Vanishing Point Nova Wagon

[customline]

Not sure if I should put this one up yet but I'm a bit excited. I reeeeeealy like Gassers. ? .

I got the bug a few weeks back when I picked up the AMT '63 Nova long-roof at Ollie's for 13 bucks.  The chassis is worthless, there's no engine above the oil pan, and the front seat is part of the interior tub.  It's perfect for a gasser. ( ? nothing to lose )  But what about the chassis? Long story short; The Vanishing Point Challenger is the victim. It will provide the chassis,  a unibody affair- like the NOVA. Also the rear axle/springs assy. and the drive shaft's u-joints. That's it. Everything else is whatever I can find around here ?. BTW, don't grieve for the Challenger, it ain't that great and I stole the wheels for the '58 Plymouth. I got it on clearance for a sawbuck.

This is just a diversion from the others I'm trying to deal with so thanks for your interest, it's gonna be fun.....I hope...

I'm going for this sort of thing....but in chrome yellow. Of course. ?

[Brockc]

I’ll follow this one have a soft spot for nova gassers

[customline]

2 hours ago, Brockc said:

I’ll follow this one have a soft spot for nova gassers

I know, right?

[customline]

I jumped in with both feet and grabbed the big razor saw. I wanted to use the last few mms of the Nova floor pan to add to the back of the dodge unit to facilitate a clean joint with the body. The wheel base is virtually the same but the Nova  is a bit wider and somewhat longer.  I added 1/8" Evergreen strips to the edges between wheel wells. I figured I should raise the car in the rear and I plan to radius rather than tub; I like the look. More to follow,, Thanks for stopping by ?.

Edited August 5, 2023 by customline
More B. S.

[customline]

Covered up the surgery with ( aluminum ? ) diamond plate, seemingly for covering up a rusted out floor. To raise the car I added styrene strip to the framework and "reinforced " the framework corners to prepare for heavy duty rear shackles. That's it for now, thanks for looking . 

Hey look, I'm winging it. Very shade tree.

 

[customline]

Just musing over some photos of 1st generation Novas out in the ether. I kinda like the "street-gasser" idea; just a gasser with mufflers and tags. The first one may be nostalgic for some of us- it was easily a $250.00 car when I was a Junior in High School. There's some cool ideas down below. Thanks for hanging.

 

[TarheelRick]

Looking forward to this build. I have one in the "thought" process based on one I saw at the Southeast Gasser race at North Wilkesboro a couple months back.  Either will need to get some decals made or as you said "wing it" with my own design.

 

[Zippi]

Going to be a pretty kewl Gasser project.  I'll be watching this one.  

[ColonelKrypton]

What's not to like?  Early 60's wagon, gasser, SS or A/FX - all the makings of something interesting and unique.

cheers, Graham

 

[customline]

Thanks for jumping in, Rick and Bob. I'm following my nose on this one.  The last time I did a gasser it ended badly. I need to dig that one out and maybe use some parts from it. I'm still gathering ideas and it's the technical stuff where I need to concentrate because I have no "hands on" with 1:1 race cars.  My imagination will take me only so far. There's much freedom of expression involved with the genre. It's an art-form but it's also a race car and I want to be fairly accurate in the technical aspects. Any help with that stuff will be greatly appreciated. All comments, positive or negative, are always welcome. Thanks for those great pix, Rick, that stuff is extremely useful. Any photos taken in the pits that show the way things are built are pure gold.

[customline]

14 minutes ago, ColonelKrypton said:

What's not to like?  Early 60's wagon, gasser, SS or A/FX - all the makings of something interesting and unique.

cheers, Graham

 

Amen, Graham, only limited by the builder's imagination and the rule book.

[espo]

Like your direction on this. Being a Gasser, you would be allowed to move weight around a little. With that in mind your diamond plate rear flooring would fit right in since it would weigh more than the stock sheet metal and put weight over the rear for better traction. 

[bill-e-boy]

Looking like a cool project - i will follow along

If you need more height in rear you can easily bend a radius in the springs - they are quite flat at the moment

 

[customline]

A little progress today. 

