Norris Crown Corv-8

At this point, we're starting to appreciate the enormity of the project, the hours and the resources necessary to meet Rick's objectives. It's interesting that some Corvair enthusiasts abhor the concept of cutting up a Corvair to install a V-8 conversion. In this case, the car had already been converted and, in its abused state, could easily have ended up in the crusher. So let's not hear any nasty comments from the purists. Rick rescued this baby and is making sure it will cruise into the next millennium!

The ugly openings between the headlamp bezels were closed, restoring the original, above the bumper appearance of the '66. Only the under bumper opening would be utilized, in keeping with the original Crown design.

One of the secrets to properly cooling a water cooled V-8 in the Corvair body is to provide a high pressure air inlet to a cavity in front of the radiator that is effectively sealed off from the area behind the radiator.

The finished result will be a lot more attractive, as well as effective.

Now we get to the good stuff. Rick completely cleaned up the trunk compartment, removed all rust, filled in the holes in the inner fenders and painted the trunk interior with a speckle paint, Homer Formby's Granite, with a clear coat over it, replacing a combination of black paint and rust!

The headlamp buckets were temporarily removed and the fabrication of the air intake began.

Shrouding is made from aluminum sheet stock and light aluminum angle. He made cardboard templates first, then cut and bent the aluminum using a Workmate bench as a sheet metal brake.

The radiator will be mounted on an aluminum bracket, with support from the shrouding.

The radiator chosen for the job is a 2 core Griffin aluminum high performance crossflow design. Behind the rad, a 16", 2700 CFM cooling fan with built in shroud draws incoming air through as much of the core fins as possible.

Once mounted to the air intake, this radiator/fan/shroud combination will seal tightly against the air intake box and draw massive amounts of air through the core, even while at idle when stopped in traffic.

The money spent and the time invested in this area will help ensure that Rick and his passengers will never have to suffer the embarrassment of overheating in public!