Projekt Corvan (1961 Corvair 95 Panel Van)

[vanwyk4257]

I picked up a 1961 Corvair Panel Van about 2 weeks ago and have been formulating my build plans since then. In the short term it will be a relative budget build, but long term it will receive some significant modifications.

The van is a california car with no real rust except a little surface rust to repair. Someone did some body work on the upper side doors that will need to be redone since they did a lousy job. The plan for now is to keep the stock bench seat, but I have contemplated installing some racing buckets with harnesses just for fun.

I plan to keep the body looking relatively stock at this point, but it will be lowered 2-3", hopefully with front drop spindles and disc brakes. Later on when I have the funds I want to bag it. I will also replace all the suspension bushings and probably add front and rear sway bars.
The only real exterior mods will be to weld up the hole for the antenna in the front, and weld up all the other miscellaneous holes in the truck from various mirrors etcetera. I will modify the headlight buckets and install a set of BMW E34 HID headlamps with halo's for a subtle modern touch.



For rolling stock I'm planning on a set of 17x7 American Racing Bonneville Salt Flat Special wheels with the gray painted centers and a set of 225/45ZR17 tires. I test fit a 17x7 TTII with a 215/50ZR17 that my father had sitting around and it cleared everything very nicely.

For now I just want to get the drivetrain running reliably so I can start driving this thing, but long term I am considering a custom rear cradle to install a Subaru WRX motor with a Porsche 901 gearbox from a 914. It would take significant fabrication to make it fit and look nice, so it's not in the budget right now, but compared to the stock air cooled flat six at probably under 100hp, the WRX motor would make an easy 300+hp and turn the van into the ultimate sleeper.

I'll post some pics later on.

[PhillipM]

[vanwyk4257]

I took some last night while test fitting the wheels. I'll try to post them tonight. Be forewarned, it's pretty ugly right now with a crappy white and lavender (yes lavender) paint job. I think some hippie in CA painted it.

[78 Type-LT]

those are cool...

[vanwyk4257]

I just like the "unique" factor. When this thing is done I will be able to show up at any cruise or car show except perhaps a corvair meet without likely seeing another one, and I definitely won't see another one just like mine.
Here's a picture that shows what it looks like, this isn't my truck but it's similar to the stance that I'm after. Mine will probably sit just a little bit higher than this to minimize the negative camber in the rear.

[vanwyk4257]

Here are a couple pictures of the corvair van. It may look a little rough, but it's really solid.

[vanwyk4257]

I've decided to hold off on doing anything really radical with it for now. Since the body is so solid I really don't want to cut it up. I have a line on a supposedly rebuilt engine so I'm hoping I can pick that up and accelerate my project timeline a bit.
I'll post more pics and details as my plan develops.

[CruizinKev]

cool & interesting project! can't wait to see any progress on this

[The Stickman]

Very cool project. I always had a thing for mid-engined vans.

[vanwyk4257]

Thanks guys. My father is a big Chevelle/El Camino guy with a very nice collection of over 10 cars. He asked me why I would want to do this with a Corvair van. My response was because nobody had done that yet.