BUILD 1971 Nova - Work in Progress

[Pro Stock John]

231/244 112.5 hmmm

What intake manifold would you run?

 

[cap42]

231/244 112.5 hmmm

What intake manifold would you run?

ya those durations are a bigger cam than I need, I just started looking at the BTR stuff today, the stage II might be better. Based on my research somewhere in the 22x/23x durations would fit this combo better. But then again what do I know

Worst case the stock truck intake just modified to fit under my stock hood. If I find a good deal on a TBSS or Dorman LS2 I may pick one of those up, but at this HP range there isn't a need for an intake.

 

[cap42]

I never updated this thread from this weekend's updates. I'll get to that tomorrow when I edit the video footage.

 

[Pro Stock John]

I hear good things about the truck intakes especially the TBSS version. I've heard better things about the LS6 intake over the LS2.

I think the 231/244 will want a 3600+ converter.

I'm gonna ramble a bit now. I think something in the upper 220s on the intake/ and mid 230s on the exhaust might fit with your 6300 max rpm plan. huggerorange73 aka Mike has a stout LS2 C6 that has run high 10s maybe he could chime in with his thoughts. I think he might be running a Spinmonster cam which was pretty popular on CorvetteForum.

 

[huggerorange73]

I hear good things about the truck intakes especially the TBSS version. I've heard better things about the LS6 intake over the LS2.

I think the 231/244 will want a 3600+ converter.

I'm gonna ramble a bit now. I think something in the upper 220s on the intake/ and mid 230s on the exhaust might fit with your 6300 max rpm plan. huggerorange73 aka Mike has a stout LS2 C6 that has run high 10s maybe he could chime in with his thoughts. I think he might be running a Spinmonster cam which was pretty popular on CorvetteForum.

Pro Stock John you are correct sir.

Can ran 10.95 @125 made 455 RWHP through the A6.

Engine Mods below:
PRC Stage 2.5 heads
Ported FAST 102 intake
Comp Cams Spinmonster 230/234 .612(XFI)/.598(XER) 114 + 2 LSA
SLP Underdrive pulley
Yank 3600 stall
Kooks 1 7/8” Longtube headers

Combo is smooth as silk and makes nice power.

 

[Pro Stock John]

4L60E and a 2.73 gear out back on 26" DRs?

 

[huggerorange73]

4L60E and a 2.73 gear out back on 26" DRs?

6L80 and a 2.56 gear on a MT 275/40/17 DR (26" diameter)

 

[cap42]

I hear good things about the truck intakes especially the TBSS version. I've heard better things about the LS6 intake over the LS2.

The Dorman is the functional equivalent to the TBSS intake just with a lower profile. I know a lot of LS guys have argued over the dorman or ls6 intakes performance. Honestly any of the 3 would be a upgrade to what I have, but I also feel from a performance standpoint a unnecessary one. Right now the only reason for me to swap intakes is hood clearance.

 

[Shawn1112]

The Dorman is the functional equivalent to the TBSS intake just with a lower profile. I know a lot of LS guys have argued over the dorman or ls6 intakes performance. Honestly any of the 3 would be a upgrade to what I have, but I also feel from a performance standpoint a unnecessary one. Right now the only reason for me to swap intakes is hood clearance.

Is the Dorman still available? I know when I was looking for a LS6 intake mani for my 71, the Dorman version wasnt available anymore.

 

[cap42]

Is the Dorman still available? I know when I was looking for a LS6 intake mani for my 71, the Dorman version wasnt available anymore.

yes, but the price has shot up considerably the last year or so. Think they are going for around $900 now, for that money you could get a used TBSS for cheaper, or spend a little bit more and get a FAST

*EDIT* Just did a search..

Dorman Products 615-901: GM LS2 Upper Intake Manifold Fits Cadillac CTS/Chevy Corvette/Pontiac GTO - JEGS High Performance

GM LS2 Upper Intake Manifold For Cadillac CTS/Chevy Corvette/Pontiac GTO, Black Plastic, Includes Gaskets, Valley Bolts, Fuel Rail Brackets, Injector O-rings

www.jegs.com

 

[Mr_Roboto]

yes, but the price has shot up considerably the last year or so. Think they are going for around $900 now, for that money you could get a used TBSS for cheaper, or spend a little bit more and get a FAST

*EDIT* Just did a search..

Dorman Products 615-901: GM LS2 Upper Intake Manifold Fits Cadillac CTS/Chevy Corvette/Pontiac GTO - JEGS High Performance

GM LS2 Upper Intake Manifold For Cadillac CTS/Chevy Corvette/Pontiac GTO, Black Plastic, Includes Gaskets, Valley Bolts, Fuel Rail Brackets, Injector O-rings

www.jegs.com

If the FAST doesn't require propreitary rails it's an extra $200. I'd much rather have a FAST over a Dorman.

