National Speed Build: 1966 Chevrolet Nova - Full Street Rod Build..
01-17-2011, 05:26 PM
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National Speed Build: 1966 Chevrolet Nova - Full Street Rod Build.. "I've got a '66 Nova coming your way, we'll discuss the plan when it arrives."
That's what kicked off this entire build, a very calm and collective phone call from a frustrated enthusiast named Doug. Basically, the car was purchased as a running Vortech V1 supercharged small block car, in excellent shape from a collector in Charlotte, NC. A few pictures of its originally purchased state are below;
After a little time of driving his new purchase, Doug noticed that a small oil leak had become present on the front side of the oil pan. He stopped by a local performance shop to have it diagnosed and possible corrected, and it turned into the shop claiming his engine was destroyed and in need of rebuilding (you may remember the mentioned shop, from THIS THREAD. Doug's situation had begun prior to the SRT-8 situation). Doug decided to look at it as an opportunity to improve, and allowed them to proceed. Shortly after the engine came out and was disassembled, the shop closed down for various reasons, and the car and parts were abandoned in the building. Thankfully, Doug was able to retrieve the majority of the parts and the car. After doing some research on National Speed, Inc., he felt comfortable in sending the car our way without worry.
Once the car arrived, it was clear that it was an excellent platform to build from, but the project was going to need a little direction change. After working with Doug and getting his creative input on where he wanted the car to end up, we formulated a plan. The goal is for a classic appearing muscle car, with modern-like reliable high performance. The direction chosen is as follows;
- TCI (Total Cost Involved) full suspension system
- Front and rear disc brake conversion
- Manual steering conversion
- 4-link 9.00" rear end conversion with a nodular iron third member, Truetrac differential and 3.27 ratio
- All suspension components custom powder coated, color matched to body color by Brett Lentz at Area51 Power Coating
- Firewall repainted to body color by Cannon's Auto Collision and Refinishing (as always, they do excellent work, we use them for all of our paint work)
- Retain the Vortech V1 system. We will not be using an intercooler with this system, as the most boost this V1 will generate will be around 5-6psi. The only reason that's an issue, is that your average intercooler in the size range we would need, would soak up around 2psi of that pressure, so it's not worth it with this setup. If and when Doug wants to go with a larger unit, we'll explore getting the charge air a bit cooler
- Dart block (final displacement is 427ci/7.0liters)
- Dart Pro-I cylinder heads
- Callies Dragon Slayer 4.000"/101.60mm stroke crankshaft
- Eagle H-beam rods
- Custom JE Pistons - 4.115"/104.50mm bore/9:1CR pistons
- ACL "Race" connecting rod and main bearings
- ARP fasteners
- Custom billet core camshaft by Shawn Miller
- Cloyes timing set and cover
- Stainless steel intake and exhaust valves, valve springs, retainers, keepers, hyraulic lifters, rocker arms and 5/16" chromemoly pushrods
- Melling high-volume oil pump
- Custom National Speed, Inc. oil pump pickup tube
- Moroso oil pan
- TCI headers
- Custom National Speed, Inc. dual 3.00" exhaust system
- Prothane engine and transmission mounts
- ATI TH400 transmission
- ATI custom torque converter
- Strange Engineering custom chromemoly driveshaft with billet yokes
- Dart intake manifold
- Quick Fuel 750cfm blow-through carburetor
- MSD distributor
- MSD spark-plug wires
- MSD crank trigger system
- Meziere electric water pump
That list is the bulk (including, but not limited to), there are dozens and dozens of small tie-up components, but that should give a good idea about the general direction of the project.
All of that being said, on with the documentation!
The car arriving at National Speed, Inc. for the first time...
(gap in documentation, pictures were somehow deleted. There were only three or four pictures lost, but it was documentation of the firewall components being removed for painting)
The firewall components removed, heading over to Cannon's for painting...
The TCI components arriving...
A new chassis is on this crate, pretty cool. The only issue I have with TCI, is that all components are shipped assembled and unpainted. This means, if you want coating, you're spending two days to disassemble and reassemble. Aside from that, the quality is outstanding...
The TCI components disassembled for powder coating...
The 9.00" rear end about to be disassembled for power coating...
The front frame section...
The components back from powder coating...
All components about to be reassembled...
That's what kicked off this entire build, a very calm and collective phone call from a frustrated enthusiast named Doug. Basically, the car was purchased as a running Vortech V1 supercharged small block car, in excellent shape from a collector in Charlotte, NC. A few pictures of its originally purchased state are below;
After a little time of driving his new purchase, Doug noticed that a small oil leak had become present on the front side of the oil pan. He stopped by a local performance shop to have it diagnosed and possible corrected, and it turned into the shop claiming his engine was destroyed and in need of rebuilding (you may remember the mentioned shop, from THIS THREAD. Doug's situation had begun prior to the SRT-8 situation). Doug decided to look at it as an opportunity to improve, and allowed them to proceed. Shortly after the engine came out and was disassembled, the shop closed down for various reasons, and the car and parts were abandoned in the building. Thankfully, Doug was able to retrieve the majority of the parts and the car. After doing some research on National Speed, Inc., he felt comfortable in sending the car our way without worry.
