OHC 6 in a '63 Chevy II
 

So, this has been the quest for the last 18 months or so. I procured a ‘67 230 from a Tempest after several years of searching. It is a ZD block with matching head. At first glance it appeared to be a virgin engine but after tearing it down I found a flattened “C” camshaft. The engine has already been bored .060 over but the crank is standard/standard. All other numbers match a late ‘66 built, ‘67 issued engine. I’m thinking the rebuild was done a very long time ago due to the fact that it still had nothing but shim steel gaskets. The engine will run again without any issues, that I am confident of.

So, why a ‘63 Nova, you ask? It all started in 1971 when my dad bought the car, the first he had ever purchased with his own money. He drove it until the early 80’s when it became the backup. As the years passed it became the backup to the backup, then pushed even further down the chain until it was eventually parked behind one of the auto parts store belonging to the company he worked for. It sat there for 10+ years in a dirt parking lot doing its best to become one with the earth again until I decided that I needed a project. We went to that store and sure enough it was still there being used as a storage rack for pallets and other junk. We came back a short time later with a trailer and I drug it out of its eventual grave. A couple months later “The Bomb” was running and driving again and has been ever since.

Now, why the OHC 6 for this car? When I was a young kid, my dad and I were driving home in “The Bomb” and while turning onto our street the radio quit. We finished the drive and when we pulled in I remember telling my dad “They forgot to finish the song.” He looked at me a little puzzled and laughed. A short time later he replaced the radio and the music returned. The one he found that fit the dash had the name Pontiac on it. Fast forward 25 years when I decided to get the car going again and that Pontiac radio was still speaking to me (although it no longer works). I decided then that I would like to eventually find one of those goofy overhead cam Pontiac engines to replace the ailing Chevy power plant. That brings us to the current.

I’ve heard a lot from people over the years that the OHC engine was basically a modified Chevy... boy were they wrong! I’ve now had to find a way to modify nearly every point that this engine is going to make contact with the Nova. So far, I’ve fabricated motor mount adapter plates, found a ‘69 water pump to bring the overall length of the engine down so it’ll fit in the car, adapted a Chevy 168 tooth flexplate to the back of the crank, made an adapter shim for the starter so it mates up with the new larger ring gear, found a gear reduction starter that will clear the steering linkage and am in the process of trying to modify the oil pan to clear the same linkage. I know there’s more that I’m not thinking of at the moment. In the end, the engine itself was not modified at all, only bolt on adapters so that if anything happens in the future, off the shelf parts will still fit.

I hope y’all get a kick out of this story and I’ll do my best to keep this thread updated as things progress.

A few pics of the progress so far:

Here is the car it will go in.

Hi 63,

You found the way to the cammer experts!

Nice...something different...waiting to see more.

Been waiting 18 months to see this...

GOOD STUFF...
 

Glad to see it coming along.

Planning on getting the head dropped on tonight as well as some of the accessories. I'm getting close to being able to jerk the 250 out of the Nova..

Was the block zero decked? Looks like you will have good quench!

Finally starting to look like something

Got the oil pan back today. This guy does quality work...

'bomb' . . . . . looking "sharp" . . . . . good job , one more item done .

later , jim

Finally got the HLA's bled and primed and the cam cover torqued down. One of the HLA's gave me hell trying to get it primed but finally got it. Tonight's job will be to install the timing belt and set the tension then start running fuel and vacuum lines. Getting closer!

Well, it's nearly done. Got the custom oil pick up tube back and installed yesterday. Buttoned up the oil pan, installed the manifolds and started running plumbing for fuel. It's about time to start pulling the engine out of the Nova!

Looking good, You did remember the seal on the sump tube, right?

Yes sir, I did. As a matter of fact it was your earlier post about the issue that reminded me to put it in. There was NOT one on there when I pulled the engine apart...

She's all ready to go... Going to start working on pulling the engine out of the car this weekend, then it's on to cleaning and painting the engine bay. Hopefully in about two weeks or so it'll be all tucked in and ready to purr!

Looks tight.

