Technical Tips > Post 84

Impart your knowledge....

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Ausrs:
i must admit when i started looking for a camaro i was told never to look at a chain conversion by many people ......at first i listened to them THEN i spoke to an engineer who told me done correctly (theres that word again ) they are better than mirror specially in a frontal impact situation
that being said i kept looking at ALL available cars just happened that the best car i looked at for the $ i wanted to spend happened to be a chain conversion
i also would like some other information apart from heresay
btw i have seen some shocking cars brought in from the rust belt of usa come over to aus as deck cargo ......bogged up to look pretty and sold .......maybe that is where the chain conversion got a bad name .......NOT the conversion BUT the bodgey person who wanted to make $$ from sub standard cars !!!!!!!.and there were plenty of bodgey converters out there  
;37

Stingraynut:
The ‘mirror’ conversion (which I have) sounds like a good thing, but the more I get to know my car, the more I think it’s a bad idea.

The brake booster is moved from RH to LH, not too many problems there but the heater is moved from RH to LH and there are some ducts that just can’t be connected – I found a beer bottle cap and some gunk falling out of a cut end – have no idea where that tube should go. The fresh air door can’t open because the car body is in the way – everything is cobbled together, partially upside down. The job can be done properly but there’s few people out there doing that.

My vote is to leave the car the way GM intended – look at how the steering has to be butchered-a new bracket is welded to the cross frame, for the NON CORVETTE power steering to connect to, it must be hard to maintain the Corvette steering feel, not to mention the problems caused by welding the frame.

A few years ago I got a fact sheet about chain drive and it looked like the best option, I couldn’t and can’t understand why people are so against it. During my C4 research period last year I had some long talks to Wayne Rand, a South Aust convertor who highly favours chain drive. He mentioned that some chain drives have a couple of problems which he has fixed on his.

Since getting my 88 I’ve thought a lot about what he said about Corvette’s– we talked about tyres, AirCon, Engines, the conversion and so on - everything he told me has turned out to be correct so I have no reason to doubt his info on his chain drive conversion.

I have no vested interest because my 88 is mirror converted and apart from having to rebuild the airducting system and beer bottle caps falling out of vents I’m quite happy with it. Steering is good.

But when you look at the potential for problems, the chain drive wins hands down for me.

S’nut

SAVette:

--- Quote ---Originally posted by StingraynutA few years ago I got a fact sheet about chain drive and it looked like the best option, I couldn’t and can’t understand why people are so against it. During my C4 research period last year I had some long talks to Wayne Rand, a South Aust convertor who highly favours chain drive. He mentioned that some chain drives have a couple of problems which he has fixed on his.

Since getting my 88 I’ve thought a lot about what he said about Corvette’s– we talked about tyres, AirCon, Engines, the conversion and so on - everything he told me has turned out to be correct so I have no reason to doubt his info on his chain drive conversion.

S’nut
--- End quote ---


There's nothing like resurrecting a dead and buried thread, but....

Is it possible to get a copy of the fact sheet that you refer to? Or maybe you can let me know where I can get one. My '84 is a Wayne Rand conversion. I have no idea whether that is good or bad but I haven't found anything wrong with it yet.

Do you think you can jot down some of those things that you learned from your discussions with Wayne, especially what he said about the chain drives, their issues and fixes.

So much to learn, so little time.

Ausrs:
wow this is resurecting an oldie
i would also like to hear of any small hassles with chain !

btw another good thing about chain
when the car is 30 years old if you want conversion BACK to lhd should be able to be accomplished in a weekend
parts required
dash
column
peddles
accelerator cable
bottle of bourbon ( or 2)
;27

Stingraynut:
SA Vette etc - sorry, I doubt I still have that fact sheet - when I mentioned it to Wayne Rand he knew of it and the firm that produced it - I belive he thought there were a couple of minor things that his chain conversion fixed better.

I got the feeling he really knew his stuff, I spoke to him maybe 4 times, I was interested in an 87 he was selling on consignement, but he talked a lot about the chain drive conversion and things he had done to fix problems like the brake lights flashing on and off - and more serious stuff that unfortunately I don't remember.

I got a very good impression of his work from our chats. I didn't bump into anyone that could speak for or against him but SA is a low way from Cairns. I certainly bumped into a few people that had horror mirror conversions from Qld and NSW

Only convertors I found to get a clean sheet were John Bondock & Chris Carson from Brisbane and Peter Whiston from the Corvette Clinic in Melbourne.

Once you own a converted car you start to see the problems. As AusRs says, the chain drive is far less intrusive and I wonder why there's so much bad press. I'd have one happily, my aircon would not be all hacked about - I found a fourex beer bottle cap stuffed in a cut off air tube !!! and much more-what you can't see can be bodged.  

I guess you know that they move the aircon box from RH to LH and brake booster the other way - that means there is a metre more pipe in the Aircon line, less room to work with the extra  piping at the front of the engine, the steering geometry I think I already mentioned - with the non Corvette steering box welded to the RH subframe - what will happen in a few rusty years ?

Good luck, give Wayne a ring he's very approachable, I get the feeling that if he recognises the car you're looking at he'll tell you the truth.

S'nut

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