LSA-Swapped 1970 Chevy Nova Touts 900 HP and Timeless Style
A little bit restomod and a little bit pro tourer, this amazing classic Chevy Nova took years to plan and months to build.
Restomods are incredibly popular these days, for obvious reasons. Old cars offer far more style than your average newer vehicle, but they can be a bit lacking in terms of power, handling, braking, comfort, and amenities. Modernizing these areas while retaining an older car’s timeless looks is the perfect solution to these problems, but this amazing 1970 Chevy Nova – recently featured by Hot Rod – takes that concept to an entirely new level.
The owner of this sweet Chevy Nova, Andy Caraballo, drove by the car while it was sitting on the side of the road for sale for a full two years before he decided to bring it home. Caraballo grew up wrenching on cars with his dad and wanted to pass that passion down to his own son, who was 17 at the time. However, as we all well know, building a car of this caliber from a beaten-up old shell takes time and money.
Thus, Caraballo simply drove the car, as-is, for a whopping six years while he figured out exactly what he wanted to do with it. Eventually, he landed on a sort of hybrid build, encompassing elements of a restomod and pro tourer, with plenty of power under the hood. For that, he turned to GM’s supercharged LSA powerplant, to which he added bigger injectors, a lumpier cam, and an LSX Concepts cog drive. The result? Over 900 horsepower.
Those ponies flow through a GM 4L80e gearbox with a convertor back to a Mark Williams rear end fitted with 3.40 gears for brisk acceleration. To help improve the classic Nova’s handling, Caraballo equipped the car with a Detroit Speed front suspension with JRi shocks and Corvette-style spindles, as well as a four-link setup for the rear.
The Chevy Nova rolls on a set of 18-inch Schott wheels – 10 inches wide in the front, 12 in the rear – wrapped with Toyo R888R rubber. Giant Wilwood brakes slow the whole thing down. The interior isn’t some stripped-down race car cabin, either. Rather it’s designed for comfort and show-stopping looks, packing pieces like a carbon fiber dash, Corbeau seats with harnesses, an Alpine stereo, Vintage Air A/C, a rollbar, and a Racepak digital system for a nice combination of safety and style.
The actual build took a mere 10 months to complete, which is a testament to Caraballo’s vision and skill. But perhaps more importantly, he helped pass on this beloved hobby of ours to the next generation, where it will hopefully thrive for decades to come.
Photos: Jason Matthew for Hot Rod
Join the LS1Tech forums now!
