Technical Articles and Notes 

Updated 29-Nov-2011 ==== Copyright (c) 2011 Corvairs of New Mexico   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mounting Radial Tires on Classic Vehicle Rims
Transaxle Lubricants Revisited by Bob Helt
Corvair Torsional Dampers Revisited by Bob Helt
The Preventive Maintenance Series
On the Demise of 13-inch Tires
WD-40 -- What is it?
Ethanol in Gasoline
Oil Filter Update
Corsa Dash Lights
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MOUNTING RADIAL TIRES ON CLASSIC VEHICLE RIMS
Condensed from SEMA Member News, July/August, 2011
by Brad Hunsinger of Colorado V8 Club

Over the past 100 years, tires and the wheels that support them have gone
through significant changes as a result of technical innovations in design,
technology and materials. No single factor affects the handling and safety of a
car more than the tires and wheels it rides on and how the two work together as
a unit. One nagging question has been whether rims designed for bias-ply tires
can handle the stresses placed on them by radial-ply tires. The answer depends
on how the rim was originally designed and built, as well as the number of
cycles on it and how it has been used. More importantly, it depends upon the
construction of the tire and how it transmits the vehicle's load to where the
rubber meets the road.

The terms radial and bias describe two different ways to structure a tire using
similar, rubber-covered fabric cords of nylon, polyester, rayon or steel. The
bodies of all tires are made from layers of such cords, and the layers are
called plies. Within each body ply,tire cords lie parallel to each other encased
in rubber, and each cord distributes stresses along its length to its ends,
which are anchored around steel hoops called beads. Because the beads also hold
the tire tightly to the rim, the bead areas transfer body tire cord stresses to
and from the rim. Radial tires and bias-belted tires have additional belt plies
located only beneath the tread area, and the cords of those plies are anchored
only in rubber.

Why is there a possible rim concern between Radial and Bias tires? The fitting
of radial tires to wheels and rims originally designed for bias tires, is an
application that may result in rim durability issues. Even same-sized bias and
radial tires stress a rim differently, despite their nearly identical
dimensions. Stresses that exceed any rim's design limits can result in rim
failure with possible tire and vehicle consequences.

When radial tires began to be widely accepted, engineers and customers noted
occasional rim-cracking failures that led to higher strength standards for light
truck and large agricultural tire applications. Rim cracking was not prevalent
in all wheels of that era ('70's), but wheels and rims of earlier years (with
different design standards and many, many usage cycles) were not - indeed could
not - be fully tested for use with every possible radial. Therefore, it is
likely that all old rims - and even some new rims made to old designs - may not
perform satisfactorily with newer-technology tires, even if compatible sizing
makes it very easy to install the radials.

Construction features of radial and bias tires make them bulge differently when
deflected. So the radial's localized bulge puts more stress on the rim flange.
Why? Bias tire cords cannot bend or bulge independently because they are
rubber-bonded to adjacent ply cords that go in the opposite, reinforcing
direction. Therefore each bias cord transfers some of its stress to each of the
cords that crosses it. Radial tire cords can bend and bulge independently by
stretching and/or compressing the rubber between them because (except in the
belt and bead areas) there is no other reinforcement between the cords. The
radial tire concentrates its wheel-to-ground loading stress in a much smaller
portion of sidewall than a bias tire does, and extreme bulging is the result.

Rim fatigue and cracking can happen to any wheel from normal flexing, cyclic
loading and cornering, but radial stressing of the rim can accelerate metal
fatigue and rim failure that is uncommon with bias tires.

What are the possible results of radial tire rim stress? Radials can add
bulge-induced stress at various rim flange area points which increases the
possibility of fatigue cracking in these areas. Additionally, wheel stress
caused by a radial's improved handling actually results in additional flange
area and stress point loading as the tire distorts and rolls sideways. The most
likely failure mode for an overstressed rim is circumferential cracking at one
or more stress points.

