Trent Young’s ’66 Chevy II

If you’re in the Lincoln, Neb. area, you may have caught a glimpse of this little red Chevy skirting around town. Trent’s usually either cruising around in his bagged ‘64 Impala wagon, or his little Chevy II. And for something that’s been more-or-less finished for two decades, it definitely speaks to Trent’s attention to detail and craftsmanship. It’s aging gracefully.

After stripping down the paint, he found enough hidden rust to reconsider things. He rolled down the hill and snowballed into a full-on restoration. The car... was completely stripped...

The first go around was about a 10-year-long commitment. Alongside raising his family, he steadily chiseled away at it. There was a year or two along the way he had to put the brakes on, but he took his time. Trent hung new NOS fenders and quarter panels, then addressed the other typical rust repairs. The car jumped around to a couple of different painters until it was finally sprayed Torch Red, by Dan Hunt.

If you’re unfamiliar... the Havelock neighborhood is kind of its own little-old-town sitting on the edge of northeast Lincoln, Neb. It’s historically been full of hooligans and die-hard car enthusiasts (the working-Joe type) and it still thrives today. About the time Trent finished the Nova, he rounded up a sort of informal group of friends, he even cast some new plaques, and called it Havelock Hot Rods. It’s a subtle gentleman’s nod to the founding Havelock Rodders club and his lifelong roots in Havelock.

Initially, Trent bolted his Nova back together and got it on the road again. He ran it with the original 283 and it kept him pretty happy for a while. The interior got a facelift, it had shiny new paint, but he knew his Nova had more to give. He spent some time researching how to get the car to handle and came across this magazine article on Stitz Street Rods. At the time, they were blowing up as the leaders on chassis fab for these old Chevy IIs.

This newly found inspiration led him back out to the garage with a stripped-down Nova. With the subframe out, he took the opportunity to clean up and repaint the firewall with help from his friend, Scott Breiner.

A new tubular-style front end from Chassis Works was bolted in place, with upgraded tubular upper and lower A-arms, adjustable coils, upgraded brakes, and of course much-needed steering and handling improvements. He put a 4-link rear suspension setup in back with a Currie rear end housing 4:11 gears.

Anytime your car is laying in pieces on the garage floor it’s nice to have some extra hands. “The secret is... you just have to drag yourself out to the garage every night, even if it’s just 15 minutes of planning time,” he told us. Trent’s dad, Jim Young, had some fatherly motivation tips too, “Hey, you drove it in this garage, you’re gonna drive it out!”

He wrapped the Nova with a stellar set of Draglites and matched-up a set of Mickey Thompsons, ET Streets in back and Sportsmans up front.

He also dropped in some more power with a 4-bolt 350 small block turning a large-journal 327 crank. It’s topped off with a set of old-school double-hump iron heads, Weiand Team G intake, and a real-deal Demon 650 carb.

Trent built a car he could have fun with on the street and down a straight line. He’s made a few passes with it at the I-80 raceway and Kearney drag strip. He’s always just had fun with it and if you were to ask him today, he’d tell you - the car is dialed.

Trent finished with, “When I was a kid, my dad used to take us to the old World of Wheels car shows when it was down at the Pershing Auditorium, and I’d always dream about having a car I could show there.” Pershing may be a pile of bricks today, but Trent still has a car that is plenty worthy of the street, strip, or show.