1966 Crown Conversion Corvair
Corv8
I was installing a Crown V8 conversion when I got laid up a longtime ago. A that time Corvairs were a dime a dozen. I scraped the body and hung onto a few special parts ever since. I still have a 66’ transmission with the Crown V8 adapter, close ratio gears, 4 spider differential and limited slip. I also have a Corsa dash cluster. After 30 years its just about time to get started on the conversion again.
I ran across this body at the right price. No engine or transmission and much of the interior gone. Just about every area of the body needs some work but is looks like it has been in Arizona for a long time, very little rust. It even has factory AC. That's something that seems more important living in Tucson.
Here is a picture of the classic Crown installation.
I picked up a LU5 engine, the 305 C.I. Crossfire injection out of a 1982 Trans Am.
I think this will be a great engine for the conversion. It seems to be as much maligned by the ignorant as the Corvair is. I don't think it would work as well as some other power plants if lowest E.T. was the only concern, but then, neither would the transmission. This will be a street car with maybe a little strip or autocross time. This should be a match made for each other.
The old transmission bolted up to the stripped block. This was the first time it was bolted on a block in 30 sum years.
After initially setting the drive line in the normal location for a Crown conversion I started looking at ways to improve the leg room. The first thought of moving the suspension and wheel wells back a bit was quickly ruled out due to my limited sheet metal ability.
Looking at the axle angles I noticed the axles angle back a bit from differential to wheel. Reasoning that if I moved the transaxle back until the axles swept forward to the wheels at about the same angle there shouldn't be any significant change to the suspension geometry. The lower control arm bracket was moved forward on the transaxle about 1 inch. The entire transaxle was then moved back about 3 inches, every little bit here helps. That should make a big difference on the clearance for the engine cover and seats.
The driveline finally in place. I found a good deal on a couple of 280Z seats that should work nicely. Just about ready to add the rest of the external engine parts on to start thinking about the engine cover.
I decided to use rubber isolators in place of Crown's hard mount method. I'll have to wait and see it there is too much movement with cornering loading. There is always room for stabilizing supports.
Engine mock up finally completed. The AC compressor mount was a drag! A off the shelf low alternator mount.
Ready to start the engine cover fabrication along with final trimming of the sheet metal opening.
The engine cover without the sheet metal attached yet. 5/8" square tubing, 16 gauge.
Getting to work on the front. This has taken a while. I removed the paint on the nose and lots of filler, up to 1 inch thick! I guess you just don't get much Corvair for $100 these days.
The metal is much closer now and some filler but much less. Added fiberglass flairs and a metal spoiler.
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