Back to the Front
Heidts Hot Rod & Muscle Car Parts’ Bolt-in Front Suspension for ’62-67 NovasIf you want to drastically improve the handling and braking of your shoebox Nova, few upgrades are as effective as Heidts’ front subframe/suspension kits. For about $3,000 you can change your Nova from feeling like a refrigerator full of bowling balls to a ground-hugging performer. It just bolts right onto the firewall in place of the original subframe with no welding. They come with adjustable coilover shock assemblies, tubular control arms, 11-inch disc brakes with Wilwood four-piston calipers, and manual rack-and-pinion steering setup. You can also get this with narrowed control arms (for those who want wide tires), and larger, six-piston brakes. The list of options for these kits is vast, so if you want something specific on your frontend, Heidts will likely offer it as an option.
PN: BX-320
Price: Starts at $3,200
What We Would Do:
If money was no object (and if we had a ’67 Nova), we would order a triple-throw-down front clip from Heidts with all the badass big brakes, narrowed tubular arms, sway bar, drop spindles, and power steering rack. Then, we’d match the front with Heidts’ bolt-in Pro-G independent rear suspension and start carving corners at brain-bruising speeds.
Heidts Hot Rod & Muscle Car Parts
800.841.8188
heidts.com
Increasing Aggression
Mast Motorsports’ Stage III Track Package for LS3If you’re dismantling your car that’s only a couple years old, it typically means you either bought a lemon, or you really want to go faster. For those who are daring enough to take apart their LS3 engine for the sake of horsepower, you are in luck with Mast Motorsports’ Track Packages. Available in three different levels that cover even the L99, Mast’s Stage III kit can increase your fifth-gen’s horsepower by over 120 in some engine combinations. The heads included are Mast’s expertly ported 12-degree castings, and to match them is a single-bolt camshaft with a duration of 230/244 at 0.050, with a lift of 588/607. The package also comes with Mast’s premium nitrided valvesprings and stainless valves.
What We Would Do:
Since we already talked about beating on a hypothetical ’12 Camaro in the Moroso piece earlier, we’ll continue pretending. We imagine after a few years of running our Camaro SS with just a supercharger, the need for speed would probably take over and we’d likely end up salivating over one of Mast’s Track Packages. This can really take your late-model to the next level, and with an estimated 125hp increase, coupled with some boost or nitrous, you could have one very fast fifth-gen.
Coiled, Ready to Strike
Detroit Speed’s A-Body Coilover ConversionIf you want to make your ’64-66 A-body traverse like a modern sports car, you’re going to need a lot of help. Besides being typically heavy, those old car suspension designs were never intended to handle aggressive cornering, so that’s why Detroit Speed came up with a bolt-on coilover rear suspension (as well as front suspension) for GM’s popular muscle cars. Besides being easily installed, the DSE coilover package also offers extensive ride height adjustability with custom valving in the struts. Available in single or double adjustable, this bolt-on kit offers multiple settings for both compression and rebound.
What We Would Do:
This is the type of product we were talking about in the intro—a kit that basically empowers the at-home gearhead to start tackling more serious bolt-on projects. We would have this setup under what we picture being a “homebuilt hero”, something that can be put together in the garage with basic tools, but still be a performer on the street and track.