Part 10: Wheel pondering and hanging out with Bruce
April 18, 2015
Since I last posted I've done some cogitating on what kind of wheels I want the car to roll on when it's finished. The tires have good tread, but they are about 12 years old and overdue for replacement. I think I want to put redlines on the car next time. The car currently sports Motor Wheel Spyders and I love them, but I'm not sure they have as stock a look as I want. Paradoxically, the more I deviate from stock, the more I am trying to make the car look stock. How weird is that?
So the following three profile pictures give some options. This first picture shows the current look:
Next up, the Spyders with redline tires:
And this is what the car would look like with redlines and a set of 1969 Chevelle-style Magnum rims (I think Chevy called them "SS" wheels):
I think that is where I am headed.
I also have given more thought to the console project and decided not to reinvent the wheel. Instead, I am going to buy a reproduction '67 Chevelle console and adapt it to the Corvair. Here is a picture of the console:
One thing that's hard not to notice in this picture is the big clock. The good news is that GM used the same font and probably the same lighting in this clock as the Corvair. The bad news is that the Corsa already has a clock.
So I had to fix that.
This brings us to yesterday's trip to Bruce Weeks' house. Bruce has several Corsa dashes and I had one extra. I've also bought an extra thermistor, and I decided I would replace the clock with another cylinder head temperature gauge, so I would have temps from both sides of the engine. So, field trip time.
We started off with some pictures of Bruce's Monzter Corvair. He is building a V-8 Vair with a 350 mated to a Porsche Boxtster 6-speed transaxle. The rear suspension is coming along.
He says he is going to have to relocate the upper control arm to address some clearance issues.
Bruce is working on getting the seat located. With the Boxster transaxle, the engine sits far enough aft that there is plenty of legroom.
No problem fitting 6'2" Bruce in there. I thought the seat was pretty comfortable.
Next on the agenda was modifications to my instrument cluster. I plan on using this empty cavity in the cluster harness for the new thermistor wire.
I brought my rolling workbench with me, a/k/a my 1963 Olds Ninety Eight Holiday Sports Sedan. We had need of it for a later project.
We lined up the temp and clock windows on the two lenses, and then marked where to cut based upon the overlap. You can see that the one nearest to the camera has been cut, while the other one is only marked.
Look, they fit!
Checking for fit in the cluster.
A cluster of clusters. We had three parts clusters between us plus the one out of my red car. If you include the two in our other Corvairs, between Bruce and I we own six Corsa instrument clusters.
The can for the instruments has a large round hole for the clock on the left side. This doesn't provide any means of attaching the second temp gauge, so we cut out the back of another can to provide the missing metal.
Cutting the back metal out of the donor can.
Trimming.
This is what the back will look like when the new part is attached.
Just have to add screw holes and it will be ready.
Here the second gauge is mounted. Looks like it belongs there.
Finished!
A wider view of the panel.
I used the green wire from a '66 panel for the thermistor lead, but it isn't long enough so I will have to make a new one. Power comes from the clock's old connector.
After we got done with the panel, we played with Bruce's new alignment machine. It's a '62 Alemite system. Bruce wanted to check it against a car with a live axle to see how accurate it was. That's where the '63 came in.
Each of the units has a sight through which you look at the other side.
Adjusting the sight.
This is the right side sight.
This is the rest of the kit. It's in amazingly pristine condition.
These pads allow adjustment when the wheels are turned.
This is what the driver's side read when dialed in.
This is what the passenger side read when dialed in. Obviously we hoped it would be exactly accurate. Probably it will be a good idea to check it against the rear axle of the Imperial to see if it's the car or the gauge.
Peek-a-boo!
It attaches to the wheel with simple tension.
Adjustments for level.
Side view of the driver's side sight.
