Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:22:34 -0600
Reply-To: Tom Hargrave <thargrav@HIWAAY.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Tom Hargrave <thargrav@HIWAAY.NET>
Subject: Re: Fwd: Corvair-powered Bay on Virginia CL
In-Reply-To: <CAH32RNaEo=PiZ68pLQLrj7r8e5pT9u=qcrerktV3Yk0y+1YBUA@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
I was going to respond to the safety issues but Loren beat me to most of them.
The Corvair was made famous because of Nader's "unsafe at any speed".
His biggest issue was - in a rear end collision the uni-body panels would jamb together, forcing the passengers to escape through the windows. But this was a universal problem with uni-body cars well into the 70's!
His second issue was the rear swing arm design could cause the inner rear axle to tuck under in a too-tight turn, causing the car to flip over, but so would the Triumph Spitfire. This was / is only a issue through the 1963 model year - all Corvairs sold from 1964 through 1969 had a updated swing arm design that could not do this.
The bottom line is Nader picked a target vehicle then he beat it to death and he could have easily picked on the Ford Mustang or the VW Bug and found as many safety issues. GM was already looking for a excuse to kill the Corvair and Nader's book proved the perfect opportunity to "look good" in the process. I often wonder if Nader knew this - I'm sure if he had gone after a more popular car he would have been up for a serious fight from the manufacturer.
The Corvair engine is not a bad engine - the only real issue is the leaky push rod seals and you can buy Vitron seals today. But just like the VW engine, don't stay on top of your valve adjustment and you'll pay. The funky fan belt arrangement is not so different than the VW pancake engine although I think VW did a better job. If your Corvair was throwing belts and you did not take the time to sort out what was out of line or worn out then shame on you.
Thanks, Tom Hargrave
www.stir-plate.com
www.towercooler.com
www.kegkits.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of Loren Busch
Sent: Friday, November 11, 2011 10:20 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Fwd: Corvair-powered Bay on Virginia CL
*Glad it's Friday so I can rant on this one for a minute.
*
On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 7:10 AM, Frank Lee <techedteacher@gmail.com> wrote:
> Very strange.
>
*Not so strange at all. The Corvair engine was a popular engine conversion in the Beetles and Buses of the time. And I have a friend I camp with at least a couple of times a year that has been driving the same Corvan for
30+ years now. And owns several Corvairs (and one rare Vanagon Mail Van).
He is also in the process of a down to the metal restoration of an '81 Vanagon that will have a hot Corvair engine in it and be one sweet machine when he is done. *
>
> The Corvair was Chevy's failed attempt to offer a US alternative the
> strange and rapidly multiplying VW Beetle.
>
*Wrong. It was GM's answer to the Ford Falcon and the Mopar Valiant/Dart.
There was a market niche for 'compact cars' at the time. The Beetle and Datsun and Toyota entries were just barely into the North American market in the early '60's* .
>
> It was so poorly engineered it flipped and killed lots of people,
> including two I knew in high school.
> It gave Ralph Nader his start as a consumer activist, the subject of
> his book "Unsafe At Any Speed"
>
*Only partly right. According to the memoirs of others working with Nader at the time his first target was the Beetle. Why? Because, according to the (at the time not avialable to the public) Insurance Institute statistics the Beetle had the highest single car accident rate and highest single car fatality rate of any car on the road in the US at the time. It had the same swing axle setup as the Covair. Both were subject to digging in a rim IF the owner/driver ran with under inflated rear tires. And many drivers of both the Beetle and Corvair thought they were driving a sports car but didn't know how to handle a rear engine car. But Nader chose to go after GM because they were easier to sue in the US and bigger and it was better PR for Nader, made better headlines. *
>
>
-----
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 10.0.1382 / Virus Database: 2092/4010 - Release Date: 11/11/11
