any one still using the corvair front end just got a 34 chevy truck with a corvair front end [not installed]. not sure if i want to use it or go drop axel or mustang 11 there is no front end on the frame now thanks
Just a week or so ago a friend call and asked if h could have his RPU towed to my house to store for a while after he hit a gaurdrail in the rain while towing his teardrop trailer. He had it dropped at my house since he is from Canada while he arranged for towing over the border. His truck has a Corvair frontend in it, done in the 70's. The steering arm on the drivers side was snapped between the mounting bolts, we don't know if it was done in the accident or was the cause of the accident. The spring "tophat" was also bent. I don't like the looks of the corvair frontend, they were designed to be under the front of a rearengine car and that makes me wonder if they are strong enough to carry the weight of a heavier vehicle with an engine on top of them. I know they were used alot, but I wouldn't use one myself. They are also front steer which makes me wonder if that also contributed to my friends accident. I'd go with the drop axle myself, definately looks better.
My coupe has the corvair front end it that was put in back in the early 70s. It rides and handles ok but it's just plain ugly, so I'm planning to change it over to a dropped axle w/ hair pins. I think if they're in a custom or fat fender car and don't show much they're ok . Just my 2 cents
I had one back in the 70's in a 34 Ford 4 door with an Olds 303. It under steered badly. I replace it with a stock 34 front axle.
The 2 things that made the Corvair so popular back in the 70s were...it was cheap and easy for an average guy to install. That's it cheap and easy. A buddy did one in his 37 Chevy P/U. in the 70s (this was before all the kits seen today.) Hotrods were built at home and not ordered on line. It worked but he hated it. He needed a football field to make a U turn. He replaced it with a MII. Some people that have had them for years and years love them but if they were so great there would be reproductions available.
If I had the corvair front end and it was newer than '62 I would be all over it. I would avoid the older 'vair front end like the plague. That said if I had a pair of 'vair rear springs I would give some deep thought to using them to hold up the front of a project I have comming up.
Back in the early 70's (73-74?), I built a '33 Plymouth with a Corvair front end. Easy install, rode good, but it never did "feel right". Two years or so later I replaced it with a Ford Econoline beam axle set up. I DO NOT reccomend either one of them. Also parts for these things are pricey and scarce. There is a reason that popular pieces are popular.
It was 1978 when I installed a 1965 Corvair frontend under my 1938 Chevy Sedan...Drove everywhere and had no problems...With that said, this was a long time ago and you can do alot better today....
LOL...ask a simple question on the HAMB, and not only will you get 165,000 different answers,but you're going to get opinions on why it's a bad idea. Perhaps a Corvair suspension wasn't installed correctly is the reason it didn't "work"...perhaps a MII can be installed incorrectly as well, doesn't mean every MII is bad, same with a Corvair. I put in a Corvair in my '40 Studebaker waaaa-aaaay back in 1977 (yeah, RichB, the time may be long past - but the suspension still works fine, and so does a straight (or dropped) axle and that 'principle' has been around since at least the 20's)... I used a R & P in the Stude and had new steering arms built (moved closer to the rim) so the "Ackerman" would be closer to correct. This old Studey (below) has ac***ulated over 140,000 tires-on-the-highway miles since then...the front suspension has been rebuilt once but don't let anyone tell you there are no parts available. The engine in the car is an SBC so, Belchfire8, weight is not a problem...about the only thing that is a problem is when and if, someone asks you what type of suspension is under the car. Most people will snicker and walk away shaking their heads because Ralph Nader said Corvairs were unsafe at any speed. My old Stude is proof not everyone knows what the hell they are talking about and Ralph didn't either. Take it as you will...a Corvair is a good suspension, IF installed correctly...I'll drive mine anywhere your subframe, MII or dropped axle will go... R-
99% of what we do was a long time ago and could be done better today. I am thinking that maybe not better just different. I look at it this way, I have a '53 Stude commander, right this minute I have two engine choices and three front suspension choices. Won't go into the engine choices they have been cussed and discussed at length. Still undecided but I know what is most likely going to happen. I have enough pieces to build my own mustang II, nearly everything I need to throw a straight axle under it (I'll need to make spring perches), and everything to rebuild the original Stude suspension. The straight axle is out of the mix I'll use it under another project. Between the mustang II and the stude each brings its own pros and cons. Both front ends are obsolete at this point, the only reason that anyone uses a mustang II any more is cost. It is the small block chebby of suspensions, there are way better options to choose from today. The stude is also obsolete but it is period correct so what would be the point of using the mustang, if I am going to use obsolete I am going to use the correct obsolete parts.
I had a friend who had one under a 32 Ford coupe. It drove and rode GREAT. I drove it as much or more than he did. My car was not finished and he liked to drink Vodka and orange juice ... so I was the desinated driver to the rod runs and events. We went to Daytona, Columbus, Louisville ect. His had disc brakes adapted ... so it also stopped good. Had a friend with one under a 32 Ford sedan. His drove OK also. My only complaint is that it was UGLY as HELL ... under the 32. Would I put one under a vehicle today ??? NO .. But if it is installed safely and drives good ... I would leave it there
If the Corvair front end was already installed, and the installation was done properly, depending on the vehicle it was in I might keep it. Starting from scratch, there are better options.
Never said a Corvair would not work, just meant there are better choices now. We even put a '53 Chev front under a '39 Ford sedan delivery, worked fine; but would not consider that as an option today either.
No recommendation from me, sell it to someone who had great luck with them, and go with something newer or more traditional
if it were installed and working well I'd say don't change it. sounds like the truck has a stock frame and the vair front suspesion comes with it ?? I'd part the front end out on ebay one piece at a time and use the money to put something more socially acceptable in your car. my buddy had one in a model A back around 1980. he couldn't make a U turn.. had to drive all the way around the block when we went cruising.
Not my first choice, don't really want to open old useless threads, however, the reasoning hashed out here. link 1 link 2 link 3
That is exactly what I was thinking for a sedan I got. Problem is that 'vair springs are not 2 bucks in the wrecking yard like when I was a kid. Real popular on '60s show rods as well think barris and Roth to name a couple of knowns.
Why would you want to use 1960's technology in 2011? Nothing uglier then a Vair front end. At least on a fat fender you can't see it but its still there. Open fenders - dropped axle, fat fenders - Mll.
I ripped a very poorly installed Corvair front end out of my Es***. Rode, handled, and steered like ****. It's being replaced with a dropped axle with split wishbones.
I wonder how many would rave about the MII suspension if it were referred to as Pinto, which it was first designed for. "What front end you running?" "Pinto." My guess is that there would be some snickering.
I too had one bult in the 70's. had a pacer rack and pinion steering. used it through the 80's. went cross country with it, and never had any problem with it. As others have said. we built stuff out of things that were cheap and readily available.
If a Corvair suspension handles like **** there is something wrong with the installation, alignment, ride height, spring rates, or? ........ I am not saying there is nothing better than a Corvair suspension, but it doesn't ****.
For the same reason that we build traditional rods in the first place. Contrary to popular belief the core group on this board are not street rodders. By the way I am not going away, so as long as you (not you personally) continue to post ignorant statements you are going to here that from its inception this has been a traditional rod and custom board and we are dedicated to all things obsolete. OK now I am ready to start my day.
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