Project "KushVair" - 1967 Corvair Street/Track Build - Lateral-g Forums

HotRodKush · #1 08-28-2011, 04:08 PM

A year and a half ago, I picked up a '67 Vair in Indiana and drove it 14 hours back to NY. The drive was raining almost the entire way, but it was a helluva ride:

The car was already set up with some nice mods, but many were 30+ years old and the car generally needed work. My plan was to restore the car, and I began fixing it up as I drove it. I started a build thread for the restoration at that time, but unfortunately my business duties took over my life and I had to put the project on hold indefinitely. The car was parked in a garage and left untouched until now.

Project KushVair
Now, a year later, I've taken the car out of storage and laid out a plan that differs significantly from the original restoration. Thus, a fresh build thread. The goal of the project is to create the ultimate street/track car, with an emphasis on handling, simplicity and weight savings. Original factory weight was 2465 pounds with 110 horsepower. My plan is the following:

Interior: Strip all trim, panels, carpeting, heater ducting, and seats. Install 8-point cage, lightweight seats, install necessary gauges, repaint interior gloss black. Repaint dash wrinkle black.

Body: Lightweight panels where possible, remove roof extension, repair rust issues and repaint where needed (especially front trunk area).

Steering and Suspension: Replace all stock bushings, ball joints and rod ends, hopefully with poly units if I can find them. Replace pitman arm bushing with nylon unit (point of flex on corvairs). 2" drop springs front, 1" drop springs rear, or cut "HD" springs, which ever are available. Koni adjustable shocks front and rear. Possibility of a 4-link kit for the rear, but I'll see how it handles with upgraded bushings on the stock setup first.

Wheels and Tires: Lightweight street-legal wheels, high performance DOT tires. I'm staying away from R-compounds for the street but will use them on the track. New wheel studs and lugnuts. The car currently has nova rally wheels and basic tires, which are heavy and have incorrect backspacing for the car.

Brakes: The car already has a basic Wilwood front disk conversion, I need to figure out exactly what it is and see if there's any upgrades available. For the rear, I'll get all new hardware, wheel cylinders and kevlar shoes. Lines will be inspected and replaced if needed, stainless soft lines will be installed.

Mechanical: Quick-shift kit, fix various leaks, performance alignment, relocate battery to the front, and a full tune-up.

I won't be messing with the motor until everything else is complete. It's got a cam and headers and seems to run strong for now.

HotRodKush · #2 08-28-2011, 04:09 PM

Back in the "shiny" days:

Motor:

Interior:

HotRodKush · #3 08-28-2011, 04:11 PM

Alright, due to the hurricane I can't actually WORK on the car, but I can order parts!

I spent a ton of time researching wheels and tires. The Vair design limits tire and wheel size, so finding a good performing combo isn't as easy as other cars. I decided to go with a set of 15x7 Basset DOT-approved racing wheels, which will work both on the street and track. They'll also allow me to compete in certain classes that require a DOT wheel.

http://www.bassettwheel.com/dot.html

For tires, I went with Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec. They're one of the only 205/50/15 tires that have positive reviews, and luckily they have some of the best reviews I've found for a performance summer tire short of R-compounds. I guess I'll find out!

I went with a shorter sidewall than stock (stock is /70 I believe) because the car is and will remain lowered (though with new suspension), so there's not much room to work with. It'll also help out with steering response a bit. I also picked up a new set of wheel studs, longer than stock, and a set of chamfered lugnuts which are needed for the Basset wheels.

This is a project that I'll be driving while I work on, so I'll probably get these mounted, drive it for a week, and then start on the suspension.

HotRodKush · #4 08-28-2011, 04:12 PM

Not to confuse the progress report, but I did tear out the carpet last year to get rid of mold and moisture before putting the car away. Unfortunately, I wound up with tons of glued-in fuzz which I'll have to strip out. I won't be installing a new carpet, so the floor itself will need to look better than new before the seats go in.

This might be a sub-project that takes place along with the wheels and tires, just because it's already started. On a side note, for some strange reason the enormous floor shifter is one of my favorite parts of the car. No center console, because there's no transmission tunnel - the floor shifter is really a FLOOR shifter.

**Ketzer** · #5 08-28-2011, 05:07 PM

Neat project!
I for one can't wait to see how you get all that crap off the floor. Be sure if youre using chemicals to ventilate!

Jeff-

DarkoNova · #6 08-28-2011, 05:12 PM

What the hell kind of engine is that?

HotRodKush · #7 08-28-2011, 07:07 PM

Jeff, thanks. Haven't figured it out yet. Lots of scrubbing and sanding would be my guess.

Matt, it's a flat-6. Alot of guys put them in airplanes too:

DarkoNova · #8 08-28-2011, 09:49 PM

I've just never seen the belt routed like that. Looks craaaaazy. I didn't even know Corvairs were rear engine cars. I learned something new today.

Tuske427 · #9 08-28-2011, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkoNova

I've just never seen the belt routed like that. Looks craaaaazy. I didn't even know Corvairs were rear engine cars. I learned something new today.

some came with turbo chargers, too. The corvair was an innovative car for its day. There's a very good write up on the corvair over at http://ateupwithmotor.com/component/...rticle/65.html
That'll give you a good 101 on this car...

Don't forget Don Yenko used to build these before the Camaro came along (Yenko Stinger) GM, I believe, even experimented with these cars using an electric motor. Look up "electrovair" sometime...

Back to the project thread- very cool project! I'd like to build a '67 Corvair sometime. Probably the optimal year, imo.

DarkoNova · #10 08-29-2011, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuske427

some came with turbo chargers, too. The corvair was an innovative car for its day. There's a very good write up on the corvair over at http://ateupwithmotor.com/component/...rticle/65.html
That'll give you a good 101 on this car...

Don't forget Don Yenko used to build these before the Camaro came along (Yenko Stinger) GM, I believe, even experimented with these cars using an electric motor. Look up "electrovair" sometime...

Back to the project thread- very cool project! I'd like to build a '67 Corvair sometime. Probably the optimal year, imo.

Awesome article, thanks.