Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Non-Traditionally Powered Corvairs
MikeDTuning
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Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by MikeDTuning »

I have a rule about making threads before i make any progress on building something.. and well... ive made some progress

Image

To start, there is a lot of fab work, cutting, welding, checking, machine shop trips, checking, drilling ect with this project

However, all that being said, I also got very lucky in how many things just kinda fit!

i found a broken acura integra 5spd trans, and used that bell housing for the fitment work, depth was identical (see below picture) i did have to get some insides machined out, it took my local machinest about 2 hours to make right

Image

the honda throwout, and pilot bearing are direct matchs for a corvair gearbox, This alone made many thing flow much simpler!

also the honda motor mounts are very conveniently located. in this picture i rotated the Vair engine mount 180 degrees.


Image

More updates to come once its all wired up
Last edited by MikeDTuning on Sat Nov 01, 2014 4:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Honda B20 turbo powered corvair. Is it the first honda powered corvair out there?
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Nickshu
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by Nickshu »

Wow. Looks like you'll need to fabricate some type of very stout engine mount on the back end that holds both the top and bottom of the engine as the 4 cyl will wiggle around under accel much more than the original flat 6 did. Maybe attach it to the intake and exhaust manfold studs on top and the original mount you show on the block at the bottom.
Nick
1964 Monza Spyder Convertible #435 - Rotisserie restored - SOLD ON BRING A TRAILER 4/30/2019 - Check out my restoration thread here: [corvaircenter.com]
Thanks to all the awesome CCF, CF, COG, and CORSA members who helped me with the restoration!
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azdave
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by azdave »

I thought about doing that with a 4G63 but the rotation is wrong for the Corvair diff. I don't know diddly about Hondas but maybe I should start paying more attention. I didn't know they had some CCW rotation engines like the Corvair. Looks like a cool project. Thanks for the pics.
Dave W. from Gilbert, AZ

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MikeDTuning
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by MikeDTuning »

Yep, Honda is one of the only other motors i could find that rotates counter clockwise, (and its B, D, and H series motors only) b series motors make ok power, especially when compared to Corvair motors. Also parts are very cheap, (read very very cheap) so they are easy to build. I used a JDM b20, with less than 60k miles. the whole motor with accessories costed less than the cheapest Clark's rebuild kit. The turbo manifold was $95 shipped, and the clutch was $165 for everything (and another $85 in custom spline work) realistically this one of the cheaper ways to make a 200+ whp Corvair!!

Here is what the current mount looks like. Pretty easy project with a drill press and mig welder.

Image
Honda B20 turbo powered corvair. Is it the first honda powered corvair out there?
notched
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by notched »

Nickshu wrote:Wow. Looks like you'll need to fabricate some type of very stout engine mount on the back end that holds both the top and bottom of the engine as the 4 cyl will wiggle around under accel much more than the original flat 6 did. Maybe attach it to the intake and exhaust manfold studs on top and the original mount you show on the block at the bottom.
Older Hondas had their trans on the right side and engine on the left which is the complete opposite of a majority of transverse front drive cars. Within the last 15 years Honda went to a more conventional set up.
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chris
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by chris »

I believe Ted Brown was working on making a Honda engine work as well. Interesting stuff and be sure to keep us updated.
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bbodie52
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by bbodie52 »

:goodpost:

:google: :search: Here is a thread with a discussion about this Honda project. Five pages, from October 2009 through April 2012, with the last entry from Ted Brown on July 26, 2011, so the project may have stalled...

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Honda Engine to Corvair Conversion (KEP Adapter)
:link: http://corvaircenter.com/phorum/read.ph ... 578,page=1

More from Ted Brown (aka "CorvairNut")...

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Honda Engine F22 in a Corvair
:link: http://honda-tech.com/tech-misc-15/hond ... r-2668217/

Ted Brown also posts on occasion on this Corvair Forum, and is the president of the South Carolina CORSA club chapter Corsa SC http://www.corsasc.com/CorsaSC/Welcome.html. If you send him a Private Message (PM) he may respond with a status update on his Honda project...

