ExtReme 70 Nova by Speedtech...

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Hey All, Here's another project we've got going on in the shop, Charles' '70 Nova. Charles bought this as an already upgraded car with a healthy small block and an aftermarket pro touring suspension. After AutoXing a few times and some cruising around town, Charles decided he wanted to get serious about performance. In his search for parts that could help him achieve his goals, he talked to us and the car soon showed up for a complete ground up rebuild. Included in the transformation will be an LS mill nestled between our new ExtReme Nova subframe and that wicked front suspension will be backed by our famous torque arm system. Along with some subtle body mods and a fresh layer of paint it'll also get a complete custom interior.

When I sit down with a client to start the design process, usually they're interested in a big change and excited to see where I can visually take the design. Thinking he'd want that classic black and white look jazzed up quite a bit I asked Charles what look he might be after and he simply said, "White... with a black hood." As the design and rendering process unfolded, we met in the middle and now he's stoked to have it done as you see it below. With that said, let's get this party started!





Here's our starting point pics...











More coming soon!

[qnitro]

Im getting ready to pull the trigger on you front extreme subframe(just called Matts Classic Bowtie) and already bought the rear extreme/torque arm set up for my 71 Z28..Im looking forward getting this done.. DSE minitubs and bottom end is starting soon..I cant wait to see you set this Nova up

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Awesome Kevin! The ExtReme subframes have been blasting out the door, we are doing all we can to keep up with orders. I think as these cars start getting finished up, hit the track and get dialed in we'll see some serious performance figures across the board. Have confidence in knowing you'll have the best of the best in your car too!

[bs46488]

Nice starting point.

I'm building a 1970 and also thinking about a similar paint idea.

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Sounds good Brian! I tried clicking on the Nova thread but it didn't work?

Things have been progressing with this build so we'll get caught up on pics. First off, we had the body blasted to bare metal and then sprayed on a base of epoxy primer. Although the car appeared "ok" when it came in, you never know and as usual there were some uglies lurking under bondo that will be getting addressed. Starting with the easy stuff, besides some dents and damage typical Nova rot did some damage to the fenders so we decided to just go ahead and get a new pair. More coming soon...

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Luckily on this car the trunk and trunk lid were in good shape, as was the floor and the previously installed Dynomat. After a coat of epoxy primer the work on the rear minitubs began.

[ClosNova805]

Can't wait to see when it's done I'm currently building a 69 aswell what wheels are those ?

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Clos- The wheels it rolled in on were 18" TSW, not sure what the specs were, all the old parts were shipped back to Charles as soon as we disassembled the car. It'll be rolling on Forgelines for the rebuild.

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Continuing with the wheel tubs... Typically Novas can squeeze a 275 under the rear with the right wheel. In our case the ExtReme suspension products are designed around running a 315 tire tucked under factory fenders and 1/4 panels, but of course some massaging to the inner fenders and rear frame rails helps make this possible. Although labor intensive the swap to the pre-formed wheel tubs is pretty straight forward.

[Wolvee]

I don't think Novas get nearly enough love. Wonderful platforms that are just endless. I really tried to find another Nova to build but either they were out of my range or just too shot for me to handle. In the end I opted for something different for me, a 68 Mustang. After I get this one done I'll probably move back into a Nova. Great Work Ben@

[Ben@SpeedTech]

From a personal point of view I very much agree. My first Nova was my second car, bought it at 17 back in '87. I've owned Novas ever since. Wish I had the $ to build one of the two project cars I have now but I'm too deep into my G body and have to make the hard choice and unload the Novas to continue the game. I was just telling my teenage son last night that when he's rich and famous I want him to surprise me like all the videos, and on my birthday present me with my dream Nova, and then I proceeded to tell him what my build wish list is, lol!

They really do make a great platform, our "Resurexion" Nova was a fantastic test bed in the early days of pushing Speedtech parts to the limit, proved our components worked and that a Torque Arm was a major player and serious option in the Pro Touring world. ResX gave us great insight on how to improve parts for even better performance, and that car was pretty awesome. Now with a moving forwards and upwards motto, Charles' build will be even better than ResX. Isn't Pro Touring just a great part of the car culture?

Here's a couple pics of ResX in action. The first is Jay getting 4 wheel airborne using the bottle fed LS2 to get up speed on the straight-a-way at a past "Run To The Coast" event at El Torro. I think he told me the car took flight 3 times that day.

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Back to Charles' Nova, here are some pics of the firewall getting cleaned up.











More coming...

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Next up on the body was dealing with the doors. Charles wanted a little bit of a modern visual upgrade so he chose a vent window delete. On 68-72 Novas, this is actually pretty easy, you simply round up a pair of 73-74 doors. These were a little rough on the outer skins but the rest of the doors were solid, so we ordered new skins. Unfortunately the aftermarket only produces skins for the 68-72 doors, but after some slight massaging in the vent window area we were good to go.

[Oregon]

Car is looking great Ben.

I'm doing this same door swap on my nova. How are you handling the weld-on door hinges? Are you converting them to bolt-on?

[Peter Mc Mahon]

The 4 wheels in the air is the greatest picture on here!

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Oregon- Pretty simple swap, we just got a hinge rebuild kit with new pins and bushings and it all went right together. Sometimes with weld on hinges you have to bend and tweak the hinges a little for proper alignment but we lucked out and it went together just right.

Peter- That is a sweet shot right?

[killer69]

Car is looking great Ben.

I'm doing this same door swap on my nova. How are you handling the weld-on door hinges? Are you converting them to bolt-on?

NO just leaving that part alone.all works fine with out changing them over

[Oregon]

Good to know. Thanks guys.

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Updates- Jeremy modded the bumpers for a cleaner look. Both were narrowed and the front bumper openings were filled.









More to come...

[Ben@SpeedTech]

With the taller T56 trans and the ExtReme subframe being designed to give you optimum low ride height to help be sure to have the correct driveline angle with plenty of room for suspension compression we have available a pre bent full length tunnel cover kit. This kit comes in 3 pieces and is easy to install. As with other builds truck bed liner is sprayed on the underside of the floor pan. More progress coming...