The Spousal Avoidance Unit build

[hrm2k]

things have been moving a little slow lately but all that is going to change. We got started on the headers yesterday . Here are some recent pictures and explanations

We got the wishbone completed and painted. I installed it for the last time...............hopefully. here is how the back of the car looks now. It is sitting on 6 inch blocks at ride height. You can see where the collectors are going to be.........more on that in a minute..........The upper gold bar is the toe in/out control. The lower gold bar is the camber/caster adjustment. Everything appears to be working as planned. The ride is going to a little stiff but what the hell.



this is the overhead view of the suspension pieces.....I think it looks pretty damn cool...............just hope it works that way



This is a view of the trailing arm connections...........is this getting old ?



I mentioned that we started the headers. We are going with 1 5/8 pipe and some custom flanges that are 3/8 inch thick so we get a good seal. You can also see where the collectors are going to be in relationship to the engine



as shown in this photo, there is simply not enough room for any mufflers.....................( I know, I know, we could make them fit just about any where but I told the wife that it had to be loud because there is no room for mufflers....she finally gave in )


Even the drivers side is short on room




can you guess where this is going ?

Is he going to run open headers ?

has he lost his mind ?

You bet..............


I looked every where to see if I could find any kind of review on the Car Chemistry Inserts..............nothing. So rest assured, I will let you know what I think of them. You want to see them ?





7 inches long by 2 1/2 inches in diameter...........2 of them ....one in each header behind 400 + horsepower.............it is going to sound good. The solid cap shown in the top picture will not be in that location. That is the bottom of the insert.

more to follow soon

[cad-kid]

WOW

[Scott H]

Nice! I like that. I can here the conversation now..., "sorry babe, no room for mufflers, it might be a little loud ok?"

[Rick Calcitrant]

Hmmmmmm, if the open headers are just too loud, maybe a turbo or two would hush things up a bit...

[hrm2k]

Nice! I like that. I can here the conversation now..., "sorry babe, no room for mufflers, it might be a little loud ok?"

Nice jewelry gives you a lot of leway

Hmmmmmm, if the open headers are just too loud, maybe a turbo or two would hush things up a bit...

Please believe that hair dryers have been discussed many times..........recently !! Maybe the next time

[hrm2k]

Got to spend the day at the garage today waiting for the heating oil delivery guy...............27 degrees outside and I put 3 gallons of diesel in the heating oil tank........might as well work to try and stay warm. My buddy Frank and I finished up the passenger side header. I still need to grind some of the slag and spatter off the header but here is my first attempt at building a header.............



It fits better than I thought it would. We still need to make the driver's side header and then paint them black. I found some BBQ grill paint so I am planning on reporting back as to how the paint works............until then, here is the header in place

[Vair-8]

Very nice work! Nice to surrounded by talent when working on a unique custom job.

[hrm2k]

got the headers all fabbed up and I am pleased with them.
Are they show quality ? of course not !!
Killer welds ? no chance !!!!!
owner built ? you bet

Not the best looking set of headers but there is a first time for everything. here is how they look.........







I found some BBQ pit paint that is high temp............they are going to be black. I also ordered some exhaust tips that are either going to be killer or the stupidest looking things ever........more to follow on those

[hrm2k]

So the headers are painted and bolted back up to the heads. I found some " euro trash " style exhaust tips that would have to be mounted differently to work with the way I see the car
Here is the exhaust with tips as seen from above..........the headers painted up nicely....not a heavy black but not a charcoal gray either



The tips are actually meant to flow upwards at about a 30 degree angle..........I turned them so they pointed down.........I really like the way this whole thing is going together.



brakes, electric and fuel lines are next..........it won't be long now

[Vair-8]

I really like the look.

[hrm2k]

thank you for agreeing.........I appreciate it

[Rick Calcitrant]

In my mind's eye I can see those exhaust tips dance a bit each time you hit the throttle. Wicked cool.

[azdave]

All looking very nice! I know you must be really anxious to get some miles on it.

[hrm2k]

Since my car was running and driving when I started, the reconnecting of all the wiring is realtively simple..........NOT !!

One of my major concerns in this project would be overheating..............I hate overheating. Of course, I over engineered the cooling sysem. The radiator is a 4 core unit for a big block engine. There is a total of 2700 CFM of cooling fans on the radiator.....so why stop there. I had read a couple of articles on a flexilite products that is a fan controller. It sounded good so I decided to use one.

Here is a link to the product :http://www.summitracing.com/parts/flx-31149 imagine that, recommending a fan controller unit on an air cooled forum thread..................who knew

To sum it up here is the main description:

Flex-a-lite fan controllers are dial-adjustable from 160-240 degrees F. They feature a stainless steel probe sensor that inserts between your radiator's fins. These fan controllers give you the freedom to set one temperature for occasional high-demand use, and then reset the temperature for highway or day-to-day driving.


I mounted the unit on a piece of the radiator support. I finished up all of the wiring for the unit except for the battery connection. I also managed to get the wiring to the engine at least close to in place but I didn't take any pictures of it........that will probably be Monday

[azdave]

Only time will tell if you will run hot in the summer. I'm guessing you will not be able to freeway cruise (65-70) continuously in the summer. I'm running a 455 Olds so maybe you will not create the same amount of waste heat.

I used the largest 4 core aluminum radiator I could stuff into the car. It is a replacement for a GMC 1 ton truck.

For fans, I used two of the very popular 2-speed Ford Taurus fans that are rated each at 2500 CFM low and 4500 high. The fans are ducted tightly so that all of the air they pull in must pass through the core. They pull close to 70 amps combined on high. I use low speed 90% of the time for normal cruising. High speed is for when driving above 60 MPH for any length of time.

I installed a 90A alternator and have re-wired the chassis to have very short wire lengths and heavy gauge wire bewteen the alternator, battery and fan. I also installed some duty heavy relays with dual contacts to take the load. I can't run an extended amount of time on the freeway in the summer even with the fans on high and a large underbelly scoop directing air into the radiator.

Having said all of that I'm still pleased with the arrangement as I rarely drive more than 20 miles from my home. Even if it didn't get hot on the freeway, this is not a car I would ever take on a long trip so I am happy not to move the radiator to the front and ruin the look of the Corvair. I've had this system installed for several years now and never had a boil over. I know the limits of my system and watch the temp gauge when on the freeway.

[hrm2k]

I have been doing a lot of little things that don't photograph very well. I changed that today as I got my remote oil filter mounted and finalized the mount fo the alternator. I'm getting my lines done tomorrow for the oil filter as well as my fan belt. After that is the carb and some hoses...........




scratched the corner of my valve cover.........