Awesome. Craig, just awesome. You are going to have so much fun with that car!

Dan
Chandler, AZ
1966 Corsa Turbo Convertible
[corvaircenter.com]

Wow Craig 😎
A few years back I built an Aussie head 6 cyl. 1966 coupe. Fun car but Not even close to the level you’re doing 👍




The Corvair, Keeping Nader Notorious


Will
Northern California



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2017 05:45AM by Chilly Willy.

When narrowing an axle, it's a good idea to have a friend and neighbor with a lathe that has an EIGHT FOOT LONG lathe bed!

Speed change? No problem; it has a Model A 3-speed transmission on top. Three speeds forward and One reverse.

The hot tip for an axle these days is the 8.8" found in V8 Explorers from the late '90s. 31-spline axles, Traction-Loc, Disc brakes, and 3.73 ratio. An easy find at Pull-n-Save for less than $100!

After chucking-up one end and supporting the other with a live-center, we added the center support, made some marks, cut off about a foot, and beveled the end.

We took the cut-off part to another lathe and cut out the unneeded 2 7/8" section and beveled that end.

Back to the big lathe we squared up the tubes and welded them together. Nice deep weld and straight as an arrow. The whole process took about an hour. Like I said, it pays to know a guy with the skills and a great big lathe.

Craig N. Coeur d'Alene ID.
66 Black Monza 4dr, 4.2L V8 49k
61 Seamist Jade Rampside 140 PG
65 Canadian Monza 4dr 110/PG 40k
66 Sprint Corsa convt - First car! Re-purchased 43 years later
2+2 gnatsuM 5691

+17 Tons of parts

Craig, great work, here's my 1965 I finished yrs ago, total control rack n pinion, 4 wheel disc brakes and 5 speed , gets 27 mpg.

. .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2022 02:24PM by 1966-Corsa-GT-180.

You should be very greatfull that you found a body shop that does two things , does great work and does not keep your car for years. Looks great , good luck with the some assembly required project.

matchlessmo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Craig great work, hers my 1965 i finished yrs ago,
> total control rack n pinion, 4 wheel disc brakes
> and 5 speed , gets 27 mpg.

Beautiful car. I love the color combination.

Craig N. Coeur d'Alene ID.
66 Black Monza 4dr, 4.2L V8 49k
61 Seamist Jade Rampside 140 PG
65 Canadian Monza 4dr 110/PG 40k
66 Sprint Corsa convt - First car! Re-purchased 43 years later
2+2 gnatsuM 5691

+17 Tons of parts

For those who are interested, I'm long overdue for a project update. What got in the way? : Two years of house-sale preparing and moving followed by two years of building a shop at the new house. Finally started the Mustang project again in earnest last fall.

I purchased this car as a bare metal shell with boxes and boxes of bad original parts; most of which ended up in the bin. Fortunately, like Corvairs or maybe even better, most everything is available.

Recently completed: Fuel lines, brake lines, transplanted e-brake system, sub-frame connectors, sway bar, 1/2 installed Vintage air, built doors from bare shells, one-piece headliner, trunk carpet, upholstered, carpeted, & trimmed rear seat. rear area fiberglass and moldings, completely rewired using my BlackBox Jr., LED tail lights, cable clutch conversion, tilt column, power master cylinder and prop valve. I've been really busy!

Once I finish the interior, all that's left is engine connection, engine a/c, cooling system, and I have to make custom engine-accessory brackets (p/s, alt, a/c). Oh, I also have to figure out wheels that fit better. I'm happy with the look but at full-lock turns the rims hit the a-arm. Oops.

Craig N. Coeur d'Alene ID.
66 Black Monza 4dr, 4.2L V8 49k
61 Seamist Jade Rampside 140 PG
65 Canadian Monza 4dr 110/PG 40k
66 Sprint Corsa convt - First car! Re-purchased 43 years later
2+2 gnatsuM 5691

+17 Tons of parts

NICE!!

Doug
65 Monza
Cincy, OH

The Red interior is sweet! Nice work Craig!

Rod Tetrault
El Cajon , CA
65 Corsa Yenko Clone / 65 Corsa EO Creampuff Vert
66 Corsa "JIMISH" Mid engine Turbo LS1 currently 2nd fastest Corvair in the USA
Corvair powered Buggy x 3
Enough hidden parts to build a space ship

"They" make a one-piece, vinyl-covered fiberglass headliner and it's really cool and only $500 (!)

Benefits: 1) You can "easily" install yourself. 2) It provides 2" more headroom, 3) You don't have to remove the windshield and back-glass to install it; that's a biggie.

I took a little creative license and, umm, modified the otherwise all-black vinyl. I'm planning on switching out to red visors.

