Projects 409 Chevy II Station Wagon

I am in the process of building a 65 Chevy II wagon. I am going for a 60's super stock factory experimental look. The heart of the project is the 409 engine that I am screwing together. I am going to leave the current(original) paint and interior. The car began life as a 283/powerglide car. I am keeping the powerglide(i know)... Here are some pictures

The day I found her at a local swap meet... originally an Oregon car which explains the lack of Northeast rust.


I cleaned her up and drover her for a while with the original engine and trans until the 283 gave up ring seal on a long trip.

 

Just in case you aren't aware of this, Nicholsons wagon you posted in the other thread was a FI 327.

 

Tired original 283

Now the fun begins...

Now that wasn't so bad...

More to come...

 

I am aware... I am not building a clone just my interpretation of someting that could have been build back in the 60's There were several Nova's built up as match racers with Z11 engines. I dont have a Z11 sitting around so a run of the mill 425 horse 409 will take its place.

 

Love to see and hear about your progress on this. Very interested in the swap.

 

Sounds like a cool build, how's the front end holding the extra weight ?

 

Can't wait to see the progress. Looks like a fun build. I have always thought the Chevy IIs had the ultimate sleeper look.

Interested to see your Experimental look.

 

Great project. That 409 will make her scoot.

 

Cool project - '65 to the best looking of the early Chevy II. That motor is going to demand a lot of up grades, even if not going for high end performance

 

Always wanted a W-motor in mine........ Never happened. Did have a moment with a valve cover!!!!!

 

Guessing you just have a mock up in there

 

Looks like it fit better in there than I thought it would.

 

Yes current engine is a 348 installed for mock up.

 

That's what SHE said....

 

Your living in one of my dreams man!

 

Very neat project!@

 

this should be cool. 409's seem to be under represented in HOT RODs these days

 

Oh-nine in a Nova wagon. Yur peggin' the cool meter. I'm in for the ride.

 

Cool, way cooler if it had a mystery motor though. Wait that would have been '63 sorry.

By '65 wouldn't an FX car have had a 427? Just a question.

The W motor is way cool by the way.

I think that's because they are made from unobtainium. They are becoming more and more accessible these days the hoarders must be dying off. I am happy for the comeback, even a 348 is cool enough and can be more than fast enough on a light car.

 

Racers were putting 409/z11's in nova's and malibu's up until 65... Mid year 65 the 396 showed up and then the 427... it was a transitional year. Dick Harrell had a 65 Nova with a z11 in it that ran in FX.. I guess my swap would not be strictly by the book FX. More modified production.

 

OK question answered. I do know that the Mark IV was available to select professional racers early in '65, which prompted the question.

 

I would not doubt that the mkIV big block was available to racers early on in the year. I think the reason many match racers went with the z11 was because it was a known quantity and parts were still available over the counter at the dealers. The W-engine had been around for a few seasons and was probably a little more attainable to racers who wanted the highest output factory engine they could get. I also seem to recall stories about the new big blocks grenading themselves due to oil control issues for the first few months before GM fixed the problem. I'm a young'n so if there are any racers that were around during this time please feel free to chime in.

Thanks.

 

The racers who had the Mark IV early on were not pork'n'beaners they would not have been buying their parts over the counter.

Funny I was scrolling through pages of FX cars from the era looking at what was being raced, because I remembered FX cars being mostly sedans. Anyway Dyno Don was running a 327 in your time period. For what ever reason it just has never really jelled that Mr Nicholson was not a big motor guy.

I know it has nothing to do with the thread but I probably would not have made that information probably would not have jelled if the thread hadn't popped up.

 

The Nova/Chevy II 283/327 blocks have the "raised' oil filter boss, and a different location for clutch linkage. Those 283 blocks are supposed to be one of the blocks that will take a .125 overbore to build a 301/302 engine. A complete engine should bring $$$ with the restorers. I don't think I've ever seen a Chevy II/Nova with a "W" motor; did see one with a Cadillac 500 and a straight axle once. This is going to be a cool thread for sure. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I agree I would have thought that the shock towers would have made the W a tight squeeze. Probably not the only one who thought that and maybe that is why we don't see many of them built that way.

 

The early 396 had valve spring related valve train issue too. They fixed it with a spring with the proper psi closed & opened , but an aggressive rate. The stock 325hp 396, only had about .440 lift hyd. cam, so they revised the spring to handle .440 forever. However, as soon as you go to .500-.550 lift cams, the spring rate, quickly takes the open psi number too high, (425-475 psi) & to quick for a hyd or solid lifter cast iron cam. How many times in the past, have you heard of, or seen your buddies flatten lobes, or break pushrods & stock stamped rockers, with stock springs with an after market cam? The stock 325HP spring rate, is actually to high for those bigger lift cams. The 375hp 396's got a spring with a less aggressive rate.

 

Very cool! I like those wagons and looove 409's!
I'll be watching along on your progress!

Tony

Oh, and IF you decide to let go of the dog dish caps you have/had on it could you please let me know?!?!
I could use them for my 63 impala project. Thanks!

 

Headers... Please excuse my lack of welding skills as I am a novice. I will be bringing the headers to a local welder to have them finish welded. I had to shim the engine ~1/2" higher to clear the shock towers. I will be patching the shock towers and reinforcing them once I finish fabricating my oil pan notch to clear the drag link.

A cool side note on the headers... I purchased the collectors and a box of random tubing bends from Stahl Headers (which is now Stahl ACP headers) I called up and spoke to Jere's wife Judy who is managing the transition... I thought it was fitting that I purchased the raw materials from them since Stahl was one of the first to make tube headers for the 409...

Enjoy.

 

Love it. I was looking at original photos and wondered how the exhaust would be routed. A bit tight but will cool when done. A bit of a sleeper and not what you'd expect to see under the hood.