1963 Nova project "Rocket"

[colt6920]

I had originally became hooked on autocross a handful of years ago when I was in high school at the GoodGuys in Scottsdale looking for some parts for a 63 F100 I was building at the time, and at that point I had never seen autocross before. So I just saw some amazing cars and trucks going through at the time what looked like a sea of cones wondering how they knew where to go. Since that point I knew I wanted to be apart of it, and did everything I could to be, from attending racing schools such as Bondurant,going to several events through out the South-West, as well as talking with several drivers, and other companies in the protouring world.

So almost a year ago I picked up a 63 Nova shell, with the goal to have a car that can be competitive in events such as GoodGuys, optima USCA, LS Fest and NMCA events. The plan I set out for myself is to have the car done and running in events while I am still in college, so hopefully the optima event in March will be my first event. Yet to get to where I am on the car took the willingness and others wanting to help me succeed with my build. I have had a tremendous amount of help from Jason and Evan from Total Cost Involved on any part they can, and helping me put together an AMAZING suspension setup using their protouring front clip and torque arm rear suspension. Then Currie has been a big help in getting me setup with one of their new Turn 9 rear ends that look amazing. As well as my friends who have sacrificed much of their free time and late nights to help me out! So I wanted to start this thread to document as much as possible of the build as I could, and to thank all those who are helping along the way. Then to get all of your thoughts and opinions on different things on the car. So over the coming weeks I will be posting pictures and going through what I have done to this point on Project "Rocket", and then documenting the rest of the build as it happens.

[GRNOVA]

Welcome, Sounds like a great project!

[Rebob]

Welcome from another Phoenix member. Good luck on your project, sounds like it’s gonna be fun !

[colt6920]

So when I started the Nova the couple things I wanted to have when it came to a fabricating stand point was having a shaved firewall, as well as a flat floor. So I would be able to mount the engine a little farther back and mounting the seats and pedals would be easier for me. Which led to the entire firewall and the floor all the way to where the rear subframe starts, because I wanted to leave it intact making it easy to install the rear suspension, and not having to mess with modifying anything to make it work. On the firewall we ran a 16 gauge steel to make it a little stronger, and to help avoid firewall flex. Then when it came to the floor we used 18 gauge, and each panel is a little over 8 inches in width and we welded the fins together on the bottom side. Lastly when it came to the trans tunnel I made it a little bit bigger so I would be able to access the transmission if needed.

[colt6920]

Once we got the floor installed the dilemma became do we try to fabricate a new mount for the front clip or cut the old floor off of the original mounts and weld those ones up onto the new floor. So after messing with a few ideas we came to the conclusion that the original had the best strength so we welded those ones back on. Yet before we did we mocked up all of the TCI suspension up to it, to have any idea of what it looked like before it was up under the car. So once the factory mounts were back in we mocked up the whole suspension front to rear to make sure there wasn't anything I had to tweak from changing so much on my part, luckily somehow everything fit near perfect in the car. After that we took all of the suspension components off, and I took them to the powder coater up in Flagstaff (Flagstaff Power Coating) I went with a red very similar to TCI's red on the front clip, torque arm tube and the Currie Turn 9 housing, then I went with a dark gray on the remaining parts.

[colt6920]

The next dilemma I am having is how to setup the brake booster and the pedals, which I would love to get some input on. So where I'm at currently is the car did not have the factory pedals when I purchased the car, so going with aftermarket it was for me. Then back at LS Fest West I spent a decent amount of time talking with Jake Rozelle and what setup he runs on his cars, and why. Which is what led me to buying a C6 Z06 brake booster and master cylinder, as apposed to just having master cylinders. But now having the brake booster to work around, I'm trying to figure out a mounting solution as well as using a Wilwood pedal with it I need to have a few inch gap between the booster and pedal since the rod on the booster is longer. Then the next thing I am trying to figure out is how to mount the clutch master cylinder/pedal because I don't want it to far from the brake pedal and what to do when it comes to mounting on the firewall. So any thoughts on, or suggestions anyone has would be greatly appreciated!

