1971 Nova Build ??

[Kiquee71]

I think those wheels are going to look killer on the car when finished.. Something different.

Thanks man appreciate the comment. Not to far away from getting them mounted to the car. Waiting for parts to arrive sucks lol

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Thanks man appreciate the comment. Not to far away from getting them mounted to the car. Waiting for parts to arrive sucks lol

Waiting on the brown Santa truck is always the worst! ;) Give us a call if you have any questions with the install. Can't wait to see it on it's feet again!!

[Kiquee71]

Been awhile since I've updated on the Nova, work has been busy. Well I've got the new cam, springs, pushrods, cam phaser kit, oil pan, timing cover all put together It's ready for mocking it up in the frame so I can see where to notch the frame, fit headers and the front suspension. I have almost everything for the suspension except for the 9" rear end, steering box and rear coil overs.
I'll put up some more when work slows down hehehe.

[tom091074]

[dangina]

looks like christmas came early!

[Kiquee71]

Hey everyone, just a little bit of an update here on the Nova. Got started
on the frame notching on my subframe for the Hooker motor mounts kit, cause I'm using the 302-1 oil pan that has the ability to be stroked out for more cubic inches . The headers fit great, they don't even hang below the subframe rails after I set the 3 deg down as per instructions. Went to put on the Lee's power steering box and it wasn't the right box :( Have picked up the Currie rear end and now need to have the axles bearings pressed on so I can start on the rear suspension. Things should start coming together here now since I have everything now to make it a roller vehicle. More to come later.

[Kiquee71]

Got around to doing some more on the car today. I put the subframe on using Speedtechs aluminum solid mounts, it lined up great. Had the 3rd member painted and installed in the housing along with the torque arm pinion support. Started mounting the lower & upper control arms and had a issue with one of the upper arm shaft threads which got stripped when installing the lock nut ugh :(. Took care of that and called it a day. Getting bearings pressed on the axles at the end of the week so I can get going on the rear. Going to have to send the steering box to Lee's to get the right box that bolts up. Never ending issues lol

[Kiquee71]

Ok got some more things done today. The deal with steering box was my mistake. Didn't give it enough time trying to install it, due to a 7 year old telling me how bored he is lol. Steering box fits like a glove . Had the bearings pressed on the axles, took tranny in to have my guy go thru it. He called back says all look ok, but need some new clutches. Started on the rear suspension, got it hung in there and lined it up. As usual things don't bolt up like they are supposed to, so a little grinding, welding and drilling got it to fit. That's as far as I got today. Tomorrow my plan is get coil overs set up, put on the axles and rear brakes. Well that's the plan hehehe more pics to come later.

[Kiquee71]

Well the rear is done for the mocking up phase whew, my body is pretty beat up lol. I'm thinking
of purchasing some 3/16 wheel spacers cause I still have lots I room under there to go a little to the outside. Next on the agenda is get the front suspension put together, wheels on and drop engine & trans in. That's it for today, time to relax BBQ & some cold ones.

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Looks killer! Great stance and wide meats make all the difference.

On the spacers, I'd avoid the cheapie universal mr gasket ones from the autoparts store. From my experience they're difficult to center and throw off your wheel balance. I also had one crack and fall apart as I unbolted the wheel. There are two companies that I found here on the forum that make custom billet spacers, they're built to your width and are both hub and wheel centric so they are custom built specifically to your car. I got some at 10mm thick and paid $110 for a pair. In my opinion they were worth it. For a nicer not so custom to your vehicle and a little less expensive set, we get our universal billet spacers from Baer brakes. Give us a ring if we can help you with those.

The car is really getting there, on it's own 4 feet now. Keep it rockin'!

[Kiquee71]

Thanks Ben, I will keep that in mind when looking for some spacers. It's almost on all 4's, haven't got to the front suspension done yet.

[Kiquee71]

Little update on the progress on the Nova. Have the front suspension altogether now with the wheels on. Finally it's on all wheels and I can move it around a little easier. Boy do I need to add some shims on the upper control arms, tires have a lot of positive camber. I'll take a look at later after I install the motor and trans, so it has some weight to the front. I'll try to get it close later down the road and let the alignment shops handle the final specs.Then the next project is to make a trans mount and set the engine to the correct deg down. So far so good. Here are some photos.

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Ok, now I can officially say nice to see it on all fours.

[Kiquee71]

Ok, now I can officially say nice to see it on all fours.

Yes, officially on all fours. lol Man so glad to get it to this point.

[Kiquee71]

Ok, have the motor and trans in the Nova. I'm using Hooker LS conversion kits, motor mounts, headers and minus the trans mount. They currently don't have a trans mount for the 4L80E. So next on the list is custom trans mount, shorten trans dipstick tube from Madman. I also was checking steering and suspension travel and found out that the ridetech Tru-turn tie-rod end hits one of the headers tubes on the passenger side and come close on one on the drivers side. So I have to modify these headers to work with the True-turn. Trans tunnels needed to be opened up to fit this monster trans , might be in my best interest to also raise the trans driveshaft tunnel a bit too. So I have some modifying to do in the weeks to come and then I can move on to the fabrication of the exhaust. More to come later.

[Kiquee71]

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.

[robertslx]

Nice Build , I'm working on a 73 Nova

[Kiquee71]

Thanks Robertsix. Have fun with your build and if I can help out in any way with your build feel free to hit me up.

[Kiquee71]

So, far the past week or so I've been working on installing the shorten drive shaft. Have my angles set and tunnel cut for driveshaft. Started with attaching together the trans tunnel brace with a little help from my son. He has pick up the mig welding really quick so he wanted to weld it up for me lol. It's wasn't bad at all too. Made up some templates for the trans tunnel and driveshaft tunnel. Next is transfer to 18 gauge sheet metal and form to fit. Tack everything and then final weld. Will post finished results soon. Will be off to the Long Beach Auto Swap-meet this Sunday to find some deals on items I'm looking for. More to come.

[wheatie8252]

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