Chris Wills, Twin Turbo V8 - Redwood City, California
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1965 Monza coupe
Mid-engine Chevy 283 with twin T3 turbochargers and Holley fuel injection
Big car Saginaw 4 speed adapted to a 2000 Corvette C5 differential with 3.15:1 ratio
Custom rear suspension
Mustang II rack and pinion power steering with Volvo S40 electric/hydraulic pump
C6 Corvette front suspension
C5 Corvette 4 wheel disc brakes
18 x 10, 17 x 9 wheels
Mini tubs for 285-35-18 rear tires, 245-35-17 fronts.
1988 Z28 dash
Rollbar
5 point seatbelts
Mid-engine Chevy 283 with twin T3 turbochargers and Holley fuel injection
Big car Saginaw 4 speed adapted to a 2000 Corvette C5 differential with 3.15:1 ratio
Custom rear suspension
Mustang II rack and pinion power steering with Volvo S40 electric/hydraulic pump
C6 Corvette front suspension
C5 Corvette 4 wheel disc brakes
18 x 10, 17 x 9 wheels
Mini tubs for 285-35-18 rear tires, 245-35-17 fronts.
1988 Z28 dash
Rollbar
5 point seatbelts
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October, 2105 Update
Rear suspension (C5 uprights, upper and lower A arms and coil overs) completed and being tested. Considering C5 front suspension.
I am a Mechanical Engineer by trade. Basically I located the wheels in the wheel wells and attached the C5 A arms and built a sub frame to locate them, keeping the C5 geometry. I have not driven it much, but may want to make a change or two to gain more road clearance and to change the location of the toe control link. I also need to add more adjustability to allow camber settings.
November, 2019 Update
This summer I completed my C5 front suspension. I used C5 A arms, uprights, rotors calipers and wheels. Rear wheels are 18 x 10 and fronts are 17 x 9. I have QA1 coilovers front and rear. Steering rack is Mustang II. The subframe is fabricated from 2 x 2 and 2 x 3 steel tubing.
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November, 2023 Update - Power Steering
V8 Corvairs often have wide tires and this can make a vehicle difficult to respond to driver input because the steering ratio for a manual rack is necessarily slow, or if a fast ratio rack is used it requires a fair amount of strength to turn fast. I prefer a fast ratio and my current V8 has a two turn lock-to-lock rack. This requires power assist to be driveable at lower speeds. I have Corvette C5 suspension and a Mustang II power rack and pinion which is close to the perfect width for minimal bump steer.
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Running hydraulic lines and finding space for an engine-driven pump is not practical. The Volvo S40 uses an electric power steering pump that adjusts output pressure to reduce steering assist at highway speeds, but this pump can be used in the limp-home mode to power a rack and pinion (or a power steering gearbox, if substituted for a manual Corvair box). This pump will operate in the limp-home mode if not connected to the Volvo PCU, but in this mode it still produces enough pressure to operate the rack and pinion satisfactorily.
The pump can be mounted with simple brackets.
I used a 2005 Volvo S40 pressure hose (Rockauto). The pressure line was modified using an AN line fitting and a special AN fitting from the rack to the hose fitting and shortened as needed to fit. The return hose was standard low pressure power steering hose.
The pump requires a 12 volt constant hot and a good ground using 10 gauge stranded wire and a 40 Amp fuse at the battery. In the limp-home mode it pulls about 20 Amps. To turn on the pump a 14 or 16 gauge wire is needed from the ignition switch so the pump turns on when the car is started, or it can be routed through a switch so it can be turned on/off. This wire operates an internal electronic relay.
This pump can be found on line (Ebay) or in a junkyard. Try to get the electrical connectors if possible as this simplifies the electrical connections.The 16 gauge wire is connected to the terminal nearest the power connector (green wire in the connector) and the ground wire is the terminal nearest it with the power wire next to it.
About $150 will get you reliable power steering.
The pump can be mounted with simple brackets.
I used a 2005 Volvo S40 pressure hose (Rockauto). The pressure line was modified using an AN line fitting and a special AN fitting from the rack to the hose fitting and shortened as needed to fit. The return hose was standard low pressure power steering hose.
The pump requires a 12 volt constant hot and a good ground using 10 gauge stranded wire and a 40 Amp fuse at the battery. In the limp-home mode it pulls about 20 Amps. To turn on the pump a 14 or 16 gauge wire is needed from the ignition switch so the pump turns on when the car is started, or it can be routed through a switch so it can be turned on/off. This wire operates an internal electronic relay.
This pump can be found on line (Ebay) or in a junkyard. Try to get the electrical connectors if possible as this simplifies the electrical connections.The 16 gauge wire is connected to the terminal nearest the power connector (green wire in the connector) and the ground wire is the terminal nearest it with the power wire next to it.
About $150 will get you reliable power steering.
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January, 2025 Updates
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283 cu in with twin turbochargers, Saginaw 4 speed (and of course the Wills conversion that includes a Hurst shifter) and C5 diff suspension, brakes front and rear.
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