Project Novacane update 12/29/04

[Novacane]

Haven't been on the site for a while but wanted to share some progress with the Novacane project. I last left off with the body meeting the chassis. Currently the 12 pt cage is completed and the motor/tranny mounts are done (both custom). Also behind me are the custom turbo headers and 3" down tubes from the turbos. I decided to ditch the Viper T-56 for a highly modified 4L80E auto. It will handle way more power then the stick and also work better with the turbos is keeping boost pressure up. This week I am starting to assembly the all aluminum LSX 427 motor as the machine shop is done with the balancing. To top off the motor my long awaited AFR225 heads finally arrived after 10 months of waiting! Also installed are a set of Ricaro Sport Sportline racing seats that where required to properly fabricate the cage. Over the next couple of weeks the firewall, floors and rear tubs and trunk will be fabricated. I am hoping to have the rolling chassis completed by March and the motor running on the dyno by May 1st.

Pictures of the project are hosted at the following site

http://www.lateral-g.net/tanner/

The project is starting to get very condensed as I am working on several locations at once because of how one area flows into another. If I can hit the above dates I will be right on schedule for SEMA!

Howard

[Boyd]

I can't wait to see that car finished.......

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Lookin' good, Howard!!

[Jagarang]

Jesus....In my wildest dreams could I ever afford that sort of work! Very impressive. I think the sight of the Nova in the Sumack would have scared me away as a buyer, but since you cut the entire floor out and fabbed the chassis you didn't need to worry about rot in those areas.
1. Just out of curiosity, was there alot of rust in the car as purchased from the garden?
2. Do you remember what the other car in the guys agriculture experiment, next to the Nova, was?
3. Would you be willing to tell us what it cost you to purchase the car?

[Novacane]

I do most of all my own fabricating so it's mostly materials + my time. I would never pay someone for this work!!

I kind of fell into the Pro Touring scene. I knew somewhere down the line I wanted to do a mix of the old car with the new guts. My background in fuel injection is very strong which lead me into starting a late model performance shop. I love the GEN3 motor. The Nova was discovered at my father-in-laws body shop. Stuffed in the weeds for over 14 years. Once I saw it I knew that it was the car that was going to get "overhauled"......but had no idea to what extent. I have to blame this website for the habit!

The car was basically all there but the floors where shot, the tires where frozen solid and it stunk. I didn't care because I knew it was going to get shredded. Once I decided to go all out I did not want the car to have any flaws in the body. We opted to replace both rear quarters and one rocker.

The other car belongs to my father-in-laws brother. It is a 69' Charger that he got into an accident with when he was 17. The accident put him in a wheel chair from the neck down. He is now in his late 50's!

I ended up buying the car from the original owner for $500.00. We got the motor running and sold it with the tranny for $ 700.00.

That picture of the car in the weeds will be awesome once the project is completed.

[boodlefoof]

Dizzamn!!! That is killer! I love it!

I'd also love to make a full frame like that for my Camaro (actually, any car I ever build). Just seems like it would make doing work so much easier to just pop the top off and get to it. Or perhaps make it a monocoque and have the floor attached to the frame, but not the rest of the body.

Anyway... question. It says Art Morrisson frame. Did they build that triangulated 4-bar setup? I like the looks of it and have been considering the possibilities of a Satchell link rear... but this is a long way off in planning and I'm not sure I have the capability to design my own 4-bar rear yet... any info on doing so would be appreciated.

[Novacane]

John, It is Art Morrisons frame that was built around my specs for ride height and tire sizing. The Tri-bar setup is theirs.

[colt zantop]

LOOKIN GOOD!!! keep us updated!

[boodlefoof]

Hey Howard,

I sent you a PM asking a few questions about the car, but will post here too in case you didn't get it.

I've had the idea going through my head for awhile of building a space frame for my '68 Camaro at some point (probably the distant future yet). Pretty much like what you've got going together...

With such a layout, after you build the full integrated roll-cage and frame you obviously can't leave the floor as part of the body shell... you'll have to weld the floor directly to the space frame. This brings up a few points I'm unsure of.

Question 1 - How are you going about attaching the body to the space frame? My plan was to have some sort of bolt-on ability so that the body could be removed without too much hassle... then weatherproofing the connection with a line of body putty or butyl or something like that.

Question 2 - since there is no floor on your body shell, when you lift it off of the space frame I imagine it will have a lot of flex to it. How are you dealing with this problem? Is it a problem?

Basically, I had thought I would leave the dash and firewall on the body shell as well as the wheel tubs. This would then drop onto the space frame and bolt on.

Thanks for any help. I greatly appreciate it.

[kmracer]

looks awsome!! i love turbos!!

[FSTFBDY]

Verry nice setup... Would you mind giving me more info on the Sheet Metal intake setup? Love the plenum look.!!

[Steve1968LS2]

Very nice!! I have been toying with the idea of a PT version of a 66 Nova, doing a 62 must be a hundred times more difficult since there is less of an aftermarket..



Very impressive indeed..