By Nick Licata – Images by Wes Allison
“When the Beach Boys’ song ‘409’ was released as a B-side of the single ‘Surfin’ Safari’ in June 1962, I was 18 and had just graduated from high school in Topeka, Kansas,” Dave Miller, owner of this time-honored ’61 Chevy, says. “I was already versed in 409 lore from reading and re-reading car magazines, like Hot Rod and Car Craft, plus I had watched 409s street racing and paring off at the humble Kaw Valley Dragway.”
A quick backstory on Dave reveals him leaving Topeka and heading west on Route 66 to attended college at USC in Los Angeles in the fall of 1965. Dave fell in love with SoCal, and after college he decided to plant roots in the Golden State. Throughout his time on the West Coast, that college education led to him working as a bank economist, a business owner, and as a high school and community college educator, while always holding onto his lifelong hot rod passion and staying involved in the drag racing community. He eventually moved to Lompoc, a small community in the northern part of Santa Barbara County, where he continued his involvement with performance cars.
In 2008 Dave’s friend, Ed Wittwer of Corvette Service Company, had acquired a ’62 Chevy, dual-quad 409 he pulled from a modified early Corvette and asked if I wanted to buy it. “I drove to Wittwer’s and picked up the engine even though I didn’t have a car to put it in,” Dave confirms. “Not long after, I headed north to Jack Gibbs’ shop, 409 Chevy Performance in Willows, California, to have the engine rebuilt. I heard about Gibbs’ expertise with 409s and the engines he built for customers and cars of his own, so it made sense to have him do the rebuild.”
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Fast-forward to 2015 and the Gibbs’ rejuvenated 409 was still sitting in its cradle in a corner of Dave’s shop wrapped in cellophane waiting for just the right opportunity. “One day my phone rings and it’s my friend Gil Muro from Hot Rod Ranch in Lompoc informing me of a car I may be interested in,” Dave says. “As I pull into Muro’s shop I see a ’61 Bel Air hardtop. It’s got ghost flames on the hood and front fenders. It sat close to the ground sporting alloy Halibrands wrapped in fat BFGoodrich Radial T/As. I peered through the window and noticed a stock-appearing turquoise interior. Underhood it had a big-block Chevy with a maze of tube headers spouting from the cylinder heads then poking through large holes in the inner fenders. The car was an original six-cylinder automatic car with 45,000 miles. It struck me as a late-’80s mild Pro Street car. It was interesting, but I told Muro ‘thanks’ but it’s not for me.’”
Suddenly images of Don Nicholson’s white ’61 bubbletop jumped off the pages of early Hot Rod magazines and flashed through Dave’s mind. That vision inspired a change in plans influencing Dave to buy the car. With no space at Dave’s shop, Muro agreed to store it for a while. “A month later during a phone conversation with Bob Brown, my hometown car connection, I told him about my recent purchase, and he said, ‘Bring the 409 and car back here and I’ll put them together,’” Dave reveals.
In the fall of 2015 Dave trailered the ’61 and all its glory to Bob’s shop in Topeka. Bob’s years of working at dealerships and then his own AC Delco Service Center was a highly experienced, longtime drag racer who specialized not only in engines but also chassis tuning for the ’strip.
Dave admits the most challenging decision for the ’61 was figuring out what they wanted the car to represent. Bob went back to the strong demand and limited supply of early ’62 409s and how dealerships had their mechanics yank out lower performance engines from unsold cars and replace them with factory 409 crate engines. It was decided that Dave’s ’61 would represent such a conversion from that time period.
“The inspiration for the car we were building would have raced in the short-lived NHRA class: Optional Super Stock, a class that allowed racers to use ’62 model year performance parts being released early by factories so they could be employed on ’61 models,” Dave says. “For that we decided to pull the Bel Air trim and dress our ’61 hardtop as a plain-Jayne Biscayne.
Bob moved forward by removing the exterior Bel Air chrome and added Biscayne script to the quarter-panels. The ghost flames disappeared when Paul Langley repainted the car in factory Ermine White. They added a ’61 Kansas dealer tag to emphasize dealership involvement. The car was also left unlettered to reflect the period when white shoe polish was used for class specifications.
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In 2023 Bob called Dave and said, “It’s finished, come drive it!” Those words were pure magic to Dave. That summer, Dave took the car to Gainesville for initial testing where the first pass netted a 12.92 e.t. at 106 mph. On the second pass the car improved to 12.85 at 107 mph. Soon after it was decided to swap the converter and on the next trip to Gainesville Dave mashed the pedal to lowest e.t. thus far of 12.66.
