My brother and I are building a 66 Nova. The car is fairly light to start out with. He's gonna put a glass hood and trunklid on it. The car should weigh in at about 3000 if not less. The car is mostly gonna be weekend warrior. It wont see much street time, but will still be a "street car" Iwas thinkin a 355 would be plenty fr the car seeing is its light. Everyone I talk to around my area seems to think otherwise. they say to go with more cubes and keep the rpms down. Another thing is, I'm trying to focus my build around a set of ported 292 turbo heads that where ported by valley head service. I have had the heads for some time now and there ready to go. I dont know if these heads are a little much for a 350 or not.

How quick do you plan to go? How many rpm's will you be turning in the lights?

I would put a 383 or 400 in it. I would never build a 350 for anything except a daily driver. I have had 350s and 400s.

Your gonna spend the money anyway why not build a big block........

A guy that races at my local track has a 66 Chevy II with a Shafiroff 434ci SBC, glide and 4.10 gears (mini tubbed with 28x10.5W MT Drags). Runs 10.6's all day long at 126mph with a low 1.5 short time due to the glide. Now, the shafiroff default configuration is high compression, 13:1 or 14:1. If it were me I would put the biggest small block in there I could without getting too crazy on compression/cam. I think there would be WAY too many modifications required (shock tower, control arms, etc...) necessary to put a BBC in a 66' Nova. That my uneducated opinion :D

I agree with Ken.

In a 66 you probably don't even want to try and put a big block in there.
I'm sure it would require major surgery.

And with the weight of the engine being the same no matter what displacement,
I'd install the largest small block I could get.

You can get a full front frame from FatMan, Heidt's etc to fit a rat in there, but I would search down and/or email Mike Norman ( marooned) and pick his brain. You'll find a bunch of other very quick small block cars here. You'll want to stroke it, if you don't already have a 350 crank.

Also, food for thought, I have a cruising buddy with a very mild 454/400/3.31 combo that runs 7.40 in the 1/8 in his 66 Duece. Again, that one was custom fit and ITS TIGHT!

Overall money wise its probably less expensive to buy an aftermarket frame and build a 468" bbc then building a big inch small block with heads capable of supporting it.

http://www.shafiroff.com/434_sportsengine.asp

They, Reher Morrison, or any other number of engine builders can put together a slightly detuned combo for even less. All depends on what your goals are and how much you mind or don't mind hacking up your car.

stroked 66 i had an 11.50 et car with a 355 for my first car i think thats cool for a daily driver how fast do you wanna go nova is pretty light 355 set up right my opinion... nicole ;)

Most people don't or wont try this (including myself)....but Why don't start at the back of the car and work you way forward? Save the converter and engine for last. Think about how many people drop a built motor into a car with a stock chassie. Go to the track expecting a fast time slip only to be let down because the car couldn't hook. I'm guilty of it myself. A lot of people that I know build cars for a street/strip combo. In a few years they want to go faster and paying more money to buy parts to build a strip/street car. I'm guilty of that too!!! :D

All I'm saying is have some clear cut objectives of what you want. I seem to have the hot rod disease and keep on wanting to go faster.

I'd get a 400 block bored 30 over, a Z28 crank, and spacer bearings. It would rev to the moon, and that would be awesome in a light car like a nova. And it would still have 325 CID. Even a 327 crank would be nice, and it would still have 352 CID. It could pump out a lot of power in the high revs... that's if you could afford all the other parts to stay together at those RPMS :confused:

i think a 383 or 406 stroker smallblock would be a perfect street/strip engine for your lightweight nova.a big block would add a lot of weight and make it nose-heavy.you would have to beef up your front suspension to prevent plowing in curves on the street.not to mention how crowded it would be in the engine bay.(good luck with header fitment and firewall clearance).a 406 smallblock would pull your car pretty damn fast and have a great torque band for the occasional street romp if you are smart with your cam choice.i'll have to admit i'm kinda fond of smallblocks anyway! :D

I'd say the larger the better(small block). Of course, if your dead set on using those heads then I would keep it no larger than 383. My 422 is basically a carbon copy of a fella running a similar combo in a 3000lb Nova running 9.90's (except with a flat tappet cam). My car uses a solid roller but has not been optimized or run in decent air.

It really comes down to what your goals are, 12's, 11's, 10's, etc.. A good 355 with decent heads and a hyd-flat cam will run that car to mid-low 11's on pump gas if set up with the right gear and converter. My old set-up was a 10:1 355 with hyd cam and ported tfs heads that went 11.80's and 3350lbs.

Blaauboer, obviously youve never tried to shovel a Big Block into an early Chevy II, neither have i but im sure it takes ALOT of fabbing. A 350 would be fine,i dont see where Darraq seems to think a 350 isnt good enough. I also dont see where a torque motor is going to be effective in a daily driver being that there would be chassis flex to deal with and the car is light to begin with, remember were not talking about a 4,000 lb chevelle. Were talking about a 2,900 lb chevy II. If its just a daily driver theres nothing wrong with a 350. In fact with those Turbo heads id think the 350 would like them more than a big CI motor would. Just my opinion. Also as far as headers go, hooker has good fenderwell headers, my neighbor has them in his 63 Chevy II,there cool.

Build a 383 stroker with some good quality parts...forged pistons and rods, 10.5:1 compression, Comp Cams XE284 or a specially designed nitrous cam, Edelbrock nitrous kit and run 150hp shot and your in the 10's provided you can get traction. Use a 3.55 rear end gear with 26" slicks, or 3.73 rear gears with 28" slicks. Edelbrock nitrous kits are relatively inexpensive, reliable and perform very well.
Good Luck,
Daniel

It depends on how fast you want to go.
I had an all steel 66 Nova that went 12.78 with a 383 with a CompCams 268High Energy and some unported 194/150 feuler's,Torquer 2,650DP,MSD Ignition system,1 5/8 headers.I also had 3.08 gears and 215/60-14 tires.

One of my friends had a 66 that had a 11:1 355 with ported 292 turbo heads,Victor intake,Holley 830 Annular,MSD Ignition system,Solid cam 244 254 520 540 106,1 3/4 inch Fenderwell headers,TH-350 3800 stall,4.11's,26x8.5 M/T slicks,weld in sub frame connectors,and slapper bars.
It ran a best of 11.72.
It still needed to be dialed in.The guy wasn't one to work on cars.He was also 6ft 3 and 300+ pounds.