63 Corvette Mystery Motor
- Thread starter oldskydog
- Start date
Holy cow, I did not know that! That is sooo cool that the Z06 got one of those engines first 
.
Hmmmm. Pat, is your new project going to be for a display or will it reside in the body of a vehicle?
TomK
.Hmmmm. Pat, is your new project going to be for a display or will it reside in the body of a vehicle?
TomK
I have that magazine, need to read it again, I wonder if they were able to use those headers in the Vet.
I remember that Jr. made a few laps in the car and got out, said the car was not safe because of the independence rear suspension
Jr. also refused to drive the test car in Az. according to Rex Whites book. Said the track wasn't safe. Rex said the same thing but said GM was paying him and he was too broke to be scared
I remember that Jr. made a few laps in the car and got out, said the car was not safe because of the independence rear suspension
Jr. also refused to drive the test car in Az. according to Rex Whites book. Said the track wasn't safe. Rex said the same thing but said GM was paying him and he was too broke to be scared
In a car.
Instead of trying to build a clone of a NASCAR with all the various chassis modifications etc, I think I will build it as how a race team would have received it before mods, so much easier!!
Just a thought, however I will need to get this one running and all tuned and that's going to take some time.
I have not yet reached out to Rusty, he has his running and installed in his Nova.
Still have 3 other projects in the works .
Instead of trying to build a clone of a NASCAR with all the various chassis modifications etc, I think I will build it as how a race team would have received it before mods, so much easier!!
Just a thought, however I will need to get this one running and all tuned and that's going to take some time.
I have not yet reached out to Rusty, he has his running and installed in his Nova.
Still have 3 other projects in the works .
Pat,
You should reach out to Rex White, he is in his eighties now but he might would provide some info on how the cars when they recieved them. The photo of him in Az shows what appears to be a stock 63 Impala but it does have the big floater hubs and wide wheels and tires. Of course they only allowed 8 inch wide wheels with 8:20 x 15 tires then so they weren't all that big.
I think if you visit racersreunion.com you could find out how to get in touch with Rex
You should reach out to Rex White, he is in his eighties now but he might would provide some info on how the cars when they recieved them. The photo of him in Az shows what appears to be a stock 63 Impala but it does have the big floater hubs and wide wheels and tires. Of course they only allowed 8 inch wide wheels with 8:20 x 15 tires then so they weren't all that big.
I think if you visit racersreunion.com you could find out how to get in touch with Rex
409envy
Well Known Member
Is Rusty on this site? I would like to see pics of his Mystery Motor install in the Nova... I wonder how much easier it was to shoe horn in their than the "W"
troublemaker427
Well Known Member
I always thought this would make a cool street car!!
Pat,
That's the picure I'm talking about. See the floater hubs on the front and I'm sure it would have had floating rear axels. The car has a roll cage too but still has headlights. I've heard that Rex and Louis Clements modified the car at thier shop in Spartanburg then drove the car to the GM testing grounds in Az. Then installed the Mystery Motor after they got there. In his book he says they damaged one motor in the tests
That's the picure I'm talking about. See the floater hubs on the front and I'm sure it would have had floating rear axels. The car has a roll cage too but still has headlights. I've heard that Rex and Louis Clements modified the car at thier shop in Spartanburg then drove the car to the GM testing grounds in Az. Then installed the Mystery Motor after they got there. In his book he says they damaged one motor in the tests
409envy
Well Known Member
Found this on accident on Youtube... just searched Myster Motor and this popped up!!! Unreal how clean the installation looks. Sound mean as well.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/WZledVW67PQ
I heard from Rusty yesterday. Here are a few pictures of his Mystery Motor project. Rusty's thought is if GM had not gotten out of racing the logical step forward, when Chrysler came out with the Hemi and Ford produced the Thunderbolt, would be to put the mystery motor in a light body like the Chevy II.
Here are his pics!
Fitting in the Nova engine compartment:
The Body:
Tires:
Here are his pics!
Fitting in the Nova engine compartment:
The Body:
Tires:
409envy
Well Known Member
That is utterly amazing!!! Rusty is living my dream!!! Thanks for the pics...
It looks like Chevy intended for that motor to fit in the Nova... unbelievable! I wish factory manifolds would have been an option for the 409 in my Nova. Unfortunately because of the odd deck angle and where the exhaust ports end up it was next to impossible to get them to fit.
It looks like Chevy intended for that motor to fit in the Nova... unbelievable! I wish factory manifolds would have been an option for the 409 in my Nova. Unfortunately because of the odd deck angle and where the exhaust ports end up it was next to impossible to get them to fit.
That's actually a Chevette R&P steering unit on Rusty's Nova similar to the Chevrolet CERV II experimental vehicle from that time period in the early '60's. There is a link on Steve's Nova site to do a similar R&P installation on early Novas.
david montanbeau
Well Known Member
Any parts from the W engine used to build the Mystery?
Since I'm going to be putting the Mystery Motor in a 63 and the header down pipes are NOS I decided not to cut them up. The 63 Impala I have will be perfect for the engine. My plan is to tie the header down pipes to the exhaust system and fit the collector with an electric cutout. So, my first step was to get a friend of mine to make a jig and made a set of header down pipes I can use with the car and still preserve the originals without cutting them up.
Here are a couple of photos.
Here are a couple of photos.