New to me Corvair engine

[Strutwipe]

So I have been given a hand me down CH650 wings and tail kit. Everything looks good then I happen to come across a Corvair engine that was built at a Corvair College and checked by WW himself. Best part is the engine is located in my town of Tucson, AZ. Things in life never seem to go my way, finally an exception! Thoughts?

 

[Kevin Holbrook]

IF the engine was truly built at a Corvair College AND it has been operated AND stored appropriately, that is quite a find and the stars are aligned for you.

Unfortunately, William Wynne's reputation is known to scammers. There are occasionally engines on Barnstormers or Ebay claiming to be build by WW or by using his methods that are not. So familiarize yourself with William's methods (buy his conversion handbook?) and look the engine over. You might see things right away that tell you things aren't kosher. Or it might look OK, in which case you can contact William and he will work with you. He is primarily concerned about safety. A secondary consideration is the reputation of Corvair engines in general.

The CH650 / WW Corvair combinion is a nice little plane. Won't be a speed demon, but it is safe, fun to fly, and economical.

Keep us posted on the build!

 

[samiamPA]

I would absolutely call WW before purchasing this engine and have a discussion. It will be the best insurance you can get against a bad deal.

Eyeballing the engine, it looks like it does not have a lot of the higher end parts that are available to make a state of the art motor. There's a huge range in Corvairs - people can spend anywhere from a few thousand to nearly $13k for an essentially brand new motor.

 

[Daleandee]

Corvair engine that was built at a Corvair College and checked by WW himself

From what little I know (which ain't much) I don't believe that the engine in the photo came from a WW College ... if it did it would be an extremely early version. The distributor appears that it could be from WW but as others have noted, you'd be best to contact William and find out for yourself. If you plan to fly a Corvair engine he is gonna be your best resource so go ahead and give him a call and introduce yourself.

 

[Strutwipe]

Weird to say, but I just sent WW a text. The builder selling gave me a bunch of manuals for the engine and has produced invoices from Clark's Corvair in MA and local machine shop for the Ion Nitrate on the crank match his address.

 

[Grum.Man]

Corvair engines sound so good on airplanes. Once all the mods are done they seem to make robust options. Problem is if you do all the mods and rebuild the engine you are getting pretty close to the cost of a good O-200. I wouldn’t turn one down for the right price.