by Richard Miller » Fri Oct 20, 2017 9:20 am
I'll throw my 2 cents in here ,,, what exactly do you want and what are your skills and yes ,, finances ? hot rod wisdom says start with the nicest car you can afford ,, it just makes things easier and less time consuming down the road ,,I didn't do that ,, when I started my car I wasn't sure if I could do it and so didn't want to turn a nice car into scrap ,, my conversion is now running and although I am still making changes to refine it I would call it a success ,, but ,, it is rusty and needs bodywork ,, and I don't do that and don't want to tear it down and ship it to paint jail and wont pay serious money to someone else to do it for me ,, I like being able to say I did it all ..so I have a nasty looking car that works pretty good ,, can you do all you will need to do or afford to pay someone else to do it for you? it will consume more time and money than you expect ,,,but if you want a V8 conversion here are some points I have thought about ,,kelmark style conversion offers more interior room ,, but transaxle running backwards is not the best idea ,, limit the horsepower to help ,, or run a different transaxle ,, more money and complexity to swap,, crown is more common and readily available but guys are looking for other transaxle choices there too ,,engine service is difficult on both with the engine inside the car ,, a convertible was originally NOT suggested as they are not as strong but many have built 'verts and seem to work fine ,, maybe some additional frame members to help ,, or put the engine in the rear original ,, I like what Craig Nicols has done ,, a V6 in rear ,,,both would be easier to maintain ,, so what to look for ? I would suggest waiting to find a complete running car in good shape and buying a finished conversion ,, more money up front but savings in the long run and immediate driver ,, they do come up for sale ,, there will still be plenty to do ,, on the other hand building my car taught me skills I didn't previously have ,, do you want to DRIVE a mid engine Corvair or BUILD one ,, they are unique ,, hot rodders are a small % of the population ,, people into V8 corvairs VERY few ,, look at our membership ,, not many of us ,, I don't necessarily remember the exact quote ,, but I think it was from Doug Roe and went something like this " DOING WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING MAKES YOU BORING AND AT BEST ONLY PUTS YOU ON EQUAL FOOTING " or you could build a RED 1969 CAMARO
Richard Miller
West Covina, Ca
'65 V8 Vair