Total Front Suspension Rebuild for the FLOODED Corvair: Back on the Road Again!

On today's video, we're putting the FLOODED Corvair back on the road with all new front suspension. We go through the entire suspension, stripping it down, restoring each and every part and making some upgrades/improvements along the way. We box in the lower control arms, put in nylon steering bushings and all new tie rod ends, etc.
Here is the video where we removed the entire front suspension:
• Replacing the Rusted T...
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The National Corvair Museum (NCM) is currently located on the historic alignment of old Route 66:
10041 Palm Road
Glenarm, Illinois
62536-6621
Just ten miles south of Springfield, it's in close proximity to popular tourist destinations in the Springfield area.
Museum hours are by appointment.
To schedule a personally guided tour, please contact our curator at [e-mail] or call [phone].
Yes, the museum is pet-friendly!
VIEW THE NCM WEBSITE FOR MORE VISITOR INFORMATION AND INFORMATION ON THE CAPITAL CAMPAIGN TO BUILD A PERMANENT HOME FOR THE MUSEUM.
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Thanks for watching, God bless, and we'll see you later!
Sean, Christie, and the Auto Anatomy team.
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[@67Stang]

Glad to see I am not the only one that feels the need to clean parts before putting things back together. Good to see her back on the road.

[@AutoAnatomy]

It’s almost a compulsion…I can’t put dirty parts together

[@TairnKA]

Until the Mustang II came out, hotrodders would use the Corvair front suspension because of its compactness, easily converted to disc brakes (Camaro?) and rack & pinion steering, but the Mustang II had both as stock. ;-)

[@shin-pad1052]

Another sleepless night for me, what better way to get through the night than another great video to watch, great job Sean, from Shaun in the UK..

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you Shaun, now get some sleep!

[@arrowblockentertainment7893]

Looks like you're becoming a fan of the Corvairs. Thanks for preserving this car! They're definitely fun cars, having owned (and currently own) two of them myself. I am enjoying the longer videos you're creating here.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you, and I'm loving the Corvair. The community is so supportive and I'd love to pick up a wagon/van/rampside as my next project.

[@CORVAIRWILD]

Great video. Great editing!

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you!

[@melissadunagan6596]

It is looking great. Great job.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you so much 😀

[@AutoAnatomy]

It feels SO good to have the Corvair back on her feet again, and it drives like a new car now. Everything is solid and responsive. Now I need to redo the rear suspension...what mods do you recommend? It's already got KYB Gas-A Just rear shocks, but most everything else is original. I'm thinking of some monoballs for the front of the rear swing arms. What else? Let me know below!

[@matthewcalifana488]

I have heard of corvette bars ( below driveshafts ) Either way I would research others first .

[@AutoAnatomy]

I actually did that mod a while ago, made a big difference! kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4uWopV7pa1-m5Isi=vanlCOx5sZ9pTfAn

[@robertlacob8831]

Cleanliness is next to Godliness! That's what they say! I hate dirty, grease-caked parts so I'm with you!

[@AutoAnatomy]

That’s why it takes me a lot longer to get things done

[@vayabroder729]

Such painstaking work but looking at how beautifully it’s coming together and seeing the car going down the road is enough of a reward. And yes; it sounds killer!

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you so much! It's been more than I was expecting but I truly love driving the car.

[@servicetechnician3264]

Hello Sean. You did a great job on that front suspension. Strange how that bolt broke...also, I wouldn't remove the pitman arm. Just clean it up and paint it with the por15. George B

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thanks buddy! It’s a problem for another day, for sure

[@jeffsmith846]

You do great work. Once you get an alignment it will be the best steering Corvair on the planet.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you, and even without the alignment it's driving great.

[@ricknorris6943corvair]

Here's another tip. For removal of the ball joint rivets I use an air powered mini belt sand with an 80 grit belt. It will grind the heads off the rivets faster tan anything else. Then just use a hammer and punch.

[@AutoAnatomy]

That's a good tip. I have an air powered belt sander but sadly sold my air compressor when we moved from CO and haven't picked up another one. I really need to get my shop back in order.

[@Kleine_Lisa_1]

You did great work, Sean, it looks very good! Lisa from Austria.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you Lisa!

[@jeffclements7181]

Thanks for the videos. I am preparing to do the same jobs on my 67 2door. Add a little performance and lowering it a couple inches. Even using the same IROC wheels you have. Thanks. Your info is very helpful. Cheers from Wisconsin

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you! Whereabout in WI are you?