What can be done to check for rim cracks? Small cracks may offer no symptoms in
a tube-type product, since air leakage will not occur unless the crack's motion
nibbles through the tube. So, only vigilant physical wheel examination offers a
way to catch early cracking in a tube-type application. Small cracks in a
tubeless application will result in immediate, noticeable air leakage. A key to
discovery is to remember that cracking is a possibility, and don't always assume
that air loss is a puncture or a valve issue. Most importantly, don't "correct"
a leak by periodically adding air, as a crack could be growing in your wheel.
With reasonable inspection and careful maintenance, it is likely that rim
cracking issues with any tire (radial or bias) can remain limited to a nuisance
issue rather than a safety concern.

REPRINTED BY: NEW MEXICO COUNCIL OF CAR CLUBS




TRANSAXLE LUBRICANTS REVISITED by Bob Helt
Reprinted from: VEGAS VAIRS - July 2011, page 4

 April 2011
With a constantly changing technology and industry, it's sometimes hard to know
what to do. Yet we have to make decisions based on current understandings and
limited data. For all of these reasons, this seems like now is a good time to
review just what lubricants we should be putting in our Corvair transmissions
and differentials.

Unfortunately, neither the Corvair Owner's Manuals nor the Shop Manuals provide
us with much usable information due to the significant changes that have
occurred over the last 40-50 years.

So let's review just what the latest thinking and recommendations are for
selecting lubricants for our Corvair transmissions and differentials. Chevrolet
called these differentials rear axles but we will refer to them as
differentials.

First, let's cover the simple ones starting with the Powerglide transaxles.

POWERGLIDE TRANSAXLES

In the Powerglide transmission, one should use the latest Automatic Transmission
Fluid (ATF) version of Dexron available, that currently is designated as either
Dexron III or Dexron III-H.

In the Powerglide differential, also the latest gear lubricant designated as
GL-5 is recommended in either the conventional oil viscosity of 80W-90 or the
synthetic oil viscosity designated as 75W-90. Note that GL-5 is recommended only
for the Powerglide differential and higher viscosities are also not recommended.

MANUAL TRANSMISSION CORVAIR TRANSAXLES

Since all Corvair manual transmission transaxles have a lubricant recirculation
system that transfers the lubricating oil between the transmission and
differential (and back) our choice of lubricating oil must satisfy the
requirements both the transmission and differentials.

Let's take a look at what these requirements are. In the transmission, the key
concern is that of having the gear synchronizers work correctly and provide long
life to these. Here is the problem. These synchronizers are made of brass and
must be able to force the two mating gears, in either an upshift or down shift,
to reach the same speed for a clashless shift to occur. This is done by allowing
the sharp edges of these brass rings to "cut thru" the lubricating film and make
contact with the mating parts causing enough friction to force the two gears to
reach the same speed. Thus, film strength must be within certain specs and the
sharp edges of the syncho rings must be maintained. So the lubricant must not
attack the soft brass.

Things are different in the differential. Here, the main concern is for the
hypoid ring and pinion gears, where there a potential for excessive wear exists
since the teeth contact surfaces move against each other in a sliding action
with of course significant power being transmitted via these gears. So
protection against gear wear is a major concern in the differential.

So here is the problem. The sulfur/phosphorus additives that are used in the
differential to protect against gear wear tend to increase the lubricant film
strength in the transmission making it more difficult for the synchronizers to
cut thru this film and do their job. This increases the wear on these brass
rings. In addition, the differential additives tend to attack brass, so
neutralizing components must be added to the transmission oil to prevent any
corrosion.

In order to establish and maintain the correct balance between both the
transmission and differential requirements, the use of the correct lubricant is
a must.

Therefore it is highly recommended that you look for and use only a gear
lubricant designated as GL-4 (either conventional lube or synthetic). You don't
want any other designations shown on the container such as GL-5 or MT-1. You
want just GL-4 by itself. GL-5 gear lube contains about twice the
sulfur/phosphorus ingredients of GL-4 and thus is likely to increase the wear of
the brass synchronizer rings. According to lube expert, Richard Witman, the SAE
says GL-5 should not be used in synchronized transmissions. And MT-1 is not
wanted either since it is designated for non-synchromesh transmissions.

