Jonathan Large Pair Novas, My jaw dropped," Jonathan Large said. Finding one factory 396-powered Nova was enough of a surprise, but he found two—both Super Sports, both coupes, and both '70 models, the last year of the big-block in Chevrolet's compact car line.
"We went to a car show four years ago in Elizabethtown, North Carolina," Jonathan said. "It's just a small town. I had taken my Chevelle convertible."He met Rodney Stewart at this show. Stewart also owns a Chevelle, and the two began talking. "He told me his daddy had two big-block Novas. He thought they were '69 models. I was born in 1969, so I said, 'Hmm, what's he want for them?' And he told me 1500 bucks apiece, but you had to buy them both."
Jonathan was encouraged to hear the cars were for sale. His 13-year-old son had been going to car shows and one day surprised his father when he said, "Daddy, I want a Nova."
The price of three grand seemed very reasonable for a pair of factory big-block Novas. So, Jonathan drove 2½ hours from his home in Stewart, Virginia, to Dunn, North Carolina, to look over the cars for himself.
The Nova SS under the carport was orange, still wearing 396 badges on the front fenders. Jonathan noticed the rear fenderwells had been enlarged to fit larger tires, no doubt for drag racing. White primer spotted the body.Nearby, the second Nova SS, a white coupe, also reputed to be a factory big-block, wore 350 badges on its front fenders. What happened to the 396 emblems? A former owner hit a light pole and installed a new set of front fenders off a 350-powered Nova.
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"At the time," says Jonathan, "all I got were the bodies. No motors, no transmissions." Jonathan was elated to purchase both Novas for three grand after he "got the stories." Later he verified those stories as he traced each car's provenance.
The white Nova SS came from the factory with the L34 option, which is the 350-horse 396, backed by a four-speed. This car came with a bench seat. Chevrolet built 1,802 Nova SS models with the L34 for the '70 model year.
The orange Nova SS came from the factory with the L78 option, which is the 375-horse 396. It, too, was a four-speed car, equipped with bucket seats. Chevrolet built 3,765 Nova SS models with the L78 for the '70 model year.Jonathan brought the roughest one, the white SS, home first. Right away, he showed this Nova to his friend Rick Smith, who owns a restoration shop in a little town named Ararat, Virginia, a couple miles from Jonathan's home. Rick works mostly on Chevrolet-powered muscle cars (right now, for example, he's restoring three Baldwin-Motion supercars). Rick identified the factory 396 lineage by checking key features on the white Nova, including fuel lines, the exhaust hanger, 12-bolt rearend, big-block radiator, and big-block heater box.
Satisfied the white Nova was for real, Rick told his friend, "There is no way you found two of them."
"I said, 'Well the other one is an L78, and it's in even better shape.'"
Next, Jonathan brought the orange SS by Rick's shop. Rick, Jonathan says, was "dumbfounded when he looked it over."Although Jonathan did not receive paperwork with either car, the physical evidence backs up each car's big-block heritage. Also, Jonathan has tracked their history.
Harry Weatherholtz bought the L78 Nova SS in the early '70s to drag race. He installed the original 396 in a '66 Chevelle, which he later sold, and raced the '70 Nova SS with a 427. The trunk still has the old fuel pump and lines for the 427.
Jonathan is "champing at the bit" for an over-the-counter "virgin" 427 block, heads, and intake that Harry Weatherholtz bought for the orange car back in the glory days. He never built this 427. It's still new.
He tracked the widow of a former owner of the white L34 Nova to discover she has a '68 Nova with the old 427 sitting behind her house.
"When her cell phone rings, her caller ID reads 'The Nova Guy,'" Jonathan said with a laugh.
One of these days Jonathan hopes to recover the 427 that powered the white L34 Nova SS. Meanwhile, he put an engine in the orange car, "went through the brakes and suspension and transmission, and we're driving it."
He plans a day-two restoration on the L34 Nova SS. He figures that tuners such as Yenko and Baldwin-Motion installed 427s in those days. Many individual owners did the same conversion. Since the cars spent most of their days wearing a set of Cragar wheels, a 427, and other speed products of their time, why not restore them to this configuration?