[@jasonyoung5628]

It's good to see how it comes apart, I've got to do that to mine eventually. If you get a factory assembly manual it'll show you how to set the camber bolts and the toe with the notches on the parts to get you roughly to factory settings. I'd go with alignment settings of +1 to +1.5 degrees caster, -.25 to -.5 degrees camber, zero toe. Rear at -.5 to-.8 degrees camber equal on both sides, zero toe. Fine tune the steering wheel straight and off you go. Higher caster will make it steer harder at slow speeds, but feel tight at high speeds. Negative camber will make the tire on the outside of the turn plant more firmly.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thanks Jason! I set the front end to roughly stock specs but need to get it "formally" aligned soon. The front end is still settling a bit and once that happens I'll take it to an alignment shop.

[@SpeedyG289]

Tuned in late. I’ll watch the replay. Good to have you back.

[@dgordon130]

Just an incredible series! Love Corvairs. :-)

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you so much! So do I

[@ricknorris6943corvair]

Another item I like to do is drill out the drain hole in the bottom of the crossmember to a 1/2 or 3/4". It will allow any larger debris to exit.

[@AutoAnatomy]

That's a good thought, I'll head out to the garage now to do that!

[@rjoetting7594]

If I was going tear down the front suspension completely as you did, I would seriously consider doing an adjustable coil-over suspension and do away with the stock springs. And disk brakes would be a nice addition to. But that being said, it also would be dependent on how much a person wants to spend 🤔, me personally I'm a duct-tape and bailing wire guy myself. Hahaha

[@AutoAnatomy]

I thought about coil overs, and that may be a "down the road" upgrade.

[@dalemettee1147]

Sean, watching you assemble the brakes, I always put a little white lube between each shoe and the backing plate at the rubbing points to help keep the shoes from squeaking when the brakes are applied. Just a thought. BTW, I still have my brake shoe tools just in case. haha

[@AutoAnatomy]

Good tip, thanks!

[@chrisromero7056]

Have you seen the Toyota Prius steering column upgrade. Apparently, it’s a driver assist column. It will also give tilt steering. A guy on one of my corvair sites said it only took a few hours to do and worked well . Thought you might be interested in this as you all up in that area anyway

[@AutoAnatomy]

I saw that and it looks intriguing. I'll have to do a little deeper dive.

[@ricknorris6943corvair]

I have done many front and rear suspension rebuilds and I always clean everything usually down to bare metal if possible. On race builds I weld up both front and rear parts. If I do not have the crossmember powder coated I hand paint it with some rust inhibitor like chassis black or POR. I can get to places with a small brush a spray gun can't.

[@AutoAnatomy]

I figure, while I'm there I might as well make things better if possible. That's why I decided to weld up the crossmember and the front arms. Plan on doing the rear soon, any recommendations for upgrades?

[@chrismedeiros3201]

Thank you for sharing this very interesting look of rebuilding the Corvair front-end!

[@AutoAnatomy]

Glad you liked it!

[@tomhughes6486]

Another really informative and enjoyable video. A quick comment on brake assemblies. I was taught to put some grease on the pads of the backing plate where the shoes slide over. Disc brakes on the front are overkill in my experience. Even most of the guys racing Corvairs keep the drums.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thanks for the tip! I haven’t made a decision on brakes yet, so that’s good info

[@dennyo3992]

The problem with drums is getting the shoes exactly the same on both sides, otherwise it pulls to one side or the other. Also, the ability for the drums to lock up the stock tires isn't a testament to the greatness of drums, it's pointing to the strides made in tire technology since the 60's.

[@drsnooz8112]

Oh, 50+ year old ball joints? That's a cool novelty, but I'll bet the grease has turned to dust, and the rubber boot will do so soon enough. Keep an eye on them.

[@joevandura9625]

Thanks for your stuff! You really made a great job on the front! Whish you a healthy future! 👍 ❤

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you Joe! I can’t say thank you enough for your support

[@danr1920]

Saw your Corvair at the Corvair convention in Dayton Ohio.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Cool! Did you stop and say hello? We're here through Thursday morning.

[@dougteague7217]

a quik trip to napa and a spring tool will be worth your time!!

[@AutoAnatomy]

I have a few spring tools, but none works on this particular application. However the threaded rod through the center worked perfectly!