And for the Manual Transmission and differential, viscosities are recommended in
either the conventional oil of 80W-90 or the synthetic oil viscosity designated
as 75W-90. Note that higher viscosities are also not recommended.




CORVAIR TORSIONAL DAMPERS REVISITED by Bob Helt 
Reprinted from: VEGAS VAIRS - August 2011, page 4

After considerable study and research I have come to some new conclusions that I
would like to share with you regarding our stock Corvair torsional dampers. As
you know, the piston power strokes tend to slightly twist the crankshaft, which
then untwists afterwards. This sets up a vibration in the crankshaft which can
build up to a damaging force when these pulses occur at the crankshaft's natural
resonant frequency.

To avoid crankshaft damage from these vibrations, Chevrolet included a vibration
damper on most of the 164 cid engines. They called this damper a Harmonic
Balancer which we now call by its correct functional name of Torsional Damper.
But whatever you might call it, its job is the same.....to protect the
crankshaft.

In rebuilding these dampers, I have found that almost all of them have hard or
inflexible rubber in the section separating the two cast iron pieces. So it is
apparent that this factory rubber doesn't last long in use. It deteriorates
rapidly from heat and exposure. And as it deteriorates, it hardens, losing its
flexibility and thus REDUCING ITS DAMPENING ABILITY. Since the design of the
stock damper specifies that it be tuned to the crankshaft vibration frequency,
this hardening of the rubber shifts the tuning upward to a higher frequency that
will not sufficiently dampen the crankshaft. Dale Engineering who has rebuilt
over 6000 dampers has found the the tuned frequency has shifted upwards as much
as 26% (from 222 Hz to around 280 Hz) in dampers that still seem to be useable
with a still flexible rubber section.

This means that stock dampers that still appear to have good flexible rubber and
be otherwise stock appearing may not provide sufficient crankshaft protection.
Stated simply, you can't tell a good damper by its appearance or any simple
test.

Vendor-rebuilt dampers now use a more durable synthetic rubber that doesn't
deteriorate like the stock dampers did. But the lifetime stability of these
rubbers is not known and may possibly be subject, to some extent, to the same
kind of hardening and tuning shift of the stock dampers. In addition It is
possible that some vendors may be using better rubber material than others.
Thus, the hardening and tuning shift problem may not have been totally solved.
Unfortunately, there is little technical knowledge or in-use experience to guide
us on these vendor supplied rebuilds. Dale does warrant his dampers for their
lifetime, but their extended lifetime dampening abilities seem to remain
unknown.

Since crankshaft breakage is the result of many undamped vibrations over the
crank's lifetime, it's hard to know the actual cause. But I have come to the
conclusion that these broken crankshafts are mainly due to the continued use of
an aging damper that appears good but that has shifted its dampening frequency
and thus lost its damping capability over time.

Because of our inability to evaluate the damping capability of any given damper,
the only solutuion is to replace any damper periodically with a vendor rebuilt
one. The replacement cycle is subject to opinion but annually would seem to be
appropriate for racing and daily use vehicles in warmer climates, and every five
years for all others. If you are still using a stock damper, we recommend that
it be replaced immediately. It doesn't have to separate to cease working.




THE PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE SERIES 
Article by Mike Dawson in July/August 2011 Corvantics

Reprinted from: VEGAS VAIRS - August 2011, page 4

Things that need double (or regular) checking:

Oil Filter Bolts: Some of the fiber washers used under the head of the oil
filter bolt will crush just enough under heat cycles and vibration to cause the
torque (20 ft lbs) to vanish. Almost all of the various filters in use have the
problem to a certain extent. I reviewed all of my cars recently and found two of
the bolts one half turn loose. One car I know of began to leak oil on the
highway from that exact problem. Best defense would be to check the bolts,
including the right angle adapter, on a regular basis until you are sure the
torque has stabilized.

