"Plain Jane" 1970 Nova Build

[Too Many Projects]

Originally Posted by dykstra

There's a joke in there somewhere.......

Bit of a "smut head" aren't you ??


I knew I liked you...

[markjohnson]

Listen . . . . I absolutely kneel & worship at “The Church Of The 3rd Pedal” with my current rides having an M22 RockCrusher & The Other having a Liberty clutch-less 5-speed but I’ve had fast automatics too & they certainly have their place in the world. We all know the quality of Wayne’s builds & that car has a heck of a nice TH400 with a great torque converter behind it. Not to even mention Wayne’s skills & abilities at transmission cooler plumbing that would be a Federal Crime to undo. I’d leave it alone for two giant reasons:

1: It’s absolutely foolproof in its current reliable form & gives you time to point & steer such an incredibly fun, overpowered/undertired beast!

2: It will save you 2.5 years of fiddling with a slipper clutch to even get it halfway right before you just wanna go back to the click-click TH400. This thought also comes with deep regret after looking up at the large transmission tunnel hole for a crazy-looking linkage that’s currently for sale on RJ.

3. Yeah, I’m gone add a third: Good trans, good flywheel, scattershield, GOOD(!!) clutch, driveshaft, etc. = Low 5-figures for parts that will actually live after MUCH testing.

[GrumpyJeff]

Originally Posted by markjohnson

Listen . . . . I absolutely kneel & worship at “The Church Of The 3rd Pedal” with my current rides having an M22 RockCrusher & The Other having a Liberty clutch-less 5-speed but I’ve had fast automatics too & they certainly have their place in the world. We all know the quality of Wayne’s builds & that car has a heck of a nice TH400 with a great torque converter behind it. Not to even mention Wayne’s skills & abilities at transmission cooler plumbing that would be a Federal Crime to undo. I’d leave it alone for two giant reasons:

1: It’s absolutely foolproof in its current reliable form & gives you time to point & steer such an incredibly fun, overpowered/undertired beast!

2: It will save you 2.5 years of fiddling with a slipper clutch to even get it halfway right before you just wanna go back to the click-click TH400. This thought also comes with deep regret after looking up at the large transmission tunnel hole for a crazy-looking linkage that’s currently for sale on RJ.

3. Yeah, I’m gone add a third: Good trans, good flywheel, scattershield, GOOD(!!) clutch, driveshaft, etc. = Low 5-figures for parts that will actually live after MUCH testing.

Gotta Say as a Hard Core 4 Speed Believer , I think Mark pretty much Hit the Nail on the Head !!!

[napa68]

Originally Posted by markjohnson

Listen . . . . I absolutely kneel & worship at “The Church Of The 3rd Pedal” with my current rides having an M22 RockCrusher & The Other having a Liberty clutch-less 5-speed but I’ve had fast automatics too & they certainly have their place in the world. We all know the quality of Wayne’s builds & that car has a heck of a nice TH400 with a great torque converter behind it. Not to even mention Wayne’s skills & abilities at transmission cooler plumbing that would be a Federal Crime to undo. I’d leave it alone for two giant reasons:

1: It’s absolutely foolproof in its current reliable form & gives you time to point & steer such an incredibly fun, overpowered/undertired beast!

2: It will save you 2.5 years of fiddling with a slipper clutch to even get it halfway right before you just wanna go back to the click-click TH400. This thought also comes with deep regret after looking up at the large transmission tunnel hole for a crazy-looking linkage that’s currently for sale on RJ.

3. Yeah, I’m gone add a third: Good trans, good flywheel, scattershield, GOOD(!!) clutch, driveshaft, etc. = Low 5-figures for parts that will actually live after MUCH testing.

Originally Posted by GrumpyJeff

Gotta Say as a Hard Core 4 Speed Believer , I think Mark pretty much Hit the Nail on the Head !!!