:link: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=415
Brad Bodie
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MikeDTuning
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by MikeDTuning »

will do, i am going to be wireing it in, and trying to figure out the cooling system this week, we will see how it all goes!

i saw that article when i was starting this project, it was interesting how he made the bell housing for it, my bell housing was a lot more basic (i think he was using an auto trans, mine is a 4spd manual), and it also saved me much fab work

on a different note, has anybody ever converted to cable throttle linkage? any good parts list/write ups, i need to figure out the best way of action here
Honda B20 turbo powered corvair. Is it the first honda powered corvair out there?
notched
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by notched »

Keep most of the stock linkage and hook a cable where the bell crank is on the side of the gear box. My preference is the 86-93 Ford Mustang 5.0 and the 86-92 Lincoln Mark 7 cable. Its almost 2 feet long and is pretty easy to get.
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by Corvair_nut »

Hi Guys,
The Honda B20 engine (130 HP) is mated to a PG and diff and sitting in the floor. One day I'm going to hop all over this, but I had issues with the distributor hitting and removing the air inlet at the LM engine bay. I was thinking about a van project since they need the most HP to get going down the road. I still have the ECM and wiring, but the EFI manufacture, new designs and a new Rampy is going to keep me busy for a while. I used a rust bucket to do my moch up and then scraped the car.....so its sitting in the floor waiting on a install. Will post my photos later.

Ted
Ted Brown
Anderson, SC
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MikeDTuning
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by MikeDTuning »

when i was taking measurement i noticed the issue with distributor clearance as well. however this issue was easy to resolve since i already had megasquirt on the car before hand, with EDIS setup up and ready.

im amazed you are using the powerglide, the 4speed manual is the way to be!
Honda B20 turbo powered corvair. Is it the first honda powered corvair out there?
notched
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by notched »

David Clemens ran low low 12's with a Corvair powered late model with a Powerglide. They can be made to run if you know what you are doing with them.
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bbodie52
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by bbodie52 »

:think: I remembered reading this about the Corvair Powerglide transmission a while back...
Karl Haakonsen wrote:The Corvair Powerglide transmission
Posted on February 7, 2012 by Karl Haakonsen

...With today’s cars featuring automatics of 6 speeds (or occasionally even more!) the idea of a two-speed automatic seems quaint, yet the performance of the Powerglide wasn't all as bad as people might assume. The theory behind the two-speed automatic was that you had two mechanical gears provided by the planetary gears and clutches of the transmission and you had a theoretically infinite number of gears provided by the torque converter. The maximum gear reduction on the torque converter is 2.6:1 which would be multiplied by the mechanical gear reduction. For example, in low gear with the torque converter at maximum load would be 2.6X1.82 or about 4.7:1. Zero-to-sixty times for Powerglide equipped Corvairs was actually slightly faster than that of three-speed manual cars, though not as fast as equivalent cars with a four speed stick. Corvairs compete very well in autocross racing due to the superior handling abilities of the car (contrary to popular belief) and Powerglides are preferred by many drivers for autocrossing because of their responsiveness in the speed range typically driven in autocrossing (and with only two mechanical gears, the transmission doesn't waste a lot of time going between gears). Drivers would typically drive with one foot on the brake and one on the gas.

The Corvair Powerglide transmission has a reputation of being extremely rugged and reliable to the point of being virtually bulletproof and there are quite a lot of them in regular use today that have never been taken apart. It was a design requirement that the Powerglide had to be able to withstand 100 Low-to-Reverse shifts at wide open throttle on dry pavement as this was considered normal (!) usage....
:link: http://www.chezhawk.com/VairBlog/?p=711
Brad Bodie
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MikeDTuning
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by MikeDTuning »

try weaving though an autocross track with a powerglide,,, not good

Also, It runs, this was a first crank, still have a lot more hammering out to do!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O96G_ZK0pzY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Honda B20 turbo powered corvair. Is it the first honda powered corvair out there?
MikeDTuning
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by MikeDTuning »

a quick update, thanks to AZ-dave got the pinion angle set properly, i had to change out the intake manifold to one form an acura integra, (clearance reasons) as well as fabricate a new rear motor mount setup. hopefull i will get it all bolted together this week, and go for a little bit longer drive
Honda B20 turbo powered corvair. Is it the first honda powered corvair out there?
chris
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Re: Honda B20 turbo in corvair

Post by chris »

What did you end up doing for a throttle linkage?
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