Mike Mann - Salt Lake City, Utah
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Engine came from a 65 Corsa. Originally took it to the 1990 national convention and going to a V8. Would have been a lot cheaper than the way I went and besides I like going out and playing with the "big boys" but at 75 years of age I've slowed down a little!
At 15# of boost engine will put out about 250+ hp and total weight with 16 gallons of gas and me is in the 23/2400 pound range. Makes for a reasonably fast ride.
At 15# of boost engine will put out about 250+ hp and total weight with 16 gallons of gas and me is in the 23/2400 pound range. Makes for a reasonably fast ride.
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We joined CORSA in 1978 but did not feel like i belonged there as my cars were built from scratch (corvair powered dune buggy), modified 65 Corsa (GT-3) style that I drove on the street with the same engine that is now in the kit car. Engine was originally built in 1988-89 and in that time frame there wern't many turboed, fuel injected, air to water intercooled 140's around.
I found the body in Michigan and hauled it home to Utah. Steve Goodman told me of a frame builder in Kansas and after going back and seeing his work I had him build the frame. He was a farmer who did this for kicks but he had a in ground hoist in his barn so figured i was OK. Turned out far better than i expected.
After I got it back I had a full roll cage (minus door pieces) added which was made to conform to the body rather than just straight pieces. Basic top of the car is 40" high with roof bubbles that I found in New Zealand (nobody in the sates would sell them to me). Tires are 225 & 255 X 45 X 17 on 9" wide Rousch rims, so lack of rubber isn't a problem. I am using 3.27 gears so the turbo is always under a load.
Horsepower depends on where I set the wastegate, but at 15 lbs of boost should be in the 250 clutch hp range and at 20 lbs should be in the 300 range. Weight with me (200 lbs) and 16 gallons of gas is about 2375 lbs, so it's a interesting ride for a old person. Top speed is unknown but I am guessing in the 150-160 range. Car used to get very light in the front end so I added the flares to the front fenders just like Shelby did to the originals. It handles like a over sized go-cart at 100-110 mph which is as fast as I've had it so far. as you can see the rear suspension is a little different. The builder went to the dual shocks to prevent the T-bird spindle from twisting just to give you a idea of how good his work was.
I found the body in Michigan and hauled it home to Utah. Steve Goodman told me of a frame builder in Kansas and after going back and seeing his work I had him build the frame. He was a farmer who did this for kicks but he had a in ground hoist in his barn so figured i was OK. Turned out far better than i expected.
After I got it back I had a full roll cage (minus door pieces) added which was made to conform to the body rather than just straight pieces. Basic top of the car is 40" high with roof bubbles that I found in New Zealand (nobody in the sates would sell them to me). Tires are 225 & 255 X 45 X 17 on 9" wide Rousch rims, so lack of rubber isn't a problem. I am using 3.27 gears so the turbo is always under a load.
Horsepower depends on where I set the wastegate, but at 15 lbs of boost should be in the 250 clutch hp range and at 20 lbs should be in the 300 range. Weight with me (200 lbs) and 16 gallons of gas is about 2375 lbs, so it's a interesting ride for a old person. Top speed is unknown but I am guessing in the 150-160 range. Car used to get very light in the front end so I added the flares to the front fenders just like Shelby did to the originals. It handles like a over sized go-cart at 100-110 mph which is as fast as I've had it so far. as you can see the rear suspension is a little different. The builder went to the dual shocks to prevent the T-bird spindle from twisting just to give you a idea of how good his work was.
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The body was made by a outfit called fiberfab in the middle 60's based on a real loose copy of a Ford GT-40. The VW and Corvair powered ones were called Avengers while the V8 ones were called Valkyries. I'm in Utah, found the body in Michigan, had the frame built in Kansas and have been working on it for 12 years or so. Have had my share of cars starting with a 56 Porsche in 1960 which was fun. Engine blew and couldn't afford to fix it so friend loaned me his 63 XKE roadster for about 6 months while I saved up money to get a normal car. I then got a 58 Triumph TR-3 basket case and rebuilt/modified it (installed a Austin Healy overdrive but left out the interlock so I had 8 speeds forward and two in reverse. Then I built a 53 Studebaker coupe with an Oldsmobile engine shoved back 12" and ran it on the street and in a gas class. I couldn't afford a 4-wheeler so I built a 140 powered dune buggy (steel and aluminum) which worked out great. I found 3-4 Corvairs which included my 65 Corsa and built up a 140 for it. It was fun but not very fast. Then I got with friends in 1988-89 and built the engine (e-b turboed, air to water intercooled, fuel injected 140) which (as far as we knew) no one had ever done before and it turned out well. I drove it to the nat convention in Ca (1990) expecting to run the ESP class because everything was a bolt on but the rules people saw it differently so it sat as I was beaten in that class before I even started the car. It's been an interesting project which I couldn't have done without a lot of help as there weren't any instructions on how to do it. The intercooler shell was made from about 15 pieces of aluminum, gas welded, seams hammered down and run through a flow bench to make sure it wasn't causing any restrictions. Most can't get lucky enough to get things like that. The car handles (going around some turns at 100mph) like a over sized go cart and handling (as was the Corsa whose suspension was as modified as the engine) is neutral and can be steered by the amount of throttle applied with no problems if you take your foot off the gas in the middle of a turn. Thanks for the compliment as it might not be for everyone, but it is what I wanted. I could have gone V8 but a lot of people had already gone that so went the way I did - Mike
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November, 2016 Update
Finally got the car to run right. One of the relays in the ecu was bad and not supplying the correct voltage to the injectors. Lots of fun at 20+# of boost but decided to limit it to 15# to save the engine.
