie sheet and was made from sheet metal that was painted black. Since you're probably building something more along the lines of a performance engine I would expect a finned Aluminum pan for additional cooling and eye ball.  

[Draggon]

You can paint the crankcase whatever color you like. Some say painting aids in heat transfer.  The heads shouldn't be painted since not only do they get real hot, the exhaust runs so close to them that the paint would burn off real fast. 

[Snake45]

Thanks so much for all the input, gang. Exactly what I needed to know! 

[keyser]

Oily with some rubber shreds on top. (Love'em, but funny)

 

Edited February 4, 2020 by keyser

[ChrisBcritter]

Maybe this'll help:

 

[espo]

6 hours ago, ChrisBcritter said:

Maybe this'll help:

 

That looks like a picture from ralph Nader's family album.      

[thatz4u]

I had a Corvair, thing leaked so much oil that I can't even guess the color of the engine...

[MrObsessive]

6 hours ago, ChrisBcritter said:

Maybe this'll help:

 

? ? ?

[OldNYJim]

13 hours ago, ChrisBcritter said:

Maybe this'll help:

 

I need a reference pic of the top of the engine - can you get them to roll it on it’s other side next? ??

[keyser]

OK. Oily with rubber shreads on top AND bottom

[ChrisBcritter]

5 hours ago, CabDriver said:

I need a reference pic of the top of the engine - can you get them to roll it on it’s other side next? ??

I've got my crew working on it...

[Vietnam Vet67]

I bought a new Corvair in 1964 and had it for 6 years. The block and heads were aluminum. The pan was painted black and so was the fan shroud covering the top of the engine. Put 96,000 miles on it and except for one pushrod punching through a rocker arm it was bullet proof and leakproof.

[Mike999]

Sorry, double post glitch. Deleted.

Edited February 5, 2020 by Mike999
goof

[Mike999]

Not original but it shore is purty, if you want to do a little dress-up.  Corvair engine installed in a Sport Performance Aviation Panther homebuilt aircraft.  Corvair engines were also installed in boats, and the first prototypes of the M-561 Gama Goat military vehicle.  They were prone to overheating and breaking down in the Gama Goat and replaced by a 3-cylinder Detroit Diesel engine for production.

Edited February 5, 2020 by Mike999

[OldNYJim]

8 hours ago, ChrisBcritter said:

I've got my crew working on it...

Perfect, thank you! ?

[espo]

We may ware this Corvair thing out, but as Mike 999 mentioned they were prone to overheating. I have no first hand knowledge of this problem but I can see where this could be a problem in stop and go traffic or in a poor state of tune. Something I don't recall ever seeing is an Oil Cooler on a Corvair engine. That's not to say they didn't exist, I just never saw one. VW's had and still due have a much better after market support and an Oil Cooler is a very common add on. I have to wonder why I have never seen one on a Corvair. I had several friends who had Corvairs and they were all happy with their service and again I don't remember them ever mentioning overheating being a problem. Most of them may not have been able to recognize the problem if they saw it. 

[MrObsessive]

David, maybe the Corvair was better at cooling with it's fan shroud setup than the VW's?

I had an Uncle that passed away years ago, and he could tell you everything about Corvairs and then some. I believe he owned just about every model Chevrolet made at some point over the years, and when he died in '09, he still had a Corvair. A 1966 Monza two door hardtop.

I betcha he could describe the engine to a T as he did most of his own work. I don't remember him ever complaining about overheating troubles with his cars and he had a bunch of 'em including the Greenbriar van.

[Eagle36]

On 2/4/2020 at 11:11 AM, thatz4u said:

I had a Corvair, thing leaked so much oil that I can't even guess the color of the engine...

My brother had one and said it was the first self rust-proofing car made, at for the back one-third.

[Mike999]

7 hours ago, espo said:

We may ware this Corvair thing out, but as Mike 999 mentioned they were prone to overheating.

In the M561 Gama Goat, the Corvair engine may have overheated because it was overworked.  Here's a picture of a Gama Goat.  It's not a vehicle and trailer; it's one vehicle with an articulated joint between the front and rear halves.  It often had to climb thru rough terrain, as shown in the pic.   

Only the  prototype Goats used the Corvair engine. For production, DoD gave up and replaced it with a 3-cylinder Diesel engine.  That had its own problems. It was so loud the driver had to use ear protection.  When I was in the Marine Corps long ago, the Gama Goat was still in service. You could hear one coming from far away.

Edited February 5, 2020 by Mike999
goof2

[Jack L]

7 hours ago, espo said:

We may ware this Corvair thing out, but as Mike 999 mentioned they were prone to overheating. I have no first hand knowledge of this problem but I can see where this could be a problem in stop and go traffic or in a poor state of tune. Something I don't recall ever seeing is an Oil Cooler on a Corvair engine. That's not to say they didn't exist, I just never saw one. VW's had and still due have a much better after market support and an Oil Cooler is a very common add on. I have to wonder why I have never seen one on a Corvair. I had several friends who had Corvairs and they were all happy with their service and again I don't remember them ever mentioning overheating being a problem. Most of them may not have been able to recognize the problem if they saw it. 

corvairs had a oil cooler mounted above the air exhaust duct near the left rear corner of the engine

[Harry Corning]

I owned and raced multiple Corvairs. No overheating unless the belt was loose, and occasionally they'd throw belts. Not a great design. Drivers would keep driving, then blame the cars. And yes, they had factory oil coolers inside the fan shroud. Very nice folded-fin Harrison coolers. Every air-cooled VW ever made also had an oil cooler. The Corvair setup was better because it didn't blow hot air from the cooler over one cylinder. Early VWs blew the hot air over cylinder #3, leading to early wear and dropped valves. The VW-specific Bosch distributor compensated somewhat by running slightly retarded ignition timing on #3. Later cars fixed the problem with revised cooling tin.

The most common leak locations on Corvairs and VW air-cooled engines were the rubber o-rings on the pushrod tubes. Flywheel seals would get hard and leak, and valve cover gaskets would leak on poorly maintained engines.

The little cars are much maligned. Usually hearsay.

[espo]

16 hours ago, Mike999 said:

In the M561 Gama Goat, the Corvair engine may have overheated because it was overworked.  Here's a picture of a Gama Goat.  It's not a vehicle and trailer; it's one vehicle with an articulated joint between the front and rear halves.  It often had to climb thru rough terrain, as shown in the pic.   

Only the  prototype Goats used the Corvair engine. For production, DoD gave up and replaced it with a 3-cylinder Diesel engine.  That had its own problems. It was so loud the driver had to use ear protection.  When I was in the Marine Corps long ago, the Gama Goat was still in service. You could hear one coming from far away.

I can see how that might be an issue, especially since that appears to be much heavier than the passenger car that I was thinking of.