Has anyone ever attempted this from South Africa

[hentysnr]

Hi Guys
As you might know Coupes are extremely scarce in South Africa as they were only ever imported by private individuals and not by GM, sadly the Corvairs were only available through GM in '61 and '62 . Dave Newell might correct me on this but I'm pretty sure that is correct. I have been inspired by the Carl Sagan rebuild and am seriously contemplating the following. I have recently aquired the rear half, roof and doors of a '63/4 Coupe. The intention is to graft this onto the front section of a spare '61 4dr donor car that I have. I would have to convert the car to RHD as we cannot register rebuilt LHD's in SA, this stupid Road Traffic Ordinance came about in 2004. Fortunately I could prove that my '60 4dr and '61 4dr were registered in SA before then so they are legal , but I want a Coupe and I cannot import one, so here is possibly the first RHD Coupe in SA. I have also recently aquired possibly the only Big Bore engine in SA. A very good friend of mine Gary du Plessis built it for me with the expert advise of Mr Ray Sedman . The intention is to put the BAD BOY into the Coupe.

Has anyone attempted this before? If so I would GREATLY appreciate any advise/pointers etc . I basically only have one shot at this and would like to try and get it right first time. Fortunately metal is forgiving and allows you to make mistakes but I would prefer to work out a plan of action and then work the plan, it seems to work for me. I have the body panel blow-up diagrams for the 4dr but none for the Coupe and I am hoping that, that is were the key to where I join the two halves lies??
Really looking forward to your input on this one and thanks for an amazing forum
Regards
Henty

[flat6_musik]

Wow Henty....that's an amazing plan!

[fjp912]

Yikes . . . I am sure anything is doable, but putting two halves of a unibody car together like that has to be EXACTLY right or the whole car would be misaligned. Since you are planning the RHD conversion anyway, do your laws prohibit you from importing a whole coupe if you agree to make it RHD?

[hentysnr]

Hi Guys and thanks for the comments!
I suppose I have always been a sucker for punishment/hardwork whatever you want to call it, to me it's more about I'm going to try this and see where I get. For me it's about the challenge of doing something myself, I wallow in the satisfaction of when a plan comes together. I have built so many of my own workshop tools ie; a small literally simple bolt together lathe, surface grinder, multi-purpose belt/disc sander etc.etc. I do not know what I would do without my lathe and milling machine, am also starting to experiment with some aluminium smelting to make castings etc.

I would really appreciate ANY input from you guys out there, I'm no coach-builder but I have nothing to lose and only a Coupe to gain, I'm not a purist but an ABSOLUTELY CONFIRMED and ORDAINED EM guy. The intention is to build a jig that will be based on the 4dr chassis that I have. It looks straight and I will check that out by using the info in the '60 Body workshop manual. I can then weld markers call em what you want to and when I position the Coupe rear end I can use the markers to make sure everything lines and measures up. May be my approach is too simplistic but I'm convinced that the principle will work, what you guys think.

I think the key to unlocking the lining up/alignment depends/determined by how accurately one sets up the jig, there are so many "reference dimples" that can be used to set-up the two halves. I'm more concerned about where to cut, this also the exact excuse I have been waiting for to justify purchasing a small plasma cutter.

My biggest problem at the moment is getting my rebuilt 6-berth caravan out of the workshop. Have decided to use it as a spare bedroom instead of towing it all over the country. Its' too big and heavy so maybe when I get locked out of the house late at night I will have a comfortable bed to sleep on. Took the pokey bunks out and built in a proper double island bed.

I intend constructing the jig in such a way that it doubles up as a rotisserie setup at the same time. I have just finished building a vehicle inspection pit in my workshop floor so that I can work under the entire length of the car. I had a massive back operation about three years ago, all as a result of combat injury sustained in Angola in the mid ,70s, I suppose like your guys Vietnam ops. Well at least the pains gone most of the time and I walk without a stick/cane, well at 56 things are going to start creaking and groaning much like the cars hey.

Anyway, I will make a sketch of how I intend cutting the floor pan and how I intend keying the panels together, scan it and post it as soon as I get some time. Work is taking up so much of my spare time, we are fortunately over the top busy and there is little time to get stuck into something and get good progress done.

I have written to out IRS Import Department and lodged a request as to whether I would be allowed to import a LHD and then convert it to RHD. To date the reply has been that I was not to assume anything as they DO NOT permit LHD imports. The red tape in this government of ours is mind blowing you cannot even begin to imagine how pathetic the response to date has been. Every time you speak to someone you get told "I'm new in this Dept and will get back to you" HA HA you wish!

