‘63 Chevy II Pro-Touring Build
 

Hi all,

My name is Brian Knudson and I’ve been a long time lurker here on the forums reading about all the great cars you all have been building over the years. I grew up around cars as my dad was a big car fan in his youth - mainly drag racing and street racing back in the ‘60s. He was a big fan of ‘56 Chevys and owned and built several in the early ‘60s before focusing on the muscle cars Detroit was pumping out in the late ‘60s. He ultimately special ordered a 1969 Plymouth GTX with a 426 Hemi, 4 speed, super track pack, etc, which he owned and raced for two years before selling and moving on to building a house and starting a family... he sure wished he had hung on to that GTX!

As I was growing up, he got the itch again and bought another 1969 GTX - this time a 440 4 speed car that needed a lot of work. That started my love of cars and I worked alongside my dad on that GTX - completely rebuilding the 440, fixing wiring problems, rebuilding the stock suspension, doing bodywork, etc.

Fast forward 30 years and I’m finally at a point in life where the kids aren’t taking up 100% of my time (maybe 90%, lol) and I’m reminiscing more and more about how much I enjoyed working on cars as a kid. I’ve always loved the idea of pro-touring cars - old school cars with modern suspension and engines, capable of reliably driving whenever and wherever, including the occasional auto cross - which is why I’ve always enjoyed following builds on this site.

I finally bit the bullet last spring, and bought a partially complete car from Metalworks - a great shop in Oregon and I believe a sponsor here on lateral g. It’s a ‘63 Chevy II 2 door hardtop - a true SS car. It had full DSE suspension (front subframe, rear Quadra link, subframe connectors, DSE mini-tubs, 9 inch Ford with aluminum center section, 3.90s, double adjustable shocks all around, etc.), and Metalworks did all the custom fabrication work necessary to install the suspension, mini-tubs, a custom tunnel for a T56 6 speed transmission, and a roll bar. They also did all the metal work on the car, which wasn’t a ton as the car was pretty solid to start with - the only significant metal replacement was the passenger quarter panel. I bought it from them as a roller.

I’m currently working with Kurt Anderson from AutoKraft, who is located in Eau Claire, WI (I live in the Twin Cities, about an hour and a half west of Eau Claire), to finish the bodywork and paint the Nova. Some may know Kurt who was active on this site years ago when he worked with Scott Gulbranson, the founder of lateral g, to paint Scott’s red ‘69 Camaro that was the inspiration for this site.

Beyond the paint and bodywork, I’m not sure how much I’ll have Kurt work on additional assembly for me. I’d like to do as much assembly as I can, but recognize that I have limited free time and would like to enjoy the car as much as possible, and if I do assembly on everything it’s likely to take me years to finish this (between work and kids, I still have a ton going on). This car is meant to be enjoyed on the road - mainly on the streets as a fun driver and occasionally on the track for autocross and drag race action.

Over the next few days, I’ll try to add some posts and pictures to show my progress to date - which hasn’t been a ton as far as the body goes as Kurt was really backed up when I first brought the car to him. So, I’ve been focusing more on drivetrain work and accumulating parts while it’s in paint jail. I’ve really enjoyed working on this for the last few months and look forward to what will likely be a lengthy build, due to limited time. Maybe when I get it home and can start to work on it myself, my son will take a liking to it like I did with my dad’s GTX when I was his age....


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You're in great hands with Kurt. :cheers:

Here’s some pictures of the Nova before acid dipping...https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7c335ac3d2.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...365b9fe727.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e2d422e0b3.jpg


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After acid dipping... you can see the rust on passenger side rear quarter, which was ultimately replaced
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Replacing rear quarter...
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Fabrication for Quadra Link..
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Mini-tubs...
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Trans tunnel for T56... last picture you can see the 9” rear installed...
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Sorry, here’s the photo where you can see the rear end installed... you can also see the trans crossmember that was built and attached to the subframe connectors...
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Some photos of DSE front subframe... the motor and trans that you see in the pictures were for mock up and didn’t come with the car as I purchased it...
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More photos of the mock up to fit front subframe...
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Photos on the frame rack...

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Building roll bar...

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Prepping for primer...

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Primed... this is how I purchased it... a roller in primer
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Going to be an incredible car. Looking forward to watching your progress!!

Chris

Since AutoKraft has had the Nova, they’ve welded up the holes on the sides of the car as I won’t have any side trim on the car. They’ve also done some work on the panel gaps, which were actually pretty decent. I’m going to put a Vintage Air unit in it and we’ll run the hoses under the passenger front fender, so we welded up all the holes in the firewall to smooth it out. They also welded in the bracket DSE makes to mount the hydraulic clutch master cylinder alongside the brake master cylinder.

