FLOODED Corvair oil leaks fixed! Change pushrod tube seals in a couple hours! 

I did this to my '63 over 1970 Christmas break from college in my brother's unheated garage. I'm almost thawed out now. Those old o-rings were like iron. Sure slowed the oil leaks. Thanks for such a personally relatable series, Sean.

I’m getting ready to rescue my great grandfathers Corvair Spyder from the garage it’s been sleeping in since 1985, I’ll be sure to come by when I get myself stumped.

Being a lover of all things Corvair, I am thoroughly enjoying your videos. I noticed you jacking up the car from under the PowerPack (engine/diff/trans). That is not recommended due to stressing the engine mounts. There are jacking points on the body just in front of the rear wheels. It adds an additional step to the jacking process, but is worth it to spare the life of the rubber mounts.

Have done several of these pushrod tube jobs and made a tool for taking the tubes out. Recalling from memory (made it 20 years ago) a 3/4" piece of conduit and slice it lengthwise about 2+ inches down one end, then cut one side off so you have a half-round, which you can bend about 30 degrees so it looks like a tongue sticking out. The curve of this tool will be the same shape as the end of your tube flange so now you have something you can put up behind the head to give it a few taps with a hammer. Also, clean / wash the bottom of the engine before the job to reduce the chance of grit getting into the seal area. Assembly tip... that air flap on the back is a royal pain to reconnect and if you stretch the t-stat bellows you just threw away about $80. Remove the hinge pin out the side, connect the linkage, then reassemble the hinge pin and bend the tap back. The end of that linkage should have a clip on it. (available from Clarks) BTW, if you are doing the shift linkage you might want to replace the seal at the rod sticking out the front of the trans. They are under $10 from Clarks and takes maybe another 2 minutes.

I just bought a 65 about 6 months ago. This video and how you explain and show step by step is very helpful for a brand new guy like me. You get in there with the camera, point stuff out, actually let the camera focus on in what your doing before taking it away. I need all the help I can get and great vid nan.

Some helpful hints on replacing pushrod oil drain tube o-rings. 1. hold each stud with vice grips to keep it from rotating out of the block while you're removing the rocker arm stud bolts. 2. use a small, worm-gear hose clamp around the tube to pry against without risking damage to the tube. 3. slide the inner end of the tube through the outer hole before putting that inner o-ring on. It reduces of the risk of nicking the o-ring. 4. a little Loctite should've gone on the threads of the long stud where it goes into the engine block.

Perfect timing for this vid! I just purchased a ‘65 Corvair and the pushrod tubes are DRIPPIN’ with oil. Stinks so badly in the passenger compartment once the oil dropping onto the exhaust manifold heats up. There really haven’t been any comprehensive videos on the pushrod tube project until now. Viton O rings are the only way to go. To add one more piece of info as others have done; once you have the push rods out, roll them along a piece of glass (like a picture frame) to make sure they are still straight. Thanks to Davemotohead1’s corvair channel for that. So, it’s not necessary to drain the oil before this project, eh? Great vid and thank you!

Very well done video ... FYI - you might try a little J-B Weld on the exhaust tube. There's no back pressure and a VERY LIGHT coat of oil in the manifold will keep the J-B Weld from attaching to the manifold - just clean the tube well and lightly clamp it on and let harden...... then tighten. I've been "playing" with Corvairs since the sixties .... I'm a glutton for punishment..... At least my wife knows where I am - IN THE GARAGE.

I remember doing that job more than once in the 70's as I had 3 Corvairs over the years. I don't remember it being that complex, I do remember it took quite some time to complete. If you wanted a heater and no oil leaks you had to do it. I bet the new rubber seals may be much better now with synthetic rubber or Teflon. You may only have to do it once,. Nice video.

I wish you would have developed a good cloud of oil smoke so I could reminisce about the '70s before you fixed it. I bought a 1967 car from my high school chemistry teacher. In winter the car was completely filled with oil smoke with the heater on. A policeman pulled me over because he thought we were smoking pot until he smelled the smoke. Motor oil became my cologne back then.

Hello Sean, that was a real nice repair you performed. This car will be very reliable when you are done with it. Thanks for showing this! George B. in Michigan

Like the smoke trick, always heard of it but not seen it in action. Thanks.

Sean, very good idea, cleaning around those pushrod tubes!! Making it "sanitary" so you can easily spot any possible leaks....

I owned a Corvair and I had the same problem. Also, it would blow oil out the rear grills and splatter the back of the car. I did the same thing you did with one exception. I used Permatex non hardening gasket sealer as an additional precaution. I drove the car another five years without any additional issues.

Thanks for showing this. I haven't had to adjust a lot of the inner parts of an engine and this will help in the future if I have to with your great explanations.

It would be nice to install some nice roller Rockers

Never center jack the car up at the diff... You can destroy multiple transmission mounts and bushings.Use 2 jacks, one on each side at approved chassis lift spots.

Speaking form experience, the heater is very poor at best. You want the old leaks so you can see if the heater is working!😂 Wow you still have the the exhaust heat shield and working thermostats! That the wrong muffler, it's for the 60-64. The correct one is oval.

Good work! I could really smell that oil the day I saw you at O'Reilleys!

Oil pan gasket also.😎

Look at the cylinder base it is leaking there much worse. The tubes are clean and almost dry. All of them. Good luck

Can you imagine the absolute angst and disgust that the old school Chevy mechanics had when they first saw one of these come into their shops?

I noticed the rocker covers and the heads were designed for six screws but they only drilled and tapped for four . At some point the engineers decided not to go that way. I personally would rather have six as rocker covers are prone to leeks. Nice job on sealing up your leeks.

I knew several Corvair owners and they said the oil leaks were a problem. Mainly from the valve cover gaskets. I guess the push rod tubes would be next. Adjusting the carbs was next.

Good Job ! I'm wanting one of these more and more ! :)

Belle vidéo mon ami, bon courage pour la suite

Curious, Sean. What did you use to clean up all the oil around the push rod tubes? Brake cleaner? This was the best video I’ve yon this procedure. Well done. Your video skills are solid and that makes a huge difference! Almost makes me think I could do the pushrod seals myself! And mine needs it. Pretty drippy.

Well done Sean, great episode, from Shaun in Norwich 🇬🇧

I remember when I was quite young and Corvairs were plentiful almost every one would have that rear grill covered with oil and dirt that would stick to the oil. I’m talking about the vast majority of them. Even the Corvairs that were fairly new. I remember the Chevy Dealership mechanics despised them!

Hi y’all from west Alabama love ya

For the exhaust tub they are very easy to change easy to remove and replace. All the tube are the same except for the 140.

Very interesting how it sounds a little like a Porsche 911 engine; boxer 6. Cool cars.

Just me but while you had the push rod tubes out I would have at least wire brushed off the rust. And for sure some high temp paint on the rocker covers after cleaning. I'm surprised I have not seen a Corvair driving around Albuquerque, NM.😢

Great video! Followed step by step and got my seals replaced. One question, how did you clean the valley our so well? I am having a hell of a time to clean mine. Thank you!

Be careful with that manifold leak your heater draws interior heat from there!

I have a '65 and just replaced the thermostats--had the lower shrouds off the car and was able to see the pushrod tubes. All of them were dry...except one, which was clearly leaking oil. (Rearmost passenger side.) Would I have to do the whole top dead center adjustment for replacing the o-rings on just one tube?

It was good to see black oil leaking instead of milkshake as you were removing the valve covers...

Those bolts are actually 1/4 20 bolts

doing push rod tubes is very easy i call it less than a 6 pack job ,,