[Jaredm83]

Hey all, new to the site, not new to hotrods or online forums... My paps has a 67 Nova that we have been tinkering with for a few years now. We built a motor and are in the process of installing it. Back in high school we had talked about racing the car at the local dragstrip for fun. My dad just asked if I was still interested and of course, I AM!
So he really wants to buy a new front clip and install it while its apart. I have some questions regarding witch company and setup we should go with. My questions are as follows. Springs vs. coil overs...? The car will be a toy, and not a serious racing machine. The motor will be in the neighborhood of 400 hp and I a hope to have it in the 12's... Im not sure we really need the coil over suspension for the extra 1k?
Second, we are looking at the 3 big companies; Chassisworks, Heidts, and TCI. I think my dad is sold on the Heidts but still considering others. Is there any reason we should get one over the other? Basically, we want the best bang for out buck with out going overkill because this isnt a serious racing machine. Eventually I think my dad wants to get the rear 4 link/subframe as well so he might just go ahead and purchase that at the same time.
Any other pointers or tips would be appreciated. My dad is a retired high school auto shop teacher of 30 years. We are looking forward to the build. Thanks, Jared
PS, I will get pics when I stop by his house later...

 

[63AKDN]

Welcome to the site Jared.

Once you have spent a little time here, you will see how great it is. Awesome bunch of people.

Are you aware of the kit available through CPP? It replaces your single arm lower arms with tubular ones. There are various threads on it throughout the site. I cheaped out and just got the lower arm kit (uppers are available as well).

There is also a "Church Boys" setup that you can look into that lets you go with rack steering.

Here's a link that shows you the basic kit:
http://www.classicperform.com/tech_articles/CPP_Subframe_Install/CPP_Subframe_Install.htm


Welcome again...hope this helps

 

[Jaredm83]

I have seen that kit from cpp and church's but for the cost, I think I will stick with the new front clip. i guess I forgot to mention, we still have the stock drum brakes and are also looking to go disk. the deluxe cpp kit plus the church's rack kit comes in at about $2600. could get all M2 stuff plus disks for that....

 

[Jaredm83]

here is a quick shot of our car...

i see that most everyone else's is a different body style. Is mine called a 2 dr post? and the other style is called a hardtop? Thanks for the clarification... Jared

 

[67 church]

Welcome to SNS, yes you have a 2dr post.

 

[surfdog]

Welcome and nice color on you car :yes:

 

[Jaredm83]

thanks guys, cant wait to get this thing back on the road...

 

[just chevy]

front clip

Hey all, new to the site, not new to hotrods or online forums... My paps has a 67 Nova that we have been tinkering with for a few years now. We built a motor and are in the process of installing it. Back in high school we had talked about racing the car at the local dragstrip for fun. My dad just asked if I was still interested and of course, I AM!
So he really wants to buy a new front clip and install it while its apart. I have some questions regarding witch company and setup we should go with. My questions are as follows. Springs vs. coil overs...? The car will be a toy, and not a serious racing machine. The motor will be in the neighborhood of 400 hp and I a hope to have it in the 12's... Im not sure we really need the coil over suspension for the extra 1k?
Second, we are looking at the 3 big companies; Chassisworks, Heidts, and TCI. I think my dad is sold on the Heidts but still considering others. Is there any reason we should get one over the other? Basically, we want the best bang for out buck with out going overkill because this isnt a serious racing machine. Eventually I think my dad wants to get the rear 4 link/subframe as well so he might just go ahead and purchase that at the same time.
Any other pointers or tips would be appreciated. My dad is a retired high school auto shop teacher of 30 years. We are looking forward to the build. Thanks, Jared
PS, I will get pics when I stop by his house later...

i sent you a PM

 

[64PRONOVA]

Your Nova looks pretty-nice Jaredm83 and I see a lot of potential there. As for the three front clips you're looking at, they are all real nice and you won't be disappointed with any of them. There are others too but the three you listed are probably the biggest sellers.

The coil-overs are nice and a slick upgrade but the Mustang II clip will handle awesome even with the stock control arms and springs. The beauty of the Mustang II clips is that they can always be upgraded at a later time with tubular control arms, coil-overs, drop spindles and any brakes you want. Then you can always sell your old components too. There are a lot of others who don't only run them on Novas. Mustang II suspensions are being used on a lot of cars nowdays and parts are easy to sell.

The clips accomplish a lot more than just improving handling. They relocate the front wheels properly in the front fender openings giving you more tire clearance than you would ever have with the stock suspension. They also rid the cluttered engine compartment of all the crap in the way.

The downsides are not major but one is that you may have to do a little more work to re-align all the fenders and hood since all the stock sheet metal is gone. That's a nice thing about retaining the factory subframe like one of the bolt-on arm kits or adding a weld-in crossmember allow.

Plan it all out taking into consideration what you want to accomplish in the end and you won't be disappointed. Lots of good stuff out nowdays for Novas like yours. There are a lot of people on this site who can answer questions you may have. Some that will even do it publicly.

NPHNP

 

[voodeuce]

welcome to the site, i vote for the heidts , luv mine. i suggest you talk to a member, his screen name is ibuilm he is a dealer for heidts, tci, etc. great prices and customer service. good luck pal

 

[Jaredm83]

ya he has ben in contact w/ me. thx

 

[just chevy]

front clip

ya he has ben in contact w/ me. thx

get with tim at tims hot rod he sells both heiths and tci he can let you know why tci has a little more advantage over heiths

 

[64PRONOVA]

All the clips and kits and various Mustang II components manufactured have advantages and disadvantages. I also like the TCI clips but Heidts has some advantages over TCI too. What may be an advantage to one person might not be to another depending on what your ultimate goal for the car is.

 

[Pragmatist]

sway bar

However you go, get the sway bar option.:yes:

 

[snolan]

clips

I have a TCI but if i had to do this again i would look very hard at the CW the
inner fenders & hood hinge system is a BIG Plus if you ask the CW guy the watches the site he will take care of you to make the price comparible to the others.

Other thing to think about is motor choice and how much do the headers cost if you're going that way?

my .2cents

Steve

 

[snolan]

Car

By the way ...that car is clean as hell any chance you want to Sell looking for a new project .

Steve

 

[Jaredm83]

I wouldnt mind selling and getting something else but its my dad's and his heart is set on it. So I am stuck with the 2 dr post. Dont get me wrong, I love the car, just think the other body style looks that much better. Also, on the cw stuff, it is very nice, but its a little too nice for what we are going for. I have been in touch with the the cw guy on here and he provided ,me with a bunch of info about his kits that I did not know. the kits are even nicer than I thought!