Dillon had grown up watching his father, a former GM mechanic, his uncle, and all his neighbors tinker on their rides on the weekends. He has always been drawn to the 1968-1970 Nova’s and always told himself someday he would build one.
That dream came true in 2017 when after years of looking for the right car. He found a 1970 Nova right down the street in a field rotting away. Since he was only 26, at the time, his budget was limited, and he purchased a very rough but complete car.
From that point forward, he spent 5 years restoring the 1970 Nova himself. Other than having assistance with the sheet metal from an experienced friend, and having it professionally painted. He has restored the car all on his own. He has never had any formal training mechanically, so it was a lot of work learning. He feels especially prideful about what he achieved.
The car left the factory as a 6 cylinder with a 2-speed Powerglide, bench seat, and vinyl floors. The roof, doors, front fenders, package tray, and parts of the firewall were all the sheet metal that could be salvaged. The rest had to be replaced. The engine was swapped for a more powerful LS platform motor, and a built 4L80e transmission. Other improvements include Ford 9 rear end with 3.70 gears. Full Ridetech coil over suspension and Wilwood disk brakes. American Racing wheels 17×8 in the front and 17×10.5 in the rear.
This car is built to drive with all the goodies you could want! It makes use of a Holley Terminator X Max for easy tuning and is flex fuel compatible. Dakota digital gauges complement the integration of old and new. The car also has variable speed wiper blades, Vintage Air AC, cruise control, Bluetooth radio, a complete Alpine stereo system, and TMI bucket seats to make driving this car enjoyable! Although the 1970 Nova is not an original Yenko he did finish it off with tribute stripes over the Shadow gray metallic paint.
He regularly drives the 1970 Nova to LS Fest East and other car shows in TN and surrounding states. It is important to him that wherever he shows it, he drives it there. So, it’s not a trailer queen. He doesn’t have any immediate improvement plans, perhaps one day he will add boost via a supercharger or turbo. For now, he’s enjoying the car and its current setup that includes a discrete progressive Nitrous express kit.
