Jerry:
Fascinating....
There must have been some other issue at play here. Since it wasn't
quite a stock car, there may have been some "nonstandard" problems.
However, from my (limited) experience, Fitch generally used a stock
clutch, so an extra-heavy duty pressure plate seems unlikely... but
maybe still possible. A bad throwout bearing might also cause the
cable to have excess tension... as would any problems with the pulley
system or clutch fork.
There may have been a bad batch of cables... or maybe Fitch _did_
forget to properly ground the engine. I'm pretty sure they pulled the
engines as part of their process. (For those not familiar, Fitch and
Yenko did for the Corvair what Shelby did for the Mustang. They're
both _highly_ desirable cars these days and the only Corvairs to get
into the mid-teens.)
I simply have not seen this problem in Corvairs (and I worked for a
few years at one of the country's top Corvair restoration shops.) The
two problems were simply corrosion due to age and the grounding issue.
Where did the cable usually break?
I'd like to pass this situation along to the "Corvair greats" for a
more definitive answer. (Of course, that will take a couple of weeks
since they're all in Tahoe for the '99 Convention)
Bill
PS The Trabant is very useful in controlling the dreaded WI mosquito.
A few laps around the back yard cleans them up for the evening. (I've
been letting my teenager drive it around... imagine his answer to the
common question "What car did you learn to drive in?" )
*****************
Bill,
First hand experience, no wives tale, 1966 Fitch Sprint went through 3
clutch cables in its first 18 months, if it had a grounding problem, it came
from the factory that way. I will agree that with the Fitch full comp
suspension it was one of the best handling cars that I've driven to this day.
P.S. has the Trabant set any new emissions records for the U. S.?
Jerry Krakauer
67.5 SRL311 0009
|