A personal auto ownership history story to share

[Kira]

In post #7, the green VW is a "Squareback". I'm pretty sure the Type 3 had an angled rear window.

In post #17, was the Monza referred to a Corvair Monza (I rebuilt one-a 1964 969) or the "name resurrection" Monza?

Re post #13: The swing axle is what killed Ernie Kovacs. 1964 models had a "Camber Compensator".
Also mentioned by the guy some of us love to hate was the absence of heat exchangers. Smokey heat sloughed off the engine and was piped into the cabin. Even the lowly Volkswagen had heat exchangers for cabin heat.

My 'Vair was a neglected beast. The front end was so worn it wasn't funny.
The space beneath the valve covers and the tops of the cylinder heads was SOLID EARTH. There was enough room for the rockers to move. The air handling hoses from the shroud to the passenger compartment were GONE.
When I got it, the accelerator pedal was rusted solid in its pivoting mounting plate.
It had been run low on oil so much, the camshaft's "far end" (opposite end from the oil pump) was burned black.
Each carb had 11 parts.
When you synch the carbs, you let the one with the distributor's vacuum line have more pull.

A girl from Holland said it was "cute".

 

[GaryMX5]

In post #7, the green VW is a "Squareback". I'm pretty sure the Type 3 had an angled rear window.

In post #17, was the Monza referred to a Corvair Monza (I rebuilt one-a 1964 969) or the "name resurrection" Monza?

Re post #13: The swing axle is what killed Ernie Kovacs. 1964 models had a "Camber Compensator".
Also mentioned by the guy some of us love to hate was the absence of heat exchangers. Smokey heat sloughed off the engine and was piped into the cabin. Even the lowly Volkswagen had heat exchangers for cabin heat.

My 'Vair was a neglected beast. The front end was so worn it wasn't funny.
The space beneath the valve covers and the tops of the cylinder heads was SOLID EARTH. There was enough room for the rockers to move. The air handling hoses from the shroud to the passenger compartment were GONE.
When I got it, the accelerator pedal was rusted solid in its pivoting mounting plate.
It had been run low on oil so much, the camshaft's "far end" (opposite end from the oil pump) was burned black.
Each carb had 11 parts.
When you synch the carbs, you let the one with the distributor's vacuum line have more pull.

A girl from Holland said it was "cute".

Your experience brought back some more memories. The Corvair was definitely not without it's share of problems. It called for 20W oil in the winter and 30W for the summer. In cold Michigan winters the motor would often not turn over in the morning. I eventually tried one of those new 10w30 weights that would blow up an air cooled motor (never happened). It has a two piece flywheel held together with rivets. As the rivets loosened the fly wheel would make a clicking noise. It would drive you crazy at idle and embarrassing as hell at red lights. I replaced it and a clutch disc at a chevy dealer for a whooping 38.00 dollars! The right front bearing needed continual care. The speedometer cable passed thru the hub on that side and allowed moisture into the bearing. That required new inner and outer bearings or relubing the bearings at least once a year to keep them from seizing. The clutch cable had a tendency to break or jump off a pulley. The 65 was the first year to use an alternator. It and the regulator didn't play nice together. The independent rear suspension was really hard on tires. I was lucky to get a set to last a year (but then again the bias belted tires we had back then were pitiful). My dad had a friend at US Royal Rubber Co (eventually UniRoyal Tire). He talked me into some of those new fangle fiberglass belted wide ovals. That was a big mistake! They rode terrible. They could not be balanced and they would flat spot in the winter and thumped until warmed up. The fiberglass belts would also delaminate on long trips at highway speeds from excessive heat buildup.

 

[repairman54]

2x, I remember the belt shifting issue days from back then. My father worked for a local US Royal distributor.
None belted bias tire would flat spot overnight back then also.
Even a base Corvair could get out of its own way compared to the bug.
At least the Corvair heat worked, no smells with good oil seals in place unlike the pitiful floor vent and sliding door in it to defrost VW.
In real cold weather ice scraper was used inside more than outside and around town you ran one gear lower to keep the rpm up to pump a little more heat inside even with new heater tubes in the VW.
How did we survive those days? Now it's a major recall if the back up camera is not working.

 

[Boomer]

To me, Ralph Nader was one of the first people to try to control how I lived my life. Hated that guy and still do. He seemed to spawn a whole lot of copy cats. I love today that almost everything you pick up has a CA warning that it contains something that can cause cancer. That to me is Ralph's legacy.

 

[Kira]

Ralph Nader was one of the first people to try to control how I lived my life.

Someone pointing out deadly shortcuts employed in the manufacturing of goods we buy constitutes "controlling your life"?
...a little overstated, don't you think?

Me:
I want to know if things are shoddy and dangerous before I buy them.
I want to know how much sugar the cereal companies are shoveling at my kids.

A person pointing out the dangers of a swing axle or absence of a heat exchanger comes no where near "controlling your life".
You'd be better off vilifying the overpowered response on the part of the manufacturers.

 

[CapitalTruck]

At 91 Nader is still an authentic, excentric crusader. The rumor, (maybe true) for a long time is that he never had a driver's license. He is a lawyer not an automotive engineer and if GM had any cajones back then they should have ignored him. The first generation corvair had a simple single privot swing axle just like the VW beetle. At high cornering speed it could cause the inside wheel to tuck in. It could be overdriven by any tyro into an oversteer situation. Most normal drivers would never reach that level of cornering so the moniker 'Unsafe at any speed' was patently untrue.

The second gen corvair had a a double jointed rear axle 'a la the corvette. The handling contretemps was corrected but maybe too late for the beautiful corvair to soldier on. Leaves enthusiasts to muse what could have been.

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Street Dreams

I believe the general picture of Ralph Nader that we are fed is way too generous regarding his supposed virtue.

I found this to be a really interesting read, it describes (in interesting detail) how the car handled more securely when fully laden (which was the condition of the vehicle when it passed the NHTSA test). Link below:
https://ateupwithmotor.com/model-hi...idering-the-1972-nhtsa-report-on-the-corvair/

 

[Boomer]

I never believed Ralph Nader was looking out for anybody but just trying to make a name for himself. That's just me. As a result I never really believed anything he put forth.