The Nova
Facts and Specifications
PHASE 1 .....The Nova was originally purchase by myself in 1991 while stationed at Hill Air Force Base, UT. I paid $900 for what I thought would make a nice little Hot Rod. I drove it everyday for about a year. Then after having problems with the 4 wheel drum brakes, low oil pressure and a bad transmission, that felt like it had mash potatos in it, I pulled it into the garage. I was just going to fix the brakes....put discs up front from a 72 Nova. But one thing lead to another and soon the car was completely apart(sub-frame and all). All in a one car garage in base housing. NOW WHAT??? With everything apart and not enough money to redo everything, I decided to start with the ftont suspension. Than the Transmission. I got a good TH-350 core for free and pulled it apart and built it to my likings. Amazing how cheap it is to rebuild a Turbo350 yourself! And easy...
PHASE 2 ..... The engine was next. After getting enough credit cards, I was ready to call SUMMIT RACING and order all the goodies. It sure was great when the UPS guy came to my door with 3 huge boxes full of go-fast stuff. I just love Summit Racing. Now with all the credit cards max'd out and a living room full of engine parts, I packed up the Monte Carlo with everything and headed off to Wright's machine shop in Ogden UT. Mr. Wright did all the machine work which included: Bore and hone w/torque plates, line hone the mains, slight shave on the deck, screw in oil gallery plugs, cam bearings, rod job, and balancing. WOW, I was very impressed with the work he did!!! Now it's time to pack it all back in the trunk of the Monte and take it to the garage for assembly. With wrenches spinning, cam lube dripping, and a lot of long nights, the engine was ready to meet it's new home. With a little jerk on the chain, it dropped right into place.....
PHASE 3 ..... Now was the moment of truth...........Turning that key for the first time and wondering if $5500 of Small Block Chevy would start or explode! Lucky for me, it started and I did the cam break in thing... I sure do hate that part!!! The car was not yet full put back together but I decided to take it around the block anyway... After some initial engine adjustments, I hit the gas about 1/2 way and wooooooooosssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhh....... I was movin'..... Only bad thing is that the body has the rigidity of lime jello. Wow, talk about serous twist. But it was fun. About 2 months later, I finally got it all back together. I had to rig up a makeshift exhaust until I could get to a muffler shop, It was uuuuuugly. But so was the rest of the car. It had no interior, and 1/2 primered body. Lucky me found a guy selling another '67 Nova that was in pieces for only $400. But It had 2 brand new GM fenders on it. Still in the factory primer. And a brand new interior.
PHASE 4 ..... Well, after finishing the engine, I got orders to go to Germany. The car sat in a garage for 2 years. Boy did I miss it too! Well, when I finally got back to the US, I had some cash saved and decided to get the body done. The car was originally a dark metallic blue but was repainted red. I spent about a 3 weeks sanding 2 layers of paint, down to bare metal. Then took it to Leadville Auto Body in Colorado. They straightened it up and fixed a few rust spots. They also put the nice shiny red paint on. When I went to pick the car up, I saw it but didn't even recognize it! WOW, it looked sharp. I took it home and started to put the glass back in and put all the other trim back on. I removed everything before taking it to the bodyshop. I got some Chevy rally wheels from my brother and 4 new tires (235/50HR-15). Went to Denver and bought some used center caps and got trim rings at the Jefferson swap meet in Jefferson, Wisconsin. Now the car is almost finished and I had to leave it again, off to get edjumakated. Geez. First I build the engine and get sent to Germany, now the bodies done and its off to school. ONE DAY, ONE DAY I'll get to drive it. Sure hope the garage doesn't burn down!!!
PHASE 5 ..... This will be far in the future! Gotta finish college now. But the next step is to get the floorboards patched up and the interior redone. Still needs a little front end work too. And then subframe connectors and a new rear-end. 12-Bolt or 9-inch??? Hmmmmmm........Than its off to the races!!!!
It sure is amazing how a $900 junker can turn into a $10,000 machine! I'm afraid to add up all the reciepts.
Now, what to put on the Tags??? Hmmm.....
Here's the break down on the engine:
Now if I can only get the headers to stop burning up the spark plug boots.........