This Nova is one year older than I am.

I have always loved the early Chevy IIs.  A couple of years ago I went to look at a Dodge truck (that I ended up buying) and the owner had *two* of them sitting in his garage.  He had a Pro Street 65 that he'd run for a while, but he couldn't get classic insurance on it with the modifications (cage, ginormous tubs where the backseat used to be, steamroller tires, etc.) so he bought another and was transferring all of his drivetrain parts over to the more "stock" car.  He said he'd be selling the Pro Street car as a roller when he was done.  

I went home and didn't think much more about it but about a year ago I dug his number up and called.  "Yeah, I'll probably be selling it this fall."  I figured "fall" meant "never" and put it out of my mind.  OK, it's February 2025, I am down to 4 vehicles and 3 of them run, time for more junk, right?  It's more than two years after I originally saw the car, and I called him up again.  He needed the garage space and money for a house renovation and was ready to sell.
 

I went to pick it up with his old 1st gen Cummins truck, and he and his wife exclaimed over and over how much they liked what I'd done with the truck.  Kind of a full circle moment there.  I picked up the car and a full truck bed worth of spare fenders, trim, etc.  It is basically rust free, he has spare doors, another hood, etc. etc.
 

The car is set up with an Alston front frame clip, a cage, and ladder bars in the back with a narrowed Dana 60 rear.  Disc brakes all the way around, steamroller Mickey Ts on Center Lines in back and matching skinnies for the front.  It had an LS/700R4 in it last.  I have a complete 5.3/4L60E for it.  My initial plan is to get it up and running with minimal changes to what's already there, then progress to some refinements.  I'd like for it to have AC, power steering, power brakes, and probably a 3 link to replace the ladder bars in the back.  I may leave the wheel tubs alone, but it'd be nice to shrink them somewhat and put some steel tubs in there and connect them to the quarter panels.  Currently the aluminum tubs are RTV'ed to the quarters because racecar. 

It is going to sit at least a couple of months in my shop while I work on some other stuff (including my Z06) but I hope it doesn't stay dusty in there for years.  Please slap me if I leave it too long.

 

Oh my!

GET SOME!!!

Suddenly I'm light headed, no blood flow up top...

That thing is sexy.

Wow, bigs and littles. 

Several (I hesitate to say "a lot of") Pro Street cars have been updated in the Pro Touring style. They've already got room for tons of section width in the rear...

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

I should've mentioned that in my first post -- that's exactly what I intend.  I think I can probably put some wheel spacers on the back to adapt to Chevy bolt pattern and gain maybe 4" of axle width, then run something like an 18 or 19x11.  You can even buy a spindle compatible with C6 Corvette hubs and brakes for the Mustang II suspension, which is what the Alston kit uses up front.

The car has had the rear wheel opening widened by cutting the lower part of the quarter panel and adding a section in the middle of the wheel well opening.  It looks reasonably well done and I think it'd look OK with somewhat smaller wheels as well.

First things first is to get it up and running with what I have though.

This rules so hard. 

Dana rear end!

This is very exciting!!!

Tony Sestito said:

This rules so hard. 

I figured you’d like it. :)

I'm working on the install of a solar panel system, I have a few last things on order for the Z06 before I fire it, but all of those tasks were waiting on parts or people. 

So, the 5.3 I plan on putting in this car got a driveway bath today.  It's a truck motor of unknown mileage, bought as a complete pull out by a friend several years ago.  First look was encouraging, clean inside the valve covers, turns over nicely and makes compression noises.  A bit of sludge in the pan but no glittery bits.  It's getting a GM LS9 cam swap once I figure out what box the cam is in.  :-)  I don't think I'm going to pull the heads as long as the lifters stay up to pull the cam and swap it.  Clean up the covers and pan, maybe clean the injectors.  

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