1966 Monza Crown Conversion

This conversion was done by Rick Norris, Ken purchased it from Rick and plans to actively compete in track events in the California area.

Rick's 1966 Monza Crown Conversion has been a "work in progress" since he and his wife Janet bought it in 1994. The original engine was a mild 327 C.I. Chevy V8 that, along with the transaxle was abused beyond repair. This engine was replaced with a 350 C.I. crate motor which has been dressed up a bit.

At first he was going to restore it to it's original Crown appearance, but as he got further into the disassembly he felt he would not be satisfied with it, and so began the "restification" or restoring and modification of the Corv8.

The body was in good shape with rust at the usual places (windshield base, floor, left rear quarter panel, and over the wheel openings). The front inner wheel  houses were cut out for radiator air flow per Crown instructions, along with the bottom of the trunk and two rectangular cut outs above the front bumper. The usual cut out under the bumper in the roll pan had also been done.

Rick filled in the wheel house openings, leaving the open trunk floor for cooling air exit. The radiator was ducted front and rear so all of the air goes through it and the trunk area is dry and clean. The  Cadillac white diamond pearl paint was applied at a local professional body shop. The rectangular openings above the bumper were filled in and stainless steel screen added to the intake opening. The aluminum cross flow radiator was mounted vertically. A  7" power brake booster and hydraulic clutch master cylinder can be seen in this photo.

The engine cover has a Crown Logo embossed on the lid. It is insulated for heat and sound and is totally removable. The interior has Toyota seats and all eleven gauges are VDO cockpit series. There is a hidden CD player in the dash and a sub woofer in the back.

The transaxle has 3:27 gears and was set up by Bob Anderson of CIDCO. The four speed transmission is ultra close ratio done by Bob Coffin at The Shop. Also from Bob Coffin, is the four link racing style suspension with cut down Crown rear springs and Carrera adjustable shocks. The sway bar is stock Crown.

The front suspension is Corvair with custom QA1 coil over shocks and a Coffin tubular sway bar.

The wheels are Image Mini Lite Style 15" X 7" front and 15" X 8" rear with BFG Comp TA's size 225-50-15 front and 245-50-15 on the rear.

The exhaust system is made up of the standard Crown headers, custom pipes and 2 1/2 in/out Flow Master mufflers and large chrome tips out of the rear valance panel.

For complete details check out the 45 page feature article on Gary Aube` site www.corvaircorsa.com/norris01.html .

For questions about the conversion you may contact Rick at  ricknorris@suddenlink.net . For questions about the success of the track events contact Ken at kesofsc@yahoo.com