Joined: April 20, 2003 Posts: 2588 Location: Eastern WA
Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 9:45 am Post subject: Corvair Powered Beetle "Operation X"
Had an oval with a corvair engine, the apron needs to come all the way off. _________________ Pres. Rivercity VW Club www.rcvwclub.org
Founder Derr Wheat Panzers (DWP)
ARR #3
www.autosportsnorthwest.org
Search "VOLKSWAGNUT" on YouTube since you cant watch "IT" here.
Better to roll em' how you want and wear em' out.... then let em' rot out.
It's more about the going --- not the showing.
Rebuilt to drive not decorate.
Last edited by VOLKSWAGNUT on Mon May 30, 2011 11:05 am; edited 2 times in total
Joined: April 20, 2003 Posts: 2588 Location: Eastern WA
Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 10:10 am Post subject: Corvair Powered Beetle "Operation X"
Must not have taken any pics (couldn't find one). Guy I got it from was a big corvair fan, built 2-3 corvair powered buses and the oval. Car was cut up quite a bit to get the engine to fit. _________________ Pres. Rivercity VW Club www.rcvwclub.org
Founder Derr Wheat Panzers (DWP)
ARR #3
www.autosportsnorthwest.org
Joined: November 11, 2004 Posts: 8054 Location: OKLAHOMA
Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 10:36 am Post subject:
There is absolutely nothing tasteful about putting a Chevy engine in any VW. _________________ 2010 Sportsman ET Champion - Mid-America Dragway - Arkansas City, KS
1997 Sportsman ET Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble ,OK
Featured in Dec. 2001 HOT VW's Magazine page 63
Search "VOLKSWAGNUT" on YouTube since you cant watch "IT" here.
Better to roll em' how you want and wear em' out.... then let em' rot out.
It's more about the going --- not the showing.
Rebuilt to drive not decorate.
oh god dave your funny lol.i mean that in a nice way . dave of all the motors .that were not made by vw . the corvair motor being it was air cooled was accepted by mostly ever one.back in the 1960s 1970s even hot vws mag vw trends mag vw greats mag all had vws with corvair motors in them. . dave even the first bug ins had corvair powerd vws racing .other vw powerd bugs at there first bug in shows . corvairs have been around allmost as long as vw bugs have been in the USA spencerfvee quote="vwracerdave"]There is absolutely nothing tasteful about putting a Chevy engine in any VW.[/quote]
Joined: November 11, 2004 Posts: 8054 Location: OKLAHOMA
Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 7:04 pm Post subject:
It's still a disgrace. _________________ 2010 Sportsman ET Champion - Mid-America Dragway - Arkansas City, KS
1997 Sportsman ET Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble ,OK
Featured in Dec. 2001 HOT VW's Magazine page 63
Joined: May 14, 2001 Posts: 2579 Location: San Jose
Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 12:17 am Post subject:
Back in the early 70's a friends brother built up one of these things. (not the one in the photo below)
His was pretty crudely done, which I think most of them at that time, where crudely modified.
From the pictures it looks like you loose the rear apron, and the deck lid.
These days we would drill the spot welds and pull the deck lid, but back in the day, he "hot wrenched" that stuff off.
The buggy Steve McQueen drove in the Thomas Crown Affair was a VW/Corvair
Joined: October 14, 2007 Posts: 4921 Location: At the wheel in N.C. U.S.A.
Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 5:58 am Post subject:
ON A BUDGET. Carbs will work fine.
I have seen many VW photos with Corvair engines. I only remember seeing one in person when I was a child in a Baja. It seems they all fit a little different. Some allow the engine to stick out further than others. May be the builders design and illusion. I'll judge it once it's place. I have been thinking about a doner rear clip section added on to extend the apron and decklid mating surface, rearward to make it look as close to a normal VW as possible. I have plenty of parts to make this work.
They sure sound pissed off, but I dont want it to look like this one.
Search "VOLKSWAGNUT" on YouTube since you cant watch "IT" here.
Better to roll em' how you want and wear em' out.... then let em' rot out.
It's more about the going --- not the showing.
Rebuilt to drive not decorate.
