Thread: Going to look at a '69 Nova SS - 454/Blower

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Guys,
My 6 year-old twins enjoy going to the ice cream stand in our '68 Camaro on a fairly regular basis. They love their "hot rod" but, sadly, it's going away. I have a chance to acquire what looks to be a nice '69 Nova, but I'm a little unfamiliar with the big block and small blower setup that it has (not sure of the blower type from the pics). I'll know more of the specs after I drive a couple of hours to look at it, but I wanted to ask this group about specific things I should look for while I'm there. The car is setup for street/drag with a six point cage, Powerglide, 12-bolt, 4000 stall, and line lock. I'm hoping it wouldn't take too much to make it our pro-street ice cream getter (we like to spin the tires when we leave).

Any comments would be welcomed. Thanks!

Hobo

Look for rust in all the usual GM places, make sure it has frame ties to go with the cage, might want to find the pedigree of the builder...

Oh yeah, a 4000 stall on the street is quite impractical. Builds a ton of heat in the tranny and not at all made for cruising. I'd plan on replacing it with something in the 2500 to 2800 range.....

If it has no front (windshield) hoop, then it's a roll BAR, not a roll cage. A cage would also have halo bars connecting the main hoop with the front hoop. A bar has to be built with 1 3/4" tubing, a cage can use 1 5/8", so take a caliper with you to measure the tubing diameter.

What I'm trying to say is, if you take it to the strip to make a pass and the bar is 1 5/8", it ain't legal. It's the same as having no bar at all and you're restricted to 11.50 e.t. I try to make it a practice never to buy anything without figuring out how I'm going to sell it later.

Of course, if the bars are 1 5/8", you have a good start to making a cage out of it. Make sure the kids can get in and out of the car before you buy it or finish it into a cage.

If the rear bars that go to the trunk have more than 1 bend in them, it ain't legal either. Some guys run them back along the roof line, bend them to go through the speaker holes in the shelf panel, then bend them again to go to the trunk floor. Wrong.

Ditto on the converter with Dave and Jack. At street speeds, the converter will be slipping and building tremendous heat. Is there so much cam in the motor that it requires that stall????

I'd check the front and rear suspensions and see how they're set up. That motor needs some mechanism to get the power to the ground.

Ditto with Dave on the 4000 RPM converter - but make sure the cam will work with a lower stall. You don't want both feet on the brake at every stoplight.

See if you can get the guy to remove the blower belt, spin the blower over smartly make sure the blower at least turns over freely and no grinding sounds. A 6-71 or 8-71 will some times have a ripping or shearing sound if you briskly spin it over. I'd say if it does , it's probably ok. They aren't quiet and the gears will make some kind of whirring sound. Counter clockwise as you look at it from the front. Check out the idler too. It should be free and no bearing noise at all.

Also check out the ignition system . There isn't a lot of room on Chev so look at how it is done. Neat is good.

Headers...blower motors can raise havoc with them so take a look.

When you drive it watch the temp and note if there is an electric fan when it come on and whether it does the job.

You can tell I'd just like to go with haha

good hunting

Thanks guys. I ended up trading a custom chopper that I built for the Nova straight up, but here's an update:

1.) It's a 468 with Merlin heads, a Weiand 177 blower, Powerglide with a 10" 4000 stall (I have the 8" 5000 stall that was to be put in the car for racing).

2.) The roll BAR has only one bend and makes the diameter requirements, but no full cage exists (fine with me for my ice-cream getter).

3.) The ignition is one of the MSD 7600 "distributorless" types. The car came with the laptop, DC/AC converter built into the car, etc. Pretty cool but I need to figure it out.

4.) The cam was a Comp Cams unit, but I can't remember the specs right now. I'll verify and repost, but I'm sure the lift was about .550. Duration escapes me.

5.) The car has a line lock and tranny brake, and is running Drag Lite wheels with M/T 27.5 X 9 slicks on the back and skinnies on the front.

6.) 12-bolt rear, but I haven't verified any of the internal upgrades yet. Looks to be a 4.10 or 4.11

7.) Finally, I am told that it dyno'd well into the 600s for both HP and TQ. I know it's plenty powerful for what I need, so that's good enough.

Thanks again...

Sorry - a couple of other things:

1.) Has a tranny cooler
2.) No ignition key. Painless wiring setup with a switch box for start, ignition, fuel pump, water pump, electric fan, and accessories.
3.) Has two batteries in the trunk with a main power switch external on the back next to the keyhole.
4.) Batteries don't seem to be charging. I'm trying to figure out the system to see why.

Thanks again...