Black Nova 72
 

A few years ago I picked up a rust free very original 72 Nova with 54,000 miles on it. The car was incredibly clean and had nothing to hide, which is a nice change from the last few hot rods I've worked on. The project started off relatively cheap, but I change my mind so much I did most everything 2 or 3 times. I have yet to get it on the road to shake it down, but I should have the option soon seeing as though winter might finally be on the way out here in MN. Here is a picture of the car the day I bought it, it was originally yellow with white and brown bench interior.

Black Nova 72
 

First thing I did was wheels and tires. MB Motoring 17x8 front and 17x9.5 rear with BFG KDW's. Needed a little help from air shocks to clear the rears. I also picked up a carbon L88 hood from a guy DC. We were racing at a Trans-Am event in New Jersey so I had our motor home driver meet him at an exit off the freeway. The hood was gorgeous, very high quality, but just overall too small, excessive gaps to the fenders. I thought I couldn't live with the gaps so I ordered a different one from Anvil, along with the wiper cowl and deck lid. The deck lid and wiper cowl fit great, the hood not so much. We are currently working on a solution.

Black Nova 72
 

Next on the list was an LS transplant. Picked up an aluminum 5.3 with a VooDoo cam and MSD controller and swapped the powerglide for TH350. Also had the guys at Quick Performance fab up a 9" that was narrowed enough to fit the rear wheels. I had a REM coated G-Force 3.89 ring and pinion from a Trans-Am car so that went in with a fresh posi. The guys at Quick Performance in Iowa are top shelf.

Nice looking project. Welcome to the site

Black Nova 72
 

The 5.3 went in with Kooks headers (really nice pieces) and 770 Street Avenger Carb. Carb was almost immediately swapped out for a custom built annular booster double pumper from Pro Systems. The front accessory drive is from Wegner. I welded up the exhaust from a Jegs kit and fit the cut outs for more ground clearance.

Black Nova 72
 

Next up was deep tubs from DSE. I fabbed up some offset shackles and added Hotchkis rear leafs. Also moved the shocks in board. I had my rear wheels widened to 11" by a local guy call "Rotten Johnny". He does nice work. New 315" BFG drag radials were next.

Black Nova 72
 

I barely drove it with that setup before It all came apart for:
-New forged LS3 415ci from TPIS with LS6 heads off a World Challenge car
-Overdrive automatic (after acquiring and selling an Autogear Muncie)
-Vintage Air and more from Wegner
-Underside detailing
-Complete harness from American Autowire
-CPP big brakes

This all happened right after moving to a new house with a new shop. I need to learn to leave things alone, or just plan better overall. The massive rear wing in the picture was from Spectre, it was expensive and too much for my taste. Sold it and the L88 hood to a guy who was building a Nova fro Drag Week, I hope I see it again.

Black Nova 72
 

New motor installed

Black Nova 72
 

Subframe connectors from DSE. I thought this was a fun and easy project.

i like it! i'm liking that hood too!

Very nice car,lots of great parts:thumbsup:

Black Nova 72
 

Decided I wanted a black car. I got a few bids on the job, and decided to have the local guys at FAT LIP customs do it. When it came time to bring the car to them they were booked. So I ultimately went with MRC because they could start right away and had the man power to keep on it. There shop is very well run with a number of cars going through an almost assembly line like process. They also came and picked the car up. The car was stripped to bare metal and painted almost perfect mirror black. I kept a running credit balance with these guys to keep my car at the front of line, I wouldn't do it like that again. It was dirty expensive, there bid was 11K, it ended up around 14K. No rust, very straight, didn't have to paint the hood, deck, or wiper cowl. Yikes.

gotta like black Nova's

Love the car, really liked the L88 hood, shame that didn't work out.


Jeff-

Coil covers
 

Nice Nova.
Good mods!

What coil covers are those?

Remember you get what you pay for at a body shop. Price seems about right for a decent job. I have spent a lot more than that for my own black paint job.

I hear ya there, you build some really nice stuff.

Thanks man, your car is just gorgeous

I know what you mean, I wish I would have stuck with it. I have tried contacting the guys that made it for another one, but am getting no where. The fit of the Anvil hood is quite a bit worse. Overall size is better, but there is a big hill in it. It sits about 5/8" proud of the fenders in the middle. I talked with Anvil and some local racecar composite builders about flattening it out. Got it to de-arch a little but nothing too good. Anvil is making another one, should be ready in a couple months. The L88 hood had a ton of room underneath it too, would be good for a Super Victor intake. I do everything 2 or 3 times.