 

[cap42]

Here's the update from this weekend.

I never finished the front fenders, it's a good thing I post everything to TCG. I had to look through this thread to find the last time I touched them. Jan 2016, page 5. Nothing really changed on the front fenders so you can go to those posts to see the before. Here is the after.







A whole day's worth of work to correct my quick down and dirty job of pathing in new metal and making a patch for the side marker. I still have two sections near the rear of the fender to finish.

This is what they look like, the front lower section (In this pic the fender is upside down) looked like this before.





I remember doing these patches on the fenders and I remember not spending any time at all making the patches and then just burning them in. As you can see I didn't even finish grinding off the weld prouds. That is what I'll get to next time out and if it goes quick enough I'll start on the driver fender.

Here's the video that just finished uploading to Youtube.

 

[cap42]

 

[Great White Drake]

Wish I could do that stuff. Very impressive.

 

[cap42]

Just a quick update, still futzing with the passenger fender. I just can't leave some things alone. When I made the patch to delete the side marker I never shaped it to the fender. While it looked good I later noticed I would have had to lay in more filler than I was comfortable with. So I put the whole fender in the english wheel to give that spot the right profile to match the rest of the fenders contour. That caused distortion, lots of high's and low's and I overstretched a bit of it during the process. I didn't take any photos and have just been having the gopro on in the background capturing footage. Made a video covering it and went into a bit of detail of how to hammer/dolly. Had a nova guy and a local friend ask me some questions about it so figured I'd make a video covering it while I was doing that kind of work.

I really need to up my youtube game, need to figure out how to make fancy intro and title screens vs what Youtube just selects based on the footage. Anyway here's the video for those of you interested.

 

[cap42]

Done futzing with the passenger fender for now, made braces for where it will attach to the body of the car. Of course when I welded the braces in I welded them in too hot and created some shrinkage on the spot welds. The braces were 1/16th plate so it needed more amperage to get it to fuse. I'll pull the stud welder out later to get those out. I moved onto the driver fender which still had a good amount of damage from some fender bender. Had to fix most of it before welding in the turn signal patch. I tried my hand at TiG welding it in and didn't do that great of a job. There is a still a spot that I'll need to use the stud welder and slide hammer on because of another brace in the way. Aside from that and some type up's I'm happy with the Driver Fender.

I now have to cut out another spot that started to rust through on the driver door and finally replace the side cowls. Once those are opened I'll coat the inside to prevent any further rust and clean up the drainage holes. Then I need to sand/scuff the rest of the car to get any other surface rust off, then it's all prep for shooting it in epoxy.

As usual I made a video documenting the process. Most of it's time warp and a good majority was cut out since it's 3 weekends worth of work.

 

[cap42]

I still have some metal finishing to do on the driver fender but put that to the side for now. I ordered new side cowl panels and they arrived this week. This is one of the last few areas of original rust. Since they were hidden I originally was just going to leave them be but since I'm going to the extent I am with everything else I figured what the hell might as well get it all gone.

No pictures again, I just set the camera down and swapped between timelapse and regular speed. Once I got the panel out I had to fix the inner structure. I lost a bunch of footage showing fabricating up that patch. Had to pull out the bead roller with the tipping dies and use the shinker/stretcher to get it to fit the curvature. Kinda felt good to just go hog on welding and grinding for once as nothing will be seen so I didn't care if it was looking factory.

Video is uploading as I type this, posting the link as usual should be live in about 30 mins.

 

[strtcar]

Doing great, going to be awesome finished product.

 

[cap42]

Metal finishing on the driver fender was completed, no pics, no video. I started on the passenger side cowl and got it to the point where I started to burn in the replacement panel and ran out of shielding gas. Need to run out to airgas supply this week and get the tank refilled so I can finish it up. I did make a video this weekend, it's a bit longer than normal since I went into detail fabbing up the inner brace vs just timelapsing it.

Link to video, it's still processing so should be up within the hour of this post.


After this is all done I need to fix the tiny rust spot in the drivers door and finally make up my mind about the rough spots in the window channels. If I just leave those be then it's time to go over the inside and body of the car again to prep it for primer.

 

[cap42]

video fixed

 

[cap42]

Did the brakes on my daily.. didn’t want to do it in the hot sun so pushed the nova out in the driveway. While I had the wheels of I figured why not see what they look like.

They are 19x8’s.