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PostPosted: March 31, 2017, 2:26 pm 
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Joined: June 5, 2016, 7:03 am
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Location: ontario
Hello Seven friends,

I am rebuilding my 1965 Corvair engine and my ultimate goal is performance (not race though). Ultimately the Corvair engine will receive a crank driven supercharger, among other performance intended stuff. I have sounded out the Corvair forum folks and I believe that the response was positive. I could reasonably produce 180 flywheel BHP. There is a well known issue however with air cooled engines: overheating under high compression. So what I am considering is water (or water-methanol) injection in the carburetors. Has any of you set up your engine with such a system and do you have pointers. Thanks


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PostPosted: March 31, 2017, 2:51 pm 
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Joined: October 23, 2010, 2:40 am
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Back in the day I had a turbo'd 911 with water injection. Worked fine even when the bypass valve stuck and boost went to 1.5 atm. :mrgreen:
But it was a crude setup compared to what folks like Snow Performance offer today. http://www.snowperformance.net/

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PostPosted: March 31, 2017, 3:46 pm 
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Joined: December 17, 2010, 1:24 pm
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I recall years ago (60s or 70s), some of the Corvair guys would also inject a spray of water into their cooling fan to give extra cooling while boosted. Might be worth looking into.

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PostPosted: March 31, 2017, 4:44 pm 
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Look into running E85. It uses almost twice as much fuel so the engine runs a lot cooler.

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PostPosted: April 1, 2017, 3:31 pm 
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Joined: June 5, 2016, 7:03 am
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Location: ontario
Thanks for your pointers.
It looks like the idea is not silly after all.
The market indeed now offers bolt on hardware with regulators that should make the system effective and easy to install. E-bay even carries them at a better rate than the manufacturer.

I have thought of spraying water directly into the head fins too. I have not canned the idea. The problem is to collect the water to return it to a tank. On the Corvair (flat six) it is not easy because the exhaust manif (in my case plain steel headers )are in the way. Yes I will look into E85 setups. Thanks to you all. :cheers:


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PostPosted: April 1, 2017, 4:26 pm 
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Joined: February 8, 2014, 10:47 pm
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Location: Cornelius OR
For a straight on and off system you can use a small 12v to 110vac convertor and a feed pump from an espresso machine.

Mount the pump so it has a flooded inlet and add some misting nozzles.

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PostPosted: April 2, 2017, 8:00 am 
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Joined: December 6, 2009, 11:03 am
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Location: Toronto, Canada
In 1965 I bought a brand new 1965 Corvair Corsa 180. (Yes, I am that old)
It came with factory turbocharger and supposedly put out 180 HP.
I pushed that car pretty hard both on and off the track and never had an overheating problem.


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PostPosted: April 2, 2017, 12:49 pm 
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I guess I'll rain on the parade by saying it's another subsystem that can break, leak, or run out of fluid at the worst time. Keep in mind where it's going to go, as the tank needs to be at least several gallons in order to last. I switched to a much larger intercooler as well, cooling the intake charge without need for water injection. Lastly, some people add methanol to the water to increase the heat-absorption, but it's highly poisonous and who knows what inhaling the fumes is doing. I ended up converting to a flex-fuel setup and now run E85 anytime high boost will be run, current power on 91-octane is ~330whp and around ~430 on E85.

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PostPosted: April 2, 2017, 9:37 pm 
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Thumper wrote:
In 1965 I bought a brand new 1965 Corvair Corsa 180. (Yes, I am that old)
It came with factory turbocharger and supposedly put out 180 HP.
I pushed that car pretty hard both on and off the track and never had an overheating problem.


In 1965 I bought a Porsche, so I am not a Spring chicken either.

The GM turbocharged Corvairs were fine indeed. However GM was very prudent in the way they used turbos. The compression was lowered and turbos I believe were only working when you floored the gas pedal. I hope I have all this right. You had a Corsa, I only read about them. In my case the stock CR is higher (without forced induction) and the supercharger that I am contemplating will work full time. This is why I am following the main three writers on Corvairs in believing that my setup would run the engine too hot. Thanks for your thoughts. :cheers: :cheers:


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PostPosted: April 2, 2017, 9:42 pm 
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KB58 wrote:
I guess I'll rain on the parade by saying it's another subsystem that can break, leak, or run out of fluid at the worst time. Keep in mind where it's going to go, as the tank needs to be at least several gallons in order to last. I switched to a much larger intercooler as well, cooling the intake charge without need for water injection. Lastly, some people add methanol to the water to increase the heat-absorption, but it's highly poisonous and who knows what inhaling the fumes is doing. I ended up converting to a flex-fuel setup and now run E85 anytime high boost will be run, current power on 91-octane is ~330whp and around ~430 on E85.

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You are not raining on the parade. I agree that the water injection system adds complexity and reduces the reliability of the vehicle. I will take the risk. My water (only) tank will hold 5 US gal and will have a level sensor. I too will run an intercooler or some sort as well as a larger oil cooler.


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