I found a wheel/tire combo that I feel works well for a gasser style street machine. Cragar SS mags surrounded by '60s era white walls.  I fabbed a crossmember to hang the ladder bars off of with integrated driveshaft loop. I had it "welded" on the outer framework but thought maybe it should be built from aluminum and bolted onto the framework so I removed it and added mounting plates. The ladder bars in the picture are from an ill-fated '39 Chevy gasser that hit the wall when I broke the one piece flip-nose. I will probably fab up new ones for this one; they need to be a little more prominent than the ones pictured.  

The Challenger floor pan needed some wider rear fender wells so I grabbed the Micro and went outside to grind away with impunity. I experienced some indecisiveness about keeping the wheels inside as opposed to butchering that nice body but regained my focus and just did it.

Next task is to close up the rear wells (tubbing?) And figure out how to create the rear floor because it's going to show. I need to consider the whole interior at this point because the kit tub will not be used, at least not the way it was intended. The roll cage and some sort of spartan upholstery will be needed. Thanks for checking up on me. ?

 

 

[customline]

The radiused openings will need to be "molded" to make the job look "professional".  The top of my radii are very close to the side trim which I would like to keep, and many of these cars are devoid of side trim. I think I can do something like "Gangreen" here.? and still keep the trim. Maybe. ?.

Not like this ?

 

 

 

[TransAmMike]

Gonna be cool....some good looking Nova's in the pics for ideas.  Will be watching.

[espo]

Like the added frame cross member. 

[customline]

Thanks, Mike and Dave. The Chevy Nova seems to be a very popular platform for a gasser. 

Dave, the unibody construction necessitates adding a solid  member to catch the front end of the ladder bars (on my gasser, anyway). I am a ladder bar freak. I love the way they look. My ladder bars are heavy, over-built monstrosities that are a prominent feature of my gasser builds. I love them. They say " There is so much torque here that I need these huge ladder bars to keep the rear axle in the car."  No clamping , no bolting...only welded to the rear axle housing with full penetration welds with 3/4" filets, pre-heated, post heated. MT'd and x-rayed ? .  

Anyway, I fixed the wheel openings with some half-round and raised the front end of the springs another 1/8" for tire clearance. I closed up the wheel wells with .015 sheet. Also,   I over-built a pair of ladder bars which will be painted yellow ?. Nothing says "GASSER"  like 5 foot long , yellow ladder bars. That, and over-sized sheet metal, homemade hood scoops (oh yeah ?).

Yeah, they're kinda low.....?

[slusher]

Real nice work you’ve done on your chassis!  Ii am. Liking your build !  I like Anything fast!  I will be following along. And I hope to Lean something along the way..

Edited August 7, 2023 by slusher
Typo

[deuces wild]

This is awesome!!!!!.....??

[customline]

Thanks, Carl and Guido, I appreciate your interest. I enjoy building something that was not intended by the kit maker.  We are all learning, Carl, and I'm happy to share what I learn with anyone who is willing to tag along. I fixed the ladder bars that were almost scraping the pavement. They were glued to the rear axle housing but, luckily not very well ?. Pix later today.

[Zippi]

That's looking pretty kewl.  I'm liking it.

[customline]

Though they are still quite prominently featured, I was able to rectify the situation without a total re-do (and I am no stranger to that ?). As I explained earlier, I love the way they look ?.....so now I need to concoct a front axle and suspension, modify the interior tub or abandon it altogether in favor of a scratch job. And somewhere along the way I gotta come up with a proper engine. Do I smell a rat? Maybe, but a blown small block might work for this.  I think I have one or two. What about a 455 Olds?....Stay tuned.....

 

[slusher]

The 66 nova is a good candidate as I’m going to try one myself to put on in one of these. Wasgons myself.

[bobss396]

I like it. Definitely a lot of work but worth it. 

The Buddy Nova pictured, I know the builder/owner. Buddy is a Bulldog that goes to cruise nights. He also has a '55 Nomad wagon sedan delivery.