Thanks everyone for all the positive feedback. Not everyone appreciates a 4th Gen Nova!
The exterior (minus the tires/wheels) and interior will remain factory stock.
Now the age old battle of two schools of thought:
Keep the engine bone stock, including the two barrel? or..
Modify and dress the engine a bit? If I modify, how far do I go? I'm OK with a manifold and 4 barrel carb, but do I yank the cam as well? I also really like the idea of that 3.55rear! But then we're talking traction bars, right?
Bottom line, will I ruin the uniqueness of the car by doing small mods, or will I actually improve on its value and "showability" by making such improvements?
Looking forward to everyone's opinions!
Thanks,
Dean
Wow, getting excited about YOUR car, lol....I love Novas, expecially 4th gens...But anyways, to be honest, im not that knowlegable about car shows, judges or even resale values. But....In my opinion, 4th Gens are not valuable on the market yet anyways...And I stress yet because every magazine last month headlined that hotrodding might come to an end through politics and environment laws. So who knows what a 4th gen nova might be worth....but I doubt much with all the other valuable cars out there. If anything, they might be less valuable because restores wont be able to drive them as much. And if laws change the driving availability of classics, then a restorore would probably go through the trouble with something more valuable.
But if it were me, I would do the mods and keep my car classic looking at the sametime. Vortec heads can be painted orange and look original to the naked eye but a car show judge will know the difference, but if thats who your out to impress, then keep everything stock.
There is so much you could do with your SS, Its not even funny...I wish mine was a Rally or SS! :bored: Im actually planning on cloning mine as a RS.
Look...if you are worried about the originality of the car, then make sure everything you take out, you label, bag and keep in safe keepings. When you remove the cam, label each lifter and its location. I would take each lifter out, spray it with carb cleaner/compressed air and label its location with masking tape. (they might still drain oil, not sure, so keep that in mind when labeling them. if you use a sharpie to label it, and the oil drains over the ink, and removes your mark) Egg cartons and parts bins can help orginazition. If you swap heads, keep them bagged, labeled and assembled. Even the rear end. Record and label all shim locations and keep them in safe keepings. The car could be documented and returned back to original, by the buyer or yourself if you wanted to preserve its originality. But again, is it worth the hassle? Thats up to you to decide. If it were me....
HECK YEA ITS WORTH IT! Just even for the experience and peace of mind that your preserved a classic!! Maybe im the only one in the world who wishes he had a SS or RS....I doubt it.
But thats just my 2 cents. We are probably different people. Some might think a preservation job like that would be too much of a headache or might not even have the mechanical ability to perform the work. Thats up to you. Best advice I can give you is take your time and think it through and do some research. The less regrets, the better. I have many:yes:
By the way, let me know when you want to get rid of those cragars!! PM me if you want to sell them
Gary
) may be interested in stripe measurements and various details about your car. What an awesome survivor 4th gen SS! 
