Corvair Forum

Hi Larry202br

Been a bit quiet lately, very busy at work and also did a quick 1.3lt to 2lt EFI Golf conversion for a buddy who does not have the facilities to work on his car.

It was on my third attempt at shaping a flat rectangular section of plate that the thought struck me, "cut out a curved flat section of plate". Then I slowly bent/folded in the shallow lip that sits on the inner/inside curve. Metal shaping is not my forte' but have spent hours reading books on various metal shaping techniques after my spinal surgery. The inner shallow fold I then heat shrunk and stretched the outer "lip". I used a slightly thicker piece of plate, my theory was that is would allow me to heat shrink more and hammer stretch more and well that's what you see. I think the trick was cutting a curved piece of metal.

I have just found it easier to use some thin "coffee tin" type sheet metal to make up a trial piece see how it works and then take it from there. What I see as a REAL challenge is making up a new front underdash valence plate. The vertical piece on my car has disappeared completely. All that remains is the seam at the top and bottom.

Anyway thanks for the interest shown, much appreciated

Cheers guys have a great week.
Henty

Hi Henty, I have signed up as a member today, and am glad to read all the responses from the forum, some more info regards my grand old lady, and others my first Corvair was a 1960 700 grey with a white top bought in 1961 it was a toss up either a Dodge Lancer or.... so i chose the better, coming from Citoen L15's of which i owned and sold 4, I was now the owner of an unusual car, i was led to believe only 200 were imported. again not to steel any thunder i also got married and went on honeymoon in my Corvair (which was now repainted Gun metal Grey)
Then came the opportunity, to by the Monza 900 '62 this was original Silver Paid R750.00 cash, and with many years of motoring then came the divorce, the car was neglected and parked under a large Willow tree where it stood for some 10 years, no cover. my nephew Quintin first set eyes on the car when he was only 7 and always said he wanted the car, at this stage it was still complete but rust had taken its toll, i gave him the Corvair and he set about refurbishing the body new paint job she looked good, but after driving it around for a few weeks decided it was not fast enough, and wanted to sell, being an Indian giver, took the car back with intentions of finishing the job, but at that stage i had bought a '65 Corvair Monza 4 door, that needed lots of work and money the Rand - dollar was R7.10 spares expensive so my lady too a back seat, with the willow chopped down she found a place on our carport.
More to Follow, plus pics
Regards, (Sparovair)
Brian Sparrow

Welcome, Brian Sparrow, to the Corvair Forum! Assuming you are from somewhere in South Africa, I must say that you South African Corvair owners are a dedicated, persistent lot! That much comes through in each story that gets posted from the African continent!

I wold like to encourage you to post a biographical entry in the Corvair Forum Introductions section, to tell us more about yourself, your Corvairs, and perhaps to post some pictures as well! If you need some online help with posting pictures, it can be found at the following URL:

viewtopic.php?f=196&t=618

It basically amounts to using the Post Reply editor, instead of the Quick Reply editor (which is limited in its functions and does not permit posting pictures).

I would also like to encourage you to take a look at the Corvair Forum Corvair of the Month competition for the month of May.

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5509

The competition is pretty close, and another South African (garydup) has entered his 1960 Corvair in the competition. You can cast your vote after you have posted at least three times on the Corvair Forum in any subject area. Your vote could make the difference!

Again, welcome to the Corvair Forum! I look forward to hearing more from you and to seeing some pictures of your Corvairs!

Hi Folks

Yep, it's been 6 months now since I last looked at the Coupe . I know it's there in the garage quietly waiting for some attention , but man, work has been simply insane. That does even begin to describe the last 6 months.

Anyway I want to toss a thought out there and see what comes of it, PLEASE feel free to add your thoughts no matter what they are, please! . I have always wanted a V8, but as you can imagine the Camaro,s, Mustangs, Corvettes here in SA start at nothing under R150,000.00 and then some. I have bought from a friend a complete and running 327CI Chev V8 motor and auto gearbox, so now you can see where my thoughts are going, but, NO I want the engine in the front of the car! Am thinking of Jaguar rear suspension.

I do not seem to be able to find a detailed build thread on a front engined Corvair other than the V12 build which is just mind blowing. Are you guys aware of any threads out there that I could look at?

Am going on annual leave in a weeks time as it is our Christmas/Summer compulsory construction shutdown/vacation. So would like to make use of this time to revisit the rust bucket. My thought being that if I go the front engined route the floor replacement, driveshaft tunnel and g/box hump will have to be hand made in any case. The front "firewall" is rusted to bits so I have to take that out aswell. I have had no luck in the last 6 months finding a donor car with a good floor and "firewall". I have found at least five cars but there floors are shot!

