Street \ Autocross \Track

The car I finally purchased was delivered on Sept. 30, 2004 to my shop in Hurricane WV. Before this purchase, I had attempted to buy several other nice Corvairs for a track car but they didn't pan out for one reason or another. After viewing the sellers' photos of this car, I was not real sure it was such a good deal but, all the high-po parts that came with it made up my mind. The total of the parts alone was worth the price plus, I was in need of another Corvair project since I sold my 69 Vert to help finance the new one. For several years I had been looking for a track car or a good candidate to build one. I didn't go wrong here.

The original plan was to build a Yenko Stinger clone, track and tribute car. I was inspired to do a tribute car by several other Corvairs I’d seen dressed up to resemble famous racers. The idea to make it a tribute car honoring the Roger Penske owned, Mark Donohue driven,1967 Camaro Z-28 Trans-Am race car dressed as it were in Sunoco blue and yellow was a no-brainer for me Mark was one of my favorite race car drivers. 1967 was the first year in Trans Am for both of them. They weren’t too successful at first but, they dominated the series the rest of the time. I always liked the bold Z-28 racing stripes too. I decided to call this car the S/A/T Project for Street, Autocross and Track. So far we have two out of three, track and autocross, it will eventually be street legal. The previous owner had the same idea for the car as did I so it came with the right performance goodies.

After a thorough examination the car was totally dismantled except for the front suspension as it would be needed to move the car around the shop and for the tow over to the body shop for paint. The body was stripped to bare metal in preparation for paint and some light sheet metal repair. Over 135 holes and openings were welded closed including one that I’m sure was made by a .45 caliber slug! The only area needing body sheet metal replacement was a small rectangular section on the rear quarter panel area beneath the original battery mounting.

The usual rust around the windshield reveal was negligible, as this car lived most of its life in Arizona, as I like to call it. It is a real treat to work on a rust free Corvair. The trunk floor was rusted somewhat because the weather stripping was cooked rock hard, letting water stand in the trunk floor. With the lid closed there was no evaporation, even in Arizona. You will see later how I solved that problem.

The vinyl graphics are again a likeness of the Trans Am Camaro which carried the number 36 and the various sponsors. The sponsor coverage in the sixties was miniscule by today’s standards. Think NASCAR stockers. I managed to find the vintage decals (vinyl stickers) from a source in England of all places. I mounted some of them to magnetic backing so I could remove them when needed but the lettering would not stick well enough so I had to mount it permanently.

When I first began this project I didn’t have any particular goal or future time limit for completion. That all changed when the announcement was made for the 40th Yenko Reunion to be held July 22-24, 2006 at the famed Nelson Ledges Race Track in Ohio. This was where Don Yenko first tested his Stingers and he had raced Corvettes there also. Now I had a target date and very little time to get it finished enough to participate. Also the International Corvair Convention was to take place the following week end in Buffalo NY so I had two reasons to get it done. Talk about pressure!

My favorite body shop, Rides Restored here in Hurricane WV who did my V8 Vair, was the obvious choice to do the paint work but, as with most good body shops they aren’t known for speed. I got the car  in their shop on April 7^th. I thought this would be time enough but it wasn’t ready for pick up until June the 17^th which gave me 34 days to have it back together including the engine and haul it to the reunion ready to run.

While the car was in the body shop I continued gathering and rebuilding other bits and pieces.

With the car back home in my shop (the owner helped deliver it. He’s a racer too.) reassembly began in earnest. As the days wound down and the ticking of the clock grew louder I called an old friend and fellow gear head, John Riley, to see if he could offer some much needed help. He and another friend came over and helped me put the V8 Vair together in a similar situation and he agreed to lend a much needed hand again.

After flogging on the car for fourteen hours on the Friday preceding the Yenko event we dropped it off the jack stands and I said "If it starts, it goes". Well, it started and it went! We loaded up the next morning and drove to Twinsburg, Ohio.

THE BODY

After welding up all the usual holes and some unusual ones, I decided to eliminate the trunk lock depression and key hole. I really decided to do this because I kept burning through when I tried to patch just the hole.

