Joe's 1972 Nova - Turbo LQ4 T56

[frojoe]

I guess I should finally get around to posting a build thread, I've been a lurker for years.

Car is a 1972 Chevy Nova, originally teal with bench seats, 3spd auto column shift, inline 6. Got car 9 years ago, previous owner put in a 307, bucket seats, and a quick and ****ty respray to help it sell.. I fell for it. Body is so-so, rust bubbles a bit on rear fender lips but overall a solid sheetmetal car, just lots of clearcoat runs & scratches.

I guess I should say that no one else has laid a hand, wrench, or TIG torch on this car but myself. I'm a mechanical engineer and started working on this car when I was 22, and got it on the road this past September after my 26th bday. I did all my work in a barely-one-car garage as well as milling stuff at my work.

List of stuff:

- 2006 LQ4 (6L iron-block LS1), rebuilt with Wiseco 9.0:1 pistons, Callies conrods, Eagle crank, ARP everything, Crane vavlesprings, stock(ish) intake
- custom single-turbo piping by myself, 2.5" pipes into T4 flange, 4" downpipe
- Turbonetics TC76 turbo
- relocated ignition coils
- smoothed(ish) intake
- 3" intercooler piping
- T56 from '02 Camaro
- QA1 coilover conversion in the front, single-adjustable
- Speedtech tubular upper/lower control arms w/ delrin/aluminum bushings
- Wilwood Superlite 6piston 13" front brakes
- all brakelines custom bent from scratch
- custom adjustable bumpsteer & relocated drag link setup (in the works)
- custom firewall brake MC & clutch MC setup, as well as customized pedal setup (grafted in Nissan 240sx pedal assembly for more modern feel)
- stock subframe was fully seam-welded and reinforced, and has NO body-mount bushings (!!!!)
- custom subframe connectors to rear framerails
- floor patched a bit and flattened
- trans/driveshaft tunnel chopped from front to rear firewall and bent new one, raised 3-4" overall
- modified G-link in rear to ride 2" lower
- Detroit TruTrac helical limited slip
- 31 spline axles
- 3.90:1 rear gear
- 4 piston Wilwood 12" rear discs
- customized "cockpit" interior.. pedal height/location, shifter location & height, steering column location/height/angle.. all to fit me like a glove

Biggest accomplishment is to have the framerails 4.5" off the ground and have transmission, 4" downpipe split to 2.5" duals, full exhaust with mufflers (going to fab full 3" SS setup during winter) not hang at all below the framerails, especailly with no subframe bushings!. Biggest pet peeve is to see musclecars with longtube headers hang 5" below the framerails.. totally unnecessary and unacceptable.

I will update more detailed build pics when I get home later. Also, full build thread showing every single step is here:

http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-hybrids/980909-lq4-into-3rd-gen-1972-nova.html

Before tweaking the ride height...

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg11/mwhizard/IMG_7210.jpg

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg11/mwhizard/IMG_7212.jpg

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg11/mwhizard/IMG_7213.jpg

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg11/mwhizard/IMG_7214.jpg

After leveling and lowering a bit...

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/nova-side.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/nova-gopro1.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/nova-gopro2.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhfTszdfek4

[Flash68]

Killer! :thumbsup:

I wanna see a pic of the cockpit interior mods. :unibrow:

[frojoe]

You asked for it! I bit of a tease of some details..

Pedal assembly panel before trimming and welding into firewall. The nice thing about the Nissan 240SX clutch pedal is it has an eccentric spring so that the return spring passes over-center about 1" into the pedal travel so that the spring then assists in adding pedal pressure to the MC.

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/brake-1.jpg

Weighted gas pedal for a bit of a better feel...

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/dbw-pedal1.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/dbw-pedal2.jpg

Isuzu Trooper 7/8" bore brake MC (pedal feel is perfect for the 6piston Wilwoods), mainly because it's simple, light, and is raw cast aluminum w/ plastic reservoir so has the factory look I like.

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/brake-2.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/bracket-pedal-clevis1.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/brake-3.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/pedal-assembly-installed.jpg

I wanted to reuse the original instument dash surrounding, mainly because the aftermarket injection-molded pieces are $$ as heck and still look cheap. Also, wanted to add a bit of flair to the treatment of just holeswaing a piece of place sheetmetal.

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/gauges1.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/gauges2.jpg

Wanted to also avoid the standard treatment of red/blue/green simple raised LED's. This light lens thingy is also from a 240SX, just milled a pocket for it and made a light bracket that mounts from behind, like a stock 240 dash.

