Find or Sell Used Cars, Trucks, and SUVs in USA

1965 Chevrolet Nova Chevy 2 Chevy Ii 1962-65 Nova Car V8 Powerglide on 2040-cars

Year:1965 Mileage:4974 Color: Tan /
 White and Tan
Location:

Plano, Texas, United States

Plano, Texas, United States
Transmission:Aluminum Powerglide 2 Speed w/ Transmission Break
Body Type:Sedan
Vehicle Title:Clear
Engine:400 small block bored .3 over
Fuel Type:Gasoline
For Sale By:Private Seller
Year: 1965
Number of Cylinders: 8
Make: Chevrolet
Model: Nova
Trim: base coup 4-door
Drive Type: RWD
Mileage: 4,974
Disability Equipped: No
Exterior Color: Tan
Warranty: Vehicle does NOT have an existing warranty
Interior Color: White and Tan
Condition: UsedA vehicle is considered used if it has been registered and issued a title. Used vehicles have had at least one previous owner. The condition of the exterior, interior and engine can vary depending on the vehicle's history. See the seller's listing for full details and description of any imperfections.Seller Notes:"The car was rescued from my fathers home in the deserts of Carlsbad, NM. It is a bit dirty, there is a short somewhere requiring the battery to be disconnected when parked. The body is in pretty good shape except for a few small cancer spots at the lower doors and it was hit in the left rear corner once. The body where it was hit has been straightened mostly but there is some chrome trim missing from that spot. The transmission was built for racing with a very aggressive manual valve body and thus needs a rebuild soon due to clutch wear. A less aggressive manual valve body would be better for street use. Bucket seats installed in front to make room for hurst shifter are worn and need to be recovered, interior generally not in great shape. Definitely a clean up project but not a bad place to start."

Before I get into this, I want to mention that I have almost all of the receipts and information about the parts purchased for the motor, and some for other parts as well.  I will provide all of that to the buyer.

 I purchased this car while in High School back in 1998.  It became a project for me and my father.  First we removed the 350 that was in the car, and dropped in a 400 small block.  It has 6-inch eagle rods with ARP rod bolts, Kieth Black Hyperutectic aluminum flat top pistons.  
We used Albert $ Childs chrome rings/zero gap rings.  The heads are somewhat stock 2.02/1.60 heads with roller rockers, hardened push rods, and anti pump up lifters.  Final compression ratio was 10.25/1.  The rotating assembly was all balanced.  Bottom end is very strong.  I believe the block was also decked a bit, but I'm not 100% certain on that.  We used a mild street cam from Comp Cams, lift is .510.  I do have the cam spec card and can email a copy if interested.  It also has Headman headers, an aluminum intake, and an Accel Blueprint Electronic distributor.  The carb was nothing special, just some Holley 650 we had laying around the shop.  We cooled it with an aluminum radiator, a makeshift oil cooler, and a 7 quart Moroso oil pan.  I believe the motor has a lot of potential in the right hands, and doesn't have many miles on it.

 The drivetrain includes a Powerglide rebuilt with a very aggressive manual valve body, transmission break, improved clutchs (and more of them) and a hardened input shaft (after we twisted the original in half).  We also installed a stall converter from TCI, I believe the stall is around 3,000rpm or slightly less.  It has heavy duty U-joints and a Ford rear end with posi-track.  We also installed bucket seats in the front to make room for the Hurst shifter.  The tranny break is operated with a button on top of the shifter.  These old Novas had a Uni-body, so Competition Engineering chassis braces and leaf spring hangars were installed, which stiffened up the chassis and relocated the leaf spring mounts inward slightly.  This allows for the use of a bigger tire/wheel if desired, although the wheel wells would need to be cut to go much bigger than 10 inches, but that is pretty easy.

 To add a bit more about the History of the car, I am not sure how many owners it had before me, but the body/interior was definitely in a lot better condition back in 1998 than it is now.  I went to away to college in 2001 and left the car with my father, who left it sitting in his front yard.  He lives in Carlsbad, NM which is pretty dry desert.  The nice paint job was literally sand blasted and the interior took it's share of the beating as well.  My father is a High School teacher, and is also friends with the Auto shop teacher.  Last year he let the auto shop teacher pick the car up, and the students did a lot of work on it.  They removed the gas tank and cleaned it out, kitted the carb, and did some work on the front end.  They replaced a lot of bushings and parts in the front end, and did a break job.  They removed the steering wheel to install a new turn signal switch and didn't put the wheel back on straight, which is slightly annoying but only cosmetic.  They also installed the rear end described above along with the Competition Engineering chassis braces and leaf spring hangars.  After this, I decided to go rescue it from the desert.  I live in Plano, TX so it was quite an exciting drive to say the least.  I made it home, but I also learned a lot about the current condition of the car along the way. 

