Straight axle - tilt nose - big motor. Simple as 1-2-3 Nove's are cool since they once offerd a straight axle kit that bolted into the factory mounts. Maybe someone still (?) sells these.
funny you would say that.someone does,i needed to do some re engineering and a little quality control from the last two fabricators; here you go. -Jimmy-
Not everything with a straight axle is a gasser. When these Nova's were being built this way they were early versions of funny cars.
Straight axle, Hilborn injection, fenderwell exit headers, etc. I always thought that Doug Thorley's Chevy II Much looked really tough.... (Dang....sorry if the pic is larger than life.....)
think f/x .....bill thomas made the original kits..... tom medlock ( i think thats his name) specialty cars was offering a kit like the bill thomas ones....brandon
Don Hardy (Texas?) sold very nice bolt-on tube front section kits for several years. Not sure if he's still in business, but he was the last person I recall advertising them. As Kiwi Kev notes, the Chevy IIs and Novas weren't primarily associated with gassers back in the day - they came into their own as FXers and funny cars. One easy hint in differentiating the two is to look for an altered wheelbase - that pretty much indicates a FX or funny car, rather than a gasser. That said, I'm just nitpicking. Go ahead and do the gasser. Who cares what you want to call it. Novas with straight axles are just plain bitchin' in any class.
My 62 that I picked up from a fellow HAMBer around the first of the year. I am currently in the process of making it street legal....
altered wheelbase would be tits. hot rod did a pretty good article on doing this on a fairlane i beleive? the basics should apply (unibody and all) matt
Here's a couple pics of Steve Magnante and his '63 Nova I took at Mooneye's show last Dec. the first year the event was held at Irwindale Raceway. You can go to Hotrod.com and check out a series of articles on the buildup. Details of the process have been featured in the following issues of HOT ROD magazine: * "Ramming the Rat," July '99 * "The Father Dowel Pin Mysteries," May '00 * "Ohm Sweet Ohm," Jan. '01 * "The Hole Truth," April '01 * "Match Bash: How to Build a Funny Car," May '01 * "Match Bash Part 2," June '01 * "How to Two-Tone," April '02 You might recognise Steve from the Barrett-Jackson auctions. He used to be on the staff of Hot Rod magazine.
Man, I love the Wilshire Shaker! My favorite magazine project car of all time. I remember during the buildup of that car, I would actually run to the mailbox like a fool during the week I expected my new issue to arrive! It actually woke me up and inspired me to stop messin' around with Camaros and other late models and and go back to my first true love ...early '60's vintage drag cars. If you read this...thanks Steve.
I love the old gasser nova's. St Louis Gasser can attest to that. Here is a photo of my car. I will post more pics later.
heres some i have saved on my computer... i love straightaxle novas....but i went way the other way with mine...
So... I have a 64 4door (yeah I know but I traded a fishtank for it). Arent they unibody? how do you mount the front spring hangers? I think I found a use for the 327 mock up motor in my model-A build!! Are the 6-cyl powerglides the same as the v8 ones?
Hey Scott, great to hear from you again. Glad you found the HAMB and I look forward to catching up again with you somewhere later this summer.
Here are a few. http://www.draglist.com/artman2/publish/daily_stories/60_s_Funny_Cars_Match_Bash_Chevy_II_s.shtml
Hey Mark leaving next Thursday heading to Hot Rod Reunion in Columbus you gonna be there (I hope so)? Finally have all the bugs worked out of the car and putting lotta miles on it some even 1/8 and 1/4 at a time .
Scott, me and my St. Louis buddies are going to skip the Hot Rod Reunion in Columbus this year in favor of hitting these much smaller drag strip reunions. Didn't you have something planned later on this year? Post the flyer and I'll see about getting a bunch of hard-hitting St. Louis nostalgia cars down there.
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