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/gauges22.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/gauges21.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/gauges23.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/gauges3.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/gauges31.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/gauges4.jpg

[Flash68]

Wow. Really impressive work. Love the mix and match of not the typical parts to make it all work.

[Garage Dog 65]

X2 :thumbsup:

Nice thinking outside the box and fabulating some great solutions !

Beautiful ride and she must rock with all that power !

:woot:

Jim

[frojoe]

Chopped 2.5" off the bottom of a stock truck pan to reduce it to the same depth as an f-body pan (mainly didn't want to pay for a used f-body pan + shipping).

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/truck-pan1.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/truck-pan2.jpg

Initial cut of trans tunnel, but shows relief cuts for an old version of the trans x-member. I eventually went to a better x-member design and eliminated those stock x-member floorpan humps, making the foot area flat.

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/tunnel-cut1.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/tunnel-cut2.jpg

Final version of the trans x-member..

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/trans-x-member1.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/trans-x-member2.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/trans-x-member.jpg

Driveshaft loop AKA subframe-connector-crossbrace

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/DS-loop2.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/DS-loop1.jpg

http://s696.beta.photobucket.com/user/josephkerekes/media/DS-loop3.jpg.html?sort=3&o=115

Made a weld-in labyrinth sump for the fuel pump.

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/tank-mod1.jpg

Made a fuel pump holder. Made it capable to hold a second pump, but only have 1 in there for now.

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/tank-mod2.jpg

Also snipped the corners of the tank for 3" tailpipes and future 315 tires, at a very low ride height.

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/tank-mod3.jpg

[frojoe]

And all the turbo piping stuff. Pretty self-explanatory. Took a lot of planning and measurement to get things to warp around and tuck nicely, these Nova's sure don't have a ton of room between the accessory drive and the radiator. Not to mention how little room in front of the radiator there is for an intercooler.

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping1.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping2.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping3.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping4.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping5.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping6.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping61.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping62.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping7.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping8.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping9.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping10.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping11.jpg

[frojoe]

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping12.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping13.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping131.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping132.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping14.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping15.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping16.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping17.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping18.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping19.jpg

[mild2wild]

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping14.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping15.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping16.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping17.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping18.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/turbo-piping19.jpg

Nicely done!

[andrew5]

slick! very nice car!!!

[frojoe]

Thanks!

Made my own oil breather/separator. The "levels" that the breather hoses enter have loose stainless wool trapped by holed "floors" to try and catch oil in the air, and allow it to drop to the bottom & pool where there isn't steel wool, then be drained later.

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/oil-breather1.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/oil-breather2.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/oil-breather3.jpg

[frojoe]

I wanted to relocate the coilpacks to give it a bit more racey look, plus pull them away from turbo piping heat..

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/coil-bracket1.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/coil-bracket2.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/coil-bracket3.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/coil-bracket4.jpg

I wanted both the plug end and the coilpack ends to have 90* boots.. the plug end was easy but it was a bit more difficult to find a 90* boot for the coilpack to keep everything compact looking. After much surfing I found a Taylor universal LS1 plug wire kit along with an additional set of SBC universal HEI 90* distributor boots would work (SBC boots with the wire kit's termal)..

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/coil-bracket5.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/coil-bracket6.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/coil-bracket7.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/coil-bracket8.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/coil-bracket9.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/coil-bracket10.jpg

[frojoe]

Also made these firewall grommets. It's a two-piece front "cover" that bolts onto a stepped one-piece rear plate (that has a slot in it to slide over the wiring loom) and then everything tightens down to sandwich the firewall...

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/firewall-grommet1.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/firewall-grommet2.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/firewall-grommet.jpg

[krptonite]

great job and nice ride!! what kinda power does it make?

[frojoe]

G-Link modification:

DISCLAIMER: I modified as I saw fit, and wouldn't recommend doing this unless you're extremely comfortable with fabrication/welding/chassis work etc. This obviously voids Chassisworks warrenty, and I needed to chop up my driveshaft tunnel for yoke clearance, as well as the trunk pan for diff clearance.

This would've been the recommended ride height before mods (2.5" coilover bump travel). This is fine for lots of people. But I wanted to safely go lower :)

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/glink0.jpg

Chopped the upper crossbar & coilover mount brackets off so they could be moved up..

