Saginaw to corvair diff ?

If you are at all familiar with the old CORV-V8 conversion you may have heard of Clarks Corvair Parts. ( I'll get to this in a moment.) Keep reading...

Well I have a 69 valkyrie gtx (the good x frame style, not a vw pan kit, or parrarel rear frame) and I want to start down the old path of getting it sorted out and placed together to start fabricating. I am going to be buidling a cage, and an all aluminum cockpit for obvious safety reasons( if you have ever seen an old fiberfab kit you sit on fiberglass, which is all that seperates you from 100plus mph pavement).

I need a transaxle, duh! I need a good direction to go in to start this off and begin collecting the nessasary parts to start building. I have $$, not a lot but I also have good credit cards, ha!!!

Anyways I have been researching transaxles for about 7 months now since buying the car and cannot find a good rationale, reasonable explanation of what the best bang for the buck build, transaxle to go with. I am not concerned with length or ogiginal appearnace, nor how many gears I have. I want something reasonable $$$, by that I mean not the $7500 for the zF on ebay right now as we speak, search for ZF and you'll find it, $7500 BUY IT Now, and the guys not messing around, I've tried to talk him down. There' also a rolled pantera NR with the 1st bid set at 9500 I think. Now that's a deal, the whole parts car for 10k. I wish I had $$$, now anyways back to the CORV-8 thing.

Clarks corvair made a kit to adapt a saginaw transmission form the camaro's and such to corvair diff, They also carry 4spider diff kit and reinforced 4.11 gear, stock ratio r+p and a 3.08 i'd love to buy. However this kit requires the remachining of a saginaw mainshaft to accept the corvair diff. I located 14 of these and I am going to purchase them and send them to Clarks Corvair. He will in return cut me a check for the core $ and have them remachined. I will then buy one after it's remachining, maybe two and get the kit to adapt the strong saginaw trans to a corvair inverted and flipped differential case. This leaves me with a serviceable trans and adjustable ratio diff for 1/2 the price of anything else out there. The kit is $800 including remachining of the main shaft. Diff's and replacement parts are priced pretty reasonalbe like most r+p for common vehicles. Bellhousings and clutch components not a prob, stock chevy stuff. This setup I would think with the reinforced corvair diff (spider kit, machined billet carrier for diff ect.) would handle up to 400 hp. or more?

Can anyone give me more information on this, has anyone had a v8-corvair or even heard about this kit, clarks corvair parts has a site, and an online catalog to referance, just google it.

I am going to do it becasue I have little $ and I am tired of looking at the car!! Instead of driving it.

Someone either tell me this is the worst idea in the world, or sell me a ZF for $5000 or I dunno, that's why I'm here.

Any comments, idea's or a good $ on a trans that I can actually use, 930 4spd?, zf? , ???

All responses welcomed and appreaciated. Someone put me down the path to get started. I know there is a lot of knowledge and experience in this forum, years of building, trial and error, ect. Someone knows what to do, maybe even has some parts for sale. I am searching for knowledge and looking to buy speed!!

Thank you again!!!


Ryan

There is someone using one of those in a one off sports racer that he drives in vintage races. It is a poor substitute and is constantly breaking, even with a crappy Chevy in front of it. (Sorry, I'm not suppose to make personal comments or cast aspersions.) Anyway, with 400 HP and fat tires I would guess you are stressing it to the max. I would buy as many as you can and get good at replacing them.

Thank you!

Thank you,

I just called medeola on their SDR and it's $9500 stock, $12500 with all the bells and whistles. I'm gonna stop the whole deal, and just start saving my money. Anyone hiring for extra help? lol!

I guess I'm confused.
What's wrong with a $ 300 Audi 016 trans and the $ 1,000 KEP kit?

MikeD

IMHO the 930 is best bang for bucks about $2000 and wont break.

Regards

Breaking, avail, ?

I have been unable to find a DECENT ratio 016 trans and then still, reliability? R+P ratios, ect.

The 930 is the best bang for the buck, originally designed for racing, strong, good v8 ratio. Hard to find is my prob on those!!

However I am still open to options......

This is where the debate begins. There are so many options out there, all of them may work?, but will they be the best down the road to repair/rebuild.

The Audi units are hard to find with decent ratio and can hold up with in a limited "gas peddle" application.

Porsche, is $$$ and also hard to find.

ZF, well I'm 24 and just bought a house, so again $$$ is a concern.

There is a guy on ebay with what he says are 3 ZF trans in his possesion, BUY IT NOW IS $7500, and a rolled pantera set with NR at $9500, if I had the money I'd buy the pantera and part it, leaving me with the whole rear to pick from.

I'm young, dumb, full of c*m, I need something cheap, reliable, rebuildable and above all available.

I have come to the realization that the Audi, Porsche, ZF trans are none of these AT ALL!

So I have been working on other options, one was the saginaw to corvair diff, and that's just as useless as everything else.