Day two may be the best route to go with the L78 as well, since this car spent a large part of its life with a 427 under its hood and with an assortment of speed parts.
"We went to a car show four years ago in Elizabethtown, North Carolina," Jonathan said. "It's just a small town. I had taken my Chevelle convertible."He met Rodney Stewart at this show. Stewart also owns a Chevelle, and the two began talking. "He told me his daddy had two big-block Novas. He thought they were '69 models. I was born in 1969, so I said, 'Hmm, what's he want for them?' And he told me 1500 bucks apiece, but you had to buy them both."
Jonathan was encouraged to hear the cars were for sale. His 13-year-old son had been going to car shows and one day surprised his father when he said, "Daddy, I want a Nova."
The price of three grand seemed very reasonable for a pair of factory big-block Novas. So, Jonathan drove 2½ hours from his home in Stewart, Virginia, to Dunn, North Carolina, to look over the cars for himself.
The Nova SS under the carport was orange, still wearing 396 badges on the front fenders. Jonathan noticed the rear fenderwells had been enlarged to fit larger tires, no doubt for drag racing. White primer spotted the body.Nearby, the second Nova SS, a white coupe, also reputed to be a factory big-block, wore 350 badges on its front fenders. What happened to the 396 emblems? A former owner hit a light pole and installed a new set of front fenders off a 350-powered Nova.
Shelby GT500 is a diamond in the rough
"At the time," says Jonathan, "all I got were the bodies. No motors, no transmissions." Jonathan was elated to purchase both Novas for three grand after he "got the stories." Later he verified those stories as he traced each car's provenance.
The white Nova SS came from the factory with the L34 option, which is the 350-horse 396, backed by a four-speed. This car came with a bench seat. Chevrolet built 1,802 Nova SS models with the L34 for the '70 model year.
The orange Nova SS came from the factory with the L78 option, which is the 375-horse 396. It, too, was a four-speed car, equipped with bucket seats. Chevrolet built 3,765 Nova SS models with the L78 for the '70 model year.Jonathan brought the roughest one, the white SS, home first. Right away, he showed this Nova to his friend Rick Smith, who owns a restoration shop in a little town named Ararat, Virginia, a couple miles from Jonathan's home. Rick works mostly on Chevrolet-powered muscle cars (right now, for example, he's restoring three Baldwin-Motion supercars). Rick identified the factory 396 lineage by checking key features on the white Nova, including fuel lines, the exhaust hanger, 12-bolt rearend, big-block radiator, and big-block heater box.
Satisfied the white Nova was for real, Rick told his friend, "There is no way you found two of them."
"I said, 'Well the other one is an L78, and it's in even better shape.'"
Next, Jonathan brought the orange SS by Rick's shop. Rick, Jonathan says, was "dumbfounded when he looked it over."Although Jonathan did not receive paperwork with either car, the physical evidence backs up each car's big-block heritage. Also, Jonathan has tracked their history.
Harry Weatherholtz bought the L78 Nova SS in the early '70s to drag race. He installed the original 396 in a '66 Chevelle, which he later sold, and raced the '70 Nova SS with a 427. The trunk still has the old fuel pump and lines for the 427.
Jonathan is "champing at the bit" for an over-the-counter "virgin" 427 block, heads, and intake that Harry Weatherholtz bought for the orange car back in the glory days. He never built this 427. It's still new.
He tracked the widow of a former owner of the white L34 Nova to discover she has a '68 Nova with the old 427 sitting behind her house.
"When her cell phone rings, her caller ID reads 'The Nova Guy,'" Jonathan said with a laugh.
One of these days Jonathan hopes to recover the 427 that powered the white L34 Nova SS. Meanwhile, he put an engine in the orange car, "went through the brakes and suspension and transmission, and we're driving it."
He plans a day-two restoration on the L34 Nova SS. He figures that tuners such as Yenko and Baldwin-Motion installed 427s in those days. Many individual owners did the same conversion. Since the cars spent most of their days wearing a set of Cragar wheels, a 427, and other speed products of their time, why not restore them to this configuration?
Day two may be the best route to go with the L78 as well, since this car spent a large part of its life with a 427 under its hood and with an assortment of speed parts.
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