[@abnerdoubleday6145]

It is great watching your series on your Corvair. It is giving me the energy to get back to my long stalled repair on my '65 Corvair Convertible. One comment, on the Por-15 products. I have not used the direct to metal one you showed here, but in general I have had great success using the Moisture Cured Urethane from Rust Bullet. You can brush it or spray it. There is minimal prep required on rusted surfaces, and it dries hard & smooth. It really creeps into the rust and encapsulates it. The original version is an aluminum color when cured and needs no top coat and is UV stable. They also sell a black color if you want a black color to finish it off. Great stuff. The Por-15 seems to need more prep before painting, and requires a top coat if it will see any sunlight/UV. The rust bullet does not. Keep up the great work.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you so much, and best of luck on your 65 convertible. I'll take a look into the rust bullet stuff, thanks for the tip!

[@mzaccagnini7179]

After you get the grease and rust off you should use POR15 on all the parts.

[@AutoAnatomy]

I used POR-15 on the entire front suspension, hopefully it'll be rock solid for years to come.

[@springertube]

Great job and great video! Unless I missed something, you didn't say what shocks you were putting in... you mentioned "...shocks" briefly like you were going to elaborate, then didn't mention again. Back in my day, mostly 1970s, I put in Columbus gas shocks - courtesy Clarks IIRC, that worked great.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you! We used KYB Gas-A-Just shocks on all four corners.

[@royuptain5813]

Smaller parts consider acid dipping to clean, just nuetralize, wash and dry quickly, followed by rust inhibitor, just be careful, use ppe(glasses,gloves)

[@matthewcalifana488]

Like your work Sean ! When I was a teen rode in a 69 Corvair after it was on a lift where we saw a crack on cross member 4 inches wide on right side .

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you, and I'm hoping that moving forward the work we did on the crossmember will make it significantly stronger.

[@dannybradley9346]

Excellent post. I really appreciate this entire series. I have a complete 65 Corsa sedan whose body is full of rust, as well as a good 65 Corsa convertible body. My intention is to overhaul the engine and put all the ingredients from the sedan into the convertible. It will be a very laborious adventure, so I want to draw from the experiences of you and others.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you! Best of luck on your adventure and if you're looking to unload a pair of those 140 heads, let me know!

[@dannybradley9346]

Mine is a 180 turbo, sorry. It has been waiting on me for about 10 years so far.@@AutoAnatomy

[@edjacobs8876]

Happy Thanksgiving! Nothing wrong with maintained, adjusted drums.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. The car stops just fine, and I haven’t made a decision about brakes yet. Got plenty of other things to do first

[@Friedbrain11]

I am a fan of POR15 too. Love what it does to keep our Corvairs on the road and rustproof :) I see you squeezed the lower control arm bushing area together. There is supposed to be a support put in place to keep that from happening. You do have a manual, don't you? Not complaining but you will have problems because you did not do that right. Are you going racing? Quick ratio arms aren't needed for the street and they do increase steering effort.

[@AutoAnatomy]

I do have a manual, and the video doesn’t show but I did measure the width of the control arm at the crossmember end to make sure it was at the original width. It’s all correct

[@dougteague7217]

did my last winter, it was a job but turned out pretty good!! i por 15 the whole assembly!!

[@AutoAnatomy]

It's definitely a lot of work but so worth it!

[@theaveragebear7873]

Awesome video!! I just got interested in Corvairs, really thinking about picking one up. I've owned a couple muscle cars in my time, and I have been getting the itch to get a new project. There is so much you can do with Chevelles, Novas and Camaros which is great, but they do end up feeling too similar. Would really like to see a video on upgrading one of these cars to disc brakes. cheers!

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thanks, and stay tuned! Got something coming up very soon that I think you’ll like

[@stephenbaker3680]

Wow maaan! Stressed out suspension bolts eh? Can one buy a small parts magnafluxer to check bolts? Just best to get ALL new bolts it seems! Neat job though.."Maguivering" tool uses!😅.

[@roberthenrich3362]

I just rebuilt my front end as well! and I converted the drum brakes to disc it was super easy! If you need some links let me know!

[@AutoAnatomy]

Funny you mention it, because that’s the next upgrade on the car! The parts just came in a couple days ago

[@ricknorris6943corvair]

I always use the press in ball joints and I have a hydraulic press.

[@AutoAnatomy]

I had a hydraulic press when we lived in TN and in CO, but sold it prior to moving to SC. At some point I need to pick up another one.

[@volktales7005]

Always nice bolting shiny painted stuff back together! The only corvair I drove any distance turned out to have a quick ratio steering box. Then I drove a standard ratio one. Yikes! Think that car will get those steering arms in the future! Looking forward to the EFI project for your car!