Craig N. Coeur d'Alene ID.
66 Black Monza 4dr, 4.2L V8 49k
61 Seamist Jade Rampside 140 PG
65 Canadian Monza 4dr 110/PG 40k
66 Sprint Corsa convt - First car! Re-purchased 43 years later
2+2 gnatsuM 5691

+17 Tons of parts

Great work!

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
WA. state, 1 mile south of the Canadian border, I am not at the end of the world, but you can see it from here.

The Mustang looks great Craig. I hope you have it finished before Cody sends the Sprint back to you.

best wishes, Steve
Rear Engine Spec. Inc. Golden, Colo.

1962 spyder 3.0L turbo---1965 Crown V8
1967 monza 110/4---1968 monza 110/4
1971 amante gt 110/4
CORSA/RMC/PPCC/V8 Registry

My favorite body style of Mustang, looking great!

I've never seen the inside of a fastback Mustang before.
Are the triple side vents in the rear decorative or functional? What is between the two larger ones?

In 1969, I had a black '65 coupe, 289 auto, and loved it.
Rust ended its life about 5 years later...

Kevin
Medina, OH

flamingchariots Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've never seen the inside of a fastback Mustang before.
> Are the triple side vents in the rear decorative or functional? What is between the two larger ones?


Yes, they are functional.
That item between them is exactly what it looks like.
It is the slider to open/close them.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
WA. state, 1 mile south of the Canadian border, I am not at the end of the world, but you can see it from here.

It's done! My '65 Mustang 2+2 Resto-mod is done; it only took me seven years!

In my defense, about five of those years were absorbed in getting our old house on the market, moving, and building a shop/addition at the new house. I moved the car to the new shop in November'21 and began working on it intensively in January '22. I've worked on it almost every day since then.

Being a "resto-mod", pretty-much everything on the car is a non-stock piece and much of it is hand-fabricated. In the final analysis, the aftermarket front and rear suspension systems were the hardest parts by far. While it handles like it's on rails, I'm not convinced it was worth the effort. If I do this again, I'd repeat what I did on the front but skip the rear entirely and stick with leaf springs.

What parts might have a Corvair application?

- The seats are great and would work well in a Corvair (TMI Sport II, available with or without headrests).

- The "Seatbelt Solutions" shoulder harness kit is very nice. We would need to use an angle bracket to the floor for the inner buckles or take-off their plastic sleeves. I like the inertial reels on these belts because, except for the need to be vertical, they're not sensitive to F/R rotation.

- The unique Intrepid steering rack's inner tie rod pivots can be placed in almost any fore-aft & up-down location. This feature provides the ability to design-out bump-steer. No other rack has that flexibility. One of the Corvair racers uses an Intrepid rack and came to the same conclusion. See my custom center bracket photo and note the inner tie rod ends could be any distance apart and most any vertical position.

Would I do another 1st gen Mustang: Yes but next up is my Sprint convertible which I should have back in the shop in the relatively near future.

As they say on YouTube: "Thanks for watching!"

Note: Some of the shots in the collage below are not quite "final" but you get the idea. I'm going to a car show tomorrow and will get "final" shots there.

Craig N. Coeur d'Alene ID.
66 Black Monza 4dr, 4.2L V8 49k
61 Seamist Jade Rampside 140 PG
65 Canadian Monza 4dr 110/PG 40k
66 Sprint Corsa convt - First car! Re-purchased 43 years later
2+2 gnatsuM 5691

+17 Tons of parts




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2022 07:03PM by cnicol.

Congratulations Craig! Well done! Simply a beautiful looking machine! I hope she gives you many years of driving adventures

San Juan Islands, WA

1966 Corsa Coupe 180/4 Marina Blue/Blue

Congrats, it's a great feeling to get a project this big done. Looks great.

-Tom


63' Monza Spyder Convertable (in process) MY Build Thread
62' Wagon rebuild MY Build Thread
65' Monza MY Build Thread
73' NovaSS 454 Big block (Sold)
86' BMW 325es
67' UltraVan 211 "Violet"
NFCC, UMCC
Grand Island, NY

Wow that’s a great looking car. One of my favorite color combinations. Nice work! Has to be a great feeling to have that much work in it and finally be done. Cheers Craig!

Very nice Craig and "WELL DONE" for your dedication to finish a lengthy project. Good luck in the show and enjoy the car.

best wishes, Steve
Rear Engine Spec. Inc. Golden, Colo.

1962 spyder 3.0L turbo---1965 Crown V8
1967 monza 110/4---1968 monza 110/4
1971 amante gt 110/4
CORSA/RMC/PPCC/V8 Registry