Very cool

[6 Pots...stuff your bhp, torque is king]

End of an Era part 1, and perhaps the beginning of part 2.

Today, the Corvair engine and i parted company. A day with a lot of similarities to the day we made each others aquaintance properly.....in a barn, on the Leicestershire/Northamptonshire border, hot as hell......

The deal on the engine was done 8 days ago. Deposit left and buyer arranged to collect today. Worked well as i was working from home due to a potential buggy buyer coming to look at the buggy.

Took the buggy to Robs saturday morning. Potential buyer came to look at it this morning (left the engine in so i could take him for a test drive)...test drive done, buyer very impressed, time to remove the engine and gearbox. Rob waa a huge help. Engine came out very easily, box didnt put up too much of a fight either.

The box was sold with the engine. We all know my track record with diff flips. No chance i was doing another. By 3pm ish, my buggy looked like this:





Have an engine and gearbox ready to go in. Just need to source an exhaust. Potential buyer loved the buggy. Just need to get it MOTd and let him know.

I would send a photo of the Corvair engine to Ralph Nader over in the States. He would probably have sleepless nights knowing one still existed and it was in a buggy.       (How a man could take such exception to a Corvair & then Beetles and then ending up with the status he now has is beyond me).

[6 Pots...stuff your bhp, torque is king]

I think his issue was the fact (like many other americans) he was unfamiliar with the traits of a swing axle suspension set up.

It shouldnt really have come as any surpise that in a country with lots of long straight roads and big heavy cars with rear leaf springs that a change to swing axle suspension, added to barrelling into a corner and then suddenly lifting off was never, ever going to end particularly well.

An interesting point to note is that the Corvair, i think, is the only car ever to have been deemed legally 'safe' by the courts. Circa 64/65, Chevy changed the rear end suspension to IRS which much improved the handling. The Corvair was actually supposed to be a very good car. Unfortunately, Nader and his rent-a-gob had already done too much damage to the Corvair reputation and production ceased after only 9 years, in 1969. Shame really.

[6 Pots...stuff your bhp, torque is king]

Time to close the door on this one.

With the Corvair engine gone, and gearbox with it, i sourced a new engine from Rob (a 1600 Single port) and, along with another AB code (diff untouched for the potential comedians, of which several frequent here...), we got it all installed and running well. A little later than scheduled but done. Buyer had sent me a sizeable deposit and arranged collection of the buggy. Tomorrow she goes for MOT and all being well (bloody should be after sourcing and correcting the mileage on a new speedo, fixing a tail light bulb and a couple of other bits), will be collected this weekend. One final clean this afternoon in readiness for MOT. She looked as good as she ever did. Teasing me i think.



As i have said though, she had become an expensive garage ornament. A buggy needs to be used, out in the sunshine, by the sea, which is exactly where this one is going. Not fair to keep her locked away and unused. If im honest with myself, i think the fun for me was in the building of it.

Its with a heavy heart i ask for this particular thread to be closed. If the new owner joins here, he can start a new one. This was my record, of what i did, to my buggy.

She came a long, long way from that chassis i picked up from Manxdavid, on a saturday morning sometime in 2011 think it was. Through running out of fuel, getting baptised, backwards diffs, engine swaps, silly fuel economy, id like to think i did something a little different and amused you all. I learned an awful lot and enjoyed it.

Ive certainly met some great people via the MBC and buggy scene as a wider concern. I wont name names, ill only miss someone. Ill still be around, if anyone need advice on a Corvair or a gearbox which probably has more place in an Italian tank than a buggy......

Adios guys.

Never seen the buggy but always a great read.
Well done Ben

[6 Pots...stuff your bhp, torque is king]

She doesnt want to go....... keeps throwing up these little issues...

So, MOT was booked this morning. Drove there pretty much perfectly, although clutch slipping a little in 3rd and 4th.

Brake test had literally just finished when the tester said 'oh, that felt odd' referring to something he'd felt through the brake pedal. With the brakes off, the passenger side rear was showing 90kg of brake force... managed to back it off but suspect the cylinder to be the issue as the handbrake is still fine.

Home at the mo, just having a brew, then heading back over to robs.

[6 Pots...stuff your bhp, torque is king]

Brake cylinder on that side was siezed. Must have moved enough to pass the brake test, then moved some more with the pedal pressure from the test and stayed stuck...

Pistons removed, cleaned up, replaced, bled. All good.

Clutch we think was down to a pressure plate gone weak. New clutch and pressure plate installed,  and she flies along. Done 70 odd miles in her today.

Its with a heavy heart i ask for this particular thread to be closed. If the new owner joins here, he can start a new one. This was my record, of what i did, to my buggy.

Adios guys.

Sorry Ben, cannot do that

I`ll leave it open for as and when you come to your senses and buy it back 

Anyway . .   Don`t be a stranger on here   

All the best Ben W. Always enjoyed your thread

Paul

Good luck with your future projects always loved your buggy

She came a long, long way from that chassis i picked up from Manxdavid, on a saturday morning sometime in 2011 think it was.

Bloody good chassis that, original floorpans, rock solid!

[6 Pots...stuff your bhp, torque is king]

She came a long, long way from that chassis i picked up from Manxdavid, on a saturday morning sometime in 2011 think it was.

Bloody good chassis that, original floorpans, rock solid!

Certainly was David.......you know it went to a good home though!