The front cutout for a remote oil cooler, done by the previous owner was very rough and crooked. I fabricated an interior piece to cover the inside edges and give it a finished look along with adding a mesh screen to keep out big stones.

No other modifications were made to the basic body other than adding the steel Yenko style sail panels  on the C pillars. I did not set these flush with the body as on real Yenko's  with fiberglass panels. I trimmed them down and inset them then tack welded them in place for a different look.

The lids are plastic with the rear (trunk) being a street style Yenko fiberglass unit. The previous owner had mounted the flaps permanently open with sheet metal brackets at the ends. I changed them to be adjustable as desired. I came up with my own device using a wing nut to hold it. The lid is held on with four ½" aluminum hood pins with scuff plates.

The front lid (trunk) was a fiberglass piece held on with Dezus fasteners , also done by the previous owner. I changed it to a race weight carbon fiber unit held on with four ½" aluminum hood pins. I also used rubber adjustable hood bumpers to keep it aligned with the body gaps.

The front and rear windshields are glass at this point and I intend to install all the side glass too as I want it to be streetable and dry.

PAINT

The paint is official Sunoco blue with yellow stripes. I actually contacted Sunoco and asked for the paint codes which they sent to me. When I discussed the stripes with the painter I showed him the photos of the 1/18^th scale die cast 67 Trans Am Camaro which I bought to use as a go by.

I didn’t want the stripes to be an exact copy but, as with the whole look of the car, I wanted it to be in the "spirit" of the Camaro racer and Rides Restored did an excellent job of capturing that. The paint brand is Sikkens and is a base coat clear coat system.

The wheel wells , underside , trunk,  engine compartment and interior are a medium gray applied with a brush and in some places a spray can. Makes it easy to touch up later.

INTERIOR

The interior is bare bones at this point but I will add side panels and some trim, again copying the Sunoco race car. The roll bar is an Autopower race type bolt in. I added an extra 1 ½" bar behind the driver seat to mount the shoulder straps. This also makes a place to mount the I/O Port adjustable seat back brace .

I have added another cross bar to the roll bar to accommodate the addition of a passenger seat. This provides an anchor point for the shoulder harness and the seat back brace. . At the same time, I added an attachment to the hoop verticals to tie the roll bar into the sides of the body to increase stiffness. As can be seen they bolt together in keeping with the removable roll bar.

More importantly, I have added some 5/16" plate reinforcing (which is SCCA minimum) under the main hoop feet. I used my hydraulic press to bend the plate and then welded it to the sheet metal. The hoop feet bolt through it to the back up plate under the floor which experience has proven will split in a roll over.

I installed a passenger seat for several reasons. First, it is a street legal car and my wife rides with me. Secondly, it allows a rider for autocrossing, and thirdly, it will allow an instructor to ride along for driving schools. The seat is another Ultra Shield pro road race model with cover  as is the driver seat, only this one is a size smaller. The G-Force harness is a five point the same as on the driver side.

The driver seat is an Ultra Shield pro road race model with a 20 degree lay back mounted on an aluminum angle track using the stock seat mounting points .

The racing harness is an RJS five point system with eye bolts and clip in attachments for easy removal.

I used the stock seat belt mounts for the lap belt and the roll bar for the shoulder belts. The anti submarine belt mounts through the floor with a large back up washer on the underside.

There is a 2.5 lb. handheld Haylon fire extinguisher mounted to the floor next to the driver seat.

Steering wheel is a 14" diameter three spoke dished piece from Speedway Motors. It is mounted on a ¾" solid shaft with a quick release hub. The shaft has a Heim style bearing bolted under the dash with two split adjustment collars to position it fore and aft.

The shifter is stock with a large four speed ball from Corvair Underground.

For the view out back I have a four panel Wink style mirror mounted with heavy duty custom made aluminum brackets. I found out vibration is a big deal here.

The instrument panel is the plastic shell from a Corsa panel that had no bezel. At the time it was quick to do but I liked it so it stays for now. I made an aluminum plate which bolts to the rear of it to hold the instruments. I installed an Autometer speedometer, fuel gauge, voltmeter and two LED powered warning lights. One (red LED) is for low (20 psi) oil pressure and the other (yellow LED) is to warn if the fan belt comes off. A large Autometer tach (which now works as it should) is mounted to the dash where the P.O. originally had it.

