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mattlockwood
Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2012
Posts: 360
Location: KCMO
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 Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2020 1:52 pm Post subject: Corvair in my bus! |
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In Memory of Mike Hill- thanks for the advice and the inspiration. I wanted my bus to be like yours.
I’ve been dreaming of a Corvair bus for years. Ever since reading about it on Type2.com, I’ve wanted one. Mike Hill’s bus here on samba only made it more desirable for me.
I picked up my bus several years ago and put a stock 1600 in it,
all the while searching for Transvair adaptor pieces that would allow me to put a 110 hp and a powerglide auto trans in the bus. It took several years but I managed to find all the NLA pieces.
The engine build was fairly easy, I found a nice running Corvair motor that I disassembled and rebuilt. The process is straightforward and simple, once you learn to “think Corvair” vs “think VW”.
What’s cool about the Transvair installation is that it only requires 2 axle adapters and a two simple mount adaptors for the trans and motor.
What’s really cool is that you dont have to cut up ANY VW sheet metal if you don’t want to. I elected to modify the rear valance, so as to keep the stock one, but otherwise nothing else needed to be cut. The only downside is that you have to fabricate your own engine tin
I welded the shifter to the right side floor of the drivers seat, still a work in progress.
The test drive was a success, I love having an auto trans in the bus. And it doesn’t even have to work hard to keep up with traffic.
I also installed front disc brakes and a “buttts bits” accelerator pedal linkage, for smootherosity.
Anyways, Mike- if you’re up There looking down, I hope you like what you see. Thanks for the inspiration!
_________________
1970 Bay Window Bus.
110 hp 6 cyl Aircooled automatic |
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Angus II
Samba Member
Joined: June 01, 2016
Posts: 708
Location: Mammoth Lakes Ca. 93546
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| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2020 2:14 pm Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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Hello,
Vroom Vroom... Cool.
Ha, I have that same dwell/tach meter. Well, until last week when I knocked it off the rear valance. It no work so good any more.... and they only make digital meters now, if you can find them. The guys at the local auto stores don't understand why I "scanner" won't work....
Nice job on the extra power plant. |
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cmonSTART
Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2014
Posts: 1915
Location: NH
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| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2020 2:15 pm Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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Going to need some popcorn for this one!
Looking forward to watching this build!
_________________
'78 Bus 2.0FI
de K1IGS |
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SGKent 
Samba Member
Joined: October 30, 2007
Posts: 41031
Location: Citrus Heights CA (Near Sacramento)
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| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2020 2:29 pm Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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I hope you changed the flywheel bolts. Even back in the day those things got crystalline in 80,000 miles use and would snap at 30% torque load. We went thru 5 used ones one night in a row trying to reinstall the flywheel, and had to wait a week for the dealer to get them. That was only about 7 years after they were made, and the car had 80,000 on it. I think they were snapping at 20 ft lbs or 25 ft lbs on some of them. Maybe the automatics don't have that issue.
enjoy the build
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin
Last edited by SGKent on Mon Aug 03, 2020 2:48 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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old DKP driver
Samba Member
Joined: March 30, 2005
Posts: 4145
Location: Los Gatos,Ca.
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| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2020 2:43 pm Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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There was a family in the tract of homes we lived in Anaheim,Ca. Back in the 1960’s that had a Corvair powered single cab. I remember it having side pipes.
Way cool 
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V.W.owner since 1967 |
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SlowLane
Samba Member
Joined: July 11, 2005
Posts: 1044
Location: Livermore, CA
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| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2020 4:26 pm Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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Wow, that takes me back to my own Corvair powered beast. I installed the shifter exactly where you did, but being a carpenter I used plywood. The length of the shifter cable pretty much dictates where you have to put it.
I was lucky enough to find a Corvair converted bus in wrecking yard, so I just bought the whole shootin' match. The mounts and axles were home-brewed, not as clean as the Transvair items. I eventually sourced a pair of 140 HP heads and the secondary carbs and linkages, but not the air filter, so I used cone filters on the secondaries.
I see you had the alternator upgraded with modern innards. That's a nice improvement over the original alt with external regulator.
I also installed a Crane Cams XR700 kit in the distributor. That helped to keep it running smoothly.