Belts: Most new belts will need to be adjusted at least once after a break in
period. If you install a new belt, be sure to recheck the tension after a period
of time. A brand new belt would be particularly susceptible to loosening up
after high speed driving. As was mentioned above, check until you are sure the
belt has stabilized. If you have belt guides, adjust the clearance to 1/16th
inch.

Carburetor Inlet Nuts: These also loosen up from heat cycles and vibration,
however, when you tighten the steel line nut, you should make sure that the
spring action of the line is not trying to unscrew the inlet nut. Gently bend
the line once you have tightened the flare nut so that the line is at least
neutral and possibly even trying to tighten the nut. Gaskets, if needed, are
available in an inexpensive plastic pack on O'reilly's shelf.

Gas Filler Pipe Pocket: The early model cars have a drain and a plastic insert
with a rubber hose leading down the back of the wheel well. If that small hole
in the bottom of the filler pocket gets plugged with debris, collected water
could rise above the fuel pipe if any of the following occur: the hoses
connecting the pipe to the tank have been replaces and are a little shorter, the
gasket under the cap has shrunk or the vent opening may be on the low side of
the cap. Late models have a bigger drain and the filler pipe is higher.

Battery Cable Ends: These should be removed from the battery about every six
months and you should clean both the inside of the clamp and the battery post.
They may appear clean on the outside but that is only for show - the real issue
is the mating surfaces. Not attending to this item causes all electrical
operations to cease, usually at the time you turn the key to start.

Oil Pan Bolts: If you have a cork or rubber pan gasket there is the potential
for leaks as the gaskets experience hot and cold cycles along with vibration and
oil sitting on the gasket at all times. A regular check of the bolts may be
necessary. My favorite method for the pan is to use a late design pan that you
have carefully straightened, a hard paper gasket (allows use of a toque wrench),
high temp RTV on both sides of the gasket, use of 1/4-20 grade 8 bolts by 3/4
inch length with lock and flat washers. Torque to 10 ft lbs.

Fuel Pump Mounting Bolt: Check your pump simply by grabbing the top towards the
front of the car and attempt to move it - any movement or clicking sound needs
to be corrected by loosening the lock nut and tightening the mounting bolt, then
tighten the locknut. The mounting bolt should have an "L" stamped on the head -
if not, shorten the point slightly as it may try to punch through the pump
casting when you tighten it properly. (See Vaircor 09)




ON THE DISAPPEARANCE OF 13-INCH TIRES 

The New Jersey "FANBELT" for May 2010 reprints this article about tires:

The End of 13-Inch Tires by Ken Maxwell, Louisville, KY

Well, it's finally happened. I can no longer get the P185/80R13 tires for my
Corvair.

I work for a large tire company with a huge warehouse and we are direct with all
major manufacturers. Firestone informed us yesterday that their FR380 tire is on
national backorder and "there are no plans for future production." Hankook has
discontinued its H714 tire and Kumho has discontinued its 795 tire. Cooper has
discontinued its Alpha 365 tire. Tire Rack and Tire Discounters don't list any
13 inch tires except for trailer tires (don't use those).

I searched all over the internet and was able to find a leftover set of five
FR380s in Oregon which I ordered. If you think that you will have a need for
13-inch tires for your Corvair any time soon, I would recommend you check with
your local tire supplier as soon as possible to see if they have some stashed
away. The only alternative that we will soon have are classic reproductions like
the BFG "Silverstone" tire with a very wide whitewall that runs $173 each! I
just paid $47 each, plus shipping, for the Firestones.

The future isn't much better for those of us that have 14-inch tires either.
Tire makers are dropping those sizes as fast as they can. There simply isn't
enough of a market to make it worth their while to manufacture them. The 13-inch
tire used to be the entry level size but now the 16-inch tire has that position.

