The Sleeper
This Corvair 500 coupe is my daily driver
although its main
purpose is a testbed for high-performance engines. Since early 1995, the
car has had a 3.1 liter engine (190 CID),
except for periods when the big engine is out having work done on it.
The photos below show the
coupe in its current form:
The car started out life painted Sandalwood Tan with a fawn interior (bench
seats!), wore little chrome trim (as did all 500s), and was powered by a 110 HP automatic.
These "qualifications", plus the fact that it was a completely rust-free
California desert car, made it an ideal choice for a durable street sleeper. (I kept the
110 emblem on the deck lid for grins.)
As of May 2002, the seats are covered using exact reproduction bright
blue vinyl with
navy blue knitted cloth inserts, wrapped
around a pair of '97 Chrysler
Sebring convertible buckets seats (with integrated
shoulder harnesses) up front, while a stock Corvair seat
occupies the rear:
The rear seat belts were reconditioned to match the
Chrysler front seat belts. The center console is from a 1962 Chevy Impala SS and
was re-keyed to match the glovebox & trunk. It's
mounted on a carpeted fake "hump" made from none other than a mailbox!
The rear light assembly was missing so we fabricated one out of some aluminum
and installed a reproduction lens.
The car has custom springs from
Coil Spring Specialties that duplicate
the stock Corvair heavy duty specs but are one coil lower. The coupe sports custom 15" wheels
from Wheel Vintiques.
The tires are
Kumho Ecsta 711 205/50-15s on 7" rims in front and 225/50-15s on 8" rims in
the rear.
Other noteworthy features of the car include:
 | 3.27:1 Positraction differential with four-spider carrier (corrects
for smaller tire diameter) |
| 4-speed Saginaw transmission |
| Clutch/brake pedal assembly from a '69 Corvair (uses a Heim-jointed clutch
cable for greater reliability) |
| Factory quick steering box and arms |
| High-output heater blower with power relay |
| In-tank electric fuel pump with manual, oil pressure,
and inertia cutoff switches |
| Engine compartment lock |
|
Safeguard
electronic knock eliminator with dual monitor (includes ability to select
between separate O2 sensors for either bank of cylinders) |
| Extra sound deadening material under the back seat and
the package shelf |
| Custom touches to the carpet such as heavy-duty edge
binding and cutouts for accelerator pedal & amp under passenger seat |
| Corsa dash with dual cylinder-head temperature
gauges: |
| Secondary instrument cluster with oil pressure
gauge, Safeguard dual monitor, and oil temperature gauge: |
| Grant steering wheel (14 3/4" diameter) on transplanted '67
Corvair steering column (fully collapsible with hazard flasher and
momentary turn signals for lane changes): |
| Custom Pioneer stereo with CD player: |
(Note below the spacer used to provide enough depth to
mount the woofer)
(Note below the use of factory-type accordion boots to
water-proof the wires to the door speakers)
(Note below the ceiling corner mounting of the tweeter)
(Note below the mounting of the amp and one "bass shaker"
for low frequencies--all under the passenger seat; CD displayed for size)
(Note below the mounting of the speaker crossovers up
under the glove box)
| Corsa door panels (with all Corsa emblems removed) |
| Corsa glove box door
(with emblems removed) and passenger grab bar
from an early Camaro: |
| Intermittent wiper switch (from a Chevette!) with
Corvair bezel and knob |
| Self-inflating mini-spare (from an '87
Pontiac Firebird TransAm)
mounted on trunk floor: |
(Note below custom hold-down for jack and handle behind
left headlight bucket)
| Dual brake master cylinder conversion: |
| Cibie halogen H1/H4 lights (also note high-beam dual
relay mounting above): |
| Trunk lid light (Chevy but not Corvair vintage): |
| Engine lid light (Chevy but not Corvair vintage): |
I really love driving this car due to the combination of
smooth power, great handling, and comfortable/secure seats.
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