69 Camaro lines on 67 Corvair?

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nimblemotorsports
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69 Camaro lines on 67 Corvair?

Post by nimblemotorsports »

I can predict the response already, but going to ask anyway...

As I posted about before, I've got a 67 that I'm building as a mid-engine car.
While I haven't committed yet, I did buy a 87 Porsche 944S to use its 5-speed transaxle, rear suspension, and front suspension,
and I bought a Audi 4.2 V8 that will mate to the transaxle with some work. But still considering a subaru flat-6 swap,
and almost bought a couple donors that I missed on. Anyway, the point is the car will be heavily custom, and so...

I was thinking of modifying the body to use the lines of a 69 Camaro. Basically I have one available to make molds from the fenders,
doors, and rear quarter panel. I did consider replacing ALL the body panels, but now I'm thinking just doing the sides, as that really
is what is best about a 69 Camaro, the flared, pinched look. And what is key here, is the 69 rear quarter has the 'phony' vents, which
I will make actual air intakes for the mid-engine.

It's a lot of work I know, but I'm not afraid of work, and I'm already doing a ton of it under the skin, so why not modify the skin too?
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Re: 69 Camaro lines on 67 Corvair?

Post by terribleted »

Why take the clean lines of a Corvair and make them into something so common as a 69 Camaro?
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Re: 69 Camaro lines on 67 Corvair?

Post by bbodie52 »

:goodpost:

I AGREE! The initial description of your Corvair modifications makes it sound very interesting mechanically. But then you seem to go too far! The whole point of such a conversion is to create a "sleeper" that retains the good looks of a late-model Corvair, with a BIG SURPRISE under the skin. Why would you want to modify the Corvair body to make it look like a Camaro? You might as well skip the Corvair completely and just modify the Camaro under the surface. The Frankenstein car you described no longer retains the good looks and character of a rare late-model Corvair. Since the Corvair is of unibody construction, such radical changes to the body itself might weaken the overall car to the point where it is unsafe (unless you plan on mounting the Corvair body on some type of frame). This project that you propose is beginning to sound like some type of dragracing funny car.

In my opinion you should do all you can to retain the original good looks of the Corvair as you design your project car.
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nimblemotorsports
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Re: 69 Camaro lines on 67 Corvair?

Post by nimblemotorsports »

Image

My car will be a "Pro Touring" road racer, hence the Porsche 944S transmission, suspension and brakes.

Image

This typical chevy small block mid-engine has the side air venting added, which looks a bit 'tacked on',
would be nice to get some flare in the fenders (e,g 944) too.

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Re: 69 Camaro lines on 67 Corvair?

Post by notched »

The typical small block (and big block) Chevrolet powered mid engine Corvairs have radiators mounted in the front. Some have chosen to mount in the rear but they typically do not work as well.
One of the fastest in the country is Mike Levine's who actively competes and is very competitive against the German cars. His is a GEN1 small block Chevrolet mounted to a Jerico 4 speed (Ford Toploader style) with a C5 Corvette differential and rear suspension bits. His was a street car up until a few years ago.
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Re: 69 Camaro lines on 67 Corvair?

Post by notched »

I agree with the others. Why not just start with a Camaro if you goal is to make a Camaro? The Corvair looks beautiful with minimal modifications.
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Re: 69 Camaro lines on 67 Corvair?

Post by terribleted »

here is a side vent that looks more integrated: These are Z28 fender vents.
19.jpg
side view Corvitis.png
side view Corvitis.png (85.29 KiB) Viewed 1463 times
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Re: 69 Camaro lines on 67 Corvair?

Post by toytron »

Ted the vents on the second picture look really nice. I like the fact that they matched the rockers to the quarters.

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Re: 69 Camaro lines on 67 Corvair?

Post by terribleted »

toytron wrote: Mon Apr 17, 2017 7:30 pm Ted the vents on the second picture look really nice. I like the fact that they matched the rockers to the quarters.

Ed Stevenson
Those photos are the same car same 1/4 panel just during and after the build. The rockers were loosely modeled after the Garvin fiberglass unit that are similar to them, but, were hand fabricated in steel.
Corvair guy since 1982. I have personally restored at least 20 Vairs, many of them restored ground up.
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Re: 69 Camaro lines on 67 Corvair?

Post by SyntheticBlnkerFluid »

Chip Foose already took care of that for you. [emoji6]

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Re: 69 Camaro lines on 67 Corvair?

Post by toytron »

I see chip also removed the vent wing.

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Re: 69 Camaro lines on 67 Corvair?

Post by nimblemotorsports »

OK, so the 69 camaro idea was lame. ;)
Here is something I found which is more what I had in mind, which actually makes it look more like a 70 Challenger.

Image

70 Challenger:

Image
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