Joined: July 18, 2008 Posts: 1071 Location: Somewhere in TN
Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 12:44 pm Post subject:
The carbs on Dad's Corvair engine are old and worn out. He's got a 4-barrel intake for his Corvair, he's thinking of getting a TBI unit and using that instead of a carb. Pretty cheap way to go EFI for a Corvair. _________________ 1967 VW Beetle
2276cc
MegaSquirt-extra v3.57
Check out my ongoing story.
Joined: August 01, 2010 Posts: 768 Location: SF Bay Area, Ca.
Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 3:26 pm Post subject:
I blueprinted a turbo 180 reversed 'vair engine in the late '70's and it didn't harm the stock transaxle for the year or so that I had it. I even tried a few wheelies (never did one) and several burnouts but no busted parts.
In regards to the engine fitting I also did remove the rear apron. I can't remember if I made it bolt back on or not but I did have one of those fiberglass hoods that covered everything.
I was considering doing another reversed Corvair engine to go into my kit car but with the availablilty of cheap and plentiful VW parts to build an engine that out powers most Corvairs, it just doen't make sence to me any more. You also have the fact that the Corvair engine is heavier.
The one thing you have going for you is it sounds like you already have everything already for your planned engine swap. If I had the engine and parts I'd just go for it!
Edit:
I was at the Sac Bugorama this weekend and guess what I found at the swap meet? A pair of the old Weber 3 barrel carbs from a Porsche!!!! Man did my thoughts go racing about the Corvair conversion again. I held tight and walked away. I did score on an engine stand to build up the VW engine I have waiting patiently.
Joined: June 25, 2006 Posts: 1747 Location: sacramento
Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 6:53 pm Post subject:
JustBuggy wrote:
Edit:
I was at the Sac Bugorama this weekend and guess what I found at the swap meet? A pair of the old Weber 3 barrel carbs from a Porsche!!!! Man did my thoughts go racing about the Corvair conversion again. I held tight and walked away. I did score on an engine stand to build up the VW engine I have waiting patiently.
I saw those carbs too! One of my uncles friends has a vair with the 3 barrel webers. I've never been a huge fan of corvair powered bugs, that ghia looked pretty sweet though. But today with all the available engines to put in a bug, a corvair isnt at the top of that list. I love corvairs too but I'd much rather work on a VW engine.
anyways good luck on the project! _________________ 71 super
Joined: October 14, 2007 Posts: 4921 Location: At the wheel in N.C. U.S.A.
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 5:35 am Post subject:
There is a reason for me using the engine.
LOW BUDGET.... USING PARTS IN STOCK.
Anybody ever hear of a budget?
Not going for a show car, but a good conversation piece with some speed to boot. Guaranteed to grab some attention when it rolls in at events.
Its air cooled so no worries about a radiator and cooling especailly with my plans with decklid, apron and sheet metal adjustments. _________________ aka Ken
Search "VOLKSWAGNUT" on YouTube since you cant watch "IT" here.
Better to roll em' how you want and wear em' out.... then let em' rot out.
It's more about the going --- not the showing.
Rebuilt to drive not decorate.
Last edited by VOLKSWAGNUT on Wed Jun 01, 2011 7:01 am; edited 1 time in total
Joined: October 14, 2007 Posts: 4921 Location: At the wheel in N.C. U.S.A.
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 6:17 am Post subject:
Well.... Soon, but not too soon, or not soon enough in my book. Estimate starting in July or August.....2011. I have other non VW "things" pressing right now.
Pictures and progress of course will come. I guess this will end up being the "Operation X" build thread in the end. Its to be a quick and dirty build. Im not going for any points, jun some more fun. It will require some extra work as I have to pan swap the 67 pan for the 65 pan I'm using for this project. The 67 pan is heading toward a 67 convertible that currently has the 65 pan with a lowered beam. Im trying to help the convertible sale by merging it back to all 67......or end up chopping it up for parts. Still flippin' the coin on that one. _________________ aka Ken
Search "VOLKSWAGNUT" on YouTube since you cant watch "IT" here.
Better to roll em' how you want and wear em' out.... then let em' rot out.
It's more about the going --- not the showing.
Rebuilt to drive not decorate.
Last edited by VOLKSWAGNUT on Wed Jun 01, 2011 7:06 am; edited 3 times in total
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