MONZORA redux: ‘65 Corvair + ‘94 Corvette mashup for 2019 Challenge

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Checked clearance of engine crossmember to pan. All good.

Installed adapter plate, flywheel, clutch and pressure plate. Wrote some notes for future me:

Mated transaxle to engine, raised body, rolled powertrain into position and installed crossmember and mounts. Adjusted valves and installed valve covers. Laid wiring harness in place and started clicking connectors. Here's where I left off, 10PM:

Awesome progress! 

If you ever want to get it up on a hub dyno and run it, let me know.. as we have a set.  I'm about 15 min south of O'Hare. Ive been using the heck out of them lately. 

In reply to GaryC83 :

Gary, I'm glad you're still around! Haven't seen you post in a while. Thanks for the encouragement. Got any cool fab stuff you can share?

SV reX said:

Caliper mounting bolts?  Don't feel bad. Those are brake parts. Not everyone is a brake specialist. 😛

I deserve that 100%. 🤘🏻😢

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Haha!  Luv ya, man!

Cleaned up the garage a bit today, tons of crap fell on and around the car when the roofers cut the ridge vent the day before I went on vaca last week. Connected coolant hoses, routed shift cables, attached throttle cable. Called it quits at 9PM, gotta get up early to run before the tree guys get here.

So where is the new house?  Or just preparing the current one for years of retirement service?

I would love to build a mid engine car someday, nice work on Monzora.   Can't help but thing what you could do with this after the challenge budget restrictions are gone.  

akylekoz said:

So where is the new house?  Or just preparing the current one for years of retirement service?

Same house, just doing some things to make it nicer in the short term. Pretty sure it will become a rental when we find a "forever" spot.

I would love to build a mid engine car someday, nice work on Monzora.   Can't help but thing what you could do with this after the challenge budget restrictions are gone.  

Thanks man, I appreciate that. This particular car probably won't stay in my fleet. If I build another, it'll be a 61-64 body with a C5 donor. It will be cool to build something using *new* material -- aside from the donor car, I mean.

Making fast work of this, I love to see it! 

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Good plan for Monzora II

I have similar plans, with a five bedroom in a desirable school district ten minutes from downtown it should bring decent rent.

So many options on life after the kids are out, likely it will depend on where they land.  One of the four landed in the Detroit, soon to be Farmington area.

Mr. Angry- I have read all of this. Amazing. You perseverance is truly inspiring. Having had its' motor blow up on my first drive after bringing my new to me 914 home, I can understand in a very small way, what you went through. Even though it was decades ago, I still remember that feeling. Enjoy your life. Best wishes to you and Monzora. (BTW, I met Zora once- he was very cooool.)

In reply to EVOCHAVOC :

Wow, thanks! Just today I met another guy who knew Zora, he also said Zora was very cool.

No recent progress on putting the car back together, but I did make a deal for another same-side pair of 11" sawblades, so I've now got 2x LH and 2x RH in 17x11. Might have ALL THE TIRE in 2026.

I've been dealing with some lower back pain for about a week, and being on my feet all night at the Jon Spencer / X show didn't help. Today I felt good enough to get out to the garage, so I installed and wired the starter, changed transaxle oil, installed filter and filled engine oil, connected line to clutch slave, then sat and stared at things. I figured out how to modify the current engine crossmember to make powertrain R&R a lot easier. I'll do that next time it has to come apart. Nothing pic-worthy today. Just plodding along, chipping away a little at a time.

Note to self: tighten alternator belt and mounting bolts.

Enjoying your progress!  

Don't get like me where you retire and then a million projects show up and you vacillate over the car stuff.  Ahem, Adirondack chairs, looking at you.  

You seem refreshingly single minded so far.  

Wait.. what happened to the garage for rent idea?

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

Note to self: tighten alternator belt and mounting bolts.

Thanks, self! I tensioned the belt and torqued the bolts.

i also welded a M8 nut into the frame and got rid of the self-tapping M8 bolt that used to hold the 1-2 shift bellcrank. And I fine-tuned the UHMW bushings for that bellcrank. Shifter is simultaneously looser and more secure. Used a step bit to open the hole to match OD of flange nut scavenged from leftover C4 fastener bucket:

and a bar magnet to hold nut in place for tacking:

then MIG'd, ground, and assembled with a dab of blue Loctite:

I've been berkeleying off most of the day today, finally got into the garage about an hour ago.

Kendall Frederick said:

Enjoying your progress!

thanks, so am I. 🤘🏻😎

Don't get like me where you retire and then a million projects show up and you vacillate over the car stuff... You seem refreshingly single minded so far.

in the background (ie writing checks instead of swinging hammers), there are several home improvements in the queue. Roof is done. Tree work is done. Concrete patio is next, then DIY pressure-washing brick before farming out windows, siding, trim, and gutters. I need to get MonZora driveable again so I can rearrange the garage, so we can park the Rowdy Audi inside.

Wait.. what happened to the garage for rent idea?

I still have my eye on the one building that I made an offer on. Seller lowered price below the number they countered me, and still it sits. I'm thinking about making a lower offer with one of my contingencies revised: making the zoning variance *my* problem vs theirs (I will only ask for the time to complete the application and hearing process, rather than asking seller to get the variance). I'd really like to make that work. Location and size are perfect for my usage.

Keep chuggin Patrick!

In reply to preach :

status update 6:22 PM on Sunday 7/21:

OK, 10:30 PM here's where I'm throwing in the towel for tonight: rear suspension is in but nothing has been torqued. I was getting pretty close to first fire, then thought "I should have it on its wheels. If E36 M3 goes sideways, I can push it outside and let it burn." So I changed focus from engine to suspension. 🤘🏻😎

Oh man I hear ya on the first fire concerns.

It can get exciting quickly.

Since it WILL be on wheels... first fire it outside anyway...lol

Fire extinguisher and somebody to help check for leaks is my go to.

It's nearly as exciting as the first time all over again!

Im getting more and more excited.