Page Nine: Motorvation Bling

 


Order Matters.

My garage sometimes looks like a tacky industrial art installation with all manner of baubles dangling on hooks everywhere to keep them off the floor and out of my way.  I bead blast, scrub, sand, weld, grind, eventually paint (sometimes powder coat) and otherwise piddle with, but I can’t install any because of order.  It goes kinda like this - I can’t put that bit on until I get a) this part cleaned, painted, or b) that part ordered, or c) this other something assembled, or in this case d) the drivetrain hanging back in The Ramper.

Finally with the right parts ready, bought, variously gathered and the weather’s cooperation, the day came when I could hang the drivetrain back in on its three little bolts. 

(Sidebar: Corvair engines and transmissions hang from one bolt at the rear and two on the transmission crossmember.  I know, doesn’t build confidence, but they rarely fall out, which means that they occasionally do.  But it’s usually the rear-most bolt that gives up, and the engine sadly sags and bumps along the ground.  In Corvair wrenching, cotter pins play an out-sized role – always double-check the cotter pins!)

The Ramper gets its Motorvation back!
The Installation Process

1) Hook the engine up to my ceiling hoist to free it from the engine stand.  Then lower it onto a hand truck so I can haul it out to The Ramper.

2) Hand truck the transmission and differential out to The Ramper.

3) Hand truck my engine cherry picker out to The Ramper – believe it or not, a more difficult step than the ones above.  Improvise a sling out of an old piece of climbing rope from which I can lift the engine with the cherry-picker.

4) Reunite the engine to the trans/diff.  With the engine swinging from the cherry picker, I transferred the trans/diff to a furniture dolly so that I could mate them to the engine.  As one precariously dangling assembly, I found the “balance” point (meaning it wasn’t that well balance) and lowered the kit and kaboodle on the overmatched furniture dolly.  Ready to roll!

5) Roll the kit/kaboodle under The Ramper.  I had laid out a plywood trail leading under The Ramper so that I could roll the assembled drivetrain, forgot to say that.  As I gently rolled the teetering mass under The Ramper, I found a con of casters, they kept wanting to roll downhill away from the target. Nevertheless, I got in place using shims to keep the casters from shifting.

6) Position the cherry picker to lift the kit/kaboodle.  With the cherry picker in place, I raised the engine, and it immediately cantered out of position, but it WAS NOT going to fall.

7) After about an hour of fiddling, I got it lined up and raised.  The rear-most bolt was easy, but the transmission crossmember bolts were more reluctant.  Eventually, I won and The Ramper got its drivetrain back.

(Sidebar: I forgot to take any pictures of this process, none, sorry.)

8) COTTER PINS!  Cotter pins, cotter pins – got it?!  Make sure the three nuts have their cotter pins!

9) Strike the tacky industrial art installation by slowly re-installing all the bits and baubles!

Some Pics!

This bit of bling has been in my attic for at least 30 years,
I don't even remember where I got it!

Bling engaged!

More stuff installed - the engine shroud surround, vacuum balance tube,
ground straps, wiring harness, coil, air filter brackets...

More bling - I also had a chrome oil fill tube from I don't know when.

Completely assembled (except for the generator - coming soon)
I screwed up the decal on the air filter, have to get a new one!

An example of why order matters.
I needed to fabricate this transmission fill tube bracket
but couldn't do it until the drivetrain was in place.
The bracket had to fit into its hole in the firewall.

Close up of the bonehead trans tube bracket

All the new shiny bits!

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