I want to build the most EVIL plane EVER !!!

The Corvair was three times as crashworthy as a VW Bug,
too.

ACCORDING TO WHOM, oh wise (ass) one? g


- Barnyard BOb -

Why, according to me, the group's foremost authority on the Corvair, of
course! g

The VW always made me edgy, just from looking down at that thin little door.
Then I pulled the interior trim panel off and looked at the structure of the
door, and got really afraid!
--
Jim in NC

That would have been a Chevrolet POWERGLIDE in the Corvair.

The Powerglide had only Two speeds: Low and High (direct) and a Torque
converter. Performance suffered a bit - if you didn't wind it out in
low the engine would fall off the cam when it shifted to high - but it
was durable. It worked a lot better with a big V-8 than a little six.

While I was in college my 64 Corvair Monza sported a "Ralph Nader Racing
Team" window sign.

- John (not nearly as old as Bob) Ousterhout -


City Father wrote:
On Mon, 9 Jan 2006 21:29:40 -0500, "Morgans"
wrote:


I had the '68 110 with the 2 speed hydromatic.


Sheesh.
Seems I STILL gotta' 'teach' the teacher. g

The word is HYDRAMATIC, sweetheart.....
and it NEVER was installed in the love of your life Corvair.

I first saw a Hydr-A-matic Oldsmoblie on the street in 1948.
T'was an iron case 4 speed tranny with fluid coupling.
Surfing the net, it seems they were first available in 1946.
IIRC, much later similar designs left out 3rd gear...
making it a very sad and sick factory 3 speed performer.

More Minutia:
In the name of cost containment circa 1960?....
the rear hydraulic pump was eliminated, so one could no
longer push/pull start it with a dead battery or whatever.
This led to starting cars with dead batteries the way we do it today.
[Somewhere in time, the hand crank disappeared.]

FWIW.....
Jaguar, Rolls Royce and countless others have sported
various versions of GM hydramatic transmissions over the years....
BUT NOT CORVAIRS!!!!!


Barnyard - older than dirt - BOb

"City Father" wrote

The word is HYDRAMATIC, sweetheart.....
and it NEVER was installed in the love of your life Corvair.

Well, it was a two speed - I remember that much!
--
Jim in NC

"John Ousterhout" wrote in
message news:SDaGf.752118$x96.326148@attbi_s72...
That would have been a Chevrolet POWERGLIDE in the Corvair.

The Powerglide had only Two speeds: Low and High (direct) and a Torque
converter. Performance suffered a bit - if you didn't wind it out in low
the engine would fall off the cam when it shifted to high - but it was
durable. It worked a lot better with a big V-8 than a little six.

While I was in college my 64 Corvair Monza sported a "Ralph Nader Racing
Team" window sign.

I love it!

In the Corvair, the "POWERGLIDE" -OK BOB?- didn't hurt performance all that
much. It was still making good HP when it shifted, and it took off, then.

It did seem to suffer when the engine ran out of rev's at 92 MPH, tho! g

That car was a blast. I still sometimes think about looking for another
one.
--
Jim in NC

On Tue, 07 Feb 2006 13:58:47 -0600, City Father wrote:

On Sun, 08 Jan 2006 16:24:22 -0800, Ron Wanttaja
wrote:

I don't think Nader went after the Thing...that was about ten years after his
heyday. The Thing tanked because it was a piece of crap. It had all the
drawbacks of the standard Beetle (low power, poor heater, floorboard rust-out,
fairly poor mileage) and none of the good aspects, and zero quality. And
next-to-no occupant protection.

I owned one for ~20 years, I should know....

How many USA cars have you owned for 20 years, Ron?

*Owned* the "Thing" for almost 20 years, only drove it for about eight. Was a
third/fourth car for much of the time I owned it, quietly rusting away in the
garage. It was a spare car when I was single (bought in ~1978), then my wife's
daily commuter 1981-1984 until we bought her a Nissan pickup. After that, just
took it out on warm, sunny, Seattle evenings to drive around with the top down.

Had 88K miles when I sold it, basically because I was tired of it cluttering up
the garage. We've owned the pickup for the past 22 years, same thing....been
sitting nearly idle since '93. Think I've put about 4,000 miles on it in that
time. Don't object so much to it, since there are times you absolutely *need* a
pickup truck. It now sits in my hangar, so the garage isn't cluttered.

