1965 Monza Crown Style Conversion

Update:

In 2004 Bob decided to take ol' "ON D GAS" On the Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour which could be called the longest cruise between car shows in the world!

Here are a few photos of Bob's car taken along the way. Bob has done up a very nice carbon fiber engine cover. with a popular air cleaner set up.

Things look about the same out back. This is a nice angle on the multi link rear suspension. Bob's handy work shows up well on the front suspension with rack and pinion steering and a set of coilovers. This picture  shows  the limited trunk space.

On D Gas, Illinois style!

Bob's very special mid-engine V8 Vair has more modifications than most. Bob owns his own truck repair business so working on the Corvair must be like a busman's holiday. However, it did not stop him from creating a very personalized car. He purchased the very solid car from a junk yard in Colorado in 1975 for $100.He originally had a Toro Olds 455 setup back in 1976 when he was only 19 years old. He drove it until 1983 when he parked it and went racing. It sat until 1995 when Bob decided to quit a successful local stock car racing career and go back to the Corvair and start over.

The Toro setup was removed and the serious modifications began. Everything from behind the seats and from rocker to rocker was cut away. A new frame was fabricated from a rectangular tubing. All the sheet metal is welded, no rivets, no rattles!

The car was painted DuPont Dark Persimmon in 1979.

The engine is again a small block Chevy 383 C.I. stroker with aluminum heads, hydraulic roller cam, Edelbrock RPM aluminum intake with a Holley double pumper four barrel sitting on it. The headers are custom built. It's horse power is rated at 500. A set of red powder coated aluminum valve covers sets off the engine. The engine is mounted solid by a motor plate.

The interior has enough gauges and switches to rival a jet liner, along with a custom center console and racing bucket seats with appropriate straps. The stock Corsa dash has been filled with newer instruments. A nice custom roll bar and a custom Grant wheel can be seen. The engine has a custom fabricated metal cover with removable sections for access.

Cooling is by a front mounted cross flow aluminum radiator with two puller fans. The radiator is mounted almost flat with cooling air coming from under the front bumper and holes cut in the front grille panel. The air exits out the bottom. Auxiliary cooling  is by an oil cooler mounted in the old engine compartment. The cooling compartment also contains the right angle power brake booster.

The custom front suspension has a fabricated cross member with tubular A-arms and coil overs. The 13" disc brakes use Wilwood aluminum calipers. The steering is handled by a shortened Pinto rack and pinion. Bob was able to adjust the bump steer to zero degrees in 3" of vertical travel. A Coffin tubular sway bar is also used.

The rear suspension is a marvel of six links per side with coil overs and a set of 12" disc rotors squeezed by a Wilwood caliper. The highly modified transaxle is mounted solid with a cross member and a plate at the rear. It has a pump, cooler and filter system for the gear oil. The transmission is a Corvair Saginaw four speed.

Wheels are American polished aluminum 200's, 17" X 8 1/2" on the front and 17" X 9 1/2"on the rear with Yokohama AVS high performance tires.

This would be the picture most challengers would see.

For specific comments or questions contact Bob at : brownellmarebob@aol.com .