1964 nova

[ron brobston]

just bought a 64 novaII...going to restore/modify it....will have questions on things along the way, i'm sure.....anyone out there that would be interested in helping a guy out.....have went to a couple of other forums, left messages but got limited responses....thx ron

[dnice386]

I'd be happy to help with anything that I can, I'll keep an eye out for your questions. Mine is a 76, so it's a bit different.

[nova68]

i have a 68 but i will answer anything that i know about

[ron brobston]

thanks, i appreciate it.

[brian70]

I have 70 and willing help

[ron brobston]

thx as well brian70.....right now i am just doing alot of homework but the ? will come....guaranteed...ron

[ron brobston]

Phase one: In a nutshell, this is my short range plan which I figure will unfold more as I go. Any input as to good, bad, indifferentt, cool....64 chevy 2...194/6cyl.2spd. pg...trying to stay mostly orig...is all original now with 59k....gonna swap in a rebuilt sb 350 bored 355, new sealed power pistons on stock 5.7 rods, cramk turned 10/10, both crank and pistons balanced, crane chromoloy push rods, cam and cam lifters hyd., lift .487/.490, duration 274/286, alum. intake, holley 650 that i need to rebuild, new fuel pump, new timing chain, stock oem dist, stock starter, valve covers, 400 heads, harmonic balancer...need to get flywheel...guy wants $1000 for all....has 200 miles on it....verified that the person that did the rebuild does good work through about 3 sources.......going to have the pglide checked out/rebuilt (does any thing special need to be addressed on the rebuild due to motor change?)....figure to put disc brake on the front and change the front end (what all would need to be addressed here?).....replace springs and shocks to heavy duty and probable go to a 3 or 5 leaf rear springs....probably go with 15" tires and a 5 lug setup(whats involved here).....and can i do 15" tires?....does a person need to change rearend gearing with this setup?..........Enogh for now....will go into body, chrome, interior issue at a later time......thx ahead of time..... RON.....PS...this is my first project of this kind but i am a machinst by trade, have access to local resource in most areas of the project(you fine folks as well), common sense, time and some money to work with......back to what i said above......homework time

[nova68]

if you can spend the money you should just get a new front clip for the car with a disc brake setup. And about the rear if you plan on putting that motor in the nova you really should get a new rear end like a 12 bolt or a ford 9. And it wouldn't hurt to put some sub frame connectors on it too.

[ron brobston]

Nova 68, when you say new front clip ( my mind says fenders and grille), what do you mean by that and why the change in rear end totally....could you elaborate on your view there as well.....someone else on this site, i believe "almost stock" said that i could run with the same rear end, just adjust my gearing based on what size tire i use (see other 64 nova thread on main page)...Thx ron......

[nova68]

a front clip is a whole new frame for the front. basically you unbolt the old front frame and put the new front clip. The new front clips have modern day suspension upgrades and you can get them with disc brakes.
And as for the rearend you are going to have 8.2 10 bolt these rearends are extremely weak. So if you are going to put that motor in it you are going to want to get a new rear. I had a 8.2 under my nova believe me you want a new rear. I would get the new rearend before anything else. I got a ford 9 because you can swap out gears in about 30 minutes.

[ron brobston]

thank you nova 68...that clears it up for me....Ron....with that ford 9 do you have to use different axles (length wise) or change anything else?...also, anysuggestions on where to look for this front clip ford 9?....jegs?...or are ther other places that would specialize on these issues?....i was going to surf the net as well...ron

[AlmostStock]

Here's a link to the type of front end Nova68 is referring to:

http://www.heidts.com/heip26.htm#novaifs

They are very nice but a lot of work to install.

68 is correct, the stock rear axle in your Nova is not designed to handle lots of power. There are companies that can set you up with a Ford 9 inch rear to fit on your Nova and this is the best route if you are planning on running any serious power.

[nova68]

i bought mine from currie enterprises. They make one for novas that bolts right in. It comes with 31 spline axles. all you have to do is get a third member. That is the gears