1-26-2005
I got a Corvair engine core from my friend David York and after the case gets a through checkup by Kevin Fahy & William Wynne, a cleaning in the environmental cleaner, and being blasted by walnut shells in William's Scat Blast Cabinet I can really get to work on it.

1-30-2005
Went to William Wynne's hanger today and he inspected some of my core motor parts. I pressed my rods off of the pistons so they can be reconditioned and balanced. Needless to say, the stock cast pistons are in the trash.

1-31-2005
Cleaned the jugs, push rods and push rod tubes tonight. this was not a through cleaning, mainly a degreasing and inspection of the parts.
They sure were grungy!

Had a few issues.

I have one cylinder with a good size part of the cooling fin missing and another with a small piece of a fin broken off (not pictured).

I have one bent push rod that is unacceptable.

Not hard to tell what tube it was from.

But the other tubes and push rods look ok. There is a small dent in another tube but I don't think it will be a problem. I'll ask William to have a look at it next time I go to his hanger.
Updated 2-8-2005: William Wynne says the small dent is not an issue. I think I'll try running a socket through the tube to knock the dent completely out though.

2-1-2005
More part inspection and cleaning today. Not really a through cleaning but more getting the gunk off. I'm giving all the metal parts a bath in a solution of Goo-Gone and hot water then going after them with a dish scrub brush. It really does an amazing job of removing years or road grime, grease, and old oil. It will dry out any o-rings or gaskets so take them all off first. It also makes my garage smell like an orange grove.