They’ve also done a lot of work on smoothing the body for paint... primer, lots of block sanding, more primer, more block sanding... once that effort is complete, Kurt plans to get the Nova on the rotisserie so we can complete the work on finishing the firewall and prepping the underside. Attached are some pictures of the Nova during the block sanding process...

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I’ve never been a fan of the stock gas caps on the first gen Novas, so we’re going to use a Ridetech cap. The window trim, grill, bumpers, door handles, etc will all be painted black, and we’re going to paint the gas cap to match as well. I think this cap will be a nice upgrade from the stock one. Sorry, picture isn’t the greatest...
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‘63 Chevy II Pro-Touring Build
 

While Kurt has been working on the body, I’ve been doing a bit of work on the drivetrain. Because I want the reliability and drivability that modern fuel injected engines provide, I’ve always thought that when I build a car like this, I would use an LS motor of some sort. Then, Chevrolet released the new LT engines, which are incredible (direct injection, etc.)... I have a 2017 Camaro ZL1 with the 650 hp LT4 (same engine as the Z06 Corvette) and love that motor, but wanted the Nova to be naturally aspirated. I thought about using the new LT1 crate engine that Chevrolet has, but I would want more power than the base crate engine, and the aftermarket isn’t nearly as mature for the LT engines as it is for the LS engines. Also, an LT engine would likely require additional fabrication for motor mounts, headers, etc., whereas the LS engines are easy drop ins. So, I decided I would stick with an LS engine.

I’ve always been a huge fan of the LS7 - insane amounts of power and torque in a small package. The ability to rev to over 7,000 rpm and the nostalgia of it being a 427 sealed the deal for me, so I started thinking about my options for an LS7. I again considered a LS7 crate engine, but would want to make modifications to it (bigger cam, port heads, better intake manifold, etc). Also, I don’t want to run a dry sump in the Nova, so would have additional expense to convert it to wet sump if I went the GM Performance crate engine route. Also considered a crate engine from Mast Motorsports, but ended up building one from scratch.

I had read a lot over on the Corvette forum and LS forums about head, cam and intakes package that Tony Mamo offers through his company, Mamo Motorsports. Tony worked for years as the head of development at Air Flow Research before leaving to go out on his own a few years ago. I called him up and we discussed my project and my objectives and he helped me source some of the parts for my engine. I researched and purchased everything else and we ended up with the following: brand new LS7 block I acquired from GM Performance, Callies forged crank and rods, Wiseco forged pistons, King coated bearings, Mamo Motorsports LS7 heads (brand new castings from Trick Flow Specialties CNC ported by Tony and then hand finished), custom cam spec’d by Tony, Johnson short travel lifters, Yella Terra roller rockers custom made for Tony’s heads, custom length Manton push rods, MSD Atomic intake ported by Tony, Deutschwerks 60 lb injectors, Nick Williams 102mm drive by wire throttle body, etc.

Tony has dozens of these head, cam and intake packages in LS7s in C6 Z06 Corvettes across the country and they flat out make incredible power... usually around 625-640hp at the tire, depending on other mods (air intake, header size, etc). The heads flow over 400 cfm on the intake side, but do so through smaller ports than a stock LS7 head, so they are able to make power not only at high rpms, but also have incredible part throttle response, due to the efficient port design. Plus, the port velocity allows him to build with a higher static compression ratio and a bigger cam, yet still have good drivability. We spec’d mine for around 12:1 (we have 93 octane here in MN). We checked it with a Katech Whistler after assembled, and final compression ratio was 11.8:1

Attached are some pics of the heads...
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‘63 Chevy II Pro-Touring Build
 

While I have experience working on motors when I grew up (small and big block Chevrolet engines, Mopar wedge motors, etc.), I have no experience with LS engines, so I wasn’t going to build this myself... especially considering the investment I made in all of those parts. Luckily, Doug Rippie, who has significant experience modifying and building LS engines for Corvette owners across the country, is located about a half hour from me. Doug also installed one of Tony Mamo’s H/C/I packages on a customer’s Z06, so he was familiar with Tony’s parts and assembly requirements (like measuring each push rod for custom length). Doug was awesome... very patient in dealing with me and teaching me as I asked a lot of questions.

Motor is assembled now... I’m going for a “stock-like” look for the LS7. Tony offers a “stealth” upgrade for the MSD Atomic intake, drastically changing the look of it. If anyone has seen the MSD Atomic intake, it’s got “MSD AIr Force” in big red letters across the top - I really don’t like the look. Tony shaves those logos off the top of the intake and then paints it a nice textured black. He then takes the LS7 fuel rail covers and shaves the edge where the fuel rail cover meets the intake runners, since the MSD intake is shaped much different than the stock LS7 intake. The result looks pretty close to stock, unless you really have a sharp eye.