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/glink1.jpg

Positioned the crossbar brackets as high as they'd go, at the top of the framerail brackets which is right underneath where the new trunk pan will go. I believe the height they were moved up was 1.75" up, possibly 2".

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/glink2.jpg

Put a notch in the intermediate relocation adapter plates so that the crossbar mount welds are 100% in shear. Also why the adapter plate hooks below the framerail in an L shape.

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/glink4.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/glink5.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/glink6.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/glink7.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/glink8.jpg

Also made a cross bar for the front UCA pivot points, to spread the load between framerails during cornering/acceleration/deceleration.

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/glink9.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/glink10.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/glink11.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/glink12.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/glink13.jpg

This is the new ride height with 2.5" bump/2.5" rebound travel. I would say worth it (at least to me)!

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/glink14.jpg

[frojoe]

great job and nice ride!! what kinda power does it make?

I haven't dyno'd it yet, still working on the driveabilty of the tune. But I've got it up to 14psi and by the butt-dyno I'd say it's probably hovering around 650 at the crank. Spark tuning and max power pulls on the dyno will happen in the spring.

[melman109]

Very nice!!!! :thumbsup:

[Jgpclone]

man thats a bad ass ride :hail: skillz

[Rybar]

Looks good Joe, thanks for updating Lateral-G :thumbsup:

[frojoe]

Thanks Ryan.. about time eh? haha. Oh and I'm about to order some R888's for the rear and put the 275's on the front :cool:

[BBC71Nova]

Great seeing the additional pictures Joe. Awesome project. Great job on all the custom mods. Like the dash too. That's one area where aftermarket support for the Nova is lacking (DSE are you listening :) )

I think you might have just convinced me to take a cutoff wheel to my shock crossmember :wow: . Something I've been considering anyway. Not as much for the extra drop as it is to get the cross member out of the way so I can get exhaust tubing through there.

[Rybar]

Thanks Ryan.. about time eh? haha. Oh and I'm about to order some R888's for the rear and put the 275's on the front :cool:

ooooh nice. I hope they are 315+ for the rear :D

[frojoe]

Nova's can only go up to 315 if I avoid cutting into the framerails. 305 for the R888 to start, but if traction is still limited I'll go full 315 with the 555R2.. they seem to be working well for Mark.

[67XR7]

Frojoe what wheels are on the nova?

[frojoe]

They're Axis Penta wheels (can't get them in 18" any more, only 19"+), 18x8 with 4.875" BS all round, with 235 up front and 275 in the back. Going to 9.5" with 275 in the front and 11" in the back with 305/315.

[WSSix]

Nicely done. I like seeing the fab pictures. Thanks for posting and explaining what you were doing in the pictures.

[coolwelder62]

Awesome Build.You have some outstanding fab skill's.The coil mount's are 1st. class.

[torino420]

Sick Nova, nice fab work! :thumbsup:

[frojoe]

Thanks! I like making stuff :) Will post more pics in the near future

[Rybar]

With your excellent fab skills you should be able to notch those frame rails for a 315 or 335 no? :unibrow:

[Bad94]

Nova's can only go up to 315 if I avoid cutting into the framerails. 305 for the R888 to start, but if traction is still limited I'll go full 315 with the 555R2.. they seem to be working well for Mark.


So you say a stock nova wheel tub will fiit a 315?

[frojoe]

Ryan.. I'm not if I want to cut into the frame rails.. from a thread somewhere that I saw, there had to be significant cutting, to the point of the framerail being less than 1" thick, to fit a 335.

A stock Nova tub will hold a 275 comfortably at my ride height, likely 285 as well if the BS was increased slightly and possibly a higher ride height. From what I've read, up to 315 can fit if the wheelwell tub is widened up to the outboard side of the rear frame rails. To go wider than 315, the tire will interfere with the framerail so the framerail will have to be notched inwards and the tub widened even more so..

[Bad94]

Ryan.. I'm not if I want to cut into the frame rails.. from a thread somewhere that I saw, there had to be significant cutting, to the point of the framerail being less than 1" thick, to fit a 335.

A stock Nova tub will hold a 275 comfortably at my ride height, likely 285 as well if the BS was increased slightly and possibly a higher ride height. From what I've read, up to 315 can fit if the wheelwell tub is widened up to the outboard side of the rear frame rails. To go wider than 315, the tire will interfere with the framerail so the framerail will have to be notched inwards and the tub widened even more so..