So, let me hear your thoughts, PLEASE constructive or not!

Regards
Henty

Hi guys
I can't believe that I last posted some 4months ago can't lay the blame anywhere other than at my own door. In my last post I was about to go on leave and of course Christmas. What an end to the year I might add my eldest daughter got married on 21 December, the Corvair was prepped polished ballooned as the wedding car. As soon as I get some pictures I will post them. Needless to say the car caused quite a stir at the Church and even more so at the reception. My son's who live in California were also here and they really loved the car to bits, both commented on how few of them you see in the States.

Sadly had to say farewell to my brother in law in January after a very short bout of rampant cancer that literally ate him up on a daily basis, so sad to see my dear friend suffer so much RIP Ian, he was not a car guy but was fascinated by my Corvairs.

Anyway I have not got any further with the Coupe and noted than NO ONE commented on my V8 idea, wonder why??? Come on Speak up! Well be that as it may, Garydup and I have made a deal and during these next few months I am going to relieve him of his 63 Coupe and will do a rebuild of it. My only concern is time, it seems to be the most sought after commodity at the moment. Might add that I have managed to make several really needed improvements in the workshop. The sandblasting cabinet now works properly at last after several modifications and the addition of a pressurised tank plus a 6.5hp triple head compressor. My inspection pit in the floor has proper lighting and forced ventilation too, must have, nearly came short there due to my own negligence might add, bloody idiot is more appropriate!

Ok so hopefully I will be a more active and contributing member again, thanks again to those who make this forum what it is, in my opinion the Greatest Corvair Platform out there! Starting to get sleepy now it's 1:15am and I need to be up at 5:30am. Cheers and regards Henty

It is good to hear from you! i'm sorry to hear about your brother in law and his cancer that ended his life so quickly. That is scary stuff! My father had bladder cancer, my mother died of lung cancer, and my daughter in law lost her father to lung cancer a couple of years ago, and her mother to breast cancer when she was only 14. The idea of cancer surfacing in our lives again (my wife and I are both 61) is a scary thing. My wife is disabled and depends on my as her primary caregiver, and the idea of me getting sick worries us both. But my father lived to age 85, so maybe I have some years left in me.

Back to a more-fun subject. I did not comment on your V8 Corvair idea because I have no experience in that area. But, of course, I do have an opinion. If you plan on using your Corvair for drag racing in a straight line only, I would think the idea of a front-engine 327 CI V8 would work — but I personally would not do it that way. When Ted Trevor developed his mid-engined CORV-8 in his Southern California company Crown Mfg. back in the 1970s he went with a mid-engine concept for many good reasons. A mid-engine concept in a LM Corvair chassis and suspension offers nearly ideal layout. Good power, rear wheel traction for straight-line traction, and great autocross or road race handling, and an ultimate "sleeper' on the street. It avoids all of the issues with too much over-steer or under-steer. The small block Chevy weight is good and does not overload the modified 1966-1969 Corvair transaxle too badly. There are several other methods to do the mid-engine configuration, but I believe the back seat area is the best location. Besides, there are plenty of V8-powered front engine performance cars on the road already. The mid-engine configuration makes for a great performance car that is unique. A front engine configuration reminds me more of a Funny Car drag racer, with a chassis and powertrain designed for drag racing that you can drop almost any body shell on. A front engine Corvair becomes a Camaro copy-cat or a Camaro "wanna-be". But a mid-engine V8 Corvair remains unique.

Of course living in South Africa imposes some severe limitations on powertrain availability and altermatives. Some of the Corvair Forum guys who have actually built such a conversion can certainly speak with significant wisdom and experience on this subject. I can only admire from a distance!

So there you have it... one opinion. But if great handling does not interest you, a front-heavy car should plow very well in the turns, and the light rear end should provide almost unlimited burn-out potential with smoke and rubber flying everywhere!

Hi Brad,
Great to hear from you as always and thank you for kind words on Ian's passing. Yep destiny and time take no prisoners as the saying goes, I think. You know there is an Afrikaans saying (the SA version of Dutch) that goes " so praat n bek" literally translated that means "that is how a mouth must speak" your comments are exactly just that, what you said is what I want to hear, thoughts, ideas, opinions and such valid facts! GREAT, I have been blinded by the engine noise behind me other comments about reduced leg room etc etc. I have read so much about the various conversion options and thats where my front engined idea came from.

Next question is where does one begin to source a Crown conversion kit, availability, 11:1 exchange rate and and and, see where I am going with this. Anyway, just saying where I'm coming from. I'm not into smoking tyres, or drag racing or dropping the clutch. I need to be able to get into my car start it drive down to the shopping centre answer questions about my car and know that I can get into it at a moments notice drive 500miles without a worry, make sense, thats me.