[colt6920]

I know it has been a while since I have been able to post on here since I have been busy with school and work. Yet since the last time I posted on here I got the entire suspension back from the powder coaters, and it all turned out pretty great and the colors look good together. So I have been able to reassemble the suspension so that it's ready to go back on the car as soon as the roll cage is completed. We've also been able to go through the car in the mean time and clean up all of the welds that we still needed to clean. So going forward the plan post SEMA will be to have the car reassembled rolling around, and to be installing the steering, fuel system and radiator.

[colt6920]

On another note I decided to make my own pedal box that will accommodate the Z06 booster, as well as bring the pedals farther back which is ideal for me since I prefer to drive with the pedals closer to me, I added a mockup of what the box should look like when it is completed.

[NorthFalcon]

Looks like you got yourself a good size project and you definitely have some good parts on the car. I'm in college too and just this past summer I got to really experience the car. Thousands of hours went into the car and I couldn't be happier. With that being said, keep your head down, its all worth it in the end. Excited to see the rest of the build.

[colt6920]

Looks like you got yourself a good size project and you definitely have some good parts on the car. I'm in college too and just this past summer I got to really experience the car. Thousands of hours went into the car and I couldn't be happier. With that being said, keep your head down, its all worth it in the end. Excited to see the rest of the build.

Thanks haha it's kinda crazy thinking about the number of hours I have into the car just getting to this point. Yet even when I'm super frustrated with the car I still enjoy myself! Thanks again and i hope you follow along for the rest of the build!

[colt6920]

Well I wasn't able to get the most done on the car this past weekend since I had my friends wedding all weekend. Yet I was still able to get all the plates bent and cut for the pedal box, which let me mock it up in the car to sort of get an idea where the pedals would sit. Now I'm just looking forward to SEMA to see what direction I want to go on a few things on the car!

[colt6920]

Since its less than a week until SEMA I figured I'd get one last update in before the show. The first one being most of the roll cage has been installed in the car, and I should be installing the mini tubs post SEMA, along with the steering, suspension and rear end once I get the entire under side media blasted. So I'm hoping to have the car rolling around before Christmas. Then the other thing I'm excited about is a good friend of mine was able to throw together a quick rendering of the car to put my idea of the car into an image, as well as having it for SEMA. I'm also hoping to have the time during SEMA to post any exciting news regarding project Rocket!

[colt6920]

Well it has been a crazy week for me, it started with leaving Flagstaff after class on Monday to head out to Vegas for SEMA. Then having to hurry back here Friday morning for my friends wedding rehearsal and wedding on Saturday. Even though it has been crazy week it was amazing the entire time. Then while at SEMA I couldn't be more stoked able to have Rocket Racing Wheels onboard as a sponsor for Project Rocket! Project Rocket will be running the Rocket Attack wheel in their bronze finish. Which I feel is an amazing fit for the car since I am still in college and cost is something that's really important, and to be running the Rocket Attack wheel that's quite a bit less expensive than multi piece forged wheels. Yet it is still incredibly capable due to being a dual-direction, flow-form, semi-forged wheel plus the wheels will look pretty amazing on Project Rocket.

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Looks great and I really like that wheel choice!

[RocketRacingWheels]

Well it has been a crazy week for me, it started with leaving Flagstaff after class on Monday to head out to Vegas for SEMA. Then having to hurry back here Friday morning for my friends wedding rehearsal and wedding on Saturday. Even though it has been crazy week it was amazing the entire time. Then while at SEMA I couldn't be more stoked able to have Rocket Racing Wheels onboard as a sponsor for Project Rocket! Project Rocket will be running the Rocket Attack wheel in their bronze finish. Which I feel is an amazing fit for the car since I am still in college and cost is something that's really important, and to be running the Rocket Attack wheel that's quite a bit less expensive than multi piece forged wheels. Yet it is still incredibly capable due to being a dual-direction, flow-form, semi-forged wheel plus the wheels will look pretty amazing on Project Rocket.