  I had to relocate the tach to a more traditional position on the top of the dash as it was not easily read in the lower mounting.

I decided to mount the battery cut off switch on the dash where I could easily reach it when belted in. I figure I will be the first one at the scene of any accident! It can be reached from either side window .I  had to relocate the battery cut off switch from the center of the dash to the passenger side using a fabricated bracket. Again I am trying to follow SCCA rules. The switch itself was changed to one with the alternator terminals and cutoff.

Although not required at most events, window nets are required at some SCCA time trials and or hill climbs, so I installed two G-Force fine mesh nets. These are easier to see through than the web style. Since I don't have a full roll cage, I welded the brackets to the roof bracing for the top. The bottom is bolted to the door with 1/4-20 bolts with nylocks.

There is no fuel, brake, oil lines or battery wires on the inside of the car. They run in the tunnel or under it.

FRONT COMPARTMENT

This area contains the 12 gallon Fuel Safe Enduro fuel cell , Holley Red fuel pump , dual master brake cylinder, DUI light weight racing dry cell battery and Painless wiring fuse box. When I got the car the brakes did not work. When I removed the fuel cell I found out why. The previous owner had cut the opening for the fuel cell with a jig saw and did not know the line to the right front brake cylinder ran under that area. It was cut cleanly in two .

The dual master cylinder which was in the car came from The Source. It is a heavy duty unit and will be replaced with a lighter one later. The brake tubing and fittings with the kit were not up to my standards so they were re-engineered. .

As previously mentioned, the trunk floor was rusty so my solution to the problem was to cut it out and replace it with an aluminum panel held in with pop rivets. Also as stated before there was a cut out for a remote oil cooler which will be installed later.

I finally got the remote oil cooler and filter system fabbed and mounted. The car had the front cut out below the bumper for the cooler and I had designed a sheet metal frame to hold the Harrison Cooler which had AN-10 male fittings already welded to it. The top  is removable so the cooler can be easily serviced.

I had to cut the trunk bottom for the air outlet and fabricate the shrouding. There is not much room with the fuel cell as it is.

Back at the engine in place of the stock oil cooler,  I installed the modified oil cooler adapter which has AN-10 male fittings welded to it. Also at this time the oil filter adapter housing was modified by cutting off the filter mount and plugging the holes. The bypass valve is removed and the web between is cut out for better flow. I installed a mechanical oil pressure gauge in the engine compartment just to be sure things are working correctly.

The rear accessory cover also had to be modified by removing the oil bypass valve and plugging the passage. In my case it was epoxied over. The oil pressure regulator has been modified to put out 50 PSI by shimming the spring side of the plunger with a ball bearing.

The oil pump is a high volume unit carefully assembled with the spacer and cover roll pinned to the housing to more accurately locate the pump gears.

I used Earle's Push-lok -10 AN fittings and 5/8" diameter hose to hook it all together.

I used a Mocal thermostat which opens fully at 160 degrees but always passes some oil through the cooler to prevent oil stagnation and shocking the engine with cold oil. It too has AN-10 male fittings. In line with the thermostat is a Canton cartridge oil filter. I made an aluminum plate to mount it on the frame rail. At the firewall I used bulkhead fittings which make it easier for engine removal. The large 5/8" ID hose is not easy to arrange. To move the oil from the  engine to the cooler and back, I used nominal 1/2' EMT (electrical conduit) tubing, routing it through the tunnel. It is easy to bend and I welded male AN fittings to the ends.

For the electrical system I installed a Painless 8 circuit wiring harness made for a T bucket. I mounted the main circuit 50 amp fuse on the dash so I could easily see it and replace it if necessary.

ENGINE COMPARTMENT

As with any old car there were a lot of holes to fill in and since this one had factory air conditioning there was more than usual. Other than cleaning, deburring and removing all the sealer, I brush painted the area gray. I did decide to replace the battery tray as it had some small rust outs caused by battery acid. I cut it out and fitted a flat piece of aluminum over the hole, fastened with pop rivets.