Once the car arrived, it was clear that it was an excellent platform to build from, but the project was going to need a little direction change. After working with Doug and getting his creative input on where he wanted the car to end up, we formulated a plan. The goal is for a classic appearing muscle car, with modern-like reliable high performance. The direction chosen is as follows;
- TCI (Total Cost Involved) full suspension system
- Front and rear disc brake conversion
- Manual steering conversion
- 4-link 9.00" rear end conversion with a nodular iron third member, Truetrac differential and 3.27 ratio
- All suspension components custom powder coated, color matched to body color by Brett Lentz at Area51 Power Coating
- Firewall repainted to body color by Cannon's Auto Collision and Refinishing (as always, they do excellent work, we use them for all of our paint work)
- Retain the Vortech V1 system. We will not be using an intercooler with this system, as the most boost this V1 will generate will be around 5-6psi. The only reason that's an issue, is that your average intercooler in the size range we would need, would soak up around 2psi of that pressure, so it's not worth it with this setup. If and when Doug wants to go with a larger unit, we'll explore getting the charge air a bit cooler
- Dart block (final displacement is 427ci/7.0liters)
- Dart Pro-I cylinder heads
- Callies Dragon Slayer 4.000"/101.60mm stroke crankshaft
- Eagle H-beam rods
- Custom JE Pistons - 4.115"/104.50mm bore/9:1CR pistons
- ACL "Race" connecting rod and main bearings
- ARP fasteners
- Custom billet core camshaft by Shawn Miller
- Cloyes timing set and cover
- Stainless steel intake and exhaust valves, valve springs, retainers, keepers, hyraulic lifters, rocker arms and 5/16" chromemoly pushrods
- Melling high-volume oil pump
- Custom National Speed, Inc. oil pump pickup tube
- Moroso oil pan
- TCI headers
- Custom National Speed, Inc. dual 3.00" exhaust system
- Prothane engine and transmission mounts
- ATI TH400 transmission
- ATI custom torque converter
- Strange Engineering custom chromemoly driveshaft with billet yokes
- Dart intake manifold
- Quick Fuel 750cfm blow-through carburetor
- MSD distributor
- MSD spark-plug wires
- MSD crank trigger system
- Meziere electric water pump
That list is the bulk (including, but not limited to), there are dozens and dozens of small tie-up components, but that should give a good idea about the general direction of the project.
All of that being said, on with the documentation!
The car arriving at National Speed, Inc. for the first time...
(gap in documentation, pictures were somehow deleted. There were only three or four pictures lost, but it was documentation of the firewall components being removed for painting)
The firewall components removed, heading over to Cannon's for painting...
The TCI components arriving...
A new chassis is on this crate, pretty cool. The only issue I have with TCI, is that all components are shipped assembled and unpainted. This means, if you want coating, you're spending two days to disassemble and reassemble. Aside from that, the quality is outstanding...
The TCI components disassembled for powder coating...
The 9.00" rear end about to be disassembled for power coating...
The front frame section...
The components back from powder coating...
All components about to be reassembled...
01-17-2011, 05:27 PM
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The car in John's bay, the transformation about to commence. John washed the car before starting, he likes starting clean...
On John's lift...
John getting started...
Front end disassembled, inner fenders coming out...
The new components going on...
Lower A-arms in place...
The engine temporarily in place to weight the front end down so the springs can be installed...
The springs going in...
The ball joints painted...
The manual steering rack about to go on...
Passenger side coming together...
Looking good so far...
Sway bar going on...
John chasing the threads...
On John's lift...
John getting started...
Front end disassembled, inner fenders coming out...
The new components going on...
Lower A-arms in place...
The engine temporarily in place to weight the front end down so the springs can be installed...
The springs going in...
The ball joints painted...
The manual steering rack about to go on...
Passenger side coming together...
Looking good so far...
Sway bar going on...
John chasing the threads...
01-17-2011, 05:28 PM
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The radiator support test fitting, it's getting repainted matte black...
The stock rear end and exhaust components coming out...
Removed...
John removing the factory brackets and mounts...
Removed and coated...
[img]http://www.nationalspeedinc.com/picuploader/uploads/1473015cbffff4484c1d51c071a02764100_7705.JPG/img]
John drilling to mount the 4-link front cross member...
The 4-link front cross member...
Well hello, John...
The connectors going on...
The rear cross member going on...
The rear cross member mounting plates in place...
The rear cross member getting secured in...
The 9.00" going in...
The rear shocks were unpainted as well, so John paint matched them to the front...
The radius arms reassembled...
01-17-2011, 05:28 PM
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The 9.00" about to be installed...
In place...
All together...
The engine going onto the stand for assembly...
The car went back to Cannon's to have the remainder of the firewall repainted...
The engine on the stand...
The ATI TH400...
John installing the flex plate...
The Vortech V1 mocked up in place for belt alignment fitting...
Slicing and sucking...
"We are the things of shapes to come..."
The bottom end exposed...
Custom oil pump pickup tube...
John modifying the oil pan...
The engine in place...
The TCI headers...
The chassis components in place, John about to install the TCI headers...
Rear to front...
Front to rear...
In place...
All together...
The engine going onto the stand for assembly...
The car went back to Cannon's to have the remainder of the firewall repainted...
The engine on the stand...
The ATI TH400...
John installing the flex plate...
The Vortech V1 mocked up in place for belt alignment fitting...
Slicing and sucking...
"We are the things of shapes to come..."
The bottom end exposed...
Custom oil pump pickup tube...
John modifying the oil pan...
The engine in place...
The TCI headers...
The chassis components in place, John about to install the TCI headers...
Rear to front...
Front to rear...
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1966, 66, brett, lenz, natioalspeed, national, nc, nova, novaproject, project, speed, supercharged, supercharger, vortech, wilmington