Garydup built me the 3.1lt Big Boy engine and I love it. It's reliable goes like hell, guzzles gas and I love it. It's my daily driver and yep I just love Corvairs. So exactly where I go from here on is an unknown but one thing is for sure Corvairs are and will always be a part of my life.

Its great chatting to you again and I lift my hat to you taking care of your lady, my Mom is 83 and lives with us, it takes some doing taking care of the needy I know. Take care and be safe out there.
Kind regards
Henty

Yep! its time for me to hit the long road to go and see my buddy Gary, my annual migration some 900kms up our east coast from Grahamstown to Pietermaritzburg, two very historical Cities which shaped the history of our Country back in the 1800's. So why am I telling you this, well I'm going to trailer a '92 Golf Mk1 up to Gary in exchange for a '62 Coupe. This one also needs a lot of hard work as its in kit form but it's not another rust bucket that's the difference, the BIG DIFFERENCE. It needs some welding cleaning painting and I can start putting it together. It might not be as simple as that, but, its not like I have to manufacture new panels and and and etc.

I will take lots of photo's and share my road trip with you guys, only problem is I have to travel the entire distance by myself and I hate that grrrrrr! 12hrs there and 12hrs back and that's pushing it real hard. The roads are very narrow its Easter long weekend the traffic is going to be heavy but a mans gotta do what you gotta do.

Ok will keep you posted, cheers

Safe Journey!!

I look forward to seeing not only the photographs and story of your successful trek, but also the picture storybook of your great Corvair reconstruction project.

Hi guys
Again, it's been some time, but work comes first I suppose and there are only so many hours in a a day. This is the second time I am attempting this posting, the first time My internet connection was dropped and the whole posting got lost somehow pictures and all, so here goes 2nd time luckier I hope!

This trip did not go without it's own bit of fun I might add . I stopped in a small town called Cedarville to fill up with fuel and took the opportunity to get some exercise by walking up and down the Gas station driveway at quite a pace, much to the delight of the locals who ten to one thought what is wrong with this old man. And so a minibus pulls up next to me and a guy lets down the window and asks "can you please lend me R100.00", I looked at him and said "do I look like father Christmas , he gave this quirky smile and said, "no, but maybe, I am father Christmas" and held up a rim and tyre . I then looked at the trailer and saw I had lost a wheel . Pans out it came off oustside Queenstown, these guys saw it come-off and had been trying to catch-up with me for the last 300kms. Needless to say I offered "father Christmas" R300.00 for my tyre and rim. BUT IT DOES NOT END THERE Nooooo . Before I left Pietermaritzburg I refitted the "lost" rim and tyre as the spare I had put on went flat. Listen carefully now, yes Mr so clever forgot to torque up the wheel nuts and yes I lost the same wheel AGAIN, this time for good. Cost me R1400.00 to replace !

Anyway there is quite a story behind this car and how it became what you now, the best person to tell the story is Gary, maybe he will tell the story first-hand so that I do not get the facts wrong. A story that will be a testimony to what lengths we as South Africans will go to, to own a Corvair Coupe, I think some will not believe what Gary will tell you. Gary when you read this post please tell the story in your own words my friend. Once I start the rebuild thread I will start a new thread.

Thank you again for an awesome forum and platform to share my love of Corvairs with fellow enthusiasts

It has been a while!

That was quite a story, but I'm glad it had a happy ending with a Corvair in the driveway!

Hey Brad

Always good to hear from you, yep,it's been a while. Work is just insane this past year and our office runs a very tight ship as far as staff numbers go.

I simply have just not had the time or energy to sit down and get my thoughts together and must admit my previous post was (that got lost) was so much better than this one. Much more descriptive about the trip etc. and my debacle with the wheel. Al I have been doing in the last 7 months is focusing on work and getting through my responsibilities at work. I have literally worked every weekend bar the odd one here and there, but we were well rewarded on our bonus month, so it has been worth all the long hours.

There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel and a real good chance that I will be able to start working in my workshop again. I have also decided to do some big additions to my workshop floor space, so will complete that before I start on the Coupe. I started a nut & bolt rebuild on a '75 VW Beetle last year as well and have decided to fit a Corvair engine instead of the VW engine.

