The Spousal Avoidance Unit build

[Scott H]

ITS ALIVE!!!

[cvair4life]

It sounds down right mid-evil! PUNS ALL INTENDED!

[Vair-8]

Congrats !! Sounds awesome

[bbodie52]

It's ALIVE!!


Congratulations!!!

[Rick Calcitrant]

Bravo! I laughed all through the reading of your attendant text because it sounded exactly like me. I envy your experience.
Cheers.

[hrm2k]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the good comments.

I went to the garage today to remove the radiator for repair. I picked up my friend Frank because he said he wanted to help......actually he said he wanted to keep me from screwing up anything else. After that statement, he proceeded to tell me that after we brought the engine around to TDC, he could remember putting the spark plug in but could not remember putting the plug wire back on.........A_HA !!!! I was wondering if I was the only one hearing a miss while it was running. So as soon as we walked into the garage we took a look and I got it in picture to prove I was not the only screw up.................I present exhibit A in the case of the missing plug wire




So what does this mean.............Another f*@$^&%# video



I spoke with the tech guy at Dakota Digital this morning. Damn nice guy and wanted to make everything right. I have the correct oil pressure sender along with the correct water temp sender on it's way from Dakota Digital on their dime...........pretty nice !!
It is now time to build the axles and finsh up getting all the wires squared away and covered. I'll try to photograph anything that might seem interesting

[hrm2k]

There has been a lot of small stuff going on but not too much to photograph.

1. We got rid of the exhaust tips. They were actually adding to the volumn which proved to be a problem.

2. We got rid of the inserts. Before you go out and spend any money on the Car Chemistry baffels, DON'T. They suck really big time and do not quite the car down at all.

3. We have a set of Thrush Super Turbo mufflers on order. A friend lent me his brand new mufflers to test. The sound is good and the volumn is livable.

4. After we had the radiator hot tanked etc, we re-installed the radiator only to find a steam pocket had a strangle hold on the engine.



After screwing with this steam bubble, I got back into getting more work done. Today I finished up the air chamber that will direct all incoming air directly into the radiator. I also got the firewalls on each side started. All the firewalls / covers should be done before this weekend.






The next major piece is adding the shifter mechanism to the console and getting that bolted in. Frank is going to re-install the brakes laster this week as well as assemble the axles and get them bolted in...........................and what does that mean ? In the next 10 days or so, you should get to take a ride with me and my HD video camera..........................................f&@#&%g A

[hrm2k]

Life sure can get in the way sometimes. I have only been able to get to the garage a couple of times and only for short periods of time. I did get one side of the firewalls close to finished. After all the work that has been done, my friend whom I share the garage with asked why I had not been using the brake to bend metal. I told him the brake was broken and wouldn't bend anything.....................Damn thing works great !! I feel like such a dipsh*# when this kind of stuff happens.
So I made a piece to cover the whole in the floor by the radiator. I added a flange to the piece so it can hold some of the firewall. I also added a flange to the from piece of metal before welding everything together. Sorry for the somewhat shaky photo but I wanted to at least post something.
Here is how it looked. I still need to drill some holes in the flanges for some sheet metal screws but you get the idea



All things being equal, I will have the other side done by Wednesday night. I got my Thrush mufflers today so I can attack the exhaust. My wonderful wife ordered a piece of 1/4 inch thick Lexan in a 48 inch by 48 inch sheet for me today. That will become the engine cover that will be removable....held in place by Dzus fasteners................

[hrm2k]

I decided to take on the exhaust system today. My Thrush Mufflers came in so it was time to see where and how they would be mounted. I ended up welding them together to facitate mounting them. So this is where they ended up...The stainless bracket that you can see on the rear frame rail will be welded to the mufflers and bolted to a plate that will be welded to the verticl part of the frame rail.........the bracket will bolt to the frame with a couple of 5/16 bolts om each side.





As you are looking at these mufflers, the lower tubes will be the inlet and attach to the collectors. The tube on the top side will be the output to the tail pipe and tips. This probably could not have worked out better if we had planned it this way...........here are some above shots to show how everything is just perfectly aligned






I am ordering a couple of J bends this evening...............the mounts have already been figured out..............It sounds great through these mufflers........................just not as loud

[cad-kid]

Can't wait to hear it. Awesome work

[hrm2k]

I picked up a couple of J bends this afternoon. All things being equal, You will hear this through the mufflers by Saturday evening. I ordered my Morse shifter cable today. Damn cable had to be 84 inches long............$$$$$$$$$$. I hope to have my axles together and maybe installed by the beginning of the week

[cad-kid]

Ouch! At least for the price you are getting a good product.

[Vair-8]

How did it go over the weekend? Did the new muffler set up work out?

[hrm2k]

The weekend work time got eaten up with family things. So I went in a couple of hours on Monday and Tuesday and I am proud to announce that we got it working. It was really hard trying to get the pipes from the headers to the mufflers but I finished it today and it looks OK.........not great but OK.........here you go





The tail pipes to the tips is going to be another adventure.........got to get some 90 degree bends to cut up...........


This is how it ended up sounding




All in all I am pretty pleased at where we are. My shifter cable came in. I need to make an adaptor for the shifter connection but it should be in place in the next couple of days. The last piece of fabrication will be the rock screen in front of the radiator. My buddy Frank is going to start on the axles and brakes in the next few days..........it won't be long now.

I should also say thanks for all the people following this build. When it hit 5,000 views, I thought that was killer.........i think it is near 6,000 now. It really makes me feel good that there are a bunch of guys out here watching this happen........I am truly touched

[bbodie52]

...I should also say thanks for all the people following this build. When it hit 5,000 views, I thought that was killer.........i think it is near 6,000 now. It really makes me feel good that there are a bunch of guys out here watching this happen........I am truly touched

I just wish that I had the degree of skill and creativity that you have continually demonstrated in this project. The results are beautiful to watch, and I'm grateful that you have taken the time and effort to share your project with the rest of us. It is truly fascinating to watch!

When I was a child I spent many hours in the garage in San Jose, California watching my father fit a brand-new 327 ci Corvette V8 into his 1958 aluminum-bodied AC Ace sports car -- essentially building a Chevy-powered Shelby Cobra in his garage. Observing your project Corvair gives me a similar feeling. When I was a teen I drove down to Newport Beach to look at the Crown Corv-8 prototype and conversion kit. I brought home a catalog, some suspension components, some great memories, and I dreamed of doing that with a Corvair... but it never happened. But it does make me happy to watch what you are accomplishing. GREAT WORKMANSHIP!


Brad with Dad's 1958 AC "Mongoose". All aluminum body with tubular frame, the British-made AC Ace was the basis for the Ford-powered 289 CI Shelby Cobra, built by Carroll Shelby. Dad's home-built custom utilized a 327 CI Corvette engine with solid lifters, Borg and Beck clutch, Muncie T10 transmission with modified Hurst shifter, Italian Borrani wire wheels (rear only) Goodyear Blue Streak tires, and custom hand-rubbed lacquer paint. Unlike the Shelby Cobra, this car retained oversized, finned aluminum drum brakes on all four wheels. Standard AC differential was retained. The car weighed about 2000 pounds with a full tank and did very well at local autocross events. I believe that these photos were taken at Foothill College, in Los Altos Hills, near Sunnyvale and Mountain View, California. — in San Jose, CA.

[hrm2k]

Thank you Brad. Nice Cobra....that took a lot of work