Smans 6.0 build up!

[sman]

The Dr. says anytime is a good time, so maybe later this week?

I lost my spot in the shop today, as early this morning we went and got the nova!
IMAG0496.jpgIMAG0434.jpgIMAG0495.jpg

Can anyone tell if this is a real SS, or what gear ratio it should have? It has everything to make it an SS, steering wheel, grille, etc. Rear end has been totally redone, so we assume the gear ratio has been changed, but itd be nice to know what supposed to be. Moser axles. etc. wont know more till we get it apart.

So my car moved to the garage at home and the Regal got the boot to outside, lol. It is nice to have the car home and more accessible, getting excited, warmer weather is on the way!

[sman]

Also, we bought the car sans motor, but a 454 BBC with a Saginaw 4spd will be calling the car home in a few weeks.

[BigJeffSS]

Here is what I can tell you from that Cowl Tag.
The 11427 number tells me it is a Chevy with a V8 2 door sedan.
Tell next number tells you where it was built WRN = Willow Run plant and the following number is the build number.
The 735 number is the interior/seat code yours Medium blue cloth bench seat (Standard interior).
The 51 51 is the paint code Dusk Blue. One is the upper and the other is the lower paint code.
02A = built February the first week. Now you got to move to the Vin and that may or may not supply you more information then that.

For those years there is no real way to tell unless you stumble upon the build sheet under one of the seats usually on a the rear seat under the wire/seat springs. I don't know the exact production numbers on Novas but if you look at your options sometimes you can figure out if the car was in SS. Is this car a Stick shift car? A/C? I had to do the research on a Camaro I bought and sold it was a time consuming.

They just didn't put that information in the Vin or the Cowl tags back then. Is that what the Viper trailer was doing in your driveway yesterday?

Jeff

[BigJeffSS]

Ok the second post you said a BBC is going to be the heart? When you guys bought this car was it set up for BBC? I see someone thought it was a drag car since the Kill switch is in the rear panel. If that is the case I hope they stiffened the frame up so shes ready for a Big Block. Also does it have Front Disc brakes?

[sman]

Yup thats what the trailer was for, it got off viper duty for a weekend, lol.

Yup BBC going in, unknown if thats what it came with, but thats what the previous owner had in it. Were gonna run a 454, the previous owner had a 750hp 509 merlin BBC in it, so the car should hold up just fine to the mild at best build were doing lol.

Car has front discs, and wicked nice rear(not factory), dont know if it had AC or not, as the whole heater box assm. has been removed, we will be putting it all back in. Interior is perfect, but not factory. Its black, with buckets, and setup for an auto.

[BigJeffSS]

Looks like a super clean car that is for sure.. With a 700hp power plant I wonder what has been done to the structure in order to support that. It would be interesting to check this thing out. I can tell from the pictures it looks to have Cal Trac bar on the rear those are great on leaf spring cars.

So what direction are you guys are going? I can see that car sitting about 2" lower with a set of 305/40R18's in the back but of course that will mean some major work to the rear inners and frame rails. I'm favoring the Pro Touring look since that is the current direction my Chevelle is going with a few new school chassis enigneering tricks up my sleeves.

Jeff

[sman]

Not to entirely sure at this point. Dad really wants a cruzer with some balls, so a bruzer? lol. We've sourced a low miles (less than 30k) 88 or 87 or somewhere in that time frame 454 out of motor home, dad just wants to drop it in, but I have no intent on letting that happen. Now is the time for a cam change as well as intake carb and anything else that comes to mind. Also, car came with a TH350 built to handle the power the old motor put down, but he really wants to row his own gears, so we picked up a sag. 4spd, and the PO of the car was nice enough to include a set of manual pedals off of his parts car for us. He really just wants to get it on the road this year, so im not sure the 4spd will make it in or not.

He kinda just wants to get it going, but I really dont want to be ripping this thing apart next year to go bigger, been through all that crap with my car, do it once, do it right.

[sman]

Also, had never heard of cal tracs before, but I remembered there was some weird 4 link looking thing under there visible from the side of the car (havent been under it yet) but I googled cal tracs and thats exactly what it looks like.

From the little bit of reading, it looks like there significantly better than regular traction bars, so, awsome!

[BigJeffSS]

One thing I can tell you is the 454s during those years were WAY down on power. A Cam and set of heads will help a ton since those heads were not designed to flow air. From a cool factor a BBC Nova is sweet and nice a cruiser. When deciding on a transmission you should check the rear axle ratio. You don’t want to be cruising at 3000rpm and 50mph. Since that was a big horsepower car I wouldn’t be surprised if it had at least a 4:10 in it. LOL Here is an idea let's convert it over to an LS car with a 6 speed manual. =-)

Couple things to think about when going from Auto to Manual shift. So to convert the car over you’re going to need the right tunnel sheet metal, stick shift console, the pedals, the linkage from the pedal to the throw out bearing fork, wiring for a safety switch, bell housing, throw out bearing, clutch and pressure plate, and of course the correct flywheel. I've converted my Chevelle to a manual and back to an auto. Did he give you all the other parts? If you guys decide to gop the route I may have some parts for this laying around the shop but not sheet metal. With Jack's shop you guys could design a hump out of cardboard and have his guys cut and bend you. For cruising I loved my Chevelle being a stick shift but when it came down to go time a stalled automatic is the ticket.

Once again Spencer if you guys need help feel free to call I will help you guys with whatever you need.

Jeff

[sman]

Yea I did some research and found out that they were dogs during those years, which is why I wanted him to put atleast a little of coin into it so atleast has a chance of keeping up with my car, lol. We got the pedals and linkage from the PO. Bell housing came with the trans as well as the fork. We are clueless on a clutch/flywheel though, I have no idea whats out there for a BBC.

Figuring out the gear ratio is the top priority right now, hopefully he will start digging into it later this week.

[kammi10]

Yea I did some research and found out that they were dogs during those years, which is why I wanted him to put atleast a little of coin into it so atleast has a chance of keeping up with my car, lol. We got the pedals and linkage from the PO. Bell housing came with the trans as well as the fork. We are clueless on a clutch/flywheel though, I have no idea whats out there for a BBC.

Figuring out the gear ratio is the top priority right now, hopefully he will start digging into it later this week.

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and easy way to figure it out is to lift the rear up in the air put mark on the tire and see how many times it spins with one revolution of the driveshaft

[JoeliusZ28]

\
and easy way to figure it out is to lift the rear up in the air put mark on the tire and see how many times it spins with one revolution of the driveshaft

beat me to it. looks like a nice car!

[c0ncEpT]

\
and easy way to figure it out is to lift the rear up in the air put mark on the tire and see how many times it spins with one revolution of the driveshaft

You got that backwards my friend. If you put a mark on the tire and spun the driveshaft once the tire would only turn like 1/4 turn.

Now If you put a mark on the driveshaft and spun the tire 1 full revolution the driveshaft would spin say 3 3/4 times making it a 3.73

[JoeliusZ28]

didnt even catch that way to go scene!!

[c0ncEpT]

didnt even catch that way to go scene!!

He's a bit dyslexic... (waits for the "Hatters gonna hate" comment)