Basically I started what is known as Olley's Rule, which states:
"If the upper ball joint is three times as high above the ground as the lower balljoint, the upper arm should be 1/3 the length af the lower."

There is a basic proportion between the lengths of the arms, and the distance from the ground to the lower pivot, and the ground to the upper pivot.

This is just the starting point. All dimensions start at the static ride height. It has been a long time since I did the calculations, but I believe 1 degree of negative camber at the static ride height is what I was aiming for. The fact that I have spaced this out over the period of 3 years makes me a lot less of an expert as I have forgotten most of what I ever learned 3 years ago. Most of the important movement of the wheel happens +/- 2" of static, so it is less important to know what the tire will do at full bounce or droop, since this situation will rarely be witnessed.

_________________________________________
Ryan Counterman (Moderator)
1965 Corsa Kelmark V8 ///1965 Monza Sedan 110/PG /// Ultimate Corvair Hauler/// Don Eichstaedt's 1965 Corsa Racecar
West Michigan Corvair Club /// 1966 Corsa GTP Convertible Mid Engine 3.8L Supercharged




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2015 12:12PM by VairKing.

I bought a Porsche Boxster shifter for it. Looks like it will work great. Thats about it, it is summer time and I usually don't have much time for this project. I usually work on it in the winter. Next up I will be attempting to shorten CV axles by cutting and resplining.

_________________________________________
Ryan Counterman (Moderator)
1965 Corsa Kelmark V8 ///1965 Monza Sedan 110/PG /// Ultimate Corvair Hauler/// Don Eichstaedt's 1965 Corsa Racecar
West Michigan Corvair Club /// 1966 Corsa GTP Convertible Mid Engine 3.8L Supercharged

Some of the Fiero sites have articles on selecting axles for these fwd setups.
I got lost in the details, so I just took mine apart (the project parts, not the ones on my car!) to see. The axles come in different sizes and lengths.
But not too bad to mix and match, looks like.

Hey guys, I have been working on the car a little. Unfortunately I have a million other things going on right now, but it is therapeutic to come out to the shop and work on it. Most of the work I have been doing has be research based. I started to build my own custom flywheel (instead of buying one from SPEC clutch) but then I read a bunch of horror stories about exploding clutches and so I dumped that idea and will buy one to be safe. Same for the axles, I had thought about making my own, or shortening some existing ones, but they really aren't terrible expensive to have made, so I will probably go that route.

I am still finishing up the rear suspension. I have bought coilover springs, and in the next week or two I hope to get them mounted and that will finish the rear suspension, at least enough it can roll around on its own. I still need to box in the trailing arms. I used chain to hold the trailing arms at nominal ride height to help aid where and how I position the coilover springs/shocks.

_________________________________________
Ryan Counterman (Moderator)
1965 Corsa Kelmark V8 ///1965 Monza Sedan 110/PG /// Ultimate Corvair Hauler/// Don Eichstaedt's 1965 Corsa Racecar
West Michigan Corvair Club /// 1966 Corsa GTP Convertible Mid Engine 3.8L Supercharged

I bought a shifter assembly and cables for a Porsche Boxster. The length of the cables will reach nicely. I have been working on making the brackets to hold the shifter cables in the right place on the transmission

_________________________________________
Ryan Counterman (Moderator)
1965 Corsa Kelmark V8 ///1965 Monza Sedan 110/PG /// Ultimate Corvair Hauler/// Don Eichstaedt's 1965 Corsa Racecar
West Michigan Corvair Club /// 1966 Corsa GTP Convertible Mid Engine 3.8L Supercharged

Once the rear suspension is done, I will start working on the radiator. Front mount, I am looking at using a Grand Prix aftermarket performance radiator from ZZ Performance (local to me) I am inching towards getting this thing on the road, but one of the next steps is going to be forking out a bunch of cash, for the clutch, axles, and wheels and tires.

_________________________________________
Ryan Counterman (Moderator)
1965 Corsa Kelmark V8 ///1965 Monza Sedan 110/PG /// Ultimate Corvair Hauler/// Don Eichstaedt's 1965 Corsa Racecar
West Michigan Corvair Club /// 1966 Corsa GTP Convertible Mid Engine 3.8L Supercharged

That is going to be a heck of a machine. Are you just using the stock engine controller?

1964 Monza Convertible
110 4 speed
Peoria, IL

I am planning on using the stock ECM. I believe I can have it reflashed and dyno tuned at ZZ Performance (the leaders in 3800 performance) which is local to me. I have not done any research to verify this, but I seem to recall that the stock ECM can be reflashed to better cope with the manual transmission and other upgrades. This is not my expertise, so I will leave it to those who know it well. The goal here is not insane HP, its more about moderate horsepower, reliability, economy, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 HP. I am continuing to make weight conscious decisions at every aspect of the car to keep weight at par with a stock convert, that will help keep the performance awesome.

