Corvair front suspension

I am putting Corvair suspension under my car with a Mustang rack.
Anyone ever do this?
here is a picture of it (I will be cleaning it up,replacing all the rubber first)

 

Why would you want to use a corvair?,,

I used one about 30 years ago but that was when you couldn't find more current suspension parts,,plus they are ugly and I would think hard to find parts for them.

Why not use a dropped axle? HRP

 

It fits under the fenders. I tend to work with what I have. I do not like straight axles much anyways.
Corvair Parts are easy and cheap on feebay.

 

I'd suggest you look into another suspension. This was popular in the 70s because it was cheap and easy. A friend had one under a 37 Chevy P/U. He needed a 4 lane highway to make a U turn. That may not sound like a big deal until all your buddies need to wait while you jockey back and forth to turn around. He was never happy with it even back then and eventually replaced it with a MII. I don't mean to rain on your parade but just trying to warn you why it was a short lived idea.

 

Hi,
I had a corvair front end once and I talked to 3-4 chassis guys and they ALL told me the same thing about useing a r&p from a Mustang with that front end. BUMP STEER like there's no tomorrow. The distance between the a-arms is all wrong for that r&p. They all said there is NO r&p unit that will work correctly. You will be stuck using a Corvair box and you might need to use a reversed one at that.

 

i'll jump in too and say it's a bad idea...it was a bad idea 30 years ago , there is no sense of using it when there are so many better choices today

if i was building it , i'd put in a Model A front crossmember and use early Ford suspension.... dropped axle , spit bones or hairpins , etc

 

Technically, he could also probably use the Corvair box instead of the Mustang rack.

However, I know that my wife's '61 Corvair takes a LOT more room to turn around than my '61 Suburban. Turning radius on the Suburban is remarkably tight, but the turning radius on the Corvair is the other extreme.

-Brad

 

Try something else and save yourself a lot of grief. I used a Corvair front end under a Model A coupe in 1967, ride was terrible, bad brakes and wiiddee turning circle.

 

Steering is in the front. I may use the Corvair box if the Mustang rack screws up the Bump Steer.
This font suspension literally bolts on and I may well go Mustang later on..I just cannot afford the later model or specialty stuff yet. Too many other things the car needs.
Thanks for the replys..being stubborn I will no doupt still go through with this.
I am switching it to disc brakes though. I already have the parts on the shelf.

 

I'm using a jag xj6, it fits nicely under my 53. And it so far, has made me money, selling off the other parts. after buying steering u joints i'm almost back to zero. I think the new brake hoses will get me there. Free is good, but there is always a catch.

 

What parts are you using to change to discs? I have a 66 mid engine vair with a 301 and it goes way better than it stops.

 

Lobucrod, I bought the brackets a couple of years ago for a Corvair Convert my wife was summer running at the time. I never used them on that car so I will use them on this one. I am not trying to be unsafe or primative..I am just being cheap.
Here is where to get the brackets.


The brackets are $89.95/set early or late. With a little time and effort getting the other obtainable parts locally you can save $$$$!



California Corvair Parts, Inc.
15088 La Palma Drive
Chino, California 91710
(951) 284-3555
Fax (909) 287-0744
[email protected]
www.CaliforniaCorvairParts.com

 

I did this to a Model A in the mid-70's before MII was popular and I was a lot dumber. Like you, I had a free suspension and lots of welding rods.

If you insist on doing this, an MGB rack is a better fit than the Mustang, but you MUST rebend the arms outward to get some Akermann back. You can tune the Akermann by moving the rack fore and aft (rearward get you more), but too far back and the steering could go over center and you won't be able to turn it back from full lock (don't ask how I know this).

I did discs on mine later by adapting Chevelle spindles. That was a disaster. I had to weld in new collars to press the lower joints in and the spindle was different enough that any kind of good geometry I might have had left was gone.

I ended up selling the car and the next owner ripped all that junk out and installed a very nice (and expensive) Jag XKE suspension front and rear.

 

I too used the Chevelle spindles and I used a Jag rack but it stuck out in front and looked like poo,,so I used a reverse rack from a Dodge Colt and mounted it behind the corvair cradle.

It actually rode very well but when I tried to turn around it took 4 lanes.

My lesson learned,,just because you can don't mean you should,,you said you were stuborn and you have all the information and wisdom offered from guys here that have been there and done that ,,so have at it!HRP

 

Can't I just turn it around with the gas pedal?

 

I had a corvair front end under my 30 Chevy years ago and loved it.. Like "mustangsix" says, MGB is a better rack to use and if the steering arms are bent for correct ackerman, turning radius is great and a good ride.. Go for it.. "Low buck" all the way..........

 

I put one under my 3W in the late '60's. I was completely satisfied with it. I used first gen Camero spindles and brakes. I used a full size chevy box and it steered in the back. No bump steer and rode great. The wheels would go lock to lock so no problem with turning radius. I used some real soft springs fron a 61 F-85 later. I bracket raced the car and it had great front end rise on launch.
It is like everything else. Enought time and thought will make it work.
The only thing wrong was it sits high in todays image. In the '70's with the rear tires hanging out, it had a distinct gasser look.

 

In the early 80's I had a spider clip under a 30 sedan with a MG rack. I had good enough results with it. Good ride and no issues with turning radius.

 

I had a 48 ford pickup that had one in it 20 years ago........ rode go......... turning radius sucked...... I put a mustang II under it and it still has that in it today.......

 

I have a buddy with a '33 ford truck that used Corvair suspension because he got the whole thing for 50 bucks. He now wishes he would have went with the dropped axle.

 

I agree with your analysis. I can't figure out what the diss is about, if it worked good on a Corvair.................. I've reviewed the comments that say it won't work good, didn't see anything that couldn't be worked out. Spare parts are available at reasonable prices. Somebody said the brakes were weak, maybe they had a MC with larger piston than the Corvair. Set up with the right MC piston Diameter and pedal ratio, you can make the brakes do what you want.

 

The absolute worst bumpsteer I've ever seen on a car was a 30's Chevy with a Corvair front suspension with a MII rack on it.

With the wheels at full droop, you could just about read the letters on both of the front tires...


If I remember right, all that garbage got cut off it eventually and replaced by a MII kit.

 

Is the reason your initial plan is to use MII because you already have one? Seems there would be other choices available at junk yard. I got one a few years ago for virtually nothing. Tie rods were too long, I cut.

 

I prefer 'beam axle too, but OP said he don't, so what's the point?

 

But a Corvair was a small rear engined car, and his is a front engined car. Way different weights, loads, brake dive etc.
Also the MII Rack will make it horrible to drive, as the inner pivots for the tie rods are in the wrong place and it will bump steer from lane to lane.

 

X2- Do your homework on the steering geometry and you should have no problems with ackerman or bump steer provinding you can physically locate the rac where it should be.

 

Not if he plans ahead and mounts it right.........Shit happens. Some people set up MII good, some fuck it up. I could set up any steering to have bump steer, so the alternative is work it out.
Some have chimed in, Corvair conversion worked good, some have had problems. All in how it's set up I say. Wouldn't it be neat if he could see all of those that didn't work out, not do it wrong like some people obviously have?

 

They used to make fast steer steering arms for corvairs.These will cure your turning radius problem.I believe they were 1 inch shorter than stock but don't remember now.I had to shorthen the steering arms on my gibbons torsion bar front end to get it to have good turning radius.

 

Doesn't matter where he mounts it. The distance between the inner pivots is too wide compared to the location of the control arm pivots. Moving the rack up, down, in or out will not compensate for that. So unless he re-machines the rack to move the pivots this combo just doesn't work.