His objective was to do it in such a way that the finished product would look and sound like a Corvair from both the inside and outside; a tall order when you consider his plan also included converting from a rear engine to front engine layout! The project began with the purchase of a junked late model Corvair, used as a test mule. He cut the floor out of it and after test fitting various components, finalized his plan and set about modifying the good car. It would take him between 2 and 3 years to complete the project. Normally, a front mounted engine would be mated to a conventional clutch or torque converter and transmission assembly directly behind the engine block. That approach was dismissed, as it would destroy one of the Corvair's highly touted and unique qualities, its flat floor and lack of an intrusive drive train hump. It would also shift the weight bias of the 2,700 pound vehicle (1000 lbs front/1700 rear) decidedly to the front, and radically alter the handling characteristics of the car. However, Eitel reasoned, the use of a "rather heavy" Pontiac Tempest trans-axle would place the weight of the transmission and differential assembly at the rear wheels, achieving a nearly ideal front/rear weight distribution of 48/52%. Installing the Pontiac trans-axle and its associated torque tube into the Corvair seemed, at one point, to be impossible.