I went with a Morse cable setup for my throttle cable. Installed one of those cast aluminum heavy-duty gas pedals they sell for dune buggies to go with it.
My first bus was a '69 with stock drum brakes, barely adequate for the stock engine, but were really overwhelmed by the extra push of the Corvair. I learned to shift into neutral for anything that required coming to a stop in something resembling a hurry. The brown seat covers came in useful then, if you get my drift.
Be sure to carry a couple of spare fan belts, eh? And really make sure you keep your rear brakes and brake cables adjusted. The old PowerGlide doesn't have a Park, so there's nothing to keep you from rolling across a parking lot if the parking brake isn't up to snuff.
_________________
Present:
'81 Westfalia: 2L, manual. Originally Canadian, now Californiated
Back in the day:
'72 Super Beetle
'69 Camper Van - Corvair powered
'71 Window Van - Transferred Corvair from '69
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine." - Internet RFC 1925
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance." - Sir Terry Pratchett |
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mattlockwood
Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2012
Posts: 360
Location: KCMO
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 6:53 am Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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| SlowLane wrote: |
Wow, that takes me back to my own Corvair powered beast. I
I also installed a Crane Cams XR700 kit in the distributor. That helped to keep it running smoothly.
I went with a Morse cable setup for my throttle cable. Installed one of those cast aluminum heavy-duty gas pedals they sell for dune buggies to go with it.
My first bus was a '69 with stock drum brakes, barely adequate for the stock engine, but were really overwhelmed by the extra push of the Corvair. I learned to shift into neutral for anything that required coming to a stop in something resembling a hurry. The brown seat covers came in useful then, if you get my drift.
Be sure to carry a couple of spare fan belts, eh? And really make sure you keep your rear brakes and brake cables adjusted. The old PowerGlide doesn't have a Park, so there's nothing to keep you from rolling across a parking lot if the parking brake isn't up to snuff. |
Thanks for the great advice. I def need a pedal upgrade and possible a throttle cable upgrade as well. Now I know where to look.
The disc brake upgrade came after my first initial test drive around the block. Just wasn’t comfortable with the stopping distance required 
_________________
1970 Bay Window Bus.
110 hp 6 cyl Aircooled automatic |
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alaskadan
Samba Member
Joined: January 09, 2013
Posts: 1858
Location: anchor pt. alaska
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 7:58 am Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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| Cool man, we had a bunch of corvairs in our family over the years. I still have a restored 63 spyder convertible and my brother a 65 convertible. Love the sound of a corvair. I'm sure you are aware of Clark's corvair parts and Corvair underground. Ya know, I'm pretty sure they've worked out fuel injection for them too. 110s were good engines. |
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SlowLane
Samba Member
Joined: July 11, 2005
Posts: 1044
Location: Livermore, CA
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 8:20 am Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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| mattlockwood wrote: |
Thanks for the great advice. I def need a pedal upgrade and possible a throttle cable upgrade as well. Now I know where to look.
The disc brake upgrade came after my first initial test drive around the block. Just wasn’t comfortable with the stopping distance required |
The Morse cable was definitely a deluxe solution, but it worked really well once I got it all fabricated and lined up.
I took the simpler route for a brake upgrade: swapped the engine and tranny into an engineless '71 that I found shortly after converting the '69. The real driver for moving out of the '69 though was the through-rust I found in the frame just behind the front beams.
So what do you plan to do for heat?
_________________
Present:
'81 Westfalia: 2L, manual. Originally Canadian, now Californiated
Back in the day:
'72 Super Beetle
'69 Camper Van - Corvair powered
'71 Window Van - Transferred Corvair from '69
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine." - Internet RFC 1925
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance." - Sir Terry Pratchett |
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mattlockwood
Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2012
Posts: 360
Location: KCMO
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 9:49 am Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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| SlowLane wrote: |
So what do you plan to do for heat? |
Here’s my heat solution:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=703569
Curious to know, if you remember, which Morse cable setup you used. Seems to be a lot of options.
