Grumpy's Toy '66 Chevy Nova

[Dragfreak]

Looks much better than before Niko!

[Tony1200]

old pan looks official,nice job

[gasser59]

Niko - you're doing this vehicle some justice. Great build so far and I like the fact you're trying to be as accurate as possible.

[John Teresi]

Niko…….great work as always…….looking forward to the next up-date.

[Scalper]

Nice start so far.

[Danno]

This is going to be well worth watching!

[W-409]

Thanks Guys! I really appreciate the kind words. This kind of subject that really interests me is something that I want to get "right". Well, even if it won't be a 100% perfect replica, it'll be close. Now I can get back to this with full attack since I just finished my '61 Olds Wagon Mild Custom. I'll take pics of it and post it in Under Glass in a couple of days, so stay tuned...

[John Pol]

What no updates don`t keep us hanging here lol

[6bblbird]

Oil pan looks good. I never thought of stacking styrene sheet to make the sump. Seems much easier than trying to make a box from sheet.

WF

[High octane]

I recently got some slicks from Speed City Resin, 7" & 9" Cheaters as well as Goodyear Blue Streaks. Nice stuff.

[hack-n-whack]

Nice job on that Nova. Da Grump would have been proud! With all that work on Grumpy's deep-sump pan, please don't forget a drain plug! Your model is coming along very nicely. Keep at it.

[W-409]

Thanks Fellas!

John: Heh, that's funny . Here we go, a little update to you all...

Walter: Yep, it's pretty easy way to do, especially if done a bit more carefully than I did. So that it could be built with less putty.

Nick: Yes, their Slicks are really nice. I have '63 Impala Z11 project (Still waiting for a donor kit) and for that one I ordered one set of those tires. Anyway I just thought that I should order a pair of them to use in this Nova, too, as I'm doing other modifications as well and I don't want that kind of a little thing to be inaccurate. I did a test fit with them again, and they look actually pretty good, even if I first doubted it.

Thomas: The drain plug will be added. I just need to figure out what should I use for that. I could of course order ready aftermarket parts, but they are pretty expensive. I just wonder if there was a good way to make one or where could I find something similar to that? Does anyone have a good idea?

Well here we have a little update. Nothing special, but I got the oil pan painted. It's flat black spray paint by Maston and it lays down really nice and smooth. I also removed the orange paint from the engine, and shoot some Primer on it, too. Probably tomorrow I'll paint that flat black too so I could start the headers...

[John Pol]

For the drain plug you can buy Hex rod from Plastruct they have the size you need. That oilpan really looks good so far

[brett]

you're doing a great job here Niko well done dude

[W-409]

Thanks John and Brett! I appreciate the kind words.

John: Why didn't I think about that! I have to go and pick some up, I'm actually going to visit one of my Local Hobby Shops tomorrow. I'll see if I can find Plastruct products from there. I know there's another shop selling them, so I should find one at least from there, if the first one doesn't have their stuff.

I will paint the engine block and cylinder heads tomorrow. I was going to do it today, but I had a hurry day and all I could do was that little amount of work with Impala's Firewall.

[Romell R]

Great start on a great project Niko I cant wait to see this one progress

[geetee66]

I take my hat off to you sir!

This is interesting to follow. I love all the reference material and input from the rest of the guys

I'm enjoying seeing your builds take shape

Thanks for sharing your pics and stuff

[tyrone]

I've watched you get better and better with each project you take on Niko.... great job on the oil pan and everything else...

[W-409]

Romell: Thanks! I'm really exited to build this car, too.

Guy: Thanks, the reference material and input coming from other fellows is going to be very important in this build. I tried to do a good amount of research before I started this one, but I came up with a very little information. I'm glad to see people with lots of great info in here. And I really enjoy your builds, too. You do great work and that '55 Chevy is a real beauty!

Tyrone: Thank You! It's great to notice how much my skills have improved because of the great advice and tips I've got. I'm glad to hear that others can notice the same thing. Your work has been a great inspiration!

Well I visited the Hobby Shop, but there were no Plastruct products. I will have to go to that City really soon anyway, so I'll stop by on the other shop that sells those things. Meanwhile I could start the interior.

[W-409]

I visited in other two Hobby Shops. Well I didn't find the Hex Rod from the first shop, but I left with Revell '66 Chevy Impala that will be a Stock Eliminator Drag Car, one bottle of Alclad Chrome and Humbrol Gloss Black. The second shop had Plastruct stuff and I bought the hex rod from there. Now I made the drain plug. I don't know where it should be, but since I saw many different places for that, I decided to install mine on the side of the oil pan. I also added a bolt to the oil filter tube (What is the real name for it?).

[W-409]

Not a big update, but I have started assembling the engine. I glued the oil pan, timing chain cover and heads on place. Intake Manifold was painted with Humbrol's Polished Aluminium paint. Valve Covers were one thing that I was wondering for a long time. Finally I decided to spray one coat of flat clear over the chrome plating and I think they turned out Okay. I'll need to paint more parts to be able to continue assembling the engine, but the Headers are on my To Do list as well.

[jasoncamaro]

Looking good Niko your work is really clean

[samdiego]

Thanks for the link to here, Niko. Somehow I missed it when I searched for Grumpy. And perfect timing as I've just finished an orange small block with lovely little silver alternator vanes. I'm not going overboard with mine, box stock mostly. I did want to be accurate on the intake though. I've seen two photos of Grumpy with black blocks, 1 with Alu heads, but they looked later than '66 to me so I ignored them. Great info here, I'll be checking back.

[W-409]

Thanks!

I'm glad this thread could help, Sam. This kit will build up really nicely, and I bet your Nova will look great when finished. I haven't seen any of those pics actually, only the one Alan posted in this thread. It seems to be hard to find engine or interior shots of these old Drag Cars, but luckily I have the one.

I will start the headers really soon. I will have to make header flanges first and then move to the actual headers. I'm going to try making them from plastic instead of solder I usually use. Let's see if it turns out okay.

[Dragfreak]

I don't know if you have a technique for making them from evergreen, but I've found that drilling the exhaust ports the size of your rod then making the flange with the holes drilled to match makes building the unit (at least for me) a lot easier. I'm sure no matter what you end up doing, they will look very good.