When a company wants to show off its wares, it has two
choices. The first is to display the products and try to explain how they can make
a hot rod that much hotter. The second is to bolt them to classic muscle
and show that the stuff really works. This story is about the latter. In
this case, two companies came together to get the job done, Total Cost Involved
(TCI) and Classic Performance Products (CPP). As Jim Ries of CPP
told us, "Sal Solorzano of TCI called me last summer and asked if I
owned a second-gen Nova. I asked him why, and he said that TCI wanted to
build a second-gen Nova with all their suspension products under it. Because
I was such a good customer, he offered to use one of my cars as the test
mule." Unfortunately, Jim didn't have a Nova, but he knew of one for
sale. Jim continued, "I called Jeff Norton, one of my salesmen, and
asked him if his father was still selling his '70 Nova. Jeff said yes, and
the price was $2,500. I told Jeff to call his dad and tell him the car
was sold. The whole process from Solorzano's first call to me buying the
Nova took about 10 minutes." Jim was soon on the phone with Solorzano
setting up a date to do initial testing on the Nova.
The Nova looked like you would expect a $2,500 car to look:
beat. It ran pretty strong, but it had zero redeeming features aesthetically.
The body panels were painted a variety of colors, and the ride was just
plain tired. "Solorzano's first glimpse of the car was when it showed
up at the track, and I don't think he was very impressed with its condition.
At first, he couldn't stop laughing!" remarked Jim. Once the laughter
died down, they decided to baseline the car. The
performance was what you would expect from a worn car on hard tires. The
420 slalom was negotiated at 40.9 mph, and the Nova managed 0.74 g on the
skidpad. Braking was then tested, and the '70 was able to go from 60 mph
to a dead stop in 174 feet. The one request Solorzano had was that Jim at
least paint the car all one color. Jim said that if he could just have five
weeks, he would bring back a car worthy of Solorzano's planned suspension
transformation. Jim was about to find out that five weeks isn't nearly as
long as it sounds.
With the timeline laid out, CPP got the Nova over to Lou
Fragoso of Dreamers Creations. They worked like madmen as they gutted,
stripped, blasted, repainted, and reassembled the car on schedule. They
put in many all-nighters to hit the five-week deadline. The short timeframe
meant that body modifications were kept to a minimum, but that's not a bad
thing. The car looks simple, clean, and classic in a way that
makes you forget about all the technology stuffed into the suspension and
driveline.
With the bodywork done and the Nova wearing a fresh coat
of PPG Corvette yellow paint, it was sent over to TCI for some much-needed
suspension updating. The front subframe was ditched, and in its place went
TCI's clip. The new IFS subframe features a double-rail, mandrel-bent design
and is completely heliarc welded for strength. It also comes with everything
from tubular control arms to rack-and-pinion steering and dropped spindles. With such a
capable front suspension, TCI wanted to give the back of the Nova the same
attention, so they bolted in their performance four-link system. The system
employs unequal-length adjustable links and includes adjustable coilover
shocks, just like the front, and a fully tunable track bar. From start to
finish the Nova was in TCI's shop for two weeks. It was then ready to head
back to CPP for the final assembly. The car was coming out so nice that
a decision was made to have the Nova at the '07 SEMA Show in Vegas, but
that meant CPP only had three weeks to finish the build.
With the Nova back at CPP, Jim and the team needed to tackle
the biggest item first, the drivetrain. With only weeks until SEMA, a custom
engine was out of the question. They needed instant gratification, so a
call was made to Edelbrock, and a couple of days later one of their new
limited-edition Signature Series 383 stroker mills was in their shop. Rated
at 460 horsepower and an equal amount of
twist, the small-block features a host of goodies, including a forged steel
crank, hydraulic roller camshaft, aluminum E-Tec 200 heads, and a pump gas-friendly
9.5:1 compression ratio. Since the crate engine came complete from pan to
air cleaner, the team was saved valuable time. To keep the stroker running
cool, they opted for a BeCool modular system centered around an aluminum
four-row radiator, and for a drive system they sourced a black-anodized
pulley and bracket set from Zoops. Exhaust from the mill exits through a
set of S&S headers and into a 2.5-inch stainless Magnaflow system installed by Fantasy
Muffler in Buena Park, California. Backing up the new engine is a TCI Street
Fighter 700-R4 overdrive transmission with a 10-inch, 2,200-rpm stall converter
that shifts the power through an aluminum Inland Empire Driveline driveshaft
and into the Currie-built 9-inch Ford rearend.
After the driveline was tackled, it was time to address
stopping the Nova in quick fashion. Big Wilwood binders on each corner clamp
down on slotted and drilled 13-inch rotors for retina-detaching stopping
power. The brake system is further enhanced with a Hydraulic Brake Assist
System and sticky R-compound Toyo R888 competition
tires in 235/40/18 front and 285/40/18 rear. There's nothing wrong with
looking good, so 18x8-inch Wheel Vintiques Lakester wheels where chosen
as the rollers.
The interior was done in a slightly updated stock style.
OE door panels work well with the leather-covered seats done by Padrinos
Upholstery. A complete set of Auto Meter gauges tracks the vitals and resides
in a Covan's dash panel. A CPP steering wheel provides driver input to the
front wheels, while a BTM ratchet shifter keeps the Nova in the right gear.
There's also a Classic Auto Air system
to keep the occupants suitably chilled on hot summer days. We know what
you're asking, "Was it done in time for SEMA?" "We put the
interior in just in time to get it to the SEMA Show with only two hours
to spare. If I had to change one thing about this build, I would have allowed
for more time so we wouldn't have had to pull so many all-nighters at the
end," remarked Jim.
After SEMA, and with only four miles on the odometer, the
Nova was brought out to our testing venue at California Speedway in Fontana,
California. The Nova, equipped with the new suspension and braking systems, looked
100 percent better. But this was a track test and not a car show, so cones
were lined up and the Nova was sent hurtling through them. Jim recalled,
"The car had less than four miles on it, so we were confident, but
nervous; anything could have gone wrong." The Nova was also wearing
appropriate shoes this time in the form of R-compound Toyo R888 DOT competition
tires. After a couple of runs to get a feel for the car, a best run of 49
mph was nailed in the slalom, a vast improvement over what the Nova did
in stock form. An equally impressive gain was made in skidpad performance when the Nova ran our
200-foot skidpad. With the tires clawing for traction, the best average
number ended up being .91 g. Over on our braking track, CCP's yellow Chevy
stopped on a dime, with change to spare, and went from 60-0 mph in a mere
112 feet. But the most impressive change in the Nova was how much nicer
it is now to drive on the street.
With the SEMA deadline met and a successful track testing
trip, what's in store for the Nova now? Well, lots of road miles since the
guys at CPP have grown pretty fond of the little Nova they worked with TCI to build. We can only
imagine everyone in the shop jockeying for the keys, and after spending
some time in the driver's seat, we can't blame them a bit. |