The other one is a saginaw to a winters quick change unit center section with dramatically shortened axles to facilitate IRS.
I am working with a gentle man on this and would start a post on this as the project comes along.

Those of you building GT-40's know that the length and halfshaft location would make this unuseable for you, but for those of us not limited by space, or appearance, this may be the BOMB as the kids say.

Good V8 ratios, adjustable R+P ar the track, and a diff and trans with all the availability and value, and strength!!!

I will post this solution when more info becomes available to me.

For now, still looking for a 930 trans, which seems to be the best "BANG FOR THE BUCK."

Here is the setup I'm considering >>>

http://www.v8vairs.com/images/EvansArch/evans.13.jpg

Any comments gentleman?

Ryan

The Audi is readily available, cheap, and reliable...plenty of GT40s are running them as proof. Are the stock ratios perfect for a V-8 ? No...but when you're on a budget you makes your choices.

If you plan to abuse the tranny...the Audi is out. The 930 is the best bang for the buck....but they are 4-speeds (if that's an issue) and not very common. Good luck.

Mike

Ryan,

The Corvair setup places the trans between the motor and the diff. If this configuration is what you wish, then perhaps consider a late Corvette or even a 928 transaxle. You would of course have to make an adapter, but these transaxles are good for high torque AND have excellent V8 ratios.

Andy1

One thing to consider with the C-5 vette transaxle is that it's 8 1/2" longer than the saginaw Corvair. Cuts down on the legroom a bit! Cheers, Dave

Porsche Cayman S, Turbo, Mid-engine Transaxle?

Yah, I was considering those diff's as options. Corvette, or the 928 trans. The 928 being "THE BIG PORSCHE" with the V8, naturally good ratios and should take the abuse. I would really like to get some dimensions on the 928 trans. They are not that exspensive (whole cars used) not that desireable. I do like the Vette end, now that would be nice looking suspension too!!

Thanks so far gents, the suggestions are great.

anyoneh vae any dimensional drawings of a 928 that would be cool, that may be a good and viable option for you GT40 builders. I am not limited by the original GT design, and kind of free to fab as I like. interested none the less in finding something that works and has decently good compatibility.

Has anyone got a new Porsche Cayman S lying around. Now that's a mid-engine porsche turbo, with a stout transaxle I would imagine?

I guess I'm going to go with the Super Vair Evans design and continue searching for something to use in possibly a later build or just help out the cause.

I would estimate that the new Cayman may be a good car to seek out, I think we need to find some dimensional drawings on that, or cruise by someones house with the calipers and tape measure??? >>> )) APEX.

V-8 Corvair??

Ryan, I seem to remember that back in the 60's and 70's a company marketed a kit to place a Chevy V-8 essentially in the back seat of a Corvair. I don't know if this used the original Corvair transaxle or not, but there are still a few of these cars out there. I could be mistaken, but I think the company name was Crown. If that's wrong, I apologize, but it might be an option for your Valkyrie--you might have some luck with an internet search.

The first mid-engine car I ever saw in person was a Fiberfab Valkyrie. It was on a used car lot in Denver, CO. That was late 60's, early 70'ish, and b/c it was late in the evening the car lot was not open so I could not get any information on the car. I think it had a Chevy V-8, but I'm not sure. I definitely remember the BOS exhaust system, though.

Good luck with your project! Did you know Fiberfab has "reopened"? They have a website (can't remember the URL and I'm at work now, so don't have access to the kit car mags). They might be able to help you in your endeavors. I know the Valkyrie is the project they are pushing the most.

I passed on an old Valkyrie last year in Houston, TX. It had a SBC and some sort of morphed Chrylser 727 automatic transmission with a transaxle. It looked good but had no windows and it rains too much down here in TX to drive an open window car, not to mention that the SBC had not been started for 10 years. It looked nice but sounded like too much work, and they wanted $10K for it as it sat there in all it's run down splendor.

Regards,

Doug

Yes it is Crown.

Yes it was called a Crown kit, they were the company who did the conversions on those. The prob with the kit is it is limited to 300 hp roughly. More than that and you risk breaking the small ring gear in the diff, or jamming the bearings so hard it hairline cracks the cast case. They are succeful in limited hp applications and auto trans as well. The tourge converter aids in limiting the initial tourqe load durning launch, but a manual trans with anything more than 350 hp and your asking for it every time ya goose the throttle.

Yah I have been to Fiber fab's site and talked with the owners son regarding the rareness of the model I have and still to this day have been unable to find a serial number on it. It is an X-frame as they say, with the diagnoal rear frame rears (this model was always designed to accept a V8). It is titled as a 69 (as built from parts) with an assigned vin and florida title. If anyone recognizes the car from the very small picture by my name and has reason to believe they know some history on it please contact me. I can provide some more pics to people who hink they know something about it.

It is an original, and it is rare.
It's my duty as an auto enthusiast to retun it to the road and alow her to stretch her legs and run.