I did deviate from stock in that I didn’t use a GM front end accessory drive for it. I didn’t like where the air conditioning compressor was located on the various OEM accessory drives. Holley recently released a new mid-mount accessory drive for LS engines that is really compact. It’s unique because the water pump is a specific Holley design where all of the other accessories mount to the water pump. It eliminates brackets and spacers and makes for a really clean and compact design. I got the black version, which I think really looks sharp. Attached are some photos of the completed motor with the Holley accessories installed. The photo shows a polished NIck Williams throttle body that I had picked up used. I’ve since purchased a black version of the same throttle body and will swap it out as the black version will look much nicer. I’m going to dyno the motor in the coming weeks... we’re expecting around 725hp at the crank...

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Will be using Ultimate Headers on the LS7... 1 7/8” in a very compact package and made specifically to fit LS engines in the DSE subframe for Chevy IIs. Craftsmanship on these are stunning. Highly recommend them and the owner of the company is a great guy to deal with...

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Outstanding. :cheers:

Thanks!


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Thanks, Chris... I’m following your build thread, too! Amazing combination of parts you’re putting together on your Camaro!


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‘63 Chevy II Pro-Touring Build
 

For the rest of the drivetrain on the Nova, I’ve got a QuickTime bell housing and a Katech LS9X clutch kit. The Katech kit takes the factory dual disc clutch and pressure plate from the ZR1 corvette (LS9, not the LT5) and adapts it for use with LS engines (crankshaft bolt patterns are different), using the ZR1 slave cylinder and a Katech designed flywheel. The entire combination is 12 pounds lighter than the stock ZR1 clutch/pressure plate/flywheel combo. Those that have it rave about its ability to hold power while retaining an OEM feel and no rattling in neutral like after market dual disc clutches.

I also purchased a new close ratio T56 from D&D transmissions in Michigan (Don was exceptional - very responsive and reasonable). They did the “Stielow upgrades” to it (they supplied Stielow with the T56 for his most recent build).. bronze shift forks, full carbon blocker rings and they swapped out the .63:1 sixth gear in the close ratio T56 for a .5:1 sixth gear found in the wide ratio T56. The taller sixth gear will allow for better drivability on freeway with the 3.90 rear...


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Awesome build! I will be following.

Thanks!


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When I was considering radiators for the Nova, I looked at a lot of different options - DeWitt’s, PRC, AFCO, Entropy, AutoRad, C&R and others. The early Chevy II’s don’t have much space up front for a large radiator, so core size is pretty limited without completely redoing the core support and filler panels. Most of the available radiators have stock core dimensions. AutoRad makes a custom unit that is beautiful - custom core support and filler panels which open up the space to run a much larger core; however, my front end was already set up for the stock core support and I wanted to incorporate an engine oil cooler and power steering cooler into the radiator as well.

I ended up purchasing a radiator from C&R Racing with dual Spal fans as it was the best overall compromise for me. The end tanks are designed in a way that allows a meaningfully larger core size than a stock sized unit, but still fits within the frame rails of the DSE subframe (although I will need to make some minor modifications to enlarge the core opening and flatten the surfaces of the core support on either side of the radiator, but those shouldn’t be a big deal). It also integrates an engine oil cooler and power steering cooler into the radiator as well. Finally, C&R built it using their new extruded core technology, which provides more efficient cooling and higher strength than traditional cores. So. I’m pretty happy with it, and it should provide plenty of cooling for the LS7.

My plan is to run the fans using PWM fan control from the ECU. Thanks to all who contributed to the excellent thread on PWM fan control - it’s filled with really helpful information. I picked up a new fan assembly for a Cadillac XLR with the factory PWM controller and related wiring/connectors, etc. on eBay. My plan is to set up the PWM output in my Holley Dominator ECU using tables with multiple triggers (e.g., speed, A/C on, coolant temp, etc), similar to what andrewb70 outlined in that thread. Attached is a picture of the radiator from C&R.

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So awesome! I remember seeing that car for sale.

Yeah, Kurt is the best! Really happy to be working with him!


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Yep - I first saw it here when it was listed for sale... thanks!


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‘63 Chevy II Pro-Touring Build
 

For the fuel system, I decided to go with a Rick’s Restomod tank. I consulted with Carl at Vaporworx regarding the appropriate fuel module for my application. Because I’m expecting horsepower in the low 700s at the crank, and my LS7 is naturally aspirated, he recommended the ZL1 fuel module as an upgrade over the base LS3 fuel module. Carl is great - really knows his stuff.

I ordered the tank from Kim at Matt’s Classic Bowties. Big shout out to Kim - she is awesome... very knowledgeable, responsive and friendly. I ordered a bunch of stuff from her during their Black Friday sale and she was on top of everything and so easy to deal with. Tank arrived at AutoKraft a few weeks ago and looks great.

