[SRR]

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/202...ign=2021-07-21

"Eighty-year-old Lee Egleston can say for sure that the 1963 Chevrolet Corvair that he once owned was the most dangerous car he ever drove. Not because of the swing-axle rear suspension that Ralph Nader found fault with (or, at least, not just because of the swing-axle rear suspension). Rather, what made it the most dangerous car he ever drove was the 327-cu.in. small-block Chevrolet V-8 that he put right where the rear seats should have been.
"It was just another one of my hare-brained ideas," he said.
The idea came about, according to Egleston, in 1968, after he removed the perfectly good 327 from a 1965 Chevrolet that had other mechanical issues and looked around for something to do with the small-block. He already owned the Corvair, but he wanted more power from it than the stock air-cooled six-cylinder could provide, but how to mate one to the other?"

Fortunately, he had access to all the tools he needed to fabricate mounts and adapters in his family's metal fabrication shop. But if he were to simply mount the 327 to the Corvair's transaxle, he'd have an extremely tail-heavy vehicle. Plus, he'd either have to rebuild the 327 as a reverse-rotation engine or flip the diff because the Corvair engine rotates opposite pretty much every other internal combustion engine out there.
Instead, he decided to mount the 327 in a mid-engine configuration by removing the Corvair transaxle's front cover cap and replacing the main transmission shaft with the input shaft from a standard transmission. With the help of a 1/2-inch-thick adapter plate, he then bolted a stock Chevrolet bellhousing to the front of the transaxle and the 327 to the bellhousing.
"The transmission in the Corvair never moved," he said. "That way, I could keep the shift linkage and everything else all the same."

To cool the 327, he fit a Cobra radiator under the decklid. Headers, gauges from the 1965 Chevrolet, custom front engine mounts were all it took to get the Corvair running again. He didn't even bother installing a separator between the engine and cabin.
"You needed the windows open to drive it," he said. "That Indy-style exhaust generated so much heat it was mind-boggling. That, and the noise."
One also needed a set of brown pants to drive the Corvair. "Because the car had those swing axles in back, as soon as the torque hit the rear wheels, it would rock the car to the left and change the caster on the rear wheel," Egleston said. "You'd have to turn the steering wheel hard to the left to keep it under control."

Egleston got to enjoy the Corvair for about six months before a divorce forced him to sell it off. He kept in touch with the subsequent owner, who shipped off to the Army after getting in trouble with the law and left the Corvair behind parked at his grandmother's house. The grandmother, according to Egleston, got tired of it sitting around and had the junkman haul it away. Egleston didn't see the Corvair go through the crusher, but he assumed as much.
"It was a fun car to build," he said. "And it was a fun and interesting and scary car to drive. It had way more power than what a person needed. Maybe if I'd have started with a later independent rear suspension Corvair, it would have been a better car to drive, but the '63 is what I had."
Other mid-engine small-block Corvairs have popped up since then, but Egleston believes his was the first. Is he right?

I had a chance to buy one in the 90's just a few years newer than this but the seat had to be so far forward it was very uncomfortable. The car was nice and he only wanted $3500. for it.

[Stuart]

There was a rear engine V8 Corvair in a Hot Rod magazine article several years prior to this conversion, I'd have to look through my collection but I think it was in 1965 or so. If I remember correctly it was a owned by a guy in the New York City area, and he used a Buick 215ci V8. It was in the rear of the car, in the same location as the original flat six.

Mid engine cars like this one were popularized by the Crown conversion kit which came out in 1967, but like you said it puts the engine so far forward that it cuts back on room in the front seat.

[Formulabruce]

I seem to recall Popular Mechanics had a article on this conversion, and didn't JC Whitney get involved too?

[einstein]

The other Corvair, with about 47 being V8 SBC powered:

https://ultravan.org/ultra-van-brief-history/

[David Jones]

My favorite V8 Corvair. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QbALJaCRZM

[1965gp]

These are such fun cars even stock. Our 63 Spyder is an absolute blast to drive

[tom s]

How about a V12?Enjoy,I had a ride in it!Tom
https://www.corvaircorsa.com/V-12-01.html

[sdbob]

I was on the Pa Turnpike in a rain storm back in 67.A red corvair passed us, then I saw the wheels tuck under, he hit the median then went to the right ,we slammed on the brakes,luckily we made it ,just bumped the guardrail. Trailer truck behind us got stopped. My aunt had a supercharged corvair that was something.

[tom s]

I almost baugt a 63 Spider yesterday!When I raced my 62 4 cyc 4 speed 4 bbl Tempest,I used to race a Spider.I REALLY had to get out on him or he would drive by me on the big end when that turbo kicked in.Tom

[geeteeohguy]

Originally Posted by Stuart

There was a rear engine V8 Corvair in a Hot Rod magazine article several years prior to this conversion, I'd have to look through my collection but I think it was in 1965 or so. If I remember correctly it was a owned by a guy in the New York City area, and he used a Buick 215ci V8. It was in the rear of the car, in the same location as the original flat six.

Mid engine cars like this one were popularized by the Crown conversion kit which came out in 1967, but like you said it puts the engine so far forward that it cuts back on room in the front seat.

Last week I was reading a 1963 Hot Rod Magazine and it featured a Corvair with a 327 V8 swap.....so it was two years ahead of the OP's article....