I am 15, and I recently scored a 62 chevy nova 2 door, its gotta 4 banger in it with a power glide i suspect. I would love to see some old gasser style pics of this model car. also what model and year cars should I look in to find either a 409 or a 427 chevy ??? thanks TJ
don't hold your breath for a 409 or 427 man. hard to come by in car form, i think i saw a dual quad 409 for sale that had been pulled from a rotting hulk, wanted like 5 grand???? truck 409s are obtainable, saw a few between 500-1000, but that sounds high. 427s, haven't seen many of those. for a first car, unless your parents are loaded or you have a helluva summer job, i'd focus on a 327, 350, maybe a stroker small block. probably get it done alot cheaper and have plenty of power. plus, you can come across smallblocks all day long. throw one of them in, have fun, and find your 409 or 427 while you DRIVE that nova. bitchin car though, always dug em. you can have alot of fun with a small block in a big car, let alone a little nova.
Early Novas are really light cars. I had a friend back in high school that built a 63 SS that had a 283 with early fuelie heads, 30-30 Duntov cam, M-21 4-speed and a 12 bolt with 4.56s. What a blast to drive that car. That thing left the hole hard for what it was. At that time I had a 67 SS Chevelle running a +060 427 with TRW 11:1, L-88 cam, early 66 rectangle ported motor, TH-400 with 3800 stall and a 12 bolt with 4.10s. On the street his little car would leave me at a light, he had no lack of traction issues, also that little motor was well balanced to the cars weight.That alone helped him. But, he was shitouta luck when my car got bite. We had a mutual friend that had a 66 Nova with a 396 that was really stuffed in there. The car was a piece of shit, it drove like you had a big fat ass woman under the hood. It would flame the tires and make a lot of noise but that was it. Stopped and handled terrible. Unless your going to the track, stick with a small block.
Your little 4 cylinder engine is a desirable engine.....to put against the Ford transmission in a Model A. Your engine has 80 HP as compared to 40 in the Model A and it bolts in with the Chevy to Ford adapter. I have been wanting one of those engines, but yesterday I Got a Mercruiser. Same engine but it comes in 90 and 120 HP versions.
Sounds like a great project. Keep after it. Wish I had some pics for ya. My buddy had one with a 350 and that thing was quick.
Chevyfreak...I can totally dig your want of a 409 or 427 but you will either need a lotta dough or a hella lot of luck to obtain one so I think you should definitely go with a small block. A warmed over 283 would not only scoot pretty good but wouldn't kill you on the gas mileage deal. If you can find a 327 that would be really nice too. I know most people hate 350's but they are everywhere and that may be the best bet yet because they are easily obtainable and make good power. Not to mention SBC's are super easy to get parts for, way easier than WB's or BBC's!!! I wish you luck in your buildup...you are really lucky to have a cool old car at your age!! Later, Greg
If your puttin in a small block or any V-8 for that matter your gonna need a different crossmember ALSO if your goin w/ a big block your gonna need one of them heidts front ends because of the weight and space. If i were you just build a small block w/ a 4 speed and a good set of gears and that thing will be bitchin! Also them lil 4 cylinders can keep up w/ a mild small block pretty well just dont rev em anywhere above 5500 rpm.
I'll be a pal and buy the stock motor and tranny from ya...you know...ta help ya get started on the V8 conversion...
