Thread: 1973 chevy nova ss

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hey everyone i have a 73 chevy nova ss 350, i am lookin to fix it up and thought i would get some input and ideas before i do. I want to make it a street machine, i was hoping for somewhere around 500hp 550 ft/lbs naturally aspirated if this is possible, please leave comments and ideas about this, the more the better

i was also wondering what kind of suspension set up, i am not a fan of the back being huge compared to the front but i do want it a little higher in the back than in the front. it has 3.73 rear gears.

well any info you guys have about good parts to check out articles to read or just advice would be great thanks in advance

Welcome to CHR Nate. IMO the quickest way to go fast is a lot of cubes in a light car.... Might want to consider a stroker engine, maybe a 496 or it your budget allows a crate engine 502. Hook it up to a well built street/strip 400 hydro and go have fun!!!

As for the rear, not sure on the '73 how much bigger a tire you can run... You could go with some mini-tubs, 3" or 4" wider then stock, this would allow at least a 10" wide tire on the rear.... Again, back to your budget on just how carried away you want to get....

What rear end is in the car? I've seen 10 bolts survive quite well behind a BBC, a 12 bolt or a Ford 9" would be better though.... The 3.73's are a good ratio for the street, good low end and still affords decent rpm at cruise speed.

Welcome, you are at the right place. Lots of people here who can help. I think a stoker crate engine is the way to go. Have fun!

just curious if i can can make that kind of power but keep the 350 in it, i mean how much can i bore and stroke my motor. i kinda wanna keep that original block on it just cause i think that would be cool, what are my options there? like what kind of parts do i need to make that power if i can? if not how much can i make with that motor. yea i think i wanna go a little bit wider on the rear tires i think a 10" tire would be nice. i believe that my rear end is a 10 bolt

I Like the SB Chevy 350s to . But with a 350 or 355 build- even with a set of Vortec heads And a Comp Cams XE268H camshaft . Your talking 400-420 HP . And yes you can go a bit larger on a camshat to put out some more HP . But you will lose bottom end torque doing so . A 400 hp 355 is not a bad street / strip build ! But for what you are Looking for 500 HP you will need a blower or NOS spray on a 350 . But now Lets say you build a 350 into a 383/389 stroker . Now you can get near to the 500 hp you want . And the torque will also be much higher then the 350 build . Now with your 8.5 373 rear end . They are ok stock for the 350 400 hp builds . But much more then that and with 10" tires dead hooking . You will break a C-clip and throw an axle . You will need C-Clip Eliminators . Go with a 350 with-375 to 400 HP build . With this set up and your car at 3500 lbs . That Nova should run 13.10 E.Ts

Originally Posted by natedogg799

hey everyone i have a 73 chevy nova ss 350, i am lookin to fix it up and thought i would get some input and ideas before i do. I want to make it a street machine, i was hoping for somewhere around 500hp 550 ft/lbs naturally aspirated if this is possible, please leave comments and ideas about this, the more the better

i was also wondering what kind of suspension set up, i am not a fan of the back being huge compared to the front but i do want it a little higher in the back than in the front. it has 3.73 rear gears.

well any info you guys have about good parts to check out articles to read or just advice would be great thanks in advance

To make 500+ hp out of the 350 the easy way to do that would be to build a 383.
In other words you would need to install a crank that has a 3.75 stroke.
For pistons you will need to be at 10 to 1 or a little over.
Yes,this will run on pump gas with alu. heads.
For a cam you will need a hyd. roller with 240 to 245 at .050,for heads the AFR 195 cc Eliminators,intake you could either go RPM Performer with the air gap or a Victor intake,for a carburetor try a flowed 650 double pumper or a 750 out of the box.
You would need to run a 3,500 to 4,000 stall.
The car really needs a 4.10 gear but a 3.73 will work.

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.

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.

As usual someone did not read the post.
He is looking for around 500 hp and 550lbs. of torque not 350hp.

thanks for the input so far, how bout we look at it this way
what do i need to do to make my car be about a 12.5 or around there car at the 1/4 mile
i wanna keep my stock block, stroking it and boring it is fine with me, i know that it is more that just engine i need a good transmission and rear end

this is not gonna be like a quick project it is something that i plan on doing over time.

Lots of Nova tire examples here:

The 2QuickNovas Nova Tire Fitment Page - 1968-1974

Along with the engine and driveline, you're going to need some chassis work.... Ladder bars work ok on the street, even a set of the Comp Engineering J-bolt style traction bars would be more then adequate for a mid 12's Nova. Locally we have a whole fleet of early 70's Nova's running in the 12 to 13 second range, about 3/4 of them run big block and glide combo's, with the rest running small block with 350's and 400's.... Seems the small blocks do better with the extra gear to carry all that weight around.... If you aren't real concerned about aesthetics and creature comforts, it's not too tough to get that Nova to shed a bunch of weight.... Remember, every 100 pounds of weight reduction equals 1/10 second reduction in ET!!!!!

Originally Posted by natedogg799

thanks for the input so far, how bout we look at it this way
what do i need to do to make my car be about a 12.5 or around there car at the 1/4 mile
i wanna keep my stock block, stroking it and boring it is fine with me, i know that it is more that just engine i need a good transmission and rear end

this is not gonna be like a quick project it is something that i plan on doing over time.

You will need A well built 355 With forged pistons and rebuilt rods-ARP bolts . with a good set of heads like the ones Erik told me about . They are the RHS Vortec heads with the 2.02in/1.60ex valves . And these heads have the HD springs for up to 510 Lift . And for a camshaft the Comp cams XE274H . This cam is 230/236 dur at .050 with 487/490 Lift 110 L/S . For the intake manifold run the Weiand Stealth air strike . Also run a Holley 700 CFM D/P . You will also need a 3500 to 3800 stall speed and 410 Rear end . This 350 set up should be good for 12.60-12.70 E.Ts I still Like the more user friendly 350 375 HP build with the 3200 stall and the 373 gear Low 13 Teens build .

Hay Twitch I like your Idea with that L-82 build . Them L-82s were some good out the box engines . They were 9.1 C/R forged every thing . With hand picked Pink rods . 4 bolt main blocks 2.02/1.60 valve engines . That was One of the original crate engines . You can still buy a re-make of that Hydraulic GM # 3896962 camshaft . It's made by Speed Pro under part # CS109R . That camshaft is 224/224 at .050 with 450/460 Lift and 114 C/L . Also this camshaft will make more power in a 9.5.1 350 . then the L-79 327-350 HP 151 camshaft . You can buy them from Northern Auto Parts: Home for $59.99

what kind of et do you want? this is much easier then playing the hp game. tell me what et you want and denny will tell you how much hp you need

Originally Posted by gassersrule_196

what kind of et do you want? this is much easier then playing the hp game. tell me what et you want and denny will tell you how much hp you need

CHECK POST #9 You do not think that 301 you built can put this Nova in the 12s ?