Aluminum Block 283 V8 1966 Corvair Corsa

[bbodie52]

Look what I found! I stumbled on an article on a 1966 Corvair coupe powered by a rare aluminum block 283 cubic inch engine outfitted with Weber carbs and a whole lotta other good things! This two-page article was published back in the December 2010 edition of Automobile magazine. It had been sitting on my PC as a Zinio electronic copy of the magazine since 2010, but I had never read this particular issue until I stumbled upon a reference to this article during an unrelated Internet search.

Left-click image to enlarge for better viewing...

Automobile Magazine (Dec 2010) Corvair Article

[64powerglide]

Well it looks good but wouldn't a 180 turbo run the 1/4 in about the same time??

[azdave]

Look what I found!

Are you saying you've never seen that article before or that you've never seen that car before?

Paul Siano's Crown V8 is certainly well known in the Corvair world. I'm not sure I've seen that write-up though.

Well it looks good but wouldn't a 180 turbo run the 1/4 in about the same time??

Not even close. Also keep in mind that Paul has no interest in trying to break the car. He is conservative in the pulls and even the magazine writers that drive it for reviews will tell you they hold back on the throttle a bit. This car is more about a uber rare all aluminum 283 fro m the 60's as it is about just trying to go fast. Anyone after 1/4 mile times will take a different path with a Corvair.

180 turbos with basic mods and tricks are in the low 15's at best. More radical mods are required to get you close to the 14's.
This video link takes you to a simulated drag run but he's not banging the gears or chirping the tires on purpose.
http://youtu.be/0ZDAGGanpVM?t=2m

Quote from Tom Keosababian:
Every road test I have of a Corvair Turbo has an E.T. of anywhere from the high 16's to the low 17's. My own personal experience is the same with my stock Turbo. If you remove the muffler, air cleaner, wrap the exhaust header and loosen the fan belt, you might get into the high 15's, but you have to develop at least 10 inches of boost in 1st gear, and then power shift to keep the turbo spooled up.
My good friend Gary Bailey had a '66 Turbo with these modifications plus a highly modified YH carb that was bored out and a modified turbo compressor with very tight impeller/ compressor clearances and a set of small diameter rear tires. He ran in the high 14's with a trap speed of 94 mph at Orange County Raceway in the late 1960's

[bbodie52]

No, I had not seen it before. I saw a picture of the Weber carb setup yesterday while doing a Google search for some Corvair pictures, and that pointed to the magazine article. As a result I searched around the Corvair Forum for any reference to this particular V8 Corvair, but found nothing. Your Corvair interests also include a keen interest in mid-engine V8 Corvairs, so I can understand your knowledge of this car. The unique aluminum engine also piqued my interest, and since I found nothing in the Corvair Forum about it, I felt that reproducing the magazine article would be worthwhile.

[Fast Eddie]

I bought Paul's Corsa door panels to replace my old ones and now my car is noticeably faster!