_________________
1970 Bay Window Bus.
110 hp 6 cyl Aircooled automatic |
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mattlockwood
Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2012
Posts: 360
Location: KCMO
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 9:50 am Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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| alaskadan wrote: |
| Cool man, we had a bunch of corvairs in our family over the years. I still have a restored 63 spyder convertible and my brother a 65 convertible. Love the sound of a corvair. I'm sure you are aware of Clark's corvair parts and Corvair underground. Ya know, I'm pretty sure they've worked out fuel injection for them too. 110s were good engines. |
I’d love a 63 Spyder convertible. Sweet looking car!
_________________
1970 Bay Window Bus.
110 hp 6 cyl Aircooled automatic |
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SlowLane
Samba Member
Joined: July 11, 2005
Posts: 1044
Location: Livermore, CA
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 12:12 pm Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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| mattlockwood wrote: |
Curious to know, if you remember, which Morse cable setup you used. Seems to be a lot of options. |
It's been 35 years, dude. I can't even remember what I had for dinner last Thursday. 
Best I can recall is that I used a universal cable. 10 ft. long IIRC, but measure your own to be sure. Used Heim fittings at each end. 8-32 thread hardware, I think. Fabbed up brackets at each end from scrap sheet lying around.
Wish I had pictures now, but hindsight is 20/20. Archiving your memories cost money back then.
_________________
Present:
'81 Westfalia: 2L, manual. Originally Canadian, now Californiated
Back in the day:
'72 Super Beetle
'69 Camper Van - Corvair powered
'71 Window Van - Transferred Corvair from '69
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine." - Internet RFC 1925
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance." - Sir Terry Pratchett |
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mattlockwood
Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2012
Posts: 360
Location: KCMO
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2020 8:27 am Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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One of the issues I had with the original Transvair conversions was the location of the oil filter. The stock location doesn’t work, as it would protrude out the back of the engine beyond the plane of the hatch. See my photo.
Most people did a convoluted hose routing , which looked awful to me- see below from Type2.com
I saw a bus in San Francisco with a filter underneath the left rear corner, and I thought I’d try the same. For initial starting and testing purposes, however, I just cut off the origins filter housing and used one hose. No filter. Call it a type 1 motor:)
Drilled, tapped the oil filter housing, added some nice compression fittings and hose, and mounted a random oil filter remote housing (uses mid 90s ford filters) under the left rear. Still need compression fittings on that end though. Currently hoses are secured with banjo fittings.
No leaks and as Bob Hoover said , it should help double the service life of my engine! 
_________________
1970 Bay Window Bus.
110 hp 6 cyl Aircooled automatic |
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mattlockwood
Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2012
Posts: 360
Location: KCMO
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2020 8:39 am Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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Deleted
_________________
1970 Bay Window Bus.
110 hp 6 cyl Aircooled automatic
Last edited by mattlockwood on Thu Aug 06, 2020 12:59 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Globespotter
Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2012
Posts: 1770
Location: Newmarket, ON
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Alan Brase
Samba Member
Joined: March 28, 2004
Posts: 4532
Location: Cedar Falls, Iowa
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| Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2020 1:27 am Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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Wow, well done. GM did a pretty good initial job with the Corvair engine. Too bad they didn't stay on top of it and fix the few things wrong.
I'd ave to have a 4 speed tho. Did the Transvair also offer the Corvair with manual Saginaw 4 speed?
I'm sure Hobert Kennedy made Corvair- VW adapters as one of his first products.
_________________
Al Brase
Projects: 67 sunroof bug, 67 Porsche 912 Targa, 70 Westy
Dec 1955 Single Cab pickup WANT 15" BUS RIMS dated 8/55, thru 12/55
To New owners: 1969 doublecab, 1971 Dormobile
Vanagons:
80 P27 Westy JUL 1979, 3rd oldest known US
83 1.6TD Vanagon, 87 Wolfie Westy daily driver, swap meet home |
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mattlockwood
Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2012
Posts: 360
Location: KCMO
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| Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2020 7:02 am Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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| Alan Brase wrote: |
Wow, well done. GM did a pretty good initial job with the Corvair engine. Too bad they didn't stay on top of it and fix the few things wrong.
I'd ave to have a 4 speed tho. Did the Transvair also offer the Corvair with manual Saginaw 4 speed?
