1967 Corvair - Project Sanity

[Ducs]

Time to post few pics of my current project - 1967 Corvair. I call it Project Sanity.

Here is some background: You may ask why Corvair ? I always liked the lines and the size of the 'late model', 65-69, Corvair, but wasn't too thrilled by the powertrain. I've been looking for a project car for a while, I've seen few G body Malibus - I really like these, but what I've seen was more than disappointing, at least during the time when I was looking around. When I came across this Corvair in April of last year, 2015, I pulled a trigger on it and got it home. On the same day, I also picked up a 87 G body frame. I already had a plan on what's really going to happen to a Corvair if I get my hands on a good candidate. That's how my project was born.

The essentials of Project Sanity - 1967 Corvair: Front engine - RWD drive by means of a G body frame swap, LS1, T56, 18" rims, corner carver.

Few pics of what it looked like back in April of 2015:



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G body frame:


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I began slow, cleaned my garage to make sure I have a clean and organized work area. I am working in a single car garage so my work space is very minimal. I also picked up a LS1, T56, rear end, brakes etc. out of a 2000 Z28 being parted out.

I began by working on the frame, I stripped it from all components, mocked up the engine and transmission to get a good idea where it will be. I decided to mount the engine and transmission with the center line lining up with the center line of the frame instead of the stock G body offset to the passenger side. I fabricated my own engine mounts and notched the front cross member. This allowed me to use the stock F-body oil pan and A/C compressor along with the alternator.


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Right after I sent the frame out to get it sandblasted and while it was out, I began stripping the Corvair. I knew I had to engineer a way to get the body up in the air to allow me to work under the body fitting the frame and at the same time keeping structural integrity of the body. I welded up a frame inside the body that was strong and rigid enough to allow me to lift the body up by it. Once the body was up in the air, the wrenches and plasma cutter came out. The flat air cooled six and a two speed Powegrlide along with rear and front suspension, brakes, etc. came out. I ended up with just the shell, minus the floor.



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I knew I had to modify few things to make it all work together. Countless measurements and mock up sessions took place. Most of the modifications were done to the frame in order to make it fit the body. Along the way I notched and rearranged the rear frame rails, added few reinforcements here and there and when I was finally done working on the frame, I primed everything in black epoxy. I am going with UMI suspension components, I got the front adjustable upper and lower arms along with S10 spindles. I statically aligned the front suspension at ride height for 0.5 degrees of negative camber and 6.5 degrees of caster. This will get my wheels where they need to be so when the body and frame are married everything will be where is should.




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So this is where I am at. I am planning to marry the body to the frame later on this week, pictures from the wedding are coming !!

[LERM]

Wonderfully outside the box... And judging by the work so far you "may" have done some fabrication work in the past. Looks awesome.

[Wraith]

Love where this is heading!

[Typhoon1015]

Looking forward to updates, how close is the wheelbase to wheel openings?

[KiwiStarChief]

Great project! Keep the reports coming please.

[Motown 454]

Nice build. Going to be interesting.

[1965gp]

This is going to be fun to watch- always like the 65+ vairs. My dad had a black 67 Monza convertible.

[Ducs]

I made some good progress this week. I will briefly cover frame mods for some of you that would like to take a project such as this on. The G body frame needs to be widened to about 56". I did that by welding a 3/16" angle along the outside frame rails and extending the rear as shown in the picture below.


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When you cut the floor out and the inside rocker panels out of the Corvair, you got to separate the upper pinch weld. The folded 'U channel' you are left with, is the piece that will sit on the frame. I drilled holes in mine so I can plug weld it to the frame


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As far as the frame goes, you will have to cut the front rails, few inches ahead of the front sway bar mount bolts. In the rear, just after the shock and spring mount bracket. You will also have to 'rearrange' the rear frame rails so you can mate them to the existing Corvair rear rails.


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Once you fit everything together, the wheel base, track width all align, weld the body onto the frame:


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[1965gp]

Damn that is cool!!

[Motown 454]

Nice!

[JayinMI]

Well, Sh*t! That escalated quickly! Looks great! lol

[Ducs]

I had a productive weekend, on top of getting the body on the frame, I managed to get the engine in.


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Good news is that it went in very easy, bad news is the location of it in respect to the body. I need to move it forward and go back to the original G body engine placement - slight passenger side offset. Oil pan and alternator won't fit anymore.

Another positive is that the Corvair steering column and G body steering box align pretty well, few vertical degrees off. I will be upgrading the column anyway, but at least the location won't have to change by much. Wiper motor won't have to be changed or relocated. I will need to go with a manual master cylinder, no room for a brake booster.


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It looks like this will be it for this season, the temperature is dropping here soon and considering the fact that I only get to work on my project weather and free time permitting, changing the location of the engine will happen in the warm spring.

[mc84_zz4]

Dang! that's impressive! Pat yourself on the back.
I am really interested how much better the weight ratio ends up, compared to the regular G-Body F/R weight ratio.
It has a much shorter front overhand, about 150 lbs less of engine, and more cabin placed further rearward.
I think it will end up close to damn good.
This is going to be really cool!
:hail: :hail:

[Ducs]

It looks like we will have few warm days coming up so I will be able to experiment with the engine fitment. In mean time I prepared:

- new engine mount plates, both engine and frame
- engine mount bushing sleeves, I will be going with polyurethane this time around
- valley lift plate


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and I also got a Holley 302-1 oil pan that will offer more clearance where needed as compared to the F body pan I've been planing to use


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Updates coming soon

[andrewb70]

So cool. I remember seeing a yellow Corvair in a magazine many years ago and it had a g-body frame under it.

