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Corvair Engine
This engine was acquired out of a running 1965 Chevy Corvair, The owner is installing a more powerful engine.This one is ideal for my purposes.
It has all the characteristics I need for a reliable aircraft engine after it is completely rebuilt with all new parts.
First order of business is to remove all the tin ducts, shrouds and covers.
After removing the carburetors and distributor the engine is cleaned of years of accumulated dirt, oil and grunge.
Now the engine is ready for transfer to the shop. I made this rolling engine stand from assorted metal shelving material.
As you can see, it was easy to just drop this heavy pile of metal onto it. It doesn't look like much here, does it? Also I
have removed the clutch bell housing. You can see the crankshaft and cam gears exposed with it's removal.
Most of the bell housing is useless on an airplane but the center part is neccessary to cover those gears seen in the picture above this one. The aluminum was easy to cut with woodworking blades in a jig saw. Two blades required to make the entire cut.
Now you see the finished cover plate. Some sanding and polishing and it will be like a new part.
Here we see the bottom of the engine with a new, aluminum plate cover. The oil seperator/ fan bearing mount from the top of the engine has been cleaned up inside and out, then bolted to the plate as a deeper reservoit for an increased supply of oil. In the two pictures below you see the wood template/ router guide clamped to the top of the plate.
A template was made from press board and clamped to the top of the rough cut plate.
Running the router around the roughly cut plate, inside and out with a carbide wood bit having a ball bearing guide at the top,as can be seen below, made short work of finishing the edges to their proper dimensions. Then the bolt holes were marked and drilled.
Once in the shop the engine was completely dismantled and serious cleaning begun of the case halves, cylinder barrels. heads and anything else that will be used in the final assembly . A long and arduous job but everything must be as clean as a whistle.
Why would I want a Corvair engine? There are many already flying successfully, some with hundreds of hours on them. They are
a robust machine that can produce 100 or
more horsepower at low rpm when rebuilt
properly for aircraft use. Parts are still easy
to get and are inexpensive. I will have a fully rebuilt, better than new engine for less
than the cost of a used aircraft engine. Also
it's aircooled, no radiator or water hoses to
add weight and possibly fail. Go to Links
page for more information