ENGINE

The engine was a 140 but it was a basket case when I got it so I decided to go with a mild relatively stock set up which I figured would give me sufficient power and most of all, reliability. So far that has proven to be correct. The engine has solid mounts from Bob Coffin. The "horse collar" has solid Nylon bushings from Corvair Motorsports. The heads have deep seats and bronze guides installed. I spent several hours making sure all the casting flash was removed . The gasket surface has been milled down and a mild porting job was done paying attention to the exhaust runners. Stock valves with a three angle cut and dual springs were used along with Teflon stem seals. The stock exhaust stacks remain.

Some other valve train items that came with the car were used which consist of roller rockers and a stud girdle plus a nice set of tall aluminum valve covers from "The Shop" to keep the oil in. I bead blasted and repainted them. I also replaced the ¼-20 bolts with studs and lock nuts to hold the covers on.

I cc’d and equalized each combustion chamber out to 48.5 cc. This along with a  copper head gasket and stock jug gasket worked out to a compression ratio of 9.6 to 1, which was in the area I was shooting for. One head was almost perfect while the other one required a lot more material removal to equalize them.

The jugs are a set of vintage Salih 3 9/16" bore with aluminum fins and a set of forged and relieved aluminum pistons with full floating pins to match. Custom top and side coatings were added for heat and friction relief. A set of custom Total Seal rings keep the gases out of the crank case.

Rods are stock rebuilt units with ARP bolts, honed small end for floating pins and all are balanced.

The mild 280 Weber set screwed cam has a lift of .480 pushing a set of deep dimple lifters from The Source and a set of stock push rods. The cam was installed straight up .

The crank shaft is cut to a .010 bearing size and is polished, balanced and has the cam gear welded on. A set of .010 over Clevite triple layer bearings holds it in place.

On the crankcase side I did a lot of casting flash removal and general clean up. The oil drain back holes were enlarged as were the main bearing oil channels . The oil pump is a stock unit with polished, deburred and clearanced gears. The stock twelve plate oil cooler has end baffles to direct the cooling air. All oil passages have been smoothed and radiused. A set of custom aluminum oil splash baffles ala "How To Hot Rod Corvair Engines" are used under the lifter bores held in place by screws and Loctite.

The block cylinder lower studs were factory perfect which is a first for me. I left them as is. All the upper studs were replaced with new by the previous owner . I didn’t use the ARP block studs but instead kept the stock bolts as I was not going to turn the kind of RPM’s they require.

The oil pick up is an extended model to reach the bottom of the Clark's finned baffled aluminum deep oil pan. On the top side I used a stock baffle under the blower cover with an aluminum pulley from The Source. It matches the one on the spring loaded idler pulley from Corvair Underground.

Another piece from Corvair Underground is the high output one wire alternator . All these pulleys are driven by a deep groove indexed crank pulley from Clark's along with a Clarks heavy duty belt.

The cooling fan is stock.

For the oil pressure senders I used a piece of 1/8 brake line with adapters and a flex hose from a grease gun to mount a remote manifold with tees on the side rail . It has the electric sender for the gauge and the snap switch for the low oil pressure warning light.

The air switch from Warren LeVeque triggers the fan belt warning light and is mounted on the firewall with the sensor hose connected to a drilled out shroud bolt The engine electrical system uses the High Energy Ignition system from The Source on a Dale rebuilt distributor from a 102 HP four speed car. A set of numbered 8mm blue wires from The Source sends the power to the Bosch Super W8AC plugs. The engine also has a mini starter which has no nose cone to break like the stock starter does and weighs a lot less.

Carburetion is a set of stock Rochester’s with turn cutout vent modifications . The primaries use a 52 jet and the secondaries us a 50.

On the other end is a set of Clark's Ultimate headers which I had Jet-Hot coated with a flange welded on the collector to mate up to a set of Super Turbo mufflers when needed, or a set of 2 ½" O.D. straight stinger pipes .

DRIVETRAIN

The fly wheel is a lightened and balanced unit with a six puck clutch disc from Clarks and a new throw out bearing and clutch pilot bearing. All new bolts were used in both. The differential is a 3.89 Positraction set up by Bob Coffin . The cover is a finned aluminum piece from Clark's with extended vent .