I’m also going to order from Carl his Vaporworx fuel module controller. The ZL1 fuel module puts out a lot of volume, but I won’t need that most of the time. Rather than running the pump constantly and restricting the output back to 60psi, the PWM unit will allow the pump to run at a fraction of its normal output, generating less heat and less wear on the pump. That should lead to long term reliability like an OEM unit.

The ZL1 fuel module uses PWM control from the factory; however, most people don’t use PWM in these types of applications. As a result, Ricks normally replaces the 88psi OEM regulator with the 60psi regulator that comes in the LS3 fuel module. Because I’m going to use the Vaporworx module, I had Rick’s leave in the 88psi fuel regulator. Using the higher regulator allows the PWM module to accurately sense the pressure of the fuel coming out of the module and cut back on the power to the pump as necessary to limit pressure to 60psi. Pretty cool stuff.

‘63 Chevy II Pro-Touring Build
 

Not much to update on bodywork progress... thought I’d share what I ended up doing for brakes. After reading this long but very informative thread on proper brake sizing (https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...Tobin-of-KORE3), I had Ron Sutton help me run some brake torque calculations for me to optimize the braking system for the Nova (I know Sutton’s reputation is trash right now due to recent events with his company, including Greg Weld’s debacle with him, but I found him helpful and knowledgeable for this exercise).

He ended up recommending a Wilwood package - Aero 6 calipers for the front with the larger piston sizes to provide a greater piston area and Superlite 4 calipers in the rear, again with larger piston sizes to provide adequate piston area). We went with the Superlite 4 calipers in the rear rather than the Aero 4 calipers, which would have been a better cosmetic match to the Aero 6 front calipers, because the piston sizes of the Aero 4 calipers weren’t a good match to provide adequate and balanced braking. We were targeting around 3000# of brake torque when equipped with street pads and 3500# of brake torque with track pads, each with a 70/30 front to rear bias. The piston sizes for the Aero 4 calipers were either too small or too large to achieve our targets with adequate levels of brake torque.

I went with 14.25” front rotors and 14” rear rotors, drilled and slotted, in Wilwood’s Spec-37 material. With Wilwood BP-10 street focused pads, a Wilwood 7/8” manual dual master cylinder, and an adjustable proportioning valve, this combination results in approximately 3100# of brake torque in our desired 70/30 bias. That should be more than adequate for the street with 255 width front tires given the Nova’s lighter weight. For track days, I can swap in BP-20 track focused pads, which should, with their higher coefficient of friction and the higher operating temperatures on the track, increase brake torque to around 3500# at our 70/30 bias.

Attached are a couple of photos of the front rotors and calipers - they’re big, should work awesome and will look great behind the wheels!

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Fantastic Build...…….

Thank you sir!


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Great build Keep it up.

Thanks for the kind words!


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‘63 Chevy II Pro-Touring Build
 

I’m heading over to AutoKraft next week to check out their progress on prepping the Nova for paint. Kurt and his team have been working on it for the last couple of weeks, so I’m anxious to see it!

In the meantime, I thought I’d share a few pictures of my wheels and tires that came in recently. I decided to go with Forgeline’s SE3C Concave wheels, which are a three piece forged wheel. I went with an 18x11 with a deep concave profile in the rear and an 18x9 with a shallow concave profile up front, which will give a staggered look. The inner hoops are satin black powder coated, as are the wheel centers. The outer hoop has a reverse flat lip and a brushed finish that is then clear coated. Center caps are also powder coated satin black with red and white Forgeline logo.

For tires, I looked for the best combination of a really sticky tire for braking, cornering and dead hook when accelerating (I’m expecting a little over 700hp at the crank and the Nova is pretty light...), and if they look good, that’s a bonus, too. After a lot of research, I ended up with Toyo R888Rs, and am really excited to try them out. They’re Toyo’s DOT competition road course tire and while they’re designed for great handling on dry surfaces (and they’re serviceable in wet conditions), they apparently hook really well from a dig, too. A lot of Hellcat owners have put these on their cars and they rave about the night and day difference in traction (Hellcats are notorious for not being able to put power down as you can’t stuff much wheel width under them).

I went with a 305/35/18 on the rear and a 255/35/18 up front. DSE recommends a maximum 295 width tire on the rear with their mini tubs for first gen cars. However, Kurt measured things up and is confident we have enough clearance for a 305 width, so we went with that. Should fill the wheel wells nicely :)

I’m really excited to see these on the car and check out the stance. We need to order some new wheel studs first as the existing ones are way too long. Once we get the new wheel studs installed, we’ll test fit the wheels and I’ll post some pictures. In the meantime, here are some pictures of the wheels after getting them unpacked. I think the wheel style should look great on the Nova and the color should compliment nicely the red Wilwood calipers and 14” rotors!

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Awesome wheels! :woot:

Thanks!


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