The beginning, again thanks to my dad for getting me set up with my latest project. A 1963 Chevy ii, 2 door sedan. My vision for this build is to have a more traditional built Straight Axle car. I very much look forward to researching and sourcing parts and building to see my vision through. The 63 was purchased from a father son duo in Saanich. The car was imported from the US in 1992 and was driven up until 1998 when a restoration was started. R + B proceeded to take the car apart removing almost every nut and bolt. Thank goodness R+ B spent the time to bag and tag the majority of parts removed from the car. The 63 sat until now, 2020. This means the car is in incredible shape. The trunk will have two small two inch diameter patches along with the front head light buckets. Otherwise the car is rust free. Currently the car is set up with a TCI mustang ii front subframe. This of course will be replaced with a "dan" built straight axle set up. Pick up day was on Saturday, February 1st a day after an epic rain storm that forced the closure of the Trans Canada Hwy, the only thing between me and the location of the car..... after nearly 5 hours of waiting word came down that the Hwy had been reopened. We drove south the 1 1/2 hours and retrieved the 63. Success and on the only day the sun had shone in over, well a very looooong time. 22 years the car had been in dry storage and I am happy to say the weather held and she remains dry. After a long day the 63 was home and unloaded. Along with loads of extras, parts and bins. Again, thank goodness the majority is organized and labelled.
Once home I spent the next couple weeks further organizing the extra parts and working though the bins. Again most parts and fasteners have been labelled which will be great down the road when assembly begins. I also made sure the front end fit before taking it back apart further removing the subframes, doors and other smaller pieces. I then undertook the task of scraping the undercoating off the bottom of the car. Armed with full PPE, a heat gun and a one inch scraper I got to work.......
After hours upon hours of scraping the thought, after reading the thread AFX altered completed by "squirrel" crossed my mind..... rotate this this on its side. After a smokey evening of scrapping undercoating while laying, once again on my back the decision was made. Encouraged on by my father in law "C" who sprang into action..... The next day I received a message from my wife while I was at work: " dad's here, dropped off some big pieces of steel". This was happening! Some welding and a few drilled holes later we had her flipped over...... what a relief, this undercoating removal job just got easier!
I don’t know which is worse, scraping undercoating while on your back of fixing rust. Looks like a very solid start you have there. What are the plans for the drive train? Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Dan, I'm with you on that whole on your back scraping gig, did the same thing on my 67 Nova, man how that rig would have made a difference, either way, its a lot of work. That looks like a real nice car. After I graduated high school in 72 I bought a real nice original red/white Nova hardtop roller, the seller planned on building a drag car and had cut the firewall out with the intention of an engine setback but he got very sick and was bedridden, his wife made me a good deal on it. I was about to start automotive tech. school and had to sell it but I always think about how it could have turned out.
Thanks guys. It truly is a great start. A few minor rust repairs and I will be well on my way. Toqwik: I am fortunate to have a hot rodder friend that has an incredible stock of cool and rare parts. "duncan" on the H.A.M.B, has me thinking about the grumpy jenkin 331 screamer, so a 350 block, 327 large journal crank and a 30 overbore..... I think it fits the more traditional gasser I want to build. I also have a line on an offy single carb tunnel ram.
Southcross2631: I would really like a 4 speed although that will be determined down the road. I had a Borg Warner super t10 in my 56 and it gave me none stop problems from the day I replaced the turbo 400. Every piece of that set up was researched and purchased new and it hounded me........... we will see......
Looks like a nice car to build. You should be able to sell that MustII front subframe for some decent cash to use for building the straight axle front. Tilting the body up on the side is a much nicer way to clean the bottom surfaces.
Sorry to hear about your problems with a stick shift. A clutch turbo or Clutch flite would be traditional. My buddy broke about 20 Muncie's with his high winding 65 Impala back in 69. So he went to a clutch flite. his car was a factory SS 4 speed car. so he made a curved tube that came up out of the hole for the shifter and mounted the push buttons for the transmission on the tube . It looked cool. he drove the car on the street a lot.
Sell the MustangII subframe is exactly what I plan to do! Took some basic measurements of the frame today for reference later on. A few adjustment and it should not be to difficult to construct. Also spent some time tinkering on something other then scraping undercoating....... the dash which was in many pieces. A through cleaning and back together. I like how the the script is written out: Temperature, Oil Pressure, and Battery as apposed to abbreviated. If the odometer is correct only 51688 miles. If my Math is correct that is 906 miles per year since 1963. Dan
I found the Official 1963 Drag Rules manual online. An interesting and fun read. I will use this as a reference moving forward.