Editor's Note: Clark's Corvair Parts has, as of this writing, a good inventory
of the P185/80R13 Hankook tires with the 3/4" whitewall. But Clark's admits that
the tires are getting harder to find, and suggests that you order now before
they are gone. Clark's part number is C12601 and the price is $75.10 each.




WD-40 -- WHAT IS IT? 

What is the main ingredient of WD-40? I had a neighbor who bought a new pickup.
I got up very early one Sunday morning and saw that someone had spray painted
red all around the sides of this beige truck (for some unknown reason). I went
over, woke him up, and told him the bad news. He was very upset and was trying
to figure out what to do... probably nothing until Monday morning, since nothing
was open. Another neighbor came out and told him to get his WD-40 and clean it
off. It removed the unwanted paint beautifully and did not harm the truck's
paint job. I'm impressed! WD-40 = Water Displacement #40. The product began from
a search for a rust preventative solvent and degreaser to protect missile parts.
WD-40 was created in 1953 by three technicians at the San Diego Rocket Chemical
Company. Its name comes from the project that was to find a 'water displacement'
compound. They were successful with the fortieth formulation, thus WD-40. The
Convair Company bought it in bulk to protect their Atlas missile parts. Ken East
(one of the original founders) says there is nothing in WD-40 that would hurt
you. When you read the 'shower door' part, try it. It's the first thing that has
ever cleaned that spotty shower door. If yours is plastic, it works just as well
as glass. It's a miracle! Then try it on your stove top. Viola! It's now shinier
than it's ever been. You'll be amazed.

WD-40 uses:
 1. Protects silver from tarnishing.
 2. Removes road tar and grime from cars.
 3. Cleans and lubricates guitar strings.
 4. Gives floors that 'just-waxed' sheen without making them slippery.
 5. Keeps flies off cows.
 6. Restores and cleans chalkboards.
 7. Removes lipstick stains.
 8. Loosens stubborn zippers.
 9. Untangles jewelry chains.
10. Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.
11. Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.
12. Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing.
13. Removes tomato stains from clothing.
14. Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots.
15. Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.
16. Keeps scissors working smoothly.
17. Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes.
18. It removes black scuff marks from the kitchen floor! Use WD-40 for those
    nasty tar and scuff marks on flooring. It doesn't seem to harm the finish
    and you won't have to scrub nearly as hard to get them off. Just remember
    to open some windows if you have a lot of marks.
19. Bug guts will eat away the finish on your car if not removed quickly! Use
    WD-40!
20. Gives a children's playground gym slide a shine for a super fast slide.
21. Lubricates gear shift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding
    mowers.
22. Rids kids' rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises.
23. Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open..
24. Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.
25. Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards and vinyl bumpers in vehicles.
26. Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
27. Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans.
28. Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles.
29. Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running smoothly.
30. Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.
31. Removes splattered grease on stove.
32. Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.
33. Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
34. Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
35. Removes all traces of duct tape.
36. People spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to relieve arthritis pain.
37. Florida's favorite use: clean and remove love bugs from grills and bumpers.
38. New York: WD-40 protects the Statue of Liberty from the elements.
39. WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a little on live bait or lures and you will be
    catching the big one in no time. Also, it's a lot cheaper than the chemical
    attractants that are made for just that purpose. Keep in mind though, using
    chemical laced baits or lures for fishing are not allowed in some states.
40. Fire ant bites: it takes the sting away immediately and stops the itch.
41. Remove crayon from walls. Spray on the mark and wipe with a clean rag.
42. If your teenage daughter has washed and dried a tube of lipstick with a load
    of laundry, saturate the lipstick spots with WD-40 and rewash. Presto! The
    lipstick is gone!
43. Spray WD-40 on the distributor cap to displace the moisture and allow the
    car to start.
P.S. The basic ingredient is FISH OIL.