A 315 wont fit with the stock tub widen to the out side of the framerail.
This is a 305 toyo R888 with DSE tubs as they tell you to install.
http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/album553/7_5_009.sized.jpg
http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/album553/7_5_007.sized.jpg

And here is a 335/30/18 on a 12" wheel with DSE tubs cut and widened to full 3"
http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/album573/2_10_12_001.sized.jpg
http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/album573/9_24_003.sized.jpg

Both of those novas are mine.

[Rybar]

awesome, I was just going to post your thread: http://www.pro-touring.com/showthread.php?82365-My-turn-at-a-project/page4

[Flash68]

Yeah man... with your skillz... you gotta dial in that 335 rear. :unibrow:

[frojoe]

Bad94... Thanks for that info. On the DSE site it says up to 315 with just their tubs, I wasn't aware that 315 wasn't feasible. This further solidifies my 305 decision I think. It was also your build thread that I was recalling when thinking about how thin the framerail has to be chopped to fit a 335. I'll climb under there this weekend and see how I feel about all this. In exactly those areas that the framerail is notched so much, is where my G-link bracket is welded, so not sure how much I want to cut into that. We'll see...

[frojoe]

Made my own accessory belt route. Main reason for doing this was so that I could lower the alternator for more hood clearance using what I already had (Gen III truck accessory setup).

Started with some simply measurements of main pulley locations and distances, and moved things around on the computer..

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/acc-drive1.jpg

You can see how much clearancing I needed to do to the stock cast alternator/PS pump bracket to lower the alternator..

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/acc-drive2.jpg

Backing plate which a new idler location threads into..

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/acc-drive3.jpg

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/acc-drive4.jpg

Re-used the stock idler puller, but different location. Saved the old idler location for a much smaller pulley with high-speed needle bearings, to clear the throttlebody and intake cold side tubing as well as the inlet for the LS3 waterpump..

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/acc-drive5.jpg

Voila.. a more compact, minimal-dollar accessory drive setup..

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv328/josephkerekes/acc-drive6.jpg

[MattWash08]

Nice build! Ive always been a fan of Nova's and you dont see near as many of them

[Bryce]

nice build!

[BBC71Nova]

Hey Joe. What do you have planned for the front now? Noticed you had your qa1 setup or sale.

[frojoe]

Hey John,

I have it up for sale to move over to the Ridetech stuff. I like that the Ridetech coilovers isolate the spring on the shock body, so it no longer uses the frame's spring bucket to contain the spring, as well as the adjuster knob being on the top for easier adjustment from inside (front end is so low I can't reach the QA1 knob without jacking up the front). Also, the ride quality of the Ridetechs. Got a ride in Resurrexion a while ago and was blown away with the stability yet suppleness of even the single-adjust Ridetechs.

[LS1NOVA]

Id recommend notching the framerail with those tubs. When you have the piece cutout, you can weld in a nice reinforcement on the inner frame rail.

Note: Ive had 335's on mine. Looks killer. Do it!!!

[Bsinclair]

very nice....

[Blake Foster]

Ryan.. I'm not if I want to cut into the frame rails.. from a thread somewhere that I saw, there had to be significant cutting, to the point of the framerail being less than 1" thick, to fit a 335.

A stock Nova tub will hold a 275 comfortably at my ride height, likely 285 as well if the BS was increased slightly and possibly a higher ride height. From what I've read, up to 315 can fit if the wheelwell tub is widened up to the outboard side of the rear frame rails. To go wider than 315, the tire will interfere with the framerail so the framerail will have to be notched inwards and the tub widened even more so..

FYI The 72 we just finished at Speedtech had the standard minitub and it has 335/35/17 Michelin psII on it with no issues. i will switch to a good 335 30 /18 PS2 is the only one available, when it is time to replace the tires on my
nova

[frojoe]

Thanks Blake that's really interesting to know... I have a similar rear ride height to yours and it's interesting to know this.

Only will be able to tell once I've cut out the stock inner tubs and have a tire to mock in there. I got the DSE mini tubs sitting in the garage but have yet to find time (or consume enough liquid courage) to start cutting into the car. Maybe this weekend though...

[next69]

How will running the 335's affect exhaust packaging between the tires and fuel tank? I would love to shoehorn some 335's under my 70 Nova!

[frojoe]

I already dog-ear'd the gas tank for ample exhaust clearance while the tank was brand new and I was modifying it for the in-tank pump sump setup.