Many of you have seen the photos and video of the Corvair that member Carl Kelsen has restored in Australia. The car has been converted to right hand drive, all done by hand by Carl. It’s a really fantastic car. The attention to detail is so good that looking at images of the right hand drive would lead you to believe that either this had come off of the line at the factory or you were looking at a reverse negative of a photograph. More can be learned about Carl’s Corvair in our archives.
After years of restoration, Carl and his wife Arlette were finally able to take the car out for its maiden voyage. Unfortunately, after a few hundred miles, it was back on the lift as Carl had begun to hear a metallic noise coming from the engine.
Carl drove this car from Coast to Coast in the US before loading the Corvair into a shipping container for Australia. There were no issues for the entire drive so it was determined that the engine was in tip top shape.
Fortunately, Carl was able to find a local engine builder who was up to the task of tearing the engine down, finding the culprit and putting it back together. Even better, the builder has welcomed Carl to come in and assist and learn with this job.
Right now they are still at the “tear down” stage, going slowly to see if they can find what is causing the issue. Carl reports that the engine turns by hand rather easily but does show resistance at one point in each hand turned revolution. Club members were quick to help out with suggestions and well wishes on this undertaking.
Do you have a Corvair engine rebuild story? Want to send Carl some words of encouragement? Let your voice be heard in the comments!
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