[ Thanks to Larry Blair for passing along this INTERNET SPAM item. ]



ETHANOL IN GASOLINE (1)
Reprinted from: VAIRIFIABLE NEWS Central Virginia -- July 2011

July 2011 Car Hobbyist News from the Council by Fred Fann

Big Ethanol wins again, then loses - on June 14th a vote was taken in the US
Senate to end the $6 billion a year ethanol subsidies - and it failed. Then on
June 16th another vote was taken in the Senate and by a 73 - 27 margin the
ethanol subsidies are supposed to end. It is not expected to make it into law.
Attachments to the bill and a possible veto by the president will most likely
prevent the subsidies from ending. It does show that people in DC are getting
very worried about the deficit.

More people are getting concerned about E15 and other ethanol blends and the
damage these blends could do to engines. More ethanol also means less gas
mileage and possible engine problems. What I have heard is that the EPA is
working on the approval of so called blender pumps for ethanol. The blender
pumps would allow varying amounts of ethanol fuel such as E10, E15 and E85 to be
dispensed. These pumps would be similar to the old Sunoco pumps that would
dispense economy, regular, super, premium and super premium gasolines all from
the same pump. The problem the EPA will have is making sure people don't make a
mistake in fuel selection. The EPA recently releases a picture of an orange and
black label that will go on E15 pumps. The problem is many people will just
ignore the sticker just like they ignored warnings about putting leaded gasoline
into unleaded cars until the government mandated a nozzle and gas filler size
change.

Car hobbyists are not at all happy with ethanol. There is an abundance of
information on the internet about ethanol and older vehicles. Ethanol is a
solvent and can dissolve rubber and other materials causing problems. The EPA
says E15 and greater ethanol blends should not be used in vehicles made before
2001 and should not be used in any air-cooled engines.

ETHANOL IN GASOLINE (2)
Reprinted from: VAIRIFIABLE NEWS Central Virginia -- July 2011

Ethanol and Your Small Engines

During a recent visit to my local lawn equipment dealer, I found a notice
regarding the use of gasoline containing any ethanol.

This is a quote from the notice: "Small engine manufacturers are now
recommending the use of high octane gas in small engines. We highly recommend
USING ONLY 91/93 OCTANE OR 89 WITH STARTRON FUEL TREATMENT!"

The notice went on to say "Do not use regular Stabilizer, it no longer works due
to the 10% ethanol in all fuel today." They recommend storing gas containing
ethanol for only 30 days.

The dealer claims that small engine manufacturers will not pay warranty for
anything fuel related.

IMPORTANT

When running ethanol-blended gas in your older car or small engine equipment,
most technical sources recommend completely running it out of gas before storing
it for an extended period.

ETHANOL IN GASOLINE (3)
Reprinted from: VAIRIFIABLE NEWS Central Virginia -- July 2011

HAGERTY Old Cars web-site reprint:

Ethanol's effects on older cars are many and varied. Depending on the exact
make, model and year of your vehicle, as well as the percentage of ethanol in
your fuel, you may experience any of the following:

* Galvanic Corrosion
	Corrosion caused by contact between two dissimilar metals when the
metals are in contact with an electrolyte, like ethanol.

* Deterioration or swelling and hardening of rubber components
	Rubber components such as fuel hoses, carburetor seals and gaskets, and
fuel pump seals may be hardened, dissolved or distorted by contact with ethanol.
This may lead to fuel leaks.

* Oxidization Caused by Water
	Ethanol holds water very readily and can expose fuel system components
and steel gas tanks to rust. This is especially prevalent in boats.

* Fiberglass Fuel Tank Damage
	Even low concentrations of ethanol have been shown to damage fiberglass
fuel tanks. Ethanol dissolves the lining of fiberglass fuel tanks, often
depositing a dark "sludge" inside marine engines causing costly damage.
Eventually, fiberglass tanks dissolve until they fail, leaking fuel.

* General Corrosion, Pitting and Rust on Metal Parts
	Metal parts, such as in-tank fuel pumps and carburetor floats, may be
subject to pitting, rust or corrosion when in contact with ethanol blends.



