The Underdog

Ryan Buck’s lay-it-down-quick ’63 Nova SS

Words: Jeff Smith; Photos: Shawn Brereton, Jeff Smith

1America loves an underdog. The cheers still echo from the jubilation that erupted in Lake Placid when the U.S. Olympic hockey team beat the Russians in 1980. While Ryan Buck’s Muscle Car class win at the inaugural Street Machine Challenge in St Paul, Minnesota won’t end up on ESPN’s highlight reel for 2015’s most incredible victories, that takes nothing away from Ryan’s amazing homebuilt story.

Ryan’s tale started on a terrible day in March 2012, when his first ’63 Chevy II came to a violent end when it was nearly folded in half on a city street. Life also presents challenges all at once like torrents of rain rather than spread out over a week-long light sprinkle.

Ryan’s wife Sarah was two months along with their first child while Ryan was staring at the remains of a demolished car that he had just completed a few months previous. That sparked a search for an immediate replacement, finding another six-cylinder SS Nova in June with the plan to have it completed in time for St Paul’s big show in July of the following year.

The plan (as it also was for the first car) had always aimed at much more than just a bolt-together cruiser. Ryan likes to turn corners and the Pro Touring approach appealed to him. So his plan intelligently dumped the entire stock front suspension in favor of a TCI Pro Touring front clip that offered Ride Tech triple-adjustable TQ coil-over shocks, power rack and pinion steering, and an optimized camber curve to enhance its road-holding abilities. Braking responsibilities fell to a pair of 12.2-inch Wilwood front rotors and four-piston calipers mounted on 2-inch dropped spindles.

While many would have followed the typical aluminum LS engine route, Ryan elected to remain with a carbureted 383c.i. small-block Chevy. Perhaps this was because Ryan was on a tight 11-month timeline and he was only working on this car on nights and weekends. Plus, the engine, which was planned for a Camaro project he had hoped to start at the time of the crash, was already available. He took two months off of the project when his baby daughter arrived, conveniently sending the car off to the painter, but then pulled double duty as new dad and chief car builder until the finish.

He elected to move the engine back about 1-1/2 inches to help the weight distribution in the already short 110-inch wheelbase. This necessitated smoothing and relocating the firewall. The selection of the TKO-600 five-speed also required raising the trans tunnel, which wasn’t all that bad since the floor pans had to be replaced anyway. Along with the TKO overdrive, out of necessity Ryan also designed and built his own mount for the hydraulic clutch master.

14When you are a professional machinist, you can do things like that. Working rearward, Ryan knew that he would need more rear rubber to plant the power, so he ordered a set of Detroit Speed mini-tubs and installed them, along with a complete Currie 9-inch with 3.70:1 gears and a limited slip. The rear suspension consists of a TCI torque arm with Ride Tech triple-adjustable TQ coil-over shocks all packaged inside the Chevy II’s tight confines. Also with the TCI front clip and mini-tubbed rear, there was plenty of room for the large-by-huge 265/35R-18 Falken RT615 front tires mounted on 9.5×18-inch Coys wheels while on the back he squeezed in an even larger pair of 275/35R18 Falkens on the same size rear Coys.

If you have picked up on a trend here, Ryan is more into making the car functional while maintaining its simplicity. The 383c.i. small block is based on the numbers-matching 327 block that was originally in his ’68 Camaro. It now sports a 3.75-inch crank, good pistons, a COMP 236/242-degree cam with 0.505 /0.510-inch lift that pushes valves inside a set of AFR 195cc heads.

Fuel is supplied by a Carburetor Shop custom-modified Holley 650 mounted on an Edelbrock Performer RPM dual-plane intake. Ignition duties are handled by an MSD distributor and wires, while TCI supplied the ceramic-coated headers to clear the front suspension. The engine makes decent power and during the Street Machine Challenge competition, he finished third with 412 rear wheel horsepower (RWHP). This says volumes about how well the car is prepped since he gave up over 300 RWHP to the winning dyno challenge car in the Muscle Car class.

With the engine and chassis squared away and the drivetrain in place, next came the finish work that often separates the thrashers from the detailers. Starting at the front, his body guy smoothed the front license plate outline from the bumper, and filled the “Chevrolet” emblem holes. Then Ryan made up some custom V8 badges coated in black nickel to replace the six popper versions. At the rear, Ryan relocated the fuel fill from the quarter panel to inside the trunk and blacked-out the rear tail light panel.
Because the car is so low, Ryan decided to move the exhaust outlet into the body, exiting through the Nova SS rocker panel molding just ahead of the rear tires. While on the street the car runs through Summit Racing mufflers, he also employs Quick Time Performance (QTP) exhaust cutouts — just for fun.

13Moving to the interior, the relocated tunnel demanded a nice looking console so Ryan modified a ’67 Camaro console to fit in between the 1997 Camaro seats he cut down to simulate ’60s-era versions while still offering some bolster support. The radio disappeared, replaced by a set of Auto Meter gauges. The front and rear seats are all upholstered in matching microfiber charcoal and black vinyl performed by Jerry’s Upholstery in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Ryan also built a rear harness bar that is removable to allow easier access to his daughter’s car seat, because this machine is truly a family affair. The steering wheel is a ’70 Camaro unit into which he replicated an original Nova SS emblem out of aluminum.

While the Nova was always intended as a street car, Ryan also planned to compete with it, too. He put it all together for the 2015 Street Machine Nationals in St. Paul, where he covered the Muscle Car field to take not only the Muscle Car class win, but the three-day Hotchkis Cup competition as well. If you pay attention to such things, you will quickly realize that Ryan is probably as good behind the wheel as he is at building cars. That’s a rare combination and a big reason for the attention this car receives. If the goal is having fun with cars, it would be difficult to find a better example than Ryan Buck and his underdog Nova.

About the author

Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith, a 35-year veteran of automotive journalism, comes to Power Automedia after serving as the senior technical editor at Car Craft magazine. An Iowa native, Smith served a variety of roles at Car Craft before moving to the senior editor role at Hot Rod and Chevy High Performance, and ultimately returning to Car Craft. An accomplished engine builder and technical expert, he will focus on the tech-heavy content that is the foundation of EngineLabs.
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