novafreek74

does anybody here have a small block powered chevy nova that runs low qt mile times. i have a 74 that i am trying to build. I am getting a little discouraged. Need reasureance that my car can become fast. thanks.

Profish00

11.8

Robs71Nova

I have a fast Nova as well, but it's a bigblock and not a smallblock. Had a 355 in my Nova preiously and it was a streetable, everyday driven, low 13/high 12 second car. If you know how to do the work yourself, these cars can be nade to go fast for pretty cheap. Main problem is traction.

Old 355:


New 454:



Rob

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novafreek74

hey rob i love your nova what kind of numbers do you run now that you have the big block? You said that with your small block you could drive it every day, what stall convertor, tranny and rearend did you have?

Robs71Nova

No times on the bigblock yet as it is still in the "break-in" period. With the 355 I was running a B&M holeshot 2400 stall converter and a turbo 350 that was rebuilt with a hardened intermediate sprag and a shift improver kit. The rear-end was a 8.5 inch 10 bolt with a 3:55 gear ratio. With that set-up I was getting around 13-15 MPG which isn't great, but acceptable. Hope this helps.

Rob

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novafreek74

a few more questions 4 u rob, when u were crusing down the highway what rpm were u running? i am still in the process of building up my drivetrain and i am undecided on what parts to get. i want to be able to cruse down the highway at 55 no problem but then i want it to be agressive at the strip. right now the drivetrain is all stock 8.5 inch 10 bolt 3.08 and a th350. what would you suggest?

Robs71Nova

If you plan to do more strip then street driving, go with a 3:73 gear. If your gonna do more street driving then drag racing, go with a 3:55. I have used every gear from a 3.08 to a 4.56 in my Nova, and 3:55 is my favorite so far. At a 50MPH cruise, the motor was spinning around 2400 RPMS.

Depending on how wild your motor is, a 350 tranny with a simple shift kit will probably hold up fine for you. If you start making over the 400ish horsepower mark, you may want to get the tranny rebuilt with either red or blue clutches (hardened, strong stuff) and a hardened intermediate sprag. The intermediate sprag is the weak point on a turbo 350 tranny.
If you plan on running some kind of slick, you may want to beef that 10 bolt rearend up. 8.5 inch 10 bolts can be good up to 500ish horsepower with proper building.

Rob

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novafreek74

Thank you rob... i think that i will go with the 3.55 with the 2400 stall convertor like you. just one more question what size cam did you use? and what kind of intake?

Robs71Nova

I used the torker package for my motor which was a edelbrock torker 2 cam (around a 490 lift cam) and the torker 2 intake. It made pretty good streetable power.

Rob

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