We hate that time slips between our fingers every now and again. We’ve been doing the parts game with our cool ’71 Nova “Swinger” project. Oh you know how it goes: order parts; wait; parts arrive; install parts; realize you’re missing a couple fittings; order missing parts; wait. Well, that’s how things have been going around here. Right now, with her supercharged 6.2-liter CTS-V LSA plant resting between the fenderwells, we’ve had Swinger all but totally plumbed for the big ol’ Aeromotive fuel cell, electric fuel pump, and a whole lot of steel braided line. Unfortunately, we’re still waiting on a couple bits and pieces, so all you’re going to get today is just a teaser of what to expect in a short while.
Y’know, back in the day, the second generation Chevrolet Nova was considered a family-friendly entry-level coupe. Foregoing its more sedate beginnings, our Swinger has metamorphosed into the makings of one hell of a street machine. Crammed packed with an Air Ride suspension system, a Currie 9-inch rear and SSBC brakes, Swinger is truly coming into its own. Of course, when it comes to a hard-boiled street pounder, we needed plenty of power to motivate our all-steel Swinger Nova.
Separated only by a couple parts from the venerable ZR1 Corvette’s LS9, the LSA was designed to provided the same supercharged punch out of the 6.2L, but with a lot less of the wear and tear. We dropped in our blown LSA because we knew we weren’t going to be making this Nova a dyed-in-the-wool drag race machine like many of our other powerTV project vehicles. We wanted this Nova to handle like a new high performance vehicle. Basically, we’re gunning for you Z06 guys. Yeah, that’s right.