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#44679 10/27/08 04:29 PM
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I have a 63 Chevy II I would like to put a Posi and lower gears in. I seem to recall that the pumpkin in the early Chevy IIs was the same as 55-64 full size Chevies. Is this true? Can I take a Posi from a 55-64 full size Chevy and install it in my housing? What about axles - I currently have 4 lugs.

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I think, but am not positive,that only the big cars such as Impalas,Bel Air,and even the early Vette were the only cars to have the "chunk" type rears in the early 60's. The Novas had the 10 bolt type rears with the removable inspection covers like the Chevelles and GTO's of that same era. You can either redrill for a 5 lug pattern, or get a set of axles from Moser or Currie that are 5 lug. I believe that is an acceptable upgrade for a Stocker.



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62 and i think???? just the early 63's had the chunk(9"like) rears and they were 4 lug.


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I figured you would know.



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center sections are interchangeable between the following:

55-64 full size
56-62 Corvette
62-63 Chevy II


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The Novas had an 8.2" 10 bolt rear end in them from '62-'67. The standard gearing was 3.08:1 in coupes and sedans, and 3.36:1 in the station wagons. The differential from any other GM product with the 8.2" 10-bolt will interchange. From 1964 on, they had 5 lug axles which should interchange with the first 2 years of production, but I'm not positive about the interchangeability without doing a little more research.


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#44909 11/05/08 03:21 AM
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I am not positive,but I believe the 5 lug Nova cars were 1965 & newer? Yes,no?

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Nope, the five lug axles came out in '64. I've had 2 '64 Novas, both with stock rear ends in them, and both had five lug hubs and axles.


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#44923 11/05/08 11:40 AM
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I have seen a lot of Early Novas & even shopped for them to purchase them.

Seen too many 64's that had 4 lug, that is why my cut off year for an early Nova was 1965,,,, 5 lug everytime.


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Hank, I got this from a Nova forum, and I've seen it in Nova factory service manuals, so I'm reasonably sure that it's correct.

"I just want to point out one thing. The 8.2 rearend with 28 spline axles did not come in the Chevy II until they upgraded to 5 lugs in 64. The 62 and 63 cars used a different axle with 17 splines. That is the main reason to swap in a 64-67 rear when upgrading to 5 lugs. The 5 lug replacement axles available aftermarket will not work on a 62 or 63 8.2 rearend.
I also want to suggest that the reason "Joliet Jake" tore up his rearend was probably because it was a 4 speed car. Unless your running a very high stall converter, the turbo trans will not shock the rear like a manual trans will.
I own a 62 convertible with all stock suspension and drivetrain. It's not very impressive to look at, I know. Under the hood is a mild 350 V-8 with a 4 barrel and dual exhaust. The powerglide has been replaced with a 350 turbo trans. I normally drive this car with care but on occasion I have been know to get next to a 5.0 mustang or camaro on the highway. When I stand on it, the right rear tire will usually break loose and after that stops spinning the car will hit 90-100 quicker than your average grocery getter. My point is, without positraction, I don't break anything. I have burnt through a few 13" right rear tires but the 4 lugs are still in tact. So, it is possible to put a few more ponies in a stock 62-63 Nova and enjoy driving it, if your careful. Make sure you have room to stop and put in some frame connectors before you make any other mods."
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If you want to check for yourself, go to Novas.net and check their forums. That's not a link, you'll have to put that in a browser or search engine. Thanks.


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#45021 11/08/08 10:31 AM
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I believe that all the V8 powered 63 and 64 Novas were 5 bolt hubs and the 4 bolt hubs were reserved for the 6's.


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All the Early Novas I looked at were 6 cylinder & a couple 4's
1964 & older 4 & 6 cylinders I saw were 4 lug.


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Novas and Ford Falcons used 5 lug on V8s and four lug on the fours and sixes in the early to mid sixties.


Been there, Done that, Hope to live long enough to do it again.
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All 62-63 Chevy II Novas used the 4 lug, drop-out carrier style rearend. All 64 -67 Chevy II Novas used the 8.2, 5 lug 10 bolt rear end, although some 65-67's (very few) were offered with a 12 bolt. There may have been some early 64's with 4 lugs, but the rear ends were year-specific, not engine specific.

All L4 and L6 62-63's (V-8 was not factory available until 64. There were dealer conversions but very $$$) were 4 lugs. ALl L4-L6 and V-8 64-67's were 5 lug.

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Hi, Gang,
chevy2inreno is right; all 1962-63 Chevy II's had 4 lug wheels, and all 1964-67 had 5 lug wheels. I think some of the confusion might be from the wheel sizes. I dug out my factory service manual for 1964 Chevy II/Novas this afternoon, and discovered that although all the hubs and axles were the same 5 lug/4.75" bolt circle regardless of which engine was in the car, the WHEELS were different. The inline 4 and 6 cylinder cars had 13" wheels, and the V8 cars had 14" wheels. If you look at a '64 Nova with 13" wheels with the hubcaps on, they probably look like they would be 4 lug wheels, but they're not. Hope this helps clear things up a bit.


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#45099 11/12/08 11:03 PM
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Guys I had two friends that both bought 64 chevy IIs one a six the other an eight the six had four lug wheels the 8 had 5 lugs the reason i remember this so well is the guy with four lugs was upset about his choice of aftermarket wheels. I can not tell you mfg dates but I know they were both 64s bought new.


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According to a couple of posts on Steve's Nova site, some early 64 inline powered Chevy IIs used 4 bolts to use up the parts at th e production sites.

Also just because a 64 or even a 67 has 4 bolts, doesn't mean it came that way. It was not unusual to buy a cheap 4 door or wagon and swap the parts and then resell the running "parts" car for the original purchase price. A weekend 5 bolt conversion for only the labor involved.

Last edited by Bruce; 11/19/08 07:30 PM.

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Bruce #46065 12/15/08 03:01 AM
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Exactly Bruce,
unless you know the real history of your cars, you cannot assume it came from the factory the way you bought it.

Thats why I feel that for the guys that want matching numbers letter perfect cars, you have to realize that dealerships would swap out whatever a client wanted back then.


James Kuenzi
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225 /6 w 5speed

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