Starting a new chapter in the life of the nova, car started out 2 years ago as a 250 inline 6 cylinder 2 speed powerglide bench seat car. I quickly changed that for a mild 350 sbc/th350. Started reading alot of about the lsx platform and was quickly sold on the potential. Got rid of the gen 1 sbc and have been buying parts for the last 3-4months. Have 90% of parts now so the build begins!

Car is going to be built over the winter and hopefully be ready for a tune come spring. Initially this was just a motor swap but it quickly turned into transmission,driveline and chassis upgrades. Would like to have the car ready for some track days this year and the lsx shootout in indy.

New Parts

Engine
5.3 truck block and rotating assembly
ARP Rod bolts
Custom Comp Camshaft
Autokraft pan and -10 drain bung welded in
6.0 LQ9 317 Heads
PRC valve springs
LS1 Car intake
chevrolet cast aluminum valve covers
GM 5 layer MLS 6.0 head gaskets
ARP 12 point head studs
All factory gasket replacement


Fuel System
Twin Aeromotive A1000 fuel Pumps
Aeromotive Boost Reference Regulator
16 Gallon Poly Cell
dual -10 feed to -8 rails
Fast -8 rails
-6 return to tank
83lb injectors
Will be drinking E85

Turbo Setup

MP T76 1.0AR Q Trim Wheel
Stainless works up and forward headers
2.5 Crossover and merge
JGS 50mm WG
JGS 50mm Bov
Ebay 4" A/A intercooler

Transmission
Abruzzi Racing built th400 with brake
BM Transcooler
Converter is still unknown as of yet

Rear End
Factory 8.5 10 bolt narrowed
Big ford Housing ends (so I dont have to run c clip eleminators)
Moser full spool
Moser 33 Spline alloy axles
Moser Rear end girdle
tubes fully welded to housing
1350 Pinion yoke
3.23 Gear

Chassis ( all unexpected expenses but really glad I bought some quality stuff)
Energy suspension body mounts
TRZ Motorsports Tubular Chrome Moly upper and lower control arms
QA1 Pro Coil over
Calvert Split Mono leafs
Calvert Caltracs
Simpson chute
Martin motorsports custom bent 10pt cage cert to 8.50
Going to be going with a 275 DR, I am a big fan of the what these 275dr can do

The unknowns at this point are the converter and whether I go with a SD tune or a MAF tune and what tuner I use for the car. The car is going to run on e85, and since my 5.3 with 6.0 heads will yield 8.6:1 compression this car should take 16-20 lbs of boost with a spot on tune.

I know parish built a turbo 5.3 with a p trim .96 mpt70 in a fairmont and went 9.47@140. My goals this year is a 9.50-9.99 pass, I know that the fairmont was a lighter car so with my chassis setup and larger turbo I am shooting for 9.50-9.99 this year. Everything is here for those times, just got to get some seat time.

Within the next two years I plan on using the 8.50 cert. Long term goals is a built 6.0 with twin mpt70's and some nice headers. There are a few cars floating around going 8.60s @ 160 with a 6.0 and twin mp t70

Just really started working on it but gotta get alot done before it goes to Martin Motorsports in about 3 weeks.

 

Engine Mocked up nothing really bolted down yet


Maybe about 60% of the parts that are overfilling my garage

 

Good plan you got going!.. hope it all goes together as planned. I'll be following along.. keep the posts and pictures coming. I would say for your goal and setup SD would be the way to go. But if your going to be driven in the street a lot more, them maybe a MAF Tune.

My 71 was also a 6cy/2sp..LOL.. I started my swap.. but on hold for the winter as it is out side and a bit cold and really wet right now.

 

good job. your off to a nice start. what accessories are you going to run with those manifolds? have you been able to find the manifolds for less than $250 each?

 

thanks guys, yeah I picked up the manifolds on here for about 180 with the crossover for the flanges. Just got to ask some of the guys in the w body section of the forum

 

Very similar to what I'm doing in my chevelle (5.3 mpt76q and th400), I actually just got done building my crossover. I would go sd all the way, if tuned right you lose no drivability and are not limited by working around a maxed out maf.

 

some work I finished up in the past week was cleaning the 40 year old dirt from under the car, the pans are pretty solid, I do have about a 3" square section of rot in both front pans I plan on patching but here is a before and after pic, lots of wire wheel action went on, just trying to get the underside clean and prevent any further rust.

Next will be getting the front subframe off and cleaned/painted and install all the goodies so I can get the car to the chassis shop to get tied and caged

 

My 250.00 engine from deer creek




LS1 Intake sanded down before base/clear


to its current state

 

Nice build. It will be super nice once finished.

 

Cooooooool!

 

Wife did well for Christmas and got me a pair of 275/60/15 MT DR and a Moser Rear end Girdle





And then a Big Thanks for VS Racing, I initially bought a mpt70 q trim 1.0ar for the nova and once I bought the abruzzi th400 and decided to do all the chassis work and have the rear end built I figured more boost was in order. VS racing gladly returned my mpt70 that was brand new in box after about 3-4 months and upgraded me for the additional cost to the mpt76 q trim wheel

 

Looks like a nice start, will be watching for updates!

 

Very cool,and you are lucky I have to wait till after xmas to get my m/t's. for the car. Those will fit in the stock wells nicely.

There were a lot of 250 pg cars lol mine still sports the 250 bage.

 

Was the h3 pan a direct fit for the nova crossmember?

 

yeah it will clear the rear steer, it is a cheap alternative to a modded pan or one of the autokraft pans. Ground clearance is not optimum but my car does not sit low and if it does not work I will pony up the money to get the autokraft pan

 

What kind of powr are you looking to get out it all said and done? Im just curious bc im planning on doing basically the same in my 89 s10. The 2 main differences will be i want to run pump gas( the closest place to me to get e85 in over 400 miles away) and i want to run a 6spd.

 

After seeing everyone elses build and talking to my tuner, he feels that on e85 we should be able to get around 650-660whp safely. So Id say through a 6 speed and pump you would be in the mid 500's unless you were doing a meth kit

 

Sweet! 550rw is what im looking for. That with a 6spd and like 3.55 gears in a 2800lb truck should be and hand full and a blast!
What do yall figure my truck should run in the qtr if i can get it to hook and i can drive it half way decent?

 

Subscribing!

 

UPDATE

I have been sick so progress has not been easy but here is what is in the works now. I have two weeks to have some things buttoned up and get it roller again so it can goto the chassis shop.

I tore the front end down to do some preventative maintenance and clean up the frame before installing some new parts





I pulled the subframe off the car and wire wheeled it then scrubbed with simple green



After all that I used the same stuff that I used on the underbody which was Eastwood Rust Encapsulator and then Eastwood Chassis Black. For all the reviews I read on chassis paints I was very happy with the finish, the pics dont do it justice, it really was a smooth overall finish


I put the subframe back on and install the new body mounts, also put on the control arms, still need to bolt everything down. i have been working on the firewall as well, its along way off but I plan on smoothing it out the best I can.



here is a mock up of the firewall fill I have been working on