1970 Chevrolet Nova

1970 Chevrolet Nova 2 Door Sedan Not too small. Not too large. Which makes a lot of people happy. Small enough to make long trips seem like the gas economy runs. Big enough for up to six adults and their luggage. From the 1970 sale brochure. 254,242 Novas were produced and sold in 1970 and of them, 19,588 were SS performance models while a great majority were commuter based cars including 2 door and 4 door models. For consignment, a 1970 Chevrolet Nova 2 door sedan showing 44,098 miles, but the true miles are unknown. Take a close look, this is not your Aunt Gertrude's two door Nova. This one's been modified with some go fast goodies and is ready to play. Exterior At first glance, this is a Nova with intent, gleaming 15-inch Centerlines providing the first clue and staggered size tires creating a nose down stance that can only mean one thing. Autumn Gold paint is what this car was born with and still wears, now augmented by black fender vents, black side trim, and sport hood louvers. The Nova tail is fairly mundane with simple tail lights and a ribbed center panel over a wide, chrome bumper. The front presents in a pedestrian way too, until you turn up the heat, which this car does with its stance and old school traction bars that thrust forward from the rear wheels for all to see. Imperfections include some bubbling, evidence of filler, paint run, chips, and a ding on the passenger's fender. Interior Standard black door panels are in nice shape with a tear on the driver's armrest and open up to tall bucket seats, in black textured vinyl up front and clean coverage on the bench in the back. A basic steering wheel shares some column space with an AutoMeter tachometer and shift light, all in front of Chevy's standard horizontal speedometer and dash, showing a touch of age. A triple pack of gauges has been added underneath just ahead of the shifter on the transmission hump over black loop carpet, MSD ignition in the passenger footwell, and a clean black headliner up above. Our trunk is barren and clean. Drivetrain Raising the hood gives you a mirrored view of the engine below, and it's a good looking powerplant with lots of polished parts. Here we have a 400ci V8, destroked with a 350 crank, and harboring Keith Black 10-1 compression pistons, an Erson roller cam, and Scat rods as well as Dart 200cc aluminum heads. It's mated to a Muncie M20 4-speed manual transmission routed power to 10 bolt rear with 3.73 gears. Headers cling to this clean engine and take burnt fuel away. Undercarriage Some old school rodding begins with a chrome differential cover, and if you grew up in the 80's and had a GM car, your diff better shine. We also note a driveshaft loop on the relatively clean underside, and a drop or two of fluid on the pans. The dual exhaust continues through FlowMaster mufflers and terminates out of sight behind the rear fenders. Disc brakes are up front and drums out back and the car is equipped with line lock. Suspension is your standard coil springs in front and leaf springs with those added traction bars out back. The tires on board have a date code of early 2024. Drive-Ability Comfortable seats and a nose down attitude coupled with a ball topped fun stick makes this car fun to drive even before we crank the 400 to life. When we do, a very nice exhaust note echoes through the mall and we roll this golden Nova around the loop where it provides good power, straight tracking, and good grip. Things we note as not currently working include the speedometer, odometer, reverse lights, right turn signals, and heater blower. All other functions, including the ever important tachometer, work as they should. While Classic Auto Mall represents that these functions were working at the time of our test drive, we cannot guarantee these functions will be working at the time of your purchase. You love Novas. You like going fast. You remember souping up cars in the 80's similar to this. Well, it's time to