RPM Hot Rods presents "The Runt" 1962 Chevy II
 

Its been a while since we have posted any of our latest projects so here is one we are really excited about. Gerry Kerna is one of our long time customers who we built a 1941 Willys for a few years back. Gerry came to us this time wanting to build a car that SHE (yes I said she :thumbsup: ) could compete with in the Goodguys autocross and other road racing events. She always wanted an early Chevy II so the search began. We found an all original 1962 Chevy II that we quickly picked up and brought back to the shop to go under the knife. With performance and handling being one of the top priorities of this build we called our friends at The Roadster Shop to have a custom chassis built. We told them we wanted to run a 335/30/18 in the rear and a 275/35/18 up front and they quickly went to work. The car was torn apart media blasted and mounted to the frame table to be cut apart. Once the body was mounted to the chassis it was time for the sheet metal work to begin. The floors, trans tunnel firewall and wheel tubs were fabbed up,installed and it was time to pull it off to table and set it on the earth for the first time to get a look at its killer stance. We massaged the bumpers so they fit tight to the body and are currently building the roll cage. Power will come from a 416 cube Mast Motorsports LS3 that at this time is making 600 Hp. We are very anxious to have this car out this year tearing up the autocross tracks and competing at the Optima Street Challenge. Stay tuned for more pics and info as we go..

more pics

Awesome
 

GO RPM

Gerry :thumbsup: you go girl...
thanks for posting...NO holding back on that lil chevy
SOUNDS LIKE A BEAST...MORE PICS PLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAASE

Tom

.....

That's one bas@$$ looking Nova, I love it.

Love these Nova's. Sweet buildup

Looks killer! Nice metal work on the floors/tubs. I still think that the 4-bar brackets make the entire car!

Cant wait to see a rendering. I need to show this to my nephew. He has been asking for a 62-63 Nova for 2-3 years.(he's 15 now) and need a project. After seeing this he wont be able to walk.:rofl:

I'm starting to like these early Novas.....

Looking good!!!!


--Eric

Lookin good, nice touch on the embossed firewall.
Hows the Goodguys mustang coming along?

Looks good guy's. Look forward in seeing the finished product............

looks awesome :thumbsup:

Great looking project keep up the awesome work.:thumbsup:




Randy(D&Z Customs LLC.)
[email protected]
1-262-347-9741

WOW!!! Very nice guys. Should be quiet a transformation. :wow:
Please keep us posted as you guys do great work. Not just on this car, but on the others in the past. THANKS!!:thumbsup: :cheers:

wow...very cool project- subscribed:thumbsup:

What type of suspension are you running?

Looks KILLER!! First gen Nova is probably my favorite car!!

Michael.

upper control arm looks very short probably based off a mustang II design if I had to guess. And a 4 link rear.

Were the rear wheel openings moved rearward to retain the quarter windows? Whats the rocker hieght front and rear and desired ride hieght?

Bad a$$ I love the first gen novas.

I like how you matched the front floorpan embossing to the frame! :thumbsup:

The front is based off a Mustang II, Heidts made the front, The control arms are about 8.25" from the center of the ball joint to the center of the rod-end with adjustments both ways, 4 link rear, Speedway style front and rear swaybars Rocker height is about 3.75 behind the front wheel and about 4 in front of the rear tire. The quarter glass took a little work. But we got them to work perfect. We notched the tubs just a pinch and reworked the tracks slightly and it all worked out. It was nice to work that out while the tubs could still be removed. But the opening remain in the stock location. Travis do you still have the dually?

No I traded it awhile back. Im building a 62 nova now.... :unibrow:

kILLER JOB AGAIN MORE PICS. lOVE THE STANCE:hail: :hail:

BUZZZZ!!!!! WRONG. Please do not affiliate this subframe with mustang II geometry :willy: . It is a modified version of our Camaro Pro-G subframe :thumbsup: .

yeah, if you want to get Chassisworks wound up say the same thing about their g machine front clip........................... :lol:

Come on Curt, WTF, you are better than that! I wouldn't sell you a Mustang II.

This is our latest Nova Chassis. The front uses a modified Heidt's Pro-G. The rear is our 4-bar set up with a 9".

That's an interesting frame setup - in a good way. When I looked at your site I didn't realize that the picture you show for the Chevy II frame is one of your Chevelle Frames (right?). I just glanced at it and saw that it used C5/6 spindles/uprights and assumed that would be the case on the Nova frame. Not that there is anything wrong with any other setup, just an observation and assumption that I made that was incorrect.

Very cool build - I'll be following this one!

This may be a little off-topic, but what do you guys do with the VIN plate on the firewall? I see a few Novas being done but the VIN plate never gets put back on the firewall. What happens when it gets registered?

Glad you chimed in.... how about some specs on the front...?

Camber gain per inch?
Caster?
Instant center
Scrub?
RC?

Boy..... I didn't realize I could get in so much trouble on here. One mistake and everyone is on my butt!!!! And the bad thing is that I knew what it was. That is what happens with 14 employee, 10 projects, 3 kids and twins on the way. I finally think I may be loosing my mind. We do have some mustang II spindles on Ebay. I guess I could always say the damn chassis builders didn't give me a clue on what I got from them!!! SORRY it will not happen again.

Few with the wheel off.

The pictures weren't the greatest on the last one, so here are a few more.

Some of the interior, trunk sheet metal work along with the cage work.

I don't care what they say about you. You are the Man :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

On this car the VIN is located in the front of drivers door jamb between the hinges.. Other cars we just try and get it close to where is was originally located.

The Mustang is coming along pretty good.. Parts are rolling in but are still waiting for more.. I'm gonna dig up the thread we started and update it later today..

Please dont take it that way :bow: We do not want people thinking that its Mustang II geometry, our appologies if it sounded like you were "in trouble" LOL. Killer project, looks like everything is going great.

OH !!!! congrats on the twins :cheers:

Thanks Heidts, Glad not to be in trouble with you, now I just have to work on Phil but that will be a uphill battle. One question for you? On the Speedway swaybar we noticed yesterday that it had rubber bushings as in the past they were copper or delrin. Is there an advantage or disadvantage to that?

Travis where at you at with your project? Are you putting a chassis under it?
I almost felt it was a no brainer once I started weighting the pros and cons.

Ok I'm aware of the vin tag on the drivers door jam, what I'm asking (had I said it correctly) is what do you do with the trim tag that is on the firewall? Does it become a non issue for builds of this caliber?

That is a nice looking frame... we have 2 roadster shop frames in our shop right now.

nice sheetmetal work inside looks good. Im gonna keep an eye on this one haha.

PM sent about my car

The trim tags is removed but the VIN tag is the one that has to be their if it to be driven on the street.you have to have it to cross STATE LINE.