If the car is running,,,,drive it and have fun,,,,,start collecting parts,,,,don't take it apart till ya have every thing ya need to get it back on the road. Please learn from someone that has let the,,, "I gotta have a hot rod now" mentality get ahead of ones wallet and skill. Good luck with your Chevy Deuce. HRP
Wow, I didnt expect to get that many replies. But right now the car sits in an old ladies back yard it was givin to my uncle a few months ago after her husband passed away, its a 1 owner car with under 100,000 miles i believe. Yes i know W block motors can be extremly if not impossible to find. I would like to put a warmed up 283 or 327 in it since sbc are easy and cheap to build. How hard is it to convert from an automatic to a 4sp or 5sp though ???. I got all the time in the world and i have a pretty good summer job working on my g-pas farm and this coming up summer I might have a job at an industrial machine shop. I also have a 72 chevy C-10 pickup with a 250 6 banger that im currently driving and i'm building a warmed over 350 to put in it. How well do gasser cars handle ?? I can imagine they wouldnt be road racers by any means but are they relativly safe? thanks for all the replies TJ
That was my 1st car when i was your age...I owned alot of them over the years...When you put a smallblock in be sure to tie the frame together...they are what you call unibody.. A good friend of mine had a stout 350 in his and literally twisted the car...I have a alot of literature on them if you are interested and if you want feel free to send me a pm... Also check out National Nostalgic Nova..its national club that helped me out alot growing up..Goodluck and keep us posted...Your off to a good start in my book! Dirty
Dat Dirty Rat- thats the only thing thats got me worried about the whole car is the "uni-body" construction (imo the worst invention ever) what would be the best way to tie the car together? ive seen weld in frame rails but that reguires a little too much fabrication for me would bolt in frame connecters work good ??? thanks TJ
For some reason I cant access the enlarged pictures to post here, but here is the link to hot rod's article on john tinberg's 63 nova, no race history, but Its a real bitchin car. Tinberg's Nova
[ QUOTE ] Dat Dirty Rat- thats the only thing thats got me worried about the whole car is the "uni-body" construction (imo the worst invention ever) what would be the best way to tie the car together? ive seen weld in frame rails but that reguires a little too much fabrication for me would bolt in frame connecters work good ??? thanks TJ [/ QUOTE ] That Tinberg nova is off the hook..I need a poster of that thing! TJ- I had a set a frame connectors i got rid of awhile ago,,,I wish i still had them because i would have gave them to you...Sorry holmes..But anyway, i would say to weld them would be the best the way..I would think there would be somebody down around you willing to help you out if you had the parts...X-mas is just around the corner,,put them on your wish list..I guess it all depends on how you build the motor...If you just build a mild lil small block it may not be necessary...I had a 64 that originally had a 6banger it and i put a 283 in it w/a cam...It was just right for me at the time..The more i think about it..I may be able to hook you up w/some...Let me talk to a buddy of mine.. Dirty
Well i do have a friend that i help out a a motor cycle shop, he's an expert tig welder who is willing to help me with anything, we are currently building myself a yamaha 650 chopper. also, how hard would it be to make a whole new frame from the fire wall back?? competition enginering has a preformed chassis kit I was thinkin about gettin. yes i have seen tinbergs nova in the hotrod mag when it came out(thats what gave me the idea) 2 years ago, it dosnt look right with the altered wheel base though. How hard is it to convert from an automatic to a manual transmission besides crossmembers, i figure it will be best to get a clutch pedal assembly from another car???. Also if I put a straight axle under it and get it up in that air a couple inches will it be an instant death trap ?? I dont really care about saftey but I dont wont my friends to be scared to death to take a ride with me lol Thanks TJ
First of all you'll get better response if you edit your title to include the word "gasser" If your frien is a good fabricator it shouldn't be too hard to make the frame, just make sure it is square or it will not drive straight. As far as the ride, it will be a lot more John Deere than Cadillac but with proper steering geometry and spring rates etc...could be tolerable . Shoot Von Tingler a pm, he just made a gasser out of a Fairlane, even though it's a Ford a lot of info will be the same. I'm not sure what all it takes to put a manual tranny in one, but if I was going to I would use a T5 five speed with a hydraulic clutch. That would not exactly fit in with the whole gasser theme though. Probably try to find a maual tranny car in a junkyard, and get everything off it. Even a six cyl manual car would probably give you most of what you need, you may have to make some linkages or something. Good luck with it. I've always like the smaller 60's cars like Chevy II's, Darts, and Falcons.
the linkages are probably available. check out the classic industries catalogs. hey have everything i need to make my 65 impala have the CORRECT number of pedals and gears. also surf ebay, i looked thru the catalog and then found everything on ebay for like 50 bucks cheaper total. there's a muscelcarsusa guy or something like that that i think deals in this shit on ebay that i got my stuff from. as far as ride goes, if you love it that way, you'll go out of your way to accomodate the problems a car set up like that will have. i know every road around here by heart so i can miss high spots with the full length (and low hanging) headers i have and swerve like a drunkard to miss the bad shit. think it over pretty well before you do anything.
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