I have spoken to Gary and asked him to tell his story of this car as it is built out of a 4dr and a Coupe and that is all I'm saying for now. Gary is also under the whip at the moment and is on his way to Brazil to go and test a new Ford Ranger 4x4 Dakar Race that they have built for a Client, so he has also been at the grindstone basically 7 days a week for the last three months. I have had the privilege of been taken on a tour of the workshop where these 4x4's are built and it is something to be experienced talk about professionalism these guys take it to another level

Been looking at where you live and it seems to be a beautiful area around a massive lake and i see there is a golf course as well. We are busy building a new 18 hole Golf Course just outside our town in a beautiful valley called Belmont Valley about 10km outside Grahamstown. Anyway I realy hope Gary can find the time to tell his story before he leaves for Brazil.

Will chat again.

hello all,well i know its been a while but like henty my job is a huge demand on me,besides being chief technition im now also parts quality controller,this means not only do i check the quality of the parts we manufacture,but i preassemble everything as well.the day goes quickly for me and i love it,but i also love my corvairs and that is a bit of a challenge for me at the moment as i have very limmited time to spend on them.henty has had his eye on my 60 monza coupe for about 2 years now,it was really hard to part with it as it had real centimental value to me.my whole life iv wanted a 60 coupe 2 door and i found one in a place called tarlton,the same place which is south africas international drag strip for top fuelers.every year for the past five years we use their premises for our offroad racing event.4 years ago i found this coupe but what a mess,made hentys 62 coupe look like a rolls royce the car had been left on the ground and was bascaly rotted from the sills down,there was no floor and no boot well,i contacted my cousin that lived about 30kms away and he picked it up for me and about a month later trailered it down to me.i had already made up my mind that i was going to fix this coupe one way or the other.i was able to get my hands on a good 4 door 60 body and between the two i started to look at what i could do.i first started with the doors from the coupe,i took the doors off the four door and mounted the doors from the coupe,this told me that both the 4 door and the coupe shared the same windscreen and everthing was the same up to the door hinge pillars and a pillars.i then looked at the door sills and they were also pretty much the same shape as the coupe ,only the coupe had an outside skin right down over the sill.istarted to put two and two together an realised what gm had done.the whole under carrage,monococque,is exactly the same for the 60 coupe and the 60 4 door from front to rear.the front windscreen appature is also identical.so once i decided i could interchange body parts on to the 4 door i set about how much work would be involve to cut off the roof of the 4 door and the entire rearend but leave the floor and the monococque still connected to the original 4 door.the thing that worried me the most is i did not want it to look like a backyard job.i started off by rough cutting the 4 door roof and rear fenders off and then the teedious job of grinding off the metal thickness at all the spotwelds and stepped joints,i did the same on the rotten coupe body and found that the only rotten pieces i was left with on the coupe body was two small sections on each side just above the sill line to the rear.once i finished all the grinding,6 saturdays and sundays in a row and a fight with the neighbour and 42, 1mm cutting discs and 19 grinding discs later i was ready to do the transplant.i was really amazed by how everthing fitted as the two cars were built in two different countries,the coupe was built in canada and the 4 door was built in south africa,amazing that the jigging of the boddies from two different countries was so accurate,the only problem i had was at the top of the windscreen appature where the roof overlapes and is spotwelded to form the appature,there was a negitive on the top sides which i had to cut off and weld back on once the two sections married,i installed the doors an aligned everything before i started spotwelding,then i put a slight downward pressure downward on the rear by about 2mm noticed by the door gap and started to spotweld just by watching the door gap and a string line front to rear on the body line both sides.when i was finished spotwelding i still had about 1mm less gap at the bottom of the b pillar,when i released the ratchet straps that i used to pull the two sections together everything eveaned up all round,i then spotwelded the roof section.

then because of work the project was never touched again for the next two years and now henty has it,i will try to upload some pics but i battel with this.ok henty my brother i hope this is enough info,for those wanting to know more just ask and i will try to answer,sorry about the spelling .

i have some more of the actual day of fitting,but cant seem to find them right now do you guys still want to see them if i find them

regards gary

Hi Gary
Great to hear from you brother, that is what is so great about the technology of today. At the touch of a button we in contact with each other.

Thank you so much for telling the story of how you came to put this car together. If you can find the pictures that would be great I, m sure the guys will enjoy them. I must be honest I really enjoy the pictures the guys put up, maybe that is where the saying comes from "a picture tells a thousand stories" Yep and old Vic rest his soul (Gary's neighbour, now passed on) had a mind of his own must admit, but hey I still enjoyed him despite his oddness.

You might wonder why I am still awake at 2am, partly because I slept most of Sunday, I have terrible flu and the local security company called me to open the office due the alarms going off repeatedly, turns out that we have rats the size of small cats that come into the office to rummage in the bins. The guys worked most of the weekend so there are lots of Kentucky bones in the bin. So here I am keeping the owls company in bed with my ipad in bed.

Ok well I have to get some shut eye so you guys all take care out there and have a good week.

Regards Henty