Isuzu SUV Forum banner

1965 Chevy Corvair van repair

52K views 289 replies 18 participants last post by  DSUZU 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
To keep the long story short, this is a friend's vehicle. It broke down on them, and I have Corvair experience and ended up making them a better deal on the repairs, so I'll be fixing it for them. Dennis
1965 Corvair Van 001.JPG

1965 Corvair Van 002.JPG

1965 Corvair Van 003.JPG

The engine is a flat 6, air cooled, 164 CID, 110 HP. Other variants were 95HP lower compression ratio, 140HP with 4 1BBL carbs, and 180HP turbo charged. The higher HP engines were not offered in the vans.
 

Attachments

See less See more
3
#4 ·
Does Ralph Nadar know about this?
 
#6 ·
That's NICE! Super clean. Ask them if they want a Ranchero.
 
#7 ·
Beautiful van! Are those the black California plates on that?
 
#8 ·
Yes California plates. Don't know what the "tag" story is. This van shows 21K on the odometer. It was "restored" to collection quality (whatever that is). The P.O. had quite a car collection and was "thinning the herd". She paid good money for it, I thought too much until I started checking ebay (for what actually had bids) and the prices of the vans and pickups are way up there. It does have the second and third row seats too. Yes, you'll get pictures of the bad parts. Right now, it appears to have 2 scored cylinders. Will know more after dropping the engine and pulling the head. Dennis
 
#9 ·
In Calif, the tags belong to the vehicle and stay with that vehicle until it is scrapped or re-plated in another state. The black plates were phased out in the late 60's or early 70's. (I think). It is just cool to see them every now and then. The last "black plates" I saw were on a semi sheep wagon trailer last summer.
 
#10 ·
We have '68 Maryland tags for the Camaro. They get attached to the current Historic tags on paper. Then you just have to carry the Historic tags in the trunk.
 
#11 ·
Was that called a Greenbriar or was that front engine van? I was into hot rods when the Corvair came out so I don't really know if that is a decent engine or not. I do remember seing one flying down the highway with a large cloud of blue smoke coming out both windows with 2 boys leaning forward for fresh air. They might have had a leak in the heater system. LOL
 
#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hess, thanks for the California tag info. Mark: yeah, we have that deal here too. If you have a classic car, and can get a tag for the year of manufacture, you can pay an extra fee and have that tag assigned to your car.
Now here's tonight's progress. May not look like much, but about 50 bolts and screws had to be removed to get this far. Exhaust is also completely removed from underneath.
1965 Corvair van 001.JPG
1965 Corvair van 003.JPG
1965 Corvair van 002.JPG


Yes, This is a Greenbriar van. They came as Greenbriar (windows and seats), "Corvan" (?), Corvair 95 van and pickup (95" wheelbase). Of interesting note: ALL the windows from the center forward can be rolled down. The 2 quarter windows are fixed. There was also a model that had "barn doors" on BOTH sides, often used as a limo.
The smoke coming out. Remember that all too well. If the PCV plugged up, oil would back up and spill on the hot fins and exhaust. The smoke got into the cabin through the cooling ducting, which also provided hot air for the heat. I'll make pictures of that as I remove it. Dennis
P.S. it is strange to be working on something and to completely ignore the "metric" side of my tool kit.
 

Attachments

#13 ·
Chitzu said:
I was into hot rods when the Corvair came out
It was a ride in a "hot rod" Corvair that got me started. A friend had a '64 with the 140 HP engine swapped into it. Crown manifold with a 4 BBL Holley. 70MPH in second gear impressed the heck out of me! Dennis
 
#14 · (Edited by Moderator)
THREAD JACK! i learned from Dennis so he can't get mad.

if you want black plates come to texas.....i think 15-20 of our plate designs are prodominatly black.

20140827_230619-1.jpg


Back on topic, I'm pretty sure I would be more inclined to have sex WITH the van, then in it. :D
 

Attachments

#16 ·
I kept thinking "my hands aren't even getting dirty". They did get a little dirty when I was removing the lower grille at the back. It did blow out some oil film on the highway. What's amazing is how clean the underneath is. I'll have to take some pictures. Dennis
 
#17 ·
Get off work early today? Your throwing off my clock....
 
#18 ·
My regular "workday" ends at 3:30. On a good day, I'm home around 3:45 - 3:50. Then I usually instantly hit craigslist to scrounge and the planet to escape reality (and the heat). After it cools off a bit, I might go outside and do a little something. Then I have those days where I have to do an errand on the way home, or if I g scrounging at the P&P, well, I'm lucky if I get home by 5:00. Probably won't make any more real progress until Saturday. Dennis
 
#19 ·
Normally u start posting 4pm my time.....today was much earlier.....
 
#20 · (Edited by Moderator)
Okay, I took a few seconds. Here's some pics of the undercarriage. It's all been cleaned and painted. For a Chevrolet product, I guess you'd say it was "Chaggydoinked" :D .
corvair undercarriage 001.JPG
corvair undercarriage 003.JPG
corvair undercarriage 002.JPG

BTW, the transmission is a GM 2 speed Powerglide automatic. It is air-cooled as well. On the cars it is strictly trans contained, on the vans there is also a remote cooler. Dennis
 

Attachments

#21 ·
In tuned in now :)

Cool little van and it's way to clean for your mechanic hands Dennis lol

That torque converter looks so tiny !!

Oh and yesterday while I was down at the hose shop a fella pulled up in a cherry corvar car (cherry red) to boot !!

Sounded healthy and had super traps sticking out the back... His two little boys had the stereo cranked listening to hells bells with the look of "ya I'm cool"
 
#23 · (Edited by Moderator)
And it's out. About an hour and a half today. Un-expected difficulty was having to remove the oil filter mounting plate to clear the rear of the engine housing box. I had planned for the removal of the oil fill / dip stick tube as it goes diagonally from the bottom of the block to the rear access panel. Also the rubber seal strips and their sheet metal mounts. The engines on these cars (and vans) is completely sealed from the top to the bottom. Cooling air (on the vans and pickups) comes from vents on each side, goes through the engine, and exits out thermostatically controlled ducts to the rear (through the grille). This all keeps the hot air from returning through the engine. Also, unlike the VWs, the Corvair has an additional mount at the rear of the engine.
Next step is to assemble my new engine stand (Harbor Freight - this has it's own story) and mount the engine to the stand before pulling the head. Dennis
It's out 001.JPG
It's out 002.JPG
It's out 003.JPG

P.S. I'm doing this while taking a "cool off" break. It's above 90 out there.
 

Attachments

#25 ·
Ha, have to throw this out to the east coasters. In my area of Nevada, it is 74 degrees and 24% humidity! Love it!
 
#26 ·
Well now it looks normal sized , the first picture makes it look so small !!

Are those like vw's where you have to split the case to get the rods out ??

You got a lees on pistons and jugs already ?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top