70 Nova Two Point Oh (2.0)

[70LS1NOVA]

So, I put the LS1 in my nova in 2005. As the years went on, i made some mods like global west A arms, hotchkis springs and sway bar, wilwood brakes, f body rear disc and so forth. I've never autocrossed it, but took it down the quarter mile on many occasions. Last year, i added the ride tech four link and mini tubbed it and put 315's on the rear. The car is a lot of fun and get a lot of looks and positive comments but it was really getting beat up over the years because i did drive it a LOT. someone wrecked the passenger side door and left. No idea even when since I rarely go to the passenger side of the car. Plus, when i "restored" the car in 99, it had partial panels that weren't put on correctly and had patches on top of patches. So, i figured I'd put on new quarters, fix the dent in the door, and give it a fresh coat of paint. Oh, and build a new "hammer" for the track too. I picked up a 6 litre block a couple years ago, so i figure I'll build a 408 stroker motor while I'm at it. Here are some pics of the car last fall right before I got started.

[70LS1NOVA]

So, i got it in the shop and one of the first things i did was to smooth the drip rail.

[70LS1NOVA]

The next thing I did was to work on taking two inches off each side of the rear bumper and recessing them into the new quarter panels. I put a 68 camaro gas tank in it last summer when i mini tubbed it and installed the ride tech gas cap.

You can see in the first pic, the right side is cut and tucked in.


Here is a pic of both sides, one cut, one not cut yet

[70LS1NOVA]

My plan is to take all of the chrome and stainless that is on the car and powder coat it black. Was going to paint it Midnight blue pearl but the wife says "a hot rod should be red", so I'm painting it red again. But, I've always hated the way the rear bumpers stick out and I've never liked the big trim around the tail lights. So, the plan is to cut the ring off the tail light buckets and smooth the lights out.

[70LS1NOVA]

So, once i got the bumper where i liked it, I cut the quarter off and got started on replacing them.

[70LS1NOVA]

Quarter panel is on and side marker lights are deleted. Pocket is cut out for the bumper.



Been searching for door handle ideas and came across the kindigit door handles and i really like them. They aren't cheap but, it's something that i haven't seen around here, so I went for it. Going to fill in the door lock holes and buy actuators.

[70LS1NOVA]

Cut the other quarter off, and got started on it.



Took the time to add some insulation before I welded them on.

[70LS1NOVA]

Both quarters are on and the rings have been cut off the tail lights. there is a gap between the light bucket and the panel, so I welded some sheet metal in the pocket to fill the gap. I then used metal to metal adhesive and bolted the buckets in. I hope I never get rearended. it's gonna be a hell of time repairing this one between the lights and the bumper.



The bumper fit into the newly made pockets in the quarter panels...



Then, a good coat of epoxy primer was sprayed before starting the body work.

[70LS1NOVA]

After many hours, the car is in primer and ready for some wet sanding... You get a good idea of what the kindigit door handles will look like if you've never seen them.

[70LS1NOVA]

Jambs are cut in and getting closer to paint...



tail lights without the big trim rings...

[70LS1NOVA]

In the meantime, I started building the motor. The machine shop bored it, align honed it, installed cam bearings, mic'd all my coated bearings and journals and loaded them in the balanced assembly. All I had to do was file fit the rings and bolt it all together. Lunati forged stroker crank, lunati H beam rods, diamond pistons.







Powder coated the pan, the intake, and all the other covers in the process

[70LS1NOVA]

Bolted it up to the tranny and put it in the car. I bought the Hooker super comp headers and i didn't use their mounts. the only issue I had was the idler arm was hitting the passenger side header. So, I had to cut the one tube and move it in a little. I can't imagine that it would not have hit had i used their mount idea either. But, whatever.

[rchaskin]

wow dude...you got some skills!!!

I really dig the trimless tail lights!

[70LS1NOVA]

Thanks man, yeah, i was on the fence with the tail lights. I actually bought another pair on ebay to cut up in case i didn't like it, i still had mine to put back in. But, yeah, I like it. I think the bumper turned out pretty good, and they are subtle changes that most people (who don't own a nova) wouldn't notice unless it's sitting next to another nova.

[70LS1NOVA]

So, yeah, I painted it red, powder coated the Billet Specialties wheels black and any other trim. the kindigit door handles were a bit of a pita to get working, but after several hours of tinkering, they work great now. Have some vibration in the driveline since doing the ridetech four link. As soon as I get that workd out, I'll get it on the dyno for final tuning.

[rchaskin]

Super cool!!