Front End: Heidt’s Mustang II with 2” drop, 5/8” narrowed control arms, and power rack and pinion
Transmission: 4L60E
Rear End: 63 Chevy
Exhaust: Fabricated
Wheels/Tires: Budnik G5
Interior: None
Electrical: American Autowire Highway 22
Accessories/Options: None
Sound system: None
Comments:
Kink to the original thread, I thought about re-vamping it but decided to just start a new one because I think the old thread was closed to comments. I thought this way may be a little more enjoyable for everybody.
I bought this wagon way back in March of 2014. I had started a build thread on the site some of you may remember in the build area. Somewhere between then and now multiple things happened. Photobucket decided to go sour and bugger up my thread. I also moved into a new house. The wagon got put to the wayside, as can happen.
Fast forward to now. I have finally gotten settled into the house and plowed through my large list of home improvements. The garage is setup and I am finally starting to get back into my wagon.
As a recap, I bought this wagon in Scottsdale. The plan is to make this a nice cruiser. The main goals are reliability, comfort, and looks. I want the thing to sit right, ride nice, and be something I can trust to get my family anywhere we want to go at the turn of a key. I put a home-built Heidt’s Mustang II front end on it and a triangulated 4-link of my own design. It will be powered by a 4.8L that I got out of a 2009 Silverado along with the matching 4L60E. I am going to run a Holley Dominator ECU, along with their intake, injectors, fuel rail, fuel tank, and everything else that they recommend to go along with it.
I want the car to have a modern engine but still look like an old small block (ish). Here is the engine with an adapter that mounts the truck drive by wire throttle body to an old school air cleaner that I modified to fit.
More to come, it may take me a bit to get everything posted to bring everybody up to speed.
Thank you! The wheels are Budnik G5's 17 x 7 in the front and 17 X 8 in the rear, custom backspace for the application. Been awhile since I bought them so I would have to dig for the specs. I thought they complimented the trim & lines of the wagon well. Tires are BFGoodrich G-Force Sport tires, 245/45/17 in rear and 215/45/17 in front.
I used a $40 gallon of zip strip and a razor scraper from Lowe’s to get 99% of it off. I would brush on a layer, let it sit for 15 minuets and take off the layer that it let me, then repeated until I cut thru the factory red oxide primer. Then the last little bit I got off with a DA and 80 grit paper. Very time consuming and tedious.
It actually very nice except for some minor spots. I did discover that both fenders and the hood were replacements somewhere along the line. When I stripped those the last layer was black instead of red oxide like the rest of the car. They seem to be decent so I’m going to use them. The hood even has the correct holes for the 63 hood emblem and the fenders have all the correct holes for the trim. I’m guessing they were GM replacements because they had the factory light blue under the dark blue. I have no idea if there’s a way to tell for sure though.
Here’s a picture of some rust in the very front tip of the fender. I just cut it out, and welded in some new metal I bent as best I think it turned out pretty good. Both fenders had the exact same rusty spot
I’m still trying to decide how to fix the quarters, they both have rust holes.
Hi Bob! No not black again, we are planning on opposite colors from the SS. Red on the outside, black on the inside. We decided on house of kolor apple red. The interior will be Galaxie grey on the painted surfaces.
I am fortunate that I live in a very dry climate. With the car in the garage it won’t even develop surface rust here. I can leave it in bare metal, hit it with a DA, prep with wax & grease remover and prime at my convenience. I am spoiled I know.
Pretty cool! I “finished” my 63 in August, 2020, and the 4.8 LS motor really was the best choice. I had only paid $350 for it, and with twice the power on the original 194, she scoots fairly well at freeway speeds, and the DBW engine allowed an easy cruise control switch mounting for travel comfort.
Nice! I was hoping to get mine on the cheap but definitely paid more than $350. For what I have in mind for this wagon it should be just about perfect, glad to hear some confirmation!
Pretty cool! I “finished” my 63 in August, 2020, and the 4.8 LS motor really was the best choice. I had only paid $350 for it, and with twice the power on the original 194, she scoots fairly well at freeway speeds, and the DBW engine allowed an easy cruise control switch mounting for travel comfort.
Pretty cool! I “finished” my 63 in August, 2020, and the 4.8 LS motor really was the best choice. I had only paid $350 for it, and with twice the power on the original 194, she scoots fairly well at freeway speeds, and the DBW engine allowed an easy cruise control switch mounting for travel comfort.
Nice installation! I would recommend to come up with an airbox that takes air from outside of the engine bay. I noticed a huge difference on my car after making an air filter box that took air in from behind the grille. The intake air temps dropped 50 degrees and the engine ran much nicer, less sluggish in the summer heat. The filter location and tune was just like what you have but the filter was in a box and the air cam in the front.
i have both sides, but they do have holes at the bottom outside corner, and rust on the inside. basically, it would replace what you are showing in this photo.
certainly, if someone has a rust-free piece, jump on it. these have been in my garage since '06-ish, so no hurry!
Hard to tell from the picture, but the tailgate is also dented up pretty good at the body line. I’m guessing it got damaged and the skin was pierced. The filler was just gobbed on as a fix. The pierced metal allowed water in from the back side which eventually developed into rust.
I have also been using a stud gun along the edges of the door to pull them out more flush to each other. Hopefully if I get them close the rest will be easy to get out with filler and polyester primer.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Chevy Nova Forum
2.4M posts
56.8K members
Since 2004
A forum community dedicated to all Chevy Nova, Chevy II, Acadian owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!