There is no arguing the fact that a sense of nostalgia is one of the main driving forces for many to become or remain owners of classic cars. Let’s face it, if we didn’t exactly grow up during the time they were new, we were exposed to them at an early age. This exposure was usually perpetrated by our parents, some other family member, or a buddy in high school.

Such was the case with Chris Suplick of Philadelphia. Chris had a smile on his face as he told us. “I’ve always been into cars and motorcycles. Although this is my first musclecar, when I was younger, my older brother had owned both a ’70 Dodge Charger, and a ‘69 Chevrolet Camaro.” While both cars represent the musclecar era very well, they both live at opposite ends of the spectrum.

A Not-So-Obvious Decision

With such a varied influence at a young age, Chris’ propensity for a particular brand of car could have gone either way. For certain, the B-body Charger was an upscale, big-block-fortified street cruiser, while the Camaro was, well, a pony car designed to handle. So, when it came time for Chris to settle on a car that could fulfill his sense of nostalgia, you would have to agree that the choosing a Nova definitely came out of left field. But, he did infuse some logic into his choice. “I have always liked the Chevelle body style, but when I found this car, it was local to me, so I jumped at the chance to own it. I wasn’t actually looking for a musclecar at the time, but I see the Nova as little brother to the Chevelle in regards to styling, so I thought ‘why not?’.”

When Chris bought the car, it was relatively solid and fun to drive, thanks to the previous owner’s care. As Chris states, “The guy I bought it from used it mainly as a show car, and it had won several awards.” But, the Nova actually served double duty before Chris took possession. As good as the car looked, apparently, the owner wanted to make sure that it was not all show and no go. While Chris doesn’t have any actual build-specs of the engine that was under the hood, he did tell us that was not very streetable, and even had the benefit of breathing a 100-shot of nitrous.

Taking A Big Leap

Unfortunately, having an engine that was a little less than street friendly was not something that Chris wanted to “accept,” so he needed to develop a plan to remedy that small situation. But as often time happens, that small planned change led to jumping off a proverbial cliff. That’s when Chris decided that an entirely new persona for the car was needed.

To accomplish this, Chris first realized that completely rebuilding a car was something just a little outside of his comfort zone. But not one to be deterred, he wisely decided to find someone that could get on board with his perceived vision, and help achieve what he wanted. As so many do, his research began online.

He checked with many different shops to discuss want he wanted, and finally found a shop owner that he felt comfortable working with. According to Chris, “I found Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and called to speak with owner John Balow. When our talk ended, I felt comfortable enough with him that I loaded my car into a truck and had it delivered to their shop. I did this even though I had never met any of the guys that work there.” To see all of the images of the build, click here.

As soon as the car arrived at MCR, the crew started by removing everything from the car that was attached with a bolt, screw, or clip, and started taking care of the needed bodywork. Although the body was in relatively good condition, it was 43 years old. That means it had the usual age-related issues like small dents and dings, and even need the right front floor pan replaced. Once the body was finally ready for shiny stuff, a slathering of PPG’s single-stage paint in black that looks bottomless was applied.

Although Chris did want a car that was more street-friendly, the suspension underneath was rebuilt with stock components, but has been upgraded with the addition of CalTrac bars. Just because he wanted the car to be more streetable doesn’t mean that traction shouldn’t be enhanced for those times the need arises. Speaking of upgrades, The X-body has also received a pair of four-wheel disc brakes via Classic Performance Products. Finally, the 10-bolt rear that was already in the car and features a 3.55 gear set was retained. The Weld wheels that the car was wearing when it arrived at MCR were also retained after the restoration. But, the race-oriented tires were replaced by 215/65-15 and 275/60-15 BFG Radials.

Inside, the car was missing the passenger’s seat when Chris took possession, so that – and a comfortable driver’s seat to replace the racing bucket was located. To solve the seating issue, a set of Procar Pro 90 seats were installed, and additional interior pieces by PUI and ACC finish it off. Additionally, a Vintage Air A/C unit was mounted to keep this hot Nova cool on those short or long cruises.

Like we previously stated, the engine was not what Chris felt was streetable, so he opted to replace it with a Chevrolet Performance crate engine (PN 19210009). This small-block 350 cubic-inch maestro-of-motoring, relies on a block with four-bolt mains as a great foundation, and a rotating assembly that delivers a 9.0:1 compression ratio. The hydraulic camshaft achieves .460-inch lift, and the at .050-inch lift is .212/.222 degrees. This truly is a great economical cruising engine. Finally, a set of Vortec cast-iron heads and an aluminum intake with a Holley four-barrel carburetor finish it off.

The car was completed in a matter of five months, and now that Chris is able to once again cruise his hot rod around town, he had this to say, “It is nice and light, which makes it a truly fun car to drive. Now that I have it back, I don’t have additional plans at this point. I’ve been having too much fun driving the car just about every day, mostly running errands. But, even running errands is a good excuse for doing burnouts.” Chris finished by saying, “I like it the way it is, so I think I’ll keep it.”