Thread: New Nova Project?

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The ’63 is a great little car. Chevy didn’t put a V8 in the Nova until 1964, but the two years are virtually identical and the V8 swap can be done with over-the-counter parts.

I would recommend that you consider swapping out the stock front suspension. Several companies make kits. I installed one from Fatman Fabrications (http://www.fatmanfab.com). I have found them to be pretty helpful and the kit is well engineered. I opted to use a power rack-and-pinion and needed to make some 1” spacer blocks to fit between the frame and front cross member to have all the lines clear the harmonic damper. The kit supplies new mountings, spindles, lower arms, and the cross brace and most importantly, chrome Carrera coil over springs. You need to buy the disc brake components (Camaro of Firebird), sway bar and Macpherson housings, and the rack for the steering. I also upgraded to power brakes and you’ll need a new master cylinder and some brake line plumbing.

This allows the use of stock oil pan and really opens up the engine bay. The steering geometry is a bit tricky and you’ll need to be creative in some of the mounting, but patience and good basic skills will prove sufficient. It does require the removal of most of the existing front end, but shaves a lot of weight off the car in the end. This also gives you a five bolt pattern as the ’63 came with four bolt wheels.

I put the engine and transmission (Super T-10) from a Z-28 in mine. Also swapped the rear end from a 65 SS and put new rear suspension (three leaf springs v2 mono).

Here’s a few pictures. If you're interested, I'll take some closeups of the front suspension.

Regards,
Glenn