1963 Chevy II

[63ChevyII.com]

I started with a 1963 Chevy II that I used for 3 years as a daily driver. It came with a 194 L6, powerglide transmission and 4 lug drum brakes.








2 years ago, I started tearing the car apart, and with some help from my roommate, took care of body work and had the car painted. Last year power disc brakes, a mini subframe, and a 5 lug rear end were installed. I'm currently in the process of an engine and transmission swap, as well as updating the cooling and fuel systems. Here is what the car looked like before I took it off the road in April:



This is the first car that I've done some serious work on. I've made a bunch of mistakes along the way, but I guess that's part of the learning process.

When I have some time, I'll give some details regarding how I got from the top pics to the bottom two. There are lots of details already on my webpage: 63ChevyII.com

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: 1963 Chevy II

wow... nice nova

[63ChevyII.com]

Re: 1963 Chevy II

wow... nice nova

Thanks. I'm pretty happy with what I've been able to do with my limited knowledge and budget. ;D
I've made a few embarrassing bonehead mistakes, but I think I learned from them.

If you're a nova fan and want to see some pics, take a look here:
63ChevyII.com Photo Gallery

[BulldawgMusclecars]

Re: 1963 Chevy II

Cool project! I built a '63 SS back in the 90s (377, Th350, 9" rear). I was a college kid back then, with limited budget (the budget is still limited...lol!), and did lot of stuff on the cheap....homebrewed disc brake conversion, adapted a later GM tilt, and set up my first ladder bar/coil over suspension. Looking good!!!

[JOES66FURY]

Re: 1963 Chevy II

looks good...I hope I can achieve results half that nice on my free or cheaper budget...

[63ChevyII.com]

Re: 1963 Chevy II

Thanks!

Here are some pics documenting the changes I made to the interior.









As you can see, I changed the interior color to black. I was putting off getting my original seat redone and I found a great deal on a seat of buckets and rear seat. I got them both for $400. I had been getting quotes for around $1200 to recover the original seats and to install a headliner. I dyed the door panels and arm rests. I couldn't dye everything, and ended up buying a few other things. You can see the details & more pictures by clicking here:
63 Chevy Interior Upgrade Details


For sound/heat dampening, I went the home depot route and tested a bunch of different stuff. Ended up using a combination of homemade 'lizard-skin,' peel-n-seal, and reflectix.

[lt1racing]

Re: 1963 Chevy II

cool car!

[63ChevyII.com]

Re: 1963 Chevy II

Made some progress on the nova over the last couple of weeks, mostly related to heater box, trunk, and fan cleanup and refinishing.

pics here: 63ChevyII.com Pics, 07.25.10 - 08.14.10

I was hoping to get the flexplate and torque converter installed today, but hit a bit of a snag. The 292 flexplate I bought a few months ago and 700R4 torque converter patterns don't match up. Looks like I will be drilling the old 194 flexplate for the alignent dowels, unless I can figure something else out. :-\

[DanStokes]

Re: 1963 Chevy II

Am I gathering that you're going to a 292? If so - Good On You for keeping it an inline. I might have a spare 292 flexplate (I have several in the shop). If you can send me some way to identify the 292 unit it's yours for the shipping. I might have sent it to Milner351 (John) when he got my 292 stuff but I'll certainly be happy to look.

Many of the inline Chevy guys think the 194 head is the hot setup so keep it around. It has the smallest combustion chamber so you can get higher compression out of it. If you want to part with it let me know - I seem to be gathering inline Chevy parts as I go and I'd like to have it if we can hit on a price.

Great little car and a cool project. Surprising how TALL that 292 is, isn't it?!

Dan

[63ChevyII.com]

Re: 1963 Chevy II

Thanks for the help - I appreciate it.

Yup - going with a 292. The 292 flexplate should have 9 holes in it where it attaches to the crank - 6 holes for bolts and 3 for alignment dowels. The bolts holes are also 1/2."

Regarding the torque converter holes, if I'm not mistaken the one I need will have the same bolt pattern as a flexplate that will fit a powerglide.

The plan is to get the 194 head rebuilt later and possibly install bolt-in lumps.

The 292 is really tall, esp afer you add an offy intake, carb spacer, a holley 390 and put it next to a stock low deck engine. Since getting the engine in the engine bay, I've put the hood on and the air cleaner I want to use (not the one pictured) clears everything ok.

[Scott Liggett]

Re: 1963 Chevy II

Glad to hear that tall deck 292 fits in your lil Chevy. I had a friend in HS that had one bored out to 302 with a 4 speed in a 67 Camaro. Extremely fast street light to street light. The idle sounded weird to me, though, like a tractor. 8)

[milner351]

Re: 1963 Chevy II

Another inline - cool!

I'm SLOWLY building up a 292 / 200r4 / S10 axle swap for our '54 belair sedan. I have an offy intake too, went with langdon's split manifolds and marine cam. Have the S-10 axle, don't have the 200r4 yet - but my trans shop buddy is going to hook me up with a grand national spec converter and a 200 set up with a mild shift kit and good clutches, etc.


Great looking car - looking forward to reviewing all your pics when I have time, interior looks great too!

[63ChevyII.com]

Re: 1963 Chevy II

Another inline - cool!

I'm SLOWLY building up a 292 / 200r4 / S10 axle swap for our '54 belair sedan. I have an offy intake too, went with langdon's split manifolds and marine cam. Have the S-10 axle, don't have the 200r4 yet - but my trans shop buddy is going to hook me up with a grand national spec converter and a 200 set up with a mild shift kit and good clutches, etc.


Great looking car - looking forward to reviewing all your pics when I have time, interior looks great too!

Thanks. Looking forward to seeing some pics of your project too.

I ended up going with a 153 tooth flexplate from an '85 camaro with a 305. I had to drill out the bolt holes to 1/2" and drill holes for the alignment dowels.

I was hoping to install the torque converter and flexplate yesterday with the engine in the car. I spent about 3 hours messing with it, until I decided to pull both the tranny and engine again. Turns out the flexplate bolts are hitting the torque converter, due to the reinforcement plate/taller profile heads on the ARP flexplate bolts I'm using. I'm going to try removing the reinforcement plate tonight to see if that will give me enough clearance.

I hope I don't have to go with the original flywheel bolts - I have no idea where they are!

[milner351]

Re: 1963 Chevy II

It's stuff like this that drives us crazy - and that allot of people (including most of our wives) just don't understand.

I think it's why some guys cop out and keep everything original. : (boring!)

I was not aware of all the flexplate issues - I hope you get it sorted out - worst case - you can send the ARP's back, and run grade 8 bolts, not as good as ARP but certainly better than 40 year old originals.

Good luck - and great that you took the time to take pictures and document your project, I need to get better at that.

[63ChevyII.com]

Re: 1963 Chevy II

Over the last month or so, I've started working on this swap again. I'm getting closer, but lots of little annoying things are making progress slow:
292/700r4 progress


I saw lots of nice novas over the weekend... good source of motivation!
2011 SoCal Novas CPP Shop Tour & Cruise