The transmission is a Yenko close ratio with a 2.24 first gear, a 1.8 second gear and a 1.31 third gear. Fourth gear is of course one to one.

The shifter was rebuilt with Clark’s metal bushing kit and a new stock coupling with a new clevis pin. Poly bushings were used on the shifter stabilizer rod .

I found the stock throws work fine so I removed the quick shift kit that was on the car when I got it.

SUSPENSION

The front suspension is mostly stock with an adjustable 1" tubular sway bar on poly bushings from Bob Coffin. I had to cut the stock sway bar brackets off the lower A arm as they were rubbing on the tubular bar. Both upper and lower A arms use Delrin bushings with stainless steel inserts. Ball joints are new stock. The pitman arm has a nylon bushing and new sleeve.

The caster adjusting rods have urethane bushings from Corvair Underground. Also the mounting point for this rod on the lower A arm has been lowered by slotting the side of the arm and bolting it to the bottom . This was done by the previous owner. I had all these pieces powder coated in gray including the cross member  which was in pristine condition. It would look nice hanging on the wall! The springs are 2" lowering models from Corvair Motorsports measuring 8 5/8" free length with a coil diameter of .500". Shocks are Koni adjustable  from SC Performance. Steering assembly is stock Corvair as are the arms , and new tie rod ends. The relay rod has a ½" metal angle stiffener welded to it. The steering box is a quick unit from Flaming River with the collapsible shaft from Corvair Motorsports.

Rear suspension is a modified adjustable four link kit from Bob Coffin. The axle yoke bolts are removed from the diff and the bolt holes plugged. A Crown style bracket with relocated mounting points holds the lower rods in place.

Trailing arms have new 70 durometer urethane bushings from Corvair Underground as are the stabilizer rods in stainless steel with poly bushings.

The springs are 1" lowering units again from Corvair Motorsports with the top coil cut making the free length 12 ½". The spring hat and rubber are retained as is the bumper stop.

Also on the rear is a 7/8" diameter tubular custom sway bar with adjustable end links and adjustable aluminum arms from Bob Coffin.

BRAKES

The front brakes are carbon Kevlar shoes from "The Source" with all new hardware including stainless flex hoses. Stock size wheel cylinders and steel lines are new.

The rear uses stock drums with carbon Kevlar shoes and new hardware again from "The Source". All new stock size wheel cylinders and lines were used along with stainless flex hoses.

The front drums are finned aluminum from a Buick .

The parking brake hardware has been removed but self adjusters are retained on front and rear.

WHEELS & TIRES

At present I am using a set of Bassett light weight stock car steel wheels measuring 15 x 7 on the front with a 3 ¾" back space and 15 x 8 on the rear with a 4" back space. The wheels are painted Sunoco yellow. Lug nuts are 1" x 7/16" double end stock car type from Speedway Motors. These are required for the Bassett wheels as they lug centric. All of the wheel studs have been replaced with heavy duty 7/16 x 2" long studs .

I sprung for a set of the newly issued BFG g-Force R1 racing tires in a 225-50-15 size. They only had two sizes available in a 15" tire. They stick well and seem to be predictable, giving notice before breakaway. They are mounted on my 15 X 7 front and 15 X 8 rear steel rims.

For the street and autocross I chose a set of Anson Sprint wheels by American Racing. They are 15 X 7 fronts and 15 X 18 rears. The tires are again BFG's Ultra High Performance summer tires called g-force KD for "killer dry" according to the factory literature.

WEIGHING

I borrowed a set of scales from a local racer to see what my car actually weighs and how it's distributed. The total weight was 2480 with large driver and full fuel load. I could make it lighter as it is street legal and has all the roll up windows and rear glass. The rear lid is a street style Yenko fiberglass piece which is heavy, front is carbon fiber.

Front weight is 952 lbs. and rear is 1529 lbs. Can you say tail heavy? Other weights are: LF= 511#, RF=441#, LR=800# and LR=729#.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this rebuild contact Rick at  ricknorris@suddenlink.net . To contact a supplier for parts used in this rebuild  check out the list of venders V8 Vairs web site VENDORS .