F the purists. lol. Check this thread for someone working on putting a Subie motor in a Vair. http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.php?1,285432,page=3
That slammed out corvair with the astros is fuckin cool.I have been offered one and this thread is good to see. how did he lower that thing? Is it similar to a VW? Can one be bagged fairly easy?
Probably similar to a VW. Lowering the front is easy, but the rear isn't, at least on a 60-64. The early ones only have 1 u-joint per side so lowering can really affect camber/alignment etc. The best way around that is to swap over the suspension from a 65-69, or lower the motor... and scrape everything until your oil pan leaks. Apparently, the late models (65-69) aren't too hard to lower. They have dramatically improved suspensions, and 2 u-joints per side.
How about the largest Corvairs... The Ultra Van! The Corvair Society of America (CORSA) recognizes the Ultra Van as a true Corvair marque. (370 produced) The Ultra Van is a unique motorhome. Powered by a Corvair engine and transaxle, it was designed by David Peterson (a professional aircraft designer) in the early sixties. These units were produced in limited quantities by the Ultra Van Corporation of Hutchinson, Kansas until June of 1970.
VWs and Vairs are quite different. Vairs are coil srung, VWs have torsions mounted lt to rt. Vairs are usualy dropped by cutting springs. Something that low would have to be air or hydraulic to be safe or practical one bit. Seems it would be easier to bag a Vair.
Early Corvairs have a similar swing axle setup similar to early bugs. If you cut the coils on the rear the tires will tilt in at the top.
True. Camber wont hurt much, toe has to be on though, or you get nasty results. Only reason they get camber is because of what Hellfish said, they have a single u-joint at the output on the trans on the earlies, along with a similar setup on the axle of a earlie VW, that is about the only similarities (it is called a swing axle). The front is completely different between a VW and Corvair.
"Camber wont hurt much" It will wear off the inside edge of the tire. Stock is: ll ll Cambered is: // \\
When I was a kid in high school my dad and I started to work on his 63 Spyder that had a "stuck" turbo. We took an auto body class together at the local Vo-Tech and a guy in the class said that "he had one of those turbos stored in his barn", which at first seemed far-fetched, but it turned out to be the real deal, so we talked the guy into parting with his "stored turbo", which ran like a champ! That was over twenty years ago, which unfortunately never was finished, but now I am thinking it would be a fun project to share with my boys in the near future! Maybe when the Merc is done, right in time for my twin boys to get their driver's licenses!? Cool to see what other vairs are out there!
Can definetly tell your not a early VW guy. It just goes with the territory if you have a dropped early. I would post up some pics of my bug but some people seem to feel threatened by VW's around here. Would hate to be the reason this thread gets locked. Lol.
I used to work for the guy who had bought that crazy metal flake corvair on ebay from a guy in cali. The price he got it for was stupid. When he went to go pick it up the guy had 3 other guys waiting to buy it if my boss would have said no. But ebay is a binding contract and he perty much stole that car from the dude. I miss workin for that dude. The chopped & BAGGED 47 ford in the back was the shop truck. Had a stroker in it. I lit up a many intersections in that truck and busted a few kids.
I have twin girls... one may get the 'vair and the other might get my wife's Morris Minor. 2 relatively slow cars with bucket seats, manual trans shifters, and no real back seat. Perfect. They're only 2 now, so I have awhile to think about. Nothing wrong with VWs, Kevin.
Hellfish, you seem as open minded as I am to different types of cars. Ive seen people get nasty on here about them, just trying not to stir the water. Im into Hot Rods, VW's, Customs, Vairs, you name it, but this is a Rod sight so I guess I understand. Not trying to tic anyone off.
My wife and I have a 63 coupe. Was supposed to be hers, but she didn't want to deal with car seats in a small 2 door once kids came along. Was at 69000 documented original miles when we bought it 4-5 years ago. Was my daily for about 2 1/2 years, 40 mile daily commute. With the carbs dialed in I averaged 28 mpg. It's completely stock, 102 hp, 4 speed, white with red interior. nice driver. Anybody remember Spy Vs Spy from Mad Magazine? Hers is the white guy, sweet mild, all stock. I want to build a black early with shiny paint, lipstick red interior, and killer 496 in the back seat area. Devin
Learned to drive a stick in a 66 monza.. the same one I wrecked when I was 11 .. Sure was a fun car to drive through the twisties though
Clarks= good parts and service. Haven't ordered from Rafee yet, plan on soon, seems like a great guy and very knowledgable.
Clark's is the most well known and has the easiest site to use, but Corvair Underground is a very reputable dealer, too, and the owner, Lon Wall, regularly posts on the Corvair Forum (Corvair Center) and shares his knowledge. I haven't dealt with the other shops, but I only listed ones that I heard good things about.
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