From what type of fuel and additives to use to issues with fuel delivery, we cover the basics here.
Use premium at a quality gas station.
While it is true that 80hp and 95hp Corvair engines can run on regular gas, we recommend running your Corvair on premium gas from name brand stations (Chevron, Shell, 76, Texaco, etc). The reason for this is that the premium fuel burns cleaner and the higher octane will help to prevent detonation or “pinging” under load.
All fuel in California has an ethanol blend. Regardless on your feelings about ethanol, the fact remains that we have to deal with it with our classic cars. On top of using a high octane fuel, many members use additives at every fill up.
Recommended additives from members include: Lucas Upper Cylinder Lubricant, Lucas “A REAL Octane Booster”, Chevron Techron and Seafoam. If you are going to store your Corvair for a long period of time, make sure to put a fuel stabilizer like Sta-Bil to keep the fuel fresh for up to a year.
All Fuel Pumps are NOT created equal.
Over the last decade, the aftermarket manual fuel pump for the Corvair has been a failure, plain and simple.
Clarks Corvair parts has come to our rescue, yet again, with a superior mechanical fuel pump. When they have production runs, they sell out quickly, so if you want a replacement manual fuel pump, add your name to their waiting list.
Many owners have decided to ditch the manual pump and go electric. There are many options for an electric pump including an “in tank” electric fuel pump. Electric fuel pumps have proven to be reliable and very low maintenance.
If you decide to go this route, make sure to select a fuel pump that puts out between 3.5 and 5psi. Anything higher will put stress on your fuel delivery system.
Not sure what to buy, go to Clarks and they’ll make sure you get the right parts to get you on the road!
Carburetor maintenance is an essential part of Corvair ownership. Corvair engines can have as few as one and as many as 4 carburetors on an engine. If your Corvair sits for long periods of time, ethanol exposure will shorten the life of your carburetor accelerator pumps and cups, springs and jets. This will usually result in carburetors needing a rebuild from time to time. The good news is that it isn’t terribly difficult to rebuild a Corvair carburetor. We recommend this book by Bob Helt if you decide to give it a go! 
Keep your carburetor(s) clean and running at optimum performance.
After you have your carbs ready to go, you will want to balance them so both banks of the engine operate in unison. To learn more about carburetor balancing, you can do a YouTube search to see how to adjust. The Bob Helt book also gives a step by step breakdown on setting and balancing the Corvair carburetors.
SFBA CORSA 