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Home-built 72 Nova, "Full Tilt"
Hey everyone. I'm new here, but the idea of for this Nova has been in the works since I was a little kid. I've always wanted to build a 68-72; one that I could drive, race, cruise, and enjoy. I looked for years, and couldn't find one that I could afford. When I was 22, I found what I thought was a pretty solid 72 body, and traded my daily driver 74 Chevelle for it. The car was built during the 3rd week of July, 1972, the same week that my birthday fell on 25 years later; it felt as if it was meant to be.
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I came to find out that it was not as solid as I had originally thought, but it was good enough to repair and make a decent driver. On a tight budget, I ordered what I could to get it ready for the road, with essentially no direction as to what I really wanted it to be. It sat for around 2 years as I pecked away at what I could afford to do to it. By the grace of God, I landed the job I had been trying to get for almost 2 years after graduating college, which enabled me to somewhat "restart" the Nova in an entirely different direction, and give it the rebuild it deserved. This started off with the replacement of a majority of her sheetmetal, down to and including the frame rails. I'm not a metal guy by any means, and didn't want to screw my car up from the get-go, so this work was carried out by Midwest Nova Kings. Highly recommended.
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While the car was away, I started on the engine, a Dart-based 427 small block. I went back and forth on whether to run an LS or not, which truthfully would have been the easiest way to reach my goals for this car. However, I wanted to steer this car in a more "unique" direction, and opted to stick with a traditional (yet far from factory) gen 1 SBC. Since getting the car back, I've started installing DSE minitubs (a first for me. again, I'm not a metal guy, but I'm learning), and will likely be raising the driveline tunnel in the coming weeks.
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I have the majority of this build planned out, and I can't wait to update you all on it as I go. I've finally settled on "Full Tilt" as a moniker for this project. I'm giving it everything I've got, using everything I've learned on my other cars over the years to do the work myself, with the intended outcome of a car that can be road tripped, beaten on, cruised in comfort, and brought home safely time and time again.
