No more flex! Subframe connectors for the FLOODED 1965 Corvair!

On today's video, we're building wheel cribs and subframe connectors for the flooded 1965 Chevrolet Corvair. These took out ALL the squeaks and rattles from the car when going over bumps, and should let the suspension work that much better. Thank you so much for your support as we just crossed 10,000 subscribers!
All information in this video is for entertainment purposes, and Auto Anatomy assumes no liability for any damage that may result from working on your own vehicle or attempting this type of repair at home.
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[@vayabroder729]

You have been doing fantastic work and this car is absolutely awesome!

[@AutoAnatomy]

@@vayabroder729 Thank you so much!

[@robertlacob8831]

Always wondered why most car people never added extra strength for flex! Great job Sean! Unibody cars are just lacking the strength today and most when jacking up, will flex a little foe and lots for others.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you! I've found that subframe connectors make a huge difference when jacking up the car, and it's a LOT more stiff when driving.

[@joevandura9625]

Hi Sean. Amazing work! Never seen someone making it so perfect like you do! 👍 👍 🎉 Marvelous and on video it seems that the car is already very much quieter than before! Your voice getting better trough the mic now! Take care! 🙋🏼‍♂️

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you Joe! It's definitely quieter when driving and I'm glad to hear that you can tell from the video! Best wishes to you and your family

[@67Stang]

Great work. I do wonder if you created a couple of pockets that might trap dirt and water to create future potiential rust issues. Looked that that might be the case but I am sure it is much stronger now.

[@UnauthorizedServiceTech]

He could seam seal it all.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Possibly, but the bars are capped at each end and there should be a decent amount of space for dirt/water to drain. I’ll keep an eye on it for sure

[@Kpar512]

Another excellent video, Sean. I am always telling my Corvair people (and we have a LOT of 'em here in That Windy City!) about your channel and encouraging them to subscribe.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you so much! I'm ready to get another Corvair for the channel. Now, where to put it....

[@Kpar512]

@@AutoAnatomy Aah, the "Where to put it" problem. I had to put my '64 Monza convert in San Diego when I lost a parking spot here in Chicago. At least my 11 yo grandson is happy with the decision...

[@jyanke3546]

Glad to see your work on the Corvair. Heading to the Garage to work on mine today.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thanks! What are you doing with yours today?

[@jyanke3546]

@@AutoAnatomy Moved the 64 out of the garage and 65 in to patch some trunk floor and reomove undercoating to clean and paint.

[@spyderman1964]

Always a nice job. Well done.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you!

[@ricknorris6943corvair]

Cool Beans! For some time I have been scheming to do something like that to my convertible. The Corvair ragtops have cowl shake and I would like to attenuate that. They normally have a stiffener inside the rockers to help with the shakes. I may just copy your nice work.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thanks Rick! Still need to come make a road trip to come see you soon!

[@rosarioasps]

As always, nice entertaining and helpful video. Converting the Corvair into a better and better car. I wonder, can you give us an idea of the time you have spent not only fixing the car but also in filming, editing, planning, etc? It could be a fun fact about this project of yours.😊

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you so much! It's hard to quantify exactly how much time I've spent on the car, but here's a rough estimation: - for every minute of produced video, there's roughly 8-9 minutes that gets edited out. As I'm getting better with this whole KZbin thing I'm getting better at knowing what will be a good shot. For this 19 minute video I had over two hours of raw footage. - for this video I spent about four days doing the work itself (6-ish hour days) and a few more doing research. - for the fuel injection series, I researched for about a year putting together ideas, calculating flow numbers, acquiring parts, etc. - some videos come together quickly and can be made/edited in a day but others take a long time. My biggest hurdle to putting out more/new videos is the editing time. It's many hours of editing for each video. I hope this helps answer your question, and I can't thank you enough for your support! Sean

[@reginaldvalentine3185]

Strain gauges would allow you to quantify the difference, but I'm probably geeking out a little bit here.

[@AutoAnatomy]

It would be interesting to quantify, but may be a bit overkill. 😎

[@reginaldvalentine3185]

@AutoAnatomy You're right it's a Corvair, not a formula one car.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Corvairs and F1 cars have a LOT in common! Both have tires, pistons, wires…

[@reginaldvalentine3185]

@AutoAnatomy I'm not criticizing your work and greatly appreciate your enginuity and well thought out solutions. Keep up the good work.

[@AutoAnatomy]

@@reginaldvalentine3185 Oh I’m just joking around. It’s been a lot of fun going a little overkill on this project!

[@jacquespoirier9071]

for sure that adding structural active members will improve notably the handling characteristics of that car as factiry built it with a minimum of material to save maximum costs. Just rustproof your work as the tubibg material is very prone to heavy rust. excellent work.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you so much! I did cap the ends of the tubing, and have painted them with a rust-proof paint. At some point the entire car will get undercoated for further rust-proofing and noise reduction.

[@urbo42]

The Corvair convertibles were stiffer than the coupes. There was a picture of Jim Schardt cornering his convertible race car with the inside front wheel lifted off the ground in a CORSA Communique back in the 70's. The torsional stiffness of the convertible wasn't matched again until GM built the platform for the Olds Aurora in the 90's. I hope you use some kind of oil based creeping rustproofing when this is all done.