I'm sure Hobert Kennedy made Corvair- VW adapters as one of his first products. |
Thank you.
You can run a manual transmission with this setup. Not exactly sure how the linkage for the clutch would work. You can also use a Kennedy adaptor with a VW trans.... with a Bay, you have to reverse the Corvair engine rotation, easily done if you’re starting with rebuilding the engine. With split windows you can do it reverse rotation, or by reversing the ring gear on the trans....
_________________
1970 Bay Window Bus.
110 hp 6 cyl Aircooled automatic |
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SlowLane
Samba Member
Joined: July 11, 2005
Posts: 1044
Location: Livermore, CA
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| Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2020 8:27 am Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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| mattlockwood wrote: |
| with a Bay, you have to reverse the Corvair engine rotation, easily done if you’re starting with rebuilding the engine. With split windows you can do it reverse rotation, or by reversing the ring gear on the trans.... |
I recall reading that you really needed to be on top of the fan belt tension with a reverse-rotation Corvair, as the belt had more of a tendency to slip off. The traction on the alternator pulley would also be reduced, so you'd get more slippage there.
Another thing I remember is that you do feel the extra weight hanging off the back end. It makes the handling more skittish, particularly on gravel roads. With the added power it can get you into a dangerous situation if you're not careful. I narrowly escaped being plastered onto a house-sized boulder on the road from Port Hardy to Holberg when I found myself going faster than the steering would accommodate.
_________________
Present:
'81 Westfalia: 2L, manual. Originally Canadian, now Californiated
Back in the day:
'72 Super Beetle
'69 Camper Van - Corvair powered
'71 Window Van - Transferred Corvair from '69
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine." - Internet RFC 1925
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance." - Sir Terry Pratchett |
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mattlockwood
Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2012
Posts: 360
Location: KCMO
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| Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2020 10:00 am Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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| SlowLane wrote: |
Another thing I remember is that you do feel the extra weight hanging off the back end. It makes the handling more skittish, particularly on gravel roads. With the added power it can get you into a dangerous situation if you're not careful. I narrowly escaped being plastered onto a house-sized boulder on the road from Port Hardy to Holberg when I found myself going faster than the steering would accommodate. |
Noted. One thing the upgrade has done is now I feel it necessary to replace/repair the steering box, the sway bar and the swing lever. The steering feels really sloppy, as it always did for me , I guess. Already did the brakes upgrade to disc brakes, which also became apparent after the first test drive.
_________________
1970 Bay Window Bus.
110 hp 6 cyl Aircooled automatic |
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Alan Brase
Samba Member
Joined: March 28, 2004
Posts: 4532
Location: Cedar Falls, Iowa
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| Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2020 1:33 pm Post subject: Re: Corvair in my bus! |
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Surely good advice even with a stock motor. The swing lever needs periodic GREASING. Also, the swing lever bracket is an early rust fail part. Some additional welding and bracing are good ideas for any type 2's.
The pre-73 steering gears wear in the sector and it is not a cheap fix. Later recirculating ball steering gears are NOT a direct fit. Might be a good upgrade, if someone want to pursue this.
Or tell us who rebuilds the old gears?
WRT light front ends: Early SWB Porsche 911's put glued in pig iron counterweights inside the front bumper. Certainly a relocated battery or some engineering would help. OR could just bolt some stock car ballast weights under the nose. Even 60lb would make a difference.
Lower air pressure in front tires makes a big difference. Stands to reason, with twice the weight on rear as front, the footprint in rear will be much greater. I figure 10-12psi with stock engine.
Also, the Corvair would be a good fit in early air cooled, which have much more weight on the front by design.
Even at 110hp, the approx 3 liter, 6 cylinder pushrod motor was a pretty good thing.
_________________
Al Brase
Projects: 67 sunroof bug, 67 Porsche 912 Targa, 70 Westy
Dec 1955 Single Cab pickup WANT 15" BUS RIMS dated 8/55, thru 12/55
To New owners: 1969 doublecab, 1971 Dormobile
Vanagons:
80 P27 Westy JUL 1979, 3rd oldest known US
83 1.6TD Vanagon, 87 Wolfie Westy daily driver, swap meet home |
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