NO II ALIKE
THE NEW-FOR-’62 CHEVY II was slightly larger than the Ford Falcon on which it was patterned. It was based around a new series of engines — a 90-horsepower, 153-cubic-inch four-cylinder and a 120-hp 194-cu.in. straight-six. Neither threatened to dislodge the 180-hp Studebaker Lark V-8 from its throne as the compact powerhouse, but the scaled-up dimensions had also left Chevrolet engineers space to potentially fit the division’s small-block V-8. Yeah, the one they used in the Corvette.
Better still, those engineers had created the parts to fit a V-8 into the Chevy II, even though it wasn’t an option on the production line. For $1,500 plus labor, one could install a small-block Chevrolet V-8 in any 1962 or ’63 Chevy II, from the cheapest two-door sedan to the top-of-the-line Nova 400 convertible.
Chevrolet actually announced the availability of special 170-hp (two-barrel carburetor, single exhaust) 283 and L30 250-hp (four-barrel, dual exhaust) 327 engines for the Chevy II, but those inclined to such a large cash outlay often went with wound up testing a 300-series four-door sedan with an L76 340-hp 327 — the solid-lifter, four-barrel V-8 from the Corvette. went one better that same month and documented Bill Thomas’ installation of a fuel-injected, 360-hp L84 327 into a Nova 400 hardtop.
