05/25/2017

Builders,

If you are the owner of a 2014 conversion manual, below are some short notes on the 1100 – Camshaft group section. I have written about these details in the last 3 years, but they are presented here in summary form, please update your manuals and notebooks accordingly:

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2017 commentary:

In the last 3 years we have sold about 150 “1100-WW cam kits”, (Group 1100 cam kits on shelf.) they also went into every complete motor I built and into all of the Weseman’s “EIB” (engine in a box) kit engines. Buying one of these gets you every part from Group 1100, but it also makes sure your thrust washer on the cam is tight. In the last 3 years I have had 7 or 8 builders come to a college thinking that I was going to be OK with them assembling a motor with a wobbly thrust washer. They were not correct. Engines at Colleges and events I host,are assembled to my standards, because it is important to make things better, not good enough.

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http://shop.flycorvair.com/product/1100-cam-shaft-kit/ is the link to the products page.

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1101- an OT-10 is still a good cam, and it works, but our dyno testing in 2016 at a professional shop confirmed that our 1100 cam was a slight edge in an aircraft motor.

1102- in 2014, I had some tolerance for thrust washers which rotated on cams. In the time since, I have concluded that since we know how to make them tight, and they undoubtedly left the factory tight, we should always make them so now. If they are tight, it precludes any conversation about “how loose is too loose?” which is exactly what I don’t like as an attitude about building engines.

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1103- no change

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1104- Clark’s standard gears are still acceptable for use, and their timing marks remain consistently accurate. Their “fail Safe” gears were once made in the US and were billets, but they are not made here now, and they are no longer from billet material. They still work, but I pushed about 10 off cams with loose washers in the last 3 years, and they don’t grab a cam much tighter than a stock replacement gear, and they are apparently made of the same material. My preferred cam gear is the California Corvairs US made billet gear.

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1105- Some HT-817s are now made in Mexico. I have seen no quality difference, but to stay with American products our 1100ww cam kits come with Summit Racing lifters, which are made in the US.

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1106- no change

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1107- no change

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Thank you, wewjr.

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Builders,

If you are the owner of a 2014 conversion manual, below are some short notes on the 1000 – Crankshaft group section. I have written about these details in the last 3 years, but they are presented here in summary form, please update your manuals and notebooks accordingly:

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2017 Commentary:

Three most popular cranks used in engines are 8409 Gen II, the Billet standard stroke, and the billet long stroke. All of these are from the Wesemans at SPA. Very few people take a different route than this, at a typical Corvair College today, all but one or two engines will be built around one of these three cranks. At our finishing schools; (Corvair Finishing School #1, Video report.) Each engine is required to have one of these three crank arrangements, because the fast pace of the work does not allow for the additional time or inspection requirements of using a crank which has not passed through the Weseman’s inspection process before the event.

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1001A – The Wesemans are the only shop I use to process GM cranks. They have been doing them for many years now, and after installing dozens of them at Colleges and in production engines, I can flatly state that they have the best process on 8409 cranks. They are not the cheapest, just the best value.

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1001B – The billet cranks were just getting into high gear in 2014, today they have long since become a very popular proven park. Countless hours of aerobatics have been flown on them, and they are well proven, without a failure of any kind. They are still made in the USA, to the highest standards. The original 2.94″ stock stroke which went into dozens of 3,000 cc Corvairs has now been supplemented with the longer stroke billet crank that goes in the 3.3 Liter engines. Although this sounds new, it is proven and flying, and is a regular production part: 3.3 Liter Corvair, a Smooth Power House.

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1002- no change

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1003- no change

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1004- no change

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1005- no change

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1006- no change

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1007- no change

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1008- no change

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1009- no change

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1010- In the years since 2014, I have built run and inspected several dozen engines using the Clark’s in house brand main engine bearings. This have proven to be the functional equivalent of American name brand bearings. I have used them in sizes std, .010 and .020. They work.

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1011- The commentary on Clark’s main bearings also applies to Clark’s rod bearings.

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Thank you ,

Wewjr.

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