Just picked up this nova the other day, its gonna be our outside of college project. want some ideas We were thinking straight axle conversion, any suggestions? we don't have a real big budget but we want to make it a period correct gasser. I found the guy that used to own the car and he said he raced it in the 70's, hopefully he can give us some pics of back in its day. anyways just thought i'd share! Im super pumped
Nice! Since thats how the car was raced back in the day, its as period correct as it could get. Not all, ehem, "gassers" had straight axle fronts. Many had IFS, the front was high to transfer weight to the back. Make it straight axle if you want, but I would fix it up in the same way it looked before. Maybe half assed streetable? If it was mine, and I may be odd, I'd go for a super-hot 250 I6 and a four speed! I'm very jealous, Adam
Thats true, I just want that nose up in the air! wonder if there are ways to get any lift out of the IFS, like bbc coils? I know its mostly for weight transfer but it might give it a couple inches
My jeep rock crawler buddies use spring spacers if they don't wanna drop big $$ on different springs. I would assume you could find some to fit them. Straight axle would look cool as well. Its hard to mess up a sweet little Chevy II. I've not seen one I don't like. Adam
IF you were doing this car in 1965 or so, you'd put your limited money into making it fast. Raise it up front and rear. 327, cam , single 4 bbl, or any other small block and 4 speed w/ 4.88's and 7 inch slicks. \No narrowed rear axle, no tubs. Fenderwell headers(cut up the inner fenders and worry about it breaking apart later). Just enough roll bar to be legal for NHRA. Headlights work and tame enough eek to drive to work everyday cause it's your only car. oops, just saw the hole in the hood. BLOWER time.
Good looking '62. Check out stevesnovasite.com for ideas. I say '62 judging from the grille. However it may just be mangled and odd angled from the pic. Either way, sedan posts are fairly rare, so awesome find. I vote straight axle all the way.
I put different springs to raise my front end, but i'd like it a little higher. Looking into different spindles to raise it up. Straight axles are cool but not always the best for the street.
seems to me like all of the straight axle set ups are pretty expensive, anybody ever done it themselves while using the original front end?
There's definitely potential. Check out stevesnovasite.com and search for threads started by "stangs4sale" in the 1st/2nd gen section. He does 2nd gen lsx swaps, but does a lot of straight axle ones. Grabs a kit that apparently very reasonably priced. Definitely potential. I live this nova. LSX with stacks. Love it.
"Back in the day" we would go to the local Chevy dealer and get station wagon front springs. Worked back then to raise the front some, and then would put rubber spacers under each spring. Biggest problem then was keep the front end aligned since everything was so contorted.
Do you want a fake 'Gasser' or a real deal 70's drag car with possibly some cool history? I know what I'd want, but it's your car... Enjoy it any way you slice it!!
Guess its all up to you and what YOU want. There are millons of opion's here, most all real cool, but its YOUR buck that feed's it. This car was the easy-ist build I ever did...Look at as many 60s gassers as you can find... 99 % of the stuff here had been done many times before. Its simply a matter of picking the ideas you like and putting it together. Its HARD to find any old chevy II that "aint cool" I drive mine on the street and race at any nostiliga show within 200 miles of me. To me its the best of both worlds, but there will be naysayers . You got an awsome platform to work with, wish I had of found it before you. You will have not only a awsome car, it comes with history....the best of both worlds. I like everything about your car
Nice find man ,,wish I had found it ,,be a GREAT Dick Harrell tribut Nova straight axle gasser /AFX car ,,Dick raced a '63/'64 Nova before he had this '66 built by Bill Thomas Race cars ,,you have a really kQQlcar,,lotsa potential there ,,
just found a little more info about the car, the original owner raced it at Kennedale raceway in Texas in '73 and '74, said it had a small block chevy. Also said it was street/strip car
Cool car. Everything depends on your budget. I would get everything else in order before even considering a straight axle. There is plenty to do before you run out of bucks. Better to have the car completed minus a straight axle, then have a cool straight axle and potentially be minus the bucks to finish the project. I also agree, the car is basically racer original now. Wouldn't take too much to restore it exactly back to what it was, probably a simple race car with some history from the 70's. Have fun!
Try to find a cheap '47-'54 Chevy/GMC truck axle and springs, width is just about right. The car brakes of the same period will fit, and give you a 4.75x5 bolt pattern.
Cool looking car. I picked one up in the late eighties that looked just like it. 2 drht with radiused wheel wells and cut for fender well headers. Over 20 years later I am still racing it. I wouldnt be afraid to put my own touches to the car to make it yours. P.M. smokin bill above about the manufacturer of his straight axle kit. It really doesnt look that hard to duplicate and the front sub is a totally bolt on deal. The front suspension on these cars is iffy for high hp and has alignment problems and tend to eat tires. Getting rid of the front shock towers would really be a plus too. Nice project.
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