Thanks man! the coil covers were from Pace Performance, they are the same as the Edelbrock ones without the script. I had a local machinist make the Chevrolet emblems. I am trying to figure out if I should paint them red, black or just leave them the way they are.

Thanks for that. Usually when I tell people what I paid they think I am nuts or insist I was screwed royally. The paint is almost perfect, and I got what I wanted so overall I am happy. The shop is going to pick the car up one more time to fix a couple things and do a final buffing. They are definitely a stand up bunch of guys. I went and bought a $100.00 can of wax that came in a jewelry box, and I cant wait to give it a coat. I'm an idiot.

Your car is one of the nicest I have ever seen.

Alignment
 

Winter is back in MN, so I figured I should update. The car was a handful on the first couple shake down runs. Mainly due to the eyeballed alignment. Bought a Longacre caster/camber gauge and set up a string box. Upper control arms are stock and in the factory position. Used ProForged tall upper ball joints, CPP 2" drop spindles, RideTech Tru-Turn, and QA1 coilovers. It took a lot of shims and are pretty much maxed out on header to control arm clearance. Specs are as follows:

RF LF
Caster 3.2 3.4
Camber 1.2 1.4
Total Toe 0.0

New Wheels!
 

Upgraded to a new 18" wheel and tire setup. 18x9.5 and 18x11 NewGen Concave Lites with 275 and 315 BFG Rivals. The wheels are super nice, I bought the good aluminum wheel fit tool to make sure they would fit. They are close but good.

Your car looks great. Not usually a fan of the mini lights, but yours are different enough that I like them.

As to the 14k for what got done, that number seems right to me. Stripping it to bare metal and going up to that perfect black finish takes time and skill to do. You were not taken advantage of at all. Fair price for a great job.

Your car really turned out very nice,wheels look good:thumbsup:

Looks awesome!! Love the new wheels!

Awesome! Love the wheels, and yeah you get what you pay for when it comes to paint. No such thing as a $3000 dollar paint job, unless you do it yourself.

Thanks for the input and liking the car!

Roll Bar Install
 

Just installed a 4 point roll bar from Wild Rides Racecars. The tubes come fish mouthed which is a nice feature. It wasn't built to comply with any particular sanctioning body, just pro touring. This was definitely something I wish I would have done before the car was painted and assembled.

First step after gutting the inside was to locate the main hoop on the rocker boxes. I then drilled 2" holes so I could drop the hoop in and mark the height and angle of the down tubes.

Next I made the 6"x6" plates conform to the rocker boxes. I scored them with a grinder, then bent and welded them up.

Roll Bar Install
 

I put the base plates in with Clekos and adjusted the fit of the main hoop.

The base plates in the trunk took a little more work to conform to the drop offs, but were done in the same manner, score, bend, and weld.

I painted the majority of the roll bar prior to final installation with Rustoleum Hammered Black and a small foam roller.

The entire interior was covered with red rosen paper and aluminum foil for protection.

I first tacked the rear down bars to the main hoop, then pulled the front base plates out and dropped the main hoop into the rocker boxes. This allowed me the room to weld all the way around the tubes

Roll Bar Install
 

The install took me about 30 hours. I worked alone and tried to work clean, (spent a lot of time with the vacuum). An extra set of hands and a car that wasn't shiny, or fully assembled would really speed up the process.

You did an excellent job, it came out great. I love the whole car.

The roll bar looks great! I too bought my roll bar from Wild Rides, can't wait to get it installed, the Nova is looking good.

Is this the final revision?

Thanks a lot man! I am pretty happy with it.

Thanks dude! the Wild Rides stuff is really nice. I am going to add SPC upper and lower control arms to get some more caster/camber and gain some clearance. Then it should be done.

Sweet NOVA and yes great paint jobs are $$$$ long as your happy with it. By the way what door handles are you running?

Nice work.

What company built the L88 hood? Love those.

Thanks! the door handles are from the Ring Brothers. The don't fit the Nova doors very well as shipped. You need to make a wedge shaped foam gasket so the handle appears flush. Also the push rods that come with them won't reach, I used some button head bolts instead

Thanks! I picked that hood up out east, not sure of the manufacturer but it was made overseas. A place called BMC Extreme Customs sells them now, but they are out of stock.The hood was gorgeous and great quality, just too narrow.

Awesome build and beautiful car! I'm building a 71' Nova and it's been in paint "prison" for 3 months past the promised date. It's also getting painted black👍

Cool! be sure to post it up when you get it back!

You have me thinking about a 69 Nova I could build with the parts cast off from my 73 Camaro project...