DragStuff

I know I am going to catch hell for this, especially from all of you "camaro" guys, but I am going to slow the nova down and build something else. The nova is getting a small ls1 style power plant, with nitrous for now, with the intent of putting boost to it in the future, goal, mid nines. Now for what the big block is going in:

They certainly make a lot of parts for those, and it's an excellent race car platform no doubt.

I am glad to see you're keeping the Nova. I've thought more than once that I should have just made mine a street car and found something else to cut up.

Thanks john, I have reached my goals for the most part with the nova, but to go any faster, I would have to almost start over, the cage is only mild steel and only good till 8.50's. I can undue everything I have done to the car at this point, and it is just too damn nice to cut up, so back to a more streetable ride it is. I really wanted to buy a older gm vehicle, but the cost just kept moving back to the mustang, atleast it is not a fox body. I will post up my progress as I move along with the mustang, and the nova should be out again in the next week or so. I spent all day yesterday removing uneeded brackets and starting removing the sound deadener, so the fabrication progress should begin shortly. The guys at TRZ are doing the cage and suspension fabrication, gonna be a 25.3 cage. I am not really building it for a class per say, but it will still be stock suspension, with the option of going radial, 275, or true 10.5.

Dang...another Mustang.

Like you said, at least its not a fox and it saves a Nova from being cut up.

well at least it will be chevy powered....

very nice. jealous

I'm totally speechless and I've been dwelling on this since you posted this.

I've been trying to thinking of a "Well if it was a Camaro" type of come back, but I just can't think of anything.

The body looks nice and straight and you know the cage and suspension work is going to be done right by the guys at TRZ, so other then the blue oval on the hood, that's all we can pick on your for.

Now if you said something like your trading the Nova in on a Fiestiva, then we could have some fun.....

Good luck and can't wait to see that big block in place.

Bruce
Ps. Sorry if I disapointed you with no come-back, but the next time, give me something better to work with

Some updates on the nova. Work has been crazy here for the last couple of months, so progress has taken more time than I wanted, but i finally got the ls1 back together, cam swap, opened up the ring gap, ported the heads, etc. and got it in the car friday. I also did some plumbing and installed the rad. I still have to figure out the exhaust, remote water pump, mount the alternator, wire up the ignition and lower the front end(damn this LS motor is a lot lighter), but overall, a very productive weekend. Here are some pics:

Another nova update:

I thrashed all day friday and saturday for a race saturday nite. I fired the motor saturday morning and put it on the trailer, no tuning, no testing. The car ran fairly well but I have mixed emotions about it, my car has not been this slow in a long time, but some guys struggle to run this well. It is a stock, boneyard 5.3 with nothing more than a cam, springs, headers, a single plane efi edelbrock intake, a 750, and a powershot nitrous plate. I did reuse my th400 with a used tci converter. Here are my passes:

First pass:
1.665 60'
7.049 1/8th
100.86 mph
.056 nitrous jet, leaving @50% ramped for 1.5 sec

2nd pass
1.474 60'
6.630 1/8th
104.18 mph
.065 jet no progressive

3rd pass
1.480 60'
6.640 1/8th
104.09 mph
same tuneup

last pass
1.592 60'
6.774 1/8th
104.05 mph
10.587 1/4
128.22 mph
same tuneup, car spun

TIME FOR BOOST!!!!

Hell you can't complain (or shouldn't) about that! Sounds like it ran pretty good.

Man, nice work and great results !!!

Pretty cool Ed. Sounds like fun to me.

Going turbo? Going to blow thru the carb or go FI on it?

What cam did you go with? Did you make any motor passes?

I just picked up a 5.3L for my son's Nova this past Saturday. It'll stay pretty mild since he'll be a new driver next summer.

Like I mentioned elsewhere, I *do* have a spare D1SC ProCharger on hand that I would make a great great on

I didn't have any time to make any motor passes, it was actually a local heads up race and I was trying to show some support for the race, so the first two passes were qualifing and the the next first round, the last was a test pass which is why it is 1/4 mile. I still have to lower the front end over 2" to get it back to the same ride height that it had with the big block as well as some other little odds and ends. I think some good tuning and maybe some small changes and there might be a high 9 hiding in it. I know the converter needs about another 1000rpm of stall and a gear change probably wouldn't hurt either. It should run better on some pump gas or lower octane fuel as well, the old q-16 I ran through it was a little too much. As for the camshaft, it was a comp cams xer-281 grind that I had picked up used, works well, but If I was going to carb one permantely, I would use something with a little more duration and a narrower lobe separation. I have every intention of going efi, but I have not decided on my choice of boost, I would prefer to use a vortech/procharger, but I have not ruled out a 76mm turbo either. Wikd69 what did you want for the D1SC? Reverse or standard rotation? Just the head unit? Thanks