Words: Tommy Parry
Blending Forced Induction, a Classic Nova, and Plenty of Patina
After a year or two of kicking around ideas and picking at this Nova, Joe became a dedicated tuner. No longer a casual tinkerer, he could focus completely on this mint green ‘66 and the big dreams he had for it.
Now, after spending too much time in his bodyshop—some would call it a second home—trying to get this beauty together, he has something motivating to show us. The car is a 1966 Chevy Nova, which he purchased sans sunroof, motor, transmission, and fortunately, without any real rust. It’s a true California car and it’s spent the last fifteen years sitting. For those reasons and a little luck, it only had a few spots of rust which needed to be excised. Once he’d cleared the cancer, it was ready to inherit an unusual engine and a tried-and-true transmission.
The engine is a 4.8 LS from a truck: cheap, plentiful, and capable of withstanding boost pressure. The gearbox is a 4l80e with a Transgo shift kid and a Yank 3600-rpm converter. As he had a 78/75 turbo on its way, he started the motor swap by fitting this new truck motor with a cam, springs, trunion kit, hardened pushrods, and gapped rings to happily handle the boost.
The front subframe is a Total Cost Involved Pro Touring clip and the rear is a TCI Torque Arm. Joe had a Ford 9” housing made for the car with 35-spline axles and a Strange Pro “N” third member with 3.25 gears. This setup would handle the 500+ horsepower he anticipated having, but he knew he needed wider rubber to deploy the torque. So, Joe mini-tubbed the rear while retaining the existing metal so he could stuff 275/40/17 Nitto NT05 tires back there.
In went the turbocharger and all the aggravating ancillaries. The intercooler, transmission lines, and Derale remote mounted transmission cooler took careful planning and surprisingly little cutting. Considering the amount of plumbing necessary, all that had to be remove was a minute section of the core support.
A turbocharged setup needs a few items to fulfill its potential. He opted for a Holley Terminator EFI, Holley XMAX drive-by-wire setup, and an LS3 throttle body. Immediately, the tip-in throttle response and area under the curve transformed the way the lump performed. Thanks to a little tuning, it performed like a proper sport car’s engine should. With a complete Wilwood BBK underneath its American Racing five-spokes, it would stop equally well.
It was also reliable. Working through minor teething issues didn’t take any wind out of his sails. A few shortish cruises spent eyeing the temperature and ensuring everything heat cycled nicely was the first step. After that, some minor reworking some of the plumbing was all that was needed to get this subtle dragster humming and running reliably. To keep tabs on Joe’s inspiring build—one that should encourage us all to try turbocharging—follow his thread here.
