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Project Scope Creep - '74 Nova Spirit of America
I really hope there are no Nova purists here who know what this car really is (sorry Ben), but my plan is to cut and to modify an original numbers matching 1974 Nova Spirit of America hatchback into a fun pro-touring driver. Only 14,463 of these cars were ever built of which few have survived. That is compared to the 21,419 Nova SS cars built the same year. It is a bit rare now.
The low-down:
I purchased this car in 1978 from a used car dealer when I was 15 years old. It was my first car. I wanted something that had a big engine bay. The Nova met the criteria and looked cool. It was blisteringly fast from zero to about 20 mph before the 145 horsepower 350 2 barrel started to get winded. The TH350 transmission and 3.08 axle did not help.
I put a set of ported 462 camelhump heads, a Chevy first race design cam and a Holley Street Dominator single plane intake. That bumped the compression up to about 8.5:1 and the horsepower somewhere over 200 on a good day. It had no bottom end, but ran hard from 300o to 6500 rpm. I thought is was fast.
A few years later when gasoline seemed expensive to a high schooler, I put the car up for sale. My dad liked it and bought it from me. I moved to a Vega GT 4-speed that was good and gas, but low on power. Years later after I finally finished college, my dad gave it back to me as a graduation present. I had a bit more appreciation for it then.
It was my daily driver for several years before the engine got tired and I decided I needed a car that could turn. I took it all apart and began collecting parts for the suspension and for a new engine. Since it was garaged most of its life, it has much less rust than average and less than 100,000 miles.
It has been sitting since before my youngest daughter, now 14, was born. Raising 5 children seemed to have consumed all my time and money during that time. Now, with only one left at home, I have time. A new job has inproved my financial situation. The move to take the new job netted an oversize garage with a 14' ceiling and room for 4 cars. Now I am out of excuses and back in the saddle.
Here is what I have collected:
377 small block
Ported Vortec heads
1.6:1 Comp Cams steel roller rockers
Summit 1105 hydraulic cam
Keith Black claimer series flat top pistons set a zero deck height
Super Victor Vortec intake
Holley 750 vacuum secondary carb (fuel injection is in the works)
Scat steel crank and rods
Balanced
Vintage Corvette windage tray
Blackjack vintage headers and 2 1/2" Summit dual exhaust system
Landrum 700 lb front springs with adjustible spacer
Landrum225 lb asphalt leaf springs with low arc
Afco low friction A-arm bushings and ball joints
IROC-Z quick ratio steering box
Matching long pitman and idler arms
Torq Thrust Originals - 17X8 (yeah, I know, they are like belly buttons, everyone has them, but they match the old school theme)
Goodyear Eagle GT's - 245/45R17
Muncie M21 4-speed
Hurst competition shifter
Joe's Racing aluminum shifter with an old school Hurst T-handle
Centerforce dual friction clutch
Lightened flywheel
C3 front discs
'74 C10 large (2 15/16") diameter piston calipers
Modifed drum brake spindles
Converting to Pozzi cheap big brakes
Fiberglass inner and outer fenders and cowl induction hood
And lots of antique, vintage and just low-buck stuff
The stock interior including the white bucket seats and rear fold-down seat, bright red carpet and center console is still mostly intact. I plan to keep the original look of the interior. Somehow the bright white and red give me flashbacks of my childhood in the 70's. It gives me the urge to buy a plaid sport coat to where when I go cruising.
Planned:
Guldstrand mod the hard way
Welded in and connected stock sub-frame
Near stock paint scheme - I will get some renderings made as soon as I collect the money to pay Ben at Street Rod Designs
The black vinyl in the picture will be replaced by black paint
The hood will be black too like the early Trans Am racers
This started out as a simple refresh, but has now taken on a mind of its own. Hence the name Scope Creep.
Here is what is started out looking like:
Attachment 73615
Ain't she pretty? It looked aweful tame when I bought it.
She won't be the prettiest girl at the prom, but she will be fun to drive hard. I plan to exercise her up and down the local canyon roads when I get her on the road.
Later this week I will add the photos of the basket case it is today.
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More photos and an update
Well, it looks like there is nowhere to go but up with this one. I have the motor almost back together after I pulled it down to balance it.
Attachment 74290Attachment 74291
I will also be fuel injecting the motor with a Mototron 128 pin ECM. :cool: I need to learn the software better for work and thought it would give me some great hands-on experience. I now work at Woodward, Inc. who produces the Mototron ECM,s and Motohawk calibration tools.
Attachment 74292
I will need to add injector fitting into my intake (Super Victor Vortec) and then modify an old GM Marine fuel rail to fit. I will be using fuel injectors from a Buick 3.8L supercharged motor. They will give me enough flow at 60 psi for abotu 500 horsepower, which is about 20% more than I will be making. That will give me some room to grow.
More later...