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thanks! It makes a big difference in steering feel, but now it's a lot harder to turn at low speeds. Oh well... I'm so ready to get this thing injected! Got to get the exhaust done first and then it's time for FI

[@volktales7005]

Awesome! Can't wait for the fuel injection.@@AutoAnatomy

[@gme8061]

Nice work. It’s coming nicely. Looks like maybe some drop spindles up front- front looks high in video or is it just a camera thing?

[@AutoAnatomy]

The front end has settled a bit since then, and dropped about another 1/2". It sits fairly level now.

[@DrDangerDave]

you could've made the plate for the control arm much bigger then use a hole saw to cut out what you needed access to

[@AutoAnatomy]

Good point

[@mzaccagnini7179]

I'm sorry I didn't realize you were going to use por15.😮

[@AutoAnatomy]

No worries, thanks for watching!

[@samspade6540]

Nice overhaul. We had a shop do the entire front end. We put on 14 inch wire wheels that needed the adapters. We have tire interference on turns. How did you avoid that? We have a 63 Spyder convertible. Thanks!

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you! I would bet the offset is different on your wire wheels vs the Camaro wheels we used on this car. I'm not sure about the differences between the front suspensions on the early model and late models. May be more room on the LM.

[@mzaccagnini7179]

Great job on the corvair. What year was it?

[@AutoAnatomy]

1965

[@knightreader79]

Enjoy your videos. Just noticed on your front suspension rebuild on the before and after pictures that it appears that your upper control arms are switched. Does this really matter. Thank you.

[@AutoAnatomy]

It may just be the lighting or camera angles. There are left and right arms, so I hope they're not switched!

[@cheaptricked]

I think an upgrade to disc would be convenient, but the drums on it now are quite large on the late models….I believe they share 9.5 front and rear with the GM A body. I think Clark’s has a kit, but other than a dual reservoir, I was always comfortable with drums. I think fuel injection is the direction I would go….or maybe a centrally located electric choke Holly 390cfm.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Discs would be more about fade resistance rather than stopping power. Fuel injection is the next big project on the horizon, and I'm trying to get that done around the end of the year/first of next year.

[@Kpar512]

Hi Sean, another great one! @cheaptricked is correct, the A body GM cars shared brakes with the late Corvair- just reversed front and rear. The single biggest advantage of discs, as you mentioned, is fade resistance. Under hard braking, the drums expand due to the heat generated, and the shoes have to travel farther to engage the friction surfaces- worst case is that the drums may expand so far you simply lose friction. There is another advantage to discs- they are more directionally stable under braking- the car goes straighter.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you! I haven't decided on discs yet, but absolutely have decided on fuel injection. I need to get the exhaust done first then am so ready to start planning/creating the FI system.

[@Kpar512]

@@AutoAnatomy Hi Sean, a number of folks have installed EFI on their Corvairs, some with supposedly "plug and play" units. I have a friend here in Chicago who built his largely from scratch, and I could try to put you in touch with him, if you'd like.

[@AutoAnatomy]

@Kpar512 Absolutely. Email me at [e-mail]

[@scottmagyar]

Hello sir great video, question what kind of plate did you use to hold your front suspension on to the harbor freight transmission jack, thks

[@AutoAnatomy]

Thank you! I just used a couple pieces of angle iron on the trans jack. I think I showed it in the video pulling everything apart.

[@scottmagyar]

@@AutoAnatomy sir I seen picture of plate is tht plate just fit tight on corvair Suspension or is it bolted onto the bracket on Jack plate , thks

[@AutoAnatomy]

@scottmagyar I can email you a picture, just send me an email at [e-mail]

[@tmcoffin47]

What determines if you tig or mig weld?

[@AutoAnatomy]

Whether or not I run out of welding gas! I usually try and TIG weld (trying to get better at TIG) but ran out of gas on that welder, so ended up finishing up with the MIG.

[@MrTonyPiscatelle]

How come you didn't upgrade to disc brakes ?

[@AutoAnatomy]

Not in the budget right now, but maybe in the future!

[@daleolson3506]

Try using some oil on the treads

[@T2Tabb]

What does it take to remove the front suspension? Never mind…I found the video, link would be great…

[@AutoAnatomy]

Good thought, I have added that to the video description. Thanks!

[@ricknorris6943corvair]

Unless you are racing I see no need for boxing the control arms. Even on my race cars I never boxed them and had no trouble. Then again as an old engineer told me, they will never know if it's too strong.

[@AutoAnatomy]

Yeah, it's probably overkill for the street but I'd rather have it too strong than the opposite. And again...if I'm already there then why not? I also really like your website and have drooled over your garage setup for a bit now.

[@mccjoe01]

You just wanted to play with your welder....you arent fooling me...