You know the drill. A veteran comes home to California from a United States of America Army deployment in Afghanistan and sees an online advertisement from a vintage auto broker in Florida for a 1966 Chevy II Nova. The body, lavished in PPG brilliant white paint, looks impeccable. The ad's headline reads "Running and Driving." On the FaceTime phone/video call with the broker, the engine sounded sweet...
So, without nary a second thought, Cypress, California resident and Army Staff Sergeant Master Mechanic Justin Brown negotiated a price over FaceTime and arranged to have the Nova transported to Cypress, CA.
The most important aspect of the car's construction for Justin upon purchase and subsequently was the fact that the body and paint was spot on. Thankfully, in person, the Nova's exterior, paintwork, fit and finish were even better than what was revealed on the FaceTime video with the muscle car salesman, as well as what is shown on the Autotopia LA YouTube video. Justin disclosed in the YouTube video that the Chevy II wasn't safe to drive when he took his first spin in the car upon delivery from Florida. The suspension needed to be gone through.
Above: A Sparco steering wheel crowns the Omega gauges that are wired in with an American Autowire dash harness.
He spent an entire weekend replacing worn out bushings and balljoints, and torqued everything to the proper specs to make the Chevy II safe for the whole family to ride in, by also installing seat belts.
Above: ProCar Scat Rally leather-trimmed front bucket seats and a matching rear leather bench seat provide a comfortable seating environment for Justin and his family.
A bit later, on a short drive to the Department of Motor Vehicles to have the VIN verification completed, the head gasket blew. Mr. Brown had purchased a sheep in wolf's clothing. Never mind. As is evident in the video and also in person, this '66 is now superbly well-constructed, from the underpinnings, to the replaced engine, to the new wheels, tires, and brakes.
As a retired Staff Sergeant Master Mechanic, he knows his way around a US Army garage and his home shop as well. Justin is now the Lead Technician for DeLillo Chevrolet in Huntington Beach.
The fact that the pretty paintwork hid some unfinished chassis and engine work didn't bum him out too much, other than he would need to spend some more hard earned cash than he planned, that is. He simply got to work.
The engine's serial number yielded the fact that it was a small block 350 stock V8 from a pickup truck and nothing special. Justin had an engine builder beef up the mill to handle boost, but the 350 still wasn't quite up to the task. So he plunked down some more cash and purchased a Blueprint 383 stroker engine that could indeed handle the boost (and plenty more) that is equipped with a Fitech Go Spark electronic fuel injection system and a Weiand 6-71supercharger. Backing the mill is now a Tremec TKX five-speed manual transmission.
Now that Justin's Nova had much more power, he decided to also plunk down still more hard earned green for a tricked out IFS from Total Cost Involved (TCI), a rear four-link suspension setup from TCI with ridetech coilover shocks hanging a Currie nine-inch pumpkin rear axle that now sports Wilwood four-piston calipers and their drilled and slotted rotors. This meant that the rolling stock seen in the Autotopia YouTube video would need to be replaced with larger diameter wheels all the way around to accommodate the Wilwood disc brakes. The chosen Rueda forged aluminum wheels are 18x12 inches in the rear and 18x9 inches in the front and are covered by Toyo Radials 888R 335/30ZR18's and Toyo 888R 255/35ZR18's respectively. To fit the wider rubber in the rear Ace Customs installed a Detroit Speed & Engineering rear mini tubs. Steve at Cypress Muffler installed a stainless steel exhaust comprised of Black Widow three-inch race venom mufflers, stainless pipes, and TCI long tube headers.
Thanks to Justin, his buddies, and some other professional automotive artisans pitching in time and again, his 1966 Chevy II Nova is now a prodigiously cool and reliable full pro touring street car build. As time passes, we expect he'll add some more of his touches to the Chevy, because that's what gear heads like to do, especially when there are companies like Classic Industries that can supply all those must have Chevy items (like the passenger side mirror just above and the custom fuel cap just below).
Light the fire on all the Chevy II Nova parts and accessories that you need to acquire for your Nova restoration or pro touring execution. You can fire up your laptop for Chevy II Nova must haves. You can also access the Chevy II Nova parts and accessories catalog online and/or ask Classic Industries to mail you a voluminous catalog right to your front door. See just below for the two appropriate buttons and let's roll!