Marcus' Corvair conversion, 914-C6 Options

[r3dplanet]

A few years back I got all excited about doing a Corvair engine conversion for my 1971 car. The project waffled. Numbers were crunched and chewed. Thought and diagrams and opinions were drawn out over long winter evenings.

One particularly rainy winter evening, I found an ad on Craigslist advertising a warehouse full of Corvair parts including engines. So my pal Rory and I drove a hundred miles into the boonies late one rainy night to what turned out to be an unmarked, geographically isolated, former slaughterhouse illuminated by a single 60 watt light bulb. No cell phone reception, no escape. We were met by a couple of toothless brothers who couldn't stop talking about Daddy. Seemingly they only did what Daddy wanted them to do. Daddy wanted them to sell the stash of Corvair parts. Daddy wanted them to steal my Toyota cargo van. Daddy needed to approve the transaction of cash for an engine. Daddy, it turned out, was long dead. The two brothers kept trying to separate Rory and I, and the creepier of the two brothers kept demanding my car keys so he could test drive my van, despite my insistence that it wasn't for sale. For the first time in a long time, I wish I had a tazer gun on me. The brothers eventually showed us exactly what I wanted - an RD code 1965 110HP engine. Fearing for our lives, Rory and I muscled the engine into the van while the brothers went to find more stuff for Daddy to sell to us, or you know, maybe a club or some rope or a ball gag or something.

I left the $100 on the bench and tore the hell out. Rory and I laughed all the way back to town, ever so pleased that we were neither killed, nor raped, nor eaten. Plus, we were one up on a Corvair engine.

So with a provenance like this, and seeing JRust's new car, Dr. Evil's project, and 914coops Nader's Nightmare all take shape I've finally decided to get serious about my own project: the VW-Porsche 914-C6.

The "C" stands for Corvair.

[Jeff Hail]

Fun project. I like your Barracuda also.. Formula S 273 or did you just install the rally wheels?

I built a hot rodded Corvair a long time ago. I always felt Corvairs got a bad rap and that stigma alone is what killed them off. I lived in SoCal so the motor I started with had air injection. As soon as the pump and plumbing went away it ran a lot cooler which enabled the modifications to work well. I opted to go the turbo route which in the early 1980's was an interesting science of trial and experimentation in the aftermarket sector. Small fast spooling scrolls were just not around back then, everything was big snail shells and slow wind up.The electronics were just not up to the hardware at that time.

I see a lot of them around the San Fernando Valley still as daily drivers. My friends Chris had a utility truck until recently sold and Kevin has a really nice coupe he's restoring. They still have appeal.

These motors are pretty dependable designs. The valve train and rocker layout was taken from the typical V8 overhead valve designs. The block and jugs is a crossbreed of other air cooler designs. I could not help but chuckle about the bearing-less cam quote. Back when I built mine I went to order a load of parts and got that stare when I mentioned to the machine shop "crank bearings, cam bearings..oops".

I sold the car off and it changed hands a few times. I saw it about 15 years ago in Hollywood. Same license plate still on it reading " DMONIC". People would see the car, read the plate and say "Dominic nice Corvair".

Only the Corvair guys got the joke that it meant Demon - Nimonic hence the turbo parts. Still wish I had that car. If I run into again I would try to buy it back.

Good luck with yours. Once it's done I know you will enjoy it. They are fun.