Traveling to shows is great because of all the great cars in one place, but it’s the people who I’ve met who have made the trips as memorable as they have been. I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank the people at PowerSource for their sweat and support, and the staff of Capital Gear (Edmonton) for all of their last-minute help, Grant says. We think he’s somewhat modest. All the rest of the toil, which is considerable, came from his hands. Driven. Double Deuce driven.
PAINT
Long before the Nova got its power modules, the roller's all-steel suit was being thrashed by Grant and troops at PowerSource Performance. Aside from the usual rust repair and many hours of rubbing the skin smooth and ripple-free, the body shop that did the work isn't around anymore, but the custom mix PPG Red still attracts boatloads of attention.
INTERIOR
Grant went very special here,
all arms and elbows, fabricating
like a wild man. Red, black, and
brushed aluminum abound--all
of it blended neatly together in a
soothing tableau, a place you'd
want to be. Start off with the
suede dashpad, package tray,
door panels, and trunk trim. RCI
racing harnesses extend from the
skinny sport seats. The wiring is
stock but with changes to meet
Grant's power demands. A billet
aluminum radio delete plate locks
in with the billet mount for the
sophisticated Racepak Street
data acquisition insert. Then up
to the color-coded Grant steering
wheel waggling on a Flaming
River tilt access. Grant built a
console to house a storage hidey-
hole, the DVD/navigation system,
the push-button shifter, and the
power window switches. Bright
Lokar pedals wink from the floor.
Grant forsook the usual modern
HVAC system, but the heater
must work just grand. When
we talked with him (a few days
before Christmas), the ambient
was a mere minus 20 degrees C.
Autumn Davis at PowerSource
used StreetWires interconnects
and power cable to manage the
Kenwood DNX7140 head unit
(with iPod), MTX Component
speakers T7500 12-inch
subwoofer, Orion HCCA 100004
four-channel amplifier, a custom-
built sub box and kick panels.
DRIVETRAIN
Driving could turn to hitchhiking
when there's a hand grenade
underhood. Trouble-free operation
is what you seek. To that end, Grant
has built the engine accordingly,
and with serious hard parts. World
Products provided the Motown
big-block that would eventually
displace 377 ci. When World was
still building engines, they did the
machine work and carried out the
balancing and blueprinting exercises.
Grant had specified an Eagle forging
laced with matching 5.7-inch-long
H-beam connecting rods, SRP
9.75:1 compression ratio pistons,
and corresponding wristpins. He
clasped the forgings with Perfect
Circle rings and called it a day.
He attached a Cloyes timing gear
to the XR274H COMP hydraulic
roller (224/230 degrees duration
at 0.050, 0.502-/0.510-inch lift).
He capped the bottom end with a
Melling oil pump submersed in a
stock Camaro pan. For upper body
strength, he attached AFR 195
Eliminator aluminum cylinder heads
fixed with 2.05/1.65-inch valves
that are damped by AFR springs.
All other valvetrain hardware is also
from AFR. COMP pushrods tickle
Scorpion 1.6:1 roller rockers. An
Edelbrock Performer RPM Air-Gap
intake fixture hosts a Speed Demon
carburetor showing mechanical
secondaries. Above it, a custom billet
air cleaner housing stuffed with K&N
filtration element. Spark emanates
from an MSD Digital 6 Plus controller
through a billet distributor and HVC.
Total timing is 35 degrees BTDC.
Spent cylinder contents are extracted
via Hooker 15/8-inch primaries that
merge into 3-inch collectors thence
to a 21/2-inch diameter mandrel-bent
system, including the all-important
X-pipe crossover. Grant saw 400-plus
at 5,200 rpm and you can bet that
377 little-block has more than
enough moxie to excite the Nova's
mere 3,250-pound curb weight with
the aural violence and alacrity of
a thunderbolt. But how to put this
sweetheart's goods to the tarmac?
Grant wouldn't consider anything
but an overdriven top gear, so
Snowman Automatic Transmission
in Edmonton constructed a hardy
700-R4 and fitted it with a B&M
converter set with a 2,400-stall
speed. A Retrotek Speed push-
button shifter changes up the gear
spread, but if Grant is so taken, there
are paddles in close proximity to
the steering wheel. Capital Gear in
Edmonton supplied a PST carbon-
fiber prop shaft that turns a Pro
Gear 3.89:1 ring-and-pinion and an
Auburn differential inside a narrowed
(48 inches flange-to-flange)
Chassisworks Fab9 housing. Torque
then becomes the responsibility of
the Strange 35-spline axles.