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

2025...very ambitious!

Spent the day with AW and AK2, now gonna put in an hour in the garage. Got one section cut and tacked:

also trying to help a less fortunate hand model get back on his feet (hands?). Upvote to show Stampie some love.

What's up with stampie?

Well, it's quittin' time for tonight and I'm pretty happy with my progress. Coolant return tube is pretty well figured out and mostly tacked together:

I'll have to trim the shiny bit so I can weld in a stub of 1.5" and add a rubber coupler in the circled area. Fortunately I've still got scraps of the C4 hoses so all it'll cost me is a few clamps.

wvumtnbkr said:

What's up with stampie?

I think he's finding out that hand modeling is harder than it looks. He's probably going to retreat to the relative safety of glove modeling for a while.

Putting in a couple hours tonight. So far, so good.

This is nice work.  Hopefully you can keep up some mometum!

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Thanks man, I'm trying to get back into a balanced groove. I'm definitely conscious of how much time I spend in the garage vs doing family stuff. I'll be out the next 3 nights, headed to the vehicle assembly plant tomorrow after work and home too late for garage time on Thursday.

Do you have some method for testing all the welds on those coolant tubes? Or at least have them easily accessed/removed? I'd hate to get that all together, fill it up, and have it make any puddles. My personal experience with fabbing  cooling systems is that the first two iterations leak, the third needs revised, and then it's good to go. One of the myriad small issues I need to remember to address on the Funderbird actually. She's a leaker. 

In reply to barefootskater (Shaun) :
Great question, and I have been thinking about it.

1. I could smoke test them, but that's not the same as 205F and 14psi.
2. I could set them up on the floor with paper towels under all welds, fill them with water and food coloring, and look for evidence. Again, not really a load test. 
3. I could arrange some kind of pressure test with a couple stoppers, a bicycle pump, a Shrader valve, and a bathtub.

I'm making them in 3 sections joined with rad hose cuts, so they'll be serviceable. I'm sure there will be a pin hole or two.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Just hook the cooling system up to the garden hose. 60 PSI or so will show any leaks quickly.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to barefootskater (Shaun) :
Great question, and I have been thinking about it.

1. I could smoke test them, but that's not the same as 205F and 14psi.
2. I could set them up on the floor with paper towels under all welds, fill them with water and food coloring, and look for evidence. Again, not really a load test. 
3. I could arrange some kind of pressure test with a couple stoppers, a bicycle pump, a Shrader valve, and a bathtub.

I'm making them in 3 sections joined with rad hose cuts, so they'll be serviceable. I'm sure there will be a pin hole or two.

Or, just use a coolant pressure tester and test the entire system....

You can usually borrow them from your flaps, or buy one for 100$ at harbor freight.

You'll be pumping for awhile with all that volume, but fill it with water and it's pretty easy.  Plus, the water will squirter out anywhere that there is a leak.

You can also get UV dye for the cooling system that will show where a leak is under a blacklight.

They also make these gas powered coolant pressure testers that get the coolant to the exact correct temperature and pressure.

maschinenbau said:

They also make these gas powered coolant pressure testers that get the coolant to the exact correct temperature and pressure.

They only work when all the systems are connected.

I figure he wants to test the pipes in the next 4 years.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to barefootskater (Shaun) :
I could arrange some kind of pressure test with a couple stoppers, a bicycle pump, a Shrader valve, and a bathtub.

That sounds like a black and white porno from the 1930's.

In reply to TVR Scott :

You have an extensive collection of 30s porn?

In reply to Stampie :

Yeah, like you don't!

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Or come get mine and use it as long as you need 

Also pressure testing without it all connected is easy, use an appropriate sized rubber freeze plug on one end, make a quick pressure adapter neck out of a scrap radiator tank with the cap fitting and an outlet (okay easy is an overstatement, it's not "easy") then adapt outlet to pipe to test with a section of hose.

Moar free sheet metal!

At this point I'm sure I've got more than I need, but I keep grabbing cabinets for the pre-formed long 90-degree bends. They'll certainly make the engine cover and center console easier to build. I see so many steel cabinets getting pitched, seems like everywhere I look.

That seems like a very nice cabinet..  I mean car panel.

Got some work done tonight:

and called it quits about 9:30PM. Had a 7AM meeting this morning, so I'm pretty whipped. I'll get at it again tomorrow night.

Just want you to know I've been following this regularly since the beginning and it's one of my favorite build threads ever. Keep up the great work. Also thanks for figuring out mid-engine conversion cooling system for me so I don't have to. I like learning from the mistakes of others <3