Gen 3 Nova's, GM TRUE performance car????

[Lee Stewart]

The 1969 396/350 HP with 4 speed Nova SS has a curb weight of 3370 lbs.



The 1966 327/350 HP with 4 speed Nova SS has a curb weight of 2899 lbs

[x33rs]

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

The 1969 396/350 HP with 4 speed Nova SS has a curb weight of 3370 lbs.



The 1966 327/350 HP with 4 speed Nova SS has a curb weight of 2899 lbs

That's getting pretty light.

I weighed my 69 RS Z last year for giggles and it was 3423 lbs. Which is pretty darn light to me when comparing my 454 chevelle at 3,908 lbs, and my 70 RA Formula is 3600 lbs. All weighed at a certified NHRA scale with full tanks of gas. I think my sons fox body should come in around the 3100 mark, it will get scaled next time down.

[WILMASBOYL78]

Couldn't help but chime in where a Nova is concerned....

I raced a 70 L78 4 spd car back in the day...best times were probably mid 12's. Engine was basically stock...maybe a little better cam...kept the low profile intake..hurst super shifter...distributor was curved...little slapper bars...headers and Thrush mufflers. I used to borrow the slicks from a Camaro friend...we did swap the 3.55's for a 4.56 at one point, don't recall what that change did...and drove it home

I don't remember any 11 second Novas...that's really moving in a car like that.

A couple of years back we ran our 70 L78 TH400 at the nostalgic drags at LV...that was my first trip down the 1320 since 1976

car ran 13.9 at 100 mph....no slicks, headers with closed exhaust, 4.10 gear...60 ft time was 2.5 or 2.6 ...figured I lost it all out of the box. I have to tell you 100 mph in a 45 year old car was a little nerve racking....missed the first return opening and woke up for the second. If the car had some good tires and a better driver it would run near 13 seconds or a little better...you can't spend all day spinning the tires

[x33rs]

In the 70's and even 80's, an 11 second car on the street was extremely rare. If you had a 12 second car you pretty much ruled the roost, and even a 13 second car was nothing to sneeze at during that time frame.

There was one 11 second nova later on in the mid 90's that another friend of mine had. It was a 69 L78 auto. It had a real set of GM aluminum heads on it and a known history back to new but never could show definitively it was that way. Was a low mile car that sat for decades. Friend of mine had a front engine dragster he competed in local NHRA events so he had tons of experience racing and tuning. He freshened the L78, still stock internally, stock cam, intake/carb, no porting on anything, just a solid rebuild. Did have headers and 4.56 gears installed. Can't remember if he put any kind of converter in it. With a small slick on it and the headers opened, it made 3 passes. 11.92, 11.94, and 11.98. Remember that like yesterday but can't remember the mph. That was flying for a street car at that time. He never took the car back, street drove it for a couple years to local cruises, then sold it.

[Lee Stewart]

The 1969 396/350 HP with 4 speed Nova SS has a curb weight of 3370 lbs.



The 1969 396/350 HP with 4 speed Camaro SS has a curb weight of 3642 lbs