1971 Nova Build ??

[Kiquee71]

Is your subframe painted a flat black or is that just a sealer. Great looking build by the way.

Thanks. The paint I used is just rattle can primer, I will have it powder coated when all the modifications are done and ready for paint.
Been busy at work and holiday stuff haven't had much time to work on the Nova. Have half the tunnel done, still more work involved. Been picking up parts too for my exhaust. Hope to have more of an update for you guys soon. Happy Holidays.

[Kiquee71]

Well things have been busy for me at work since the holidays and have had very little time to work on the Nova. Tho I did manage to squeeze some time here and there to finish the trans & drive shaft tunnel. Also gathered up my material for my S.S. exhaust, also had to modify the x-pipe some for it to work in my setup. Not to long ago I received my reworked harness from BP Automotive and I must say very quality work from Bill. Hopefully when work slows down I'll have some photos of the exhaust mocked up under the car.

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Nice work!

[Kiquee71]

Nice work!

Thanks Ben, it's been hard to try and do anything with work getting in the way of progress lol.

[Ben@SpeedTech]

I think being independently wealthy is the best plan for motor heads. Then work wouldn't get in the way of our hobby, Lol!

[king869]

Amazing build and progress! I have a 72 nova that I'm building we seem to have similar ideas, I have the ridetech front coil-overs and 4link set up, DSE mini tubs, but am thinking ls3 and 6 speed manual. I was wondering if you were going to put an after market AC in the car and if you knew how it would work with your blanked off firewall? Just started some more body mods and was thinking of doing it but want to have AC and wasn't sure if they would work together...

[OneQuickCoupe]

Nice work on the trans and driveshaft tunnel. Dynamite build. Thanks for posting your progress. I have to fab a trans and driveshaft tunnel for my 64'. You have given me a lot of ideas.


FAT RAT NOVA

[Kiquee71]

Thanks guys. king869 I do plan on running an aftermarket AC cause the car came with AC so that's the plan. I've seen aftermarket AC work with the smoothed out firewall, thanks to the other builds I've seen here on this forum. I'm not quite at that part of my build so I don't have much to say about it now.

Onequickcoupe thank you, I owe a lot of the work I've done to my Nova to all the projects on here that I have been following glad to be of some help to you on your build. Any question feel free to ask away.

[king869]

Quick question. Is that fuel door the universal from ride tech?

[Kiquee71]

Quick question. Is that fuel door the universal from ride tech?

No, it was the one for the Camaro from ridetech. Had to modify & re-weld it so it will line up and go through below the trunk latch.

[Kiquee71]

Like I mentioned from my previous posts that I was going to start on the exhaust. I'm running the ridetech front suspension with the TruTurn steering linkage and the passenger side tie-rod hits one of the header tubes. So this is where I began. I started by cutting out what was in the way and modified the tubes to clear. The driver side has one tube that comes really close, not to my liking so I'll be performing the same thing on the drivers side header. Until then I'll post up some more progress.

[Kiquee71]

Ok got a little more work done today with the drivers side header. I've asked myself this question I come up with nothing, why build headers and then put a dent in one of the tubes so it clears another? Why not just take the extra time and route it so you don't have to put dents into the tubes jeez. Anyways I routed that tube away from the # 1 tube and made a little more clearance away from the tie-rod. Attached the SS Flex coupling and set it back into the car. Position the x-pipe in place and started to route the 3" SS exhaust pipes. I'm giving myself about 1/4" of clearance around the exhaust pipes for moment or expansion. More to come later.

[Kiquee71]

Hello everyone, not much of an update. Had to move some things around in the garage and the Nova had to go outside for a sec. Thought I'd take some pics of it cause it will go back in lol. Work has been busy so the Nova has to take a break from progress. Will get back to it soon as we slow down. Will update as soon as I can.

[ryanleiker]

Little progress made on the Nova this past couple of weeks. Finished fabricating a trans crossmember which came out ok, it will do the job for sure. It will give much added clearance to help when fabricating the exhaust around the torque arm suspension. Also tweaked the trans dipstick I picked up from Madman, was too long for my taste. Up next is get driveshaft shorten, new u-joints and high speed balance. I've started making a list of things I'll need for the SS exhaust and will be picking them up soon. Until then for more updates.

That transmission crossmember is a work of art. Well done.

[Kiquee71]

Thanks. Still been busy with work, but hopefully I can get back to the Nova.

Little progress made on the Nova this past couple of weeks. Finished fabricating a trans crossmember which came out ok, it will do the job for sure. It will give much added clearance to help when fabricating the exhaust around the torque arm suspension. Also tweaked the trans dipstick I picked up from Madman, was too long for my taste. Up next is get driveshaft shorten, new u-joints and high speed balance. I've started making a list of things I'll need for the SS exhaust and will be picking them up soon. Until then for more updates.

That transmission crossmember is a work of art. Well done.

[Kiquee71]

Been about nine months since I've posted any progress on my Nova, but the plan is still in full progress in my head . Work has slowed down so I continued on the exhaust up till the rear diff. My vacation is coming up soon, so my plan is to finish over the diff to the bumper. Kinda tight underneath their, but not impossible. Merry Xmas peeps and a Happy New Years

[MOREHORSEPOWER]

Looking Good !!

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Fantastic work! The tail pipes get a little tight but it's doable, we have done several in the shop with 3" pipe. Pictured here is a 68 Nova also with our torque arm, hopefully this will give you some inspiration. The angle of the photo makes the left tailpipe look closer to the panhard than it actually is, there is actually plenty of room in there.





Keep up the good work!

[Kiquee71]

Thanks Ben for the info and photos. Yes it's tight but it can be done with some patience lol. My plan was to cut the corners of the trunk so it will give me more room to run exhaust above the gas tank and out by the rear tire then out to the back. I can box the corners in after I've run the exhaust through there. I will look into how you guys ran it in the photos if I run into issues with my plan.

Fantastic work! The tail pipes get a little tight but it's doable, we have done several in the shop with 3" pipe. Pictured here is a 68 Nova also with our torque arm, hopefully this will give you some inspiration. The angle of the photo makes the left tailpipe look closer to the panhard than it actually is, there is actually plenty of room in there.





Keep up the good work!

[Ben@SpeedTech]

I'm anxious to see how that works out, sounds interesting!