Andrew

[Ducs]

This one:

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0805phr-1967-chevy-corvair/

[andrewb70]

This one:

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0805phr-1967-chevy-corvair/

That would be the one! Was this a source of inspiration? Or is the g-body frame fairly common in the Corvair world?

Andrew

[MTZ28]

Looking forward to updates, always enjoy watching what is possible on these cars.

[Ducs]

Seeing it along with this onehttp://www.superchevy.com/features/sucp-0904-1969-chevy-corvair/ planted the 'evill seed' in my mind lol

I don't know of many G body Corvairs, I believe there must be few more, but they are not common. There are way more rear V8 Corvairs out there.

[68EFIvert]

Really cool project!

[rustomatic]

I like it! On that note, I'd do everything possible to avoid moving the engine forward, especially since you've already cut out the floor and firewall. That said, Audi seems to do okay with front-biased engine placement . . .

[68Formula]

Awesome build! I thought of this combo ever since I saw the G-framed yellow Corvair. Happy to see it brought to life.

[Ducs]

I took advantage of the decent weather we had to work on engine placement. I moved a bit forward, 3/8" to the right and set it for 3 degrees tilt back


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I also began to plan the placement of pedals and the brake master cylinder. The Corvair location of the master won't work at all due to the master positioned on the right of the steering column. Comparing it to a location in a first gen Camaro, the master is placed on the left of the steering column providing necessary clearance between it and the engine. I will be using a first gen Camaro firewall and floor pan to complete my conversion.

Corvair:


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Camaro:


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I am currently on a hunt for a 68 Camaro pedal bracket to confirm few ideas I have on pedals. The brake pedal will have to be offset such as this one:


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[Zspoiler]

Now this is an interesting build.I have seen people put small blocks in both the front and also the rear of these cars.Back in the day.But most of the time they have built their own frames. You are going to surprise a lot of people.Good luck on your build.

[Ducs]

Time for another update. Based on my preliminary research - it looks like it will fit, I decided to get a pre-fabbed firewall and floor pan for a 67 Camaro. Cost of raw materials and time required to fabricate a completely new firewall and floor pan would easily exceed the investment of getting these components already fabricated and modifying them to fit my application.
I began with a rough fitment of the firewall. I drilled out the spot welds that held the frame mounts that came with the firewall and slightly trimmed the top of the panel


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Time for the floor pan


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The fitment actually surprised me. Everything fit much better that expected. I will need to drop the entire firewall and floor pan by two inches, but there are few things that need to happen first:

- remove the factory g body transmission cross member
- box the frame rails
- fabricate a new cross member
- figure out exhaust routing
- sandblast the entire car
- fabricate inner rocker panel and outside rocker panel extensions
- install the firewall and floor pan
- Figure out steering column and pedal location and mounting

This is an action plan for the next year.

[68Formula]

Wow, that worked out surprisingly well!

[killfront]

So How has the project been? Im planing on doing the same build and im wondering if its worth it in the end for all the work

[Ducs]

Not much happened this year. Life got in the way. All I managed to do was sandblast the body. It's really your call if you want to attempt this, the value of a project such as this is highly subjective. For me it is building something unique, testing my skills and learning new ones.

[killfront]

I hear you there when you get it on the road I'd like to know how the safety went I'm from Ontario too and everyone I know keeps saying I won't be able to safety it but I don't think that's the case but I'm gunna do the exact same thing you are I bought a 68 corvair in really good shape I'm not too sure how the floor is but I'm doing what you did that's for sure

[Ducs]

Back from the dead...I am hoping for some progress this year.

Got the firewall mock up in place. Next, more mock up of the engine and transmission to locate firewall and floor.

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[Michaels 69]

Cool build, my neighbor is doing a similar build.

[Ducs]

More work took place tonight

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How much space do you guys run between the back of the engine and the firewall ? I am currently at 3" and wondering if I can push my engine back a bit...

[blade]

Nice Build, did you decide against the firewall from the camaro?

[skylark guy]

The transmission and engine should be stationary. So in theory you can get it as close as you want as long as you don't rub and can fit any tools/accessories you need in the appropriate places. I've seen some custom jobs with very small clearances to the firewall.

[Ducs]

Nice Build, did you decide against the firewall from the camaro?

I decided to do a hybrid, top section of the firewall will be smooth, bottom will be the camaro

[Ducs]

The transmission and engine should be stationary. So in theory you can get it as close as you want as long as you don't rub and can fit any tools/accessories you need in the appropriate places. I've seen some custom jobs with very small clearances to the firewall.

Great, I will do some measurements and mockup. I want to make sure I have access to the bell housing bolts for clutch or any other service

[Ducs]

Some progress has been made, frame box in plates have been fabricated and welded in. I roughly got the floor where it needs to be. Next on the list fabricating inner rocker panels.

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[68Formula]

Any updates?

[FLYNAVY53]

very cool....in for the updates!

[Cramer4918]

Subscribing to this!!!! Looking forward to the finished product