OIL FILTER UPDATE 
Reprinted from: Northern Virginia Corvairs HOT AIR MAIL

Oil Filter Update
by JR Read

At the 6/15/11 CCE meeting I did a brief presentation-an update on what is going
on with available oil filters for our Corvairs. Some of you will remember that I
did a session on filters five or so years ago. At that time, I brought in a
fixture with a sawed off edge of a Corvair filter housing. This made it possible
to see the contact area between the inner, smaller diameter filter seal and the
housing.

At that time, most filter manufacturers had gone to placing a U shaped gasket
around the outer edge of their filters. The problem with that style was (is)
that the inner seal does not make proper contact with the housing and allows at
least some oil (maybe most? - don't know) to pass over the top end of the filter
without actually passing through the filtration medium. (While I tested many
filters 5 years ago, I did not test every possible brand. The only filter with
the U gasket around the top which did not present a problem at that time was the
orange Baldwin filter. That part number is B-4.

If you crank down on the filter bolt hard (something more than the 20 foot
pounds listed in the chassis/shop manual) in an effort to close the gap between
the housing and the inner seal of the filter, you run a strong risk of splitting
the outer U gasket and/or pulling the top of the filter loose from the canister
portion.

Now for the good news. Dom Perino contacted the folks at Purolator and they have
wisely decided to go back to the style that we were all used to in the AC Delco
PF4 filter. The part number for the Purolator Filter is L20014 and the box has
the word "Classic" on it. That is still the same part number that they were
using before, so if would be a good idea to inspect the actual filter in the
"Classic" box before you make a purchase.

Some neat things about the new Purolator filter:
1 - Inner and outer seals are like those on a PF4
2 - Plain white in color with NO logo on it
3 - Made in USA
4 - Price is around $6.00

I'm now working part time at Advance Auto Parts on Roosevelt Road just a block
West of Route 53 in Glen Ellyn, IL. We will be stocking these filters at that
store. So, if you are in dire need of a filter-for whatever reason-know that you
could get one there by just walking in. Of course, it never hurts to call ahead
just to be sure.



CORSA DASH LIGHTS 
Reprinted from: Corvair Atlanta THE CONNECTING ROD

Corsa Dash Lights
Dan Terry

I've noticed that over the 45 years that I have owned my Corsa that the
instrument panel lights seemed to get dimmer. This is caused by several factors:
dust inside the instruments and on the bulbs, the brighter headlamps that come
on many newer cars that shine through the rear window, and last but not least,
the aging eyesight of many Corvair drivers.

In trying to increase the brightness, I have cleaned the instrument housings,
cleaned and replaced the bulbs with new ones and installed brighter LED's. The
only thing that achieved the results I wanted were the LED's, but there were a
couple of drawbacks. The LED's are expensive (about $35 for a set of seven), and
the light pattern left something to be desired as it was uneven.

Finally, I tried a different bulb. The Shop Manual and the Owner's Manual both
list bulb #1816, rated at 3 candle power. What was installed in my dash were
#1895, rated at 2 candle power. The #1816s are elongated bulbs, while the #1895s
are round. I bought the #1816 bulbs and found out that while they would not fit
the bulb mounting holes in the tachometer, they would fit all the other
instruments. The tachometer uses a clear plastic lens in the mounting holes that
interferes with the placement of the bulbs. My guess is that the manuals were in
error and printed before the that the designers decided to use the dimmer, round
bulbs.

I discovered the reason the #1816 bulbs would not fit is because these lenses
are not used in the other instruments. All I had to do is to remove the
tachometer and punch out the clear lenses. Will this work on the Monza and 500
instrument panel? I don't know. The only late model Monza I owned was a rust
bucket beater and the car was probably held together by the dash. The new bulbs
adds a total 7 more candle power to the instrument panel lighting with only a
slight increase in current draw.

Corsa Dash Lights





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