I gotta agree with both Mark and Jeff. The car is an absolute blast just the way it is. In my mind, I'm a hardcore 3 pedal guy as well. I agree with your sentiments Mark about a 5 digit spend. Not that I'm not willing to spend that on this car, but I may also sign up for more part breakage in the future. Given we are at the beginning of the summer, I won't be taking the car apart anytime soon.

Wayne and I chatted a bit offline. He made a solid point if I were to make the 3rd pedal active again, a 4 speed (be it G101A or M23) should allow the use of the trans crossmember and the VERY expensive driveshaft the car has right now.

I'll keep you guys posted!

[EZ Nova]

Napa, what do you figure this motor is making Hp and Tq wise?

[DW31S]

We run Jerico 4-speeds and although the company itself is struggling, there are sources for parts. The Achilles Heel in the DR4 is the 3-4 shift fork finger but they are readily available from Magnus Performance in N.C. I’ve dealt with Mike at Magnus and do recommend him. We also run the Long inline shifters and recommend them. As for clutches, I run a McLeod Soft-Lok fully adjustable and the rest of the team uses Boninfante products. Changing that Nova to a bulletproof stick isn’t insurmountable, but it will be pricey. I know the floor is an important part of the equation, but if you really plan to beat the snot out of it as we do, I’d suggest at least a G-Force or even a Liberty. Most of Hemi guys run Liberty stuff and rarely do they have issues, but they don’t have stock tunnels. Lots to consider besides just the trans itself in terms of safety and rigidity, especially if that car doesn’t have a cage (can’t remember for sure, but I don’t think it does). Dropping the hammer with that much power in a car without proper chassis set-up is gonna create a lot of twisting if you get it to hook. Wayne is an old racer, and I’m sure he would agree.

[napa68]

Originally Posted by DW31S

Dropping the hammer with that much power in a car without proper chassis set-up is gonna create a lot of twisting if you get it to hook. Wayne is an old racer, and I’m sure he would agree.

I agree. As I vaguely touched on, there would be more to the car than just the trans. I figured a 6pt. bar would be in order so the doors shut in the future. The body lines on the car are way too nice to not address the chassis some more. One of my friends used to be a fabricator for Jeg Coughlin (he has his own shop now). I know he can fab up a really discreet bar for it, but it all comes with a price.

[cheveslakr]

Not a nova guy, but the second gen novas were built with a b-pillar much should make the body perform like a chevelle sedan, which is a big advantage to the twisting of the hardtops.

[NorCam]

I ran a low compression pump gas 565 Dart Big M in my last 55 Chev that made 732/713 with a T56 in behind it. Out back was a mini tubbed 4 link 9" and the car was tied in with an 8 point cage which helped stiffen it up. Fun street car that ran through the gears in OK fashion if you were banging on it...but clearly, the trans didn't like the power. I had to modify the tunnel for that case to fit too, and now that I am building another 55 with a little less power, I have gone with the TKX 5-speed which really is the best of best from what Jody Haag told me.

Rows like a 4 gear when you just want to cruise, but can bang gears better than the T56 while standing up to about 700hp with no problem. I'll have this one on the road real soon and can't wait to try it out. Running a McLeod hydraulic clutch on this one and a Quick Time bell housing.

[napa68]

After getting all of the Corvette distractions behind me (at least for now), I can get back on the Nova. While the runaway temp issue had improved, it still was not right. After consulting with a few different people as well as some internet sleuthing, I decided on installing steam vent lines / 4 corner cooling through the intake manifold. As mentioned before, the siamese bore blocks can be a little tricky to cool, to say nothing for getting the air bled out properly.

So, I tore into it. Pulling the intake, drilling the rear on the intake for pipe threads, installing the fittings, and then piping the hoses to the front of the intake. I also installed a spacer between the intake and thermostat housing to relocate the temp sender. Additionally, I drilled a small relief / bleed hole in the 160 degree T stat to help with bleeding the air.





The cooling system bled out easily, and maintains 180 degrees in the shop with no real air flow.

Of course, no good project is considered complete without a road test.....


I am happy to report the car maintains 160-170 degrees on the road, will creep up to 180 at a stop sign. In all, a success!