1962 Upgrades

[fourspeed409]

I thought I would share some progress I have been making on my Biscayne.
I started restoring the car back in about 2002. In 2007 it was ready to be driven. We enjoyed the car for that summer, it got raced a couple of times and about 200 street miles. I sold the small block that was in it and didn't do anything with it for years.
The whole project was put on hold while we dabbled in drag racing for a while. My youngest son got himself a jr dragster a couple of years ago and that has kept me busy for the past couple of years.
This year it got a new small block making way more power than the last one.

This is what I started with for an engine. It came out of my race car looking like this. 355cid that made 575hp with 1 carb on a victor manifold

The engine got trimmed down to look more like a street engine.

 

[63 dream'n]

Looks great.......better yet, looks like fun........

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

I like the look of a Biscayne in Black, plus what I suspect is a high revving small block .

Hang around with this group long enough and you'll soon have a "W" under that hood!

TomK

 

[DonSSDD]

575 HP sounds good.

Don

 

[fourspeed409]

Next project was an oil pan. I wanted to teach myself how to weld aluminum. Welding bits of metal together for practice was getting boring. This is what I came up with for practice It looks a bit Frankenstein but it should do the trick. The pan shakes hands with everything but fits like a glove. I mocked it up first with cardboard. Cut the pieces out on a big scroll saw. There where hours fitting and welding.
Shane

 

[1961BelAir427]

WOW That pan looks great. Kickout, windage screen, trap door, I think I see baffles on the back wall to keep oil from climbing up on launch. I'm thinking that you should have cut out spares of all the pieces because I bet you could sell those. The next one would be easier.

 

[fourspeed409]

Thanks for the kind words guys.
Shane

 

[MRHP]

Nice stuff.

 

[HemiChallenger71]

Nice project.

I guess I have to ask how 575 hp comes out of a 355?

 

[jim_ss409]

Nice job on the pan!
Nice engine too!

 

[BSL409]

Very nice work

 

[Jim Sullivan]

Very nice!

 

[fourspeed409]

Thanks guys.
HemiChallenger I am guessing the power in the little 355 is coming from the heads. They are afr 227cc cnc eliminators with thier competition porting. The rest is pretty basic. 10.2:1 compression. Super victor intake with a 950hp Holley carb. The way it sits in the car now it will be down on power a fair bit. It only has 1-5/8" headers and a victor jr intake.
The next challenge was fitting in the Doug Nash 5 speed. I had to fabricate a new crossmember with the mount built in.
Note the wood shifter mount, it is for mock up. It will be copied in aluminum once i get things fitting how I want them. I had to relocate the Long vertigate shifter to clear the bench seat. Hard to believe that big shifter fits in the stock shifter hole.
Shane

 

[BSL409]

I have the perfect seat with a cut out for the 5 speed shifter if your looking

 

[HemiChallenger71]

That explains it! Must be spinning her pretty high.
Hard to quantify how much your loosing with the single carb intake but if it still made 575 with it I think your doing pretty good!
Why such small headers? What you have to work with?
My buddy has 1 3/4" primaries to 3" collectors on his '62, and theyre nothing special or expensive.

 

[fourspeed409]

Thanks for the offer on the seat Brian. I should be good with my original seat now.
HemiChallenger. The engine had 2 850 holleys on a Hogan sheet metal manifold. It also had 2" headers in the race car. It went 10.03 in a 2900# malibu. It made peak hp at 7200 rpm.
The headers on the Biscayne are from the small motor that was in it.
My goal is to only run 11.50 seeing as how there is no rollbar in the car.


A couple of months ago I got the 12 bolt rear all setup. 4.88 pro gears, Strange caps and spool, 33 spline axles.


Shane

 

[nomad59NZ]

Shane, this is looking to be some serious stuff going on here, 575hp, nash g/box, 12 bolt, how better could this be.
it is going to really boggie

Gav

 

[BSL409]

Thanks guys.
HemiChallenger I am guessing the power in the little 355 is coming from the heads. They are afr 227cc cnc eliminators with thier competition porting. The rest is pretty basic. 10.2:1 compression. Super victor intake with a 950hp Holley carb.View attachment 31635 The way it sits in the car now it will be down on power a fair bit. It only has 1-5/8" headers and a victor jr intake.
The next challenge was fitting in the Doug Nash 5 speed. I had to fabricate a new crossmember with the mount built in. View attachment 31636 View attachment 31637
Note the wood shifter mount, it is for mock up. It will be copied in aluminum once i get things fitting how I want them. I had to relocate the Long vertigate shifter to clear the bench seat. Hard to believe that big shifter fits in the stock shifter hole.
Shane

Shane, Is the trans solid mounted ? kinda looks like it in the photo if so that's a Big NO NO

 

[fourspeed409]

Brian, the trans is mounted solid to the crossmember. The engine has solid mounts also. There are urethane bushings in the ends of the transmission crossmember to absorb chassis flex. Do you think this will be acceptable, or should i re engineer the whole setup?
Thanks
Shane

 

[1961BelAir427]

I would use a rubber or poly mount at the transmission. The bushings at the ends of the trans crossmember may be enough "give" but I would not chance it.....especially with a transmission that valuable.