What a great build! Looking forward to following the progress on Project Rocket! Thanks so much!

[colt6920]

What a great build! Looking forward to following the progress on Project Rocket! Thanks so much!

Thanks a ton again, I can't wait to see the car on your wheels! School has just been crazy but I'm finishing finals up this week and then I should be able to make pretty good progress on the car over the coming weeks!

[colt6920]

Well this post is both hopeful as well as disappointing. It's disappointing because I have only limited time to spend working on my car with a good amount of time dedicated to college and work. So I have been waiting a while for the roll cage to be completed in the car, and a few weeks ago it was finally completed. So when I went to pick up the Nova I was super excited to see it, only to have my excitement quickly taken away. Upon inspecting the cage I come to find several issues, the first one being where they located the A-pillar bars the bend is above where the windshield sits. Then the next more annoying thing to me is several of the welds are bad with zero penetration, yet the other half are good, and this is the same shop who helped me with the floor and firewall. So I don't know where things went wrong but, thankfully Ron Sutton has been a tremendous help on me with my build and I was able to order new A-pillar bars and have them shipped out in a very short amount of time. As well as having a friend from high school who is a tig welder, and is willing to help me fix the cage. Then on the hopeful side of progress I have been able to work on installing the Detroit Speed mini tubs and should have those fully installed in the next couple days. I have also been working on the pedal setup I want to use and Tommy (@myramotor his Instagram) who has a 67 Camaro runs a Corvette pedal box so I was able to pick his brain on how he installed his and everything that went along with that. Allowing me to understand how to use one of these well enough I decided to do the same, so I bought a pedal box setup out of a C6 Z06, and should have that installed soon!

[colt6920]

Well tonight I felt like I made a decent amount of progress on the car, and enjoyed myself while working on it! I was able to get the front down bars installed which allowed me to start to see how the color scheme works together on TCI's suspension. But the part I'm more excited about is I got the C6 Z06 brake booster and pedal box into place. With the booster only being a quarter inch off of the down bar it was a perfect fit which honestly surprised me how well it turned out. As well as the pedal placement on the inside, I just have to modify a section of the trans tunnel once the engine and trans are in to allow better room for the gas pedal. Otherwise the pedals are almost exactly where I want them to be.

[colt6920]

There has been a several month gap since my most recent post, it hasn’t been for a lack of effort or time put into the Nova but, due to the shop who had been doing the “welding/fab” work on it. When I was told they had finished everything on the car which took much longer than what it was supposed to, and I would’ve been okay with that if it was done properly. When we went out to go pick it up we noticed parts of the cage didn’t look right but it was already dark out and hard to see what it truly looked like. It wasn’t until the next day when we really started to look at it in sunlight and noticed how bad it really was. Working from the firewall back, the firewall was warped from too much heat getting into the metal. Then the floor and trans tunnel welds mixed between almost no penetration, blowing through the metal or just incomplete welds. The roll cage was pretty similar with several incomplete and bad welds, along with the cage not even having the bars in the correct places, along with them using MIG rather than TIG.

Which left me in a tough spot, and I felt the only correct way to do it was to cut everything back out and restart. Thankfully in that time my brother had become a certified welder, so between him and a couple great friends we have been able to do things correct with proper welds. We also had a much better design this time one that actually strengthens the car (hopefully allowing it to handle better paired with the amazing TCI suspension). The design this time around makes the car much closer to a full framed car rather than a subframe. In the mean time I have also been able to get an engine and transmission for the car (a LS1 from a GTO and a TR-6060 from a ZL1) So sadly due to having to back track so far because of a “fab shop” messing so much up on the car causing me to spend so much more money and time on the car; neither of which I have a lot of being a full time college student. Now after all of that and being forced to back track the updated timeline for the car is to have al of the fab work done on the car by SEMA and going off to paint around the end of the school semester.

[jc70chevy]

Subscribed