“It’s been a long, enjoyable road with the ’61 as it was built as most cars I have been involved with—by friends helping friends. That method takes time, but the results reflect the expertise and enthusiasm of individuals who love cars from similar eras. As my friend Ed Wittwer is fond of saying, ‘It’s not the cars that make what we do so interesting and enjoyable, it’s the people.’”
Well said, Dave, and we just can’t shake that Beach Boys song while admiring this immaculate ’61 Chevy. And that’s not a bad thing.
ACP
TECH CHECK
Owners: Dave Miller, Fernandina Beach, Florida, and Bob Brown, Topeka, Kansas
Vehicle: ’61 Chevy Bel Air (converted to Biscayne)
Engine
Type: Chevrolet big-block (casting #3788068)
Displacement: 409
Compression Ratio: 11.25:1
Bore: 4.352
Stroke: 3.50
Cylinder Heads: Cast-iron, 3814690 castings dated 10/26/61 and 10/27/1961
Rotating Assembly: Stock 409 crankshaft polished, I-beam rods, Ross 409 pistons by Jack Gibbs at Chevy 409 Performance (Willows, CA)
Valvetrain: Jack Gibbs springs, PRW roller rocker arms, Smith Brothers 3/8 chromoly pushrods
Camshaft: Isky Z-45 0.530 lift, 278 duration at 0.050, 108 LSA
Induction: Stock 409 dual four-barrel intake manifold, dual Edelbrock ASV2 500-cfm carburetors
Accessory Drive System: Stock 409
Valve Covers: Stock 409 painted with breathers by Bob Brown
Ignition: MSD with vintage-appearing Mallory electric coil
Wires: MSD with Show Cars 409 wiring harness
Exhaust: Jardine try-Y 409 headers provided by Don Waldron of Rods West (Ridgecrest, CA), 3×12-inch fabricated collectors by Bob Brown (Topeka, KS)
Ancillaries: Stock 409 alternator, Z-11 aluminum radiator and shroud by Show Cars (New Ulm, MN)
Assembly: Jack Gibbs Chevy 409 Performance
Output: 409 hp at 6,000 rpm, 420 lb-ft at 4,000 rpm
Drivetrain
Transmission: Chevrolet TH350 my Bob Brown
Torque Converter: TCI 3,800 stall by Tom Gregory at Tommy’s Rod Shop (Fernandina, FL)
Driveshaft: Custom-built two-piece, slip joint unit by Jerry at Truck Parts and Equipment (Topeka, KS)
Rear Axle: Original ’61 factory carrier with posi modified by Bob Brown; Dana 44 power-loc clutches, 30-spline Dutchman axles; N.O.S. 4.56 gears by Ed Wittwer of Corvette Service Company (Carpinteria, CA)
Chassis
Chassis: Stock
Front Suspension: Boxed factory control arms, factory coil springs, stock spindles, Competition Engineering adjustable drag shocks
Rear Suspension: Boxed fourth control arm added with reinforcement plates, Global West track bar, factory springs, Competition Engineering adjustable drag shocks
Steering: Stock
Brakes: Factory rebuilt drums, stock master cylinder
Wheels & Tires
Wheels: Stock fullsize Chevrolet, 14×5 front, 14×6 Chevrolet K rims rear
Tires: BFGoodrich vintage bias-ply 750×14 front, M&H Racemaster vintage bias-ply drag slicks 800/850×14, R-49 compound
Interior
Upholstery: Factory original with Classic Industries turquoise carpet kit
Seats: Factory bench
Seatbelts: Factory-style, Classic Industries
Steering: Stock Chevrolet Biscayne steering wheel
Door Panels: Modified to Biscayne style
Shifter: Stock column
Dash: Stock
Instrumentation: Factory
Pedals: Stock
HVAC: Deleted with Show Cars heater delete plate on firewall
Radio: Deleted with Show Cars radio delete plate on dash
Exterior
Bodywork and Paint: Paul Langley (Eskridge, KS)
Paint: Ermine White
Modifications: Bel Air side trim removed to for Biscayne conversion, V-8 emblem added to trunklid, Biscayne emblem on quarter-panel by Bob Brown and Randy Ramsdell
Grille: Stock
Front Bumper: Factory-style Classic Industries
Rear Bumper: Original
Headlights: Stock
Taillights: Stock
Side Mirror: Original
Click on this issue’s cover to see the enhanced digital version of 1961 Chevy Bel Air 409 Powered Biscayne Conversion.