Ok, got to go will chat soon again.
Henty

[cad-kid]

It sounds like you got a good head on your sholders Henty. Your workshop sounds like a neat place - can you post a pic or two? Also post a pic of you caravan (camper in the U.S.). We love to see projects.

[bbodie52]

Would it be worth the expense of finding good, clean early model Corvair in the USA and paying someone to convert it to right-hand drive over here, and then importing it? It would seem to be better with that approach than attempting to create a Corvair sandwich from two near wrecks in your country! Would the bureaucrats permit the import of a clean Corvair that had already been converted to right-hand drive prior to import?

[jennirw]

we have recently stripped a 4 dr early and 2 coupe earlies and have 2 coupe earlies and one 4 dr early. eyeballing them it looks like the floor pans might be the same or close to the same - might be able to keep the 4 dr chassis and floor pan and graft a coupe rear & roof to it.

[mart]

Would it be worth the expense of finding good, clean early model Corvair in the USA and paying someone to convert it to right-hand drive over here, and then importing it? It would seem to be better with that approach than attempting to create a Corvair sandwich from two near wrecks in your country! Would the bureaucrats permit the import of a clean Corvair that had already been converted to right-hand drive prior to import?

I'm glad we dont have any restrictions on left hand drive cars over here , YET !!, some of the right hand drive conversions I've seen , and owned were pretty poor. Two of my Mustangs were RHD, a 68 convertible, used a Ford Zephyr steering box with what can only be described as home made steering arms, totally irreplaceable when worn out. My 76 mustang II had a big box under the dash containing a chain that connected the rhd steering wheel to the LHD steering rack, this was the factory set up

[bbodie52]

Sounds like a real "Rube Goldberg" contraption for a steering linkage! I've never seen a right-hand drive conversion for a Corvair, but the steering boxes are popular in hot rods. With no engine in the front to work around, maybe there would be fewer obstacles to deal with in flipping the pedals and steering column to the right side. Not sure how complex it would be to move the instrument panel to the right. But it sure sounds more possible than mating two halves of a unibody Corvair together!

Don't forget to vote in the Corvair Forum Corvair of the Year competition. Support for my August Corvair convertible entry is encouraged, but not mandatory!

[jennirw]

CAN'T BE ANY HARDER THE DOING THIS

THERE ARE A NUMBER OF SHORTENED CORVAIRS OUT THERE

5N75G85X33K23Ga3Mac3761b2e2a0f7f91c2d.jpg (15.92 KiB) Viewed 2682 times

558927_10150766971632959_751177958_11556301_1496170481_n.jpg (62.61 KiB) Viewed 2682 times

[bbodie52]

WOW! I thought I'd seen just about everything in Corvairs, but I guess not! I'll bet it has a very short turning radius!

[flat6_musik]

Looks like the world's first smart car or an American Isetta!

[bbodie52]

Maybe competition for a Fiat SomethingorOther or the Morris Mini Minor, but NOT the Isetta. There is NOTHING like an Isetta! You would have to remove the trunk, mount a single front wheel, and switch to 12" wheels... then Maybe...

It used to be the poor man's Porsche. Now it is a poor man's Fiat? But cuter than a Fiat.

[mart]

Brad , are you confusing the Isetta with the Bond/ Reliant genre? Isetta had single (and sometimes twin I believe) 10" rear wheel. Gotta love those crazy micro cars, my favourite being the bond 875,(not the bug) powerful (ish) coventry climax (Hillman imp) engine with single front wheel , so no stability and no brakes . Come to think of it , the EM has a similar look to the IMP , and The Prinz (NSU)

[bbodie52]

No, I remember walking past an Isetta every day in the 1960s when I was walking to elementary school. Even then I got a big laugh out of it. It reminded me of cartoonist Stan Mott's Cyclops in Road & Track magazine.

http://www.oldfords.org/Cyclops_home.htm

Strange vehicles: Isetta Microcar

Milan based refrigerator manufacturer Rennzo Rivolta of Isotherm created the Isetta microcar in 1953.
In 1955 he sold the licence to manufacture the Isetta in Germany to BMW leading to the BMW Isetta.
That same year Rivolta sold the right to produce the Isetta in France to Velam.
The Velam Isetta used a 236 cc two stroke engine, a convertible version (!) of the Velam Isetta was sold from 1957 and a luxury version (!!) was introduced in 1958 named the Velam Ecrin.

Interestingly although the BMW Isetta sold far better than the Velam Isetta many consider Velam's design to be superior.

Pictures - top BMW Isetta
- bottom Velam Isetta

http://www.diseno-art.com/encyclopedia/ ... rocar.html



SUPER ISETTA

[mart]

Yep, the single wheel is definitely at the rear