1965 Corsa Coupe Crown V-8 Conversion

1965 Chevrolet Corvair Description

Corv-8 -- 'Crown' Conversion
This is the original conversion by Crown Engineering in a '65 Corsa Coupe. 4-bolt main Chevy small block in 400hp street trim: Summit rods, TRW forged pistons, Crane street cam (hydraulic lifters), angle-plug heads, ported & polished, Torker intake. MSD distributor & ignition module with adj. rev limiting, Pete Jackson timing gear set. Original Clark's Crown Conversion headers, Thermo-Tex-wrapped. Dual 3" custom Flowmasters. Lakewood bellhousing, Muncie/Saginaw (GM2) 4-speed by Tex Racing, 4-spider gear differential w. Clark's billet top cover. Intermediate Chevy spindles, rotors & ball joints, Wilwood Racing calipers front and rear, Pinto type rack & pinion by Chassis Engineering (quick ratio), American Racing mag. wheels. Clark's custom springs & Corv-8 adj. shocks Small primary x large secondary Edelbrock carb. for mileage, original Holley 750 cfm double pumper goes with it, restored.
The car came to me as a restoration project and has been driven only occasionally since, as a street rod, for working out various configurations and mod.s -- it has less than a few thousand miles on the current engine build and drive line. It regularly passed VA state inspection until I changed the registration to antique plates. I haven't been able to work on it much in the past few years due to various health concerns -- pretty clear that it's time to pass it on to younger hands.
The current engine build is a 350 sixty-over bore, crank is ten under. Block and crank are original and one of the 'good numbers' according to a local racer/engine builder with lifetime experience. High-volume oil pump, valley splash guard, aluminum valve covers, remote oil cooler with bypass, half-inch lines. Radiator is aluminum dual-flow with three 600 cfm fans, shrouded, w. switches for each. Gauges: electric tachometer, fuel level (stock w. stock tank & new sender), oil pressure, ammeter, and oil temperature (direct mechanical sensor to front of pan). The vacuum and fuel pressure gauges work, but are currently not connected since installation of H.D. Holley fuel pump). Gas gauge works but needs calibration after new sender.
Clutch is a Borg and Beck "street' kit, Shifter is the original Corvair type, much improved upon; the current version has a machined fit to the tube for positive adjustments. Dual master cylinder for clutch and brakes, silicone fluid. Seats are on tracks, adjustable front to back and recliner. Windows and cranks are stock. Roll bar is heavy gauge, braced, both welded and bolted to the floor. Shoulder/lap seat belts. Cooling fan installed in back of engine compartment, openings under door sills are clear from fenders to rear, as air ducting to engine compartment. Rear tires are 235/60 R15 98T, Fronts are 225/60 R15 95H; o.k. for short trips but they're old and should be replaced for anything serious. Springs are made especially for the Crown conversion, available from Clark's Corvair.
Brake lines to the calipers are teflon with SS braid. Rear brakes are the Wilwood aluminum hats with long studs and lug nuts, the emergency brakes are also Wilwood calipers, cable operated from the console handle. Mufflers are three Flowmaster chambers (the originals were too loud, so I got another set and added an extra chamber to each side. The sound level is reasonable at idle and with polite acceleration, but it does roar in go-fast mode. The interior piece across the body, side-to-side at the front of the engine compartment, is a single sheet of quarter-inch aluminum, cut along the lower edge to match the contour of the engine front, water pump, etc: see photo of engine without covers. Floor behind the seats is eighth-inch aluminum. The top of the engine compartment (engine cover) is in three pieces, a large center section and a smaller panel on each side, all three are cuts from heavy plywood, with alum. sheet shielding over thick insulation, edges are trimmed with chrome channel for close fit and the vinyl has been recently newly upholstered. Cover for the nose of the engine, that protrudes between the seats, is a single casting of laid fiberglas, also heavily insulated on the inside and removable separately. Taking it off gives you access to the engine front, alternator, water pump, belt adjustment, linkage, etc. Most of the area under the front bumper is a screened intake, ducted to the radiator so that the flow is in, up and out -- (from the hood vents, and back, through the ducts in the fender wells). The car runs at ideal temp. down the road, and the fans, separately switched, keep temp. under control when idling in traffic.
The fender flares are fabricated from stainless steel, and the paint is a base-coat/clearcoat custom version of the Camaro Flame Red. Heater/defroster is two electric heating units with fans, adjusted to blow out of the dash vents and barely adequate, but it passes inspection. The lighting hardware is all stock Corvair: the light switch itself and the turn signal unit are nice repro.s from Clark's. The steering wheel is aftermarket, smaller in diameter and more forward, so that the cockpit is a bit less cramped than with the original Corvair wheel, horn is center button.
The rear axle ratio when I got it was a 389, thought that was a little too low, so (with the approval of the guys at Tex Racing, who did the setup), I replaced it with a taller ratio, a four-spider-gear 355, much better suited to the street. Full disclosures: the left side of the passenger seat has a few upholstery holes, see pic. Added new front springs with 30mm urethane spacers to raise front ride height, eliminate previous occasional tire rubbing. I haven't been able to drive it since, so a good four-wheel alignment/setup -- should be done. Recent three-angle valve job, winter before last. Spares included: the 389 differential, and a complete spare transmission with new Crown conversion kit installed and ready to bolt in, and many small parts and accessories, manuals -- message or email me for a link to pictures, and a four-minute .mpg movie available to download.
To summarize: it's a hair-on-fire street rod. And a sleeper, and a classic, and yes, there's a Corv-8 Registry: that's a group of guys who have worked out all kinds of variations on this mid-engine setup -- so there's support from them and from the good folks at Clark's Corvair. In this particular case, all the gritty stuff has been worked out by endless R&R, experimentation, tweaking, re-working. But there's still plenty to do by way of small improvements and it's the enjoyable stuff, if you would want to take it up to the next level of refinement. I hope whoever ends up with it will enjoy it as much as I have, and will improve it in kind.
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