Yo;
-Speaking of "1/2 engines", AKA the 1/2 389, who out there remembers
the 1/2
V-8's put into early Chevy Nova'a, if my memory is correct, say about
the early
sixties?
The dirt trackers did use the Nova 4 cylinder and also it was widely used for
boats, but not
the half v8 that you are referring to. They didn't build a 1/2 v8 for the
Nova..the Nova 4 cylinder
used the NEW 6 cylinder design which had the same cubic inches as the 1/2 389
v8 pontiac used in the Tempest.
However the new engine was very different from the 235 ci 6 cylinder Chevy had
been using since 1953 and which
had been the Corvette's first engine. This new 6 had 7 main bearing instead of
4 and was considerably lighter.
The 4 had 5 main bearings rockers similar to the V8 but were derived from the 6.
The 4 cylinder put in the Nova was the famous Iron Duke that was also in the
Citation,
later model Vega, Monza, Sunfire,and S-10 pickups.
The half V-8 you remember was actually specially machined for dirt track racing
and
was a v-4...I think they closed off the unused cylinders.
>From my automotive machinist/engine rebuilder days, I remember they
were 1/2 of
the "small-block" casting, with the same rods, pistons, crank, etc. of
the
283-to-350 Chevy family. One of my fellow machinists had a "quarter
midget" & he
said these particular engines were worth their weight in gold to the
racers.
The Nova 4 was used widely in dirt tracking on alcohol but most came from boats
or directly from
Chevy. I only saw one Nova with the 4 and it had to be special ordered.
Every one of them in a junk-yard was bought up in a hurry. You could
put in a
steel crank, and all the hi-po rods and rod bolts common to say, a 327
or 350.
I think they also used an 8-cylinder cam, of course only using 1/2 the
lobes.
You could then still use a roller cam and all kinds of trick springs,
retainers, and screw-in studs like on the V-8's, but at 1/2 the cost &
work. My
racer friend also said SOMETIMES "they" would cut down another 4
connecting rods
to match the rod caps & install a full set of bearings. The engine was
then
re-balanced accordingly.(did I explain this last well enough?).
mBrad
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