The Thing's only advantage is that you could carry a full sheet of plywood in
it. Not *totally* in it, mind, but it would sit flat.

But if I were offered the choice of being in an accident in the Thing or in my
22-year-old pickup, I'd be in that Nissan *real* fast. The Thing had big
storage pockets in the doors...pretty convenient, until you realized that the
outside of the storage pocket was the inside face of the exterior sheet metal.
Absolutely nothing to resist a side impact but flat 0.060 steel. If you slammed
the doors, the whole side of the car would shake back and forth. Didn't make
much difference to a dashing 24-year-old Lieutenant, but as you get older, that
sort of thing does give you pause.

Have driven several US-made cars for longer periods, including more miles. Have
owned two US cars older than 20 years old ('46 and '51 Willys Jeeps, back in the
'70s), still wish I had them.

Ron Wanttaja

On Tue, 7 Feb 2006 19:25:37 -0500, "Morgans"
wrote:

In the Corvair, the "POWERGLIDE" -OK BOB?- didn't hurt performance all that
much. It was still making good HP when it shifted, and it took off, then.

Yeh, yeh.
You'd still be grasping for facts, if 'Oyster' hadn't bailed you out.

My life long friend had a Corvair with POWERSLIDE and it did OK.
It got us back and forth from the bars and beaches in our and its
heyday.

Powergilide was pretty much the mainstay thru the 50's for all
automatic Chevies and served well until the 3 speed Turbo Hydramatic
came along as a '60's option. In between was TURBOGLIDE.. a dismal
failure with the less than popular 348 c.i.d. Chevy V-8 circa 1958.

When the big block Fords came along in the 60's, I left GM....
and never went back until I bought that piece of sh*t Buick
from Steakbreath Stricker in western Kansass! I can't believe
that we are still on speaking terms after that fiasco. g

- Barnyard BOb -

On Tue, 07 Feb 2006 19:07:05 -0800, Ron Wanttaja
wrote:


But if I were offered the choice of being in an accident in the Thing or in my
22-year-old pickup, I'd be in that Nissan *real* fast. The Thing had big
storage pockets in the doors...pretty convenient, until you realized that the
outside of the storage pocket was the inside face of the exterior sheet metal.
Absolutely nothing to resist a side impact but flat 0.060 steel. If you slammed
the doors, the whole side of the car would shake back and forth. Didn't make
much difference to a dashing 24-year-old Lieutenant, but as you get older, that
sort of thing does give you pause.

I currently own a '97 Nissan Hardbody that was purchased new.
A sheet of plywood doesn't lie flat, however the airbag is a plus.
It's my third Nissan truck. Don't stay in 'em 20 years, tho.
Gotta' feed the economy once in a while....
Sometimes Detroit. Other times, Tennessee or Ohio.
Even made the mistake of buying a Kansas City built FORD...
Once.

- Barnyard BOb -

("- Barnyard BOb -" wrote)
Even made the mistake of buying a Kansas City built FORD...
Once.


Try one built in St Paul - Ranger's only plant now that NJ is done.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Cities_Assembly_Plant
Ford's oldest and BEST plant!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:F...ck_and_dam.jpg

I worked there for one week in 1978 - they were changing over from cars to
trucks. I was 18 and stoopid, so I left for something less difficult and
more fun. I was on the chassis line - ugh!


Montblack
UAW baby! $12.50/hr after a probation period. I was making $8.50/hr temp
wages.

"Ron Wanttaja" wrote in message ...
snip

Have driven several US-made cars for longer periods, including more miles. Have
owned two US cars older than 20 years old ('46 and '51 Willys Jeeps, back in the
'70s), still wish I had them.

Ron Wanttaja

The first 4X4 my Dad had on the farm was a Willy's Jeep. He later bought a Willy's pickup and had the local FFA
chapter repaint it. I restored a 1948 Willy's Jeep pickup back in the late 70's / early 80's. Fond memories! My
new bride loved driving it. You could go lot's of places in one... you just couldn't go there very fast!

Joe Schneider
8437R



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I worked there for one week in 1978 - they were changing over from cars to
trucks. I was 18 and stoopid, so I left for something less difficult and
more fun. I was on the chassis line - ugh!
Montblack
UAW baby! $12.50/hr after a probation period. I was making $8.50/hr temp
wages.

Was this what you were making in '78 Montblack? Wow that's good money
back then I bet.

The Monk