Originally Posted by Twitch
Natedogg- as usual simpler is better. You're on the right track. But if you are truly building a street machine you aren't going to use bulk of 500HP unless you are really into street racing. You could just as well stay away from internal stuff for the cost factor involved. An L-82 Corvette 350 from a72-73 Vette or Z-28 4 bolt has a decent hydraulic cam and with bolt ons- intake manifold to bring power band into lower RPM zone, a single carb no larger than 650CFM, headers and 2 1/2" exhaust with a crossover pipe will get you more bang for your buck relative to the usability of HP on the street. You could get away with even a slightly smaller carb since air flow equals street performance. Larger carbs may be fine for full throttle 1/4 mile competition but they aren't better for throttle response on the street. For the same reason max out your header tube size at 1 3/4" diameter.
You can use a 1974 and on GM HEI on earlier engines to do away with points distributor. A stock TH350 or TH400 that isn't worn out and ready for the junkpile will be ample.
You can vary your final drive ratio via tire size. A shorter aspect ratio tire will lower it and taller will increase it (make it higher). If your stock tire height is 27" with a 3.73 going to a tire that stands 25" tall effectively lowers the final drive to a 4.10. Changes to stock tire height will affect gas economy and speedometer/odometer readings- taller tires shows a slower than actual speed and so on.
Get ahold of a '73 era GM parts book and see the HD set up for the Nova and translate that to todays aftermarket parts. This will entail leafs, coils shocks. Don't forget attention to anti-roll bars cause you might have to turn sometime. As you mentioned, don't over do front/rear wheel and height ratios. Certainly don't attempt a pair of skinny tire wheels on front. You will not like the results everyday on the street. Your braking power is reduced relative to the contact patch of tire on the pavement too.
You may want to go wider without going taller in back. Measure 1st and make inner fender mods as needed. Remember that any abnormal raising of rear suspensions adversely and proportionately affects the front end's geometry that will increase tire wear. Using a shorter tire, but not too narrow, or even going a inch smaller diameter wheel in front will give the illusion you want without changing stock settings.
This set up will be economical both in that many stock, easily obtainable parts are used and reliable for the same reason. You'll have about 350 useable HP that you can actually get to the ground.
