In case anyone is interested, I have a mid-engined '65 Corvair Corsa with a '69 Toronado drive and suspension. The motor I used for the first several years was a '69 Olds 455 with 8 to 1 compression pistons and a fairly mild (260 degree) cam. Later I swapped in a Buick 231 V-6 with a turbocharger blowing into a 500cfm carter carb and used a Mallory ignition system to control the spark curve. It has been off the road for about 7 or 8 years but it should be mobile again soon with any luck. Much as I loved the big Olds motor, the Buick 6 seems to be a better match for the car (and me) from the standpoint of weight balance(handling) cooling, and fuel consumption and rear seat room.
I wanted to pass along some information about custom rims for Toronados that I recently found on-line in case anyone is looking for them. BigWheels.net has several pages of cool wheels in 20" as well as 17 and 18 inch sizes that are supposed to fit these cars, and some of them are fairly reasonable. Let me know if any of this strikes a chord. Thanks...
Toronado powered Corvair
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CorvairanadoKid
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:03 pm
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- Years Owned: '65 Corvair Corsa with Toronado drive and 231 Buick Turbo V-6. Owned for 31 years. Also have '86 T-bird Turbo Coupe and '97 Geo Metro
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xgecko
- Posts: 454
- Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2010 9:21 pm
- TOA Membership Number: 831
- Years Owned: My first Toronado was a 1968 W-34 with the bucket seats and center console... (weeps gently) It was a New England rustbucket in 1982 after less than 14 years. So sad. But it is what infected me and before I knew it I had another '68, a '69, a '70 and eventually inherited a friend's '67 and another friends '73. After buying my brand new Grand Prix in 1988 I retired the last of my Toronados and pulled the 455 I had rebuilt along the way and put it into storage in a friend's barn where it is to this day.
In Mid September of 2010 I happened to see a repeat of the show where Jay Leno did his 66 Toronado and had an instant remission of the disease which resulted in my purchase of a 1969 in very good condition. I am now in the process of fully rehabilitating it and hope to have it on the road in the spring of 2011. - Location: Gig Harbor, WA
Re: Toronado powered Corvair
I contacted BigWheels and they are checking with a customer that bought wheels for their Toronado. They will report back to me soon. It would be nice indeed to be able to buy new wheels!
I have my Fuel Injected Toronado. Life is good! 
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