One of my dreams for my Dodge Dart(emphasis on the "Dream" part) was to make it a rear-engined rear wheel drive rather than a front engined rear wheel drive. I always figured that this would be extremely hard if I tried to keep my /6, but what about using Corvair parts? I was thinking that the best way would be to swipe the axles/driveline/transmission/engine parts from a Corvair, sticking them a the Dart, and then lengthening the axles and drivelines to get the right widths and lengths. I laways liked the idea of having my engine compartment be the trunk. Is this sort of conversion even somewhat feasible or is it simply a dream that could only be achieved by using another car?

I've seen front engined Beetles with 400 hp, so I'm not the only one to have such strange thoughts.

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

Putting the engine in the rear end will transfer too much weight to the rear end and make steering the car impossible, it will also cause the front end to launch into the air on acceleration. You may be able to use the car for demo dragstrip runs, but youd never be able to control it on the street.

A midengine setup may handle more favorably, but this would put the engine in the backseat, and since you have a sedan I cant see how one could ever make it look right cosmetically. Plus the front end being designed to hold an engine would not take advantage of a super low hoodline that typical midengine cars enjoy. What would you do with the grille?

Corvairs were the subject of much controversy due to their dangerous handling characteristics. Ralph Nader lobbied congress to outlaw the car and wrote a book entitled "Unsafe at Any Speed" regarding the car and his hatred of it. Though the second generation Corvair was much improved, approaching conventional cars in its safety, it never recovered the PR disaster and didnt sell well.

This is not to say that a rear engine car is unsafe, Porsche cars have had rear engines for decades and are known for their superb balance and handling. Perhaps if you ballasted the front end sufficiently you could pull it off. As long as you are aware of the obstacles youre facing...

see also LA Dart

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It is easier to REACT,
than it is to THINK!

Middy.

Or Hemi Under Glass.

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1960 Hyper-Pac Valiant(rolling test-bed)
1963 Valiant V2OO(Son's summer project,- he just turned 15 )
1972 Valiant 4dr(Daughter Kelly's repair in progress)
1974 Valiant (v8) daughter Kelly's work in progress

you might have better luck placing 2 slant 6's side by side....just kidding...........maybe not !!!

Use Toronado/Eldorado transaxles with trans adapters on both front and rear and powered with 2 slant6's, ala 'Hurst Hairy Olds'.
You can call yours 'Double Vision'.

Cecil

Ralph's book was a hatchet job on GM. The early Corvairs with the swing arm suspension were the same style of susepnsion as those "well balanced" Porsches and VWs. When they changed over to the fully independent style , they beat VW by several years. My experience with Corvairs, were that they handled as well as any of their contemporaies.

Last car show I attended had a Chevy Luv with a 454 in the back. He used a part like they use in boats to install the engine backwards. The guy had driven it more than 10K miles and the only problem he had was gas mileage. He didn't mention steering problems. I've seen a few online also which used Corvair parts. Anyone here that watches Monster Garage has probably seen the drag racing wheelie popping ambulance episode. That also used the marine part, which if I remember correctly was very expensive.

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Slant Six... out of the ordinary - just like me!

Was the Chevy Luv's engine in front of, or behind, the rear axle? This makes a big difference

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

I've heard Corvairs handled good, a little bit of understeer of course...
Either way, you'd understand how the engine in the back would look right if you knew the ideas that I have for my Dart.... but as I said, they're mostly all dreams and the only way I'll ever be able to perform most of them is if I do get really good with customization(next fall I'll actually get some formal training). The problem that I thought would happen with adapting an FR engine to a RR setup would be the transmision. Basically I envisioned that if I were to use the /6 you would have the car with the fastest reverse on the block, though I guess that could be something fun about Drag Racing backwards...

and I can't emphasize this enough, this is only a dream and I wouldn't have the money to do such a procedure or the time to. All I can hope is maybe thirty years from now I'll be rich and stupid enough to do a conversion like this that would probably be the cost equivalent of getting a newish Porshe.

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

You could get an Ultra Bell and bolt your slant to a shorty Powerglide, maybe with twin turbos and zoomies sticking out from underneth. Hmmmm, got me thinking now, ad a straight axle and go wheel standin. What about Chevado, it's got an injected 455 olds in the rear of a 55 chev Nomad, and it was driven on the street quite regulary.
-Jesse

At Rockingham, a few years ago, someone had a VW frontwheel drive pick up. It had the stock drive train, up front. Also had, I think, a ford Taurus drivetrain in the bed. Looked like a total shade tree job. But if I remember right, they did get it into the 13's, and drove it home.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

How about a new Little Red Wagon Slant between the seats and one behind in the bed . Hell i try to think to much and it hurts Ron Parker

I have a four door, though I plan on changing that if I kept my current sedan setup then I could just stick the engine where the passengers are. It would be so much fun, I could put ultra-dark window tinting on the back doors and window and confuse everyone when they hear the engine coming from the passenger compartment. That would also put the engine a little bit in front of the rear axle so I wouldn't do wheelie and for the grill I could just leave it stock, there's nothing wrong with a sleeper.

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

steponmebbbboom

The engine rested on top of the rear axle, pointing in reverse. The driveshaft went forward into the "box" and then back to the axle via another short driveshaft. There wasn't actually a bed on the truck - just a small fender covering each tire and a wing.

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Slant Six... out of the ordinary - just like me!