[zzperformance.com]

_________________________________________
Ryan Counterman (Moderator)
1965 Corsa Kelmark V8 ///1965 Monza Sedan 110/PG /// Ultimate Corvair Hauler/// Don Eichstaedt's 1965 Corsa Racecar
West Michigan Corvair Club /// 1966 Corsa GTP Convertible Mid Engine 3.8L Supercharged




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2016 01:55PM by VairKing.

Have you installed your coil over shocks? I'm curious as to your locating points/mounts and what spring rate you used. I'm at the rear suspension phase of my build using the FWD geometry/parts, isolating the steering using adjustable struts and mounting the coilovers using the sway bar end mounting (modified) and a bracket off the subframe. If it doesn't work I'll try the Corvair trailing arms, shortened axles and coilovers in stock shock absorber position.

updates?
You've made good progress so far, hope nothing bad has happened!

This is a project I'm looking forward to seeing completed and can't wait for it to start back up again.

Ryan's current progress

MODERATOR
Sea Mountain, between Charleston Harbor and Coos Bay! SW Oregon Coast
Click HERE for My Website...Click HERE for My TechPages!
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It is true I have been working feverishly on the Merc Wagon, and I have stripped it to bare metal and epoxy primed the whole car. Ready for paint but don't want to paint in the winter so need something else to do.

So I got the GTP car back out, and I think I can get it on the road this spring. I had previously stopped working on this car because I had most of the fabrication done but didn't have the cash required for the next steps, $800 clutch/flywheel, big money wheels/tires, custom axles, etc. I have squirreled away some money for this project so I should be able to make some headway. I will keep this thread updated as we go!

_________________________________________
Ryan Counterman (Moderator)
1965 Corsa Kelmark V8 ///1965 Monza Sedan 110/PG /// Ultimate Corvair Hauler/// Don Eichstaedt's 1965 Corsa Racecar
West Michigan Corvair Club /// 1966 Corsa GTP Convertible Mid Engine 3.8L Supercharged




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/2019 08:34PM by VairKing.

I bought a set of these super cool smoked lenses (thanks Dave!) that should give the car a cool look.

_________________________________________
Ryan Counterman (Moderator)
1965 Corsa Kelmark V8 ///1965 Monza Sedan 110/PG /// Ultimate Corvair Hauler/// Don Eichstaedt's 1965 Corsa Racecar
West Michigan Corvair Club /// 1966 Corsa GTP Convertible Mid Engine 3.8L Supercharged

I bought a Yenko deck lid. Needs a lot of work but it’s a great starting point.

_________________________________________
Ryan Counterman (Moderator)
1965 Corsa Kelmark V8 ///1965 Monza Sedan 110/PG /// Ultimate Corvair Hauler/// Don Eichstaedt's 1965 Corsa Racecar
West Michigan Corvair Club /// 1966 Corsa GTP Convertible Mid Engine 3.8L Supercharged

I also ordered that $800 custom clutch and flywheel from SPEC. It’s a stage 2+. Remember GM never mated this transmission to this engine so there are no OEM parts that will just bolt in.

_________________________________________
Ryan Counterman (Moderator)
1965 Corsa Kelmark V8 ///1965 Monza Sedan 110/PG /// Ultimate Corvair Hauler/// Don Eichstaedt's 1965 Corsa Racecar
West Michigan Corvair Club /// 1966 Corsa GTP Convertible Mid Engine 3.8L Supercharged

Today I picked up a new tool, a 36” sheet metal brake. Will put it to work installing the radiator (that arrives Monday).

I put the order in for the wheels, they are being custom made in California, should be shipped in 3-4 weeks. I have new tires waiting for them at Discount tire, ordered them on Black Friday got a few discounts.

Continental Extreme Contact DWS
225/45/17 front
245/45/17 rear

Decided to go with the high performance all season as I tend to drive my cars right until the snow and salt fly, regardless of temperatures.

_________________________________________
Ryan Counterman (Moderator)
1965 Corsa Kelmark V8 ///1965 Monza Sedan 110/PG /// Ultimate Corvair Hauler/// Don Eichstaedt's 1965 Corsa Racecar
West Michigan Corvair Club /// 1966 Corsa GTP Convertible Mid Engine 3.8L Supercharged

cool beans. Any pics of what the wheels will look like? Did that get discussed earlier in the thread?

Thanks

Paul

Wheels will be a 17” mini lite replica.

_________________________________________
Ryan Counterman (Moderator)
1965 Corsa Kelmark V8 ///1965 Monza Sedan 110/PG /// Ultimate Corvair Hauler/// Don Eichstaedt's 1965 Corsa Racecar
West Michigan Corvair Club /// 1966 Corsa GTP Convertible Mid Engine 3.8L Supercharged




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/2019 10:07AM by VairKing.

Now THAT's going to be one sweet looking setup!
My two favorite wheels for the late models are the MiniLite and the '71-ish factory GM Z28 wheels. Whatever they were called anyway. Since they were found on Camaros and Chevelles, maybe they had another name besides Rally Wheel.

Great choice of wheel though. And in a 17 that should be perfect.

Paul