chevynovaman

HAS ANYONE STUCK A BIG BLOCK CHEVY IN A 62 NOVA, AND HOW DOES IT FIT WITH THE TIGHT FENDERWELLS, ALSO WHAT HEADERS TO USE??? SEEMS LIKE ITS GOING TO BE TO TIGHT TO FIT FOR THE HEADERS.. I AM AWARE OF THE OIL PAN ISSUES. THANKS

zipper06

If you use stock front suspension you have the notch the spring towers and re-weld a vertical plate for strength, and go with fender well headers. I've done that a couple times in days gone by.

Zip.

chevynovaman

ZIPPER06 ,,THANKS FOR THE RESPONSE,, I AM THINKING ABOUT PUTTING IN A TCI OR A HEITDS? FRONT CHASSIS UPGRADE...HAVE YOU DONE ANY?? I JUST GOT MY 496 FROM THE MACHINE SHOP FRESHLY BUILT AND BROKE IN.. LAST YEAR I RAN 383 PUMP GAS MOTOR, 11.36 @119 1/4 MILE

johnracer

I've seen a few with the Chasssisworks fronts and they look sweet. Bigblock would be easy with any of the upgraded front suspensions......
I had a 63 about 7 years ago with a 406 and 1 7/8" fenderwell headers and had to notch the shock towers for that. You'd have to take a BIG chunk for a bigblock and would still be crowded. Like those early Novas though. The 63 was my first racecar and I kinda miss it sometimes. Cheap & simple.....
Later,
Johnny

zipper06

I've only ran stock suspension, and in fact ran 6 cylinder springs and 90/10 shocks up front, but that's with the sm/blk, I did notch the shock towers because i had under the chassis 1 3/4" to 1 7/8" step headers.
Obviously an after market front suspension is the best approach especially with a b/blk and they are bolt in's. Just don't forget to tie the frame rails, that is a must if you haven't already done that, otherwise the body will crack below the rear window qtr. panel and roof line (been there and done that) Below is one of the cars i built and owned, the car was not butchered in any way,mini tubbed 12" tires, ladder bars, only a glass hood, roll up windows and real glass(all stock inside) with 406" it ran a best of 10.31@ 129.85 and that was 20 yrs. ago on gas. Today i can do that with a 355" motor, new technolagy and better heads.
I would say go with the Heith front suspension and never look back.

JMO

Zip.

Tod74

Zip that's a cool car. Love those old Chevy II'S

signsbyesa

wild thing burning rubber, yea, how about a sbc 454 merlin? man
i have heard that puppy and you can hear it coming around the
block, good luck :wink:

BEAST477

One more thing you should do is continue the front bars that go to the fire wall on through to your cage. Because those frontends don't come with inner fenders which is part of the structural support in the front after a few hard launches it will start to push the firewall back. Other than that they are a good setup.