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What is this engine?

Corvair under new tin?
 
Looks like a Corvair to me. Not sure that there is enough shrouding to keep it cool though. Maybe if it was running on alcohol. Doesn't appear to have any air going over the heads.

Mike
 
Yup. 140 HP Corvair. 65-68. I doubt if he drives it much with that "cooling" fan and lack of shrouds however. The 140s are even known to drop valve seats in a stock (properly cooled) motor.
BTW: the unit on the front looks to be a hyd pump to drive the hyd motor in his front mounted fan system, but darned if I know what he thinks he's cooling with that thing. :confused:

Russ
 
I put one of those on a vw pan back in the 70s. Got all the adaptors from a company named crown adaptors, don;t know if they are still around. That thing was pretty quick.
 
Crown is gone, but those VW adaptors are still around in the used market a lot. Actually the hot setup was to junk the Corvair engine, and with the help of another Crown adaptor you put a SBC where the back set used to be in a 66-68 Vair and yippie ky yehh. that adaptor is much more rare, but they do pop up once in a wile.

Russ
 
Northstar T said:
Crown is gone, but those VW adaptors are still around in the used market a lot. Actually the hot setup was to junk the Corvair engine, and with the help of another Crown adaptor you put a SBC where the back set used to be in a 66-68 Vair and yippie ky yehh. that adaptor is much more rare, but they do pop up once in a wile.

Russ
Click to expand...

There was also a company named Kelmark, I believe, that made a new chassis for a VW beetle that used a Corvair Transaxle and put a SBC in the back seat of a Bug. It was really made for kit cars, but worked on the Beetle too. I remember wanting one in High School.

Mike
 
Looks to me like he is using a pair of ball joint type of spindles on a solid axle. The lower ball joint attachment is fastened to the end of the main tube and the upper end is located and supported by the A frame. I imagine the idea was to use some left over parts from cannibalizing the Corvair for the driveline. The springing is by one of the old dragster type of torsion bar setups and the axle is a variation of a 4 bar with the torsion bar arms as the lower links and a short link on top. It is the same or close to the same length as the torsion arm. The rear attachment point of the A arm being on the frame would tend to give some strange geometry to the spindle if the front end moves much. Probably be fine for fairground cruising but could get interesting at freeway speeds.

I think that the builders name was Don Kendall. Seems like the car was built in the early 70's, maybe even late 60's. I has been through several renditions.
 
It was a cover car for R&C if memory serves.

Ron
 
I really don't understand the intent of the front suspension,Rube Goldberg?? Maybe the cooling fan is under that scoop,i.e. stock location, but like others have said, really lax on the shrouding.
dave
 
Saw it at the street rod nationals in Tulsa in '73 cruzin to beat the band. looked way cool, but would be really scary on the street, barstar was KneeHigh.
 
There are a few pics of this bucket from Memphis and Peoria NSRA Nats - way back in the early 70s.

I'll go look for them on carnut's website.
 
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