'69 Nova copo 427 semi-pro-tour

[Wolvee]

Goo-oo-d Morning Vietnam.

This is my Third Nova but the first one with what I consider a Big boy budget. It's not going to be full on professional kind of build, it's just me in a tiny garage with a family. My last two novas I sold when I thought I needed to "grow up" and after a few other projects, I'm finally back to my first love, Novas. I have a '21 GT500 that while I think is the best Mustang I have ever owned, I really need to turn wrenches on a car to feel connected to it so that's probably going away soon.

The car: '69 Chevy Nova with a copo 427 mildly build by the previous owner to make 500hp. That's actually a bad/good thing is they didn't build anything else to handle a big block V8, v6 radiator,small rear end and skinny 235/15's on all four corners. The floor pans are solid as much as I can tell without pulling the carpet yet.

I'm building the car in stages so I can maximize road time next summer.

Stage 1, reliability & suspension. I'm starting with Hotchkis TVS system but will eventually swap all of that back out.
In the parts bin waiting right now I have:

• Hotchkis 2" drop springs for the front
• Hotchkis 1.5" drop leaf springs
• KYB gas-a-just shocks
• Proforged solid subframe bushings.
• Griffin Radiator & dual spal fans
• Not yet purchased is Steering Box, Hydroboost & rear disc brake conversion

Stage 2 will be Sound deadening and comfort, Vintage Air, better seats. That will take me to next winter where I'll start the DSE Mini tube and eventually the suspension geometry to fit big wide meats.


I'm not jumping straight to fuel injection because 1. I know how to tune a carb and 2. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this motor yet. I don't want to waste time and money by throwing parts at this engine, if I'm just going to end up swapping it out for an LS7 or some other big cubic inch small block. At some point, no matter what, there will be a Procharger involved.

Sorry to be so long winded, I'm hopped up on coffee and new car parts.

[Ctjohnson]

Nice looking car for sure! Enjoy it while you build, best way to go for sure!!!

[Steve68]

Nice car, black Nova's always look good,

Sent you a PM

[Wolvee]

Nice car, black Nova's always look good,

Sent you a PM

Thanks. I didn't get your PM.

[Steve68]

yes I see that my box is full of crap cleaned it out, still cleaning it out,

[Dave Pratt]

Great looking project you have to dig a black Nova...

[andrewb70]

Great looking Nova. Looking forward to the progress!

Andrew

[Wolvee]

Thanks guys. The car was originally a lime green but this old 20 year old paint is still pretty good. I don't know what I'm going to do with the paint in the future. It's always hard to find classic cars with a quality re-paint.

[andrewb70]

Wrap it.