 The best thing about this car is probably the motor.  As I said above, it runs strong and has a lot of potential given the right tuning.  It would become a real monster with a better set of heads/intake/carb.  The mileage on the car itself is not correct, as it was reset when the motor was rebuilt.  Even though that was 16 years ago, the motor only has about 5000 miles on it.  The worst thing about the car is that it does need a lot of work and cleaning up, granted a lot of it is small/easy things.  Imagine what happens to a car sitting in the desert for that long.  The trim around the windows needs replacing, that kind of stuff.  There is a short somewhere, likely something simple, which requires the battery to be unhooked when parking the car for long periods.  Also, I believe the transmission is due for a rebuild soon.  We were a bit naive when installing such an aggressive manual valve body.  It was likely a little to strong for daily street use.  It has started to wear on the clutches.  This has only become noticeable in the last few days.  It's not bad yet and will remain driveable for some time.  The only time there is slippage is when under power and shifting, so it's easily maintained at the moment.  If you are an interested buyer and planning to race or drive it a lot, it will need a rebuild soon.  There's no sugar coating that.  As for the rest of the car, the body is in pretty good shape considering what it has been through, there's a few small cancer spots low on the doors but very easy to fix.  I am limited with the pictures that I can post here, but I will email any picture you desire.  Just request it and I will send within 12 hours (likely less).


Auto Services in Texas

Zepco ★★★★★

Automobile Parts & Supplies, Speedometers, Truck Equipment, Parts & Accessories-Wholesale & Manufacturers
Address: Kemp
Phone: (972) 690-1052

Xtreme Motor Cars ★★★★★

Used Car Dealers
Address: 1025 1/2 North Loop, West-University-Place
Phone: (713) 863-1165

Worthingtons Divine Auto ★★★★★

New Car Dealers
Address: 2412 E Trinity Mills Rd, Bartonville
Phone: (972) 820-0980

Worthington Divine Auto ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service
Address: 1325 Whitlock Ln, Lake-Dallas
Phone: (972) 335-9823

Wills Point Automotive ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, Wheels-Aligning & Balancing, Wheel Alignment-Frame & Axle Servicing-Automotive
Address: 712 Houston St, Canton
Phone: (903) 873-5900

Weaver Bros. Motor Co ★★★★★

Auto Repair & Service, New Car Dealers, New Truck Dealers
Address: 2035 S Wheeler St, Newton
Phone: (409) 384-6847

Auto blog

The story of the 2014 Chevrolet SS: "Luxury, power, refinement, handling"

Thu, 07 Mar 2013

Not including the women and men who built it, the 2014 Chevrolet SS has only been seen in person by a piddling number of people - fewer humans than would fill the gymnasium at a high school volleyball game. Not including the men and women who built it, no one has driven it. Even so, it is already saddled with two controversies: the way it looks and the way it shifts.
First to that shifting. Did we love the last Americanized Holden, the awesomely sportsome Pontiac G8 GXP, and its six-speed manual? Of course. Do we wish the SS came with a six-speed manual? Of course. But we'd like a toboggan to come with a manual transmission. We'd put a manual transmission on a weasel if we could because we're just wired that way; if it moves, it should come with a stick and a clutch. Or at least the option.
Let's climb down off the ledge, though. We haven't driven the SS and we have no idea how good (or not) the automatic is. And the Hobson's Choice in transmissions when it comes to sport sedans like the BMW M5, Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG and Jaguar XFR-S and, oh yeah, cars-that-really-should-have-manuals like the Audi R8 and Nissan GT-R and Porsche 918 and every single Lamborghini and Ferrari, for instance, hasn't stopped us from enjoying what is clearly the gruesome, dual-clutched demise of Western automotive civilization. Because in spite of our ululations at the dying of the six-speed light, we understand.

GM recalling 118K Colorado, Canyon pickups over missing hood latches

Thu, 20 Dec 2012

General Motors has announced a recall of 118,800 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickup trucks due to the possibility of secondary hood latches not being installed at the time of manufacture. The affected vehicles are from the 2010, 2011 and 2012 model years, all of which were built between November 9, 2009 and August 28, 2012.
According to the official National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report, these trucks fail to "comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 113, 'Hood Latch System.' The hood may be missing the secondary hood latch." In other words, owners of these trucks could find their vehicles' hoods opening unexpectedly while driving.
The official recall campaign is expected to begin on January 17, 2013. Dealers will inspect the affected pickups and if a secondary hood latch is not present, one will be installed free of charge. Scroll down to read the official NHTSA report.

Why the Corvette is Chevrolet's billion-dollar baby

Thu, 28 Feb 2013

Edmunds has worked up a piece that tries to figure out just how much the global Chevrolet Corvette economy is worth, a spitballed guesstimate putting the number at more than $2.5 billion with the proviso that the number is probably low. It starts by taking Corvette's new car sales of 14,132 units last year, which would equate to $714,725,900 (including destination) assuming ever car sold was a base coupe with no options. In the final tally, a little extra padding gets that number up to $750,000,000.
But that's not all. Consider this: Many of the almost 1.4 million Corvettes produced over the model's history are still on the road. There are new parts being produced and aftermarket companies like Mid-America Motorworks deaing business, that single Illinois company doing more than $40 million a year in sales. There are the Corvette events large and small, restorers who do nothing but Corvettes, salvage yards that deal only in used Corvette parts and the Corvette magazines where owners find all this stuff.
And then there are the Corvette-themed tchotchkes, every single one of which provides a tiny contribution to the huge licensing royalties that General Motors collects every year. The article admits there's no way to come to an accurate number, but it just goes to show how valuable one specific model can be to a company.