[@AutoAnatomy]

I did paint the bars with rust proofing paint, and eventually will undercoat the entire bottom of the car.

[@ClassicChrome86]

Looks like you do good work. Good luck with your Corvair. New subscriber.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you very much!!

[@ClassicChrome86]

@@AutoAnatomy Absolutely.

[@markcollins457]

Great job, I've seen similar projects like this on a 1st generation Camaro but it only makes sense considering the Corvair roof structure and no "B" pillar. I had a 66 Corsa and if get another i would do all your same mods. The Corvair never had the chance to evolve the Corvette wouldn't allow this future Porsche killer to exist.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you!! I think the Corvair is a great car and I hope we see more people keeping them on the road!

[@jasonyoung5628]

Nice work! I wonder if a stiffer chassis will make the doors shut a bit more tightly and seal out wind more, especially if you put in new weatherstripping.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you! That's an interesting thought about the door closure. Once I get the interior sorted I'll let you know!

[@Cjusmc28]

Great work as always! Im in the process of repairing the rusted out floor pans in my 66 Corsa. I have to replace the portion of the aubframe under the driver seat. My thought was to fabricate it from sheet metal,now im wondering if tubing might be a better choice.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you! I think tubing will always be stronger than sheet metal in this circumstance.

[@bradfigiel2203]

Perfect timing. Just bought and starting a rebuild of a 65 convertible. Was wondering if stiffening is possible now I know. Was there any consideration after putting on the blocks to jacking the midpoint of the car by a couple millimeters to pre stress the chassis/tubing?

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thanks, and yes...if you're rebuilding the car I would recommend doing the structural work now before things are painted & pretty. I didn't consider pre-stressing the tubing or chassis, is that something I should have thought about?

[@ConnieFoss]

Beautiful job on frame connectors.Is six foot long both sides tubing enough to do complete job? And what is tubing thickness? Thanks

[@AutoAnatomy]

@@ConnieFoss Thank you! It ended up being almost 6’ for each side, plus a little extra to make the rear subframe connector pieces

[@youngvintagecarlover]

Hey Sean, I have questions for you, I took the 66 bird for its first drive in 36 years, thing is the engine is still running rough at curb idle, it hesitated while I drove it but at half to full throttle it smooths out and has some more power but the engine is still shaking at curb idle, these have been replaced or rebuilt so far, spark plugs, spark plug wires, points, condenser, rebuilt carb, and oil change. Can you give any opinions? It starts and runs easily. How were you able to tell that the push rods were bent? Thank you, any way I can personally email you? 😄

[@AutoAnatomy]

Sounds like you've hit most of the basics. I think some vacuum readings at idle would be pretty telling. As for the bent pushrod, it was missing really bad and only got worse with RPM. You can email me at [e-mail]

[@ToryRoesch]

What dimension tubing did you use? I am adding this to my ongoing build.

[@AutoAnatomy]

1” x 1.5”, 0.120 wall

[@henryleach671]

Not a complaint - a question: Since the added beams are only welded longitudinally along their bottom-outer edges (to the pinch weld) it seems possible/likely that they are still subject to some level of twisting. Did you consider punching through the floor pan and plug welding to the added beams so as to add rigidity and incorporate the sheer strength of the floor pan? My apologies if this question isn't clearly stated.

[@AutoAnatomy]

That's a great question. It's likely that some degree of twisting will occur, and if the floors need work in the future, I'll be trying to figure out a way to modify the subframe connectors to include more lateral support. But for now it's made a big improvement and I couldn't be more happy.

[@TinMan1954]

A video takes only a few minutes to complete this task, but start to finish how long did it take you?

[@AutoAnatomy]

If I had to sit down and do it all in one setting, probably a solid 8-10 hours. I broke it up over a few days. For example, I did the second connector in just a couple hours but the first one took nearly all day. If I had to do it over again it would be MUCH faster.

[@kdsbean61]

How many pounds did this add the car?

[@AutoAnatomy]

The steel is 12 pounds per 6 foot length. I used just under three length of tuning, so maybe 30-35 pounds (including welding wire).

[@Charles-Two]

Those wooden cradles are a great solution to provide virtually unobstructed access over a lift or jack stands. I'm planning to fabricate a high mount brake light assembly for my Corvair. During your test drive, I was checking to see where your dome light wiring was routed and the possible mounting and wire routing for mounting a high mount brake light at the top of the rear window. Thanks for the view of the roof without a headliner. It was helpful too! 😂

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thanks! I'll keep my eye out for your brake light project. And I’m happy to send you some pictures of the dome light wiring if needed.

[@Charles-Two]

​@@AutoAnatomy It'll be awhile before I do any project. Saving my nickels and dimes for 'Leo" a beautiful 68 Monza coupe right now. God willing, I will take delivery in March. Then the projects will start for me. I have many ideas in the pipeline. Just waiting for the wallet to catch up. 😂 Thanks for the offer. From what I saw in the video the wire routing for the dome light looks pretty straight forward. When I mount the high-mount brake light, hopefully I can route/fish the wires to and then along the left side of the roof, above the side glass, then down the A pillar to the brake switch.