Increasing interior space on a Crown V8

Upholdstry, Engine Covers, Seats, Door Panels, Firewalls And Windows

Increasing interior space on a Crown V8

Postby Randolph Galek » Wed May 17, 2017 11:45 am

I'd like to start a discussion on the best methods to increase interior space on a Crown conversion.
My current car has a LS V8 with the Corvair 4 speed and diff.

One potential method appears to be the use of a remote electric water pump. Any real world experience with a street car?

I've seen Rick's post about the D bottomed shape steering wheel and wonder if that impacts driving?

Several people appear to have moved the seats back over the Crown crossmember. Any additional details on how this was done and it's impact?

Bucket seats or use the original Crown seat setup?

Any additional thoughts / experience would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Chet
Chet Galek
Randolph, New Jersey
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Re: Increasing interior space on a Crown V8

Postby Richard Miller » Thu May 18, 2017 8:48 am

hi Chet , hopefully our own Paul Beck will check in with us on this topic ,, his car has an LS with remote water pump , you might check Registry member info for contact info for Paul ,, there are a few pics , under Cooling / Hood Vents ,, 2nd page , posted by Paul also check under Project tab ,, heading Corvate V.2.0 for more info on his setup
Richard Miller
West Covina, Ca
'65 V8 Vair
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Re: Increasing interior space on a Crown V8

Postby pbeck » Sun May 21, 2017 9:22 pm

Hi Chet.
I'm using a Mezier remote electric water pump on my LS with a dual fan radiator. I'm using a water pump/cooling fan controller from Davis/Craig. I'm not running a thermostat, the water pump is modulated by the controller to the desired engine temperature. I am running 4 -12AN lines, 2 inlet and 2 outlet. I ran the lines in the tunnel and mounted the pump on the front crossmember. The biggest issue was finding a "y" block from -12AN to 1 1/2" radiator hose. I'm running a single pulley to drive the alternator and I ended up with 6-8" of clearance on the front. If I had to do it over I would have taken some extra time to shift the differential forward to reduce the angle on the 1/2 shafts but wasn't willing to take everything apart to redo it.
I gained a little space in the driver's seat by switching to a Grant steering wheel with only about 1 1/2" dish, my previous wheel was 3 1/2" I think or maybe 4". My seats are solid mounted so can't really gain anything there but switching the wheel made a huge difference.

So far the cooling system is working as intended. I had the pump set to come on a 190 degrees and it's worked. The longest trip to date has been less than 100 miles. I'm going to try a little lower temperature setting this next week to see how that works. One interesting thing I've found is temperature difference between front and back of the engine. I pick up my pump temperature at the front of the left head, where the normal temperature sensor would be located. My guage sensor went in the rear of the right hand head. There is almost a 30 degree temperature difference (+) front to rear. Not terribly worried about it with all aluminum block and heads but it was interesting.

Good luck and keep us informed.
Paul Beck
65 Monza Crown Conversion
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