The METALWORKS MULE...1963 Nova autocross and test mule car.
 

We were in the process of building a ProTouing 63 Nova for our customer when they had a major life change. Since we liked the direction the build was headed, and had been wanting an autocross toy and test car for our Speed Shop's products we decided to purchase the project...and so the "MetalWorks Mule" 63 Nova is born.
We have hopes of competing in the LS Fest WEST this coming May in Las Vegas, but with a shop full of projects, we'll have to see what times allows for...

Building another 65 Nova myself I will be watching this one!

Arrival
 

How the Nova arrived at MetalWorks.

So what are your plans?

Those floors look like it could be an Oregon car, pretty rust free.

:thumbsup:

Some assembly required...
Looks like a solid base. Looks like it is in good hands now. :)

sorry to hear about your customer.

What are the suspension plans for the car?

The picture is not a whole lot revealing, but sure looks like a DSE front suspension (anti-roll bar component peaking out a bit, and looks like the center bore of a C6 hub unit peaking through the center of the front steel wheel)

Knowing how these cars struggle for a decent rear width tire and by the looks of how far inset this little roller wheel is sitting I am gonna go out on a limb and guess it has DSE mini tubs as well?

Love these cars. Subscribed! :popcorn2:

I saw this car last time I was at their shop.

It has full DSE suspension, Wegner ls3, and a 4 point cage. I don't know much beyond that.

What's the PLAN???
 

Hey guys...good eyes, you picked out a lot the Nova' features.

The 63 has already received a bunch of Detroit Speed goodies including:
- Complete front sub/front suspension
- Rear 4 link suspension
- 3" mini tubs
- Frame connectors.

It was set-up for a killer Wegner Motorsports LS3, but it has been sold. We are leaning towards another Wegner, but supercharging this time...perhaps a Whipple.

There is currently a 4 pt. roll cage, but we will be upgrading to a full 8pt, plus a halo, drop bars, etc.

It will be running Forgeline wheels and likely BAER brakes.

Should be a fun car to beat on.

Acid dip
 

Here is how the body looked after our acid dipping process...

Wow is that car clean.

Passenger quarter panel
 

The passenger quarter had some previous damage and rust, so we replaced it.

Installing the DSE rear suspension
 

Welding in the Detroit Speed rear suspension points.

Fitting the drive line
 

We mocked up the LS engine and TREMEC to see how everything would fit with the front sheet metal.

Going to be A fun one to watch any ideas on paint?

Tim,

Planning on bare metal...this one is simply going to get beat on too much to put into paint...and bare metal just sounds fun.

This is gonna be a fun one to watch.

My folks bought a '63 wagon from new.

Such cool cars to see being built like this. :thumbsup:

your moving along nice.

Who are the front inner fenders from, is this your creation?

Love the direction this is heading..

The inners are DSE

Fabrication
 

Built the transmission mount and started on the transmission tunnel fabrication.

Looking good so far. What degree did you set the engine at?

Thanks...we set the engine at 4 degrees.

Fabrication
 

Additional work on the transmission tunnel.

Engine bay
 

Some shots of the engine bay with all the front metal metal in place. Roll cage is next.

Looking good! I like how clean the DSE's inner fenders cleans up the engine bay!

Roll cage
 

Building the Nova's custom roll cage.

How does that work ? Dp you clear coat it or spend your evenings scotch briting it with T-9 ?

Wow this build is taking off looks great! what Forgeline wheels are you going to go with?

Great Progress on the car!

I've been following you guys on Instagram and you really get down and get it done!!

I was shocked how fast that Gold second Gen Camaro was painted and 60% complete!

This will be our first bare metal car, but yes the plan is to clear coat...I'm sure it will require touch up work, but we are not too concerned with its appearance...this one is more about the performance.

Still playing around with which series, but we definitely know Forgelines are the right wheel for the Nova.

Thanks a lot...we definitely try and keep after our projects. Check out our website to see all our builds..got a lot going right now: http://metalworksclassics.com/

Take care!!