LS-Swapped 1965 Chevy II Is a Homebuilt Family Drag Racer: Track Time Tuesday
Owner of this 1965 Chevy II wanted to replicate his high school ride, and both of his kids have raced it, too.
The love of cars is something that has been passed down for generations, as is the love of drag racing. Both are true in the case of Dean Tepen, whose first car was a 1969 Chevy Nova that he drove to high school and took to the track, so when his son got old enough, he wanted to build him his own street/strip machine. Thus, Tepen found a very rusty 1965 Chevy II and a clean shell, and he and his son Drew began putting the two together, as he explained to Dragzine.
Luckily, Tepen is an experienced guy who knows how to build a car from scratch, and that’s precisely what this 1965 Chevy II is – a homebuilt hot rod. He put those skills to use constructing a six-point roll cage for the car and tossing a naturally-aspirated 6.0-liter LS V8 in it. It responded by ripping off 11.2-second passes, followed by a best of 10.46 on nitrous. But the elder Tepen wasn’t the only member of the family driving the Chevy II down the strip.
“My daughter, Ashleigh Frasier, won Super Chevy in St. Louis a few years ago, and Drew finished second in points at our local track when he was in high school in 2014,” Tepen said. “I got down to eight cars in 2016 and four cars in 2017 at Drag Week in Street Machine Eliminator, and down to four cars at LS Fest in True Street in 2020.”
As is usually the case, Tepen wanted more, and he got it in the form of a new 6.0 that’s been punched out to 408 cubic inches that features an Eagle crank and connecting rods, a Cam Motion camshaft, CP pistons, Frankenstein Engine Dynamics cylinder heads, and a carb up top, because Tepen is an old school kind of guy. It sends power to the wheels via a built 700R4 gearbox and a 12-bolt rear with 3.73 gears and a set of Mickey Thompson ET Street S/S drag radials.
Underneath, the classic Chevy II has been treated to traction bars, a lower A-arm kit, Competition Engineering shocks, and Wilwood front disc brakes. Inside, it’s essentially stock save for the aforementioned cage, a B&M shifter, and Autometer gauges, a theme that continues on the outside with the mere addition of a Goodmark cowl hood.
The new combination is pretty fresh, but thus far, Tepen has run a best of 10.586 at 125.63 miles-per-hour, and it has also proven to be flawlessly reliable on the street. Of course, he believes the car has more in it and intends to explore those limits before adding a shot of nitrous once again. But for now, he’s just enjoying the fact that this latest build is one the entire family can drive and appreciate.
Photos: Dragzine
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