Just your ordinary '67 Nova, huh? While it may look very much like the other guys' game-like those in the magazines-the Van Nus Nova is one of a kind. Yes, it has the same stuff in the same places that yours does, and yours might have even been built under father/son license just like this one. What makes it unlike any other is its unique story, or more succinctly, the history of Joe and Paul Van Nus.
Van Nus the elder: "I would like to tell people that the build on this car was a father/son build in our garage at home. Yes, this is Paul's car and I know people will find that hard to believe. The time spent together on this build has kept us close.... The car has been motivational to keep Paul out of trouble and...his grades up."Both men were adamant about beginning with a cancer-free vessel, thus saving thousands (of hours as well as loot) in rebuilding the body. The Nova was a native of Fresno via an Arkansas muscle car dealer, so cataclysmic rust and debilitation would never be an issue. Paul began to steer the project into a niche in his mind's eye. Do the unexpected and do it with flair and with substance. Use the props provided and encourage them to speak in strong, unadulterated tones.
Team Van Nus incorporated a subtle raft of details in what appears to be a pretty stock-looking body. They shaved the side molding, smoothed and shaved the firewall, molded and smoothed the doorjambs, and tucked in the smoothed-out bumpers. At first they were adamant about keeping the car intact-no cutting, no splicing, no elective surgery-but when they rolled the Nova into the light of the real world, they knew immediately that the skinny 17x7 back wheel wouldn't work like they had envisioned. Joe mini-tubbed the metal to the frame perimeter so they could incorporate 10-inch-wide rims with 285-series tires and with plenty of room to spare.
Though the rest of the car is finished in a tasteful blend of Pro Touring and mild custom, the engine compartment stands alone, somehow divorced from the rest of the car. Paul: "We went to a dark gray for the engine bay and an all-aluminum look for the iron-block engine."
To simplify the build and save many hours' labor, Joe Van Nus had no compunction about replacing the Shoebox's buckboard underpinnings with a Chris Alston No-Fab front suspension and spindles. He upgraded the rear of the car with a Dutchman Motorsports 9-inch axle on a TCI four-link system and combined it with the adjustability of coilover shock absorbers. Although the Nova has air conditioning, a full-on sound system, and power-assisted brakes, Paul had to have himself a manual-gear Alston steering rack too. Through it all, the Van Nus boys held curb weight to just 3,000 pounds. In turn, they wouldn't need a hellion of a motor to make the car do what they wanted.
"Originally we were going for a street and strip look, but things just got out of hand. It seems like everything we've done to this car we've done at least twice," opined Joe. "The wheeltubs are a good example of that." One thing's for sure: These guys didn't get hosed on the body prep and paint. Amazingly, no paint jail either.
Joe did the aforementioned straightening and rubbing and applied the sizzling orange at home in Vicksburg, Michigan. "I would like to say it's great to see a young man like Paul so dedicated and working to keep our hot rod hobby going strong. And oh yes, we couldn't have done it without the help of all my buddies."
Engine/Drivetrain
Will we ever lose the ubiquitous small-block? When the LS engine plan got cracked, Team Van Nus had Mike Hanson of Portage, Michigan, produce a little-block with 355 iconic cubic inches and a shadowy echo of the past. He shipped the parts to Steve Tagget in Kalamazoo for the requisite machining. Hanson began with a '71 cylinder block and filled it with the Ohio Crankshaft rotating assembly (forged crank, H-beam rods, and SRP pistons with an 11.7:1 compression ratio). Total seal ring packs and SRP pins complete the big picture. What else but a Comp hydraulic roller (0.507/0.510 lift, 240/246 degrees duration at 0.050 inch), springs, pushrods, guideplates, and Harland Sharp 1.5:1 roller rockers? Hanson tied it all together with Cloyes Tru-Roller timing gear and bolted on a kicked-out Moroso oil pan. He flipped the engine upright and proceeded with the Edelbrock Performer cylinder heads (2.00/1.60-inch valves) and companion Air Gap intake casting. The 750-cfm Demon sentinel is topped with a DSE air cleaner. Healthy tendrils of spark emanate from the MSD 6AL box, and total timing for this naturally aspirated pirate is 34 degrees BTDC. Exhaust matters are left to Chris Alston headers and a custom-bent 2 1/2-inch system. No dyno testing yet, but Van Nus estimates 450 hp. He had Todd Perry do up Turbo 350 the right way and to include a Coan 11-inch, 2,600-stall converter. He linked transmission to rear axle (3.50:1 gears, Detroit Tru-Trac differential) with Denny's Driveshaft kryptonite propellers.