I guess this is what's called "The Point of No Return"

After a lot of cuss words and busted knuckles it's finally in the car! Still a lot of work to do to finish the project but it's finally home. More updates to follow...

Looking good...does it run yet?

Got two more items crossed off... The radiator fits (barely) and the hood actually clears the belt cover with room to spare! Waiting on one more wiring harness before we try and fire it for the first time.

Wow that fan is close...I'm guessing you already tried to make more room based on everything else you've done.

The fan is as close to the engine as I can get it without running into the balancer. Funny thing is, this engine is 3/8" shorter than the Chevy powerplant that came out but due to the thicker radiator the fan ended up in the same overall position as it used to be. There's little to no front to back movement of an engine/trans combo when running so I should be fine...

Until you need to change the fan belt.

Yeah... that's true. Good thing it's new!

Job well done!!!

Couldn't think of a better car to put one of those engines in!!! The small amount of cubes needs a car that is as light as possible, you have got that accomplished!!!

Is that an Acadian grille? If so, nice touch...

Yes, it is. Even though Acadian was never a Pontiac, they were sold at Pontiac dealerships in Canada so close enough, eh? I've also got a set of OHC 6 badges that will end up on the front fenders.

Making more progress and hoping to have it take it's first breath tomorrow evening.

Interesting swap. It looks like the car has the grille off a Canadian Acadian Beaumont?

LOOKING GOOD!
Best of luck on your maiden voyage ;)

Nice progress...

Good luck on getting it fired up!

If you do need more fan space (it always makes me nervious with flex fans being that close to the radiator as they can some times "flex" forward and damage the radiator at high RPM) you could get a 1969 water pump & pulley they have a 2 inch (50mm) shorter shaft. They can solve some clearance issues.

When using the 69 water pump, do you need to use the 69 pulley set, alternator and accessories?

It's actually from a Canso, but, yes.

And, Jeff, it already has the '69 pump on it...

Well... it ran until it didn't. Need some help with this one guys. My dad is pretty much a whiz when it comes to tuning carbs but this one had him stumped until we pulled the carb off and looked in the intake. There is a hole at the bottom of the intake that goes straight through to the exhaust manifold allowing raw exhaust to come straight to the bottom of the carburetor... After about 5 minutes runtime the carb was too hot to touch and the fuel started to actually boil! Now, if this hole is supposed to be there, what am I missing that keeps the exhaust from getting to the throttle plate? If the hole is not supposed to be there (which is my theory), I guess I'll be shopping for a new intake.

Couple pics included.

Depending on the year, I guess, the '67 I had had this passage under the carb to warm it up during cold weather. There was a stainless plate under the carb that prevented exhaust from directly hitting the carb base. I suggest figuring out a way to block that up. Never did like the stainless plate idea.

George

As you don't get much cold weather in TX, stainless plate under the carb + stainless plate between intake & exhaust manifold.
And Congrats!

Let me know if you need a different manifold set. I have a few and am in Arlington.

Yes, that is a '67 intake with the heat chamber/crossover that wasn't used in '66.
As suggested you should be able to block it off with a steel shim/gasket.

Would it be better to block it off from the bottom of the intake? Between the two manifolds?

And, if it was made this way, what kept this from overheating all carbs?

Looking again at your pic of the carb it appears you have a '67 carb.
If so are you using a '67 base gasket?

Yes, and this is what it did after 5 or so minutes.

What did yours come off of?

This passage is a Factory design for cold start.
What condition is the Exhaust Heat Control Gate/Valve?

Seems/Looks like it may not be opening up upon warm-up.

I have a few different sets. For sure some 66 sets.

After blocking off the exhaust ports in the intake we got it to run long enough to do the break-in!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bif5sbllGMM

Jeff is right on point about the valve in the front 1/2 of the manifold.
If you can’t get it to work right with the bimetallic spring you might be able to remove it Or wire it in the open position.

The valve was not working correctly even before we got it running, so the spring has been removed and the valve hung in the open position. The combination of that and blocking off the exhaust crossover in the intake has made all the difference in the world.