Do you have a plan for what the car will be? It's a lot easier to build something, if you know from the beginning what the exact requirements are. When I built mine, it was easy to make decisions about how to do things, and what parts to use, because I had a firm list of requirements it had to meet.
Hi squirrel! Love your build, very inspiring. Previously I built a 1956 Chevy straight axle car (picture attached). It was awesome and I enjoyed the build very much, it was a combination of old school look with new, not so correct parts, roller cam, big block with world products aluminum cylinder heads, new air gap manifold, caltracs and so on. As I continued through that build I developed a desire to do things more traditional, take the time to find more period correct parts keeping inline with how things were done...... that being said I will make sure things are safe, brakes and steering will be new! All that to say I look to build a more traditional gasser sedan, that will see primarily street use and some track days......
I suggest you pick a year that it "could have been built", and stick to it. So....if you are going to make it fit the 1963 rule book, then the tunnel ram idea is out. I picked 1966 for my Chevy II, and it came pretty close, although there are some glaring exceptions (if you know what to look for). I really like the idea of going fast with old technology, if only to jolt a few folks into realizing that stuff that worked 50+ years ago, still works just as well today as it did then.
Thank you for the suggestion squirrel. I will read through the other year rule books and see what I can get close to. And yes the idea of going fast with old technology resonates with me too! Thanks again and keep the suggestions coming!
When I raced modified production back in 67 there were very few Chevy II's in either the gas classes or the modified production ranks at least not in south Florida. There were some Falcon's with FE motors, but mostly 55-57 Chevys and Corvettes. Of course Willy's and Anglia's were the dominate gassers. So pick a year when they became popular in the gas classes.
IF it's gonna be mainly a street rod why not go with more cubic inches? Like a 400 with the 3.25 stroke crank? 377, right? More torque for the street but still can wind-to-the-moon?!!! Just throwing out stuff. Really like the lil Chevy II!!! (gotta be a 4 speed!) 6sally6
Looking forward to watching the progress. Happy to see if finally going together after all of these years! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I have always heard "No replacement for displacement". But in this case I am hoping to build something a little closer to that late 60's era (yes, I know the 331 was introduced in the early 70's.....) and like "squirrel" said: I too really like the idea of going fast with old technology, if only to jolt a few folks into realizing that stuff that worked 50+ years ago, still works just as well today (quote from squirrel previous post) Also, still working through reading the NHRA drags rules..... Now have to decide which year to you as a guide. And "novamad" thanks again! d
I ran a 331 in 1967 if that helps you with when they were being built. I also ran a 364 stroker in late 68.
Thanks southcross2631! Was the 331 a .30 over 327? My plan is a 350 block with large journal 327 crank, and .30 over which equals 331.... same cubic different approach.
Too cool! Stoked to see your build on here. And kinda flukey timing as we just got a Henry J and are puting together a vintage gasser here in The Cowichan Valley as well. We plan to race it, and a bit of a street terror too... -Shiny
Mine was a small journal 327 , but yeah the way to get cubes. Used the same block to build the stroker. I had mine in a 57 Nomad wagon that ran in D/MP and then the stroker moved me to C/MP. In 69 I bought a new 396/375 Camaro to run in stock eliminator. I used a Pontiac rear end . Hardly anyone ran 9 inch Fords. Dana60's were popular as well as 12 bolts. A Chevy dealer in Homestead ,Florida had to keep high performance cars locked in a wharehouse because of thieves stealing the 4 speeds and 12 bolt rear ends out of them setting on the lot at night.
Picked up some goodies today. Thanks to you know who...... High nickle 350 block. 327 large journal crank Holley valve covers never used! NOS balancer Corvette 6 quart pan (also referred to as 5 quart + 1 quart for the oil filter) Turbo 350, with shift kit and stall? Very excited to put these parts to use. Also managed some wire wheel clean up today. Not much more cleaning and prep before paint!
after I cleaned up and re-arranged, surprisingly, I have little extra room. LOL Put those bits to good use, they’ve been idle to long. R
The Jalopy Journal
